CINI frustrations

Okay, So I'm working for this NGO who requested me to come. I work out a project and try to get to work.

1st Issue- Because my project is in someways an evaluation I of course have a difficult time obtaining the files and records I need to do an evaluation. So from Oct-Dec I spend time hounding the program directors for their files and end-up having to do things the old Namibian way and stand over people's shoulders to make sure I get what I need. Of the three programs I'm evaluating only one was really cooperative, and that's because one of the key workers is also in the Knowledge Management division (which is where I'm supposed to be)

2nd- So in order to do this evaluation of "Youth Friendliness" (YF) which CINI claims to be and "Youth Participation" I had to create some form of evaluation tool, which with some research and a meeting or two with all the program people I did get done. So I create this great evaluation tool and send it out to everyone. It will get modified some with the Focus Group Discussions (FGD) which I'll hold in a bit, but I thought it was great. Downside is that most people don't actually read the things I send them. I got a frantic call last Saturday from one of my co-workers asking for our YF protocol for a Proposal. Somehow she couldn't find the huge doc I had created. I'm glad it's getting used for something, but it seems like 9/10ths of the stuff I do just lies around in someones computer file.

3rd and the reason I took yesterday off- I had the most frustrating meeting ever. We the knowledge management (KM) dept, the outside consultant, and I were to meet on Reproductive Health manual I was working on. It was supposed to happen on Monday, was delayed until Tuesday. The woman who is more or less the head of the KM comes in and says the meeting will be held in a little while. I say okay ask her to call me when it starts and continue working. It wasn't until much later I discover that the meeting started and she didn't call me. They were 1/2 finished when I came in.

So on top of forgetting me we then start going through some of the changes I suggested. Understanding that some of it needed to be changed to be accepted by the community, but some things were just ridiculous. Like insisting to say "attracted to the opposite sex", instead of "attracted to others." They also were refusing to include all the female genitalia. Just because that's not what they have been doing in the villages. Who has ever heard of an NGO or similar organization up holding the status quo? You would think that they would want complete and accurate information in the manual. The current consultant did take my edited version and both will be sent to 3rd party technical guy. Either way I was really frustrated. Why have me here and ask me to do things if you aren't going to use what I have done?

My wednesday off was marvelous though.