October 24, 2008
In my quest to gain further support for the project I’ve had a couple of key meetings over the past week. There was of course the meeting with the DAPH staff on Thursday, which went exactly as it needed to.
The Director General of the DAPH was very enthusiastic about the project and her support is undeniably critical if we are to be successful. I also happened to meet the former Director General early in the week who is now working with the UN Food and Agricultural Organization in Sri Lanka on an early preparedness plan for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI). We had lunch together and I gave him a brief overview of the project. Two days later I followed up this meeting with an email, offering to give a presentation to the FAO on our project, which was met with great enthusiasm and my visit for to the FAO was immediately booked for today. So this morning I headed off to Colombo to the headquarters of the UN in Sri Lanka. About 10 people attended, including the acting director of the FAO in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan countrysideI’m beginning to learn that while this process detracts from carrying out the specifics of the project, it is essential to garner as much support as possible from potentially influential people and parties. I’ve gathered quite a stack of business cards with more to come I’m sure. Now that we’ve got support from the Director General, Dr. Daniel and I will be heading out to meet with the provincial directors of the participating four provinces. More presentations, meeting and greeting, handshakes, and cups of tea to come! I will, however, have the opportunity to meet with a number of field veterinarians and get the much needed feedback on the form. So, two birds with one stone with any luck...