Good morning from Mozambique. It is about 11:30am here, and
I’m currently sitting in the CCS office at the hospital. It is torrentially
down pouring outside, so there are not too many people lining the halls here.
It seems that rainy season is upon us again here in Moz- which means, lack of
work, my house flooding, and a constant smell of mildew. But the plants do
grow, my moringa trees that I planted months ago are now taller than I am, and
other flowers/foliage in the area are blooming beautifully.
I had a rather disappointing morning here at work. I arrive
at 8am, and my counterpart isn’t in the office- no big deal, he may have gone
to another location, so I wander down to the HIV testing center to get some
blank “busca” cards. We have been rather limited on the cards, having not
received a shipment from Maputo recently – so I decided to take a look in the
cabinet at the testing center to see if there are any stored away there. Lo and
behold….. there are cards that have been filled out (by me) that are shoved in
books, under papers, etc. basically everywhere that they shouldn't be. So I
start taking them out, organizing them by date filled out (some dating back to
SEPTEMBER) and ask why they had been shoved in this cabinet to be forgotten.
Doing a ‘busca’ is part of the Peer Educators job here with CCS – it is
essential to get out into the field and find those who have stopped taking
their medications, encouraging them to return to the hospital. So to find the
busca cards ignored, and hidden was very frustrating.
As I continued to look/organize the cabinet, I discovered
more cards that had been filled out, the busca done, and the response never
brought back to the hospital/me. Again, my level of frustration skyrocketed.
Without receiving these busca cards that have been completed, there is the
possibility of doing another one for the same person, which is silly for the
Peer Educators to waste their time and efforts on that, and it also doesn't
help with our data collection and statistical analysis.
So, I spent a solid hour of my time, going through this
cabinet, organizing it and extracting all of the busca cards that were filled
out/completed/incomplete – finding some blank ones (which was the goal of the
mission to begin with), and had some stern words with the woman who runs the
testing center. This is when I really started to become annoyed, she had
buttloads (an actual measurement in my mind) of excuses!!! That it wasn't her
fault the Peer Educators weren’t taking the busca cards, that she had NOOO idea
they were being hidden/put into the cabinet, that she cant stay on top of who
is doing the busca’s and who isn’t…. I shook my head, explained that actually –
that is exactly her job description. She is to stay in that room, test people
for HIV when they come in, make sure the Peer Educators get the busca cards,
and when they are completed, give them to me. NOT A HARD CONCEPT TO GRASP!
Especially since she has been doing this job for 3 years now.
So now, here I sit in the office, going through these busca
cards, some from back in September, that were left unattended. I’m not sure if
Peer Educators were hiding them because they don't wish to do the busca, or if
no one lives in the specific neighborhood, or why the completed ones were never
turned back into me. For the completed cards that were never turned back in, I
have spent the past 4 hours going through each card, attempting to find it in
the book of registration. It is mundane, annoying and tedious work that could
have been completely avoided.
Frustration does not even begin to describe this work day.
My counterpart returned, and I explained everything to him, and he is equally
as frustrated in this situation. He is very new to CCS/the Zavala area (where I
live) and hasn't been all that impressed. It is just one big excuse after the
other. I jokingly said “try living like this for 2 years” and he just stared at
me with a horrified expression haha. It has opened up a new dialogue for the
two of us, for which I am grateful – he has been a breath of fresh air here at
the hospital, we started off on rocky footing for sure – but he is a driven and
intelligent person who really does want to use my abilities.
Hopefully some things will work out here at the hospital,
but until people are willing to put in some effort for their work, I highly
doubt it.
I thought this was a hilarious blog post. Many of the things
mentioned in it, have happened- and still have the potential to happen. Peace
Corps has beaten me down, and lifted me up so very high. It has been a roller
coaster of emotion, lately more often in the ways of frustration and
depression.
Yesterday, I spent the entire day with my sitemates – we
watched some tv shows in the morning, went and had lunch in town, and just
enjoyed a lazy rainy day together. Couldn't ask for better people to share this
beautiful town with.
I have also received new next-door neighbors. It is kind of
a drastic change from the family I had become very close with- that consisted
of 4 people (mom, dad, and two beautiful girls) …. I now have many more
children running around, some teenagers, and one or two people that look to be
in their early twenties. . in addition to the mom and dad. It is always a
different group of people when I enter/exit our neighborhood, so I’m still
trying to figure out the dynamic. But I do miss my family greatly. They were a
big part of my experience, and I’m not really loving the idea of integrating
with this new family. Of course I am keeping an open mind, hoping for the best –
but I’m also being realistic; it is a big Mozambican family with lots of
children, they are all terrified of my dog, have all sorts of questions for me
about my life, have asked me for money already, and are basically nothing like
the family I had. Womp, womp, womp.
Officially stated that Moz 18’s COS dates will be between
July 14th and August 1st. less than 6 months to go. Wahoo.
Still no word from graduate school admissions. So keep those
fingers crossed.
alright kids, back to my work here - I'm also working on a digitized attendance sheet for the Peer Educators here at the hospital, what day they work, their phone number, etc. Hopefully that will help a bit.
my sitemate, Kevin, relaxing in the hammock- while of course a Mozambican child watches with interest. goes to show how intrusive life can be here haha.
a sideways glance at my front porch on a typical afternoon, coloring with the kiddies.
-i'm pretty sure Lua showed up shortly after this was taken, causing all of them to scatter and start crying
Xoxox
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