visits

hello readers, sorry itºs been a while, posting is hard because not only do i have to find time to use the internet (and find a time when thereºs not a big line), and have enough money to pay for the internet, i have to be in the the right frame of mind to gather my thoughts and write. but iºm going to try and do that now for you!

so last saturday i went back to maputo for the first time with my language class. we took a chapa, the most common form of transportation here, which is a van about the size of a vw bus, which is supposed to seat 18 plus the driver but almost always ends up holding more (there were 22 plus the driver plus a baby on the way there). the highway between namaacha and maputo is pretty good, and it took just over an hour to get there. the purpose of the trip was mainly to teach us to use chapas, and to get a sense of maputo. we didnºt have a ton of time there, but i got enough of the sense of the city to feel like i would like to go back and explore some more! two things that are very clear though: 1) that maputo is the most (and really the only) "cosmopolitan" place in mozambique. for instance, we went to a cafe and had yummy pastries and lattes and watched cnn. 2) (which is really just a continuation of 1) you can find "everything" in maputo. people bought cell phones with internet. someone bought a basketball. people visited a nike store. people bought peanut butter, honey, diet soda, clothes hangers, basil (all things that are either unavailable or VERY expensive in namaacha). a variety of ethnic restaurants can be found (as can KFC and dominoes). the things that made me the happiest (besides the latte) were the bookstore and the "feira de pau" or wood market, really just a huge craft fair that we only touched the surface of. those of you who know me well will not believe that i resisted buying earrings, but itºs true. but i canºt wait to go back! things i got in maputo: a pretty capulana (cloth to be used as a skirt/shawl/almost anything), whole grain bread, dark chocolate, and a good map of mozambique.

i made two other trips this week with my health group. on monday we visited a hospital outside of maputo that serves people living with HIV and AIDS. it is funded by an italian organization called DREAMS, and it was really impressive. it was a small space, but they are really well organized, have an integrated computer system, offer counseling, labwork, ARVs, and food, all free. they are unfortunately the exception rather than the rule, and at this point are so full that they can only take 60 new patients a month, and the need is immensely greater. so it was really interesting and inspiring, but at the same time disheartening because i know that that is not the situation i am going to find in other places i go here. but it was presented to us as the ideal that all programs could/should strive for.

the other trip was friday to casa do gaito, a catholic-affiliated organization that takes in orphaned boys, or boys whose families canºt care for them. it was also a very impressive facility - they house up to 150 boys from infants to mid-20s, give them counseling and health care, run a school for them which is also open to people in the community, have a church on site which is also a community church, and teach them all kinds of skills (like cooking, metal and wood work, agriculture) that help them take care of themselves and their site, can help generate income for the organization, and gives the boys skills for later in life.

i also visited two other health posts this week. because i have studied portuguese before i no longer have to go to daily portuguese class, so i have been assigned to help and work with my health tech trainer and visiting health PCVs. this week, with PCV melissa, i visited a family planning clinic and an HIV testing center here in namaacha. the familiy planning clinic has funding from planned parenthood international and offers a variety of birth control options, pregnancy testing, and counseling on family planning and sexual health. it also is a food distribution point for people recieving ARVs at the local hospital (funded by the world food program). and itºs also a meeting point for activistas (volunteer community health activists). itºs a pretty impressive array of services for a center in a small town, but in contrast to the other places i visited it is small, run by 2 people, has little technology, and is underfunded. the HIV testing center is called a GATV (voluntary counseling and testing center) run by the government/ministry of health. they offer free and anonymous rapid HIV testing and counseling. it is a great and necessary service, but it is also understaffed (one person that i know of) and underfunded. it is also underutilized due to the stigma of getting tested in your community.

i write about these health places iºve visited because they represent a significant part of my present and future jobs here. as a PCV my "job" will be to work with an NGO or community organization in the area of public health, and specifically HIV and AIDS, doing work on prevention, testing, counseling, treatment, services, or some combination thereof. so my job now, as a trainee, is to learn as much as i can about HIV and AIDS and other health issues, how they affect and are perceived by people in mozambique, and how the public and private sectors operate in the field of health. it is a complex and daunting topic, and one i am not yet prepared to discuss in depth on a blog, but it is worth noting that HIV and AIDS and public health are topics that i learn about, discuss, and think about every day, both in class and out. i am going to add links to some sites that have info on HIV and AIDS in general and in mozambique to the blog so people who are interested can find out more on their own.

i hope everyone reading this is doing well! donºt forget iºd love to hear how youºre doing too, email, real mail, call, text!