Me, goofing off in front of our Program model card storming board. We spent two full days explaining how to think of a program (inputs, intervention, outputs and impact) and then how the impacts are not known for sure and therefore must be evaluated. The kind of data you will get and use, and most importantly, HOW do you have an evaluation, construct a survey and specifically, what the heck is an ILS diary, why is it special, how does work, and why do we actually want one. Phew! It was a start with the basics sort of event, but it worked like a charm. We finally feel like we have the staff on board and that they understand what this is all about. We insisted that we have certain staff members and other stakeholders (like the president of the board) present for the training so that it will no longer be just Mohanan who knows about this and sits on things with no action. I'm hopeful that by educating the whole organization progress will actually be made.
This was our marathon day of editing. Leigh and I have completed a 50 page ILS diary which is tailored to the evaluation and programmatic needs of HPWDS. It has many pages with indicators and evaluative aspects and it has almost an equal number of pages which are learning elements meant to enhance HPWDS's programs and help the SelfHelp Group Members plan for their future. It's an exciting document and something we're proud of. It was a little nerve wracking to bring it to the customer and have them go through it with a critical eye. It took 6 hours, page by page, of discussion, explanation and critique. BUT, I am so happy to say that the changes are pretty minor and that they really liked and understood the diary. In fact, I don't think I can emphasize enough how happy this makes me. It feels great. We have three days next week left working in the office (leigh has to leave Aug. 9th, because she flies home the 15th) and we will be spending these days doing additional training with the staff on how to facilitate the diary with the women out in the field, how to capture the data from the diary on an evaluation basis and use the data for their organization and to do it in a participatory and ethical manner. Then we have to go through some of the computer instruction so that the files we leave with them will make sense. Phew! It's just going so well. All of our critical thinking, and gnashing of teeth at the beach, when we didn't know how to explain ourselves or what we were doing paid off. It is admittedly not the ideal way to construct a diary, but it is better than not having one at all. Ideally we would have 6 months to work with the staff, see the field, develop survey items and consult on issues, and use an artist to get the pictures tailored to the region, BUT that just wasn't the situation.
On our day of diary editing, Mohanan had TV station guy come and do some filming. So potentially Leigh and I will be airing on Malayalam TV news. It was weird to have him there, but I hope that it will be beneficial for HPWDS. They are the only ones in this area directly addressing the needs of the tea plantation workers and are doing so in a really participatory and new fashion. So maybe the press is a good thing.
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