What exactly is Anna doing in Malawi?

So, you might be asking yourself "what exactly is Anna doing in Malawi?" This is a good question! After completing my year at Humber College in the International Project Management program and swimming in Logframes and RBM, I decided it was high time I put some of my excellent educational skills to use.

I will be doing a CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency) funded internship with the Canadian Co-operatives Association (CCA) and will be working with a local partner in Malawi called the Malawi Union of Savings and Credit Co-operatives (MUSCCO) and living in Lilongwe, the capital city. MUSCCO is an umbrella organization for smaller savings and credit co-operatives (SACCO) in Malawi, that supports the development of co-operative groups. My official title is HIV/AIDS and Gender Program Officer and I will be helping MUSCCO and SACCOs implement policies and programs to support the involvement of women and those living with HIV/AIDS. I'll also be monitoring and evaluating some programs that are already in the works. I'm pretty excited about this job, as it has all the aspects of development that I am really interested in: women, AIDS, micro-finance and Africa!

I realize this is still somewhat cryptic, but I will definitely write a better description when I get there and I have a few more concrete examples of what I do!

I'm leaving for Ottawa this Sunday to do a week of pre-departure training with the other CCA interns, who are all going to different amazing places around the world. August 1st is the big day when I fly to Malawi! (via London, Nairobi and Lusaka...)

List of Acronyms

RBM - Results Based ManagementCIDA - Canadian International Development AgencyCCA - Canadian Co-operatives AssociationMUSCCO - Malawi Union of Savings and Credit Co-operativesSACCO - Savings and Credit Co-operatives

Welcome to the 21st Century

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to my Blog! For those of you who know me, you'll know that whenever I travel, where ever I go, I religiously keep a journal. Usually I like those fancy leather-bound ones that have the little strap that goes around them, but any notebook picked up in a market will do the trick when you've run out of pages. Journals are where I write what I've done, how I'm feeling and anything I come across that inspires me. As I embark on my next big journey - to Malawi this time on an internship - I've decided to come into the 21st century and start a blog. If all goes as planned and I keep this up, despite touchy internet connections and all, you'll be able to follow along with me as I do my bit to make this world a bit of a better place.

Happy reading,
Anna

p.s. There is an option to 'subscribe' to my blog - then you will be alerted every time I make a new post, and you won't have to remember to check for updates all the time