Changemaker Catalyst Award recipient, Layla Babahaji, spent the Summer of 2022 as a Monitoring and Evaluation Intern at Project Soar in Morocco where she conducted an impact evaluation of their 2021-2022 program empowering teen girls to be leaders. Layla is in her final semester as a graduate Master of Public Health student at Tulane in the Department of International Health and Sustainable Development, Class of 2022.

The Summer of 2022 was one of immense personal and professional growth for me. It was a summer of learning, laughter, and community. Completing my public health practicum in Morocco presented me with a supportive, welcoming, and empowering community that helped me connect with my Moroccan culture while simultaneously developing my skills in monitoring and evaluating global social programs.

In Morocco, I completed my Master of Public Health (MPH) practicum as a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Intern at NGO Project Soar (PS) in Douar Laadam – a small village outside of Marrakech. Project Soar is a social enterprise that aims to empower marginalized teen girls through a girls’ empowerment program. Their program, Soar in a Box, consists of five modules that embody the belief that every girl realizes her: Value, Voice, Body, Rights, and Path. The 2021-2022 PS cohort in Morocco consisted of a total of 619 Soar girls in 28 squads in approximately 20 sites.

The goal of my internship was to lead and conduct an impact evaluation on PS’ 2021-2022 Soar in a Box program throughout Morocco – answering the following question: What was Project Soar’s impact on teenage girls in the 2021-2022 cohort in Morocco?

I conducted the impact evaluation in the following six steps:

1. Collecting qualitative data on the Soar Girls’ parents’ perspectives of PS’ impact on their daughters.
2. Analyzing the quantitative data: conducting statistical testing and analyses of the baseline and end-line survey responses and the module survey responses.
3. Identifying key trends in the quantitative and qualitative impact data.
4. Presenting recommendations to the PS team.
5. Holding an open discussion and dialogue with the team.
6. Writing a comprehensive and organized impact report with my findings and recommendations.

PS had not previously had the capacity to collect qualitative data from parents of girls who attended their program. I worked alongside my supportive co-workers to introduce the practice of interviewing parents to get their insight into PS’ impact. For this impact report, I conducted eight semi-structured interviews with parents of Soar girls in the 2021-2022 cohort in the Douar Laadam site in Morocco. This was an opportunity for social innovation and changemaking as I was able to include PS facilitators and girls to help with the interview process. My teammates translated my interview questions live into Darija – the Moroccan Arabic dialect – as I asked them in English and French. This qualitative data was invaluable to the impact report as it gave important insight into the parents’ perspectives of the program’s impact on their girls. I then cross-referenced this data with the quantitative data to identify trends in PS’ impact.

I analyzed the 2021-2022 baseline and end-line survey responses and the module survey responses which offered important insight into the positive and potentially negative social change that PS is having on teen girls. I categorized the 81 baseline and end-line survey statements by 13 key themes to analyze the data and identify trends in the Soar Girls’ responses.

I then conducted statistical testing and analyses on the survey responses to determine the change in the girls’ responses before and after the program, as well as their statistically significance.

Overall, after completing the Project Soar curriculum, the Soar girls’ sense of agency, self-worth, and confidence improved, and they had an increased desire to learn new languages. Furthermore, the girls felt more comfortable communicating openly with their families, especially regarding menstruation. I then used the results and conclusions from these data analyses to determine which aspects of the current program are successful and to identify areas in which the program can expand upon their goal of “empowering girls to be the leaders of today and tomorrow”. I recommended a more extensive and systematic collection of qualitative data from parents – specifically fathers –, the collection of more quantifiable module-specific data, and a review of the parents’ suggestions given during the interviews to continue growing Project Soar’s program and its impact on teenage girls in Morocco.

At the end of my time at PS, I presented my findings and professional recommendations to the team. I then hosted an open discussion where the entire team had space to process the impact findings and recommendation and voice their thoughts on ways that the program can adjust, grow, and evolve through changemaking strategies to better meet their impact goals. This experience of holding an open dialogue with the team was one of the most exciting parts of the evaluation process, as it was a comfortable space for everyone’s voice to be heard and valued.

I had the opportunity to combine and apply my language and public health skills in a professional setting within an international social organization. I feel proud of the work that I have accomplished with the support of my PS team in Morocco. I was told that my impact report was the organization’s first comprehensive analysis of their program data with more data-driven insights than they have ever had before, and that my work would be used as a template and guide for future impact evaluations at PS. I am excited to see PS’ program continue to grow and their M&E work to develop into a more systematic process as they use my impact report to continually improve or adapt their program. I hope to continue centering marginalized voices using changemaking practices and social innovation tools in my professional public health work and career.

The team that I worked with in Morocco was incredibly passionate, driven, and kind. I hope to continue following their work and growth for a long time. My coworkers and the community that I found in Douar Laadam at PS not only supported me in my professional work at PS, but also welcomed me with open arms into their community. They helped me navigate finding housing and food in a remote village, develop my Darija language skills, and connect with my culture. The tremendous support, kindness, and compassion that this community of women showed me was unlike anything I had experienced before, and they have become close friends and family that I will cherish for the rest of my life.