Project Everest Brianna Kerr

Daily Activity & Achievement Log

DATE

27/11

28/11

HOURS

ACTIVITY / ACHIEVEMENT

Arrived in Malawi and completed an in-country induction that was

inclusive of emergency response activities, a recap of the Design
Thinking Process and a presentation on the Project Everest rules
and values. As a team, we made a plan for the coming week that
would ensure that the beginning of our pilot investigation would be
thorough. We divided into three groups: data collection back end,
data collection front end, and stakeholder engagement. I am a
member of the data collection front end team which entails creating
the survey and modelling the interview dynamic.

As a member of the data collection front end team today I worked

on the design of the survey that we would be undertaking in the
villages. This included modelling how we would interview and what
it would look like.
I also drafted an email for the stakeholder engagement team for
them to send to local organisations that have been working in the
area in the hope of receiving some meeting times.
Travelled from our base and went to Nancholi village to meet with
the Nancholi Youth Organisation (NAYO). NAYO is a medical
assistance organisation that helps isolated Malawians access
HIV/AIDS antiretrovirals and other medications and they would be
our partner for the next month.

29/11

I presented to the NAYO executives about Project Everest,

explaining our purpose and values and thanked them for allowing
us into their communities.
We ventured to the first village and began to empathy map what we
saw we participated in a water collection immersion that allowed
us to understand the difficulty of collecting water.
In the evening we met and created a weekly task projection and
individual KPIs.

30/11

In the morning, we met with all of our fieldworkers (NAYO

employees) and discussed a schedule and daily wage for their
assistance. This was a good experience in budgeting and
negotiating.
We also needed a testing facility to assess water and soil samples
from the communities, so I contacted a number of universities and
businesses to compare prices and quality. The outcome of this was

a meeting with the Department of Physics and Biochemistry. First I

met with two technicians in microbiology and chemistry as well as
the Head of the Department to try and compromise pricing to fit
within our budget. Compromised and settled on tests so collected
the shott tubes after they were sanitised.
Divided the research group into three teams ready for tomorrow.
Each team consisted of three members with set roles one
conversationalist, one data entry member and one qualitative
observer.
Day 1 of Surveying:
Each team surveyed eight homes over five hours in a village called
Nzuru. Each interview was approximately 40 minutes and included
quantifiable data and qualitative observation.
1/12

When we completed the surveys, we were taken to the bore pump

and river to take water samples for testing. Dropped them at the
university for collection tomorrow.
In the evening when we returned back to base, we collated the data
from all 24 homes and started to notice some gaps in the
information.
Day 2 of Surveying:
This morning we iterated the survey a little, removing some
questions that were unnecessary and changing the wording of
others to hopefully fix the poor information we were receiving.

2/12

Collectively, we completed 18 families over four hours.

When we collated in the evening, we started to see some strong
qualitative trends surrounding food security and schooling but
noticed again that there were some issues with how the
quantitative data questions were being asked, entered and
compiled.
Base Day:
Began qualitative analysis of the 42 surveys we completed as a
team. This consisted of collating all of the empathy maps and
drawing similarities between what people were saying, doing,
feeling and thinking.

5/12

We created a large board on the wall and wrote the insights on

post-it notes so we could stick them onto the map. Over the
duration of the day, the wall began to be covered in quotes and
identified needs which created an interesting picture of the
community.
In the evening, our team leader told us that we would be
undertaking an empathise immersion activity beginning tomorrow
that would entail each of us living on 500 Malawian Kwacha a day
(equivalent to $1AUD and the national average). With this, we had
to pay for fuel, water and food.

Base Day:
This morning, we bundled all of our money for the immersion and
created a budget to ensure that we didnt spend too much in one
area and then were left without kwacha for another.

6/12

Some of the team ventured to the villages and came back with
major concerns about the survey format which called for serious
change rather than putting it off. If it isnt working, fix it and fix it
quickly.
We first met with Adam, the Regional Director of Concern
Universal, to discuss identified problem areas and to better
understand their work in the region. He referred us to another
organisation known as The Entrepreneurs Hub that was close-by
so we walked their and set up a meeting with Kate. Afterwards, we
went to The Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water and spoke
to the Office Manager about their work in the region.
Base Day:
Second day of the immersion which involved going to the local
marketplace and attempting to barter to ensure that everyone was
fed. Proved to be a really difficult task.
Today was to be committed to drawing out the major issues from
the data and presenting them to the group. As part of this, we
attempted a two hour stint of ideation based on the issues identified
thus far.

7/12

We practiced some innovation games like Crazy 8, Yes and,

and Mark it. We then categorised the ideas that we came up with
by their potential to be delightful, successful, ground-breaking or
beneficial.
Massively iterated the survey so that the data we have already
collected will still be relevant but that future interviews will be more
valuable. Including specific measures and knowing as a team the
type of answer we were looking for with each question allowed us
to modify how we were asking in order to ascertain the best
information.
Immersion finished tonight and a long and insightful discussion
about the importance of empathy was had.
Day 3 of Surveying:
Conducted 28 surveys in a different village known as Martin really
good haul and commitment from the team.

8/12

When we returned home and analysed the data from the new
survey it showed much clearer and more consistent information.
As part of the data process, we also began entering geographical
coordinates into MyMaps to track where interviews were taken and
hopefully refer back to extra informative households. We uploaded
all of this information to Drone Deploy a mapping tool that shows
the drone photographs in an interactive and multidimensional
manner.

Day 4 of Surveying:
Conducted a further 24 surveys in Martin and started to see strong
commonalities between households.
9/12

In the evening, we created a board of all of the updated findings

with statistics from both Nzuru and Martin compared alongside one
another. Martin was clearly a village of higher socio-economic
status with a lower percentage of issues across the range of
categories.
Day 5 of Surveying:
Interviews

12/12

Followed up and replied to stakeholder emails and arranged further

meetings
Swapped roles from qualitatively focused to statistical analysis to
diversify my experience and challenge myself
Day 6 of Surveying:
Interviews

13/12

Wrote a letter to the Polytechnic University of Malawi to formalise

the discussion I had with the Head of Department, Rex Mbewe,
about potentially taking on local students as interns when we
returned to enhance their opportunities.
Base Day:
Took on the role of Team Leader today which meant organising
logistics, answering any questions from group members and
planning the timings of the day.

14/12

Began the creation of a handover document plan inclusive of all the

different sections that needed covering and a general guideline of
words, format and information. Started to discuss roles with
members of the team to see what sections they would be interested
in presenting/working on.
Day 7 of Surveying:

15/12

19/12

Today was our final day of surveying which meant thanking a

number of people in the villages and ensuring that our rapport was
incredibly positive. Overall we completed 110 surveys between two
villages.
9am meeting with the Polytechnic University of Malawi but in
classic African style, Dr Mbewe did not make it and called me at the
last minute which was frustrating because we are so close to the
program being complete and I may not get another chance.
Heavy concentration on the handover document goals for everyone
my area of focus was stakeholder relations so I was writing
profiles for each of the organisations/businesses/contacts that we
met with to ensure a smooth transition for following team members

As a part of the handover process, we created two short films: one

that was a montage of our time in Malawi as a pilot project and the
other a welcome film for future interns.
20/12

In the handover montage, I wrote a script and read a voiceover for

the film, describing our role and tasks over the duration of the
month.
Wrote an application to return to Malawi and lead a team.

21/12

Contributed to the qualitative and quantitative slides of the

handover as well as general editing and answering questions. I
cannot remember specific tasks for today because it was really
busy and time restricted did a little bit of everything to ensure a
high quality handover.
Completed the handover.

22/12

8
23/12

Spent our second last day with NAYO at their office in Nancholi
presenting our findings, showing them the short films, discussing
future action and thanking them for their support.
A day of housekeeping and final logistics