Former Intern Feature Story: Robert Harwell, Part II

This is a continuation of Robert's experience as a Technical and Vocational Education intern at RTI. Keep following us for more insights.

You can view the introduction to this series here. You can also check out Part I of the series.

Describe what your day-to-day looked like during your internship.

During my RTI internship, I was responsible for evaluating the impact of the K-YES program on key employment, social and personal development outcomes. My day-to-day schedule varied depending on the entire team’s schedule. I should note that there is no such thing as an “average” day in the world of international development (something I have learned to truly appreciate). I designed a 32-question survey and trained five local enumerators on interviewing and data entry practices. Over the course of five days, our team was able to complete 502 surveys – allowing for a more robust study. After the data collection period ended, I analyzed the data by conducting various types of regression analyses in order to identify significant patterns and relationships. My internship concluded with a presentation of the study’s findings to RTI’s K-YES team; I facilitated a participatory workshop focused on using the results to inform future programming and evaluation practices.

My apartment was about a 10-minute walk to the RTI office, for which I was grateful because it meant I didn’t have to navigate Nairobi’s intense traffic. Mornings are my most productive time of day, so I would often leave my apartment between 7-8 AM. Right outside of the office was a young man who sold rolexes. No, not the fancy watches! In Kenya, a rolex is a quick and easy meal consisting of a couple of fried eggs wrapped up into buttery chapati (which is basically a tortilla). I’d often hang around for a few minutes to chat with him, hoping to improve my nonexistent Swahili.

After breakfast, I’d head to the office and catch up with Jack, our main tech-wiz, and the three young Kenyans who cleaned and served coffee/tea to us throughout the day. Then, I’d settle into my workspace and, while my laptop was booting up, I’d walk around the office and greet each of the team members (there were about 10 or so in our office). They’d often ask me if I had learned any new words in Swahili, and we’d all share a laugh when I either attempted to speak or, in most cases, told them that I had already forgotten how to say something. When I returned to my workspace, I’d sift through my emails and begin tackling my to-do list for that day (i.e., developing my survey, analyzing the data, typing up a report).

Around 11 AM, the young man who served us coffee/tea would bring me a cup of coffee; I always marveled at how he remembered exactly how I drank it after only asking once on my first day. Each time he came over to my desk, I’d ask him to give me a “word of the day” – something in Swahili that I would focus on remembering throughout the day and would be tested on later. I would continue working at my desk until it was time for lunch. Most days, I would work through lunch (I’m a bit of a perfectionist and wanted to make the most out of my limited time). However, about halfway through the summer, I learned that roughly half of the office spent their lunch hour across the street practicing yoga. Yes! We had an office yoga practice three days a week right across the street. When I told my colleagues that I practiced yoga at home they chuckled, and invited me to join them; they warned me that it would be much different than what I might be anticipating. I was expecting a relaxing, breathe-in-breathe-out, light stretching type of yoga. Was I wrong! It was essentially a combination of Zumba and Barry’s Bootcamp, with long periods of downward-facing dog poses in-between.

We typically returned to the office around 2:30-3 PM, just in time for yet another cup of coffee/tea. If I didn’t have a meeting scheduled with my supervisor, the Deputy Chief of Party, or with the Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, then I’d continue working on whatever I had on my to-do list for the day. I’d wrap up a bit before 5 PM, and often stop at one of the many bars or restaurants that were on my way home or at the K-1 Klub, an outdoor market area. Although I had a kitchen in my apartment, I preferred to eat out so I could eat as much Kenyan food as possible during my three-month stay.

Repeat four times per week.

Why only four? Because on Friday, everyone in the office left at noon and started their weekend. On these days, I’d either grab lunch, meet up with a few friends that I had met over time, or begin my weekend road trip to a new part of the country. I was fortunate enough to explore a little bit of Kenya outside of Nairobi. For example, I spent four days in Masai Mara, where I went on safaris and visited a Masai village (probably my favorite trip!); I visited the home village of one of my friends from the University of Arizona (a Kenyan national conducting summer fieldwork); and, I enjoyed one full week at Lake Nakuru National Park with the entire K-YES team (members came from posts all throughout the country and from the US).

Be sure to check back tomorrow to read more about Robert's experience!