My computer is not repaired yet, I have brought it to an Acer shop hoping they can do something for my little baby. Anyway, I still have a lot to tell about this week, which like all the other one, was crazy in term of disorganization and incompetence.

 On Tuesday, we held a seminar on gender-based violence in the Parktonian Hotel, a nice 4 stars venue with coffee, tea and food at the break. Different actors, including people from the Department of Education, were attending this seminar. Really, for what I am going to write, I would have like to do it in French, my mother tongue, but I will try to keep the same level of emotion in English.

 Tuesday all started by the coming of my boss Emily, in the intern’s office. At last minute (like always), she asked Dimitri to present one of our ‘’research’’ to the audience. On the invitation sheet, his name was written, like if he had agreed to do so, but nobody ever spoke to him about his new duty. Of course, he said no, politely like he always is, another guy would just have said f**k you.

 I want you to realize the level of gravity of the situation, in a country where gender-based violence is extremely high, you ask an intern not qualified at all to present in front of the Department of Education a ‘’what you call’’ research on gender-based violence, to praise the merits of the Youth and Violence Prevention Program.

 Let me speak about the data we presented, this dishonest research where we tried to fool everyone, and where we finally only fooled ourselves. We, at the Youth and Violence Prevention Program, are working on false data and assumptions, which I think is a completely dishonest, but also non-legal practice.

 Two weeks ago, we were in another 4 stars hotel to rewrite life-skills manual with really dodgy content. At the end of this little 3 days trip, we decided in about 10 minutes what we will be presenting for the gender-based violence seminar. In our research, which we never done, we used data based on the camp we held maybe one month ago with the girls, and to who I have written a tribute article for them, a way for me to show them respect for all their courage and honesty. As I said, most of them have been raped, sexually molested, or whatsoever you call those insane acts.

 Well, my boss was not even at the camp, probably working on other stuff, but let me quote her : ‘’ Ok so Ludovic, you guys have said that 12 girls on 15 have been raped, so let’s say that’s make 70% of them. And for teen age pregnancy, you have said that only one of them had a kid, ok so let’s make it 7%’’.

 At the seminar this week, that is the data we presented in front of the Department of Education, pretending we had a research methodology, and efficient methods. In a research where the sample is about fifteen girls, all supposed to work for the CSVR after their formation, tell me where is the big deal?

 I cannot describe my level of disappointment and frustration for what follows, because our boss even dared to invite some of the girls from the camp at the seminar. So I asked her this question: ‘’ aren’t we suppose to keep any kind of confidentiality about what happened at the camp? ‘’. I’d also should have add: ‘’about the fact that everybody was crying when telling what happened in their life, because it’s so hard to speak about a past that every day you are trying to reject, but still is and always will be part of what you are, and also because you are too incompetent to achieve a real research, with a real sample and real methods’’.

 She simply said to me:’’ Oh but look, we will present this data like if we were not speaking about them, so they won’t realize anything’’.

 So then I should have answered: ‘’ go f**k yourself ‘’.

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 My internship is a real mess I will tell you. I am not scared of saying so and I will tell you more if nothing else happens. Our program is spending thousands of dollars enjoying 4 stars hotel and eating first class food, despite presenting miserable researches. Imagine if this kind of data is registered by the government , and after published in papers, or even broadcast on tv. Problems in Africa are far from over then…

 My program pretend to enhance the quality of life of the South African people, I pretend they are lying to every of them. Nobody in my program has an expertise to lead an efficient project, a solid research. I could go pick anyone in the Soweto or in the Soshanguve townships and he would surely do a better job, only because he knows what struggle is.

 People I work with are afraid of everybody. They say that I shouldn’t go there, that I shouldn’t speak to those kinds of people, that Nigerians are dangerous men.

 I have been in townships, a lot of times, I got drunk in those townships and I made friends in there. Even if there is a lot of problems in these neighborhoods, I still saw a lot of smiles. People living in there don’t need wealthy people holding seminar in hotels pretending to know what poverty is, or what living with HIV is, they know all better than us.

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