This
blog is just pieces of a jigsaw puzzle of people that have made my journey awe-
inspiring; the people are humble of their beauty, and are gracious with their
time and attention. Thanks for visiting
and allowing me to share these snap shots of what I am experiencing here in
Mozambique.
· Patience.
Over my life time my patience has evaporated, I hope to absorb it back from
these women. One example that I see at the hospital is mothers coming in for monthly
well baby checkups. Mothers bring their babies in once a month for the first
year the date is close to the day the baby was born. The visits are done by
steps of service areas, first step is weighing in of the baby then waiting to
be called to determine next step; vaccines, further consultation, lab work, and/or
the pharmacy. Because of lack of personnel even the techs jump from weights to vaccines to consultation to writing prescriptions. A mother with a three month old that has diarrhea will go home after 5-6 hours of waiting at each step WITHOUT one complaint, grimace, or rudeness.I am reminded of the reactions of people back home being at the grocery store check-out line and the cashier is waiting for a price check .
Summer
here should be called Inferno (Hell) I am not joking. For the first time in my life I truly
understand what sweating bullets means. In
the last two weeks temperatures have hit over 100ºF/ 40ºC. This is my number
one cultural adjustment. Did I hear you say air conditioners? Not yet, not for a while, aside from the
expense of the unit, this country is still working on stable electricity (I
think only half of the country has power lines and a water supply in homes -
but they are rapidly developing the infrastructure).
·
My
district is small, about 2/3 the size of Connecticut, the population is about
67,000, it is rural and agriculturally based. It seems to be a good snap shot
of the national poverty line. The high school attendance here is approx. 65%
boys and it is not unusual for a girl to drop out of school between 7th –
9th grades and have a baby by 17.
I’m working on a needs assessment and one of the questions is “If you
could choose to have any job you want, what would it be?” Their reaction looks like if someone asked
you if you won the lottery. The majority of girls have responded “teacher” or
“at the hospital”.
·
Of course the children are beautiful.
They are very curious about me yet timid; the camera seems to break the
ice. The teens and adults are mesmerized when looking at their picture.
All
else is going well, I’ve made some friends and my house is equipped with the
necessities and comfortable. I’m keeping busy with doing a community needs
assessment, and trying to get some projects started at the hospital. Next month my PCV group meets in the city for
week long training and I’m looking forward to that.
My
next blog will be pictures of the landscape so come back and see the beauty of
this country so stay tuned! xo
I love you Comadrita for helping those people
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