Pilot ProGRAM: Youth Club Participation Tracking System - New Technology for Improved Data Collection
Required Investment: $20,000
Project Goals: Over the last 15 years, Global Camps Africa has worked with several excellent institutions and independent evaluators who have helped us measure the uptake and outputs of Camp Sizanani. Through these efforts, we’ve learned that to truly measure the IMPACT of our programs, we need to upgrade our systems for monitoring and evaluation and increase our staff’s capacity to implement the evaluation plan beyond camp. In partnership with the University of Pretoria, Global Camps Africa has designed survey tools that can provide measurable data on the indicators we are focused most on at Camp Sizanani and our follow-on program, Youth Clubs: knowledge of HIV/AIDS and reproductive health; understanding of rights and responsibilities; command of basic health, nutrition; and hygiene information, and sense of agency; self-confidence, empowerment, and resilience.
Our goal is to effectively and efficiently collect data that not only tells us more about how each child in our programs is progressing through the programmatic milestones, but also take an even deeper look at how each child’s life is affected as a result of his or her experience with us.
Duration of Project: 18 months (researching and acquiring new evaluation system(s), training staff on implementation, piloting new systems, roll-out of new system(s), evaluation of effectiveness and efficiency after roll-out)
Target Population Group: The youth who attend Camp Sizanani and Youth Clubs (children/orphans/adolescents 12 -18 years old) will be the target of the evaluation. This is a Key Affected Population Group most vulnerable to HIV infection [15]. The adoption of the evaluation tools and training will be done by Global Camps Africa’s South African staff through Camp Sizanani.
Project location: Camp Sizanani is held in Guateng, South Africa, and its follow-on programs are located in township communities surrounding Johannesburg, where the second highest number of AIDS orphans and people with AIDS defining conditions in South Africa reside [2].
Project Impact (projection): Program improvement will be the primary impact of this project, and we believe that with a better monitoring and evaluation system in place, we can significantly improve the effectiveness of our existing programs. The insight we gain through the adoption and implementation of an improved data collection system will give us the tools we need to evaluate the program in real time, make any necessary adjustments to the program design as we identify gaps in outcomes, and also to report to our funders about the real changes being made in the lives of children because of their support.
Project alignment to strategic objectives of Camp Sizanani: Objectives 2 and 4
Project Description: Effective and efficient monitoring and evaluation of all of Global Camps Africa’s programs is a key strategic objective that GCA aims to achieve by 2020. Currently, data collection from the youth clubs in 7 locations is fragmented and at times, incomplete. There is no continuous monitoring system in place across all clubs. This lack of consistent data hinders program monitoring, evaluation, reporting, and decision making. We are therefore seeking investment for a new Monitoring Information System:
To establish a single beneficiary registry
To track the selection of beneficiaries, enrollment, registration, and verification of conditionalities
To foster information exchanges across the youth clubs
To have a single-entry point for volunteers and staff to submit program data for monitoring and evaluation
To have real-time data on beneficiaries and programs
GCA believes that the installation of a new Monitoring Information System will improve the accuracy and turnaround time of reporting and decision making. Our ability to make data-driven adjustments to our programs will increase the effectiveness of our programs for every child who participates. To commission a service provider to install and maintain the Monitoring Information System, as well as provide necessary training to the staff who will use the system, an investment of $20,000 is required.