UC Davis Blum Center for Developing Economies

Figure 1 . Violet steps into the role of teacher at the first workshop in Athol March 20, 2016: Week 3 was a whirlwind with three workshops in three different villages across the Mnisi community. The first was in Athol and, after receiving a confirmation for 20 attendees, we were delighted to see 31 eager and interested participants. The church was bustling with men and women, young and old, all wanting to learn about how they could improve the health of their households. I was amazed at how the Environmental Monitors could capture each and everyone’s attention and how comfortable they were standing in front of the room next to a flip chart. I watched as the lessons I had taught them a week ago were being translated and presented by the Environmental Monitors to a new audience. I could see how they were applying the principles of inquiry and making the workshops learner- rather than teacher-centered. I observed the activities and looked on proudly as the learners “milked cows”...

Figure 1 . Environmental Monitors harvest "vegetables" that have been contaminated with glitter to demonstrate indirect transmission of pathogens March 7, 2016: Week 2 introduced the “Healthy Community, Healthy Household, Healthy You” curriculum to the Environmental Monitors. They learned Proficiency 1: Health, Disease, and Pathogen Transmission and Proficiency 2: Understanding Disease Risk. After going through the curriculum themselves with me as the teacher, they will be expected to teach it to a group of community members from three different villages. The schedule is such that the four-proficiency curriculum will be broken into two workshops. Workshop 1 will occur at the end of the Environmental Monitors’ second week and will contain the first two proficiencies; Workshop 2 will take place at the end of the third week and will include Proficiency 3 (Understanding Risk Mitigation and Health Promotion) and Proficiency 4 (One Health in Action). With this design, the Envi...

Figure 1 . Environmental Monitors receive their training handbooks on Day 1 Monday, February 29, 2016: Leap Day, and in many ways, this day signified a giant leap for myself, the project, and all those from the community who are and will be involved. I am here in South Africa on the outskirts of the world-famous Kruger National Park, not for the wildlife viewing – although I have seen everything from rhinos to leopards on my drive to and from work – but for the communities who call this wild place home.  As a PhD candidate at UC Davis, I have developed a program (Developing Excellence in One Health Training and Leadership) that aims to teach a select group of people from the villages how to be leaders and educators, such that they may share important health messages with their communities. This area is one that has been hard hit by HIV, TB, and malaria, infectious diseases that are preventable with the proper knowledge and resources. In addition, many people lack access to...

Sabotay , an informal savings mechanism, is often formed by merchants who work in the same area such as those pictures here selling cold drinks or offering moto-taxi rides in Place Boyer. Se Pa Fasil in Haitian Creole means “it’s not easy”. For the Haitian working poor, the small quantities of cash available on a daily basis are not always sufficient to prepare a meal, much less to seed a savings account. On the other hand, savings can cushion essential consumption from the ups and downs of inconsistent revenues generated by small businesses in the informal sector. Meanwhile, major expenditures such as education costs and investment in micro-business activities hold hope for exiting poverty. Thus, the poor become skilled financial managers juggling present, short and long-term needs with the tools available to them. What are these tools in Haiti? The most straightforward savings method is to keep cash. A study by the World Bank for the Global Findex estimates 20% of Hait...