I can't believe I've been here for a week already. I'm finally adjusted to the time difference and starting to feel good about the location. The map has been helping, and I'm ready to try driving. I think I'm going to wait to learning how to drive the stick until I'm used to the other side of the road!! I think both right away is a bad recipe.
Thank you for all your emails and well wishes, it is truly wonderful to hear from you all. This project is really getting into my heart and I'm enjoying the opportunities it is presenting. Just the other day we walked into the Ministry of Health and spoke to some of the head ministers about some stuff we want to work on. Getting that kind of access to people like that is just something that would never happen in America. I'm also getting used to the slower pace and the frequent power outages. The rain isn't wearing on me at all.
Next week we are going to start spending some serious time up in Kapiri, I can't wait for the house to be ready so we can move in. I still have a lot of logistics to figure out for the house, but I'm hoping the people at MSF down the road will be able to help me figure some of that out.
On a side note, today I went to check out getting internet access for our office in Lusaka. It is quite expensive! The set up fee was 3.6 million Kwacha (at a 3,800 Kwacha per US dollar) which is over $900 just to set it up. Then it's going to be another 881,000 Kwacha a month, which is over $200 a month, just for internet. Forgive me if my math was wrong, but MAN is that a lot of money. Needless to say I'm still shopping.
Through a Durant Fellowship, I am working on the Maternal Infant Health Initiative through the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Global Health. I am spending the first six months of 2008 in Zambia, where we hope to reduce the maternal and infant mortality rate through education of midwives and community leaders.
3 comments:
Hi Betsy! Glad to hear you got there safe and sound. Keep swatting those bad mosquitoes away. I'll be very interested to hear the resolution on the internet situation. A big part of the Brigham's Global Health Delivery program will be online communication, so it's good to get a sense of the cost and availability of internet connections in different places. Stay dry!
Meryl
Hey Betsy, I was reading about the community workers that there treained to help with patient education esp. re: HIV. It reminded me of Venezuala when I was there in the (choke) early 70's. They too used community workers who were known to the community and who were willing and able to be trained etc.
The workers in the interior of Venezuela also did immunizations and also had been given training in simple diagnosis ( Is someone really sick? Should I contact the MDs who were of course far off)
I also had the experience of meeting the upper crust in the health system. It is quite a thrill and seems to be something that is not accessible here to the commmon man. However, I think it is a tribute to the programs and to the people who work in them that the govt.ministers etc are so hospitable.
Enjoy your adventure. Stay dry and mosquito free..... ann
Hi Betsy, I know I am posting under the wrong day but I encountered a little difficulty ( you know how that happens with me) so I thought I would take the shortest route. I really liked the story and pix. It sounds like you are getting to see lots and getting a very good close up look.... although not always with camera.
It is sad that there is so much aid offered in many areas that goes to waste or is sucked up by greedy people. That makes it discouraging but not impossible.
I hope you got to see the Big 14 px from the holiday party. It was a fun night.
How are you doing? Staying clear of mosquitoes? Is the rain a constant? How many women come on a clinic day? What have you seen so far there?
Take care, ann
Post a Comment