Reflections from Zanzibar

I can hardly believe that it has been a month and a half since my last blog entry, I feel as though I have accomplished a lot in a short time, including relocating to a different country (Kenya) to start a one month training course with AMREF (African Medical Research Foundation) in Monitoring and Evaluation as well as accepting an M&E position back in Ghana starting in February 2012!

Like the past 7 months, my last month in Zanzibar flew by. In early October I took a trip to Morogoro on the mainland to visit the two YCI interns that were based there working on environmental projects, including water, sanitation and hygiene projects in rural areas. In mid October, I traveled back to the mainland to Dar es Salaam to attend a CIDA intern networking event which was hosted by CIDA country representatives at the Canadian High Commission. This event was really beneficial for me as it happened at the very end of my YCI placement which gave me a good opportunity to actually sit down and reflect on what I have accomplished in the past 7 months. My presentation to CIDA and the other interns was based around "my accomplishments" which I summed up to 3 major achievements:

1. Working with the ZANGOC Executive Committee to complete a final draft of the new ZANGOC strategic plan.
2. Facilitating capacity building workshops on project design and proposal writing to 30 out of 45 ZANGOC member organizations (including travelling to Pemba Island to reach the 5 member organizations based there)
3. Working with YCI and ZANGOC to establish the ZANGOC Gender Equality Team and then providing the team with a basic gender awareness training session which included a guest facilitator from the Gender Unit of the Ministry of Social Welfare. I am also in the process of securing funds from the United Nations Population Fund in order to have the Gender Team trained by a Gender Consultant on auditing and mainstreaming.

After the Gender Awareness Training with the GET

My work contract with ZANGOC and YCI ended on October 21st after which time I was officially on vacation which included me going into the office to finish end term reports and various other tasks. Last week was also busy as I was packing and preparing for visitors and saying goodbye to my Zanzibar friends. I felt like I was finally ready to leave Zanzibar and it was nice to have such a wonderful send off last Friday. ZANGOC had invited me to the office for 4pm when I met with some members of the Executive Committee and Shaib, the YCI coordinator in Zanzibar. They presented me with a certificate showing the work I did and a few people said some words. Then I was asked to speak at which time I actually started crying even though I tried my hardest to hold it back! I think I blubbered something along the lines of how happy I am with the way my placement turned out and how much of a learned experience it was for me....blah blah blah, through the tears I don't really remember!

Me with some members of the ZANGOC Executive Committee

That evening I had one last amazing meal at the House of Spices in Zanzibar with the friends that were visiting along with some expat friends whom I will miss terribly. This was followed by some drinks and lots of dancing which made the night absolutely perfect and summed up the wonderful experience I had on the island for the past 7 months.

I intend to post an update this week about Nairobi city life and the AMREF M&E course, I just wanted them to be separate thoughts, separate blog posts.