Rough Moments = Personal Growth

If you had to tell someone that from this moment on, their life will be, now and forever, changed and it will affect not only their health, but potentially the health of their sexual partners and children, their ability to work and provide for their family, and then to top it off, their closest friends and neighbors may begin to look at and treat them differently, how would you do it? Do you apologize first? Or does that make it seem like you are apologizing to yourself for getting into a situation like this? Or do you act like it doesn’t mean anything to you to deliver life changing news? Would that make you appear callous and uncaring?

In reality, it isn’t about you. Does the manner in which the message is delivered make any difference to the receiver? Or do they only hear “your HIV test came back positive” and the rest just becomes background noise?

During training, 8 months ago, my language group took a “field trip” to the hospital to experience what happens before, during, and after an HIV test. I remember asking a lot of questions about the tests used and why you should get tested every three months, but I never thought that my curiosity in the nitpicky details of the process would be so incredibly useful. Little did I know, I would be the person explaining to another the process of taking an HIV test. First, pre-test counseling and then, the inevitable question: do you feel prepared for whatever the outcome of the test? (I am not even sure that is a realistic question. Can you ever be fully prepared for something like HIV?) Next, the finger prick and finally, the results of the test appear. One line: negative. Two lines: positive. If the test only has one line, the person is told to make sure they always use a condom, try to limit the number of partners they have, and to get tested again in three months. If there are two lines, however, the person is told the test came back indeterminate and a second, more accurate test is performed. Once again, one line means HIV negative and two lines indicate a positive test result. If two lines appear, then the counselor must tell the person in a sensitive, yet indisputable manner, that they are HIV positive.

Most of the time, this is just a process I observe, but when I was the only person who spoke English, I found myself looking for answers to all of those questions I addressed earlier. I wish I could say I thought only about the people to whom I was delivering this life changing information, but part of me kept thinking about how unprepared I felt. I kept thinking that I should have been taught how to say this the right way. How should I feel about the situation? How do I feel?

But, again, it isn’t about me. It is about the people who have an enormous decision to make. Do they keep living their lives as they did before they were tested? Or do they make the necessary changes and live a longer, healthier life with a few small sacrifices along the way?

ATSC

It has been awhile since I have talked about what exactly I do every week day 8am – 5pm, but recently, I can finally say that I LOVE my job! I know that love (especially in capital letters) is a strong word, but what I am doing right now not only keeps me from being absolutely and totally bored, but makes me feel like I have the opportunity to make a difference in peoples’ lives. To be honest, my job description is still not perfect or complete by any means, but every month I am given more and more responsibilities and my boss seems to really value my opinion and gives me positive feedback.

Over the past few months, I have been responsible for contacting the lodges/resorts/hotels in the area to ask them to ask their employees if they would be interested in voluntary HIV counseling and testing. If the employees respond positively (they all have so far) then one or two of the ATS-C counselors (Aconselhamento, Testagem, e Saúde – Comunitário) aka Community Counseling and Testing counselors and I go to the lodges and give an HIV/health session (around 30 minutes) and then test people. My role in all of this is to contact the lodges and speak to the managers who pretty much all happen to be South African or Zimbabwean and therefore, all speak English. I also organize all of the ATS-C activities and make sure we don’t forget to bring condoms to hand out after the tests and basically supervise the team. The pre-session counseling is usually given in the local language which means that I just sit there and nod my head while the counselors do their thing. Occasionally the pre and post-test counseling are given in Portuguese, but the counselors are trained to give it in the local language since only a small portion of the population speaks Portuguese.

Community Counseling and Testing is, at the present, only facilitating activities in the Vilankulo District, but eventually, ATS-C will spread to Inhassoro, Mabote, and Govuro (there are four districts in the northern part of the Inhambane Province where CARE works). CARE works through the hospital which means that the counselors were hired by the hospital and trained according to Ministry of Health (MOH) guidelines. If a person tests positive for HIV, they will be given a referral form to take to the hospital to have a CD4 count test taken. A CD4 count test determines if the person needs to start taking anti-retrovirals (ARVs) immediately or if their immune system is strong enough to delay treatment. One of my personal goals with this project is to determine if the people who test positive are actually making it to the hospital and if they are not, what are the barriers and how can we help them overcome them. Ideally, information that CARE collects will be given to the MOH and used in the 2009 HIV/AIDS report in Mozambique. In 2008, the prevalence rate of HIV in the Inhambane Province was reported to be 12%. Unfortunately, the data we have collected so far indicates that the HIV prevalence is higher than expected.

A random guy who wanted to be in the picture, one of the ATSC counselors, and me

TIA II

So the STRANGEST thing happened to me yesterday and I find the timing to be as close to perfect as possible. This Thursday is my nine month mark here in Mozambique and whenever I hear anyone mention 9 months I think about the fact that I could have had a baby in that time. Yesterday, strangely enough, I "gave birth" (don´t get too excited/worried mom, it was not human).

My empregada Anita pulling out "pulgas" (fleas - well, technically flea eggs)

from the bottom of my foot. TIA

The Bazaruto Archipelago

A lot of people have asked me if I am one of the only mulungus in my town and the answer is: definitely not. Vilankulo is one of the top three tourist destinations in Mozambique which means that during the South African and Zimbabwean school holidays this place is full of white tourists (this doesn't even include the white ex-pats who own pretty much own all of the businesses here - don't get me started on why I hate this). The main reason why Vilankulo is such a popular tourist destination is because it is the gateway to the Bazaruto Archipelago. The Bazaruto Archipelago is a small chain of 5 islands (Bazaruto, Benguerra, Magaruque, Santa Carolina and Bangue) off the coast of Mozambique in the Indian Ocean. The archipelago is known as the "Pearl of the Indian Ocean" because it is one of the last (nearly) untouched paradises on earth.

There are several companies that run day trips to the islands and one of the most popular ones, Dolphin Dhow, is owned by one of our (Mozambican) neighbors. A dhow is a traditional Arab sailing vessel that is really common in Mozambique and most of them have been equipped with motors so that people, especially tourists, don't get stuck in the middle of the channel during low tide. It takes about an hour to get to the islands (about 10km away) with a motor and without a motor I have heard of people being stuck for days. We went to the closest island to Vilankulo, Magaruque, for the day.

Our beach gate from the boat
(the one with the new wood posts and tall trees)

The dhow

Getting ready to go snorkeling.

My roommate Courtney and I

Magaruque

REDES

Raparigas em Desenvolmento, Educação, e Saúde

Adolescent Girls (in Secondary School) in Development, Education, and Health

REDES is a Peace Corps sponsored project that focuses on giving young Mozambican women the opportunity to participate in activities that teach them life skills such as leadership skills, how to implement and monitor programs in the community, and negotiations skills for safer/healthier relationships. REDES also concentrates on gender issues and women's rights.

My education site mate Laura and I are in the process of starting a REDES group at her school (The Secondary School of Macoque). At our first meeting, we asked the girls what kind of things they would be interested in learning about and they came up with ideas ranging from sewing and photography to SRH (sexual and reproductive health) and women’s rights.

In April, I attended the REDES conference in Barra. Barra is a beautiful beach town (well town is kind of a stretch, but beach community made up of fancy South African owned lodges) near Inhambane City and Tofo. Fifty-two girls and 12 (female) PCVs participated in the conference. The conference was set up a kind of a camp environment which was especially exciting for the girls because going to camp in Mozambique is not an option. The conference focused on issues such as self-esteem and setting goals for the future and more specific topics like early pregnancy, HIV prevention, and an in-depth look at the female reproductive system (which unfortunately is never addressed in schools). One of my favorite parts of the conference was getting to be a “counselor” with my friend Gracey. We had 10 girls in our cabin group from all over the southern part of Mozambique who really opened up to us after we let them braid/cornrow our hair. I was immediately reminded of why I have not done this since 8^th grade when my family went on a cruise to the Caribbean. It hurts like hell. But, I have to say, I have never been hit on here in Mozambique like I was that day. I had Mozambican men following me around Inhambane City and Maxixe asking me to let them help me run my errands and carry my bags. Even the women in the market gave me the real price instead of the mulungu price without any negotiation. It was pretty surreal and almost made me want to get my hair re-braided every week for the rest of my two years. And then I remembered the pain and how my hair breaks off into this lovely little halo of short hairs around my head. Maybe I will just do the G.I. Jane look and buy fake hair like the women here do who can afford it. Or maybe not.

One of the highlights of the conference for the girls was our guest speaker this year. Dama do Bling, a famous Mozambican female rapper, came to the conference to speak and then gave a performance later in the evening. She was chosen as the guest speaker because not only is she a hugely successful performer (she is known as the Lil Kim of Mozambique), but she is a certified lawyer. There are very few female lawyers in Mozambique (very few female professionals in general) and even fewer female role models for young girls. One of my favorite things about her (besides being incredibly nice and patient with the shyest of girls) is that she is starting her own clothing line of highly fashionable clothes made partially with capulanas (large pieces of colorful cloth the women here use for everything). Chique Chique. (chic in Portuguese)

Caitlin, Abby, Gracey, and I having a little too much fun with a cardboard cutout at TOT (Training of Trainers) for REDES

Gracey and I and our cabin group

The three 11th grade girls Laura and I brought with us to the conference

Dama do Bling let a couple of the girls dance with her to her song "Remexe"

Mardi Gras in Moz

Since I missed Mardi Gras for the first time in 5 years, I decided to turn my favorite week of debauchery into one night. Here is a quick recap of the evening:

The Vilankulo Girls hosting our first "official" party.

I made King Cake (and a hat)

We played Beer Pong

Like I always say: Mardi Gras is a marathon, not a sprint.
Some people just can't handle the heat
(or maybe it was the hurricanes).


Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez

TIA (This Is Africa)

Africa is a far off and mysterious land where cats know what it means to be a cat...

Meet Cooper. Yummy Rats.