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My
name is Bridget A. Brownell and this summer I had
the opportunity to work with Family Health International
(FHI) in Lilongwe, Malawi, Africa. "Family
Health International is among the largest and most
established non-profit organizations active in international
public health. FHI is dedicated to improving the
lives of people worldwide through research, education,
and services in the areas of reproductive health
and HIV/AIDS...with support from USAID, FHI strengthens
the capacity of local organizations, as well as
government departments and other collaborating structures-to
prevent the spread of HIV, care for and treatment
of people living with HIV/AIDS, reducing stigma,
and lessening the impact on those who are affected
(esp. orphans and other vulnerable children) by
HIV/AIDS."
My scope of work
included participating in and frequently leading
trainings for "local partners including the
Instituting Agencies (IAs) and representatives
from the Ministries of Health and Population,
Gender and Community Services, and Youth Sports
and Culture." I also had the opportunity
to travel to the majority of the IAs and to familiarize
myself with each of these non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) and their staffs; while I continued to
learn more about serving Home Based Care Clients
(HBC), Orphans and other Vulnerable Children (OVC),
and volunteers. Additionally, I aided in monitoring
the capacities of the selected IAs and their volunteers.
Finally, I helped
conduct an assessment of the HBC and OVC services.
I aided in the creation and finalization of the
pre and post test questionnaires that measured
satisfaction with current service delivery. Next
I created and finalized a focus group discussion
(FGD) interview guide to measure community leaders
perceptions of HBC and OVC issues. After determining
relevant questions, translating and back translating
the surveys, as well as co-training the data collectors,
I aided in the supervision of the actual data
collection.
Again I am extremely
grateful to have had the opportunity to work with
the FHI - an organization "dedicated to reducing
the spread of HIV and mitigating the impact of
AIDS on both infected and affected people in Malawi."
I would especially like to thank The Bixby Foundation.
This trip would not have been possible without
their funding! I would also like to thank Margaret
Kaseje (my preceptor at FHI) and the FHI Malawi
staff, Dr. Prelip, Dr. Tavrow, and my family.
I appreciate all of their guidance, understanding
and mentorship.
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