Keep Calm and Carry On

I’ve been feeling a little sick these past few days. I woke up with a sore throat on Friday and it has now progressed to a nice little cough. Maybe that is why I have been starting to feel overwhelmed and frustrated. Everyone kept telling us how frustrating, boring, and overwhelming our first three months at site would be and they were spot on. That isn’t to say that I haven’t been enjoying myself because there have definitely been moments where I am so glad this is my job and wouldn’t trade it for the world. This is the first time in my life I haven’t had a set schedule and I am basically free to do what I want, so to speak. It is kind of a hard adjustment, especially for me because I like to think of myself as pretty organized and enjoy schedules. I like lists and order. I need to learn to be more a free spirit I guess…I lived in Oregon for a few years.

This morning I woke up and decided to break out all the books Peace Corps gave us during training - all 5 billion of them. Most of them are about the roles of volunteers in development and how to implement projects. I started reading one called “Kwame and Friends: Fun with Health Education.” Basically it is a toolkit designed to help community health workers (people like myself) to do health education in their respective communities. It is broken down into different sections and how to implement activities that are both fun and educational. The toolkit uses characters, like Kwame, in stories to illustrate ways of getting to know your community, forming health groups, how to give health talks, deciding what action to take etc. I guess it makes it more interesting than reading a dry textbook about these topics – and there are some cool cartoon drawings in here…it appeals to my immature side I suppose. As I’ve been reading I’ve been jotting down some notes of things I think I should do and people I would like to meet. See, I’m back to making lists and organization. As far as people in my town that I would like to meet, I have: community health worker, village health group, women’s cooperative, PTA, traditional healer, traditional birth attendant, youth groups, women’s groups, town planning committee, water board or watsan (water/sanitation) committee. That’s not to say that all of these groups and individuals are present in Afere, but at least it gives me somewhere to start.

I don’t really know much about my town’s health problems except for what Peace Corps has told me and from the few discussions that I’ve had with local people. From what I gather, Malaria is the biggest problem, but I need to know more. I can’t really do my job if I don’t know what my community’s concerns and needs are. While doing all this reading this morning has given me a better understand of what I need to start doing, it has also made me feel like I have not been doing anything these past few weeks. I know I shouldn’t feel like that because it’s not true and it’s only going to make me feel upset and frustrated. They tell us not to compare ourselves to other volunteers so I keep reminding myself of that when I hear about my friends doing things that I feel like I’m not. I was talking with one of my friends who is in the Upper West Region and she was telling me how she goes to the local clinic every day and helps out. She’s categorizing all their patient files and putting them onto excel spreadsheets (dad you would love it) and she even has a tutor for Dagaari (the language spoken up there). But that is her Peace Corps experience, and it’s great, just like mine. We are all different. When my community mobilizer and counter part get back from church this afternoon we are all going to sit down and go over my list and action plan. For the past few weeks I have been telling my community mobilizer, Auntie Comfort, that I would really like to meet ANY community groups but I don’t think she understands what I am saying. She is the cause of much of my frustration…during any given phone call with my friend and closest neighbor, Alisa, I am probably complaining about my community mobilizer. I need to learn to complain less. Actually last Thursday at market, one of my friends, Cameron, came up with the idea that whenever someone complains about their site they have to put 10 pesewas in a jar and at the end of every month everyone gets to buy something with it. As of right now I don’t like that idea because I feel like I’m complaining the most! NOT FAIR. But out of all of us that go to market (Alisa, Gayle, Tristan, Steve, Cameron, and Sean) I have the biggest town, town not village like the rest of them. I’m entitled to be more overwhelmed right? See there I go again complaining. I really go to stop! But for all the complaining I do, I love my job and am really glad that I’m here. I just need to vent sometimes. Although I am watching BBC News right now on my television and I definitely watched the newest Underworld (the Kate Beckinsale vampire movie) the other night…I guess I got to pick my battles, right?

So back to what I was actually saying…this afternoon I’m going to tell my counterpart and community mobilizer that we are going to conduct some informal discussions with community members so I can learn about their health concerns. I need one of them to come with me for the language issue. I don’t know the local language well enough, or at all, for me to be able to have an actual health conversation with anyone. I think it would also be kind of reassuring for the community members to have one of their own people there while I’m asking questions. It will probably make them feel more comfortable answering questions like, “do you practice open defecation?” and “do your children suffer from chronic diarrhea?”  

I think I woke up on the wrong side of the mosquito net this morning. So everyone should send me packages filled with candy and garlic mashed potato mix and I’ll feel better!

As they say in "Bad Boys"to calm down..."woosah"

PS. If anyone wants to be wonderful and send me a package full of love...any of these things would be much appreciated...

• spices - basil, cinnamon, dill, sage, italian, cumin, paprika, etc
• sauce packets - fajita/taco seasonings, dip mixes
• velveeta cheese
• vacuum sealed cheese (mozzarella, parmesan, anything really)
• hard candies
• beef jerky
• gold fish
• powdered foods (the brand idahoan potatoes is delicious, especially the garlic flavored one)
• individual drink mixes - crystal light, gatordade/powerade, ocean spray
• soup mixes
• any delicious snack you can think of
• deodorant
• nice face wash

DONT SEND

• chocolate
• milk powder
• coffee
• peanuts
• pasta
• salt
• lotion