Friday, March 26, 2010

The Day of Evaluation Completion Has Arrived

I traveled to Mozambique during May 2008. Almost two years later, I am absolutely thrilled to announce that I printed out all 121 pages of the completed evaluation and turned it in to Dr. Williams for review today. This project was huge. I put in so much work, and at times, the work seemed insurmountable. I learned so much from this project. I learned and improved my quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. I learned Portuguese. I learned how to be a better evaluator. I learned that it is important to have good communication with your stakeholders and to create an evaluation plan that takes all the necessary evaluation resources and conditions into consideration. I learned that there are strengths and weaknesses in doing an evaluation as a one man team. I learned how to discipline myself and to keep moving forward even if I didn't know where forward would be. Above all, the most important thing I learned was to love the beautiful people of Mozambique. They brought and continue to bring so much joy and meaning to my life. I will never forget them and I hope this evaluation is a step closer to a better way of life for them.