AN UPDATE ON WORK
I have been told I am running three meetings next week, one in each catchment zone, with 10 villages in each. Attendance will include various AHOSO stakeholders such as members of the police force, faith based leaders, teachers, the Village Based Coordinators, headmen etc... It is not going to be held in English.
I have been told I am running three meetings next week, one in each catchment zone, with 10 villages in each. Attendance will include various AHOSO stakeholders such as members of the police force, faith based leaders, teachers, the Village Based Coordinators, headmen etc... It is not going to be held in English.
I’m going through a draft of a monitoring and evaluation policy of OVC programs which I put together this past week from scratch in the hope of formalizing and creating some consistency in the care and support of OVCs in the area. It is an opportunity to allow for community input.
A few weeks ago we were told that problems here are not our own(the WUSC interns)nor can they be our burden, but we can assist in finding solutions. But here I am in a situation where I see the absence of anything to do with monitoring and evaluation and I am left to do it on my own. I have been given excessive freedom in doing it and it is a bit of a struggle as there is a huge knowledge gap in the expectations and goals in the care of children in Malawi. I’m no authority on the matter, nor is there any information to access as a guideline. I am struggling to keep people in the office involved with it, and find myself working directly with the Executive Director. Pretty much no one challenges what I come up with, which is weird and difficult to start discussions, and I wonder how much value there will be in this without more contribution from the AHOSO staff. It is hard to take it to the next level. Focus groups and what not are being lined up, and I’m digging around about things, like what consists of basic daily needs here etc.
There are absolutely no resources here except for the living library which I bombard with questions, but if it is a market day, or anyone in anyone’s extended family is sick, I find myself alone in the AHOSO office. Also, it’s that time of year when many of the staff has asked to go home to work in their fields.
If there is a funeral in the village, work ends at 12. If Staff are arguing over firing a security guard, work ends at 12. If it’s Friday, which it is, work ends at 12...yet I am sent home at 10:30. It’s a bit of a short week for me, and it is also already October.
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