And So the Work Begins!

Over the past few days, Mohit and I have begun our assignments at UNZA (the University of Zambia).  For the summer, we have been assigned a few main tasks to be completed before we finish at the end of July… and this week we have begun the assignment that we both feel the most excited and intimidated by.  UNZA offers a Short Course (3 weeks long) in Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation for professionals, so our main task for the summer is to conduct an evaluation of the Short Course from the perspective of employers of former graduates of the program.  Along with our two Zambian co-workers, Rhodha and Edgar, we are trying to contact as many employers as possible and then meet with them to conduct individual interviews.  We hope to ascertain from each interview whether the Short Course provides enough knowledge and applicable skills in the areas of Monitoring and Evaluation (for project and program implementation in both the non-profit and for-profit sectors).

Mohit and I outside of the Intercontinental Hotel, the nicest hotel in Lusaka.  The hotel is also the location of the Zambia branch of the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) - and this picture was taken after our first meeting at the CDC, where we were discussing another continuing education course called Epidemiology for Data Users that is currently offered at both the Zambian provincial and the district level.

By the end of the next two weeks, we hope to have completed all of the data collection – and each of us are going to visit as many employers as possible in order to assist UNZA in making any modifications to the Short Course itself.  So far, the organizations we are going to be interviewing are highly varied and are really interesting!  This week, Mohit and I are going to visit the Anti-Corruption Commission, the Foundation for Democratic Processes, the Ministry of Health, the Justice for Widows and Orphans Project and the Society for Family Health – so each of those visits are going to be experiences in and of themselves!

In our little global health family, we have developed a routine of eating dinner, then sitting at the table for hours, just talking and playing cards.  So we have been on the lookout for a different activity to fill our evenings - and when Mo saw a man selling Monopoly on the side of the road, he threw open the bus window and bought the game... turns out that it's completely counterfeit - and actually looks nothing like Monopoly.  The box depicts money in Franks, but the board depicts money in USD, while the money itself is in Zambian Kwacha.  hahahaha but at least we tried!