Adventist Development and
Relief Agency Bahamas
Meet The Project Team
Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning Officer
Marniqua Dean
My name is Marniqua Dean, and I am the project officer for ADRA Bahamas. I have a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree in Human Resource Management, with a minor in Tourism Management that I attained from the University of the Bahamas.
Working for ADRA has been a phenomenal experience for me. I am able to meet and interact with new people, as well as put smiles on the faces of many. Additionally, this position forces me to conquer my fear of public speaking, as I am often in the media. All-in-all, I am truly blessed and appreciative of the experience and knowledge I have gained thus far, while being able to work with such supportive teammates. I am excited to see what the future has in store!
Stephanie Molina
"As I completed my Global Health MPH program, I
knew I wanted to work in a nonprofit organization, and knew that I wanted to further understand the planning and implementation that goes behind the scenes of a humanitarian organization.
I looked into different humanitarian organizations, but having prior knowledge of the Adventist
Development and Relief Agency, my mind kept coming back and seeking for any opportunity to work with ADRA.
Besides the prior knowledge of the organization, the other reason for wanting to work with ADRA was my vision of public health aligned with the organization’s purpose: To serve humanity so all may live as God intended. In addition, the idea to not only put the learned public health skills into practice but as well as to share those skills collaboratively was essentially what I was hoping to experience as I completed my postgraduate degree.
The opportunity came when ADRA Bahamas was needing an intern for the area of Monitoring,
Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL). This opportunity provided to mainly focus in the Education in Emergencies project, which its goal is to provide education humanitarian
assistance to students and educators. Previously working in the education sector by conducting
research, I knew I could not pass the opportunity. I wanted to continue to work in the education
sector while also put into practice public health skills.
Working as a MEAL intern for ADRA Bahamas has been a truly gratifying experience so far. And although the work has been remotely and with its challenges, it has been the perfect space for growth, collaborative work, leadership opportunities, and community empowerment.
The other discovery in working as a MEAL intern is how important this area of work is for the
communities around us. MEAL is an important area of work in public health because the data
collected can help us understand communities better. And even more so, MEAL is important in
humanitarian work because through data you see the impact of the provided relief and
development assistance. The impact then tells us where to improve, what programs of benefit
we can implement and how to build sustainability for local capacity. "