First Day Almost Done

We have survived the first day of the course. In the end, I became responsible for registration- figuring out who was there, who could be a substitute, etc. I think I accidently signed in two too many social sciences profs, putting us at 58 total, but we were able to fit everyone, and we think the benefits of not turning people away is worth more than keeping the number right at the original goal of 56.

At the same time, I was trying to chase down everyone who hadn't completed their questionnaires, or who hadn't answered all the questions. I think I have questionnaires for everyone now, but the blanks are still mostly blank. I'm going to abandon that effort now, because the course has started, and I don't want to be mixing in the effects of partial treatment. That means some of my questions will be even smaller sample sizes, but it's what I have.

Tonight's homework for me will be to set up new rosters for taking attendance, and I'll start entering the questionnaire data. I'm also trying to track the changes in the participant list. I'm keeping everyone who has ever been on the list, because I still have some data for a lot of them, and it may (or may not) be interesting to compare the characteristics of the professors who have entered or exited the list of intended and then actual professors.

I'll also start writing up a general description of the proceedings of the program. Hopefully, the descriptive information will provide a basis from which to build the evaluation.

And right now, I have a strong case of what they call "tet chage" here- too much swimming around in my mind. I'm trying to figure out what will be the most effective use of time and energy- for the evaluation and the program. I'm also trying to understand just a little bit of the development issues here in Haiti- I can see so many of the problems, but the answers aren't so obvious. I've been engaging a lot of capable people in dialogue, trying to see what I can find and/or spark.