Learning The Trade

I have been quite distraught during the past few days. I have not been able to do work. I have been successfully flipping through papers and opening files but without much achievement in terms of outputs. In my case, at least a coherent paragraph that would consist a policy paper.

I have been agonizing on what to do or why I could not think or even simply comprehend the research reports I have been reading.

Today, I came to work with a renewed sense of motivation... I planned to change strategies and look through models, being seemingly lost and inexperienced that I am now.

Of course, Google was a savior. Again. . Search words: policy paper child. First on the search results: National Center For Children In Poverty.

Already, I found some good material that I hope to learn from.

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Work Notes

http://www.ualr.edu/iog/format.html#PA

 

POLICY ANALYSIS PAPER FORMAT

 

The final policy analysis paper should be approximately 30 pages in length. The executive summary is especially important. The required format for the paper contains the following sections:

 

Title Page

Executive Summary

Table Of Contents

 

Background of problem

Description of problem situation

Outcomes of prior efforts to solve problem

 

Scope and severity of problem &emdash; quantify the problem

Assessment of past policy performance

Magnitude of Problem situation/Symptoms

Justification for the need for analysis

 

Problem Statement

Definition of problem

Identification of major stakeholders, their goals and objectives and positions with respect to problem

Identify criteria measures/indicators to be used for evaluation

 

Policy Alternatives

Identification and description of alternatives

Evaluation of alternatives with respect to the criteria

Project the outcomes for each alternative

Identify constraints, tradeoffs, and political feasibility of each alternative

 

Forecasted Effects and Analysis of Each Option

Outline impacts of each policy

Assessment of the positive and negative impacts

 

Comparison of Options

Evaluate (Rank) different options based on the different goals

Cost/Benefit Analysis

Other models

 

Recommendations

Description of preferred alternative(s)

Outline of implementation strategy

Establish provisions for monitoring and evaluation

 

References

 

Appendices

Tables, graphs, and other exhibits not suitable for the body of the paper.

 

Hope.

 

"All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

- Romans 8:25(NKJV).

 

http://findingsupergirl.blogspot.com

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I Was Once a Scientist....

... or at least I tried to become one - no I pretended to be one. Just to survive the rigors. And eventually concluding molecular science was challenging, very challenging... but it was not the piece of cake I can have and eat.

I did a thesis on an actin-binding protein called coronin in Acanthamoeba healyi - I am quite sure you do not care what that is, but it's a one-celled organism that you can find everywhere. It sometimes causes keratitis in contact lense wearers.

Too bad the paper cannot be readily accessed online... but the biblio entry goes this way:

Acanthamoeba healyi: Molecular cloning and characterization of a coronin homologue, an actin-related protein
Experimental Parasitology, Volume 110, Issue 2, June 2005, Pages 114-122
Eleonor T. Baldo, Eun-Kyung Moon, Hyun-Hee Kong and Dong-Il Chung

.... you can read the abstract, though.

 I also did a stool survey. It was more fun and rewarding, because I get to talk with street kids and give them deworming tablets. But the sample size was too small to make a significant contribution to prevalence surveys. The Korean Journal of Parasitology accepted my study as a "brief communication." The article can be viewed online for free.
Bibliographical entry goes this way:

BALDO ET, BELIZARIO VY, DE LEON WU, KONG HH, CHUNG DI.
Infection status of intestinal parasites in children living in residential institutions in Metro Manila, the Philippines.
Korean J Parasitol. 2004 Jun;42(2):67-70


That was my short stint as a scientist - in complete lab get-up and all. But that was just once. So call it a past life. :)

(Why don't I have formatting buttons in my create post window? I'm typing plain text and can't even post a picture!)

Hope.

 

"All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

- Romans 8:25(NKJV).

 

http://findingsupergirl.blogspot.com

Notes at Work

I found this three days after I first reported to work. I think these are the tasks I should be doing... I say 'found" because wasn't given a formal orientation and turn-over and I literally found these notes from the stuff left by the former occupant of the table I'm now using..

Research and Development Policy Analysis Process

1. Study results and recommendations of the study.
2. Define the problem: What specific problems does the study address?
3. Review of related literature:
a. Related laws (local and international)
b. Related studies
c. History of the issue
d. International experiences
4. Review and analysis if existing laws and programs.
5. Summary and initial analysis of the study
6. Concept paper for the round table discussion for specific issues
7. Round table discussion: Feedback of implementing agency on the study and initial analysis. (The R and D team finds it necessary to conduct a meeting among agencies concerned to input possible policy innovations.
8. Further analysis
9. Final policy paper to be distributed to the concerned agencies, WB and ADB
10. Two to three page summary for popular form
11. Round table discussion of specific policies to be recommended to the Board.
12. Meeting with Regions
13. Publication of Policy Paper in CWC website
14. Dissemination of the study to the Regions.

Playing with Ate Connie's Phone Camera

Lights around Hotel Dominique.

Barangay Maitim, Km. 55, Aguinaldo Highway,

Tagaytay City, Philippines

Excerpt: Pambie's "Surrender" Song

Chorus:

Today is a day of surrender.

I hang limp of my defenses and embrace YOUR many graces.

Surrender is the loveliest way to die.

It may strip me of the countless masks I have been wearing.

On my knees my contrite heart is weeping.

I painfully surrender to live in YOUR arms.

Street

August 18, 2005

On an FX bound for Taft

 

A kid defecates on the sidewalk.

His mother and siblings are on a mat not far from him.

The automobiles run along the highway.

Indifferent.

How can a mother allowe her children to live on the street?

It does not even support the argument of survival.

An organism that wants to ensure survival will seek the least harmful environment.

 

 

Crunch Time

I'm cramming.
And it's supposed to be a long weekend.
Quezon City Day tomorrow. We're allowed to take part of the festivities which means we get to have a holiday.

But...
I'm cramming.

Comfort Zone

The airport has become to me a familiar place already. Not because of the frequency of my flying and going to different places, in fact, the last time I rode a plane and that was after more than a year - was when I went to Boracay with my husband.

I have seemed to include among my love expressions, picking up or sending off a friend or a family member who is coming back or leaving the country.

It is also a sacred place - the airport. If you will only see the rituals that are constantly performed with each van or carload of people and baggages, with each announcement of a plane arriving or boarding.

Sometimes, it is so beautiful, you feel like hugging each arriving passenger or each relative or friend that is left behind.

 

Bon Voyage.

Welcome Home.

--
eleonor@lakan.net
www.neoversity.com.ph/courses/
http://communitylibrary.blogspot.com/

Meaning in Meaninglessness

A sense of meaninglessness is okay.

As long as it doesn't last more than it should.

A sense of meaninglessness for some becomes opportunity for reflection,

a desiring for wisdom, which,

when sought,

can be found.

www.neoversity.com.ph/courses/
http://communitylibrary.blogspot.com/

Back Breaking

I've been breaking my back formatting a table in Microsoft Word. That's all I did for a day! And my back actually hurts! (Did you notice the exclamation marks?!!!).

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More Tension Pains!

I actually had some work done! I love the Internet!

Now, how do I not get sued for plagiarism?

 

Sites About Iron Deficiency Anemia in the Philippines

 

http://www.tulane.edu/~internut/Countries/Philippines/philippinesiron.html

-          Contains data from the (1998) 5^th National Nutrition Survey conducted by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) as well as good information on legislation and programs.

-          Overview of The Micronutrient Report: Current Progress in the Control of Vitamin A, Iodine, and Iron Deficiencies.:   http://www.tulane.edu/~internut/publications/mns-synth0.doc

 

 

http://www.up.edu.ph/newsletter/1998/01/main.html

- This is an abstract of a paper presented during the Asian Regional Meeting on Nutritional Problems hosted by the International Society of Pediatric Nutrition (ISPEN) on 24-25 October 1997 in Bangkok, Thailand).

 

http://www.fnri.dost.gov.ph/htm/fncent.htm

-          FOOD AND NUTRITION RESEARCH INSTITUTE Homepage

-          Medium-Term Philippine Food and Nutrition Plan, 1999-2004

     (PHILIPPINE PLAN OF ACTION FOR NUTRITION - PPAN): http://www.fnri.dost.gov.ph/htm/ppan.htm

 

 

 

http://www.up.edu.ph/florencio.pdf

-          PDF version: Food and Nutritional Status of Filipinos and Nutrition Integration, Cecilia A. Florencio (2003)

-          Gives good recent situationer and evaluation of nutrition policies and programs in the Philippines

 

 

 

Tension Pain

I'm supposed to be seriously at work right now.

I'm supposed to read a research entitled "Cost Effectiveness of Deworming and Weekly Iron Supplementation in the reduction of Anemia Among Preschoolers: A Field Test" (Nutrition Center of the Philippines, 2003).

I'm supposed to.

But the laptop I'm using has a LAN cable connected to it.

And I have unlimited internet.

 

But, I really should get back to work.

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Rainy

I get to go to bed with a blanket over me

And the windows are even closed

 

Come, rain.

Come, wind. 

Wash away

What dust I have accumulated

On the surface

Of my streets

What dirt I have placed

On the crevices

Of my walls

 

 

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