The atmosphere was effervescent. The energy was positive. Perhaps these were the perfect conditions for Myriam Miranda, a beneficiary of Habitat for Humanity's Puerto Rico Recovery Program, to get up from her comfort zone with the subtitled video, to stand up and read in English to the audience the closing remarks of the presentation that told her story.
"This has been a master class!" exclaimed Stephen Maack, a veteran applied anthropologist and evaluator with more than 40 years of experience.
The presentations that reflected on post-disaster data collection and participatory evaluation were very well received. Those present expressed interest in repeating and nominating the work presented for further dissemination.
Among the opportunities that arose after the presentation was a podcast in which Dr. Gorbea summarizes in 5 minutes and in Spanish the evaluative research in a post-disaster context. To see the Spansih language podcast episode of "Disasters Deconstructed," click here.