Trip to Peru-Work Shops

My purpose of being in Peru is for a workshop that deals with PMEL (Planning, Monitoring, Evaluating, Learning).  The purpose behind this role is that in today's world of travel and media which allows people to see more and learn more, they also are asking more questions as to where their money is going, how it is being spent, and if it is having an impact.  Gone are the days where people gave without asking too many questions.  For me it is actually a good thing that donors are educating themselves and asking more questions.  It forces organizations to take a closer look at themselves.  It make them evaluate themselves and learn from this.  During my years in Guatemala one of the questions I always wondered about was "what impact are we having"?  This is also one of the questions I will have to ask in AMG Guatemala.   As you know AMG is involved with educating children.  However, the question is not simply how many kids are graduating, but also how many are able to find a job.  We are interested in transformation.  We want children to go through the program not only to be changed and transformed themselves, but to be agents of change and transformation in their communities.  So far the workshop has been good although for me it has been somewhat challenging since I have to learn new terminology and concepts.  In general the things I am learning make sense and are things that I have experience in during my time in Cubulco.  I am here with Sander Verduijn of Woord en Daad who is facilitating the seminar, Willie and Diego who work with CDA Colombia, and Marta from Nicaragua.  We are just a small group, but that allows us to move along quickly and share ideas.