Monthly Archives: October 2013

Reading Banker to the Poor by Dr. Yunus

October 27, 2013

Field work’s been delayed for a day, so I spent my much-needed rest day reading: Banker to the Poor by Muhammad Yunus. I remember clearly one specific sentence from Dr. Yunus’ talk at UBC when I was in undergrad. “We took everything from a conventional bank and turned it all upside down.” This book detailed his start with Grameen Bank and future hopes for a world full of social-consciousness-driven entreprises. Despite all the criticism that has been leveled at the […]

Exam logistics

October 26, 2013

I deal with a lot of logistics in my work in Tanzania. Mostly it involves trying to make sure about 40,000 student tests are matched to the right student and transported safely back from the field, twice a year. And a load of other things that mostly involves being a polite control freak with the data firm. It just struck me the other day what an amazing job countries do year in, year out to ensure all their student tests are […]

The Middle Class

October 21, 2013

As in most other places, I interact mostly with the middle class on a daily basis, in work and personal life. While the definition of middle class may be changing, there is still a distinct culture that defines those who are not born with a golden key, who obtain a good education, and who take it for granted that the future will be better than the past. What I have realised eventually is that while it is the middle class and the elites who […]

A Talisman

October 21, 2013

Another round of field work is coming up soon. In fact, I should have left already. As always, there are some glitches with the logistics (which is not handled by me; we hired a data firm). As always, the start date has been delayed for a day or two. Which leaves me some unexpected down time to wonder. Sometimes, I wonder, in the big scheme of things, is what I’m doing actually going to help make the world a bit […]

New home

October 21, 2013

I have moved homes! My old blog (http://blogs.landfood.ubc.ca/tiffanyt/) has been forced to shut down, so I migrated to the new UBC blogs site. I have a new resolve to blog more regularly. Specifically, at least 3 times a week. (Yes, I know, I have said this many times before!)