Alright, so trying to do continuious blog posts is harder than I thought. Well, mainly because I am either busy or too lazy to do it BUT I have made it a new goal to keep my self in to a regular posting schedule. So during the past month I have managed to do an array of things that are crazy, wild, boring, and just plain old cool. At International Women's Day I joined Women for Change in the Women's Day March. We walked down about 3km of the Great East road with thousands of supporters for women's rights that ranged from Businesses, NGO's, Clubs, all the way to just the individual supporters of the movement. I love how it is a national holiday and the support is so strong.We sang and danced as we marched and it was possibly one of the most inspiring things to see. Witnessing thousands all singing and dancing for the sake of human rights.Wow.  I really think Canada has something to learn from this. But that is just my two cents on the subject. A little time after International Women's Day we took a trip to the Canadian Embassy and the best way to describe it is that it looks like a grey fortress but there is only about 4 people who actually work in it so its a little empty. While we were there we met a person who works under CIDA, (Canadian International Development Agency) CIDA is the government organization that is actually funding the other interns and myself to go to Zambia so It was surely needed that we go and say "Hi" and thank them. Speaking of the government; Denise Savioe who is an MP in the house of commons mentioned to the house about our internship program and how she was truly inspired by our stories and our reasons to take part in this program. She was on that Parliament TV program so hopefully I can find the video and post it on my blog. So in other news of my past month being in Zambia, we also had tea with the executive director of Women For Change, Mrs. Emily Sikazwe, a strong women who has the ability to inspire and empower anyone with just the telling of one of her amazing stories. She told us stories on how she started being an activist and all the gender based boundaries she has managed to break through. The other Interns and I could have sat there for hours and listen to her just talk but it was getting late and the night comes fast so we had to say goodbye. So those are basically the big events that have happened in the past month here and I promise on Cub's Honor to write more posts.

Thanks!
-Mr.k

P.s I will be posting the link to Women for Change so people who want to know about the organization can take a gander and possibly a donation? :) K thnx. http://www.wfc.org.zm/index.php

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