Field Placement:  Réseau Africain de l’Education pour la Santé (RAES)
Location: Dakar, Senegal
Preceptor:
Student Name: Philip Massey
Year: 2008

During my 2008 summer field studies I interned at the Réseau Africain de l’Education pour la Santé (RAES) in Dakar, Senegal. RAES is a non-governmental organization that was first started through a partnership with the Senegalese Government and UCLA. RAES’ mission is to train, teach, and unite the Senegalese population and its health professionals through the use of information and communication technologies (ICT), specifically with the goal of advancing activities for the further development of Senegal. The Senegalese government believes strongly in the role RAES can play in minimizing the digital divide in Senegal, especially concerning health communications and education.

While working for this non-governmental organization, my jobs included curriculum formalization, project evaluation, health surveillance, and professional capacity building. Through these various roles and responsibilities, I was able to both develop my professional skills as well as contribute to RAES’ development and success.           

My responsibilities at RAES were realized through four major objectives, each contributing to the professional development of RAES. My first major responsibility included helping formalize five training modules intended to aid students in developing HIV/AIDS messages using information and communication technologies (ICT); the curriculum was developed using problem-based learning, encouraging active participation from students. Secondly, in order to document and evaluate the effectiveness of the summer training, I was also responsible for developing and administering a web-based questionnaire to the participating youth, also to be administered at the end. A third objective at RAES focused on capacity building through distance learning, realized through the creation of Internet modules that taught useful skills when navigating and creating content for the web. Finally, I was responsible for creating and implementing a health surveillance survey on maternal and child health issues in the town of Odobere, located 12 hours from the capital city of Dakar.

In order to fulfill these responsibilities, I worked with members of the RAES team as well as individually. I was able to produce curriculum formalization documents that served to guide consultants in developing their lessons. In addition to the curriculum, I developed a web-based questionnaire that will serve as an evaluation tool, measuring changes in knowledge, attitude, and behavior. For the distance learning project, I helped develop five Internet modules intended to “demystify” the Internet, teaching skills that will enable professionals to move away from pure Internet content consumption and towards Internet content production. Lastly, I conceptualized and conducted a village-wide health surveillance survey that examined child immunization coverage, prenatal care, and family planning access. Data from 105 women were collected and will be placed in a report to be handed back to the local and regional medical directors.

I will continue to be in contact with RAES during my second year at UCLA. I finished my internship willing to offer consultation and to help with future projects. I feel that my relationship with the team was and remains very strong, and that it will continue to be a productive and meaningful professional relationship.

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