Re-Direction, Alas, Moving On - But Not Gone!

I have decided to split my blog into two and locating them on my own web site.

The reason for this, is that I found that I was mixing content for two separate audiences. This blog contained information for both my mobile data collection efforts, and it also contained content directed towards friends and families. Additionally, at times I have felt the urge to make comments on political and other aspects on my blog which might not have been expedient, especially if I was still within that country!

The two contents did always mix well; there was potential for tedium for either audience, or worse yet, for both!

In splitting blog to my own hosting site, I have greater management over both content and comments, with the aim to providing a richer and more relevant experience.

So, if you would just like to keep up with the personal side of my opinions, thoughts and observations of my life and travels, you may view my private blog at:

One Small Footprint


However, if you are interested in mobile data collection for NGO's in developing countries from a technical perspective, you may view it at:

SixBlue Data


Therefore, this present blog (http://dvisaak.blogspot.com) will no longer be maintained with new content. As an audience member, feel free to choose your content at the blogs referenced above.

Thank you for your comments, encouragement and readership.

Note: the photo on this blog posting is from 1985....

Sincerely,

David Isaak

What Lies Beneath...

Our very nature as humans renders us self conscious, i.e. concerned with what befalls our persons and how we affect those around us - and rightly so. Yet one aspect of the natural sciences that I have enjoyed since a child has been that by acquiring (or rather allowing ouselves to acquire) a passionate curiosity of the world about us, i,e. external to ourselves, we may momentarily lose that sense of self and simply gaze and stare in awe at the world about us. Nowadays, with such a hectic life constantly demanding our attention and efforts, this is welcome relief. Take notice of that which is barely notice in our daily walk in this mortal coil...

“Deer, jumping mice and the oven-birds are denizens of the forest floor by virtue of using it as their substratum, but there is also a host of curious animals which use the forest floor, especially the litter of dead leaves, twigs, branches and fruit parts, as their walls, ceiling and sub-basements.

Looked at from the eye level of the cockroach, this litter becomes a several-storey edifice of enormous extent. The various floors are separated by twigs, midribs, petioles, fruit husks, samaras, skulls, elytra and faeces. The lowers one descends, the more compact is the structure. The leaves become more fragmentary, the faeces of worms which have come up from the soil, of caterpillars which live in the trees and of the inhabitants themselves, as well as grains of sand brought up by the worms and a heterogeneous assortment of beetle skulls and wing covers, become more abundant.

This complex is rendered more intricate by the growth of minute fungus moulds which feed upon dead leaves and organic refuse, weaving it all into a compact amt by their myriad white hyphae.

This is the woof woven into the warp of the woodland rug.”

From preface of Soil Animals, Keith McE. Kevan , H. F. & G. Witherby Ltd. (1968) - attributed to A.P. Jacot

Angola and Nepal

Last March I was quite close to visiting Nepal for a PDA assessment while enroute from Myanmar. Nepal has been engaged in turmoil between the Maoist communist “insurgency” and it monarchy for years. A few weeks before my departure for Myanmar, I received an email that conditions had deteriorated due to the upcoming constitutional elections that would determine the fate of the monarchy, and that we should defer my trip until a later time. The election was held and effectively ended the monarchy resulting in the King leaving the palace and retiring to a nearby house.

After reading that conditions had stabilized, an email to the country office in Kathmandu resulted in a green light to visit. They suggested the latter half of August which works out perfectly for me, since I am finishing the planning for a ten day assessment in Angola the first of August.

I seem to always be working the horizon, as I call it for trip planning. The analogy, for me, goes like this. The shoreline represents airline ticket in hand, bags packed and visa stamped in my passport (oh no! I’m running out of pages again in my passport!). The expanse of swells across the sea between me and the horizon are the trips in progress, e.g. Exactly what date should I arrive? Has my hotel reservation been completed yet? Am I going to receive my passport back in time from the visa courier agency? Beyond the horizon (with the masts poking above the line of time…) are the emails traded back and forth going like this: we will discuss it with our program persons, maybe in the fall. The Sahara is too hot during the summer! What is a PDA??? It seems my mind and email typing fingers rove to and from across this line of sight. The sun never sets, it seems…, but what a view!

The Tale of the Data

I was a simple toolroom clerk working for General Dynamics back in the early 1980’s. My job involved stocking and issuing electronic hand tools to assemblers. One of the tasks was to maintain inventory and ensuring accountability for all tools issued to employees using their employee number. We used a NCR form (multi-paper forms using micro-encapsulated bubbles on the back of each page, excepting the final copy which when written upon burst and produced a carbon copy on the page underneath. We spent a lot of time managing a large box of tool receipts indexed by employee number.

Whenever an employee requested a tool, we would (technically) look first to see if an identical tool had been issued to same employee before issuing another. Well, at the beginning of shift the long line of employees knew we would not have time to rummage through all those slips of paper to see if they had duplicate tool issues. This poor inventory execution not only resulted in behavior by employees not bothering to see if they had a duplicatetool in their toolbox, but it also allowed many nice socket sets and diagonal pliers to find their way home. I had a few employees that pilfered generous amounts of tools knowing the weakness of the paper-based system.

My manager walked in one morning with a large box and a smaller package. He looked at both myself and my coworker briefly, then he handed the box to me (my co-worker struggled with a learning dyslexia) and instructed me to learn how to use this new Apple IIe computer and the DB Master database software. He wanted me to convert from a paper-based tool inventory system to a computerized one. He said that I was relieved of my toolroom window duties, grab a cup of coffee and to figure it out.
I had never touched a computer and I certainly never had even heard of a database. During the next few weeks I found my calling.

Now I had always had a proclivity towards handwriting manual lists of information on everything from notebooks, to ledgers to huge wall-mounted order lists. I was fascinated even as a young child with lists of toys and poring long tables of geographic country data. I loved how a database (albeit, non-relational) could organize data in a logical and easily retrievable manner. I not only learned to use that state-of-the-art personal computer, but how to design simple databases and to build reporting tools.

Well, soon I had my most notorious tool thief approach me for a pair of connector crimpers. This tool type cost over $100 dollars not including the crimping die set that he also requested. I asked him to please wait a moment. I quickly churned out on a noisy dot matrix printer a list of all tools that he had checked out and had not yet returned consisting of several pages. I returned to the counter window and displayed the column of the crimpers. I replied, ”I will be glad to give you another crimper after you return the other four that I have already given you.” He was furious and declared his boss would see about that! Well his manager actually worked with my father at this plant some twenty years earlier. When he returned with this manager, I simply showed him the list of tools issued to the irate employee. The manager laughed and walked away after turning to the employee and saying, “Isaak gotcha!”

Afterwards I went on to develop databases and reporting tools of ever increasing complexity and usefulness. Later, with the Boeing Company I found a new IBM-compatible PC sitting in our main office being left unused. Everyone was afraid to touch it. Well, I found that it had a relational database called Borland Paradox installed on it. Soon, I had access rights to the main frame database (DBII) and I was able to ask any question that a manager asked themselves about our inventory (this is significant, being able to query data for meaningful and useful information. Unorganized data by itself is tedious and largely unusable).

For instance, I was able to summarize the tens of thousands of tools used on the existing 767 airplane and adapt them as an order list for the new 777 program that was just starting. Quantities were added to selected tools after review by each airplane section build group and then we simply let a printer spit out boxes of tool orders to be delivered straight to procurement (this was before email became available). My fellow tool coordinators were delighted since they no longer had to hand type hundreds of tool orders on multilple page carbon paper forms and then later to be hand typed onto order status sheets. Later I learned how databases could be placed on brick-sized handheld computers for our tool rooms with the data uploaded with a docking station connected by wire to the main database.

I was on my way….

During my database career with the Boeing Company I would encounter someone laboring over data management using a spreadsheet. I have seen them all, from Lotus 1-2-3 to the latest products. I recall one gentleman who had an empire of time and cost devoted to a huge spreadsheet complete with embedded macros and images. By that time, I was with an IT group and I had received the request to speak to the spreadsheet designer since he had asked for a third hard drive in his PC. His hard drive order request justification described how he needed the extra storage space for maintaining the multitude of spreadsheets that he had broken his “database” into. Spreadsheets can be limited to 65,000 rows of information, but rarely hit that limit – but not this guy.

I recall the irritation every time that he proudly described his information repository as a database. I cancelled his hard drive request and instead authorized myself to kill this cumbersome set of data that was constantly at risk since it was never backed up. I developed a real database, imported his data and suggested that he return to the duties that he had been hired to do as a tool designer. All is fair in love and data…

Next: when is a spreadsheet not a database?

Save the Children - Yangon, Myanmar

I checked into the Summit Park View hotel late that evening finding one of the better hotels that I have stayed in. this always makes for a comfortable stay but I always have concerns for the cost. Eventually I found it to be a great value, not only in that it was less than ten minutes from the Save the Children office, but the basic room rate amounted to but US$38! It was explained to me that international economic sanctions had hurt businesses who were striving for tourist dollars.




The next morning I awoke and pulled back my hotel room curtains hoping that I might be somewhat near the 2,500 year old Shwedagon Temple which looms over the city covered in over 600 tons of gold. There it was, just to the east! I would makesure that I would be able to pay a visit.

It was, even at this early hour, quite warm and very humid. It was now Wednesday morning and soon a driver would arrive to pick me up for that first day at the nearby office. I had already emailed my Scope of Work and detailed training plans, so my principle contact, Naida Pasion & I both should be ready for the days activities.

Yangon, Myanmar

Note: Cyclone Nargis made landfall in Myanmar on May 2nd 2008 three weeks after I departed from the country.

The cyclone name "Nargis" (نرگس, IPA: næɵr-ɡɵs), is an Urdu word meaning daffodil. It was the second deadliest named cyclone of all time, …and is the 8th deadliest cyclone of all time causing catastrophic destruction and at least 90,000 fatalities with a further 56,000 people still missing.

After my arrival back in the U.S., I had many comments of, "aren't you glad you were not there when it happened!" Things have certainly changed with my mindset. My first thought was one of abandonment and escape from my new friends in Yangon. Honestly, I wish that I could of been there, not only to selfishly experience such an event (probability and the care of the staff would of precluded chance of harm), but to possibly press into service my seven PDA's for some assistance in the disaster relief.

Still, I remain with a shadow of guilt that I did not leave a PDA as is my custom. But, for the 1st time, I was required to sign a customs statement upon entry that I would depart with all of my equipment. I have led a safe comfortable life; I certainly could have endured some bureaucratic pain to possible offer some succor to the hundreds of thousands who experience the bewilderment, loss, and death from Cyclone Nargis.




(for more images, go to http://disaak.phanfare.com)

During my high school days, as I sat in class being instructed in world geography, I knew of this country as Burma. I also knew that it was tropical, situated somewhere to the east of India and adjacent to Siam (Thailand). I was involved with what was then popularly known as rockhounding with my father in the mid-60's in Southern California. I recall being quite young (ten years old) and attending a gemology class where we learned to identify semi-precious and precious gemstones through measurement of their refractive index, inclusions (tiny clay and/or gas/fluid filled specks in a crystal), and of course color and hardness.

I remember Burma as being the place for the finest rubies. Or, at least, there was an abundance there that made them popular. The rockhound club had a shop where you could slice, grind and polish a myriad of stoney materials. Most of our activities involved agates and other non-crystalline geologic artifacts, shaping them arduously into a half-rounded shape called a cabochon. I remember trading "up" for what was a rather large garnet. Due to my gemology instruction, I suspected otherwise. You could, loosely, term a garnet as a low quality ruby. Sure enough the gemological tests discovered it to me as a genuine ruby. Well, a long story short, I still have that ruby in an unfinished cabochon (I had neither the access to, nor skill for grinding facets). That hunk of ruby-red crystal was hard! It is naturally only exceeded by the diamond in the Moh's scale of hardness.



My point is, our knowledge of faraway places are rather two-dimensional. I not only mean the lines and colors on a map, but the disparate threads of knowledge that we glean from various sources. Wednesday morning, I awoke and drew back the curtains of my hotel room and gazed out upon the ancient city of Yangon. I was just thrilled to be able to see the huge golden Shwedagon Pagoda complex to the east of my hotel. In fact, I would drive by it each morning on the way to the Save the Children office.



In order to ameliorate my ignorance of a destination, I try to locate a book to read that will provide some insight before my arrival. I chose a non-fiction book called The River of Lost Footsteps by the grandson of the former United Nations Secretary General - U Thant. I loved this book since the author, Thant Myint-U ("U" is a term of salutary respect) prefaces the book with chapter after chapter of historical background. Myanmar is in a difficult time in its history. It is struggling towards a more open society and movement towards a democratic government. Thany Myint-U acknowledges the countries struggles with different factions on the country, including the bloody demonstrations in late 2007, but he states that to better describe a possible solution to a complex issue, it might be useful to look back at the root and evolution of a countries outlook on itself and it's neighbors. I was prepared upon my arrival to see vestiges of British Colonial rule as well as the effect of U.S. economic sanctions on this beautiful country.

I had concerns of my entry into Myanmar before my departure, simply of the bureaucratic sort of the immigration and customs processes. I was advised to secure a tourist visa before my departure which was securely placed in my passport. During this assessment, I would not be able to travel to any of the field locations to observe the use of PDA forms in actual conditions. In fact I found that data collection and dissemination was not encouraged by the government.



I had just replaced my luggage with a higher quality set. I rationalized this expenditure due to my frequent travels, loss of a piece of luggage in South Africa departing from Malawi in February, and having literally worn out two prior sets of luggage. I also bought three TSA-approved security locks for each of my luggage pieces. Since I was leaving the smallest of the the luggage, I had scratched on the bottom of each of these tiny locks a Roman numeral to designate which lock, and hence what combination, used by each.

Well, things get rather rushed packing for a long trip. I placed the wrong lock on my medium-sized suitcase containing my equipment. There was no chance of forgetting the combination, since I had it secured away within an encrypted program on my PDA (absolutely the most useful computer-type program I have ever used. One password to access ALL of my passwords, credit cards, identification, membership - you name it. It is also backed up multiple times on my laptop, flash drive and several email accessible accounts). Sure enough, exhausted and severely jet lagged I fumbled at trying to open the medium luggage in preparation of a customs search. I was not realizing that I was using the wrong combination. Meanwhile, my SC staffer who had met me at the airport, Peter, was increasingly nervous since here I was trying to gain entrance to my luggage and I was the only person left at the luggage carousel - quite conspicuous!

Finally we approached the customs official locked luggage and all. He did inquire what was in my equipment luggage, so I showed him my 3 other PDA's that I carry in my personal fanny pack, indicating that was what it contained. Since I had arrived on a tourist visa (business visa were not being processed very quickly), Peter conversed quickly with the official, and then he gently jabbed me in the side to sign the customs declaration promising to exit from the country with all 7 declared PDA's. Now, why would a tourist bring 7 PDA's into a country? I had my story - I was here to visit my dear friend Andrew Kirkwood (actually the as yet un-met country office director) prior to a business trip to Jordan on behalf of Save The Children. I was relieved that I was not required to tell my dishonest tale. We quickly left the airport....

There are significant infrastructure limitations in Myanmar such as electrical shortages don't use the elevator!)and US$2,000 cell phone SIM card costs (I saw but two cell phones during my entire stay - mine never worked). Also I encountered numerous restricted Internet sites. When this assessment first came up, my consultancy manager and I agreed, that even though conditions suggested a difficult assessment environment, it further warranted a visit to see if we could improve some aspect of their operations. This was not only from a PDA aspect, but also their overall data management strategies. This latter would prove to be a significant part of my assessment.

Of course, I wanted to visit the Shwedagon Pagoda (not shown above) - a 2,500 year old struture, which now stands at over 600 feet, covered with more that 600 tons (yes, tons!) of gold with a massive 78 carat diamond and innumerable rubies and other precious stones at its spire. The pagoda is actually situated at the center of a massive complex filled with many small pagodas and temples.

Around the World - In 22 Days

Well here I go again. This will be my 3rd round-the-world trip for Save the Children USA. I love to travel. My father worked for an airplane manufacturer, and later for a small airline, as an aircraft electrician. I first flew in an Lockheed Electra turboprop in 1957 in order to visit him with my mother where he was on location in Oakland, California on a contract for U.S. Navy PBY amphibious craft. Even though I was only 5 years old, I still remember arriving at the airport, seeing, and feeling all the hustle and bustle and knowing that this was something special. Later my father worked on the development of the Convair 880 commercial jet airliner at Edwards Air force Base in the high desert of Lancaster California. I recall late one evening he woke me from sleep at the motel that we were staying at and took me on a drive to the hanger where they were preparing the 1st 880 for flight trials. I remember we waited in this cold hanger for what seemed hours. Then, we boarded the plane. My father would function as the third crew member - the flight engineer, essentially watching all the instruments and dials allowing the pilots to fly the plane. When we prepared for take off, my father took me back to the seatless fuselage and strapped me to a bulkhead. I remember being thrilled - and nauseous - from them taking the plane through its air trials. These were maneuvers that you do not normally experience on regular flights. It was exhilarating.

To this day, my Save the Children travel agent, Raymond Franko, knows that I prefer a window seat, so that I can look outside. Also, I seem pre-disposed for long flights since I can sit in a narrow coach seat for hours without having to get up and frequent the locations most travelers need to. Some reference to a cast iron aspect of my anatomy could be in order here.

This trip starts from the Sea-Tac airport outside of Seattle, Washington state, USA on March 30th. I will first fly south to Los Angeles (I dislike that airport), then fly west across the Pacific for a brief plane change in Osaka Japan, then onto Bangkok Thailand for a 9 hour layover. This layover extended from just a couple of hours to over 9 hours, due to a last minute change to my itinerary. So, I decided to book in advance a room at the airport hotel. I was going to arrive the next day to my destination, Yangon, Myanmar (formally known as Rangoon, Burma) late in the evening, then get up early and begin my day at the Save The Children office. The chance to lay down and catch some sleep would beneift everyone.

After a week conducting a mobile data collection assessment in Myanmar, I will return briefly to Bangkok for a direct flight to my next Save the Children destination, amman, Jordan in the Middle East. Upon leaving there on April 19th, I will continue flying west to Chicago and then finally Seattle. 51 hours of flight time (not including layovers) and over 22,000 miles traveled by air. Whew! I love it.



When I first start communicating with a Country Office (CO), I begin planning out my itinerary. Since it usually always involves visits to two or more CO's, I need to figure out all of my departure and arrival dates and times. This is so that I can provide these to Mr. Franko, the travel agent, to secure appropriate flights. Then, I put all of the information in a spreadsheet (shown above), which i print out and keep in my shirt pocket while I travel. it contains all of my flight times, seat numbers, departure and arrival terminals and more. I also load this itinerary and all of my other travel documents onto my personal PDA. I include the actually itinerary sent to me by the airlines in Adobe Acrobat form (a PDF file).

Several times at some remote airport I have had the ticket counter person state that they did not have any reservation under my name. Even though I have a paper copy with me (usually several copies since some immigration officials require leaving them a copy), I usually just flip on my PDA and state that is curious, here is the flight reservation document that your airline sent to me. That always resolves the problem. I also keep printed paper and PDA copies of my passport, including color photos of my luggage. This latter item helped me describe to an airline employee in Guatemala what my luggage looked like when it was misplaced.

On this trip, it will take a total of 23 flight hours and 35 hours overall to reach the airport in Yangon. Piece of cake. It will take me until my 3rd day to recover from the 14 1/2 hours of jet lag. I will not have that luxury, I will start the training the day after I arrive.

Farewell to Mangochi

We returned to the office and synchronized our data for review. The only problem noted was one set of PDA records seemed to have happened the night before. I chuckled when I realized that it was my mistake. I had forgotten to change the PDA's clock to the correct time zone after leaving Armenia last week. The PDA catches everything - including the consultants' mistakes!

That afternoon, I gave my final presentation to senior staff. I recommended that they procure several PDA's and use them in a pilot program in a parallel effort with a paper-based survey. I also risked an internal organizational suggestion. When I was picked up at the Nkpola Lodge on my first morning of instruction, my driver was actually Lloyd, the manager of Logistics and all of the drivers. Later that day when I asked to see where the servers are located, I was somewhat alarmed to see Lloyd sitting at the keyboard of one of the servers. I found that Lloyd was also the IT support for the Mangochi office. During our many drives together, I found Lloyd not only quite friendly but well skilled for IT work. I spoke with him and asked what would he really like to do - manage drivers or do IT work (he actually used to be an IT instructor in networks at a local school)? He replied IT. Kwandani, the Field Office Regional Technician (FORT) told me that Lloyd was doing a great job. So, during my exit presentation, I added a single bullet that the Mangochi IT support be a dedicated position. All were happy.

Field Testing at the Kausi and Nasite Schools - Mangochi

After the form was deemed designed, I taught the team how to load (also known as "synchronize") the form onto each of the PDA's that we would use for testing. Then, I had each PDA holder to conduct several interviews with other team members. We then synchronized the collected data back to the form designer and it looked all good. We were ready.

We took two vehicles and split the team in two and each group headed to a different school. The group that I went with arrived at the Nasite elementary school but a few kilometers south of Mangochi. I love this part. We first presented ourselves to the head teacher and it was explained why we were there, and what the purpose of our trip was.



While the team split up to interview teachers in their classes, I took a moment to enter a large classroom next door. A young teacher was seated at a table in the far corner of this room with a dirt floor interspersed with broken concrete and no lighting. He had several students at his desk as he was writing in a register. I asked him how many students that he had in his classroom each day, and he said that it averaged about 198.



As I walked out side his classroom preparing to follow and observe a PDA team member, I noted a group of children under a large tree trying to avoid the rain. The next series of pictures were taken within an interval of perhaps 5 seconds between them and within a total of less than 30 seconds:



2nd



3rd



The interviews went smoothly and we soon departed to meet up with the 2nd team at the Kausi school nearby. I will never forget riding up to the school site in the back seat and Amy Richmond in the front. Both of us are quite light-skinned. The chanting that we heard as we drove up across the compound was from the children racing across the yard saying, "The Whites are here, the whites are here!" As we were introduced to the head teacher (in a stunning bright blue suit), I noted several older students using small wispy branches to literally whisk the students back to their classrooms. I thought to myself, I wish I could of had that job back at my small elementary school in the 1960's suburbs of Southern California.

I was observing one of the team members interviewing a teacher with his PDA just outside the classroom. I emphasize the need to observe a respondents visual cues in order ot assess their willingness to be interviewed with technology, and to be alert on when there is a need to employ ones' developed set of interviewer skills to enjoin trust in order to have a successful, unbiased interview (if that is possible).



In the first picture above, the respondent is displaying body language of hesitation towards the interviewer and the PDA. Note the hands on the hips, and the leaning away from the interviewer.



In the second picture the interviewer has wisely turned the PDA screen towards the teacher, who has now begun to lean towards the interviewer and has begun demonstrating curiosity towards the interview collection instrument. Hold on, we're not there yet!



Now, the interviewer has gained the respondents trust and curiosity has been disregarded for the moment. note how the body language of the teacher has changed and now the PDA is disregarded and the teacher is instead thoughtfully considering his answers to the interviewers questions.

Please note, that with a PDA, an interviewer is not able to hold up the classic large clipboard and paper survey form which can often act as a barrier, both physically and communicatively between the two persons. A PDA is different and actually can be leveraged to enjoin trust.

What Will be the Results of My Questions?

The Results Framework

A note about the Results Framework. It is just that, a "programme logic that explains how the development objective is to be achieved, including causal relationships and underlying assumptions...” Wow! Let me give a simple and possibly error-prone example. Let's say you have suddenly had some unexpected even in your life that caused to perform some introspective review of your life's' goals. Let's say further that you lost your job and did not know how you would pay the bills and buy food. You might first think that you need to quickly get another job. But, you realize this might be an opportunity to review your life in general. You do just that, move it up a few levels and generalize. What do you want in life? Your responses might be, "I want to be happy!" Well, take it down a level. "I want to have money to buy necessities and enjoy good health."

Go further. "What will I do to enjoy good health (eat right, exercise, maintain healthy social relationships, etc.). Well, an important part might be, "how will I know that I have achieved these goals?" Well, you might define a list of measurements such as ideal weight attainment, percentage of healthy food groups in each weekly meal, defined progressive weight changes, blood pressure, cholesterol, etc. measurements over the year. As you disciplined yourself to measure these criteria of having good health, which in turn would be an element towards achieving "happiness", you would have an idea if your program of self-improvement was working...or not working. If your program was not working to the desired goals, you would either review or modify those goals (I really cannot drink another drop of organic carrot juice!), or change them altogether ("weight loss is not really producing the desired effects!).

My illustration is the questions that you would continually ask yourself would be based on your original objectives and the criteria that you defined to ensure that you were headed in the right direction to achieve that "state of happiness". The vital issue is not how healthy am I, but am I "happy".

The Results Framework is a method of defining a program's objectives, defining a strategy to achieve that objective and then to describe intermediate results that will yield indicators to tell you if you are indeed achieving the "state of happiness" for the programs beneficiaries. Likewise, in relation to survey questionnaires, it is not the question itself that is important, but what indicator was defined by the Results Framework that is described by the question so that I might monitor and evaluate whether I am achieving my strategic objectives for the programs success for the community.

So, how would the Results Framework help me build better survey forms? A clear definition of what I am trying to achieve towards a desired state, will then guide me toward what are my objective to achieve that state, and what questions shall I ask myself periodically to determine if I have reached that state. If, after I produce my set of question, I see that some of questions seem relevant, but would not directly contribute to my knowledge of my stated goal.

The following shows an example. The Intermediate Results Strategies at the bottom would then be used to develop the questions to be asked to see if you are achieving your objectives



Again, this is a framework designed to enable you to map out and clearly illustrate what you want to do. Like my college English professor told me, "you really do not know what you are thinking until you begin writing it down"

What Am I Trying to Say?

Structure – Logic – Question Flow

As I have mentioned before, I have repeatedly found the technical aspects of PDA data collection do not seem to be daunting. What I mean is that the technical aspects of the PDA hardware and the forms development software do not seem to be difficult nor limiting factors in producing a viable form design. What the teams often struggle with are in the deciphering of the structure and logic of the existing paper survey forms. The development of a PDA software form just seems to enhance any inherent problems with the existing paper forms. What I like about mobile data bases (a PDA form), is that they demand a clear logic. This can be difficult to wrestle with - clearly understanding one's form before you actually build it. But, how many of us begin pouring concrete for the foundation of a house without first thinking, discussing and producing a design to meet the requirements?


An object if inquiry (in this case a paper or PDA form) might involve 3 elements:

Structure - Logic - Question Flow

By structure, I mean how the form is literally laid out on paper - the ink, so to speak. Not only does a paper survey form (or any image of communication) have the questions typed on the paper, but there are other non-textual cues in the form design functioning as aids and guides to the form. For example, there are non-question texts such as the title of the form, instructions for using the form ("ask the question, but do not provide any answers to the respondent for the possible choices to be recorded"). Also, formatting is used to denote hierarchical levels within the form (BOLD, 16 pt. font for the major survey section, BOLD 14 pt. font for sub sections, etc.), in addition to lines of varying thicknesses, colors and a multitude of other visual cues for the form user. These form structure elements need to be understood for their intent and duplicated on a far smaller PDA display.

The logic of the form is just that. It is similar to what computer programmers employ to replicate the logic of real world thinking. For example on a paper form a question might read, "Is the woman pregnant?" If the answer is yes, move to questions 14 through 22 on pre-natal health. If the woman answers No, then continue skip questions 14 through 22 and move directly to question 23 on household income. logic is actually contained within each and every question. Each question has an "entry" rule(s) in order to govern whether the question should be asked, and each question, once it has met the entry rule(s) has an in internal set of rules that will determine validation of what can be entered as a response.
For example, we will not accept the recording of the weight of a baby of the age range of two to five years of age, of less than zero kilograms, nor greater than 100 kilograms. I am freely using hyperbole here to demonstrate my point. Once we achieve interplanetary NGO efforts, we might need to re-write the logic of our survey forms. Lastly, each question has an "exit" rule that, depending on the other rules, determines what action to take or to which question is to be shown next. Of course, the majority of questions have very simple logic and simply progress in a lineal fashion; just record Yes or No for questions 1 through 108.

The question flow is strongly related to the question logic, but it more describes the overall intent of the questionnaire. It is something like the "stand back and look and what you are trying to achieve with the entire set of questions. Sometimes one can get too involved in the logic, rules, and details of each question and forget the objective of the form. For example, "Why are we taking the time and effort to ask this mother 108 questions? I recall that we only had 4 intermediate results defined in our Results Framework which resulted in 18 variables required for program analysis?" Are why designing a coherent form that leads both the interviewer and respondent in an understandable conversation that reaches beyond a survey instrument and incorporates a human-to-human discussion relevant to the program deliverables that will improve their lives. This is actually the most important part.
So, what is this Results Framework (alternatively termed the Logic Framework), and what value can it provide in designing a survey form, whether used on paper or a PDA? The fact is, the Results Framework determines what the question will be, while ensuring that the question asked (and the response content) will provide information to determine if a program efforts are indeed producing the desired result.

The Head Teacher Interview Form

Here is how the form looked on the PDA's after we agreed on the forms' intent. The first screen identifies to the interviewer the title of the form and its purpose. Note the Save the Children branding.



The next screen, shown below, regards data privacy and reminds the interviewer to ask for the respondents permission to be interviewed.



If the respondent declines and the interviewer records "No", then the form simply moves to the end of the form and instructs the interviewer to thank the respondent for their consideration.



If the responent agrees to the interview, the first screen of questions is presented to the interviewer.



For instance, instead of having to type in the interviewers own name, they simply "tap" with the PDA's stylus (onscreen equivalent to a PC's left mouse click) on the button entitled "Lookup..." to the right of "Interviewer Name" and they are presented with a list of interviewers..



The PDA form designer can either limit the interviewer to only a selection of pre-determined interviewer names from the Lookup list, or they can allow them to type in an additional name not listed. This is a design consideration, and often you will want to restrict the selection to an exclusive list of items presented (in this case, interviewers names). But, you always need to consider what unexpected conditions that might be encountered in the field and to allow flexibility for the PDA user to add to the list on-the-fly, so to speak.myself.

There are also the flexibility in form design to offer a list of multiple selections of responses to a question ("AND" responses)



Now, let's see how the logic of the "what is your highest level of academic achievement" question displayed.



When the interviewer taps the Lookup button, they are presented with the four choices, including "Other" (notice "please specify" does not need to be shown)



If the respondent provides one of the first three responses, it is simply recorded and then moves to the next question. however if they choose "Other", then they are instead directed to a screen and asked to type in the "Other" achievement.



There is no way out of this sequence of screens - the logic must be followed, unless the interviewer makes the incorrect selection. Even then, the PDA form designer has a multitude of ways to guide, or even force, the interviewer to make the correct choices. Few of this PDA form functions are available for a paper-and-clipboard method of surveys. You can write anything on a paper form...

Save the Children - Mangochi, Malawi

This one of the largest teams that I have had for my training sessions. It is well represented from a broad cross section of the disciplines here at the Mangochi district office of Save the Children USA here in Malawi. Not only are the M&E and IT representatives here, but interested representatives from the various field programs. What a delight!



Our focus for field testing the PDA's is going the Education group, and specifically a Head Teacher PDA survey form that we will test at a couple of schools. The training was conducted in a very large conference room well suited for meetings and presentations. But, I quickly realized I would need to help the participants by dissolving the wide circle of tables in order to bring the participants in closer. This was needful not only to bring them closer together physically in order to hear me speak (I do not lack, I have heard, the ability to project my voice) and to see the training materials, but more importantly to develop the sense of a team. So, I rearranged the room (to the obvious delight to some, and dismay to others desiring to remain on the fringe) to this:




The team quickly picked up on using the PDA's, and after I quickly designed a simple form, I asked for a decision on a form that we would design and take for field testing to the program location. They selected the Head Teacher Interview form, but decided to use it not only for the head teachers (principles), but also the rank and file teachers as well.

What follows is the first few questions of this candidate form. I will focus on the 2nd question of the form: "What is your highest academic qualification?"

Save the Children
Sponsorship Primary Education Program

2007 Standard 4 Data Collection

Headteacher Interview

School:___________________________ Name of Interviewer: _____________________________

Head’s Name: ________________ __________Sex: 0__Male /1 __Female: School Code: 19/__ __

1. Standard(s) teaching _____________
2. What is your highest academic qualification?
A) JCE/ B) MSCE/ C) "A” levels/ D) Other (Specify): ___

The first few questions of this form was simple enough, only requiring brief discussion on the response codes for gender and the source of school identification codes. However, question 2 asking "What is your highest level of academic achievement?" In order to overcome my deficiency on cultural and language, I try to watch for audible and visual cues provided by the group. After asking the group what this question meant, I noticed that several dissenting sub groups emerged. I gave time for their inter- and intra- sub group discussion to occur. I not only wanted them to arrive at a consensus, but I also wanted to observe their decision dynamics, for this team in particular, and possibly cultural, as a whole progressed.

Here was the issue. Question two had, what appeared to be, four different responses to the question, "what is your highest level of academic achievement?" The response could be JCE (2A) OR MSCE (2B) OR "A” levels (2C). There was a 4th response called "Other", which I termed (2D) for discussion purposes. This last response also indicate (but I was not sure), please specify the name of the "other" academic achievement. Actually I annotate all question and survey artifacts with shortened notations. I actually utilize these notations for scripting (a simple form of programming) used by the forms design software to define and operate the logic of the form.

Since a teacher could achieve several levels of academic achievement (e.g. our Bachelors, and then later Masters, or Doctorate degrees), the question was asking for the "highest". So, the response logic was of the "OR" type. You could only respond to one, not two or more. This Other was causing the debate. Was other in addition to a response of 2A, or 2B or 2C, or was it a distinct "highest" achievement of it's own, simply unnamed in the 3 responses?

The debate went on for 1 1/2 hours. I allowed it to proceed since I did not want to influence the decision. But I was also wanting to use this issue and a cause for describing how that paper forms often hide their logic. In addition, I wanted to also point out that the issue is not with the logic of the specific question, but rather goes back to the design of the survey based on the Results Framework. At one point, rather meanly, I even asked the question of how long this questionnaire had been being used? It is amazing how paper forms can perpetuate an illogical or misunderstood indicator.

The team decided that the "Other" was just another unlisted highest academic achievement that should be captured but was not listed in the other three responses. So, 2D was an "OR" response. There was actually a lot of discussion that "Other" actually meant an "AND" response with the intent to capture any additional academic achievement.

This discussion of the minutia of a single question is certainly tedious. But, it is just one example that I began to encounter while endeavoring to have a team build a form in order to field test for value determination of PDA's to replace paper survey methods. In the very beginning I tended to overlook this close examination of the actual meaning of each of the survey questions. But, as I did, I found that our post field test reviews of the data collected tended towards lively debates of what the data meant. I then realized that the issue was neither with the data nor the PDA form, but a lack of consensus of the meaning of the question, or more accurately, what was the presumption of what the answer would provide. I saw that if there was not a clear understanding of the structure, logic and question flow, then I not only could not train a team to produce a usable PDA form, but worse yet, I would possibly perpetuate an instrument of mis-information that might directly affect peoples lives.

Nkopola Lodge - Mangochi, Malawi

We stopped by briefly at the Save the Children office here in Mangochi. After a few introductions, notably with my PDA Team Leader Francis Mabeti, Lloyd Msiska, the Information Technology (IT) manager, and Amy Richmond, the Sponsorship Program Manager.

Francis is the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) manager (I will describe what M&E is about later) and he and I will work together closely. Lloyd not only keeps the computer systems operational, but he also manages the transportation logistics. Amy is who I would describe as being responsible for the Mangochi Sub-Office.

Since we had been traveling for most all day, I was then taken to my lodgings during my work here. Now, I never know what kind of place I will be staying, which makes it interesting. It can be simply a guest house, hotel, or with a staff member at their private residence (my preference). I usually do not ask questions about my accommodations, but I just leave it up to the CO. They know best how to provide secure accommodations in the context of the area. All of my expenses while in country are paid for by the Westport It group of Save the Children, but the biggest issue for me is not to cause unnecessary effort or indirect expense to the CO. By this, I mean, I try to stay close to the office in order to minimize the logistics of picking me up each morning.

So, I began to be a bit disappointed in after an hour travel north we still had not reached my lodging. Later, it was explained that, as in Liliongwe, there was a huge gap between types of lodging in Mangochi. We soon turned off of the paved road onto a dirt road and arrive at the Nkopola Lodge after but a mile.



Well, was I wrong. It was beautiful. The Lodge is located right on the southwest shores of Lake Mangochi. The staff courteously greeted me and I was taken to my small room, somewhat of a small cottage with the back facing the white sandy beach of the lake. I unpacked and plugged in all of my PDA's to make sure that they had a full charge for tomorrows training session.



The next morning dawned on a stunning sight out my back sliding glass door. This was one of the beautiful places that I had been to. I called up room service and asked for my breakfast to be delivered to my room. When the young man arrived with my breakfast, I asked that he walk through and place it on the table outside so I could view the lake while dining. As I sat down, I saw that it was so beautiful that I turned to go inside and grab my PDA to take a picture. Within the few seconds time span, two monkeys took position on a low wall separating me from the adjacent room not more than four feet away. I had no idea that there were monkeys here, and they just showed up out of nowhere!



Well, these two uninvited simian breakfast guests were inching towards my breakfast even as I drew back to the table with PDA camera in hand. They removed themselves back along the wall to watch me dine. The moment that I finished and walked inside closing the glass doors, they, and two others pounced on the table and lifted the plates to lick off the contents - all without knocking over a glass or disturbing a utensil.

On the next few mornings, I began to notice that the monkeys would scurry across the cottage roof tops in parallel to the movements of the room service delivery persons. In this way, I knew when my meal was about to be delivered - when they paused on my roof. Sure enough, a knock at the door and everyone was ready to eat!

Astride the Malawi and Tanzania Border

I am about to leave for Mangochi to start the three days of training and field activities. There will be two days of training for the hardware and software and then a third day of field testing of the forms that the team designs. This will be a bit of a compressed schedule, but I have learned how to be flexible under field conditions.


I enjoyed my drive from Lilongwe to Mangochi yesterday. This very fine highway extends southeast out of Lilongwe and follows a elevated spine directly east of Tanzania. It rains intermittently here a great deal during this season. The weather is delightfully warm (thawing out from Armenia still!), but fortunately it is not hot, but it is lush and green. The views to the plains below were some of the most spectacular that I have ever seen.



At one point when I discovered that Malawi was on our left and another country which I had not visited was on our right, I asked the driver to pull over that I could enter another country without having to present my passport to an immigration official. Walking back across the highway (carefully) to our vehicle, I drew a crowd of children with my camera. They were delightful.




Later, I noticed young children standing at the side of the highway lifting up colored plastic bowls. I knew that they were selling something, so I asked the driver to pull over. He smiled and soon I found several children pushing bowls of dried ants towards me. So, I ate ants. They are a nutritious source of protein, great for on-the-road snacks for the myriad truck drivers. They have a slight slight crunchy texture with a slight hint of formic acid, and definitely do not taste like chicken!

Lilongwe, Malawi

It is Friday and the second day here in Malawi. I arrived yesterday in the early afternoon after a short stay at the Nairobi Airport in Kenya. I had been studying the security reports (I receive three from two different sources) to assess any risk to the airport. Mr. Franko, the Save the Children dedicated travel agent, informed me that there were no flight cancellations. I am not one to be overly concerned about such things. But I do like to be informed so that I can make the best decision. I learned this from Save the Children’s security unit and from a brief discussion with Paul O'Neil, whom I literally bumped into while trying to locate the coffee in the Save the Children Washington DC office.

The violence and demonstrations over the disputed elections and tribal conflicts were continuing in Nairobi and other regions to the north. The only evidence that I saw was an increased in armed guards in the airport terminal and even patrolling on the tarmac.

I was picked up by a driver from the Save the children here in the capital city of Lilongwe. Mali is a small country, but very green (during the rainy season) and full of friendly, accepting people. The country is notable for Lake Malawi, which occupies nearly 1/5 of this entire narrow land in south central Africa. This lake is often called the "year" lake, since it is approximately 365 miles long and 52 miles wide. My GPS unit showed it being at about 3,440 feet elevation, which explains in part the relatively cool weather just 13 degrees south of the equator.



Derrick, the driver, took me to the Capital Hotel. At first look, I thought to myself, "This will be comfortable". Actually, I can stand a bit more uncomfortable than this fine hotel - a little too fancy for me. In part, I saw this, because I have noted that the predisposition to being able to converse with strangers staying at a hotel is in inverse proportion to the price of the lodging. Still, I am not complaining, but the Capital Hotel will be very secure and restful before my field work commences, and the office negotiated a very fine rate for my room. I realize that it is prudent to not talk to strangers, but gee whiz, everyone has the ability to be polite when one is greeted. Maybe when I am more successful and think more highly of my position, I will be less likely to press a greeting.



On the other hand it is so easy to talk to the housekeepers, groundskeepers, etc. They are very friendly here and not at all surprised to be greeted. For instance, I walked outside the corridor from my room and noticed a man who had just set down what looked like a heavy cardboard box. I walked over to him and greeted him in English, since I have neglected to teach myself any Chichewa phrases. I could tell that he knew English probably only a bit better than my Chichewa. But, I tapped the box in front of us with my foot. He did indicate that it was full of glasses. I leaned forward slightly at my waist as he looked on, then I grasped my lower back with the palm of my hand. At this, he smiled and we both chuckled. We both understood that this was a very heavy box to lift and to carry. We indicated goodbye and we both walked away laughing. So easy....



On the other hand, when I was asked at the Save the Children office what I would like to eat for lunch, I found myself at the local eatery in the same building. I could hear the discussion on where to take me. I encounter this often as everyone sincerely wants me to feel comfortable and at home. I finally interrupted and simply asked, "Where do all of you eat for lunch?" I was told that a cafe was within this business complex just a few doors away. I replied, "That is where I want to eat also!"

Well, that was my kind of place. Reuben the Office Administrator, who accompanied me quickly pointed out that I could use a fork or a spoon for the Nsima (similar to corn grits from the American South) if I preferred. I quickly noticed that everyone in this crowded cafe were using their hands, which I am familiar with, especially since I travel to Muslim countries. After ordering our meal, Reuben directed me to a small table up front which was empty. On it were two plastic glasses filled with Western-style utensils - spoon, fork, and knife. There was no way that I was going to pick up any of those implements when the food arrived. All eyes were glancing at me time to time, especially when the food arrived. Smiles glimmered as I began eating with my right hand - the correct hand.



On our return back to the office from our dining experience I noticed a sign above a storefront advertising as an insurance agency. It stated that it Offered Protection from First Class Professionals. I know that for myself that I likely do not encounter first class professionals requiring that I obtain some level of protection from their unscrupulous advances. Rather, I probably would need protection from the mediocre grade of professionals. But, I thought that I should, in any case stop, in and ask for a list of these high-grade professionals so as to be on the alert for their subterfuge! I am not totally ignorant that my North American delivery of English communication is the only correct method in the world. Each country that uses the English language has developed their own functional linguistics of deployment. Still, one finds individual humor at the unlikeliest turns and it is best probably spared from being shared beyond one's self. You decide.


I spoke by phone with Amy Richmond who is the Program/Sponsorship manager located in the Mangochi District in the Southern Region of Malawi. We discussed my arrival in Mangochi and a few logistical details. I will have ten persons for my two day training session. This will be great! Later, I also spoke with the Country Office Director (COD) Paul MeCartney. Paul was among the most unassuming, engaging COD that I have spoken with.

Most of my day was spent with the IT Manager and Field Office Regional Technician (FORT) for the Africa Area, Kondwani Mtalimanja. On Sunday, I will travel to this area to conduct the training. We will have an opportunity to field test some forms, and then I will return late Thursday to catch a flight the following day back to the U.S.