Things are really getting underway here in our work. After a month of traveling to conduct interviews and gather information, we have finally moved into action mode and are working vigorously to achieve our goals. It is interesting to see how those goals have changed shape over the course of our time here. As our understanding of the real social and economic issues (as experienced by Croatians) broadens, we have been able to continually redefine our objectives in line with the true needs and strengths of the people and industry in this area. With our goals narrowed and clarified, we have been able to make faster progress over the last two weeks. John is making important contacts with producers in both countries. His talents for leadership and "bidness talk" are really shining through.
After making some content changes to fit my audience, I will begin teaching career workshops this week in Zagreb. I have invited some local professionals to guest speak at the forums, and we also hope to feature representatives from local employment bureaus who will oblige us with loads of information on how to register and successfully find work. The keyword here is hope. One of the thick residual elements of this changing economic system is inefficiency in state operated offices. In my last appointment this afternoon with an administrator from the State Employment Center, the best she could give in terms of a definitive answer was, "My hands are somewhat tied, but send an email on to my supervisor and he can advise you." Oh, the layers of bureaucracy. Anyway, the career workshops promise an interesting new dynamic and insight to our project. Above is the flyer advertisement.