This week has been a rather quiet one for me. After having quite the adventure over the weekend at Mary’s home I have kept quiet. Staying in my room and working. The time is ticking at work, however, for me to put together a survey that will be short but answer all of the questions about what our clients look like.
It has become particularly imperative for finding grants to understand what the long-term impact of our intervention is. Using the survey model from the pilot program I need to look at the important questions that need to be asked especially pertaining to HIV/AIDS and domestic violence. However, what we have learned over the program is that what is sometimes just as important is their change in cultural views. As I have mentioned in earlier blogs there is a perception here that it is O.K for many men to have partners, and that it is considered wrong to ask your partner to wear a condom. However, we have noticed that through the discussions with the women it has become particularly important for them to learn that it is O.K for them to speak up and have a voice, and question why it is that they must accept men having many partners, or learn that they have the right to request that a condom is worn, etc… It is these social practices that we are trying to dismantle with our work.
My task, has therefore been to learn how we can use the pilot surveys to create a new version for us where we will be able to see, in the long-run, what our intervention has done to change these cultural perceptions and beliefs. Further, it has been a struggle to decide how we will get all of the information that we want to capture in as little time as possible. Doing so will make it more cost-effective for IMAGE, yet there doesn’t seem to be enough time for everything that we want to know. I have been learning in these past few weeks the best way to ask a lot of things in just one question. Consolidating has been key with this project. It has also been difficult to know the best way to word the questions, most of these women do not speak English, or know how to read or write; they will most likely need the questions read to them by someone else. Making sure that the questions are as clear and concise as possible has been interesting to say the least. I have been learning what it is like to cater to an audience that may be different than what you are used to. This process has certainly taught me that it is important to know who you are administering the survey to and what your long and short term goal is. Next it is onto finding the money…. We will see how that goes!
