My feet have landed

My feet have landed in Mozambique exactly a month ago, completing a goal that has been a strong force in me since I was a teenager. This blog hopes that all of us aspire to achieve a hope in our short lives, yet personally I am coming face to face with the effort and adjustment living and working in a country very different to the one I am a product of.
As you read these blurbs please realize that my mind is not changing - I'm not throwing in the hat - I'm really trying to balance day to day activities from what I'm used to to the ways these
things are done here. Many of you wished me well with sweet comments  which included bravery, motivation, and pride in me for wanting to change world.  Well as a sit here with feet stained with terracotta dirt and wishing for a good cup of coffee, let me tell you that this month I have wondered if those compliments are actually a curse that has been placed on me for drinking Reunite ( cheap wine) in the cemetery when I was in high school.
Bravery is required to start this venture but it evaporates when you start to unpack, then your "needs" hit you.  I can't believe I forgot Q-Tips! Then your cravings start and you begin disciplining yourself with your last .60 cents, bottled water won over Cadbury chocolate that day. There are many days that I  have scheduled myself to go the bathroom at Peace  Corps training hub, up and down 4 hills, even after a month it is still worth it.  If a Jeanie gave me three wishes I would ask for a broccoli farm, a tone of frozen chicken breasts, and the part-time job as a barista at the local hotel (a small cup costs close about 10% of my weekly stipend or about $16 for someone who works 40 hours a week at minimum wage in Connecticut). Technology challenged me at home because it always changing.. more services, faster, packages, and high tech.  My kids wonder how I mad it through school as they tried to explain a simple thing that I was having a cow over, here FO GET ABA IT!

Being able to communicate with family, especially Christian and Alycia, is now in my prayers along with not getting bit by a mosquito and getting malaria.

I'm sure that soon I'll find Q-Tips amd remember why I'm here.

XO

Whirlwind

The third and fourth weeks of  training has been a whirlwind! It started out with a long walk to visit the hospital of Namaancha. Yes, a long walk. After about thirty five minutes of walking UP hill I realized why because we were passing a street of very nice homes. My instructor politely informed me that this neighborhood 40 years ago was where the Portuguese colonizers lived, hence the hospital was just a few away. I immediately calculated that the ill people living at the other end - down the hills- would take close to an hour walk to get to the hospital. When I thought of pregnant woman my blood pressure rose.

Honestly, touring the hospital was a tad difficult, especially since I'm familiar to the state of the art Danbury Hospital. This is not only a bit of a culture shock, it is was a shock economically that this country faces.  Politically the health care system - although limited- is free (some medicine has an out of pocket expense equal to less than thirty cents). The country is very limited in Doctors, this hospital has just two. Technicians also were on duty serving at least two hundred patients.

The hospital has one small building to sign in, emergency care, a pharmacy, an analysis. Equipment and supplies are so limited that I needed to look at the sign out side of the door to differentiate.  The other main services that are offered have separate buildings    Gynecology ,Dental, Malaria, Maternity, and HIV/AIDS treatment, seemed to be the primary services that this hospital treated.  Mental health is also served by a  patient's visit to a consultant -  alcoholism, is in this unit.
This town is being visited by a  circumcision truck, yes, children from 10-18 are lining up get the surgery.  This seems to be a rite of passage traditionally but it is also promoted to reduce the risk of HIV. In more rural areas there is a ceremony and the circumcision are done for many boys  by a trained leader/elder of the area.

We also visited a "curandero"

who delivers traditional medicine. I'm reminded of the American Indian medicine man. In Mozambique  this man has "been called" by a spiritual voice.   There also seems to be fake ones marketing their services in the cities. The curanders provides three opportunities: medical healing with homeopathic medicines, spiritual counseling by calling on deceased relatives, and a very popular practice of reading the shells and sending your wish to external forces.  These wishes  vary from getting a job, or becoming famous to cursing a neighbor for stealing a chicken or a jealous wife wanting her husband's new girlfriend to have a painful delivery in childbirth.
I was trying to understand the validity of the curandero among the locals, well the verdict is still out on this topic.   I interviewed 4 people to get an inside view. It was so interesting to hear the responses when asked if they thought he was credible; two thought that he was satanic, two viewed that he was a source that could be needed. Not one has ever visited, although it has been said that there are appointments in the evening so they are not seen. There is also a fear that if they can't pay then a curse will be placed on them or their family. Interesting, huh?
 My Peace Corp assignment will be working with a local hospital during educational outreach for HIV prevention therefore it is  beneficial for me to remain objective about the services of the curandero. With this perspective the curandero might by a good outreach partner for health workshops.
Don't worry I'll wear garlic.

Bom Dia from Namaacha, Mozambique!

Bom Dia from Namaacha, Mozambique! I arrived here about two weeks ago and have so many topics to tell all of you which have come to mind. Right now, I'm in the state of adjusting to everything from taking  bucket baths to wondering why there are so many more stars  in the southern hemisphere.
As soon as I figure all those things out, I will let you know. I am here with 34 other Americans who have turned out to be a great team to work with. We all have different  experiences and different plans, but they have all led us to commit to the next two years in Mozambique.
For the first six weeks, we are all stationed for pre-service training with a host family in a town two hours south of the capitol. My family has five children from 19 years to 1 year old. The mother is the captain of the day's agenda and her crew (the kids) know their routine. I envy her because  she has not had to call them more than once!

Days start early, by six all are up and out in the yard  to start the fire for the stove, boil water, run to the bakery, wash dishes from last night's dinner, sweep, and get to school. Watching them, especially the mother, shows me how labor intensive things are here. Charcoal is purchased down the street with a wheel barrel, water is stored by filling big containers, and to start the fire to cook on requires luck and patience.
And they smile throughout everything.

OBSERVATION THIS WEEK:  Watching the daily routine so far I feel rather spoiled;  convenience has definitely integrated into our culture, yet do we make the effort to realize it and smile as often as the Mozambicans?   XOXO


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