So, and you will find the links to all the different threads in the description of the of the session. So you have the links and you can go there directly. So, just to get a little bit of a quick overview on the on the HIV front in the HIS. As you know, and also it was mentioned in the in the previous session, the general session. Since 2017, the University of Oslo team has been designed as a WHO collaborating center for innovation and implementation. And these are slides to the design and and the publication of a series of WHO approved metadata packages. On the HIV front, we have at the moment out and available for everyone to download the HIV standard configuration package, which also we call it call package because it's the aggregate package. And it has all the core information that a program might want to collect in order to follow it up. And it comes also with with some pretty fine dashboards on burden and different levels of analysis, depending on national district and facility levels. And the moment the core package is used and implemented in 2427 countries, and four countries are under development, and will probably be operational soon. So, kind of preview side of things, we are going to soon release also an HIV stock report, given the fact that the HIS is so widespread and information can be collected very easily a facility, a facility level. And the WHO has also come up with some double we recommended logistic indicators that can be collected directly from from the facility level. But this is coming soon. This is not quite out yet. And finally, we know that the the follow up of the cohorts and in general longitude, you know, programs is incredibly complex and a lot of countries and organizations have come up with different ways to collect this information included in the HIS too. So we are still working in with the WHO, of course, in case based surveillance tracker, of course to continue promoting good design practices as usual, but most importantly to support the new strategic guidance. This is of course just a working project in progress, but we might be open soon to pilot the tracker in some countries if they are interested so they can contact us and we can see what how we can progress. So for today's presentation. It has been structured a little bit in two parts. So the first two presentations are going to be about mostly how some simple yet strategic adaptations of the HIS two products can support the monitoring the follow up of HIV programs. The first presentation is going to be by Dr Kesha, who will give us like an overview of the linkage of HIV programs with the use of data for monitoring follow up with the recycling if we can call it like that, but the application of scorecards. Then we will move on to David Naspik, who will show us how we can apply similar designs to similar data, similar uses across programs and interventions. Then we got to move forward to data analysis and data collection, because as we mentioned HIV and in general any kind of longitudinal program is incredibly difficult at times. And Jenny Monza is going to show us some really interesting walk around to analyze normal what normally are incredibly complex indicators. And finally, we have Nanny, Nanny Lungo, who will show us how to optimize data collection because of course there is no analysis if there is no good collection of an HIV SRAH integrated program. So without further ado, I leave the floor to Dr Kesha. Thank you. Is it visible. Yes. Hello everyone. I'm Kesha Devwa, working as a strategic information specialist at National Center for AIDS and STD control in Nepal. And I'm pleased to present on behalf of my co-authors and my presentation topic is use of DHS to tracker for implementation of differentiated service delivery for HIV treatment in Nepal. I will talk a little bit about the concept of DSD approach and early warning indicators of HIV drug resistant. In addition, I will explain how we are monitoring early warning indicators of HIV drug resistance and so we call it EWI of HIV DR, using DSS to tracker and ensuring implementation of core principle of DSD for HIV treatment in Nepal. What is the DSD approach to raise different national global targets, differentiated approaches are needed to meet the diverse needs and expectations of all people living with HIV, and to enhance the effectiveness of HIV services. The DSD approach is prioritizing HIV program globally, that is moving away from a one size fits all model, DSD tailors HIV services to diverse group of people HIV, while maintaining the principles of public health approach, which is defined as a client center approach that simplifies and adapts HIV services across the cascade in a ways that both solve the needs of people HIV better, and most importantly reduce unnecessary burdens on the health system. So in layman terms DSD approach prioritize those clients or patients needing more intensive services than those clinically stable clients who do not require frequent visits to health centers due to good retention in care, etc. So for implementing DSD for HIV treatment is not easy, because of the following challenges, such as low number of over modern health workers and limited resources in many low and middle income countries, which is also further fueled by using paper based registers, which impede the prioritizations of clients patient for delivery of health services, as per their need and expectations. This is even more challenging for HIV program, when we need to monitor treatment outcomes of patients for their whole life using paper based register. So to address these challenges of paper based registers and ensure the implementation of core principle of DSD for HIV treatment. We have rolled out DSS to tracker in 2017 in all a service treatment centers of Nepal. So we decided to monitor early warning indicators of HIV DR, because in limited resource health system like Nepal, the emergence of drug resistant is a potential public health threat and undermining long term effectiveness of first line and care provider residents. So these EWI indicators are helping us to monitor and minimize the emergence of preventable HIV drug resistance and maintaining the effectiveness of these therapy treatments. So our primary aim for this whole system is that sites can easily identify those patients or clients who are at risk of drug resistance, emergence of drug resistance and prioritize services as per their need. So to develop our EWI to monitor EWI of HIV drug resistance, we have selected these five indicators, and we have provided targets to HIV treatment centers we call it AR centers for each indicator. For indicator on time we'll pick up the target set was more than 90%, which means if there are 100% enrolled in treatment then more than 90% patients should pick their pill on time. If it's below the target that means the patient at the sites are at risk of emergence of HIV drug resistance. Similarly, the target was more than 85% for retention and care. Similarly, 85%, more than 85% for real suppression, viral load suppression, and 100% of ARD sites should ensure no ARB stock outs. So, I have like provided between slide number seven and 17 the detailed definitions, how we calculated numerator and denominator for each indicator for early warning indicators. But due to limited time for presentations, I will not go through in detail but it can be useful for others if they want to use it in their countries to monitor EWI of HIV drug resistance. So this is the definition numerator denominator and target for on time pill pickup. And then similarly this is for retention and care. It is just for the reference. And what is the target. And similarly, and the indicator number three is dispensing practices. So this is like developing indicator for this indicator is very tricky because it covers so many factors. But what we did is we are provided all the available ARB combination list in the DSS to cracker. If site select other resume than from the list, then we consider it as target not met. And we contact sites immediately for not prescribing standard recommended combination therapy to LHIV. So this is the target for this one. And for viral logical suppression. We have like target divided as per their age, if there is any client or patient is less than cost of two years, then for good performance is this target is 70%. If the client is more than two years old or all adults, then the target is more than 85%. So similarly, we also define the no ARB drug stock outside the sites. So now I'm going to present about how it works at the sites. So it is a treatment centers. There are patients who are enrolled in treatment for different time periods, for example, some are recently enrolled, while others are on treatment for more than five years. So we want to see their EWI indicators differently than lumping all patients together. For this purpose, we have divided PLS IV into seven groups as a group a means note like on treatment for less than a year, whereas group Z means on a cyber treatment for at least six years. So how we calculate it is we take two time period one is data we are initiation. Another is data EWI analysis based on this period, we define all PLS IV into seven groups. So at the site how they record the data. This is one example of viral load separation. Each patient's status recorded in tracker during follow up visit of PLS IV. And all the required like date or variables such as viral load sample collection date of reporting viral load and viral load separation status what was the value. So for the sites record each patient details into tracker. And in addition to this viral load separation they follow the similar procedures for other indicators like retention on time will pick up and dispensing practices. But for indicator five that is for ARB stock out. So for to record the information related to it we have created data set into form in tracker. The sites can record like whether they have experienced any stock out in particular month or not. If yes then they select the resume for how many number of days they experienced this stock out. So this is the way the sites record the information related to these indicators. So based on this recording. Again, the HIV treatment centers or the health workers at the different level, a monitor, the different indicators related to EWI of HIV drug resistance. This is one example, like we like the incorporated scorecard in our tracker information system with the help of his India. So all the results of these five indicators are displayed in the people table scorecard. What the site or wealth of us working at different levels can source this scorecard. And we are we are also provided this link into their dashboard so that they can click on that link and access the scorecard directly. So this is one example how the national and province level monitor the one indicator retention in care sources at the federal level we can monitor the status of retention in care indicator by province province can also monitor their overall status can also monitor the site level and district level status. Similarly, what happens at the site is this site can also monitor indicator specific progress both aggregated data and also individual level data. Since it was not possible to go directly from aggregated data presented using a scorecard to individual level data. We also develop early warning indicators line least report from where they can also identify specific individuals. Who are performing well or poor for the figure you're showing is the example of how the sites identify the patients who are lost to follow. So now I'm going to present like how we are using this is just a tracker for evidence informed response to present prevent emergence of HIV drug resistance. For indicator one if like if patient is not performing well, then site can contact that PLS IV immediately or send reminder SMS to the client which is which is in built within our tracker information system, or they can coordinate with community care and peer navigator team to ensure client have access to medicines on time. Similarly approach is also used in retention and care. If some some PLS IV is doing well in retention, then that PLS IV is eligible for monthly month dispensing. So they do not have to travel every month just to pick up their pill. And for dispensing practices, the health workers working at the federal level and province level they can easily identify the sites with for dispensing practices. And after identifying that, then we can guide them to ensure and practice good dispensing practices these are the few examples how we are using it. For viral operations, the site can easily identify the PLS IV with unsurpassed viral load and refer them to the clinicians for further assessment or modifications in the treatment plan. For ARB stock out, it is also really important for the health workers working at the federal and the province level they can easily identify those as a treatment sites who frequently report stock outs or demand or request emergency requests. So it helps us to pinpoint those sites so that we can guide them for timely analysis for submissions of bi-monthly acquisition firm so that we can to avoid ARB stock out in future. So these are the some of the few examples how sites and federal, the health workers working at the different levels can use this for care for the informed response. So in overall, this is an example how we can use DSS to track out their feed required information and alert health workers specific areas which require attention and support overall optimization of patient care. The most important thing is that site can start analyzing data for improvement of services, rather than collecting and reporting to the higher authorities which is happens most of the time because they collect so many variables and they just use it for reporting purposes to the higher level only. The use of routine health facility data is very limited, which also they can analyze this and use the system to identify the need of different PLS IB so that they can plan and respond their responses as per their need, which we also help to ensure implementation of DSD approach. Since we also record each follow-up visit data PLS IB, then we are also using it like DSS to track our longitudinal data in research to improve our program and interventions. One of our research is ongoing to assist longitudinal changes and factors associated with retention and loss to follow-up, missing in testing, test and treat around people living with HIV in Nepal. And this is the end of my presentations. Here I have provided a link for our YouTube channel and if someone wants to contact us, then I have also provided email and I have also provided references link which defines more clearly what is DSD and EWI of SIV drug resistance. Thank you. Thank you so much. It's outstanding like it was a brilliant way to maintain and visualize the data and also maintain the analysis at site level. And as you said, sometimes the people just collect the data just for reporting not actually using it and analyzing it. Outstanding. So yes. Thank you. That's one. David, thank you so much. Thank you, Victoria. Hello everyone and good morning, afternoon and evening, wherever you might be. My name is David Nesbitt, and I am a technical business analyst with BAO systems, headquartered in Washington DC. But I am physically located in Bogota, Colombia. I work specifically on the DHS to instance of the US government's HIV epidemiological data collection system, known as datum. Datum is the primary HIV data collection system for the president's emergency plan for AIDS relief program, widely known as PEPFAR. The project I am highlighting here is about solutioning a cumbersome reporting process made even better by transforming a public metadata package for adverse events from immunizations into a VMMC adverse event reporting tool in our DHS to instance. I have the pleasure of working closely with my colleague, Muhammad Salifu, also with BAO whose expertise made all the development work possible. This first section will provide some definitions, context and background for our project. To start, let's answer what is VMMC and why is it part of PEPFAR. VMMC stands for Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision. PEPFAR funds VMMC programs as part of its prevention portfolio because studies have shown it reduces female to male transmission of HIV by 60%. It is also recommended by the WHO and UNAIDS that VMMC programming be implemented in countries with a high HIV prevalence. As such, partners involved in PEPFAR, excuse me, PEPFAR VMMC programming should identify and report any adverse events. The definition of a VMMC adverse event is any injury, harm or undesired outcome that occurred during or following the male circumcision procedure. This includes not only events related to any error in screening, performance or follow up of the procedure, but those in which no error may have occurred. These events are considered notifiable to PEPFAR if funded through their programming. An example use case of adverse event reporting can be taken from a decade ago between VMMC and tetanus. There had been an increase of VMMC adverse events where tetanus was cropping up after the procedures. It was determined that while the WHO had been recommending a tetanus vaccination series, as well as booster doses through adolescents and young adulthood, it turns out that they were predominantly provided for young women as part of maternal and neonatal tetanus elimination programs. As a result, low proportion of males had tetanus immunity, especially in the age group seeking circumcision and combined with several other factors like males delaying or not seeking medical attention and a low quality of supportive care that this unknown risk was discovered and a plan could be made. The good news is through adverse event reporting, investigation and surveillance, PEPFAR worked with implementing partners, ministries of health and WHO to support the implementation of tetanus mitigation strategies and push tetanus as part of the pre-screen for VMMC clients. However, despite PEPFAR's mature DHS2 implementation status and the great importance of adverse event reporting, PEPFAR's HIV prevention team continues to have a PDF, Excel and email based process, which you can see an example of on the slide here. So over time, as calls for data and reporting have become more complex, the current process has become even harder to track and manage, especially since it's separated from the rest of PEPFAR's data ecosystem. If we have some context and background to our problem, this next section will tell our transformation story for upgrading data collection reporting and analysis. At first we asked, what can we do? So we met with the PEPFAR HIV prevention team to determine that our DHS2 platform would be perfect since it's already the primary data collection tool. We then developed a rapid prototype using the BAO systems import foundry to convert their PDF form into a DHS2 event capture app form. And as a side note, if you are not familiar with the import foundry, it's a free DHS2 metadata creation app tool available on the BAO systems website. Really great, really handy. So then we presented our rapid prototype in a demo to PEPFAR leadership where it was decided to continue upgrading the adverse event reporting process. However, with the added challenge of only using native DHS2 functionality, meaning little to no customization for this reporting process. Right at the same time, and much to my delight, DHS2 and the WHO released a public standard metadata package for adverse events following immunization reporting. This metadata package gave us the perfect foundation for sticking to native DHS2 functionality while still allowing for some customizations we could use to enhance this new process. This basically let us avoid developing a customized from scratch tracker program that would have required a costly and time consuming requirements discovery and development phase. All our team had to do is convert our capture app prototype into a tracker program using the AFI program tracker, which I'm sure makes Mohammed Treacle since it's much easier said than done. The package program allows us to have longitudinal updates to the adverse events report as information is gathered, while also providing automated system generated emails to notify relevant teams as these investigations unfold. It still lets us utilize the same PEPFAR geographic hierarchy, as well as other data streams, and it's in the same system implementing partners are already accessing. Finally, data is stored directly in a relational database after being entered and can be queried using built in datum data visualization and dynamic dashboard functionality, which brings me to this example of our converted VMMC adverse event enrollment in the VMMC tracker. Users will, excuse me, users will register the adverse event starting with a date of the VMMC procedure or device placement. And as you've probably realized by now this is very sensitive data. So we restricted enrollment data to non identifiable unique IDs. So there they begin filling out each relevant event stage. However, and as I just mentioned, further data privacy concerns mean that our users won't be able to load an event stage without selecting a specific PEPFAR funding mechanism, which further restricts data access in our instance. Additionally, no personally identifiable information is collected in the program. I just want to mention that major improvements for transforming this process to trackers that we get to incorporate automated skip validation logic and program rules and warnings for things like PII. As for adverse event analysis, here you can see an example of dummy data from our test environment for things like a line listing report, a pie chart of circumcision devices, or bar graph of primary NE reported events by age. And here I put examples of dynamic dashboards with our dummy data, which are great because as many of you may know, dashboards can be privately shared. And analytic objects are updated in your real time as the data comes in, which is great for us and definitely great for our clients. In conclusion, leveraging a standard metadata package with a similar purpose was an effective way to rapidly adapt DHS to metadata to enable a practical implementation, ultimately saving us time and resources. Given the speed and success of our development, PEPFAR is considering applying the same rapid prototyping model for other reportable adverse events, such as for cervical pre cancerous lesion treatment. We're going to upgrade our instance to 2.36 but anticipate our new VMMC NAE reporting program will go live in just a few weeks, roughly mid July. If you have any questions feel free to reach out and ask them on the DHS to community of practice for this topic from immunization to circumcision adverse events. Thank you very much. Thank you so much, David. That was a great example of how the metadata package approach is is working in a way that then I would like to give floor to Jenny. Jenny was going to present us about her, their way to collect and analyze very complex indicators. Those are yours. Thank you, Victoria. Can you confirm that you can see my slides. Indeed I do. Super thank you. Hello everyone. Today I will be speaking about the development of a harmonized OVC MIS for use by USAID Zimbabwe using the DHS to tracker. Just to cross that out, I would like to introduce you to my co-authors for this presentation. Sarah Minor of USAID Zimbabwe collaborates closely with us on the development of this instance, and Mohammed Saudi. about DataFi. We're a global HIV AIDS project funded by USAID for five years working to accelerate the end of the HIV epidemic by improving processes across the data value chain. So in this year, we are supporting 14 countries and among them Zimbabwe. And in Zimbabwe, we are working to develop a harmonized case management information system to collect information on orphans and vulnerable children across six different implementing partners. So DataFi led by Palladium, along with resource partner BAO Systems, has supported the development of this instance with the intention of streamlining reporting for both Zimbabwe specific indicators and also for reporting to PEPFAR. So we are currently in the final stages of development with legacy data migration ongoing presently and roll out plan for August this year. So why develop a harmonized MIS? With over 250,000 beneficiaries being served by a number of different IEPs who in turn then work with and engage community-based organizations, each implementing partner had a different information management system which led to certain limitations. There was certainly the possibility that slightly different definitions of services being provided and variations in calculations contributed to diminished data reliability. Additionally, data was submitted on a monthly basis via an Excel tracker to USAID to support their decision-making which represents a delay between service delivery and reporting. And then additionally the costs of maintaining separate systems each with their own administrators. So in terms of the system that we were asked to build, this system was intended to calculate PEPFAR indicators primarily on the continuity of comprehensive case management. So longitudinal services being provided to orphans and vulnerable children potentially across many years. And another key indicator said being the documentation of HIV status of all those beneficiaries. So data is collected at war within districts and that data needs to be attributed to the community-based organizations. And of course these key indicators need to be displayed by fine age and sex disaggregates for the six month reporting periods. In addition to these indicators we also provide data and collect data and visualize data specific to the Zimbabwean context. In terms of the implementation challenges we faced, we'll explore some of the challenges related to actual definition of active beneficiaries and then the inverse of that as well. How do we measure when beneficiaries have not received the requisite services to be considered active? Another aspect that was very interesting was accumulation of indicators with different time dimensions. And then finally the visualization of results for reporting to PEPFAR and also for internal performance monitoring. So beginning with the identification of active beneficiaries. PEPFAR MER 2.5 guidance defines active beneficiaries as those beneficiaries who have a current case management plan, have also received a household monitoring visit and have received a qualifying service appropriate for their age group. So here we can see a graph collecting information on all of our beneficiaries. And the first three bars represent those sub criteria with the last bar then representing those children who had achieved active status. So the active status can never be greater than the combination of any of the other criteria. So in addition these scripted indicators would then need to be further disaggregated by age group and then again cumulated. So here in this screenshot here we see examples of our HIV status indicators and what we can tell here is that HIV status is then collected and filtered according only to those individuals who have achieved this active status. So actually complex scripted indicators then applied to another set of indicators around HIV status. So moving on to look now at the inverse, how do we measure those children? How do we identify those children who did not receive the requisite services? And what we know is that historically programs have identified these children through self-report. So we relied on caseworkers who then were expected to proactively report those who were lost to follow-up or experiencing an interruption in case management. And as such many of these reports are not made and beneficiaries were neither active nor lost to follow-up. And so this challenge is an interesting one. And here we see a description of the scripted logic that was used to identify these inactive beneficiaries, essentially starting with all beneficiaries and then through a process subtracting different subcategories to ultimately leave us with those individuals who are considered inactive. And here we see a snapshot of some of the logs from the scripted action. It has been scheduled to run on the server once a day for TEIs updated in the previous two days. And for those of you familiar with this PEPFAR indicator, this indicator represents just one component of the larger indicator around exit without graduation. So again, accumulation of multiple sub indicators to produce the final indicator. So taking a look now at accumulating how we can accumulate indicators that have different time dimensions. So here we describe two different types of indicators, the first being point in time. So these indicators aim to capture the status of a beneficiary at the end of a reporting period. And so by definition, these children cannot be summed across reporting periods because they would be duplicate children. However, four beneficiaries to be reported at the semester needed to do precisely that is we needed to determine their status at quarter one and at quarter two to measure whether or not they had received continuous services. So an interesting configuration challenge. And then a more traditional indicator type would be a cumulative count where the beneficiary status can be summed across reporting periods and graduation would be a better example of that. So here we have the five top level indicators for OVC reporting to PEPFAR. And out of the five, we have two that are point in time and three that are cumulative. And so as I mentioned, these indicators again require complex scripting logic because they must evaluate the status inside each of the quarters that of which the semester is comprised and they cannot be summed across time periods. And the grand indicator of them all, perhaps the most complicated is, as I mentioned before, those who are deemed to be exit without graduation at the semester. So this is an interesting indicator in itself because it actually combines both point in time and cumulative indicators. And so we use a combination of offset periods and leveraging program indicators as well as mixed indicators in order to create this final indicator. And the last implementation challenge I'd like to address is how we might visualize or filter these longitudinal data from an aggregate perspective. So while we know that the tracker module brings to life longitudinal indicators, typically these indicators are best visualized according to the organizational hierarchy. So here we see an example where the data is broken out by province. And so that is a native function of DHIs2Tracker. However, it's not possible to display the same data either by age and sex to this aggregate or by implementing partner and CBO without additional scripting. So here we see just a screenshot, actually a very small screenshot of all of the scripted logic that was used to produce the visualizations and reports required, both for PEPFAR and for internal reporting. And what our technical team created was a tracker aggregate integration process. So I'd like to acknowledge again Mohamed Saleh who was the creative genius behind this. Each required indicator was created as an aggregate data element with a category combination. So the disaggregation for age and sex and then assigned to a data site using subpartner as attributes. So in order to pull data for one data element and all its COCs, we required a total of 768 program indicators and mapping indicators for each required indicator. A custom solution was used to pull data from the mapping indicators and then push into the aggregate data elements on a daily basis. And so we're using API calls in addition that were then created for quarterly and semesterly indicator groups. As I mentioned before, we needed for the other indicators. So this solution now allows us to be able to visualize data both by implementing partner and CBO and ultimately here you can see a table where the results are presented by CBO and by the fine age and sex disaggregates. So this represents a novelty because it's giving us this information not only by the organizational hierarchy but also by the implementing partners. And that allows us to produce these types of visuals to better manage programs. So in terms of reflections, the creation of a harmonized OVC MIS allows for standardization of indicators across implementing partners and of course the benefits of access to real-time data supports real-time course corrections. We anticipate long-term cost savings by maintaining and enhancing one national MIS via coordination mechanism. And of course, tracking of individual beneficiaries across time provides real insights into how to better meet the needs of the vulnerable populations. And in closing, of course, we just always need to take into account the complexities of how reporting requires expert configuration and extensive backend scripting. Thank you. Thank you so much, Jenny. I'm sure there are a lot of people will follow up with you because these are always very tricky. And running the same wave of cost saving and follow-up of programs, I leave the floor to Nene. Nene, I think you are on mute still. I can see your screen, but I cannot hear you. Is it just me? No, here, not here. It's been now, yeah, thanks. Thank you. I hope you are able to see my screen. Yes. Go ahead. Thank you. All right. Thank you so much. Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, just depending on the different places that we are attending this meeting from. So I am Nene Lungu, the Senior Technical Advisor for the Maui Empower Activity. And I would also want to recognize the co-authors towards the submission, as well as the drafting of the abstract that we submitted to this Texas Two Annual Conference. And let me also recognize the presence of these co-authors who are within us on this group. And we have Linda Nyond, who is our SI Regional Director. And we also have Matthew Kancurungo, who is our data base, as well as HMIS Manager. And Dr. Ponfis Maked, who is the Chief of Party, as well as Yona Nyond, who is our Senior M&D Officer. And I will be presenting on optimizing the digital data collection using the DHS2 in addressing girls and young women programming. And this is the case of the Maui Empower Activity. So in terms of the flow of the presentation, first we are going to look at the background information. And then we're also going to look at the processes that we actually undertook to make sure that we have the DHS2 track in place. Then we're going to also un-eth the key findings.  So in terms of the background, so Maui Empower is an acronym standing for Expanding Maui HIV and AIDS Prevention with Local Organization, working for an effective epidemic response. So this is a USAID five-year funded project, which began on the 5th of March 2020. And it's expected to phase out on the 4th of March 2025. So the overall goal of the project is to support governments of Maui commitment to epidemic control by stopping HIV transmission and preventing new infections among addressing girls and young women aged between 10 to 24-year-olds. And the activity is actually being implemented in the two districts of Maui. And these are the districts in the southern region of Maui, looking at the HIV prevalence in the two districts. And these are the dreams districts and they include Zumba as well as the Machinga district. The project is actually being implemented through two local implementing partners who include the Christian Health Association of Maui, commonly known as CHAM, as well as Packageri Institute for Development as well as Institute for Development and Communication. So next through the slide, we are actually seeing a snapshot in terms of the two implementing dreams districts targeting the addressing girls and young women. So the Maui Empower activity is actually a large scale multifaceted program that provides sexual as well as reproductive health services to more than 40,000 addressing girls and young women across the two districts of Machinga as well as Zumba districts. And the project actually used the data as tool to ensure the availability of high quality data. So in terms of the limitations that were there at inception of the project, one challenge that we actually experienced as a project was only the volume of the addressing girls and young women data that were supposed to collect as a project, like I mentioned, that we are actually tracking over 40,000 addressing girls and young women with the different SRH as well as HIV services. Therefore, this actually also initiated us to make sure that there is the real time data collection concept whereby data was being collected at different time points as well as at different places. However, considering that the project is located in the two districts of which some of the facilities are located in the rural areas of the two districts, we had actually also encountered the intermediate as well as limited the internet connectivity across the two facilities, the facilities that we're working with in the two districts. In the same vein, we also had the experience data entry cost, especially paying for data to actually be transported to be transformed from the paper based into the Tony management system as well as also costs in purchases for our computers to make sure that the data is actually keyed in and also that it can actually be used for rigorous data analysis. So now the question that we actually might be asking ourselves is, then what was the process? How did we do it as a Maori power activity? So the process began somewhere around in June 2020, whereby we developed a data set using the data is true tracker, which was actually running on the version 2.33.8. And this was actually capturing the original data for SRH as well as HIV services that are provided to the addressing girls and young women during the monthly community outreach and meetings that we are actually conducting as a project. And then the data is true tracker actually was able to correct individual level data and it runs both on the computer as well as on Android devices for offline data capture. So we actually purchased Android devices for our data entry team so that they can actually be using to actually capture data into the shared database. At the same time, we also made sure that we actually build the capacity of both the strategic information team members who include the M&D assistants and also not building only the SI team capacity, but we also made sure that all other program staff are also trained for how the tracker was actually performing. Similarly, we have actually also been able to develop standard operating procedures that can actually be used as the aid documents to make sure that they assist in the day-to-day learning as well as operationalizing for the day choice to tracker database. So currently the tracker is actually deployed to capture individual level data at about 40 community outreach sites and we are actually capturing data for over 40,000 addressing girls and young women on a monthly basis. In terms of the services that are actually captured within the tracker, we are actually collecting HIV testing data, STI screening data as well as family planning methods that are actually provided to the addressing girls and young women. And this is in addition to the sexual and reproductive heathy talks that are provided to the addressing girls and young women at outreach sites. Now, what has actually been the key findings or key successes that we have actually seen following the development of the tracker? One, we can actually summarize our key findings into three. One is only data merging. So using the tracker, we collected the data at multiple sites and the day choice to trackers actually allowed us for instant messaging, merging of long-term records, unlike other routine statistical softwares where the process was actually taking us more than a week to complete the merging process. So we have actually been able to save time in as far as the instant message, merging of the records is concerned. In addition to the instant merging, we have actually also seen improved data quality following the automated escape patterns that were embedded within the tracker. We have actually been able to make sure that our data is actually complete as well as make sure that it actually conforms to the other data quality dimensions, including that of data accuracy. Lastly, we have actually also been able to minimize costs because using the day choice to tracker, we have actually been able to save over $10,000 by purchasing tablets instead of computers as they were previously needed. And also the tracker has also enabled the project to develop analytical dashboards to track performance as well as adding and improving programming. So this snapshot just actually shows some of the dashboards that have actually been developed within the Morrowian Power DHS to track. Lastly, allow me to actually conclude by saying that through the use of the day choice to tracker and application for long-term data collection for the community outreach programs, we have actually been able to collect large data and these has actually helped us to make sure that we capture the data at different delivery points as well as the merging instant data to inform programming. And this has actually helped us as well to make sure that the concept of real-time data entry is actually achieved and also making sure that we have actually reduced cost and we can actually be able to scale up the activity. At this moment, let me stop there and thank you so much for your attention. Thank you so much Nani. That was a great overview of such a great implementation. This is it. Our time is up, unfortunately. I hope you enjoyed and you find some of the information that we brought to you today useful enough or at least as a starting point for some problems that you had as well. So if you want, you can continue the discussions and follow up with the presenters in the community practice and yes, the recording will be available soon. Thank you so much for today and I hope you enjoyed the remaining part of


Hey, what's up guys? Okay wanted to do week four episode four for you on quick tips quick strategies just basically anything to help you out as a beginning new trader and I think the topic of this week should be What are the best? Indicators to use when you're first starting out trading and even when you're a veteran But what are the major indicators you should be paying attention to and it's kind of a loaded question Or it's kind of a loaded topic because everybody on YouTube is going to preach this get rich quick stuff They're going to tell you Mac D and RSI and it's a mokey cloud and all this stuff and the thing that you got to remember is 80% of the success if anything is going to be in like the 20% So all of that over complication all that overthinking all those things that you hear and get rich quick and holy grail Eliminate that from your mind when I first started trading nine years ago eight nine years ago I literally had every single indicator to volinger bands to RSI to volume volume profile everything that you can have basically Itchy mokey cloud on my charts and I realized not only do they lag, but it's noise. So All these fancy things that's kind of what I want to kind of reiterate is it's all fancy talk They lag a true confirmation in stocks is something like say a death candle or what we call a teleport candle in MIC so you know a stock is trending up and then boom it like has a massive sell-off and one candle a lot of volume comes out That's a real-time confirmation But when you see things like Bollinger bands and itchy mokey clouds and things like that and all these fancy terms and lingo And they look good on your I mean hey It looks like you're doing something right on your charts because you have an indicator up They lag so by the time you're like hey, this is touching that line and this is hitting those levels the trade might be over They're not real-time. So there's a difference between confirmation Within a certain indicator and then there's not and I don't want you guys using anything That's a lag because in hindsight hindsight's 2020. It's like, oh, yeah, of course this should happen See it hit the Bollinger bands, blah, blah, blah. Okay, those things lag. It's not really real-time So it's kind of hard to go off and see how almost I guess the word would be legit They are for a proven strategy. So just be aware of the holy grail stuff. It doesn't work now Back to what indicators should I be paying attention to and I'm kind of gonna I'm actually gonna group these not just as Indicators, but just major things that you should have on your chart Something you should be paying attention to what's on your chart because the chart of a stock and the price action is Literally just the love story of the bid and the ask like the level to the numbers that did What those are the chart is a visual representation of those which is supply and demand So the three things that I want you to pay attention on your charts and believe me as a veteran trader as many veteran traders I know we all use the same thing and number one and remember they're not just indicators, but in a sense They kind of are number one is going to always be volume volume is Demand if the stock is not liquid. It does not have volume now a certain You know pre-defined number of volume. I'm not gonna talk about that specifically I could use that in a whole another video But make sure that the stock your trading has a lot of volume so it's liquid You can fill your buy you can fill your sell you can fill your short you can fill your cover You can have action and get the fills that you want and Participate along with all the other demand and you know supply and demand that is trick like trickling down on The bid and the ask through the chart Number two is trend and again These are not necessarily indicators, but they kind of are a trend of the stock is like an up-trender or a down-trender or just Kind of like a choppy that that that like channel trader that bow trades So the thing about trend is it is so again keep it simple It's so simple to understand once you learn a process once you learn price action a little bit that hey if a stock Ohmets up at $2 and goes to $7 pre-market and then opens in the open in today You know you have your pre-market, and then it opens you know at the morning bell It opens around two or three that trend is pretty much down the stock has given up a lot of its gains So you know the whole thing about trend guys is you want to ride trend You don't want to be a contrarian until the right confirmations are there and that's a little bit more advanced for you You know that would be a whole nother video again as well But when it comes to trend do not fight trend ride with trend and the thing that you can complement with trend and Volume is VWAP and this actually is a true indicator And it's really the only indicator that I use on my trading and most traders and MIC use and It's an over under and I'll explain why big money is attracted through VWAP volume weighted average price And the reason why this works is because the big money follows it So I'll say it like this without getting too process on you in the short video Generally speaking above VWAP above VWAP whatever I put blue on my chart So it's a blue line above that blue line You can set it to whatever you want is going to be bullish Anything under is technically bearish now There is a process or there's certain identifiers and confirmation that you can pay attention to and learn You know like the the semantics of VWAP, but generally speaking over and under so when you complement and Combine as coupling factors VWAP volume and trend You're gonna learn how to trade that that stock chart correctly that ticker symbol You're gonna know what to do and especially if you have some risk management in there So stay away from fanciness stay away from holy grail stay away from get rich quick Stay away from adding all these frickin things to your chart that just lag and don't make sense and make you look smarter Than they are than you are and the chart is but just make sure that you're paying attention to it minimum volume VWAP and trend and you're gonna have a great starting guide for learning price action and really making some money in this industry Guys if you want to understand any more of this if you have any questions on maybe any of the topics I talked about today text my line just we can chat and I can go over some of these at two one three four five eight five nine Nine seven and we can make sure you're up to speed on any of this and if you also want to see multi-million dollar a year annual Trader Alex to Miz give a full on you know live free webinar on this go to my Investing Club comm slash webinar I think Alex made after fees and commissions and everything this year minus taxes in 2021 he made like over three million so if you want to learn and watch webinar from him go check that out. See you guys


Chris is the author of the novels Carry On from Rain Mountain Press in 2012 and Shriver 2013. His fiction has been published in American Fiction, Skid Row Penthouse Six-Fold, The Fat City Review, SN Review and Venue. His plays have been showcased at Ensemble Studio Theater in New York, the New York International Fringe Festival in the Manhattan Theater Source. He co-wrote the film Amnesia, Starring Ally Sheedy and he's released two albums, wonderful albums by the way, Songs About Anything 2003 and Camouflage 2008. He's taught creative writing in many places including to senior citizens and in prisons. He currently teaches at the Westport Writers Workshop and they go on a correctional institution and he's won a number of awards for his stories and his other work. He holds an MFA obviously from here, lives in Connecticut with his wife and daughter. Chris Belden. This is a story called a walk around the lake. They'd left the house without a flashlight which Walt now regretted. He could barely see the road paved but narrow with the occasional gravel driveway branching off into the darkness. The lake shimmered a dull silver to their left. They always walked this way counterclockwise around the lake, one of their many habits he was bored with. He'd asked Claire to take a walk in order to tell her that their marriage was over. He hadn't wanted to tell her at the house thinking the words might come out easier here, but he couldn't get them past his dry lips. Instead he kept looking up at the sliver of moon hanging in the trees. Bob and Debra Ann went to see someone, Claire said, some kind of counselor and it really helped them. Oh Walt said scratching his chin. Claire perhaps inspired by her dull friend Debra Ann had lately decided that she and Walt were merely in a rut. Nothing that a little professional help couldn't cure. There wasn't enough communication. Walt was distant. There were intimacy issues. What do you think she asked? About what? About us seeing this counselor? Us? Bob had told them all about it about how Debra Ann and the counselor had ganged up on him and how they'd scolded him for not crying. He agreed with Bob the counseling was for those who need to tell themselves they've tried everything. We need to get it all off our chests, Claire went on, but in a safe environment with a neutral observer so we don't get hostile. Walt hated this kind of talk. Ever since Claire had started therapy, her conversations were peppered with terms like supervising ego and unconscious anger. All of a sudden she knew everything about him, why he said or did certain things, why he couldn't sleep at night. She knew that his emotional unavailability was due to his alcoholic father and cold distant mother. She knew everything it seemed except that he'd been having an affair. Debra Ann says this counselor is an amazing woman. She really got Bob to open up and be honest about his fear of commitment. Walt wished he had the nerve to say but I don't have a fear of commitment. It's just that recently I've been more committed to somebody else. One day Walt had gone into the little bookstore in Main Street looking for a copy of Light Years and ended up getting into a discussion about James Salter with Leah, the owner. Walt had been in the store a few times but had never bought anything, had barely noticed the tall slender woman behind the counter. But as she talked about Salter's work her green eyes growing large he could see how pretty she was. Those eyes the way they contrasted with her long dark hair were like lamps in a far off house in the middle of the night. He had no copies of Light Years in stock she told him finally but she would order one for him. He spent the rest of the week debating with himself about what to say to her when he went to pick up the book. In the end he decided it couldn't hurt to have a friend in town or at least that's what he told himself and so he asked her to lunch. That was three months ago. Haven't you noticed how different they are Claire asks? Bob used to be so mean to Debra Ann. All those cutting remarks. I haven't really noticed Walt said. He didn't tell her the reason that Bob was so mellow these days was that he also started seeing someone else. A nurse at the local hospital. The ten year mark is a milestone Claire told him. That's when it really sinks in that this is forever. It can be hard especially for men. Ten years Walt thought. It seemed so much longer. Back then they were living in the city in a small one bedroom in the village at the center of the world. They stayed out late on week nights, spent all day Sunday in bed and went through money as if determined to die broke. Then came 9-11 and Claire all of a sudden developed a desire to live in the country. Time to grow up she'd said. For Walt it meant time to run away from the place where everything is happening. But sufficiently beaten down by Claire's post attack anxiety he gave in. They bought their little house on the lake. He quit his full time job to freelance and Claire found work at the local weekly newspaper where she covered town meetings with the latest collisions between deer and SUV. Leah could relate to his frustration. She'd moved out here with her ex several years back and started up the bookstore just to maintain her sanity. When they divorced she thought she'd moved back to the city but she'd grown fond of the store and decided to stay on instead. She told him this over lunch. She'd dressed up for the occasion in a tight leather skirt that didn't quite reach her knees and a sleeveless blouse. Walt had surprised himself by putting on his expensive Italian suit coat for the first time since quitting his full time job. He was up front about being married mentioning Claire several times in the first 10 minutes though he found his tone varying towards a sort of embarrassed exasperation whenever he referred to her. Leah seemed unfazed even curious about Claire. She asked what she was like, what she did for work, what she looked like. For a moment he thought they could perhaps all become good friends, the three of them, going out for dinner and drinks every now and then. And then he decided he didn't want that. He wanted Leah all to himself. After lunch they shook hands and she told him to let her know what he thought about the book. This is all very natural sweetie, Claire told him. There's no harder work than marriage. They passed the Turner house where a party was in progress. The Turner boys were a wild bunch, driving their souped up cars too fast around the roads, tight corners, occasionally knocking over mailboxes. And when their parents were out throwing these notorious parties, they usually placid night air thumped with hip hop bass notes and peels of teenage laughter. Poor Mark and Lori, Claire said of the Turner's, those kids are a real burden. If they can stick together through this, we should be able to. I suppose you think everything would be okay if we had kids, he said. Oh Walt, that's not what I meant. She took his hand the way she always did when she detected his frustration on this topic, but it only made him more angry. Last year after trying for months to conceive, Claire had talked him into having his semen analyzed. The whole experience was humiliating, with the smirking receptionist handing him that plastic cup and escorting him to a small tiled room with a flimsy door. He could still picture the chair covered with examination table paper. The shelf stacked with pornographic magazines, the television with a built-in VCR. The whole time he heard people next door in the laboratory chuckling amongst themselves. That since he was 15 years old and his parents house had Walt masturbated with an earshot of so many people going about their business. When the results showed that his sperm were not up to par, something about low motility, he'd felt emasculated and ashamed. Every time Claire spoke about couples who had children, even the turners with their delinquent teenagers, Walt experienced it as a thinly veiled personal insult. One of the reasons Leah had split with her ex was that she didn't want to have children. The world is so crowded already, she told Walt that first time as she ran her long fingers lightly over his chest. A week had passed since their lunch. He'd stopped by the bookstore twice already, first to chat about light years then just to say hello. During visit number three she asked him if he'd like to step out for lunch. She told her assistant she'd be back in a couple hours, then led him down the street and up a flight of external stairs to her apartment above the pharmacy. She pulled leftover chicken from the fridge which they ate cold with wine at her kitchen table. After lunch in a full bottle of Pinot Grigio she took his hand and escorted him to the bedroom. When she kissed him parting her soft wet lips the hairs on his arms stood up. It had been forever since he'd felt that electric jolt becomes with the touch of a woman. Afterward with one long leg draped over his belly she spoke about her ex's anger at her for not wanting to have his babies. She went on to express her disdain for self-absorbed suburban ladies like Claire. With their biological clocks and SUVs she was relieved she said that Walt was sterile. That means no contraception she said with a mischievous grin. But I do think the adoption process could bring us closer together Claire said as they passed the Turner house. She squeezed his hand again. I told you Walt said tearing his hand away I think we should hold off on that. Why it takes so long Walt? It wouldn't hurt to start on the paperwork. He sighed paperwork meant lawyers and lawyers meant money. If he was going to climb into that mud pit he may as well get what he really wanted out of it. A divorce. They turned on to an especially dark stretch of road flanked by fields of huge old maple trees. They're full branches hanging overhead like a canopy. From somewhere around the next bend came the rumble of an engine. I've been doing some research Claire said we could fly to China in about 12 or 15 months if we start the ball rolling now. Sheena at work did it with her husband came back with an adorable little Chinese girl. They couldn't be happier. Leah had also been talking about adoption lately. While she felt no need for a biological heir she had decided that caring for an unwanted child would be a service to humanity. But instead of the predictable China it seemed like every other couple in town had an adorable little Chinese girl in a state of the art stroller. She was interested in Africa. Have you ever met an Ethiopian she'd asked.  For weeks now Walt had fantasized about raising such a child with Leah. As they neared the turn in the road a sharp left through the woods Walt could hear the rapid approach of the vehicle. Its stereo turned up all the way headlights flashed through the trees. It looked like a pickup moving very fast. I just think we should figure out our problems he explained before we add such a huge complication to the mix.  They just reached the turn when the pickup roared around the bend nearly running them over. In a split second during which the vehicle passed by a mere foot or two away Walt saw into the cab where two boys flanked a pretty girl with blonde hair. There was something especially infuriating about the trio above and beyond their rudeness and lousy driving. And before he could think about what he was doing he lifted his middle finger. Even within that crowded fraction of a second he detected that his gesture had registered. Then the truck was past them. Jesus Claire said stumbling on the uneven shoulder of the road.  Claire dusted herself off and they continued walking. As they made the sharp left turn Walt glanced back to see the truck slow to a crawl then stop. It was about 50 yards behind them the brake lights glowed red in the dark. Anyway Claire said I was going to say it might do you some good to have a complication in your life. She hadn't noticed that the truck had stopped. Walt looked back again. What if the driver started to back up or turned around. They were probably all drunk and looking for a fight.  Claire said I think we've both gotten so comfortable with our lives that we could use a little shaking up you know. Yeah Walt thought how about a little shake up right now. Through the trees in the woods he could still make out the fire red brake lights. Are you listening to me. Uh huh he said his ears tuned to the trucks low rumble. He considered telling Claire that they may be in some danger but then he would have to tell her about his obscene gesture and she would berate him for being so adolescent. Still if the truck returned he would have to do something. He figured he had three options dash into the woods and hide run to the next house and ask for help or stand his ground and confront the hoodlums. If only Leah were here with him instead of Claire.  Sending back an undercooked hamburger or asking for directions from a stranger. But he could feel these small adjustments shifting ever so slightly the tectonic plates of his character. Every time I bring up the idea of adoption Claire said you shut down do you even realize that? Leah's right he thought. Claire is so self-absorbed she can't even see what's going on right in front of her. Could she not hear the growl of the truck less than 100 yards away? Could she not detect the hyper alert anxious way that he was carrying himself? How would she protect her precious little Chinese girl from danger when she can't even tell if she herself is in peril? You're shutting down right now aren't you she said? He listened for the truck. What is it she asked? The engine still rumbled but it seemed quieter either because the truck had moved on or perhaps just because the distance was greater between them. He could not relax until he knew the truck had gone. What is your problem Claire asked? Did you hear that? Hear what? I thought I heard a fox he said. She had a thing for foxes maybe that would keep her quiet for a moment. Where is she whispering? In the woods.  He heard it now that Claire had stopped talking the truck engine. It had not moved. He wondered what they could be doing back there. Were they debating their course of action?  The other anxious to get to the party with the blonde girl torn between the two. I hear a car or something Claire said. The truck engine grew louder. It was moving. Must be those Turner kids she added.  Even in the dark he could make out the look of shock on her face. The truck still around the bend was coming closer. Walt? Claire moaned. Okay he said as the truck's headlights shone through the trees I need you to go into the woods. What? Just do as I say. The truck was just reaching the bend in the road. In a second or two the headlights would be in their eyes. Please he said go into the woods and wait for me. Why? Trust me Claire. She just stood there. Do it. He pushed her toward the trees but it was mostly the force of his voice that propelled Claire off the road and into the woods. Go on he called out to her as the truck rounded the bend. Keep going till you can't see me. She had disappeared into the darkness but he could hear the crack of twigs as she ran. The truck was on the straight away it's bright beams shining in his eyes. He considered following Claire but for some reason he was not afraid anymore. Earlier Walt had parked in the public lot in back of Leah's apartment and waited in his car until he saw her come home from the bookstore and climb the stairway. By the time he got out of his car traversing the parking lot and climbed the stairs she had taken off all her clothes and lay in bed. This was their usual routine two or three times a week. He thought now of her pale smooth skin her long legs wrapped around him ankles locked and pulling him deeper inside her. Before she came she went completely still like a cat in free fall just waiting breathlessly for the impact. When it arrived she let everything go including all decorum. It was nothing he'd ever seen or heard before the way she rived the filth it poured from her mouth as if each word each gyration could prolong the sensation. It horrified him at first then it made him laugh now it turned him on like nothing else ever had. He stood by the side of the road blinded by the headlights the truck slowed then break to a stop ten yards away the driver turned off the engine leaving the lights on. The night sounds fell into place as if into perfectly carved slots crickets leaves rustling in the breeze the far off parking of a dog. Walt raised his hand to shade his eyes but could not see inside the truck the occupants remained where they were perfectly quiet. When he announced that he was planning to leave Claire Leah had not been as enthusiastic as he'd hoped. Not that she was displeased exactly reserved was perhaps the best way to describe her reaction. There were no hugs and kisses no tears of joy but neither did she turn away. She continued to drape her long leg over him but spoke in an unusually serious tone. She asked what he would do where he would live she wondered how Claire would react would she be so angry that she'd make the divorce ugly. These were all good questions that he had not seriously considered.  Even as she posed her thoughtful questions he glossed over them declaring that he didn't care that he cared only about her about them. Walt you heard the crackle of twigs in the woods stay there he said. The truck had not moved nor had anyone inside spoken they just sat there Walt saw the tip of a cigarette glow red and die out. When he left Leah's apartment today there had been a new seriousness between them. Normally they would kiss hold one another sometimes even return to bed. She would laugh they would make plans to meet in a couple of days both of them wishing out loud that they could meet sooner. This afternoon there was a kiss but it was without heat and there was no laughter. They said they would get together in two days but they both knew that if Walt went ahead with his plans the meeting would be consumed with a discussion of what had happened with Claire and what it meant for their future. Everything would be different. No he thought as he descended the stairs everything was already different. He'd been so sure Leah loved him just as he'd been sure he loved her but now as he stood there on the road with the truck's headlights burning his eyes he was not sure of anything. The girl giggled in the cab then came a male voice I'm bored let's go. The engine started with a bellow followed by the grind of gears as the truck rolled backward. The driver angled its sideways then turned around still blind from the glare Walt could barely make out the three occupants. A beer bottle shattered at his feet. The girl laughed and the truck tore off exhaust clouding the view of its red taillights. Claire emerged from the trees are you alright she asked wrapping her arms around him. He watched the truck's lights turn and fade into the trees the rattling engine now a dull far off purr. What were they doing she asked why did they come back like that.  What's the matter Claire asked touching the tears that rolled down his cheeks but he could not tell her. Let's go home Claire said taking his hand you'll feel better then and knowing she was probably right he went with her thanks. So can you talk about where you were before you started this program as a writer and what you've taken away from this program and how the program has helped your journey. Before I joined the program I was a struggling fairly lost writer. I had taken many workshops and I knew that helped me but I wasn't taking any workshops at the time. I moved out of the city and I was working on a novel and I was working on stories and sending things out and having not very much luck. And I knew I needed direction structure and a community. That's what I was looking for. And I had been thinking about MFA programs for years and had never really acted on it. And then I heard about this program I recently moved to Connecticut and I said this sounds good and applied and got in. So when I found all those things direction structure and a community. So what what about this program when you heard about this program why did you want to come to this program aside from geography. Well it was a it was a low residency program which I had a young daughter at home and my wife was working full time and I was freelancing. And it was not that practical to to take a typical MFA program you know full time MFA program. So for that reason it sounded like a good fit for me. Can you talk a little bit more about community with the communities done for you. Your peers but also faculty members and how they practically made a difference in your writing life. Well as everyone here knows writing can be a lonely endeavor. So I think it's really important to be around people when you can. Just socially I think we're social animals but also to be around other writers who know how that life goes.  So I think it's a similar kind of thing to get around other people who do the same thing. So we can talk about what we've read what we're writing you know the pitfalls hopefully the successes etc. So it's super important to get that and then here because it's a low residency program. Even though you don't see each other that often when you do see each other it's you know nine or ten days of intensive togetherness. Where you're rooming together with the other writer you're having breakfast lunch and dinner with a whole bunch of writers. You're hanging out between during before after every event with other writers it's just twenty four seven writers. And so you just get this this maximum intake of writerly stimulation.  I guess it depends where you live. Most people are fairly local but there are events in between residencies and people get together. People have started workshops with other people from the program. People have gotten somebody's getting married they met through the program. And then when you graduate there's an alumni association and they're very hands on and very good about keeping people in touch. Doing projects together and all that stuff so the community continues and I have I've made friends here that I'll probably have forever. Not with regularly. And when you think about the faculty here and their approach which is obviously very hands on. But can you talk a little bit in your words in your perception what makes them different and so valuable to the students through here. Well again because because it's a low res program you really get to know if the faculty on this day to day breakfast lunch and dinner basis. So I always tell people you know eat with every person on the faculty if you're poet. Eat with the fiction faculty and you know etc. Just like get to know everybody because there's so much that they have to offer about the writing life. Their struggles and their successes and so we get to hang out with them get to know them. And I have yet to meet a faculty person. I've met them all over the years but I haven't met anyone that it wasn't interesting to talk to at lunch. And who I didn't get something from in terms of whatever just something I didn't know before about the business. And then you know some of them have become friends and we hang out. How committed would you say the faculty are to the students and to their growth as writers. In my experience the faculty is very committed and they spend a lot of time working with each person. Well certainly that was the case with me and I just assumed that it is with most other people if not everybody. You know there's a several month period where we don't necessarily see them. Because you know we're off at our house in their house and maybe they're not even in the same state or whatever. But they're in touch and there's always a connection there. And everybody has an open door policy that I've ever worked with where if you have a problem let me know. And that continues beyond the point where you work with them as mentors. It certainly happens in the workshop and you know even after graduation faculty are still in touch with me. I make a point of coming here to say hello and revisit them. And I don't know I get to get the sense that they care you know it's not just a gig for them. One of the things I think that differentiates this program is that they not only teach about writing but it's also the business of writing. So that when you leave you're practically in a position where you're not just going out into the world having no idea what to do you've got more of a focus. So can you talk a little bit about how being in the program helped you understand not only how to write better but also how to get out there and sell your work better. Well here at the residency they will regularly have these seminars and presentations and panel discussions by professional publishing folks, agents, editors. We had a guy come and give a little seminar on how to read out loud to an audience which actually was really helpful. I mean I have read many times but I still learn stuff and there's a lot of people who are terrified and that's the kind of thing that helps you. You want to read to an audience and put on a good show and you know be coherent and it's one of those little nuts and bolt things that people don't think about too much but it's super helpful. And same with the agents and when you leave the program you're encouraged and in some cases like really pushed to get your stuff out there. And to meet people and to write to editors and not only that but to get out there as potential teachers. It's not just about publishing either and it's the point where they have a program for people who want to teach at Fairfield University. You can kind of be, I don't know, there's an open door there for MFA grads to teach at the agent level. So they're not even just thinking about publishing, they're thinking about actually earning a little bit of money when you get out of here. Can you talk a little bit about how this experience has helped you make your way as a writer in the world and make a living doing this? You know I run workshops and I basically model my workshop after the workshops that I experienced here. And I've done workshops before so I use all that history that I have and experience that I have from workshops but a lot of it is based on this model, the MFA model. So it definitely made me a better teacher to work with these guys here who teach and to work with my fellow students here, just learning from them. In terms of editing, I basically will edit, aside from copy edit stuff, I edit with thinking what would so and so make this thinking of faculty people here. I'm remembering manuscripts that I submitted in the MFA program and the kind of notes that I got that were helpful to me and I try to do that. So that helped enormously. I mean I think I was a good reader before and certainly being in the workshops here helped me to be a good reader and then working with these mentors really sharpened that up. So it's super helpful to anybody doing anything publishing. What was the most surprising thing about this experience of going through this program or meeting these people or being a member of this community? I was surprised that I had it in me, frankly, to enjoy it as much as I did and to get as much out of it as I did. I just really didn't know. I mean I had a good feeling about it. I felt like I was in the right place, right time kind of a thing, but I was very taken aback by how much it clicked for me. I just felt really good every time I came here and miss it as an alumnus, which is one of the reasons why I come back as often as I do.  It doesn't matter what time you're here either. And see what kind of vibes you get from the place. And I guarantee you will want to go there and write. Look at the faculty and look at their work and speak to anybody you can who's been through the program. And speak to the faculty, speak to the people who are running the program. And just get a vibe and I guarantee it will be at the top of your list at the end of the day.


It's 40 degrees outside, but that didn't stop these big bass from biting. We doubled up on our first cast, and from that point on, we couldn't stop catching them. But stay tuned till the end of the video, because it only gets better. All right, boys, we just got out to the lake. We're gonna be searching for these giants today. I'm super excited about it. Clear water, sunny day, a little chilly. We're gonna get after these biggings. I'm starting off with my Kickin' Their Bass TV X Lose combo. If you guys wanna check these out, you can check them out on Kickin'TheBass.com. They'll be linked down below. Got the boy fleshed, daddy. What's going on, show? What's going on, boss?  Today's mission is just to try to catch the biggest fish we possibly can. Before we get deeper into this video, only 27% of you all watching these videos are actually subscribed. So if you could, take the time, hit the subscribe button. Really helps the channel. I'd appreciate it. Our main goal today is just to put our heads together and see if we can lay a big bag of fish and, more importantly, just catch some really big ones. So, you know, I got a ThunderCrooked on. I'm gonna throw this around just a little bit to cover some water to see if we can get any of these active fish. But, you know, we're probably gonna have to slow down. I even got a drop shot on one of these rods. You know, I'm not expecting these fish to eat like crazy, but I definitely think we can outsmart them. First cast. First cast, baby, on the net. Dude, flesh, flesh. Dude, they might be smoking it. There's no way we start off like that, bro. Oh my goodness. Yeah, I know it's like, I don't know if there's gonna be that. Dude, you got a dang good one. Yeah, nice one. Oh! Okay. Come on. What's going on, Fletch? How did you catch yours on on the chatter? On the chatter, bro.  Let's throw it, you know? That's close to a two-pounder. That one's almost pushing three in a two-pound body. Oh, is she chunky? Yes, sir. Cheers, brother. Cheers. Well, that entails us catching a double on the first cast, but wow. It's either great luck or terrible luck.  We went out earlier.  I caught one fish, okay? And Fletcher might've had one bite. We both had a bite, and like probably two hours of fit, not probably an hour and a half realistically, but to get on this lake, super clear water, and get bit that quick. You just instantly, dude. Unbelievable, bro. So we're about to have a sleigh fest, fasten your seat belts. Oh, I got another one. Let's get after it, dude. Back-to-back cast. Back-to-back cast. Come on, Sullen. It's a little dinker, but hey, I'll take it. It's electric up in here. For these fish to be loaded. I mean. On this first spot is unbelievable. I mean. That's a good sign, because this is like some deep structure. Are you on? Dude, this is unbelievable, Fletcher. We are doing, we're doing something here. Drop shot net rig. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. It was a four pounder and he spit it. He spit it.  He flipped my weight off, Fletcher. I didn't handle that situation perfectly. I cannot believe this. That was actually a four pounder too. You know, nothing's really gone our way in a long time like this. So I'm pumped. Oh, there's one. Hello. Hello. Hello. I can't believe how loaded they are, Diamond. Do you see them on the graph?  That underspin bite. It's going to be fire. You got one? It's a little one. I mean, dude, this is just smaller ones. I mean, we start off with a sleigh fest, brother. These aren't big. Listen, I know people are going to mess with me, but dude, it's just what happens. Of course, the big one comes off, right? Every time. I mean, it's not like I didn't see them. I saw them, but wow. Two double ups already. This is a picture perfect. It's heating up, baby. It's heating up. Just what the doctor ordered. Looks like we about to be blessed with a day, boys. And I'm glad we can take y'all along the journey with us a fun, good old day efficient to see if we can put together a mega bag. Oh, there's one. And you were just trying. Oh, no. That's the structure. Just joshing your tauts that time. Oh, Josh, my tauts. Got them? Gosh, you might get that. That feels like a better one. Oh, nah. He came off. You know, the two big ones came off, which just just kind of clarify. They were both 10 pounders. Yeah, they were both 10 to 12. Easy. So guys, we're throwing these drop shots in net rigs, but it's almost looking like we can, I think we can experiment with how these fish are biting flesh. Yeah, they're biting good. They're actually biting really good. That underspin bite. I feel like the underspin bite is going to get crazy. Oh, he just ate some ones. Oh, he ate mine. Is there another one down there? I don't know, but that's a good fish, though. I was literally watching this, and I didn't know whose bait it was. I just watched him eat it, but I didn't feel it. Let's go. That's what I'm talking about. Yeah, I'm about to say I was feeling it. I'm like, Fletcher, I don't feel nothing. You lift up, bingo. That's a good one, close to three. Not bad at all. Yeah, nice healthy two pounder with some change. Got a little chunk in the trunk. You know, I just saw some bait flicker at the top on the left point over there. We're casting distance to that structure now. There's one. You got him. You got him. You got him. That feels like she got a little meat on the bones. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Stay down. Stay down. Come on in. Bon appetit. Another healthy one. It's probably about a solid two pounder. All right, boys. Switching up. Saw him a little bit different. Got one of those striking little twin bait jig heads. We wish we had a little lighter, but honestly, I want to be able to cast this a little better on that bait caster. I'm going to pull one of these Rage Swimmers. This is a 3.75. It's not super finesse, but might get that bigger bite. I mean, we are going for these big ones today. That's cash. Yeah. A little better than that chatter bait on today, guys. You know, if this water wasn't as clear. I think we can still catch them on this really good. I just feel like this is our better option. Tire on with a little uni knot, cleaning basic. We're going to be on with our way. Let's just throw in that net rig. He can kind of hit those fish on the bottom. I can fan cast a little more with this, and maybe we'll find another group stacked up. This point is usually pretty good. And when we were pulling up on that other spot, I saw give it a bait flicker. Might be some fish down this way. Oh, I just got. Oh my gosh, man. Yes, there he is right there. He down the falls. He feels like a nice one too, watcher. That's better than anything we hook. What's the boat? Oh, God. Dude, yeah, that's a good one. That's a big one today. Oh, he's fighting good too. Look at this one. Oh yeah, that's more like it. Now to get us started. Oh, she's hooked beautifully, beautifully. Look at that. Good three pounder, fat belly. Wow. I hooked that mister and then on that water back down, she hits it again. That's a high two pounder. Good fish though. I hope we can get on that bite we had out here about two years ago. This time period where we were throwing underspins and paddle tail jets like that. And we were just catching like five pounder after five pounder. Oh, today's the day for it. 100. Cool. You talk about a bite, flutcher. He's ate it again. These are nice ones out there too. I mean, they're, I can't believe this. They're sitting right in that ditch, flutcher. That one's bigger than that last one. You got a better one? I think. Oh, I'm about the same size. Golly, boy. Oh, we about to have a, oh yeah, that one's freaking thick, boy. Look at that one. These are like high two pounders pushing three. They're so fat, man. They're healthy fish. Were they eating you on the water? Dude, yes. I mean, dude, they're loaded out there. You don't even need to graph those. Golly, you saw that line jump. You saw that line. Under spin. Oh yeah, she got some size too or two. Oh, she hammered it. She, oh, look at that. Dude, that fish is trying to eat it. She's still there, but she's still there. Yeah, she went off that way. Oh my gosh. Another fish was chasing this one in guys. She's trying to eat my bait out of this one. Fletcher, I got her. I got her. I got her, bro. Oh, it's a big one. That's a four pounder. Dude, look at that one, Fletcher. That's a big one. Oh, let's go. That little fish ball. That's our third double up. Look at that one, buddy. That was a good one. Yeah, that's solid. We already got 15 pounds. I was hoping they were, I blind casted that, bro. It wasn't even like, I was like, I hope they're out there. Like they were that one day. You feel how they're hitting me? Oh, that's a good one. That's a big one. That's a big one. At least she feels like it.  When you laid that hook set, oh my gosh. Yeah, I don't know how that popped out. Man. Yeah, that was a good fish. All right, guys, these fish kind of slid down for a second. The biggest thing is when you're throwing out on a spot like that, if they're loaded, I got one. Yeah, they might be a little deeper in there. Looks like another decent one. Oh man. These fish, you know, they get really competitive and they'll follow each other and try and still debate out of each other's mouth. And next thing you know, that stack of 20 fish that was out there is up under your boat. And that can kind of hurt the bite, you know. But that doesn't mean you can't come back on the same spot later and catch these fish. But it's another good two and a half, two and three quarter. There's one. There. That one was on the fall. Yeah, I want to feel like she got a little size to her. Come on. Come on. She's just, she's working at us. It's kind of hard to tell. She's going out to the side now. Oh yeah. She's got a little size to her. She's got a lot of spunk. That's for sure. Oh, yeah. Come here, baby. Come here, baby. Oh, that's a foul. Yeah. Dude, I just want one to just rip off some drag real quick. She's weird because that last one I caught and then that one, it seems like they're just kind of lone. All right, there's got to be more. That was such a good bite. Oh, that's a nice one. Josh, yeah, that was a big thump. I can't tell she's quite four. Is that a four? Oh yeah. That's a, that's the biggest one today. It's close. I don't know. They're like twins. The same one we caught earlier, slush. Look how high she ate it. Like right back in her throat. That's Brad Pitt as a bass. Gosh, man. That was just a slow, steady retrieve. Aided about 75% in. That bite's juicy, bro. Oh, gosh. Yeah, I did. Josh, you're tots, boy. That was just a mega bluegill flip. I want to see a couple Giants, bro.    There we go. Got them. I can't tell yet. Feels like I got a little size on her. Nothing but glare. I can't tell, dude.  I actually feel it.  Oh, yeah, that is a good one. That's a good one. I was like, how's it going to say?  That's the best one I've caught so far. Yep. Yep. Well, I appreciate the bite there, little fella. Shoo. Come on, big Bertha. Yep, throw it right away. Oh, flesh. That's a big one. Oh, you got one? That's a big one. Oh, let's go. That's the biggest one off hook. Yeah, that's crazy. Right when you were saying that. Fletcher, this one's big, I think. You think you got me beat? Oh, I got two. You got two? I think. No way. Okay, I just got a monster, bro. No. That one's over five. That's a fish. She's barely hooked. Come on. Get her, boys. Get that one-hand grab, baby. You got me beat. Oh, my goodness. That's a five-pounder. Oh, my gosh, look in the back of her dang throat. They're not a gizzard shed in here, is it? Look at that in the back of her throat. There's gizzards. Oh, yeah, that's a gizzard. Holy cow, Fletcher. All right, let's take our guesses. I'm thinking, I don't know, it might be high four. I think I'm, like, right at five. She's so fat. Yeah. What is she, like, five? Five-two? Five-even. Five-even? Five-even. Oh, boy. Okay, Fletcher. Well, the first goal is knocked off the list. We got us a five-pounder. Mega straight freaking brute. Want to take a picture of me? Oh, hold on. You're gonna have to wait. You're gonna have to wait. We got another one, boy. We got another one. All right, boys, that is the big fish so far. Five pounds even. Look at that belly, baby.  It's got a boiler on her. Dude, I literally thought I had two. It looked like, I think there was, like, a reflection on the water that it made. I saw, like, two tails. And I was like, how do I have two on one swim bait? Well, mine was playing tricks on me. You know, guys, sitting here December time and what seems to be possibly one of our best days of fishing all year, had to end it off with a bang, all right? It's been a good year of fishing, but this is a bite that I've wanted all year. So, full time never, like, really got on in that winter to fall. I mean, you usually have a couple days there, just crazy, but we haven't had it yet. It's refreshing to be out here and see these fish eating how they should. There we go. Catch right where I was. There was, like, three or four right there. Ah, I think it was an average. Another two pounder. Two and a half pounder. There was a big one in that group, though. Oh, there's a school right there. Look at that. They're right out there. Oh, there's one. Oh, no. Pull me down right there underneath the boat. See some right here. Yep. Oh, I missed one. Josh, meet up.  Don't be just me that. There you go. You hit it good that time. Oh, you come off again. You just met up. He hit it again. Meet up, Josh. Oh, you came off again. You just met up. Oh, no. There's a stack of them right there, but it's a serious. It's a serious Josh and dude. I mean, yeah. They're not big. They're not big compared to this other one. I feel like there's more isolated one to two in the middle. They're going to be your bigger ones. I mean, these are still fun, nice fish, but sometimes they tend to just kind of josh your tots, you know? Serious tot Joshers. That's all they do. She got a little something going on. Yeah, I'm trying to keep us off. Sorry, I'm getting pushed. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, that's a better one. Come up here and josh my tits. That's the one that was joshing me tits. It's crazy. All right, boys. We're back in the action. We had a couple tot Joshers over there, and they kind of, they got me a little bundled. They really did. That was intense, bro. Like that was scary. See that car up there, flush? Just like, they're like, dang, this boy just got their tots joshed. There we go. Yeah, sped it up, slowed it down.  I don't remember catching fish this small in here.  We're catching as much as we can, but usually we don't see fish that small in here. Usually around at least a pound and a half to two pounds. But A, whatever's biting today we're having fun with. I think we're to the point now where we only want big bites because we've had our arms yanked off, but I will take really whatever comes. I just want to see, I want to see some more than five plus pounders because they're in here. We just got to just got to activate them. Now, see, you would all like this far where they were just casting, you would think there's fish there. Oh, there's one. Yeah. Hello. Hey, you might be on a group of it. Yeah, say off of it. Get in there. Get in there, boy. Yeah. I mean, they're on the bottom. No, like that surface. They're putting it in their face. They're probably trying to get them to come off their feet and stuff like that. Yeah, boy. She got some meat on the bone. Keep them coming. Oh my goodness. Got one? Yeah, that bite was just unreal. That's how long that? Yeah, that one feels like it's... Yeah, that's a thick one, son. Oh yeah, there you go. Gosh, that might be a four. That's better for all of you.  Oh my gosh. Look at that belly. Like y'all just beautiful lateral line on that bass. Right in the lip. Look at that belly. I don't think she's four. She's a three-something though, but I just want to know. Oh my gosh. Yeah, three and a half. Wow. I mean, just beautiful fish though. Thank you, baby. You know, when those thick roots like that are hidden it, I need to throw on the edge of those pipes though. You saw that. Yeah, that's probably going to get the other ones fired up too. Come on, baby. Is that a big one? Dude, it almost took the... That was a big one. That one was big, but... All right, y'all, little updates. We're actually going back towards that pocket where we found them stacked at the beginning and then there's just one other pocket over here that we'd never fished and it's usually our money hole. But we're going to try these spots and see if we can find any more stacked up. We went to the backside of this lake and we didn't have a lick. So we're just going to keep moving and see if we can find some more active fish. Should be right over there. Oh. Oh, gosh, I missed them. Even more out, more like right there in that lake. You ate it right there, though. Nice. Finally broke the stalemate. God, Lee. Y'all look wise. It's crazy you're having a day like that.  Enough to get the heart of thumping again. They followed me back to the boat like, yeah, there's four under the boat. Drop that thing down. Look at all of them. Look at, there's probably 10 of them. 40 feet that way. It's crazy. That one fish just starts swimming around on the hook and they all get jumpy. You get one active and they start getting a little crazy. Let's see if I can get one of those. I swear I had that one bite too. They might have came off from the... God, he about jerked a rod out of my hand. Yeah. Hello. I think she's big. You should get a bit down there, bro. We're good. Oh, no, she dropped it. No. Dude, this one, this was the first bite today that my rod actually went like a little crazy. Pretty low. Counting a half, two pounder. That shad fed booty. That shad meat, baby. Oh. That was an old corn fed one. Yeah, she took my little tail. She joshed me. All right.  I'm going to josh his top next. This is the second spot we pulled up to and he caught, you caught one on that, all right? I missed one. And this is before we even had these swim baits on. So there we go. That was a beautiful eat. See, I went more in on that. Pleasure. Yeah, just a little bit more, probably 10 more foot on that cast. And she ate it good. Ooh. Hello. Oh, that's a, that's a, that's a long list monster. She fishing for her flesh.  Tom's hum honked up too. Took a right into that dang tree up there.   I promise. There he is. Dude, I didn't even feel that bite. Like the first bite today that I just didn't feel at all. Just got heavy. There we go. Got it. Way back in it. So guys, we have gone what? Pleasure over 30 minutes? 45 minutes? Without a bite. Took a big circle around this whole pond. Took a three pounder. Oh, yours is too. Nice. Yeah, she got some meat. Dude, that is our fourth or fifth double up today. That is unreal, dude.  Dude, that's a nice fish. Holy cow. Is that a football? Look at that. That hook out of there. She ate that thing good. That's a good one. That's definitely one of the better ones I've caught so far today. With the width on her, she's got that extra weight, that sneaky weight. They're loaded on this thing spot, bro. Look at that. Dude, I mean, they are loaded on this. Oh gosh, that's a good one too.  We're going to have another little sleigh fest, bro. One more than the day on. Oh yeah. Dude, look at how he ate it. Choked. Nice little two pounder. We ended off on some good little action here. I like that. You know what, I'm going to try that, boys. Haven't done it since the beginning. Little dropy. Watch it just be like a whole different ball game. Boom. They're finally eating again.  Guys, it's just been the last, I'd say, hour and a half. It's been a little cold after we were just cooking. And there was nothing we could do. That was wrong earlier. I think he's going to eat this drop shot. Dude, if he's down there, I think we'll eat this. Switch it up. Oh, there's one on the trap. Yeah. On the trap. Big. That's actually a good one. Yeah. Not too bad. On the trap, baby. Trapping. Appreciate it. There you go. There we go. Little tree shot. He came off. There's one. Maybe this corner with the Wembley on here. That low. Come on. She actually. She feel like she's got some size. There you go. Probably so hard in here. It's hard to tell if he actually could. He like a good look on them.  Oh my gosh. I don't think we've ever had that many double ups in one day. That's pretty ridiculous. Hits a lot. A lot of double ups. I got him. We got to double up here. Dude, I'm loaded on that edge, Fletch. Yeah, that's our fifth or sixth double up of the day, man.  We just have to switch up. We got a little caught on that swim bait. I'm throwing it right on the edge of this tree line, guys, nothing fancy at all. Browing this corner, you got a little bit of wind coming up here and I ain't up in the tree or anything. I'm just right on the edge. I got one. Dude, they are smoking this thing on the edge. I can't believe that, dude.  Oh, boy, little drop shot. Little drop shot. This one's fat though. Smoking the whole sauce one.