Question: How hard is your line of work?

Ken Gibbs answered on 11 Mar 2012:

Good question, but with no easy answer.

If you mean hard in terms of technical difficulty (like the maths, physics and chemistry), then my work has been a doddle. This doesn’t mean that I am clever – because I am not – but I have been asked to solve some problems the answers to which only required quite simple thinking, but perhaps put together in a new way that others may not have thought about. It’s been a challenge, and fun.

Now, you might rather have been asking whether the work I have done has required hard physical work ? The answer is definitely yes ! I think about having to walk to a school in Bhutan two years ago, which was only two miles away (as the crow flies) but which totally exhausted me. My guide just conveniently forgot to mention the bits in between which were very deep and craggy valleys and very steep and slippery hills. The walk there took 2 hours; the return took 3 hours. Never again !

When working for small and sometimes remote communities, it is important to establish trust and I have found that often, working alongside the community has helped. True, you get terrible blisters and aching muscles – all signs of having done some hard work, but a necessary part of the process.

So, my work has been both hard and fun in parts; and relatively easy and even more fun as well. You should consider trying it !