1 Year Mark

I've been in Mozambique for a year now! This past year flew by really fast. "Everything makes sense one year into Peace Corps service" I've heard that before and now that I'm almost at mid service [mid Aug is my mid service], this phrase is so true! I'd like to think that I've fully adjusted to the culture and life style here. I know how to bargain, how to get around, how to have a basic convo in the local language, and I love the local food. Dealing with 'Mozambican time' is still frustrating at times but I'm on board with 'just go with the flow' mentality now. I've also identified the needs of my workplace and community, know how things work, who to contact, who to go to and who to trust. Having built relationships, learning more about my community and having people getting to know more about me this past year will allow me to hopefully finish strong in my last year here. Everything is making sense and work is starting to pile up- I couldn't be more excited! :)

Here is a quick summary of what I've been up to this past month [mostly in pictures because I'm not much of a writer.. haha]:

Dia do Trabalhador May 1:
We paraded around town and attended the beginning of the ceremony before heading to Chiure for a work lunch party.

Matching capulanas with my coworkers

Showing off the bicycle ambulance [well motorcycle for that day]

Norte Forte Beer Olympics May 9-11:
I had a great weekend in Ilha with ~50 PCVs for the annual beer olympics! It was a nice weekend break from site and be surrounded by Americans and be reunited with fellow Moz20ers as well as meet new PCVs. We had 4 teams separated by provinces. The games were: shotgun relay, flip cup, pitcher chug, civil war, slam ball, beer pong, trivia, and tug of war. Cabo Delgado won!! Woot woot! :)

Ilha de Mocambique

The champions!

REDES Workshop May 16-19:
I brought 4 girls from my group to attend the 2 days workshop where they got to meet other groups, learned about women's health, reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, malaria, domestic violence, income generating project, how to make peanut butter, and had a chance to get HIV tested. When I invited the girls to the workshop, they were very excited because they never left the province before. The workshop was held in Monapo in Nampula province. It took us about 5 hours to get there with a private chapa. They had a great weekend of learning and making new friends.

Malaria Task Force Training May 28-31:
We had a 2 days training with the whole team [currently there's 6 of us] in Maputo. We learned about the basics of malaria, grants and budget, and how to run a ToT. We talked about the logistics, goal for the upcoming year, potential partnerships, and came up with a strategic plan. We have a lot of work planned for us and I'm excited to be a part of this awesome team!

Work:
I am working with my coordinator to start back up the Juventude e Saúde [youth and health] program. I am so excited!! My coordinator and I finished creating an action plan for a 3 months period starting end of June when I come back from my trips. We are planning to start with 3 schools in 3 different communities to teach them about HIV/AIDS, STDs, sexual reproductive health, sexual harassment, genders, and malaria. I will be running the program alongside with my coordinator. Once it's up and running, my org will hire someone to work with me and eventually take over for when I leave so that it can be sustainable.

REDES meeting:

April 29: Duct tape flower pen

May 13: Yoga session

We also played another malaria game where I had 2 teams competing in a relay race to identify good and bad behaviors in efforts to prevent malaria. I finally got my hands on Rosetta Stone English so I started using it to teach my girls English too. I love the program!! and they love it too :)

Hora das Crianças:

May 2: Practice writing letter 'E' and color princesses

May 22: letter 'F' & Winnie the Pooh pictures

Other highlights:
-My iphone, bank card and money were stolen in Namialo when I was getting off the chapa :( Despite getting my stuff stolen, I am so grateful to meet such nice people who helped me get back to my site!! I got a boleia (hitchhike ride) from Namialo to Silva Macua (about 3hr) from a Mozambican man and then another boleia from 2 Tanzanian men to Macomia cruzamento. I got to practice my Swahili (kind of.. I only remember how to say Hi, how are you? My name is Angela and Thank you haha) They asked me what am I going to do next when they dropped me off since they're not going my direction. I told them I was going to wait for another car to pass by. They then paid a guy to drive me home to Ancuabe!! I am so lucky to meet these generous people!! :)
-I gave away 2 of the kitties to my supervisor and PCVs from Pemba. These are my last picture with them :( Mini Zambie and Oddball. I still have Grey but PCVs from Macomia will adopt her next month. I think my Zambie is pregnant again! I need to do a family planning session with her according to my coworker haha

-I'm attending the Malaria Boot Camp in.... Senegal!!!! I am beyond excited for this opportunity and to travel to West Africa! Will blog about it next :) I am also attending Moz 22's PST in Namaacha right after Senegal to help out. I'll get a chance to visit my host family! :) :)

Edina Chishimba

A few months after my first trip to Africa, I decided to start sponsoring a child. This is Edina Chishimba, my sponsored child since November 2009 through Children International (www.children.org). After 4.5 years, I finally made my way to Lusaka, Zambia to visit her!! My 'I hope I can come visit you one day' in most of my letters to her finally happened and that 'one day' was April 24, 2014 :)

Children International picked me up from the hostel I was staying at and took me to their service center to show me around first. They have a pre-clinic, medical clinic, dental clinic, nutritional feeding room (this is where they cook meals for the children that are malnutritious), library, youth conference room, multipurpose room, and a warehouse where they store all the school supplies, food, blankets, clothes, etc to give out to the children there. They were doing Easter distribution when I came to visit so I can see where my Easter donation is going to now! :) There were a lot of volunteers running the service center, most of them are mothers of the sponsored children. They also have a little playground outside of the center with swings and slides. The center is open Mon-Sat and the children can come hang out there whenever they want. 

My first couple of minutes touring the center, I was fighting back tears. I didn't expect that at all! I was overwhelmed with emotions as I watch the staffs and volunteers do their work with the children and their parents there. Some were being consulted, some were being weighed, some were reading in the library, lots were waiting to receive their distribution, and others were running and playing around outside with other fellow sponsored children. They took me into each room and introduced me to the staffs and volunteers. It was such an amazing experience to see the work that Children International do in Zambia and to physically see where my money is going to for Edina.

After the service center, they took me to visit Edina in her home. I was so nervous! Apparently, she was nervous too haha. I met her siblings, mom and grandmother. The father was out working so I didn't get to meet him. We had a short introduction and took some pictures before heading out for lunch. They were so welcoming and were surprised that I look so young also hahah We went to Manda Hill Mall and ate at Hungry Lion (it's like KFC). Edina's mom told me that Edina is 4th in her class of 88 students! She's a smart girl :) Edina spoke to me in the little English that she knew (She's in 7th grade right now so they haven't learn much English yet.. by the way, English is the primary language in Zambia! I was surprised to learn that when I got here) and told me that she wants to study to become a nurse. She told me that a few years ago in one of the first few letters that we exchanged. After lunch, we went to Shoprite so I can buy them some grocery. I definitely didn't bring enough cash for this trip but I was happy I had enough to buy them a big bag of flour to make xima, big bottle of oil, salt, sugar, laundry soap, and bath soap.

My luggage which contained clothes and capulanas I brought for Edina and her family (as well as my clothes so I had to wear the same thing for almost a week!) was lost during transit. It ended up being stuck in Dar es Salaam so I couldn't give it to them when I visited them. Luckily I was able to get the luggage the following day and had Children International picked it up to give it to them for me.

I am so happy to have had this opportunity to visit my sponsored child. My visit definitely made my sponsorship journey feel a lot more rewarding. It is amazing and fulfilling to know that the small sacrifice on my end each month can help improve the life quality of someone else so much. I am looking forward to continuing exchanging letters with Edina and watching her grow.

Lastly, I want to give a special THANK YOU!!!! from the bottom of my heart to the following people below who have donated to help me continue sponsoring Edina while I serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I really can't say thank you enough because I wouldn't have been able to continue sponsoring her for these 2 years with my Peace Corps budget haha so Thank you!! Obrigada!! Kihoshuguru!!

Anne, Betty, Brent, Bryan, Buu, Caroline, Christina, Daisy, Dang N, Dang P, David, Doan, Duong, Gary, Hai, Han, Hang, James, Jennifer, Jon, Katie, Kelly, Kevin, Kimly, Lan Khanh, Lena, Mimi, Napoleon, Richard, Shirley, Snow White, and Yorum

Peace Corps Goal #3

The Peace Corps' Mission is to promote world peace and friendship by fulfilling three goals:
Goal #1: To help the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women
Goal #2: To help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served
Goal #3: To help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of American

I was able to fulfilled goal #3 these past 2 weeks when Caroline came to Mozambique to visit!

Hello everyone! This is Caroline here taking over a bit of Angela's blog to share how her journey in the Peace Corps have influenced me. After months of waiting for this adventure to come, it is finally here with a sweet, sweet welcoming from the neighborhood's kids. They are by far the most adorable and hardworking individuals I have met and I appreciate all of their effort to make me feel at home. Of course, I definitely still notice I stick out like a sore thumb. The only thing that hinders this experience that I wish I have put more thought into is: Learn the language before the visit! I wish I was able to carry a conversation with everyone more than just a simple greeting and goodbyes. Thankfully, I have Angela here to translate everything for me. (I mean since she puts me to work here, I might as well put her to work in my favor). Although we are unable to converse, it is amazing to see how just simple nonverbal communication can still make the experience very much enjoyable.

All of the cultural festivities here are very fun to watch because it brings so much enthusiasm and joy to the community. And boy can these ladies dance! I am lucky to have experience Mozambican Women's Day because cherishing and appreciating women is everything I believe in standing up for. To see the men join in on the dance made me feel their support in protecting the women in their community. It was a very splendid and very heat drenching experience!

With very limited resources here, the kids have taught me to appreciate all the simple things in life. There are days where there is no electricity, which affects the ability to heat up food, to heat up water for the bucket baths, and to charge appliances for social connections. I started to become accustomed to the days without electricity and enjoyed how we had more time to laugh with the neighbors, look up at the stars, and dance in the backyard. I came to realize I can not be picky with food and just be happy with what ever it was that was able to fill my belly. I appreciated how I had working limbs so that I can walk long distances and hitch hike on pick up trucks. Although the lifestyle here is harder, it is much more simple and happy. You learn to love your community and surroundings. I may hate having to use her restroom and the hole she calls a toilet, but I have to admit, I love every bit of this adventure Angela have been able to provide me with. She helped me open my eyes to all the little things in the world and to put the fears aside. I am glad I have her support as my friend and her guidance in marking things off my bucket list (such as the hitchhiking picture below)! 

I have only been here for two weeks, and I have already learned so much! I can only imagine how much wiser Angela will be when she comes home to us. Good thing she knows sign language because I can see she will come back home with poor English skills ;) Sadly, she's not very good with Portuguese, Macua or Vietnamese either. :P

Much love and respect,

Caroline

Stomp Out Malaria

World Malaria Day is on April 25th but in Peace Corps world, April is World Malaria Month because one day just isn't enough :) Malaria is a huge problem in Mozambique and I've seen it first hand in my town. Since I've been at site, I've seen many of my coworkers and neighbors gotten sick from malaria. Most of them that I know have overcome it after taking the treatment but I've visited 2 people who had a more complicated case of malaria. At this moment, one of my coworker just returned from the hospital yesterday from a complicated case of malaria.

So in honor of World Malaria Month, I gave a palestra about malaria to my REDES girls. We talked about what is Malaria, how it is transmitted, who is more vulnerable to malaria, what the symptoms are, as well as how to prevent it and treat it. We also talked about the importance of knowing the symptoms of malaria and completing the treatment. I created a malaria game for the girls to play the following week to test their knowledge on malaria. I did a test run and played it with my coworkers first to see if they liked it- they loved it! :)

Playing the game with my coworkers

Playing the game with my REDES girls

Winner!

The Malaria Game How-to's:

Game pieces

-Dice: I used sonobe unit to form the cube: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Sonobe-Unit
-Playing pieces: I used different type and color cloth pins. The players can write their name on a post-it to attach to the pin.

This is a simple two to eight player game wherein each player races to the end. Players roll the dice and move their game piece to the corresponding number of spaces. There are four different type of categories the players can land on: questions, event, mosquito bite, and hospital. Questions, event, and mosquito bite are card-drawing spaces.

Questions: Player pick up a card and read their question about malaria. If their answer is correct, they can stay there. If they are wrong, they have to go back one space.
Example: What type of mosquito transmits malaria?

Event: Player pick up a card and read their scenario and then either move forward or backyard depending on what it said.
Example: You repaired your ripped mosquito net, go forward one space.

Mosquito bite: Player pick up a card and read their scenario and then either stay there or miss a turn.
Example: You didn't use the mosquito net correctly, you have malaria. Lose a turn.

March 2014 updates

Malaria Task Force:
The Malaria Task Force is a new initiative within PC-Mozambique. It aims to improve malaria activities amongst PCVs by increasing malaria knowledge and access to information about grants and project ideas. I'm Malaria Task Force Regional Representative for the North! :) My role is to work with the MTF team to develop projects and activities for PCVs to carry out at site and in their secondary projects, inform PCVs about the resources available to them, follow-up on the monitoring and evaluation of projects, and meet via Google Docs every other month with the team to improve the Stomping Out Malaria in Africa program in Mozambique. So far we had 2 meetings to talk about Malaria Month Activities and PST for Moz 22.

Project Design and Management Workshop March 18-20:
At this training, my counterpart and I learned how to effectively design, implement and evaluate projects based on community needs using sustainable approaches. I love Peace Corps sponsored conferences!! I was stoked about hotel stays!! :) Shower with good pressure and running hot water, sleeping with AC on, big mirror, comfy bed and pillow, and 4 DELICIOUS meal a day! Also got to see half of Moz 20 :) It was held in Nampula [about 5 hours away from my site] so I was able to do a lot of shopping too. Things are much cheaper there.

Our project proposal

Work in the field:
13/03/14 Reflection meeting about HIV/AIDS with a polygamy topic and condoms distribution in Nanhomane, Ancuabe-sede

24/03/14 Health fair in Campine, Mesa

Family Planning

HIV testing

Nets distribution

REDES group:
04/03/14- The girls finished sewing their tote bag to use for school

11/03/14- We talked about what is HIV/AIDS, ways HIV can and can't be transmitted, and how to prevent ourselves from getting HIV. Afterward, I showed them the trailer to the movie 'Inside Story- The Science of HIV/AIDS' that we're going to watch at the next meeting

15/03/14- The girls came over to my house to watch a movie. I couldn't download the Inside Story movie due to unknown network error that keeps happening and streaming version was only in English so we watched Yesterday instead. I was able to download it with Portuguese subtitle :) It's a film about a young mother who discovered she has AIDS.

26/03/14- We finished watching the rest of the film, had a discussion about it, and then made beads bracelet.

Hora das Crianças:

28/02/14 Practiced writing letter 'C' and colored Pluto

11/03/14 Practiced writing letter 'D' and colored a cat pic

Other updates/highlights:
-The kitties are growing bigger and bigger! They're growing up too fast :(

They all opened their eyes within 10-12 days

-Forgot to mention in my last blog post but I have an unlimited internet modem stick now! I love it! It has been unreal.. definitely a luxury here! I found a program to turn it into a hotspot so I can use wifi on my ipad and iphone. I can facetime and talk friends and family as much as I want now andddd I'm all caught up on my tv shows now :) 

-I found apples and oranges in my mercado for the first time since I've been here!! It was so exciting! The oranges are green on the outside but they're not too bad. They weren't that sweet but not too sour either. Better than nothing though :) 

-I traveled to Macomia [about 2 hours away] March 1-2 and Angoche [about 10 hours away] March 21-22 to visit the PCVs there and see their site. Macomia site is on top of the hill and Angoche site is by the beach.. both are so pretty!
-2 of my REDES girls invited me to their fashion show. It was an interesting and fun event.

-Life just got easier here!! My landlord installed a water spigot in my backyard yay!!! It's also been raining a LOT this last week of March though. 5 days in a row now and counting..

-SO EXCITED FOR APRIL!!! :D Caroline is coming to visit for 2 weeks and then we're going to Zambia for 1 week! Can't wait to finally meet my sponsor child also!! :D :D :D