what on earth am i doing?
On July 21st, I depart for Botswana as a Peace Corps Volunteer for the next 27 months. I will be a part of the Health & HIV/AIDS Capacity Building Specialist: Clinic and Health Team. If you don’t know where Botswana is or what it means to be a part of a Clinic & Health team, you are not alone. Botswana is located in Southern Africa. It is the country about South Africa and is landlocked. Some important info about Botswana: it has the second highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the world, while they are a developing country, their economy is growing and their biggest setback has been the HIV/AIDS epidemic. If you want to learn more about Botswana, I’ve found that Wikipedia does a decent job of summarizing. // https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botswana //
On to what I’ll be doing while I'm there. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure. And it will most likely stay this way until I arrive in Botswana. What I will be doing completely depends on where in the country I am placed as well as the needs in the community. However, I will most likely be working in a small village (or at least, that’s what I’m praying for) and I will either be placed in a clinic, health post, or District Health Management Team (DHMT). While I did graduate with my BSN and hopefully will become a registered nurse shortly, I will not be directly serving in a nursing capacity. Here is a list I was given of possible ways that I might be serving:
HIV prevention, community health education, community outreach
Promotion of HIV programs and services, including HIV testing, prevention of mother-to-child transmission, HIV treatment and adherence, early infant diagnosis of HIV, safe male circumcision, home-based care and orphan care
Support for people living with HIV/AIDS and those affected by HIV/AIDS
Gender awareness and girls’/women’s empowerment
Augment the School – Health Program
Youth work through Life Skills education with in- and out-of-school youth
Food security through permagardening and nutrition education
Capacity building of clinic/DHMT staff and systems strengthening, including logistics and supply chain management; All CHT Volunteers are trained in supply chain management
Reporting, monitoring, and evaluation of HIV/AIDS Programs
Participation in the District Evidence-Based Planning for the HIV response
Network building, patient tracking, and referral systems
Malaria elimination (if placed in a malarial area)
When I arrive in Botswana at the end of July, I will go through 3 months of intensive training that will include cultural training, job training, safety, and language training. After three months of training, I will be placed in a village (based on the needs of the village and my skill set) where I will be the only Volunteer. While there are continued training and opportunity for language lessons, by the end of training, I need to sufficiently speak the language, Setswana. Does it blow my mind that in less than 5 months, I will be speaking a new language? YEAHHHHHH. It’s crazy scary, but also, crazy exciting!
Other things: I may or may not have electricity in my home. Even If I do have electricity, it most likely will not be reliable. I may or may not have running water. I will be living at the level of the community, not above them. So I will not be staying in a nice hotel or facility but will live in the same type of housing as those in the community. This will most likely be a small concrete house, or mud hut (I absolutely LOVE that I get to live with the people and not above them. It will better help me understand what they go through on a daily basis and will better help me integrate into the community. This is a volunteer position, so I will not be getting paid for the next 27 months. I will get money for food, housing, transportation, etc... But again, It will only be enough to live at the level of those in my community, not above them. I will have internet access. However, as to whether that will be daily, weekly, or monthly is TBD. It purely depends where I’m placed and the internet availability in those locations. I will be able to continue running. The people of Botswana are extremely friendly from what I’ve heard. During the three months of training, I will be with upwards of 50 other volunteers that will be serving in Botswana in various roles. Alsoooo, Botswana has freedom of religion so sharing the gospel has a big fat green light!
While I am filled with JOY of what’s to come, the past few weeks have also been filled with fear of the unknown. I am walking into a 2-year long position in which I am nowhere near ready to take on. I am leaving to fly across the world and live in a country I’ve never been to and move into a village that currently is unknown. While fear seems to be by my side wherever I go, It is immensely comforting to know that my God is already in the “unknown” He is already there with the people and He will be by my side every step of the way. There is no promise in the bible that our lives will be filled with comfort and ease. However, when we walk through trials and battles, we ARE promised strength to get through the day. We are promised continual strength to keep going. BUT that strength can only be found in God. This is where my heart must be over the next months as I prepare and head into Botswana. I already know I don’t have the strength or courage to move forward. But I can rejoice knowing I serve a God that will continually grant the strength and courage to keep moving!
Can’t think of anything else to say as of now. But I will be posting updates/blogs/whatever fairly often. Some may be funny, some may be serious & sad, some may be long, while others short. But whatever it is, I plan on being honest and sharing not only the joys of joining the Peace Corps but also the struggles. I will be sharing all the posts on facebook, but you can also follow along at // https://nathanwendel.tumblr.com/ //
Cheers