Two blogs in one week! Wow!
So the last one I talked a lot about me me me, but I wanted to focus a little on what’s been happening around my village and my organization.
I was reflecting on my service this past week, and I feel overwhelmed by the changes that have occurred around me the past 2 years. I came in with a lot of goals, which I humbly had to reassess once I realized that I really am only one human, and not superwoman as I sometimes like to believe in my head. But that changes that have occurred have really left me wide eyed in wonder.
ARV’s
When I first arrived, the population that a)knew they were positive b)knew their cd4 count and c) had a cd4 count of less than 200 had to travel at least 100km’s to one of three hospitals to access life-saving drugs on a monthly basis. At the cheapest this would be R100 round trip, a price that is unmanageable for those eeking a survival out of grants and unable to feed themselves and their dependents. I had foolishly believed that I might be able to get ARV’s into my local clinic by working with the Department of Health. After only a few weeks of being in the village and seeing how the DOH does/doesn’t operate, I quickly scratched that goal. However, a few months ago, the DOH reversed its order that only hospitals (read doctors) can dispense ARVs, and the drugs are now (technically) available in my village clinic. I don’t know how reliable they are (as in, are all the right meds consistently there?), but it’s a start! I am really happy for my positive community members, as this will do wonders to increasing their quality of life.
TAC
TAC, or the Treatment Action Campaign, is an organization that I was constantly reading about (Jonny Steinberg’s Three Letter Plague or Sizwe’s test, depending on where it’s published), and hearing about in the news. I had googled them and tried to find out how I could get them active in my village. Of course the website wasn’t as informative as I had wanted it to be, and could never find out much about local chapters. Then Thursday (11th November), I showed up at work and there they were! Perhaps twenty people in all, many wearing brightly colored shirts with HIV POSITIVE emblazoned across the front. I almost fainted! TAC had come for a visit to explain about their work, and because they want to start a group in my village! Thursday we went down the main road through the village (the gravel one leading to the police station from the tar road, for those of you who have been here), all the way to the taxi rank. Literally every person we saw was stopped and given a flyer and a packet of condoms. Even people who obviously didnt want to look any of us in the face! The best part was the people who saw what we were doing and left their wash in the yard to come out and collect condoms from us. That was really uplifting for me to see. TAC should start a group here in my village in early 2011, and I am excited to see the beginnings of this wonderful group!
Development
Although not on the scale of my neighboring town, Nhlazatshe, my village has developed in the past two years. Our Cash and Carry (pseudo African Costco) has expanded. Several entrepreneurs have set up braai (charcoal grill) stands to sell grilled chicken feet. There are two new drinking establishments (not the best form of development, but development nonetheless) near the taxi rank. One even has a snooker table! In the taxi rank someone has brought a trailer and cooks food to order out of it. My personal favorite is the “Shisa Nyama” (hot meat) braai stand, where you can go and buy raw meat (beef or wors) and then cook it out back. This stand is rather inconveniently located at one of the aforementioned drinking establishments, but if I don’t go on a weekend I am normally OK.
My Organization
When I first arrived, my organization was operating out of a garage. More or less a closet sized space inside the garage. In the past we had one virus-laden desktop computer, a rickety desk and plastic chairs. As of last week, we now operate in a spacious building (thanks to money we received in the Telkom charity grant last year) with a full kitchen, three offices, two toilets (currently not operating, but maybe soon?!), and a large meeting room. We now have two desktops and one laptop. I created an email for our organization and all of the administrative team can scan a document and attach it to an email. This has saved us a lot of faxing and mailing fees. Huge filing cabinets and several large desks were delivered earlier this week and proper chairs are on their way. By early next year we should have the bakery equipment installed and the bakery should be starting.
My house
When I first arrived, my host baba (father) hadn’t really been present for roughly the past twenty years. He lived outside Jo’Burg with his 2nd wife, and only came home about twice a year. The house wasn’t exactly neglected, but it could use some work. He retired and moved back here to the village last July, and we now own 4 cows, 20 chickens for family consumption, plus we sell chickens to our neighbors. Our garden has grown, and the pump has been moved from a muddy pit to the backyard. This makes my life slightly more difficult, but its better for the garden. He has also installed water in the big house, so my mama has a running faucet now. He has plastered both my house and theirs, and built a garage. There is also a large fence around the property so its difficult for people to break in now. I think he has several more projects planned as well, so further change is coming!
Even though I have in no way been a catalyst for any of this change, I feel proud to have been witness to it. I know change always takes a long time. I am an impatient person by nature, and I know I have gotten frustrated with both Peace Corps as an organization as well as my village as a whole, but in the end it has been worth it. As I am planning on finishing my Peace Corps service in mid March, I only have about 4 months left, and now I begin the process of wrapping everything up!
