Wok i Kik: A Work Update

I follow a number of different blogs: friends of mine from before Peace Corps and PCVs I am currently serving with. Everyone I follow is a friend or past acquaintance of mine working internationally, in some shape or form, as an Aid/Development worker and I’ve started to notice a trend: I feel like the only ‘blogger’ – yeah, that is a horrible word – that never starts a blog with “Today at the office…” This is made impossible by my situation; when I wake up for work, it is completely up to me and my own independent thoughts to decide what work I will do – sounds great, huh? I can’t tell you how much I want a 9 – 5 job right now with a set of objectives, goals, and deadlines (we do have these in our project framework, but deadlines are non-existent). That way if I finish my work and slack off, I will still feel accomplished. Now I can’t slack off or I feel the looming shadow of guilt. Bah! Thus, I spend my days and weeks working on everything I can and eventually realizing that I have burnt out all possibilities of additional work way too early and thus the cycle begins again: work frenzy, work, rest, guilt, work frenzy, work, rest, guilt, etc. etc. Never thought I would be demanding a 9 – 5, but any structure would be nice – I really appreciate structure (it’s an OCD-perfectionist thing). Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the freedom and trust Peace Corps gives us (some might say ‘has to give us’ – considering the island set-up). I am allowed to make my own professional decisions regarding my development projects and nothing could be more empowering. I just want some structure every now and then. Whatever, complaining isn’t going to get me anywhere, so I continue working to the best of my ability and creativity. Now, to waste no further time (because you probably have a 9 – 5 and loath me now): today at the office…

Everybody Poops: Thanks Australia High Commission

Well it’s true. Australian High Commission and thus the Government of Australia and the good people of Australia have funded the construction of 83 Ventilation-Improved (VIP) Toilets thus making sure the people of Naviso have some really nice holes to poop in. The Australian High Commission Direct Aid Programme used approximately 350,000 VT (4,000 USD) to buy all of the cement, PVC pipes, nails, black paint, vent cowls, and freight costs to ship the materials to Naviso. Now we are waiting on one of the two ships (Aurora or Huvutu) to make a Copra-run and thus bring all cargo to Naviso. This was always going to be the problem – I even stated in the application – without consistent ship travel it’s hard to determine what time a ship will come to Naviso. With an April 30^th Deadline this becomes more pertinent (though I believe they will be lenient on this one). During my time in Port Vila, I’m going to have to try and figure out the time the ship will be coming via Reynold (Maewo’s Copra Mill Agent) and the Copra Mill; additionally, I will have to communicate this information to Norman at Santo Hardware to try and set-up a time to get the materials on a ship coming to Naviso. Moreover, I’m not quite sure how Australian High Commission plans to freight. I will be tidying these things up during February and hopefully work can start late February or March.

During early January, I trained the Village Toilet Committee (charged with leading this project) in the exact specifications for the VIP Toilets with the available materials. I have no illusions this project will be easy, but I think in the end it will be an accomplishment of note for the community; because of the significance of the project for the community, I want to make sure everything goes well and we finish all 83 toilets, but I know that development projects don’t always work out perfectly and in Vanuatu many things can interfere with progress, so I’m not raising expectation to much… Hah! Yeah right! My expectations are sky high and I’m really just constantly worried about everything involved with the project. The hardest part will be getting the materials to Naviso. As soon as that happens I think I will be able to breathe again. Once the materials get here I believe the construction will fall into place; like any kind of work in Vanuatu: it won’t be conventional, but it will get done.  

Laying Pipe in Vanuatu: Water for Life

The PCPP for a new gravity-fed water system in Naviso officially started raising money in November and as of now we’ve raised 200,000 VT (approx. 2,000 USD). We need to raise approximately 1,060,000 VT (approx. 11,500 USD) so we definitely have some time to wait, but in the end we will be able to build the new water system and that’s the important part. Unfortunately, at the rate we are raising money I might be extending, in Naviso, for a few years. Once the money is raised we can approach Rural Water Supply (RWS) and start a program for constructing the new pipeline.

During November I used the GPS Lindsay borrowed from RWS to conduct the water supply survey for RWS. I went to the old water source and three new water sources. Additionally, I marked the main areas of the village on the GPS. The survey required me to mark the GPS location, elevation of source, elevation to main village, measure the flow rate (liters/second), and mark any other observation about the source. Additionally, I conducted a H₂S Test – testing the water for bacterial contamination (unfortunately the test does not tell you what kind of bacteria) – and I kept a photographic record of the water sources. Lindsay was able to take the survey into RWS in Port Vila when she went back to America for Christmas. During February, I will be following up, for the both of us, with RWS. Hopefully, the survey will allow for a more accurate design and budget for the proposed water supply. Now we can only wait.   

S-E-X Spells: A Mighty Fine Time Educational Time

During late January, a few weeks before I was set to fly into Port Vila, I planned two talks – one for men and one for women – about Women’s Sexual Reproductive Health and Maternal and Child Health. Specifically, the topics were ‘what is menstruation and what does it mean for a woman’, ‘family planning’ (introducing the female condom and explaining the options of family planning available to them in Naviso), ‘spacing children’, ‘exclusive-breastfeeding and healthy foods for the first two years’, and finally ‘vaccination’.

The day after I announce the talks – entitled ‘Healthy Woman, Healthy Children, Healthy Family’ – the Nurse Aid approaches me and tells me that when he did these talks in West Maewo he separated young girls from the Mamas and young boys from the Papas or they will be afraid to ask questions if they feel ashamed. Well, duh! Why didn’t I think of that!? At that point my health talks just doubled to four, but when am I going to announce this? You see, in Naviso you can only really make announcements on Sundays (after Church – kind of a trap, huh?) and I’ve learned that is not good to announce an event the day before – the next Sunday being a day before the first planned talk on January 23^rd. In the end, I decide to change the program thus, January 23^rd and 24^th for young girls and Mamas, respectively, and January 30^th and January 31^st for young boys and fathers, respectively. I decide I will announce this the day before and hope it works out. Of course, in the tradition of giving me advice based on nothing and usually proving unfounded, Hamlison, upon hearing about the change, voices dissent and tells me to just keep the old schedule. I persuade him that the new program is better and he is now game.

I think if anything, the schedule change actually brought more attention to the talks and raised interest. Moreover, each group now had to represent or risk insulting the Peace Corps. While I joke about this I have come to believe that the people of Naviso actually like to talk about sex and reproductive health. During the HIV/AIDS workshop, which covered some reproductive health topics and STIs too, I believed the turnout was because of the free pig and rice and the arrival of other PCVs, but now I believe that the subject matter holds the greatest influence.

During the first two talks I had 25 young girls and then approximately 50 mothers crammed into a classroom. Turns out the young girls would have benefitted from either, 1) being with the mothers or 2) me being a female, they were just too nervous around me to ask questions. The Mamas though stopped me in my tracks. I was barely able to move from one activity to the next because of the onslaught of questions. Next, I had 24 young boys and they let me down, but in the expected ways. When I was their age I laughed at this stuff and I definitely understand the belief: “that’s true, but it won’t happen to me”. These are typical thoughts of teenage boys. I had hoped they would ask more questions, but they proved as nervous, if not more so, than the young girls. To their benefit a few of the older boys asked a number of questions – which did not happen with the young girls. And last but not least: the Papas. 26 came to the talk in the middle of a supposed Hurricane (actual Tropical Low) – not that that’s an excuse for the numbers to be so much lower than the Mamas, but the weather was pretty ridiculous; on the other hand we had rainstorms on both the women’s days too. Actually, it poured rain every time there was a talk (God must be trying to tell us something about Family Planning). The Papas also managed to stall the progress of the talk with numerous questions, which was greatly appreciated. Of course, the guys questions jumped all over the place until they started asking about genetic deformities (babies that have faces like stingrays) and how this might come from having sex in the jungle opposed to their house and whether or not anal sex is safe (not anywhere close to the planned information). But the guys did prove to have real interest in learning more and I greatly appreciated their participation.

Luckily, throughout this all, Nurse Nicholas was there (not the one from Pentecost – he is currently at the Kerembei Health Center on West Maewo filling in for the Nurse there who abandoned his post after some sort of incident with a woman. He apparently won’t be coming back – but the Man Naviso himself who has been living in Gaiofo on West Maewo) for every talk. This man has been a godsend and now I finally understand the ‘counterpart’. Up until now, I haven’t worked much with a counterpart. I pretty much scavenge counterparts throughout the village depending on the project. Nicholas showed up unprompted and thanks to the medical encyclopedia in his head and his ability to speak the local language he brought these talks to the next level.

In the end, I have to say that the talks probably could have stayed as Women and Men, but I understand Nicholas’ reason behind splitting them up. I actually believe there was greater turnout because of the various splits – 125 all together – even if the splits did not result in more questions from the youngsters. Moreover, I feel that the community really appreciated the talks and it always feels great when the appreciation feels tangible. If had to end my service today – knock on wood – I would feel that these talks were worth it. I definitely feel that I can be more effective in my second year and these talks, though small, have proven to be my favorite memory, regarding my work, and are sure to be one of my greatest successes in Naviso.

GAD: Gender and Development

Way back in March 2011, the GAD committee had a second round of applications, they were looking for an additional committee member. Back during PST-I (Sept. – Nov. 2010), I had thought about applying, but I was more concerned with the transition to site. Thus, the application constantly slipped my mind and I never sat down to fill it out. So when March came around and there was another chance I eagerly filled out an application. After this I went back to site and did not hear about GAD until I went to their Training of Trainers (ToT) in Ambae. There I learned that I had not been chosen for GAD.

Didn't think the story would go that way? Did ya? Well it did and I went on and forgot about GAD (no harm no foul). Of course, I still worked with GAD regularly and helped them in any way I could: creating programs and introducing GAD concepts to other PCVs. I just was not an official member (no benefits). Then, in August, I was asked by the GAD committee if I would like to join – on the possibility that they can acquire additional funding for another member – and I gladly accept the appointment. The funding is secured and I become a permanent member to the GAD committee. The fit works as I had included GAD components in every workshop that I had conducted  at site; thus, I had a good working knowledge of GAD theory and was ready and eager to participate in the work effort to promote GAD principles in PCV work and throughout Vanuatu.

All this work started with one of the trimester GAD meetings – which conveniently landed on the three days I was supposed to spend with my Parents in Port Vila (shocker!). Well, it worked out. I spent the days with the GAD committee and every break and evening rushing around finding my Parents and getting ready for Australia. Though it was rather stressful, I did get the perk of sleeping at the Grand Casino/Resort Hotel in the Maewo Suite opposed to the normal accommodations allotted to Peace Corps (not that those are bad, just not air-conditioned). The result of the GAD meetings was a change in the mission statement and new goals and objectives for the year. The changes were to emphasize GAD related activities and lessen the importance of Youth Initiatives while still retaining a once yearly ToT. In that vein, I was tasked with revising a PACA guide for education volunteers to use with teachers and school committees. Additionally, I created three sections of a 6-part Gender-based Violence (GBV) program. Nancy and Mac created the other three parts. Nancy and I will be presenting the PACA guide to G-24 during their PST-II and Nancy, Mac, and I will be presenting the GBV program to G-23 during their MST-II. These also being the reasons I am coming into Port Vila in February (staying until March to work and because it’s too expensive to send me back to the island and then bring me back in during late February).

I and most of GAD (can’t speak for all of them) are very excited about these programs – Nancy recently told me that me might be able to find funding through USAID for the GBV program. We’re going to stress waiting to implement the GBV program for your 2^nd year as you understand the community better and their more comfortable with you – it is a touchy subject. But the PACA guide can be used very early – and it should for the best benefit, but I have also discovered that your work can be much more effective in the 2^nd year. It’s kind of a conundrum: you have less time, but the quality is better. Unfortunately, quality can’t buy you time for long-term projects. Of course, you could always extend or make the project so sustainable and independent of yourself that the community will carry on in your absence – we can all dream.

And in conclusion…

Well that wraps it up for the work update. Many things have happened, much more than I have recapped here, but I hope this small summary gives you an idea of what I am doing in the South Seas: drinking kava and eating pig.