Ford School

Student Impressions

portrait1

I was interested in the IEDP to acquire a deeper knowledge of natural disaster management...  My family originates from Nicaragua in Central America, a country which has also been devastated by natural disasters, particularly earthquakes, tsunamis, and hurricanes.  Learning how a developing country, with very limited resources, handles such devastation is my biggest take-away of the IEDP program.

boats

I thought the trip was a good opportunity to listen to what the government says, from their own perspective as opposed to that of IGO staff or journalists... the interviews were more exciting that I had expected, as the responses seemed to contain a great deal of information not just about disaster management, but about [officials'] values and professionalism.

portrait3

I applied for the IEDP trip with great expectations to understand a country’s political and policymaking process within a short period of time. I also hoped to harness my ability to meet with senior policymakers from a variety of fields. Finally, I hoped to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the challenges that confront Small Island Developing States.

portrait4

The most attractive part of the IEDP program is that it aims to approximate the professional experience of a consulting project for an international organization, for example the World Bank. It requries both the ability and interest to digest a large amount of information before arriving in the country, but also the skill and professional know-how necessary to listen to expert viewpoints in-country. The final outcome, I hope, will be the integration of these insider and outsider perspectives into a useful document or tool.