Work Update

A new month, a new way of looking at work here.  I’m starting to branch out as much as I can from what I’ve been working on, which I hope will help to give me more to do at my site.

I volunteered to work with a group at the end of the month, looking into tracking and reporting at the three MOVE sites.  There have been some problems getting the right numbers from the field offices to Maseru, which we believe is leading to underreporting of the project’s results.  It will be a good opportunity to have a concrete impact on the project.  I’ve started sorting through the hard copies of reports we have here at the Bobete office, and while it will take some time, I think once we are done going through them we’ll be able to track down where the problem has occurred.

Additionally, I am trying to get more involved in the Peace Corps committee system.  I volunteered for the Gender and Development committee, which is responsible for many of the gender related programs Peace Corps runs around the country.  I would like to compare them to the Male Initiative the clinic and MOVE have developed in Bobete and Lebaking.  There are certainly similarities, and I would like to see what the two programs could learn from each other.

Finally, the microfinance program I have been working on is slated to run out of funding at the end of the month.  I am putting together a proposal for an extension, and am confident that we will be able to make the case that while we have made very good progress in the last six months, we will be able to significantly increase the chance that the program will eventually continue without our support if we keep working directly with the community groups and volunteers for the next few months.

I’ve been getting emails from some of the new CHED volunteers who have received their invitations.  If any of you guys are reading this, we are all looking forward to you getting here.  Quite a few of us with blogs also have semi-regular internet access, and would be happy to answer any questions you have.