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AS a young civil servant, I discovered how it felt to be powerless within a large organisation.
Completing my training, I was promised a particular job near to home, which suited my hopes and circumstances. Without notice or explanation, the plan changed and I was given a different job in an unfamiliar and distant part of the country. At the time, our first child was a few weeks old, some family health issues developed and the time to move far from family and friends could not have been worse. The decision was taken without reference to my wishes, needs or circumstances, and I remember the feelings of anger and powerlessness while battling vainly against an uncaring institutional machine.