All good things must come to an end...

I've spent the last 4 days in the tropical paradise of Zanzibar, having a wonderful time. It's been so great to just relax and zone out for a bit. I know what you're thinking... "Um, haven't you been doing that for 3 MONTHS?" But Uganda was definitely a stressful and emotional trip, with the Bodas for Life work and the whole emotional connection I have with the place, so Zanzibar has really been a time to reflect on the whole trip and think about what's ahead.

With the help of some hard workers back home, I managed to get my ticket changed so that I'm leaving today and heading to Ohio for my 10 year high school reunion before I go to California. For some reason, it was really important for me to go to this event. Perhaps because I haven't been to Marietta for awhile, or because my parents don't live there anymore so there's less of a reason to go-- whatever the reason, I REALLY wanted to go, and now I am going! It should be an interesting weekend, and I'm keeping an open mind about the experience!

More reflections (and pictures!) about the trip to come when I get back home to a faster internet connection!

Some pictures...

The Blum Fellows are all hard at work here in Kampala, compiling our data and findings and putting together our final deliverables. Until more, here are some pictures of my weekend visit with Stella, which was amazing!

The evaluation process...

The past two weeks in Kyenjojo District have been really interesting. The purpose of this trip has been twofold: to evaluate the Bodas for Life project first, and then to try to create a sustainability strategy if it is deemed beneficial. Both of these tasks are challenging, particularly because there is no real control group and it is difficult in any instance to evaluate health outcomes over a short timespan. But we have been doing the best we can, crunching data about utilization of both the program and the health centers to which we are trying to provide improved access. It's been both exciting and frustrating, because although I have a gut instinct that the program is at least doing SOME good, I have no idea how to definitively show it or to quantify it. Also, I'm not sure if the resources injected into the project justify the outcome. In any case, we have another week to analyze the data and try to come to some conclusion.

The whole exercise reminds me what I love about development work, and what makes it so challenging and interesting to me-- there is so much potential for impact, but you have to be creative about how you implement projects. A clear baseline is necessary in order to properly evaluate a project, and evaluation measures need to be in place BEFORE the project begins. Everyone who works in development knows these things, but often they don't happen for various reasons-- the project needs to be implemented in a hurry, funding is limited, etc. It's very complicated, even for a simple and subtle project like Bodas for Life.

I've also confirmed that I want to further explore the role of technology in development. This has always been what I wanted to do, given my engineering and development backgrounds, but I am learning more firsthand that this field is perfect for me. I think I will get the chance to explore both technology and health at Bain, so hopefully it will be a perfect learning opportunity for me.

But now it's the weekend, and I'm on my way to see Stella. A total different experience, but just as great! Stay tuned for cute kid pics!

Back in Uganda!

It feels so great to be back in Uganda. It always feels like home here, between knowing the language and culture, getting to see Stella, and really loving the work. It's been a week and we have done so much already. With the Blum Fellows, I spent the last week in Kyenjojo District collecting data and doing field-based interviews of the Bodas for Life participants. It's really exciting-- the project is going really well in the district and there are a lot of interesting take-aways. I'm looking forward to two more weeks in the district, and then a number of follow up meetings here in the capital.

We spent the weekend in Jinja, the "Source of the Nile." It's a beautiful place, and the others went rafting (SO fun- I did it when I was in the Peace Corps) and I relaxed in Jinja and along the banks of the Nile. I found out that some of Gandhi's ashes were scattered there, so I went to the memorial as well. It was a little understated, with the "SPONSORED BY BANK OF BARODA" sign larger than the Gandhi plaque itself! Ironic...

Two more weeks in Uganda... next weekend I plan to see Stella and the kids! Yay!