All the little details....

I woke up this morning and was so excited when I remembered that we would hear actual details about our site, our housing and what the heck we’ll be doing for two years. I already knew I was going to be working in Opuwo for the Ministry of Health doing “Special Programs”, but now I know the details :) I’ll be living in a one bedroom house with a “sitting room”, kitchen, toilet and bathroom. (Quick note: Most of the bathrooms in Namibia that I’ve seen so far are separated by toilet and shower/bath, so the toilet is in one room and the “bath” room is in another.) The current resource volunteers who are here this week for our training, Nikki & Lindsey, and also our APCD (Peace Corps Program Director for Health Program) said that water can be unreliable at times though. I might go 2-3 weeks without water. Sooo that means filling up jerry cans (containers that can hold 10-25 liters of water) and leaving them in my house.

Okay, so I’ll have my own house...check :) As for getting my groceries and all that, I’ll be able to do my basic shopping in Opuwo, but I’ll need to get the larger items in Oshakati. They said that for some items, like flour, I might want to get it in Oshakati because you just don’t know how long the bags of flour have been on the shelves in Opuwo. They might have bugs in them. Fun! One of the volunteers also said that I’ll be able to get soy milk, almond milk, powdered milk, etc. in the grocery stores up there. Score! She said that it’s really good for when the electricity goes out because you don’t need it to be refrigerated. Sweet! I’m just so happy that I’ll be able to cook my own food and make healthier things. Traditional Namibian cooking is full of starch--pasta, rice, millie pap (this cream of rice kind of thing except it’s made with corn), so I’ve been craving fruits and veggies ever since I got here. I can’t wait to make some vegetarian and Indian dishes. Yummy!

Alrighty, now onto the important stuff--my assignment. In the Ministry of Health, I’ll be:

• Improving capacity building of HIV/AIDS/TB/Malaria program managers

• Strengthening prevention, care and support programs

• Helping organize health related events (World AIDS Day, National Testing Days, etc.)

• Strengthening awareness activities on HIV/AIDS

My secondary project could also possibly be helping to strengthen the adolescent reproductive health program.

All in all, I’m really happy. It’s just what I wanted to do. I’ve really enjoyed doing activities and programs with youth about HIV/AIDS and comprehensive sex education, so this assignment is great! I was already looking forward to site visit and actually getting in the field and being a Peace Corps Volunteer, but this just tells me even more so that this is where I’m supposed to be in my life right now. So happy.

Tomorrow, we meet with our supervisors and have a workshop with them from 8:30am-1:00pm--so not too bad. Then we’re done for the rest of the day. On Friday, bright and early in the morning, I’ll be leaving with Elizabeth (the other volunteer from my group that’ll be living in Opuwo too) for Opuwo. It sounds like it’s about a nine hour drive so hopefully I’ll get there before dinner on Friday. A 9 hour drive though means lots of reading and sleeping :) And hopefully I’ll be able to talk with my supervisor about my job and just life in general in Opuwo.

From what our APCD has said, it sounds like they haven’t found or secured a host family for me so right now, I’ll be living in my own house for next week. Yes! If they happen to find a host family later on, then after the swearing-in ceremony, I’ll just live with them for the first 6 weeks or so. If not, well it looks like I’ll be moving into my house for good then!

That’s it for now folks, I gotta get some sleep and get ready for a busy week ahead of me!

Rara nawa! (Sleep well in Otjiherero)