I bought a cell phone in town- so i'm feeling all sorts of anxiety. At first i wanted to be able to detatch myself as much as possible, but the truth is- i need to be or at least feel connected and seing as this internet situation can be random, i decided in case of emergency meltdowns a cellphone was the closest thing i have to be near my family and friends. So here i am, all fancy, a peace corps volunteer with her cellphone and teva's! hahaha.
Anyhow- This past week just flew by. Peace Corps has been keeping us very busy. On Sunday we presented our community mapping project to the community where we have been living. It involved drawing up a map of the settlement, indentifying the most common problem areas, interviewing people from the ministry of health, ministry of eductaion, youth, women, and pretty much every ministry you can imagine.. Here in Fiji they have a ministry for everything. It's actually kind of frustrating because these cases keep getting passed around to each other and they all refer and pass around the same case to each other.
Anyhow- we reported our findings and just recently were able to present to the community where we have been living for the past month. Our group (the ones living in the Hindi settlement) focused on Food and Nutrition, water sanitation, oral and personal hygiene, NCD's, (Non-Communicable Diseases) and STI's, focusing on HIV/AIDS. We had done some research on the number of people living in Saweni that voluntarily went and got tested during this past year.. It was startling to see the numbers of people who have Syphillis, Gonorrhea, and even HIV. the youngest case we saw was a 14 year old boy who had contracted Gonorrhea. The women were shocked to see the numbers of STIs in their communities, they hadnt realized that this could actually happen to them. Since sex is sucha big taboo here in Fiji, it was important to tell the mothers whats going on, i think the most important thing we got out of our presentation was the fact that the women realized that if fourteen year old boys were contacting Gonorrhea, then maybe their own kids were out there having sex. The other issue here is that it is socially acceptable for men to cheat on their wives, so who knows the amount of diseases that they might be spreading to each other. The good news is that we got the women to see the severity of the problem and they voluntarily want to go get tested now. Baby steps, baby steps.
We also had to do a lesson plan for a primary school in a fijian village. I, along with two other girls from my group were assigned to teach about early puberty and the importance of phyiscal fitness. I was in charge of explaining puberty to the girls, they are about 11 years old. I drew up some lovely vagina diagrams and explained the process of menstrauttion and ovulation. They were so attentive and curious and asked questions.. good thing I did my lesson panning and studied up the night before! It's just very interesting to me how their own mothers dont talk to them about the changes that are going on in their bodies. Some girls just simply don't know what it means to have a period. So it was definately rewarding to be able to contriibute in that sense. A couple days after that we taught at a Secondary school, mostly focused on STI's and did more HIV and AIDS awareness. Pretty much beat them over the heads with "dont have sex without condoms" we even did a condom demonstration with a banana. got a lot of laughs from that one, but hopefully it was effective in the end.
Also- had my LPI this week, (language proficiency interview) it was sort of a practice one, and i think i did alright. I am at Novice Medium level. so I am able to ask the time, say hello and goodbye, say my head hurts and most importantly bargain at the market. (ii anaras Bahut mahenga! daam kamti karo!) this pineapple is too expensive, lower the price. :)
So, the most important thing that happened this week: SITE PLACEMENT ANNOUNCEMENTS. It was cool the way they did it, they drew a big map of the islands on the floor with rope and called us each up individually, gave us a certificate that stated where we were going and who we would be working with, and then they walked us to wherever we were on the map. I got Suva! I was kind of hoping for Suva, rather than a random village in the middle of nowhere. But now I"m feeling anxious and a little bit like i don't know if I'll get the Peace Corps expereince that i thought up in my head. Everyone keeps saying how dangerous suva is- but I think that like all cities- it's just more populated and more prone to pickpocketers and looters. I'll have to see for myslef. I will have a roomate. She is FRE-4, (Fiji Re entry, year 4) just like me, except she lives in a fijian village, and I dont really know her that well and she seems like kind of a weenie, but again, we'll just have to see. I was talking to her today and she's already visited the place, She says its nice, a three bedroom apartment ( guest room hint hint come visit) , we have hot water (wow... hot shower, cant wait!) air-con, and an avocado tree in the back. NOt too shabby if you ask me! :) Also- the house is on government compound, the Embassy is near by and it is actually the only PC house in Suva that hasnt been broken into yet. So i feel safe knowing that I will be living in a relatively safe house. I will be working with the National Center for Health Promotion, and guess what? I will be utilizing my skills as a graphic artist! and I thought i was going to be working in health.... how random? I don't have specifics on the Job description, but i had a conversation with a lady from the PC staff and she said that I will be re-designing a lot of the outdated health brochures that are currently handed out at hospitals and health clinics throughout fiji. She also said I will be working with the media??? hmmm. curious and excited about the job. At first i was feeling a little unsure of the assignment, because one of the main reasons I joined PC was because i wasnt sure if I wanted to be a designer forever, but i guess its like my mom says- everything happens for a reason, and this could be a huge step in my carreer, to say that I've developed materials and worked with the National Center for Health Promotion in Fiji! Its funny how things seem to fall into place like that.
We get to visit our sites for a week, and leave on monday. then we come back for three weeks and swear in as volunteers august 3rd! its crazy how time just flies by when you are keeping busy.