Where have all the MDP Summer Blogs Gone?

When deciding on a graduate school program, I spent a lot of time reading through Columbia MPA-DP students' experiences during their summer fieldwork internships in the Millennium Villages. Then last summer, after deciding to go to Columbia SIPA, I read students' blogs of their experiences in the Millennium Villages as well. One of the reasons I liked Columbia's MPA-DP (aka "MDP") program is the summer internship in rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa. I was looking forward to going to a Millennium Village as part of my professional development; not because I 100% believe in the project (which has received plenty of criticism from smart people), but because I wanted to work in a rural community. I also wanted to expand my experience in sub-Saharan Africa beyond Madagascar (which is not even really Africa, to hear some Malagasy tell it). But instead of going to a Millennium Village, I ended up trying something completely different (working in an office, in a city, in southeast Asia)...

Still I like to read about the experiences my colleagues are having in the Millennium Village sites, and I thought some of you readers (and maybe some of you new MPD-DP students-to-be?) would like to as well. Unfortunately, not too many students are keeping blogs this year it seems (at least from Columbia University's students). They are probably too busy working and learning and doing to write it all down! But there is one blog I wanted to alert you to: Deborah in Tabora. Debi documents her work in education in Tanzania's Millennium Village, and I am particularly interested to see how the participatory photography trainings work out. You can read about her previous experience with participatory photography in Kenya here (the results are awesome: students get to tell their stories through photos and poetry/prose).

The only other classmate who is blogging online is Rafa, who runs an incredibly detailed Agricultural Development blog. He tells of his experience working with UN REACH in Mozambique. Check them both out!