Update

I can't believe it is already September! My rotation in American Samoa was supposed to end on September 1 (hence the title of my blog) but a number of different factors delayed my study this summer and my rotation has been extended to November 2. I feel really fortunate to have the opportunity to spend more time in American Samoa because I am really enjoying my work here and gaining some really valuable experience.

The last three have been a total whirlwind of activity. Kelsey's last week here on the island overlapped with survey week! Survey week started with a training class for the four volunteers from the American Samoa Community College who would be helping me with survey distribution. After reviewing the survey and going through various scenarios the volunteers divided up the survey villages were ready to go. For the next seven days the volunteers visited households in the villages adjacent to Fagatele Bay and distributed surveys. I was a little apprehensive about people's willingness to respond to the survey but it turned out my concerns were completely unnecessary. The response rate was nearly 100% and in seven days the girls were able to collect nearly 500 surveys! I met with the volunteers throughout the week to discuss their experiences and so I knew that things were going well but I was overwhelmed by the response considering I was only hoping to collect 120 surveys. I suppose the high response rate may have been in part due to the fact that we gave out free pens to anyone who completed a survey. According to one of my volunteers, word got out that we were distributing pens people were tracking her down on her cell phone to ask if they could participate in the study! On Thursday when I went to Cost U Less (American Samoa's take on Cosco) to buy more pens the cashier commmented "Oh are you from the group that is handing out pens in Vaitogi [one of my survey villages]? My mom was talking about you guys. Do you think you could come to my house?"

The only downside of collecting so many surveys is that we now have to enter all the data into a database for analysis! I considered using several programs for data analysis including SPSS and Excel but at the end of the day I settled on Survey Pro, a software program often used for social science research that is frequently used in American Samoa. It is extremely simple to enter data and most of the analysis is done automatically which is very time efficient. I have enlisted the help of Noel, the summer intern, for data entry and I have given her the task of entering all the Samoan surveys, not an easy task since many more people completed the survey in Samoan than in English. She is a total rock star however and I have every confidence in her ability to get them done!

Last week I headed to Kona for the Coral Reef Task Force Meeting, a bi-annual event held to bring together people from different organizations who work on coral reef conservation and management in the United States and in US Territories. Ten people from American Samoa attended the conference including the Governor and his wife, the Director and the Deputy Director of the Department of Commerce, the Superintendant of Fagatele Bay (my boss), and several staff from the Coral Reef Advisory Group (CRAG) and the Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources (DMWR). Also in attendance was the Governor of Guam and the President of Yap and the President of Palau. The conference was a great opportunity to meet with people from other islands to learn about their experiences. I am very inspired by the work that is being done and I hope to have the opportunity to visit some of their sites.

I returned to American Samoa on Sunday and fortunately Monday was a holiday so I had an opportunity to rest before returning to the wonderful world of data entry. I am trying to get as much done as possible this week because tomorrow I am leaving for Fiji for a 6-day training on Marine Protected Area (MPA) capacity building. The course is being help by NOAA and the University of the South Pacific and focuses on coral reef management in the Pacific Islands Region. I will be attending the course with two people from the Coral Reef Advisory Group (CRAG) which is housed in my building in American Samoa. I feel extremely fortunate to have this opportunity to participate in this extraordinary course in such a beautiful location. The training ends on Saturday evening but due to the flight schedule we will not be returning to American Samoa until the following Tuesday. My plan is to rent a car and drive around the island as much as I can. Then it's back to more data entry...