Teslinhiker, all the best to your SO in her humanitarian work. One of my partners has a daughter who does similar work in Africa . He sweats bullets about her safety! If its ultimately consistent with her safety and security, I hope you can tell us more about the course content. Are you or her sponsoring organization providing an individual E&E kit? Do you have a content list that you can share? Urban emergency kits (different in content by about 50% than she would need) are a particular interest of mine. I recently posted my kit contents in the Urban Forum. Besides exercising good sense, having locals' support and an evac plan, I think U S Dollars are the best survival tool in a getaway situation.
Sweating bullets is a vast understatement for me...However my SO has quite a bit of previous experience over there so that will hopefully help alleviate my concerns. She also has years of remote outdoors experience and is very comfortable in many types of environments which will serve her well. Situational awareness, knowing the local area, people and customs can go a long way in ensuring any persons'safety no matter if it is a 3rd world country in Africa or in North America.
As for the E&E kit, the organization supplies basic things but we will be building up a more comprehensive kit before she leaves. She has a good idea of what she needs based on previous trips over there. However the kit will be a lot more modernized as compared to what gear and technology was available in the late 1980's to mid 1990's which is the last time she went over. Interestingly, the kit contents are not all that much different then many posted here for travel in remote environments.
Your thoughts on carrying US dollars or other currencies is a double edged coin...no pun intended. Over in those depressed countries, having money to bribe, grease the skids etc can also be a liability as the locals always assume that if you already x amount for dollars for payoffs, that you must have much more. This can lead to some situations that can go south very fast. That said, carrying some money, being careful and very discrete about it can help in certain situations.
In regards to security, much is very specific to the area / work that she and others will involved in and I would rather not get into details. However if anyone is interested, the ICRC (International Committee of the RED Cross) has a very comprehensive publication titled
"STAYING ALIVE. Safety and security guidelines for humanitarian volunteers in conflict areas." This publication though a bit dated is still considered one of the better (aside from the goofy drawings throughout it) that delves into aid worker security training and best practices. The publication which was last revised in 2005 can be download as a PDF file
from many websites. 
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