“Tell me again why you are going to Cameroon?” my wife asked. I paused, searching for an answer. New business? Not really, although that is always welcome. Old connections? I have very few among those currently working in Africa. What should I say? How could I explain?
I decided to confess.
“Because I am curious. There is something exciting going on across Africa. The African Evaluation Association—AfrEA—is playing a critical role. I want to learn more about it. Support it. Maybe be a part of it.”
She found that perfectly reasonable. I suppose that is why I married her.
Then she asked more questions about the conference and how my work might be useful to practitioners in that part of the world. As it turns out, she was curious, too. I believe many are, especially evaluation practitioners.
It takes a certain irrational obsessiveness, however, to fly 32 hours because you are curious.
For those not yet prepared to follow their curiosity to such lengths, I will be blogging about the AfrEA Conference over the next week.
You can find guest posts about the previous AfrEA conference in Ghana two years ago here, here, here, and here.
Check back here for the latest conference news from Youndé, Cameroon.
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