Saturday, February 10, 2007

Busy at site and with meetings!

Hey everyone...
I know its been a LONG time since I updated this but now that I have some "free" time I can fill you in on what I've been up to! So, I came back from Christmas break and stayed at site for a few weeks working with the health center staff. I was really frustrated with the people I work with because no one really wants to work on improving the community and doing projects besides what is normally required of them. I have spent alot of time in the labor ward with my neighbor, the midwife, observing lots of different deliveries and the complications that come with it. My nightwatchman's daughter had a baby. She decided that I would be the chosen one to name her. In Malawi, the parents don't name the baby, someone they respect or honor gets to name the baby. So, we had the "naming ceremony" where I presented some soap for bathing and washing clothes and some money and told them her name of Alalida, which is my midwife's name. It was really neat. I am now called the "naming mother." I will go to some ceremony where they cut off the baby's hair to mark their age. I can't wait to go and tell you all about it!
So, an update on how my projects are going...The TBA coordinator has finally given me a proposed budget for the untrained TBA training that I want to help with. The only problem is that it is way too high so I have to talk to her (aka argue) about how I can't find the amount of money they want. My friend in the central region is doing the same type of training and her budget is about 1/3 of what they are telling me mine should be. I am really frustrated. My boss from Peace Corps came through Zomba on Thursday and saw the budget and said that they were just taking advantage of me so we went to the district hospital to talk to the TBA coordinator, but she was out of the office. So, the next step will be to try to see her the next time my boss comes through Zomba in a few weeks. About my mosquito net for women delivering at the health center...I am still working on finding some organization to donate nets for free, but right now there is a hold on all of the places who give out mosquito nets from the Ministry of Health...On the teaching of LifeSkills at the secondary school, I have received the schedule of classes from the headmaster and will hopefully start teaching really soon (maybe next week!)...I have started working more with the NGO InterAide (french) and have been riding my bike a lot in the field to go to youth club meetings. I am going to be more involved with that! Last week we did an HIV training that was 18km away (biked all the way there and back). It went really good!...I am holding the first Gender and Development meeting for the southern region of Malawi next Saturday so that is why I am able to update this since I am in town to figure out what I'm going to do at the meeting...I am also going to be part of a Peace Corps "camp" called Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) that will be held in August. I am going to organize an entire day for the camp including guest speakers, activities, etc. I am very excited about it as well! It helps Malawian girls in their junior year of high school to see what things are available to them related to career, health, environment, etc in Malawi.
I guess that's it for now...I love and miss you all. I hope everyone is doing great!