10 Jun Staff Spotlight: Fanja Ravaonjanahary
Fanja Ravaonjanahary was working as a finance and administration assistant in the city of Fianarantsoa when she learned of the opening on the HR team at Pivot, a relatively new healthcare NGO that had recently established its headquarters in the neighboring district of Ifanadiana. Fanja was initially interested in the idea of applying simply because of how perfectly her university training and work experiences matched with job description.
“To tell the truth, I was far from imagining that one day I would make a career in the humanitarian field,” she explains with a laugh, “but I wanted to try my luck.”
Fanja joined the Pivot team as a human resources assistant in 2015 and “immediately liked working within the organization” and the challenge of supporting its early stages of growth. Since then, Fanja has moved into the supervisor-level role that she holds today, in which she is responsible for payroll management and contract administration for the Pivot staff, which now numbers 248 people across five offices in Madagascar.
When asked to describe Fanja, her colleagues provide a long list of the sorts of qualities you would hope to hear describe an HR professional: open and kind, friendly and attentive, serious and collaborative, humble and fair. The thing she enjoys most about her job is helping people not only with their professional needs, but also being available to support them through personal matters: “I always try to say what I think is the truth. I myself am typically a very sensitive person, so if I’m direct [with others] it’s in part because I would like them to also act in this way with me, especially when I need advice.”
Fanja (far right) with colleagues during a leadership and team-building workshop in Ranomafana,
This philosophy has clearly helped Fanja establish positive, trusting relationships across Pivot’s staff. In fact, this edition of the “staff spotlight” represents the first outcome of a new process by which the entire staff (rather than just leadership) had the opportunity to vote for the Pivot employee whose work they believe deserves some recognition through these profiles. Aptly, when asked which of the Pivot values resonates with her most, she names humility, saying “we cannot achieve anything without humility, because sometimes we need other people to help us finish what we have started.”
Fanja also draws inspiration from a Malagasy quote that says ‘’tsara ny manome noho ny mandray’’ which translates to the familiar adage, “it is better to give than to receive.” Fanja has exemplified that concept through her accompaniment and support for Pivot staff through a broad range of challenges during her tenure (from cyclones to pandemics), understanding well that “you don’t need to have so much in order to be able to share. We can give from what we already have; even just a simple idea, or lending a hand.”
This approach to her job (and to life in general) has only strengthened Fanja’s alignment with Pivot’s mission over the course of the last seven years. From her seat at the Ranomafana office, she responds to one particular interview question with a chuckle, saying “Honestly, I don’t want to swap my role with someone else! I like what I do!” But, if forced to choose, she says she would want to spend more time out in the field, working directly with the community.
Outside of work, what Fanja enjoys most about life in Ifanadiana District is its rural calm, and the abundance of mutual respect across the population. As a hobby vegetable gardener, she also sees the district’s unique level of environmental preservation (namely Ranomafana National Park, which has protected thousands of acres of rainforest from rampant deforestation) as adding a great deal to the quality of life where Pivot is based.
“I never imagined that an international NGO like Pivot would invest in a district like Ifanadiana. Usually when we’re talking about foreign organizations [working in Madagascar], we tend to think of large NGOs and the unrealistic expectations that they bring with them. But I find that Pivot knows how to adapt […] to the local community.” Given her early start with the Pivot team, it’s safe to say that Fanja has played a part in creating that reality.
“Making my contribution to supporting the Malagasy people makes me happy,” she states simply. “I hope the world understands Pivot’s choice to bring humanitarian action here, and that [our work] will bring long-term change not only in Ifanadiana but eventually all the districts that need it.”