Melanie moves to Africa

I have decided to move to Africa for two years, follow my many great adventures why don't you? **Disclaimer: The contents of this blog are my opinions and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps.** To send me happy, awesome things and communicate with me, here is my mailing address: Melanie Bolden, PCV Corpo da Paz/U.S. Peace Corps Avenida Zimbabwe 345, C.P 4398 Maputo, Mozambique

[mel2africa]

COS-ing

So, I am nearing the end of my service. I will be back home in a matter of weeks, 6 to be exact. And I feel so unprepared. Yes, I did attend a COS conference a few weeks ago in order to be prepared for this whole end of service/COS deal. I even submitted some of the paperwork early. But going through my house, preparing to execute my goodbye parties and sorting items to give away... just overwhelming. I also have the opportunity to meet and help the volunteer who will be replacing me. Recent changes to the program have now made it so that if your site will be replaced, the trainee will know of their site placement and also visit that site for 3 weeks while the current volunteer is there. I am excited to get to talk with them about projects and stuff but also a bit weirded out as it kinda just makes leaving a bit more of a harsh reality.I really am trying not to think too much about the last time I say goodbye to my family here. I know it’s time but it’s still gonna be so hard to say goodbye to them, not knowing when and if I will ever be able to return and how long it will be. It’s just crazy. Looking back, these 2 years really have flown by and these last few weeks are not deviating from that path. Honestly, I am just trying to keep up with everything and be prepared and just ride it all out. I know that a lot of emotions are about to come up... as they’ve already started to creep up.. and I am just trying to brace myself for this all. And then arriving home after not seeing my family and friends for over 2 years and going back to school. It’s just a bit much to put completely into words at the moment.

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Proud Mozambican Women.Check this video inspired by local women in my community.  Dia da Mulher Mocambicanca.

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Malaria...quick observations

Well, here are some quick statistics on Mozambique in regards to Malaria: 

45% of all cases in outpatient visits 

56% of inpatient at pediatric clinics 

26% of all hospital deaths 

Source:http://www.afro.who.int/en/mozambique/country-programmes/disease-prevention-and-control/malaria.html

That is a lot of Malaria. In my district alone in 2013, we had over 46,000 cases documented. That too is a lot of Malaria. 

So what exactly are we doing to stomp out malaria and decrease infections of this disease?

Well, recently in my district there was a large distribution of bed nets all over the district. It was fairly far-reaching and I guess we will see in the few months if it will have any impact on the number of cases. In Mozambique, we also have indoor residual spraying available, however, I have never seen one done in my district and I am not sure exactly why. It could be limited resources for this preventative method to reach our district or province even. 

So, in my rural district, this means that our main method for prevention is use of the bed nets. But of course, we have a continued problem of incorrect net usage. We have increased outreach and programs and community activists to counteract this and hopefully we will see the results of this in the coming year. 

So, I guess, this is to say that we as a community here have stepped up our efforts and I hope that in the next year or two we can see some more improvements and decreases in cases of Malaria. So, here’s to continuing our efforts to stomp out malaria in Africa and in Mozambique.

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Me and my favorite lil' munchkin, lil' Melanie. 

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Palmira's Story

Here is a video of my Host Country Hero, Palmira. She is a community volunteer and activist for people living with HIV/AIDS in her community in Mozambique. S...

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FRUIT DRYING EXPERIMENTS

Well, we finally got around to building a fruit drying box and experimenting with drying mango and Moringa leaves this week. I am so excited about this and hope we can gather up some more mango, even though it's the end of the season to dry and share with people in some upcoming community nutrition lessons. Hopefully we can get some more examples of the box to use that are a bit more budget friendly as well.

For this first drying box, here were some costs and materials:

estacas (wooden sticks; 14 needed--12 for frame/2 for support of drying racks)---got them for free

plastic wrap to use on top and protect fruit from gross flies and critters while still being exposed to sun---got this for free

black plastic, 4 sheets to insulate box---used black plastic bags, which I had in my house, so it was free

6 pieces of chapa or tin in order to serve as sturdy walls and help to insulate and retain heat and 2 of which serve as drying racks.---1 giant sheet is 275 meticais, roughly 8-9 dollars

15- 20 long nails ... I think they are 3-4 nails----1/2 kilo 35 mets, a little over 1 dollar

hammer ---used my own

saw---borrowed from neighbor

scissors...the big ones used to cut metal----borrowed from a store for 30 meticais, 1 dollar

eramis, metal cord--- can't remember, but for this project it was free because I just had some lying around my house

We dried our first batch of mango, which took 3 days to dry and came out pretty well, people are really digging this dried fruit and seem to be excited to experiment with it on their own. The Moringa leaves will take longer to dry, usually about 5-7 days.

We decide to make our box 2 shelves, 1 for drying fruit on top and the second in the bottom for drying leaves. Usually you dry leaves, such as Moringa in the shade in order to retain more nutrients. Fruit need more sun in order to dry quicker and better, especially if you want a nice crisp, chip-like texture. 

I'm just so happy we finally got the chance and time to do it. 

[mel2africa]

I live in a large yard with my landlady. her house is on the opposite side of the large one being built in between both our houses. There are numerous shady spots in our yard. But it never ceases to dumbfound me on why my landlady knowing that this spot directly in front of my house where you can see everything I am doing really irritates me, continues to every now and again decide to plop herself there. In response, I crank my rock music and alternative music as loudly as possible to drive her away because she knows this irritates me. It’s just so intrusive and we have had sit-down meetings about this kind of stuff to clearly no avail. Times like these are when I think, ’ THANK GOODNESS i HAVE FIRST DIBS FOR CHOOSING CLOSE OF SERVICE DATES, GET ME OUT OF HERE.’ It never fails that this or something like this is what I come home to find after a particularly trying day,

[mel2africa]

Hey ya'll, check out this video my site mate and I did of one of the best people of ever met, Palmira. She is an HIV/AIDS community activist and volunteer. I can't even imagine what my Peace Corps exerience would have been like without her. She is simply amazing. Check out why.

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Just some not so great luck and horrible embarassment

Ya know how everyone has those times when you just have crappy luck and it's almost mind blowing how unfortunate a series of events you have just had. So then you just try to breathe and move past it and look on the bright side. Well, this weekend  went out with some friends and ended up losing my ipod touch with all my music and notes to my self and many photos gone. I also lost my primary cellphone here, with all of my important contacts for work and some very recent and important contacts for work as well. Then we went to the beach the next day and I, a not very strong swimmer, got pushed into an undertow by a tide, while choking on debris in the water and nearly drowned. It was a near-death experience and absolutely terrifying. I wonder how on this earth I stumbled into such unfortunate luck. I have no idea how this happened. It was so embarrassing too, everyone on the beach watched as I nearly drowned and I think some people thought that maybe I was kidding, but I wasn't. It was so horribly embarrassing. And then on top of that the iPod I use as basically a diary is gone. If anyone has stolen it reads English, they will know some pretty intimate information about me and my life here. So now, I'm just trying to relax and breathe and move on. But man is it hard and very sad right now. 

[mel2africa]

STOMP OUT MALARIA IN AFRICA- Painting a realistic picture

So, here in the southern hemisphere it is rainy season. Not only that, but it is also Summer. What does this mean? Prime time for Malaria infection. Why? This diabolic combination of rain and super hot weather creates the perfect opportunity for mosquitoes to reproduce and live in their ideal conditions. We have way more stagnant water around and people are waking up early in order to work to escape the heat. Also people are still out and about at dusk as it cools down a bit. Mosquitoes are more active at dusk and dawn.  Unfortunately, this means that the cases of Malaria are increasing dramatically. I have actually just learned of two deaths within my own neighborhood here due to malaria. And they were both children. It is very disheartening. Malaria is fairly preventable by making sure to rid your house of open stagnant water, use of repellent, sleep under a net, wearing longer sleeves and pants in order to decrease bites. However, we still have a big problem with this disease, especially here in Mozambique. In my community, the only way that you can get a net is if you were pregnant. Pregnant women are required to do HIV tests in order to open a file and receive pre-natal treatment. In this process, they receive a mosquito net and also receive TIP (preventative treatment of malaria) during months 5-7 of their pregnancy to prevent malaria. This is great, however, what about all the other population groups we're missing? Particularly, the elderly, kids under 5 and people living with HIV/AIDS. Well, there are community-wide distributions but not everyone learns of this in time to make it to a distribution and receive a net, particularly those who live in very very rural areas without radio or tv or good cellphone reception. There is the residual spray campaigns but I have yet to see or hear of them visiting my neighborhood and most people have no idea what the heck this even is. If you really wanted to try to buy a net. We do not even have a store in my town that sells nets. No one even knows where to find them in the town over. And to get there you have to spend at least 50 mets to go and return. 50 mets is nearly 2 dollars. And as many people live on less than a dollar a day, that is quite a sacrifice without even taking into account the cost of the net, between 150-200 mets/$5-$6). So, in my community people are very dependent on the net distribution that take place every few years, I believe every 3 or 5 years. But it is very hard to reach the entire population. For example, a net distribution may occur in my district, but it will take place in the district capital, most likely at a church or the district hospital. If you live in any of the other parts of the district you have to pay to come here too and that's not counting the distance in which you have to walk from your house. If you are elderly and sick, this is nearly impossible. And if you are an orphan, you probably have no idea how to get to this event. 

I guess, I am just trying to paint the realistic picture of what many members of my community face and how they end up suffering from malaria.  There ofcourse, is work being done to improve this but there isn't enough effective infra-structure or money to do reach everyone and do all that needs to be done within the government, in my opinion. So, we really depend on community volunteers and community-based organizations and international organizations to help with this. But it's still hard, because people are also using nets for other purposes, such as the protect their gardens from pests. Education is the most important method in order to combat malaria. Education and awareness. For example, we are doing malaria prevention murals in my district in order to help increase education and awareness. But we still have quite a ways to go to completely stomp out malaria here in Mozambique, especially in communities like mine. I guess, I just wanted to paint a real picture of some of things that are going on on the community and individual level that are contributing to the ongoing problem of Malaria.

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Update: October 2014

Hey ya'll! Once again! I am terribly awful at updating my life here. But here I am again. I believe the last thing I did here was post photos of a moringa planting...so here are some updates that have happened since that moringa planting.

1) We have since hosted 3 more moringa plantings in 3 other sites: Maxamal, Nhamangue and Chinjingure. I hope from there we can start planting other things and start the 2nd phase of the project which involves expanding upon the moringa and making large community gardens at the local health posts. (August/September)

2) I hosted (with the help of PC Moz's Malaria Task Force) a training if trainers on Malaria prevention with 20 community volunteers. (August)

3) I had my Mid-Service Conference!!! Holy crap, I have like way less than a year here now. It's crazy! I can't believe it. I have so much going on now and so many plans and ideas, I just hope that it all works out and that I can get at least half of those things done and working ou well before I leave. I really just want to give my orgs the best and most that I can so that they can be more sustainable and successful in the future.(August)

4) Started painting my malaria mural!! It's huge and beautiful and almost done now, I can't wait. It's def getting me some mad street credit here in the community and I hope do organize more murals in the future. At least one is getting lined up for World AIDS day and I can't wait to see how this goes!(September/October)

5) My sitemate and I also held a Malaris Day at our local children's library as well! It went so amazingly well. (October)

6) Presidential elections went ok here in Moz, without any large violent incidents and lots of problems at the polling stations across the country. All volunteers were required to stay at our sites for about 2 weeks and we were recently allowed to leave following the elections and seeing as there have been no violent incidents, which is great.

7) I hope to have a new computer in a few days thank goodness because my screen was broken horribly en route from a Grassroots Soccer Training back at the beginning of September limiting my internet/computer access and slowing down all of my work. It was horribly depressing. Thank goodness for global insurance!

All in all, everything is picking up and going so much better. After Mid-Service, I fell into a bit of a slump due to illness and my computer breaking. It was just depressing. I just kept getting this bouts of what I am going to assume was some sort of stomach flu. I hope I can keep the momentum going and continue to have successful projects here as I barrel through my last 8 months in Mozambique. The whole idea of returning home and getting back into school, finishing up my master's and then maybe getting a job and/or doing more graduate school is now becoming more prominent in my daily thoughts. So much so, that I whipped out my old epi book to brush up a bit. Although, I've been so busy, I've only done just that... whipped it out. It continues to sit in my backpack waiting for a moment of freedom. I suppose I will get to it later this week. I've been invited to come down and help out with the training for the incoming Education volunteers and will help with a Stress Mgmt session and also get my new computer while I'm there. And get some much needed work done for some projects with the help of free wifi in the PC office. I can't wait! Killing severla birds with one stone! So, I'll get to re-reading that book during my 7-8 hour bus ride down and probably again on the 7-8 hour return ride back. Ok, I guess I'll stop here then. I'll probs post some random pics from these past 2-3 months later as well. 

Keep on keepin' on, wherever you may be and good joojoo to ya'll!

[mel2africa]

Moringa Day in my community!!! This past saturday, we held a Moringa Day at the hospital and planted 30 plants of Moringa and taught 25 how to plant it, held lessons on the uses and benefits of the plant and distributed seeds to participants.

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Hangin' out with the little homies this week!

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One Year In...

So, I have been putting off my whole one year post for several reasons.

1) I already am quite a slacker in regards to posting and making updates.

2) I don't really know how to put my feelings about my completion of one year in Peace Corps into effective and comprehensible words.

3) It's both sad and exciting that I am halfway done. 

4) I hesitate writing here a lot due to my moods. Sometimes, I think i  should not write when things aren't going as smoothly as I'd like. And I don't want to give off an image of bubble gum and cherries when it is not so.

5) I have slacked off so much on including information and updates on this blog, I don't even know if it would make proper sense in detailing things now. 

This all being said, here is my attempt at writing something succinct and effective.

So, I am currently sitting in my house after correcting a grant proposal that I originally submitted 2 months ago. I also just got the approval from my district offices last week (also 2 months later), giving me permission to paint a malaria mural. I basically have been frustrated with that for 2 months now. Hopefully, after these corrections, things will speed along now and we'll be done painting by October. I'm also still working on the garden project at the hospital that I started trying to make happen since February/March of this year. It is just a struggle for lack of better terms. My orgs are just kind of bobbling around without direction no matter what I suggest to them, which has left me soliciting opinions on possible projects from whoever will listen to me and trying to start them with just those groups. My JUNTOS group has fallen from over 50 kids to about 5 now due to lack of organization and leadership with my group leaders. I also had a falling out with the girl who was teaching the dance group and it is now more of an exchange of dance abilities in which everyone contributes dance moves and we then use those to organize routines, which I like. The journalism group is kinda dormant for right now. But, not for long. Trying to partner that instead with the local secondary school instead of neighborhood kids. It is a lot easier that way. I did a feasibilty study with one of my orgs, which went ok, but now I am trying to expand it and just make it better.

I think right now, I am definitely feeling the panic of 1 year down, what the hell have I done? Oh that's right, not much. And so now I have to  kick things a bit more into gear. I feel like most of my time is spent writing documents and having unsuccessful meetings. 

At least, my community integration is pretty ok. I know a lot of people, I hang out with members of my community and I feel like a member of my community. 

The only cultural issue I have here that still grinds my gears to no end is with Mozambican men. Anyone who talks to me on a fairly regular basis knows that I do not like Mozambican men, in general. My experiences with them on a daily basis have made me very wary of having male friends here and kept the number of male friends that I do have here to a very small number. In my personal experience they are particularly mean and disrespecful. Not everyone, but just in the majority of my personal experiences. For example, just the other night, a trio of boys probably aged 10-14, runs up behind myself and the family I hang out with and starts to harass us. Yelling things like, "Baby" and other gross things in local language. Then, one slaps me on the butt. They continue to follow us until we reach the minibuses to leave. I then encounter another male passenger who stares at me and tells me that he is looking at my hair because it appears like someone needs to fix it because it's ugly. That is just a span of 30 minutes. Before then, a guy sitting next to us on the boat, starts trying to hit on me. Asking why I don't want any male Mozambican friends. 

It's just always the same interaction. If it's not an insult, it's someone trying to hit on me or touch me. It gets very old and my reaction depends on how many times in one day I have been called out to or grabbed or insulted or hit on. I can be calm at times or sometimes I just ignore people, or sometimes I just snap and start cursing in English. I have developed my potty mouth quite a bit here, in English and local language.It does make me a little sad when I think about years down the road how many of my negative experiences during service will be in regards to this. 

Also, I think many of my experiences have been unique in being an African American female. I sometimes refer to myself as a hybrid. Depending on who I am interfacing with, I can appear as a foreigner or people will assume I am Mozambican. It has given me a range of experiences different from what other volunteers experience. In some instances, it has made integration easier or harder. Other times, it has shown me a bit of the reality that Mozambican women face. Many other times, I have become frustrated to no end in regards to having no one to completely understand how I feel. My mozambican friends don't know how it feels to be an American living here and the experiences associated with that. And my American friends, including other PCVs, can't always empathize with the things I am experiencing and how it makes me feel because it just isn't happening to them. I may have to try to write another post in regards to this. It is just a whole other thing.

Anyways, I guess, this 1st year alone has changed me in ways I like and other ways that I don't really like, but just accept now. I think it has been quite the journey and experience and I am anxious to see what this 2nd year brings. I know it won't be lollipops and rainbows, nor will it be a crapfest. But yea, here's to year 2! 

[mel2africa]

Cat lady post #121

So, today, while my cat was escorting me to the latrine (because he actually does know how terrified I am of the pigs that are in the pig pen next to the latrine), we heard a loud screeching noise in the large house being constructed in the middle of our yard. We immediately and simultaneously stopped in our tracks. We looked at each other and agreed to approach and investigate. However, as we approached, it sounded more like one of the ridiculously large pigs had gotten out again and was hiding out in there. We deserted our investigation and ran for our lives back to the safety of the house. In this moment, I knew that my cat is the homie and he knows what's up.‪#‎neverleavethehomiebehind‬ ‪#‎catladyadventuresinpeacecorps‬‪#‎imtakingmycatbacktothestatesnomatterwhat‬

[mel2africa]

"Well, that's different...but intriguing."

So, I’m sitting here on an esteira (straw mat) talking with a member of my favorite Mozambican family and writing project proposals. It’s winter now and is gradually starting to get colder here. I could not be happier. But at its current state, it’s still hot during the mornings and then the temperature drops in late afternoon. I wish the weather would just make up its mind.

Right now, I am headlong into planning and finalizing things for World Malaria Day, which is next Friday. I am very nervous as this is my first time to organize a march here and I am worried that people won’t come. We shall see.

Yesterday, I was hanging out yet agin with my favorite Moz family and the topic of birth and traditional medicine came up. Here are some things I learned:

1)      If someone is a breach birth (born foot first instead of head), they need to perform some sort of ritual in order to make sure that when they marry they don’t kill their husband/wife when they have sex with them for the first time. Or if they are lucky enough to bypass that omen, they still have to do the ritual in order to prevent having a stillbirth.

2)      If you give birth to twins and one dies, they isolate the mother and other twin outside of the house. She goes to the house of another woman, probably an older woman in her family, who will then counsel her until she is well. The mother is also not allowed to cry, as she may cause the other twin to die as well due to her unrelenting sadness.

Other interesting ritual-related/cultural things I have noticed:

- If a baby pees on you, it signifies that you will have children.

- A woman that is married absolutely has to wear the capulana ( traditional cloth) or she will get a mouthful from the older members of the family

- When someone dies, the family cleans the body

- During the funerals, men and women sit separately because it is believed that they grieve differently

- During the funerals, it appeared that just whoever was nearest the grave, all took turns to shovel in dirt. There aren’t designated people to do this and  the funeral doesn’t end until this is done.

- After the funeral, everyone eats and they still eat in a gender-based form.

- If a person has had sex the night before they are not allowed to touch a baby younger than one month.

- You can’t have sex with your husband for 3 months after you give birth.

- Braided hair and hair relaxed (or straightened) or hair in braided extensions is considered beautiful, but if you wear your afro-textured/coily/curly hair out, be prepared to be judged.

That’s all that I can remember right now. More to come in later posts.

[mel2africa]

Updates

Well, I've been in Mozambique for nearly a year now and so much has happened. I wish I'd updated more. Basically, I started working more, my language skills got better, I started a kids english group and and trying to start a garden in the hospital here. I now focus most of my time to the hospital. Last month my favorite Mozambican family had a new edition and named her after me! Now my days entail, going to the hospital and random other meetings with my orgs and then heading to their house to eat and hangout out with and then home, basically, just to sleep.Not much else has gone on. Last week, I attended the Project Management and Design conference we have after our first 6 months at site. I thought I would leave with a lot more clarity, but not really. I think right now I am getting to the point in my service where I am encountering lots of frustrations, despite my language skills have remarkably improved. I don't really know what to say about it. I recently had a negative interface with one of my organizations and left fairly depressed afterwards. The lack of morale and drive just left me kinda speechless. Whenever I suggested anything, it was ignored or shot down. I don't really know exactly what to do with this right now. I guess we will see. I think maybe on this blog I will do a project to highlight people I interact with or something. I guess I just feel like I need to do more things and projects. I feel a bit overwhelmed after this conference, I jsut hope I can help these orgs and the hospital with the time I have left: 1 year and 6 months... Sounds like a lot, but it isn't really.