Project Information and Impact Reporting System (PIIRS) Summer Student Experience
By Andreina Cordova
Andreina Cordova, 24, arrived in Amman, Jordan on June 5th. Read about her experience in her own words.
Who are you working with the most?
Currently, my supervisor is Firas Izzat Mahmoud Saleh, Programs Quality Director. He is an amazing and diligent supervisor who has provided me with not just resources but the time and attention to make sure I have everything I need to complete my objectives.
My goals are:
- To provide a linguistically and culturally appropriate PIIRS Training to the country office staff as well as to develop tools and guidance that can further highlight all the country office’s efforts.
- I am also providing support on reporting in the PIIRS form for three main sectors including Humanitarian Assistance, Women’s Economic Empowerment and Gender Based Violence.
- To provide document the overall process that the country office underwent to report on PIIRS.
When you arrived, what did your CO staff want you to tackle first?
Before arrival, I spoke to my supervisor and we agreed on scheduling meetings with program directors and managers for the first week so that I could become more familiar with the work that is being done in Jordan. And so, when I arrived I already had multiple meetings scheduled throughout the week.
What does your day-to-day look like?
When I come into the office I usually sit down in my desk and start checking my emails. I usually have one or two meetings in the office and since I have been preparing for the PIIRS Training I have been scheduling meetings in order to clarify components of the PIIRS form. I have daily conversations with Firas and the information management staff to gather information like how many projects are going to be reported for this fiscal year and what indicators they are currently using.
Most recently, I have been developing a conceptual visualization that I hope will help the country office understand how their projects will fall under the PIIRS form. There have been a lot of questions around where their projects fit in the form and so I created the form in order to combine the internal lingo with PIIRS lingo.
Is your day-to-day different than you initially expected?
In our MDP program, we have an understanding to never expect anything because nothing will ever go exactly how you want it to, especially in the NGO world. Therefore, I came to Jordan expecting nothing but an experience.
After the first few weeks, what did you notice or understand about how data was being collected and used?
When I sat down with the information management staff, I was given a visual explanation of the system they use to keep track of the work that they are doing. I was surprised to see how efficient their monitoring system was and how easily they are able to extract data from it. Given the level of donors they have and the amount of similar projects being funded I was intrigued to know how they are able to ensure that beneficiaries are not double counted. Their system, as I was informed, performs a certain action that only allows one recipient to be paired for one project and therefore eliminates their prospect to be double counted. This is also a hook for future donors that the country office uses in order to ensure them that their money is being used to reach a larger population.
Were there any surprise or “A-ha” moments, questions, or learning that you have had about data-collection, indicators, PIIRS, etc. that you feel CARE could benefit from?
I had an “aha” moment when I finally understood how groups can be clustered or grouped together in the PIIRS form. It just made so much more sense, but then I had even more questions on how to report for certain things like the gender, governance, and resilience marker for clustered projects. It has been definitely been a learning experience. I also had an “a-ha” moment when it came to Women’s Economic Empowerment sub-indicators. I couldn’t understand at first some of the lingo that was being used and why, but after a good conversation and collaborative editing with Regine I was able to move forward.
What do you think you have added to the CO and what do you hope to accomplish in the last couple of weeks?
I hope that after the PIIRS training, I have added an in-depth understanding of the form itself and how they can use it to really show the country office’s accomplishments and efforts. In addition, I would like to build their capacity by providing them the tools and guidance on reporting and help them become aware of the areas in which they can improve and excel in.
What has been your favorite experience (professionally or leisurely), so far?
My favorite leisure experience has been to explore Jordan and visit all of its historical sites including Petra, Jerash, Roman Theatre, Dead Sea, and the Citadel and also catching a boat ride to Egypt and scuba diving in the Red Sea. Professionally it has been the people I work with every day. I don’t feel like an intern here, I feel like a staff member who is respectfully treated and happily welcomed to be worked with.
Anything else you want to share?
Working with CARE Jordan has allowed me to test my versatility and resilience. Given a limited amount of training and being sent to a new country more than 6,000 miles away to deliver an in depth PIIRS training and toolkit is both a challenge and rewarding opportunity.
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