Business Time

I find it incredibly difficult to write blog entries!!! I want to paint a realistic picture of life here, but at the same time that is impossible. Anyway, the truth is that I’m doing pretty well here. We just finished up three months of “integration.” During our time in integration, we were expected to focus on gaining as much information as possible about our communities. I conducted interviews with various leaders, administered HIV/AIDS knowledge assessments, attended various community meetings and events, got to know local NGOs, shadowed some teachers at the local high school, and conducted a census by visiting 150 homesteads in my community. I then presented my findings in a report that I submitted to Peace Corps and my community.

I have enjoyed the times when this work has required that I rub shoulders with organizations like the UN, World Food Program, Doctors Without Borders, and USAID. I spent so many years reading about them in college and its very interesting for me to see how they work in real life. Swaziland is saturated with NGOs from all over the world. In an effort to provide Peace Corps volunteers with a community connection, each volunteer was given a designated counterpart. The counterparts are all working with an organization called NERCHA, which stands for the National Emergency Response for Coordinating HIV/AIDS. NERCHA is a government organization dedicated to organizing the nations’ efforts to combat HIV/AIDS. Each counterpart is responsible for overseeing all activities which occur in a building called the Gogo Center. There are Gogo Centers in most communities in Swaziland. The centers are meant to be used for activities fighting HIV/AIDS at the community level. The counterparts play a huge role in helping new volunteers adjust to their new lives in Swaziland. They are meant to be a mentor, guide, and translator in our new communities. Unfortunately, the counterparts get paid very little for their work. This means that most of them have great difficulty balancing the needs of the job with their needs for income (this means that sometimes they literally do nothing). Many Peace Corps volunteers have had a very difficult time adjusting in their new community, because of such problems. Fortunately, my story is different. I was given a very reliable and fun counterpart who made my adjustment to the community an enjoyable experience.

It was incredible to watch the election here in Africa. People were talking about it weeks before it even began. On Election Day, I met up with the other volunteers in the capital city and we stayed up the whole night for the big event. Obama’s win was huge in Swaziland. In the Swazi newspaper I read, it was the cover story and then half of the paper was about how important the win was for democracy. The election also had a profound impact on me. Those of you who know me well know that my education made me a bit of skeptic about what the U.S. often represents, especially when it comes to foreign policy. However, my experiences in Swaziland combined with what happened on November 4th, 2008 have left me with an entirely new perspective. Obama now comes up very often in daily conversations and I can’t help but show my pride in telling my Swazi friends about what that election means for me and for the world. It is incredible.

Now that “integration” is over, I must return to my community and get down to business. I have already begun teaching at the health club, but there are so many things I hope to do over these next two years. The war on HIV/AIDS here in the nation with the highest rate of infection in the world must be fought on every level. I know that my time here is short and that the work needed is enormous. Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read my blog. I would really love to hear from you!