Hard to believe 2 months have passed already, but we are ending week 8 and only have 13 more days in Namaaha!
My birthday was on Monday and I got to wear a special birthday hat thanks to a fellow trainee, Jasmin. I was also sung to twice- once in Portuguese then again in English! It was definitely strange having school on my birthday. It was also strange to be in cold weather on my birthday. It got even colder on Tuesday and Wednesday. Apparently this is the coldest winter Mozambique has had for 60 years! On Tuesday I ate lunch inside of our little kitchen (which is outside, separate from our house) with my mom, Pedro, and Castro. I taught Pedro a trick my grandpa, Boppy, used to always do where you put your two fingers around someone's nose and pull as if you're pulling their nose off of their face. Then you slide your thumb in between your fingers as if it was their nose. He thought it was the funniest thing in the world! After classes we all stayed inside the house, huddled around the charcoal fire. My mom even cooked dinner inside! It was very cozy. The kids are on break from school right now so Atalia and Aninya went to Maputo on Monday to visit their aunt and aren't coming back until this Friday. I miss them!
Other than school, we have been busy preparing for the homestay celebration and swear-in ceremony. I am getting a dress and skirt made at a modista (tailor/seamstress) in Namaacha out of capulanas. The dress is being made from a capulana that all of the trainees have for swear-in. Most of the girls are getting dresses or skirts made and the boys shirts or ties. We are going to look so nice in our matching capulana patterns!
We're also preparing a song to perform at both the homestay party and swear-in. We are singing Edward Sharp's "Home" acapella with different groups of people being different instruments and singing. It is going to sound amazing! I'm hoping someone can tape it and post it on youtube or facebook so you all can see. More details to come...
This morning we went to see a traditional doctor. It was really cool seeing the traditional plants and techniques that he uses to treat people. Reminded me a lot of my experience in Ecuador. However, the traditional doctors here are much more concerned with spirits and ancestors, so a lot of their work focuses on cleansing people of bad spirits or ancestors and bad luck. Still really interesting and even though it may not have a scientific basis it definitely works wonders, mentally, for the people who believe in it!
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
I'm going to Nampula!!!!!
Wednesday was the big day. We finally got our site placements! And as most of you already know, I'm going to Monapo in Nampula Province. I'll be living in Monapo, the district capital of Monapo. I don't have too much information right now, but I'll tell you what I do know. This is from the packet PC gave to me.
Congratulations, you are headed to Monapo, Nampula! You will be replacing a Moz 14 health volunteer who loved her site and is sure that you will too! Monapo is a district capital and is comparable in size to Namaacha. It is well-developed with many stores, banks, and a well-stocked market. Nampula city is a mere 2 hour chapa ride away, providing easy access to the Peace Corps office and the additional amenities of a city. Chapas run regularly from 4am-5pm. You are also a stop over point between Nampula and the beautiful Ilha de Mocambique! While Monapo does not have a very heavy presence of NGO's, you will be working for a branch of SCIP, an I-NGO (International non-governmental organization) that has a network of offices all throughout the north. You will live in a centrally located house on the main road, in a dependencia that has a water tap in the yard and offers a lot of safety and privacy (well fenced off). You will only be a 10 minute walk from the market and from your office!
SCIP is an international project that operates in 14 districts in Zambezia and Nampula provinces. It is managed by Pathfinder International in Nampula and World Vision in Zambezia. Its broad intervention areas include mother and child health, water and sanitation, and the development of youth agriculture associations. Depending on the organizations actively supporting your branch of SCIP in Monapo when you arrive, you may find colleagues working to: promote access to health care services at the basic community level; contribute to the availability of potable water; promote basic sanitation, including the adoption of healthy hygiene habits, amongst the population; increase the availability of water re-use systems in order to promote health, sustainability, and the cultivation of products; promote community empowerment; promote the training of youth agricultural associations; and establish partnerships with other organizations already working in the field to optimize synergies and maximize resources.
In addition, I have two sitemates (education volunteers) and will be living in a temporary house for my first 3 months at site. After the first 3 months, the volunteer I'm replacing will be leaving Mozambique and I'll move into my permanent house. The closest volunteer from my training class is about 3 hours away from me, but there are a lot of Moz 14 and 15's within an hour or 2 from Monapo. And, Ilha de Mocambique is roughly an hour away!!!!
I won't officially be at my site until August 17th. Our last (full) day in Namaacha is August 11th. On the 12th we travel to Maputo for our Swearing-in Ceremony. Then we leave Maputo for our Supervisor's Conference. I'll be in Nampula for the conference with the rest of the Moz 16ers with North Mozambique sites. The Moz 16ers with sites in the South will stay in Maputo for their conference. From there I'll be driven to my site! I'm so excited! These next couple weeks of training are going to drag on, but I'm definitely going to make the most of my remaining time with my family and fellow trainees.
Congratulations, you are headed to Monapo, Nampula! You will be replacing a Moz 14 health volunteer who loved her site and is sure that you will too! Monapo is a district capital and is comparable in size to Namaacha. It is well-developed with many stores, banks, and a well-stocked market. Nampula city is a mere 2 hour chapa ride away, providing easy access to the Peace Corps office and the additional amenities of a city. Chapas run regularly from 4am-5pm. You are also a stop over point between Nampula and the beautiful Ilha de Mocambique! While Monapo does not have a very heavy presence of NGO's, you will be working for a branch of SCIP, an I-NGO (International non-governmental organization) that has a network of offices all throughout the north. You will live in a centrally located house on the main road, in a dependencia that has a water tap in the yard and offers a lot of safety and privacy (well fenced off). You will only be a 10 minute walk from the market and from your office!
SCIP is an international project that operates in 14 districts in Zambezia and Nampula provinces. It is managed by Pathfinder International in Nampula and World Vision in Zambezia. Its broad intervention areas include mother and child health, water and sanitation, and the development of youth agriculture associations. Depending on the organizations actively supporting your branch of SCIP in Monapo when you arrive, you may find colleagues working to: promote access to health care services at the basic community level; contribute to the availability of potable water; promote basic sanitation, including the adoption of healthy hygiene habits, amongst the population; increase the availability of water re-use systems in order to promote health, sustainability, and the cultivation of products; promote community empowerment; promote the training of youth agricultural associations; and establish partnerships with other organizations already working in the field to optimize synergies and maximize resources.
In addition, I have two sitemates (education volunteers) and will be living in a temporary house for my first 3 months at site. After the first 3 months, the volunteer I'm replacing will be leaving Mozambique and I'll move into my permanent house. The closest volunteer from my training class is about 3 hours away from me, but there are a lot of Moz 14 and 15's within an hour or 2 from Monapo. And, Ilha de Mocambique is roughly an hour away!!!!
I won't officially be at my site until August 17th. Our last (full) day in Namaacha is August 11th. On the 12th we travel to Maputo for our Swearing-in Ceremony. Then we leave Maputo for our Supervisor's Conference. I'll be in Nampula for the conference with the rest of the Moz 16ers with North Mozambique sites. The Moz 16ers with sites in the South will stay in Maputo for their conference. From there I'll be driven to my site! I'm so excited! These next couple weeks of training are going to drag on, but I'm definitely going to make the most of my remaining time with my family and fellow trainees.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
life outside of Namaacha
Saturday, July 16th, 2011
It’s freezing in Namaacha! Well, not actually freezing of course, but pretty cold. Especially when there isn’t any heat to turn on. This morning we were at the hub to do some stuff for “school.” During training our language groups have been assigned to a community organization in Namaacha for a practicum assignment. The practicum is supposed to give us a taste of what we could be doing at site with our organizations. My language group’s organization is Congregação do Precioso Sangue. So we presented our findings from a “needs assessment” to the other trainees and language teachers. All in Portuguese. Ugh.
Afterwards I went to a restaurant, Palucha’s Place, for lunch. I had an omelet and tons of delicious bread. Namaacha is known all over for their bread and I am definitely going to miss it when I go to site! After lunch a bunch of trainees and my brother went on the hike to the tri-border. It was very tiring as the last 20-30 minutes are a steep incline up the side of a mountain. But it was totally worth it for the beautiful views!
Tomorrow (Sunday) I’m planning on going to church with most of my family (Aninya and Atalia don’t go), washing clothes, and then meeting up with some trainees for a movie. I’m also hoping to make jello with my sisters. I bought a couple packs earlier this week when I was in Xai-Xai for site visit.
Even though we don’t know our sites yet (we find out this Wednesday!!!!) PC sent us out into the real world of Mozambique to visit a volunteer for 4 days to see what their day-to-day is like. So Hannah and I went to Xai-Xai, which is the provincial capital of Gaza province. It was wonderful but also strange. Xai-Xai was full of white people- tourists, ex-pats, South Africans, and had lots of stores with luxury items like Nutella. We ate Indian food and pizza and got to see the beach! So it was really more of a vacation from PST and a chance to get out of our little bubble that is Namaacha. But we still got to see what a volunteer does on a regular basis. The volunteer we visited, Mallory, works with activistas at a small hospital in her bairro (neighborhood), Patricia Lumumba. Activistas are volunteers that go into the community to educate people on HIV/AIDS and other health matters- malaria, hygiene, TB, nutrition, etc. Some also do home visits to PLWHA (People living with HIV/AIDS) to make sure they are adhering to the antiretroviral treatment. I will most likely be working with a group of activistas at site. Hannah and I split up and each went with a few activistas to a house in Patricia Lumumba. The house we stopped at had a young woman so they talked to her about the importance of getting tested for HIV. Although, I didn’t know what they were saying because the whole discussion was done in Xangana, a local language. Mallory also took us to an orphanage which she wrote a grant for. The grant is covering the cost of Portuguese books, a bookshelf, and other learning materials for the children.
As much as I liked Xai-Xai I was surprised that I did not like the size of Mallory’s site. Patricia Lumumba is a HUGE bairro, almost overwhelming. You have to take a chapa almost everywhere. It seemed difficult to get to know people since the bairro was so large. I didn’t like not having that comfortable everybody-knows-everybody feel. I also didn’t like all of the foreigners. It made me feel like I was at some vacation destination, instead of at home. Maybe it feels different for Mallory since Xai-Xai is her home. Regardless, it was extremely helpful to get out of Namaacha and see what a real volunteers’ life looks like. I am so excited and also extremely nervous for our site announcements. Wednesday cannot get here soon enough!
HIV Week
Wednesday, July 6th
Gosh how the time flies in Namaacha! Last week was HIV week and I loved (almost) every minute of it. We had a lot of guest speakers- a man from Moz’s Ministry of Health, a man from the CDC in Moz, and a panel of PVHS (pessoas vivendo com HIV/SIDA). It was amazing to see things that I’ve been reading about actually playing out in real life!
The HIV epidemic is bad here. It’s mainly passed heterosexually, among couples who don’t use protection. Among all “HIV couples,” 2/3 are serodiscordant, meaning 1 person tested positive for HIV and their partner tested negative. So, its just a matter of time before all those people in the 2/3 join their partner with a positive HIV status. Condoms are widely available and studies have shown that Mozambicans know that condoms help prevent HIV infection. But knowledge and availability just aren’t translating into correct and consistent condom use. Either partners are putting too much trust in their partners, or people feel unable to use condoms. Like the US, intimate partner violence is very prevalent here, preventing women from demanding that their sexual partners use condoms.
Most of the “science” of HIV that we learned was covered at GSPH but I really loved learning ways to dumb it down. Our teachers gave us a lot of analysis, metaphors, and stories that are helpful to use when explaining the biology of HIV to children or more un-educated audiences.
On Firday, my language group went to visit an orphanage-which is our organization for our PST practicum. The orphanage is run by the Congregacao de Precioso Sangue, and its not exactly an orphanage. Geared toward the needs of OVCs (orphans and vulnerable children), the kids don’t actually sleep at the orphanage (at least not yet). So its really more of an after-school program. It’s open to all who want to come before or after school, so they can get help with their studies. Most of the kids have lost at least one parent to HIV. Many are “street kids” or live with a “tia” or “avo” (aunt or grandmother). The center also provides breakfast and lunch since many of the children don’t eat dinner regularly, if at all.
After our visit, we went to Namaacha’s Center de Saude. We got to see the pregnancy ward, GATV (where HIV testing and counseling is done), consultation rooms, and plumpy nut! Wow, it was so cool seeing it in person!
Saturday morning I cleaned my room , tomar’d banho (took a bath), tomar’d cha (drank tea), then went to the Health Hub to work on my community mapping assignment. Then, we headed to Abby and Caitlin’s house for the 4th of July party! Jack made a grill on the ground for our burgers, sausages, chicken, and tofu. We also had fruit salad, potato salad, regular salad, guacamole, sangria, and beer. It almost felt like a normal party in the States. Almost. Because it’s impossible to make fruit salad in the States as delicious as the fruit salad here. Also, all of our food was served in basias. Like the one I bathe in. We drank out of “gato preto” (the brand of peanut butter) glass jars and ate on fine china (each of us had to bring a plate and fork from home!) But all in all, it was an amazing way to spend the 4th of July. We even played King’s Cup in between dance party sessions. I’m so grateful Castro came after church to walk me home, since I stayed at the party WAY past curfew, which is supposed to be 7pm!
Sunday was a good family day. Right after waking up, I washed my clothes (which took about 2 hours) then tomar’d banho. Then I made banana pancakes with Castro while Aninya got her hair braided. Unfortunately, only my pai and Pedro liked them. My mae ate them but didn’t have seconds. Castro and Aninya ate them but without the sugary banana topping. Oh well, more for me! Later I helped Aninya make feijao (a bean dish), which really means I sat in the cozinha with Castro while Aninya talked on her cell phone. I told him all about my life at home before leaving for Moz. I told him about 3 of my besties getting married in 2012. He loved hearing about them since he has seen all of their pictures!
Now, we are in week 5 and there are 2 things everyone is thinking about: LPI/Round Robbins and SITE VISITS! It’s been pretty hard to concentrate in class. I went to casa dos dois after sessions and the internet was working so well! I got to post pictures and chat with Dan.
When I got home I found Pedro with a HUGE wound on the bottom of his foot. Apparently he hurt it on a rock. It looks terrible, all black and blue. I wish I could help him L Then my pae wanted to show me all of his future plans for the house and surrounding property. Like my dad, he is constantly renovating the house, casa de banho, and cozinha. We were alking up past the casa de banho when I saw the largest spider I’ve ever seen alive. Literally looked like a tarantula. I was screaming and all of my brothers and sisters ran out of the cozinha to see what happened. When they understood my reason for screaming, they all laughed. My pai stepped on the spider, killing it, then continued with his descriptive plans as if nothing happened. Ugh. Definitely tucking my mosquito net in all the way around me tonight! It’s now 8:05pm and I’m dying to eat dinner. We ate lunch at 12:30 and I don’t think Castro even ate lunch. How are these people not hungry?!
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