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!