Day 3.....

Today the KASO staff and volunteers continued to amaze me. They were so happy to see Tiane and I in the morning and ready to get to work as soon as we arrived. Today we spent on procedural and ethics training. The ethics training was easy because all of the volunteers are well-aquainted with issues of confidentiality and sensitivity due to the nature of their work with HIV and AIDS. I would mention an issue and they would run with it in discussions. Same with the procedural issues, they really strove to understand the meaning behind each of the items on the interview questionnaire and to seek out ways of approaching various subjects in a culturally sensitive manner. For instance, the volunteers perceived the question of head of household education level to be extremely personal because people in the villages are realizing more and more the importance of receiving formal education. The volunteers have a keen sense of the importance of presentation when approaching all of these issues, especially those related directly to HIV and AIDS.

So, basically instead of doing the "training" I had anticipated, we ended up facilitating a meaningful and productive discussion and brainstorming session the heart of which was truly led by the volunteers. Tiane and I left KASO early, around noon, in order that they would have time to discuss in even greater depth each question. We will reconvene tomorrow morning to make final alterations to the questionnaire and to talk about our plan of action (practicing and piloting the questionnaire, holding community meetings to announce the project, and work schedule for after we receive National Health Sciences Review Board approval).

Yesterday KASO gave us an orientation to their programs and services. I was so impressed with how much things have evolved since I here 3 years ago. They now have a much larger early childhood development component (preschool and feeding programs) and a new youth outreach program to name a few.

One of my favorite parts of our discussions so far was when we asked for cultural training. They mentioned a few important points such as the need to always wear chitingi (traditional skirts) into the villages.