During the summer of 2006, I completed a 10-week internship with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Zambia. IOM is an intergovernmental agency that is funded by donor countries to promote dignified, safe, and orderly migration worldwide. As part of this mandate, IOM supports health programs for migrants, including refugees.

In 2004, IOM launched a cross-border HIV prevention project between IOM-Zambia and IOM-Angola. The High Impact Awareness Raising on HIV/AIDS Through Community Based High-Visibility Activities Targeting Returning Angolan Populations, known as the HIV Prevention Project, was funded by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) to raise HIV awareness and build skills among refugees returning to Angola from Zambia.

The HIV Prevention Project provides HIV/AIDS programs, trainings, and income- generating activities to Angolan refugees living in Zambian refugee camps. The project also reaches returnees in their communities of absorption in Angola. Project activities include drama performances, sport activities with integrated HIV messages, video shows, peer education and life skills trainings, and skill-building trainings such as baking, farming, and driving.

Working under the supervision of IOM-Zambia’s Migration Health Officer, I was responsible for developing the monitoring and evaluation plan for the HIV Prevention Project. The monitoring and evaluation plan included both quantitative and qualitative evaluation components. I developed the evaluation protocol, including the IRB protocol, for the HIV Prevention Project. I wrote a facilitator’s guide for focus group discussions, conducted eight focus groups in one of the refugee camps, wrote a report of findings for the focus group discussions, and presented the findings to SIDA. I also assisted in the analysis of IOM’s 2005 Angola Community Assessment of HIV/AIDS Knowledge, Attitudes, Beliefs, and Practices (KABP) and the development of a framework for conducting a follow-up KABP in 2006.

My internship included site visits to the refugee camps in the western and northern provinces of Zambia. In the refugee camps I met with implementing partners and assisted in monitoring project activities. I was also involved in coordinating HIV prevention activities for the 2006 repatriation of Angolan refugees.

In addition to my time spent in the refugee camps, I also actively participated in meetings and conferences in Lusaka. I was involved in several planning meetings with IOM’s country partners and HIV/AIDS working groups. I represented IOM-Zambia at these meetings and ensured that HIV refugee health issues were included in national HIV planning efforts and various program activities.

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