Some info about my placement

I have spent the last few years living, working, and studying in various parts of the world. My passions for traveling, rock climbing, and international health have taken me to many countries, and my love for new adventures has guided me down different paths. Therefore it is probably not too surprising that I have signed on for a six month placement through CUSO-VSO in Papua New Guinea.

CUSO-VSO is a proven agency with respected records of impact. They are the world’s largest volunteer-sending international development organization and work in over 40 countries. One of the most important things for me when choosing a placement overseas is to ensure that the project is sustainable. CUSO-VSO actively recognizes this principle – they strive for long-term solutions and attempt to avoid aid dependency. For example, placements are initiated by the direct requests of partner organizations in developing countries for volunteers with specific skills, based on the country’s own needs. Placements, such as my own, are most often geared towards strengthening individual and organizational capacities. I strongly feel that such collaborative strategies are essential in realizing positive change.

Starting in February, I will be working as an HIV/AIDS Program Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist in West New Britain and in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea. For six months, I will be supporting their Provincial AIDS committees to coordinate their responses to HIV/AIDS. The primary goal of the placement will be to strengthen monitoring and evaluation of surveillance data and strategic analysis capacity at the provincial level. Specifically, I will be working with staff to develop the technical skills that will enable them to understand their epidemic and translate that understanding into the development of measurable evidence-based interventions.

I am very excited to share my professional skills, experience and perspectives with my co-workers in Papua New Guinea who are themselves striving to reduce the effects of HIV/AIDS in their own communities.

You can follow my time in PNG through this blog as well as through my Facebook page.

Any support that you can provide to CUSO-VSO would be much appreciated. It is through donor support that they can attain their development goals through the continued placement of volunteers overseas. Donate here.

Just under 4 weeks to go and counting...

Hello everyone! I just finished setting up this blog space in preparation for my trip to Papua New Guinea. In the meantime feel free to check out my fundraising page. With a departure date of Feb 3rd I'm at just under 4 weeks to go and counting :)