It’s 8:30 am and I’m having an early morning discussion with my co-trainer Ester Hutabarat in the Internews Jakarta office on the results of our evaluation survey from our latest training in Makassar for journalists covering avian influenza (AI). The results seem pretty encouraging, with the majority of respondents indicating that they want follow-up training to cover an issue that could possibly blow up into a global pandemic. This was the last leg of training and Internews Indonesia had trained 90 journalists in just two months. Nonetheless, the death rates keep rising.

At midday, I meet Cepy Faud, one of our senior accountants, to discuss the current budget of the UNICEF-funded AI program. The first phase is due to end and Cepy is in the process of closing the books. After my meeting with him, I meet Teddy Akrab – our finance manager – to plan the next budget to be submitted to UNICEF.

In the evening, Internews Country Director Wayne Sharpe and I meet Suzanna Dayne, UNICEF’s Media Relations Officer. Suzanna is worried about the AI deaths passing the 40 mark, with trends indicating that Indonesia would soon have the highest death rate in the world. We discuss further AI follow-up work in Indonesia, with new areas to cover.