Final Reflection

The process of exploring my research topic has been very interesting it has made me very excited to begin this journey that I will be embarking on in just a few weeks. My research partner and I have started to communicate with our main contact at CCZ, and we are in the process of learning more about our research topic from him. We were very happy to learn that CCZ is excited as we are about working together this summer. So far, we have learned about the goals and mission of CCZ. We have also learned a lot about CCZ's different social outreach programs and some of the organizations that they are composed of. We are hoping to construct a tentative list of stakeholders to contact before we leave for Zambia so that we can hit the ground running once we arrive in-country. One of CCZ's social programs which I am very interesting is their HIV/AIDS program. I am hoping that our research project has something to do with this program. We still haven't narrowed down a specific research topic yet, but we do know that we will be working with the idea of social protection. It would be interesting to see how the HIV/AIDS program ties into this concept.

I think that my personal learning goals have stayed pretty constant throughout the semester. The one that I feel I was able to accomplish the most during the predeparture seminar was learning more about Zambian culture. Through the group presentations and learning a little bit of Nyanja each class, I feel like I was able to get a little taste of Zambian culture before departure. However, obviously I feel like I have not completely accomplished this goal yet because I haven't actually been to Zambia or been able to experience the culture and language firsthand, so I am excited to work towards accomplishing this goal during the rest of the summer. Another goal which I feel like I have partially accomplished this summer is the development of my research skills. I think that the end of the semester project and also Dr. Pelletier's lecture helped me get a good idea of a general framework I should follow while conducting research this summer, which I think will be useful for me once I actually start contacting relevant stakeholders. Overall, I think that the pre-departure seminar was a good way for me to get a head start on starting to accomplish some of my research goals and also for learning about some other personal goals I should set for myself this summer. 

As this semester is ending, I have begun to get really excited about my upcoming trip, especially after getting my NGO and my hospital placement. A trip that seemed so far off at the beginning of the semester, is now actually not too far away. I am a little bit nervous about being away for eight weeks, which seems like an extremely long time. However, I have a great cohort and I am very excited to get to know them better. Overall I am very excited to embark on this new adventure!

Reflections

When given our new research topic about climate change and environmental issues in Zambia it was expected that the research process would be immense and require in-depth analysis of the literature found. Therefore when conducting research it was no surprise when I was reading hundreds of pages of environmental policies from the international and national level of Zambia. The process required a lot of filtering of information that specifically applied to Zambia and its environmental problems and future projects. Even after conducting our final presentation it is clear to see that there is still work to be done. This includes coordinating with our organizations to know what exactly to focus on and in which ways they will like us to aid in their efforts involving the effects of climate change in  Zambia. Being that many of our organizations focus on aiding vulnerable populations in Zambia such as people living in rural areas, people of low socioeconomic class and increasing the rights of women, the research we have conducted so far can be utilized in helping these organizations take on more environmentally oriented problems. This could be raising awareness about climate change in rural populations where safeguarding the longevity of the environment may not be their immediate concerns. Also collecting and compiling data on the environmental efforts in Zambia into one place, making information readily accessible for organizations who decide to take on more environmental issues. Therefore when arriving in country many of our goals include contacting many stakeholders including government departments and organizations that were not accessible online. By doing so my research partner and I will get a better understanding of current projects and initiatives in place to tackle climate change allowing us to analyze the effectiveness of these projects and if it affects vulnerable populations our organizations represent.

Reflecting on my personal learning goals many have them have remained the same. However, due to my research topic, I will be broadening my perspective on public health initiatives to include environmental issues. Many of my public health classes here at Cornell discuss the importance of the one health model which encompasses the health of people, the health of animals and the health of the environment. Therefore I hope to be able to apply this knowledge to my research in Zambia. In addition, my personal goals included being adventurous and stepping out of my comfort zone. I hope to make great efforts in achieving this goal while in country so that I could truly make the most of my time in Zambia, whether it's trying a new dish, or striking conversations with new people. During my time in the departure course, I have started with the goal of connecting with peers. From the multiple coffee talks, working with my research partner, coordinating with my housemate in my homestay, and discussions during class I believe a level of comfortability has been built. I hope that we will continue to grow as a group while in country too.

All in all, the fact that I will be staying in a new country for two months without my family, doing research in my desired field, and creating new experiences is both exhilarating and also nerve-racking. However, to be honest, it still hasn’t hit me yet that I’ll be spending my whole summer in a new hemisphere of the world. Hopefully, it hits when they are stamping my passport at JFK airport on June 2nd.

Final Reflection

So far, I have enjoyed researching our topic for the Sani Foundation. I did not imagine how broad it would be once Linda and I looked at it through multiple dimensions and perspectives. When we did our initial search through the literature, the strengths and weaknesses of previous research done stood out right away. We were able to find recent work done examining intellectual disabilities through the perspective of education and family dynamics. It was more difficult finding information on the history of intellectual disabilities in Zambia and what the employment climate was like. I am interested to see how our topic will be narrowed down. It is currently on how to change people’s attitudes on people with intellectual disabilities and promote an inclusive environment. Linda and I are expecting to tackle this through by looking at the educational perspective but this will change once we get clarification from the Sani Foundation. So I think our primary goal is clear for now: narrow down our research topic.

Our game plan once we are in country is to meet with the Sani Foundation as soon as we can to become familiar with the organization and narrow down our topic. Then we will generate interview questions and have them approved by our primary contact at the Sani Foundation. Once this is done, we will start gathering a list of contacts and start scheduling interviews. We are fortunate that many of the disability agencies in Zambia have offices in Lusaka if we decide to contact them. I would like to see our research be on a topic of intellectual disability that has not been explored this extensively before in Zambia. I would also like to see how our research will connect back to the community it impacts and I am excited to meet many new people along the way.

At the beginning of the semester, my personal learning goal was to be as prepared as I could be for my summer in Zambia. It is hard to say how successful I was at this until I am there but for now I am much more prepared than I expected to be. I really enjoyed hearing from past participants of the Zambia program. From their stories, they gave us valuable advice on what to expect and the challenges we will face. I also liked how in depth we went in our pre-departure seminar on the culture and history of Zambia. Many of these ideas were reinforced when we would hear from speakers who grew up in Zambia. As for final thoughts, I am very excited for departure and also a little nervous. We are getting so close now that finals are almost finished. The semester flew by and it is coming much faster than I expected. I hope we make the most of this summer!

Pre-Departure Reflection

My initial research has been quite broad because the topic we were given was just “social protection and other.” In researching this, I have realized how many forms of social protection and how many sectors of the government and society it involves. Because the Council of Churches in Zambia is an umbrella organization of churches each with their own agenda in addressing social protection, it was difficult to narrow down what area of social protection we would be researching. Although my research has been very broad, I am excited at the prospects of the various areas of social protection and really narrowing in on a specific program area. I look forward to hearing back from our contact in Zambia from CCZ about what our specific research topic will be.

Moving forward, after we receive information about what social protection program area we will be researching, our next steps will be to research further what are the main problems associated with this topic in Zambia. Additionally, once we are in country we would contact some of the churches with program agendas associated with our area of research and look at the work they are doing to address the issue of social protection. We will also reach out to relevant stakeholders. As of right now we are just waiting to hear back from our contact about what specifically we will be researching but I am excited to find out and do more initial research to be better prepared for my arrival in country.

Ultimately I hope to produce a comprehensive research project that gives insight into a new viewpoint of social protection that maybe has not been explored. I hope that my research provides helpful information to better inform ways to address social protection in Zambia.

My personal learning goals for this class at the beginning of this semester preparing for Zambia were to gain an understanding of what it meant to be an active citizen and apply it beyond the classroom. I wanted a better understanding of what it would look like to be an active citizen rather than a participator. I think that out of this class, I have begun to gather what it would look like, what type of things I have to consider and what I have to know about myself. Despite this however, I still have not had the opportunity to participate as an active citizen. My understanding is still limited to the classroom, however, I did not expect to have achieved this through this class. I feel as though now I have a sense of what is required of me to achieve this in the context of Zambia. My personal learning goals have evolved because now I know more of what to expect and thus what I can expect to get out of this trip. My broader learning goal from this experience remains to grow my sphere of influence through my various experiences, but now I have a better grasp on what this sphere of influence looks like for Zambia. I can better see how my research will lend to my influence but also how the relationships I will form with the people around me will do the same.

Going into the semester, I didn’t really have a good idea of what I would be doing, what my time would be like and what Zambia was like. I think this seminar has taught me what to expect and the skills that I will need to employ while participating in this program. While my goals have not changed over the semester, this seminar has definitely prepared me to dive right into the experience and make the most of my time there. Sometimes it is hard for me to see beyond the task in front of me and this weekly seminar helped me see beyond all my busy school work and really prepare me and remind me of what I will be doing this summer. As this semester wraps up, this trip has become more and more real and while I am nervous about being so far away and having this new experience that I am still not sure truly what to expect, I am getting more and more excited. I am excited to jump in and have this experience and I think this class has prepared me well to make the best of this experience.

Final Reflection

    I think initially both me and Paul were a little intimidated by our research topic. Being assigned such a massive and complex system to understand, and eventually improve upon was certainly a daunting task. Though we still have a ways to go, I think we are both starting to feel more comfortable and more confident. There are some specific areas of interest for us within the Copper Trade that is giving us some places to begin narrowing our focus upon. This is especially exciting and encouraging because a lot of these areas fall within more general areas of academic interest for me. For example, working conditions of miners and environmental damage done by the mining process both seem like potential issues within the Copper Trade. Furthermore there exists huge amounts of economic impact from the Copper Trade within the Zambian economy that I’m sure will begin to present many potential areas of research. In terms of our next steps, I think the most important things are to deepen our understanding of the industry as a whole, as well as to ascertain exactly how our research will fit into SAIPAR’s larger goals and how we will be collaborating with the Zambian students. Until these items have been completed it will be difficult to do any real work on our individual project. We have already reached out to some people on campus who may be able to help build our knowledge base as well as point our project in the right direction. In addition we have reached out to our in-country contact to hopefully start to understand what SAIPAR envisions our project looking like. I feel very positive about the direction we are headed, and can’t wait to get in country and start making some real progress.

    In terms of my personal learning goals, I think I am in a good place to accomplish what I set out to while in Zambia. The way I see it, this semester was a chance to get myself as prepared and motivated as possible so that I can make the best out of the incredible opportunity that this summer is. While the goals that I made at the beginning of the semester certainly stand, I think something else that I now consider one of my top priorities is to develop my cultural competency in such a foreign environment. What I mean by this is that it certainly is not an inherent ability of myself, or most other people, to be able to conduct oneself in a manner that is appropriate, sensitive, and thoughtful whilst immersed in a different culture, and I think this is a real skill that, like any skill, takes practice. When I leave Zambia I want to have a better grasp of how to be mindful of my actions while at the same time be engaged and involved with the people around me. The good news is that I will have an infinite amount of opportunities to practice this type of conduct; with my host family, on the mini buses, at the hospital, and so on.

    I think that I am as ready as I will ever be to arrive in Zambia. I am incredibly excited and curious, and no doubt a little nervous too. I’m sure that there will be obstacles and slip-ups, and that certainly not everything will go as I have it planned in my head. However I think this is part of the reason for my excitement, and I think that I will welcome these challenges as they arise. I fully expect this summer leave a mark on the way I think for the rest of my college experience, career, and life. I can’t wait to see everyone in Lusaka, lets have an amazing summer everyone!

Final Reflection

After preliminary research and exploration of our topic, my research partner and I are extremely excited and optimistic about our project this summer. Initially, our broad prompt gave us some difficulties on where to focus and how in depth to go in certain areas and not in others. Our prompt from the Zambia Governance Foundation includes the topics of environment, gender, corruption, and health accountability, all within the context of asset based community development. After my research partner and I confirmed that our our interests are most aligned with the topic of health accountability, and it gave us a more specific avenue of research, we decided to pursue some preliminary formative research on some of Zambia’s largest public health issues such as infant mortality, maternal mortality, HIV, anemia, and Malaria. All of these maladies are a major burden on the Zambian people, and this is an issue that we truly feel that we can be passionately involved in.

From our initial research, we have seen that the Zambian government is struggling to provide adequate healthcare to their people, although they are improving on some fronts. One particularly concerning figure is that, according to the WHO, Zambia’s infant mortality rate is about 50% higher than the international average, indicating there is much to be done on this front. My research partner and I see our role being that of analyzing government public health policy within the context of asset based community development, taking into account the distribution of resources and the implementation of policy to see its efficacy versus effectiveness. The frame of ABCD is something that can be extremely applicable to health accountability, as the Zambian government does not have unlimited resources to dedicate to public health, and much of what Zambia can improve upon is simply education and giving people the knowledge to help themselves and their community. This is exactly what ABCD does, and with the backing of ZGF my research partner and I are confident that this is a great framework for a research project, especially with our limited resources. We are also hoping to use countries in the region that have had successful public health policy as an example, such as Botswana which has markedly reduced their malaria rate over the last decade. Additional resources we will explore upon arrival in the country is contact with the Lusaka offices of the World Health Organization, World Bank and UNICEF for more access to current data, as well as seeing what research projects are ongoing. This, in addition to further research of what literature already exists, and the guidance of our in country contact will allow us to hit the ground running when we arrive in country. We also, however, are not completely committed to health accountability, as information given to us by our ZGF contact, Likumbi, could change our course. Regardless, we are hopeful that our initial research will prepare us to be better informed upon our arrival, and I am confident that Tiffany and I will be proactive and form a successful research project.

Thinking back on my initial goals for this program, I feel that I have come a long way in having a greater context and understanding of Zambia. The weekly seminar has been a consistent source of information about the country, region, and what it means to be a foreigner doing public health research abroad. It has been a constant reminder of what I will be doing this summer, and has kept the trip at the forefront of my thoughts all semester. Many of my goals, such as achieving a better understanding for Zambian culture, have not changed and cannot be achieved until arrival in the country, but now that I am more educated about the topics I will be facing I feel that my scope has narrowed.

I am still very excited about the prospect of shadowing in the hospital and starting my research project, and the seminar has equipped me to be more prepared for these challenges. As the semester wraps up, my focus has further shifted from schoolwork to my research project, and my partner and I will continue to educate ourselves about Zambian and our research organization all the way up until departure. Southern Africa has always seemed like a region that is very distant and foreign to me, and, despite never having been there, I already feel that I am much more knowledgeable about it and the public health challenges it faces. I have thoroughly enjoyed the seminar this semester and I feel like we have a great group of students, and I can’t wait to get to Lusaka!