Why Grant Writing | Aweke Tadesse
Grant writing is a critical search for a means to the end: My experience in grant writing relates to international humanitarian development interventions among the most vulnerable people in Ethiopia and Mozambique. Writing a winning grant proposal and securing funding was a means to empower and assist individuals, households, and communities to move out of poverty in a sustainable way. Funding was a means to invite expert and community integrations and implements evidence-based (scientific approach) approaches in the program design, implementation, and evaluation process. Securing a resource was critical in maintaining organizational competitiveness. In my fieldwork, I have experienced the joy and frustration of winning grant awards and losing them when we desperately need them. As a result of available funding for a humanitarian cause, I had a chance to celebrate and be part of community graduation “out of poverty” and heard hundreds of individual and groups success stories. In contrast, I have also experienced when lack of support limits our work from reaching the most vulnerable people, including children, women, and older people while they were at the verge of death. My field observation and engagement with vulnerable people was my most significant learning moment. It challenged my values and shaped my professional passion, particularly sharing their joy and burden of life.
For me, successful grant writing requires believing in a human (other) cause and having a story to tell from the inside-out!
