After 4 weeks of Pre-Departure training, three days of travel via air plane I have managed to make it into the beautiful country of Zambia! My name is Nathan Kelly and I will be chronicling my time here in Zambia, I have already been staying here for a few days getting to know the people and my route to the office I will be working at during my stay in Lusaka. The Non-Government Organization(NGO) that I am working for is called Women For Change, WFC is working towards a better and more gender equal future in the capital city of Lusaka as well as the rural villages in Zambia. WFC uses the tools of education to further succeed they're goal of a more equal and sustainable Zambia. For the past 20 years they have been working tirelessly on methods to bring knowledge to less privileged youth and adults using workshops, paying for people to go to school, and informing villages and the general public about the spread of HIV/AIDS and how to prevent it. My contribution to this organization will be as a "Monitoring and Evaluating Intern"(M&E) I will be using Participatory Evaluation to further assist my coworkers in projects such as:

- Gender Analysis & Awarness Raising
- Human Rights Education
- Income Generating Activities
- Enviromental and Justice Program
- Overall Youth and Child Development
- HIV/AIDS Sensitization and Impact Mitigation 

Describing Participatory Evaluation; its the process of who learns or benefits from the findings as well as identifying relevant questions, planning the evaluation design, selecting appropriate measures and data collection. This process is the most appropriate because it honors human contributions and cultural knowledge. Its a very demanding job because WFC always needs constant fresh information to have a full understanding of what people in the cities and villages are going through.

I am a little nervous about my job because this type of work is totally new to me but thankfully I am privileged to be working with some of the nicest people I have ever met at Women For Change. Everyone at the organization treats you like family and just yesterday our boss and good friend Norman took us on a safari with his children to witness the beauty of the wild, we got to see elephants, hyenas, and a large range of antelope. Next week I a hoping to post photos of my past two weeks here in Zambia and show you all my lovely new home for the next four months! I will also be making changes to my currently plain-looking blog.

Zicome! (Thank you!)

-Mr. K