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GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT INTERNSHIP—KENYA
MONITORING During the Internship, each intern will complete monitoring of one project. When conducting the monitoring portion of the internship, interns are interested in answering one question, concerning the same goal regardless of the project, that is: “Is this project sustainable?” Sustainable projects are locally owned, managed and run, and continue to meet user needs in perpetuity. If a project is falling into disrepair, is dirty or unsanitary, or suffers from corrupt management practices, it ceases to be sustainable and requires additional community intervention.
HOW YOU WILL CONDUCT MONITORING: 1. 2.
3. 4.
Understand the goal: “To assess if the project is sustainable.” Identify clear indicators that may inform SMRC whether the project is sustainable, including: revenue generation, management, functionality, supply of resources, community use, cleanliness, organization, user‐friendliness, and others. Identify methods to assess the above indicators, including: observation, management structure, focus groups, interviews, surveys and others. Compile data with care. The goal is high quality information and this will not be gained throug rushed questions. Consider using the “Funneling Technique” during interviews and focus groups. This technique starts with broad open questions,“funnels” down with an open question, and finishes off with a closed question (find descriptions of types of questions below in the Activity).
ACTIVITY—ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS Read the descriptions of the types of questions you can ask while conducting monitoring and evaluation interviews. Find a partner and ask them each type of question with the goal of finding out if their lifestyle (as they lead it in the US) is sustainable. First, ask any questions in any order. Then start over and ask them using the Funneling Technique.
QUESTION DESCRIPTIONS: 1.
Open: Get the subject to talk; leave the answer wide open for individuals to fill in the blanks. Examples: Tell me about… or What happened when…? 2. Probing: Are used to fill in details; they are questions which tease out important reactions. Examples: What exactly did you think of the lesson? Or Did this connect to your experiences? 3. Reflective: Are useful to obtain further information, they are a repeat of something the person answering has said or implied. Examples: You say he over reacted, how? Or You didn’t seem to enjoy the experience, why? 4. Hypothetical: Frequently lead to hypothetical answers; they can be useful in certain areas such as exploring values, new areas, or problem solving. Example: Would X upset you? 5. Closed: Only require one or two word answers; are used to establish single, specific facts. Examples: Yes or No questions such as, Have you benefited from this program?
PART III: Y OUR R OLE
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