Two of my friends are coming next week to visit, and I couldn’t be more excited. I am meeting them in Joburg, then we are going over to Swaziland, down to St. Lucia, Durban, the Drakensbergs, then up to my home in Mahwelereng. It will be interesting to share my world with them. Even though I don’t feel like I’m doing much yet, I think I have grown so much in the past 8 months. I have really learned a lot about myself and the world around me.

Good news this week – the garden I have been trying to start finally got the funding approved. I was hoping to get the materials purchased before I leave for vacation at the end of the week, but I’m not sure if I will get the money in time. But at least we are closer to getting it started!

The health talks with the home-based care workers are still going well. Last week one of the home-based care workers came to work and said her daughter got 100% on her life orientation homework because she knew all the answers from my pre-test given at the beginning of our health talks. I thought, well great, I’m glad she has learned enough to even help her daughter with homework! But then I found out it was the exact same test I had given to the home-based care workers. I guess my test somehow landed in the hands of a life orientation teacher and he/she decided to use it.

My organization is getting ready to hire 3 new staff – a finance officer, an administrative officer, and a high-transmission area coordinator. The admin officer will be so helpful, as will the finance officer. The staff has been asking me to help with filing, but I’m not really sure how I can help if we don’t have filing cabinets or file folders. I asked if we could buy them, and they told me we couldn’t buy anything until we got a new finance officer. So I am really looking forward to meeting the new staff when I get back from vacation. Maybe the new admin officer will have the mountains of papers organized and filed in the new filing cabinets the finance officer can purchase?

Witchcraft is accepted by the large majority of the black population here. Even during training, all of our language and cultural trainers said they believed in witchcraft to some extent. I have heard several stories about witchcraft, but none like the one I heard this past week. I debated about blogging about this story, because I know from the American perspective it just sounds so unreal. But it really does illustrate the strong belief in witchcraft here.

I went into work one morning and the first thing my supervisor said to me was, “Matshepo, we have to visit the hospital after work to see the women with worms in their vaginas.” Now normally, this wouldn’t sound crazy, as communication is sometimes a problem, so I asked her to slow down and explain what was going on. She informed me that a man who had worms in his penis has been luring girls into having sex with him by buying them groceries, clothes, etc. This man is either a witch or has been affected by witchcraft, so whoever he has sex with, he will pass along these incurable worms. The worms will then continue to multiply in the females and eat away the vaginal tissues until she dies. The only way you can stop the worms from eating the tissues is by putting liver inside the vagina, as the worms prefer to eat that. So she wanted to go visit these women at the hospital, who let people see their infections if they pay 10 rand, which will be used to buy liver.

Word of mouth spreads very fast here. Even teachers at schools were warning their students about staying away from a man who wears diapers (he wears diapers with liver inside for his worm infection) and drives luxury cars. But his appearance can’t be described, as he changes it quite often, which means he is probably some sort of witch. I even talked with my friend in a village outside of Mahwelereng, and she knew the story too. It seemed as if everyone in my township and villages surrounding knew about this.

Later that day, a co-worker came to work and claimed to have seen the women with the worms. He even had a picture on his cell phone.

My supervisor went to the hospital later that day, and the guards told here there were no such women there, and if she didn’t leave at once they would call the police…..I guess a lot of people had come to see the women with the worms.

Even as I write this, I’m still wondering if these women really existed, and if they did, what sort of condition they had. At least we know word of mouth seems like a good way to get a message out to the community. Now if we could only get them to talk about using condoms or getting tested for TB and HIV, that would be very promising.

The cure rate for TB here in Mahwelereng is only 50% - only 50% of patients receiving TB treatment are cured of active TB. DOTS, or directly observed treatment (short course), is what South Africa and many other developing countries are practicing to make sure patients adhere to treatment. Home-based care workers are supposed to visit patients’ homes every day to watch them take their medication and sign their treatment cards. It seems like a good plan, but obviously with a cure rate of 50%, something is not working.

I think home-based care workers have one of the most important jobs in this community, but they only receive minimal stipends from the government. In a society where traditional healing is often consulted over medicine and general knowledge of living a healthy lifestyle is low, trust is a very important component of treatment and prevention or TB. The home-based care workers provide that needed component of trust and serve as the link between the patient and the clinic.

Many people believe DOTS should be run by volunteers, and I do agree that community service should be an integral part of community health programs, but I think it’s a different story with TB. We have to make sure the care givers are themselves cared for first to then take care of someone else. Our caregivers only make 500 rand a month, which is sometimes the only income for their whole family. Here is a great opportunity to create jobs where jobs are unavailable, and by paying a decent salary, stricter monitoring and evaluation can be enforced to ensure the job is done correctly.

Some people don’t like the DOTS strategy because it takes away all responsibility from patients. If the responsibility is taken away from the patients, then obviously all responsibility lies with the caregiver. More needs to be done to make sure the caregivers are responsible – more training, more stipends, and more monitoring and evaluation. We are fighting a 21st century disease (the emergence of multi-drug resistant TB) with a 20th century drug. The best line of defense is the DOTS program, but only if it can be done completely.

There are other problems, including co-infection with HIV and poor nutrition. I believe that poor nutrition is a huge problem the community faces. Most people here go through each day eating just the staple food (pap – very high carbohydrate), bread and meat. I just gave a nutrition lecture to the home-based care workers, and it did not go over too well. One of them said, “We know that we should be eating fruits and vegetables, but we can’t afford them. I haven’t had a piece of fruit for 5 days now.” So then I asked why more people didn’t grow vegetables in their backyards. She responded by saying, “If we grow vegetables, then we would sell them for money to buy meat.” I felt pretty defeated after that.

A few days later, some of the same caregivers came to me and asked if we could provide seeds for the TB patients to start their own gardens. That was encouraging. Nutrition is so important not only for those who are taking medication but also for keeping immune systems healthy to avoid active infection.

So this fight isn't impossible - there is hope. I just think the approach needs to be re-evaluated.

I just returned from the SANTA National Conference in Franschhoek (right outside of Cape Town). The long 24 hour bus ride there and 24 hour bus ride back with blaring gospel music the entire way was a bit exhausting, but the conference itself was a great experience. And not to mention, it was held at 5-star hotel in one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. We didn’t have time to go into the city, but just staying in the winelands outside has made me excited to hopefully go back.

Representatives were present from all 9 provinces where SANTA works. Mpumalanga and KZN seemed to be the strongest provinces – Mpumalanga alone has over 40 SANTA branches. Each province gave a report of their activities for the past year, which was interesting to hear what SANTA is doing in the rest of the country. A professor from Cape Town University also attended and gave information about vaccine research for TB, which made me feel like I was sitting back in my grad school (I really enjoyed it!). I also really enjoyed the keynote address about the relationship between TB and nutrition, provided by an NGO from the UK, called HETN (Health Empowerment Through Nutrition).

I learned more about the relationship between SANTA and the Department of Health as well. In some areas, the relationship is a strong partnership. In other branches, including mine, it is not the partnership it should be. The Department of Health has indicated it would like our branch to disassociate with SANTA, since funding is coming from the government. They want the National Office of SANTA to completely fund our branch if we keep the SANTA name, but the national office does not have the money to fund local branches.

I'm still struggling to understand the situation - what difference will it make if we change our name??? It will still be an independent non-profit organization that receives some funding from the government, just a different name. All the other home-based care organizations in the area are non-governmental organizations with their own names.

SANTA is trying to increase awareness about their efforts in South Africa, which I think is great. They do a lot of great things that deserve more attention. The national conference next year will be held in Polokwane, just 45 minutes from my township. Hopefully I will have the chance to attend again.

Kim Rook (fellow PCV) and I finally had our HIV Awareness Event at a local college. Several NGOs came to speak about teenage pregnancy, rape and abuse, HIV/AIDS, STIs, anti-retroviral drugs, and sexual reproduction. The “HIV Ambassador” gave a speech about living with HIV, which I think was the most informative and positive message for the students that day. They seemed to hang on her every word – most people here would never openly admit to having HIV (in fact, most don’t even know they have HIV). But they were surprised to hear someone who looked so healthy speak about living with HIV.

Each NGO had their own display with brochures and posters about different topics. We expected students to go through and take their time looking at the displays and asking questions, but it didn’t work quite like that. In the US, I think students would take the time to read the information and ask questions at each table. But here, they just wanted to pick up the free brochures and go to the next table. Our youth coordinator, Price, was doing condom demonstrations, and that did seem to pull some of them in to watch. I think it goes back to a difference in the educational systems – in the US, we are encouraged to ask questions, but here, that is really lacking.

We originally wanted to provide a big testing drive at the college, but we ran into several problems with arranging for testing. 3 weeks before the event, I went to the head nurse to ask for a testing drive, and she told me, “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of everything.” I should have known that was too good to be true! A week before the event, I called her to check and make sure everything was arranged, and she responded by telling me she didn’t know what I wanted, and she was too busy to help me that week. So that gave Kim and I just one week to organize a testing drive. We asked two clinics to provide a nurse, but both said they were too busy. We asked the clinics for testing kits, but they could provide none. We finally found a private clinic to donate 50 testing kits and a lay counselor. We had donations from businesses in the area, so we had to use some of that money to hire a nurse. There was a large interest at the event for testing (which is great!), but since we had only one nurse and one lay counselor, we were only able to test 16 students. It was definitely worth the effort to test those 16 students, but we had a wonderful opportunity to test more. I’m not sure why it was so difficult to organize a testing drive – this should be done routinely throughout the area. Like my friend Kim said, “This place should be swimming in condoms and testing kits!” Well, there are plenty of condoms available, but I was disappointed that none of the community clinics could provide a nurse or testing kits.

The event ended with what was supposed to be an “Amerian Braai” (BBQ is called braai here) – hot dogs, beans, fruit and even corn-on-the-cob, which was very expensive and hard to find for 500 people! So when Kim and I went out to see the prepared food – there was our corn-on-the-cob, cut from the cob and mixed with aachar (a mix of peppers and other things I have yet to identify). We both thought, “Is this our corn? We could have bought cans of corn…” I couldn’t stop laughing. Needless to say, it was one of those things you have to roll with. And I will admit, the corn was really good, just not so American like we had planned.

Overall, it was a good day. 16 students who didn’t know their HIV status now know it, and 100+ students learned a little more about keeping themselves healthy.

I get this question a lot! I think its time to give some details about the projects I have been working on.

I want to start a vegetable garden to benefit orphans and vulnerable children in the township. This area probably has over 1,000 orphans, but I am just focusing on two groups. Part of the garden will benefit the 30 orphans served by my organization, and the other part will benefit the 40 orphans at the high school. I am teaming up with a very motivated group of high school students interested in community service. We will be planting onion, beetroot, squash, carrot, cabbage and tomatoes. The students have done some fundraising to get our land plowed, and I have applied for funding for the seeds, fertilizer and tools. The vegetables will be used for care packages, and we may also sell some to raise money for school uniforms. I am hoping we can start planting the first or second week of September (cross your fingers).

In addition to the garden at the high school, I would like to start a biology club for the students. When I asked about their science labs, the students told me, “We don’t have labs. We read our textbooks and then try to imagine what the lab would be like.” Many of these students won’t go on to college, which means they will never have the chance to even look through a microscope or conduct a simple chemistry experiment. These kids need opportunities, a chance, and a reason to excel in school. Metric rates are low (metric is the equivalent of passing 12th grade), and often teachers are absent in classes. Critical thinking is hardly ever encouraged – rote memorization seems to be the norm. I want to give them a reason to want to excel in school. So now I am working on writing a grant proposal for an after school biology club, which will be reviewed by Peace Corps and posted on a website for possible funders to view. Until I receive the funding, I have just been helping with homework after school.

On September 1, a PCV (Kim Rook) and I will be hosting a health awareness event at the local college. We have invited NGOs to come speak about HIV/AIDS, TB, STIs, TB, rape, and teenage pregnancy. Nurses from the clinics will be present for a testing drive – we are hoping to test 100 of the 350 students present. We have also invited students from a group called LoveLife to perform songs and poetry about healthy living. Dramas through poetry and music are very powerful here. I will try to post some poems from the students – stay tuned for that.

I have spent some time with the home-based care workers from two organizations, who make home visits to patients referred by the clinic. Last week I gave the home-based care workers a pre-test to find out what they know about nutrition, obesity, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, oral health, tobacco and alcohol use, TB, HIV, diarrhea, immunizations…. For the most part, they understand the basics of prevention and treatment for TB and HIV, but they need to learn more about chronic diseases. I have noticed that many of our diabetic patients don’t know what they should be eating, and obesity is a big problem here. Although HIV and other infectious diseases still kill many people in South Africa every year, a shift is slowly being made toward the patterns seen in western countries – heart disease, cancer and stroke are also responsible for many deaths. I have started a series of health talks that will cover these topics until December, when I will give them the test again. Hopefully, if the health talks are successful, their scores will increase. If they do, I will be able to give the health talks to other organizations.

I would also like to conduct a door-to-door TB campaign, which could be a possible research project to finish my masters. I’m still working out the details.

It feels great to know I am actually accomplishing something, even if it is very slowly. I still don’t work as many hours as I did in the states, but most days I feel busy while others are quite slow and frustrating. It was a huge adjustment coming to South Africa and learning how to slow down. If I get one thing done a day, it has been a good day.

I just returned from 3 weeks of in-service training (IST) and my first trip to Kruger National Park. It was great to catch up with everyone again and hear about their experiences at site. We were given time to visit our host families we stayed with during pre-service training in Bakenberg. I finally got to meet my host sister’s new baby, who she named Kristen. My host mom came running up and hugged me so hard and said, “Oh my girl has come home!” I think most volunteers really bond with their first host family because they teach them all the skills needed for living in rural South Africa – how to boil water for a bucket bath, how to hand wash your clothes, how to kill a chicken, the easiest way to haul water, and the importance of peeing in a bucket instead of using the pit latrine at night.

It’s strange to think that we have been here for almost 6 months. I remember when we first arrived in country and had the chance to talk with other volunteers who had been here for the same amount of time. They all seemed really comfortable, at ease, and like they had a purpose. I kept thinking, “ok, it will take about 6 months to get to that point, I can do it.” Well I am definitely more comfortable with living here – taking a taxi alone is no longer scary, bucket baths are the normal routine, I can kill a roach without hesitation, and I have acquired great patience in waiting for africa time. As for having a purpose, I’m sure it will come soon.

Following IST, we went to Pretoria for the ambassadors July 4th party, complete with Marines and ladies dressed head to toe in the American flag. The next day we set out for vacation in Kruger to celebrate the end of lockdown. We got to stay in a bush house in a park right outside of Kruger – it was beautiful! Two days were spent driving in Kruger – we were able to see 4 of the 5 “Big 5” (rhino, water buffalo, elephant, lion, leopard). Apparently Kruger is having a problem with elephant overpopulation. I would believe that. The first day we only saw 2, but on the second day we must have seen over 50 elephants. My favorite sighting was probably the baby monkeys. Unfortunately, my camera died halfway through the trip (and we had no electricity in the bush house). My computer connection is so slow, but I will try to put up the pictures I have. John, a fellow PCV traveler, got some great pics. You can check them out on his website:

http://picasaweb.google.com/clemo.john

Three weeks away from site was probably a little too long – I was enjoying feeling normal surrounded by Americans. Once I stepped into the taxi rank to return to site, my strangeness became apparent once again. But as my taxi pulled into Mokopane, it felt like I was home. It felt even more like home when I went into the grocery store and the man who weighs fruit said, “Aish, Matshepho(my Sepedi name), where have you been all this time? I thought you left us.” How that man remembered my name and I hadn’t seen him in nearly a month, I don’t know. I wasn’t sure if I could integrate into this large of a community, but I’m starting to think it may be possible to call this home.

It’s hard to put the past three months into words. My “observation period” is finally over, but to be quite honest, I am still struggling to find my place and purpose here. The township life is slowly becoming more familiar, and I have been able to draft preliminary plans for many projects. But now feelings of being overwhelmed are setting in – there are so many needs. Where do I start?

I have spent the past few months doing home visits with the home-based care workers. They mainly see TB and HIV patients, some with chronic conditions such as arthritis or diabetes. I spent a year and a half learning about TB, HIV, nutritional deficiencies, but seeing it is something graduate school never prepared me for. All of those lectures about “cost-effectiveness” and “sustainability” don’t seem pertinent when standing in front of a 3 year old boy infected with TB and has a swollen belly because his grandmother does not use his government stipend for food but instead for her alcoholism. The answer seems so simple, but yet this is not an uncommon problem here.

HIV has completely devastated this country…..any progress made toward the Millennium Development Goals set by the United Nations are overshadowed by the power of this virus. This was made blatantly apparent at a ward committee meeting I recently attended. Under the “Community Services” topic, most members raised many issues pertaining to the cemetery and funerals (security guards at cemetery, government paying for graves because of high cost, congestion during funerals, cleaning of graveyard - the list goes on). But when coming to “Department of Health and Social Development,” only one issue was raised about social grants. Not one thing was said about the health of their community. Even when people are dying quicker than graves can be dug, stigma still hushes why people are passing away at alarming rates.

“Africa Time” – this continent does not have time for it. Stigma, lack of motivation, no accountability, poor monitoring and evaluation….also things Africa has no room for. But, they are here. How deep of an “impact” I can make in only 2 years with so many fighting forces? Can I really develop sustainable projects?

I think the youth offer great hope and promise for South Africa. I have observed that most men have a sense of entitlement to a woman’s body, and women seem to just be ok with this. South Africa has made great strides in promoting gender equality (half of the ANC must be represented by women), but this idea has yet to take affect in the rural areas. Maybe with this next generation, girls will start making choices to keep themselves healthy, and boys will start respecting those choices. This is obviously not happening now, as teenage pregnancy is a huge problem in high schools. I am coming to realize that teaching only one girl the skills she needs to keep herself healthy will have been an accomplishment, even if there is nothing “cost-effective” or “sustainable” about it.

I am now living in the township outside of Mokopane, called Mahwelereng - right where it all started at pre-service training. Despite the setbacks, I am very happy with my assignment to the South African National Tuberculosis Association (SANTA).

SANTA began in 1947 as a national umbrella organization for voluntary TB work. With the HIV epidemic rising in South Africa, not only is TB on the rise but multi-drug resistant (MDR) and extremely drug resistant (XDR) TB strains have emerged. South Africa has one of the highest co-infection rates in the world, and grassroots programs such as SANTA have been at the forefront of it all providing preventative services, social relief and TB/HIV advocacy and awareness.

SANTA is present in all of the provinces, with a leading provincial office and local branches. There are 24 branches in the Limpopo province, and I am assigned to the Mokopane Branch (but is it currently located in Mahwelereng). Although the national and provincial office provide training and minimal financial assistance, each branch is responsible for raising their own funds. At the Mokopane branch, the EU funds office equipment and 4 staff members (a manager, financial coordinator, youth coordinator and home based care coordinator), while the Department of Public Health provides small stipends to 19 home based care workers. I really think this level is perfect for a PC volunteer to be at - there already organization, commitment and motivation present but room to grow. The branch is lacking funds for orphans and vulnerable children, and I was surprised to find that Mahwelereng as a whole does not have a drop-in center. A drop-in center would provide a facility for feeding schemes and food gardens, which would give essential nutrition to TB/HIV patients and orphans and vulnerable children in the area. This seems like a huge project for me now, but hopefully with time we will be able to develop a feasible plan. I am still in my "observation phase," so I am taking 3 months to observe how the NGO functions, and I have also been visiting other NGOs and schools in the community.

I am living it a Sepedi speaking area, so all those Venda lessons have gone to waste! But, I am learning there are some similarities between Sepedi and Venda. My supervisor is providing me with a temporary room while I wait for my permanent home. I will be living is a back room at one of the board members houses. Pictures of my new house and township will come soon!

We made it through training, and I have officially moved from trainee to volunteer. There have been a few small glitches with my site placement, so I am currently at the PC office in Pretoria. I can't complain about the situation - hot showers, internet, movies, shopping...

Tomorrow I will be checking out a few sites with my APCD. I am confident that something will work out. I feel a little spoiled because I get to go along and ask questions, something none of the other volunteers were able to do. I actually get to help choose my site! I have asked to look mostly around the Venda region, as I have been learning tshivenda for the past 2 months. I am open to other regions, but we will try Venda first.

Training had it's ups and downs, but it is strange to be away from all of the other volunteers. I think many of us found comfort in our similarities. I never thought that being so different from everyone else around me would be so hard. While living in my training village, there were times that I just felt like a total alien, but that is something I am slowly becoming accustomed to.

It was hard to leave my host family. They were such a pleasure to live with, and I will miss them dearly. We really knew how to laugh together - usually at me, but I enjoyed being able to laugh with them so much. I will never forget the night I decided to make pasta with a cheese sauce. Some of you can vouch that I can bake well, but I'm not going to pretend my cooking abilities are fantastic. For some reason, the cheese we had would just not melt and we ended up with some really bad pasta. Mama ate some to be nice, but there was quite a bit left. My host brother and his friend came home after we had finished eating. Mama had saved food for my host brother, but none for his friend. With a smile on her face, she began to pour all of the pasta on a plate for his friend and took it to the table. I could tell what that smile was saying, "We have to get rid of this somehow - my chickens won't even eat this." Freddie (my host brother) had a great plate of pap and chicken, but his poor friend was subjected to a massive pile of my pasta gone wrong. I was rolling from laughter in the kitchen. I am so thankful that we were able to connect with one another, and they really did become my South African family. I am hoping to see them again in 3 months, when we will be back in Mokopane for in-service training.

Overall, things are going well...I just feel a little stuck right now. I am looking forward to having a place that feels like home at the end of the day. I have gone from KC to Philly to Joburg to Mokopane to Bakenberg to Thohoyandou back to Bakenberg and Mokopane and now Pretoria all in two months. I will update my blog when I know the details with a new address as well. Until then, I'll be enjoying my vacation in Pretoria.

I can't believe I have been in country now for over a month! What an experience...I don't even know where to start!

I have been learning Tshivenda, so that means I will be moving to the Venda region after training is done. The language gets harder and harder with each lesson. I still don't know anything about my job assignment, but I am visiting my organization and home stay with my supervisor next Monday. I have heard that Venda is beautiful and the fruit is amazing, so what more could I ask for?

We have had the chance to meet many current volunteers and hear about their experiences. One of them said that PC toughens while softens, and I couldn't agree more. I have developed more patience, tolerance and determination that I never know I could have. There are those days that I ask myself, "what I am doing here?", but there are also days that I think, "wow, this is why I am here." So I try to hold on to those moments through the rough patches. What a beautiful and interesting country to be serving in...I feel so blessed. I can't wait to travel and see the rest of it! Internet is limited now, but stay posted for more....

I can't believe that I am leaving soon! The break has gone by so fast. I've been in the process of applying and waiting for two years now....it just seems so unreal that it's finally here. Here's some information about staging and pre-service training. I will probably not have internet access during training, so it may be a few months before I blog or respond to emails.

On Sunday, I am flying to Philadelphia for a small orientation ("Staging"), where I will join a group of 30 other health volunteers. We will attend seminars that cover safety, policies, anxieties, crossing cultures, immunizations, etc. On the following Tuesday, we will leave for Johannesburg and then drive to the Mokopane Education Center upon arrival in South Africa. The next 10 days will be spent in initial language training with small groups of 3-6 volunteers. I will learn one of these five languages: Sepedi, IsiZulu, IsiSwati, Xitsonga, and Afrikaans. In addition to language training, we will meet with programming and medical staff and also attend large group sessions covering various topics. On February 10, we will begin our stay with families from the Bakengerg area, which is approximately 1 hour from Mokopane. Peace Corps trainers will also be present during our homestays to assist with language and cross-cultural adaptation. On April 3, I will be sworn in and officially become a volunteer.

Sunday, Jan. 27: arrive in Philadelphia for Staging

Tuesday, Jan. 29: depart for airport

Thursday, Jan. 31: arrive in Johannesburg, drive to Mokopane Education Center

Friday, Feb. 1: pre-service training in Mokopane begins

Friday, Feb. 10: travel to Bakengerg area to stay with host family

April 3: swearing-in ceremony

I have accepted an assignment with the Peace Corps in NGO Development and HIV/AIDS outreach. In other words, I will work with an NGO (non-governmental organization) to aid in developing HIV/AIDS community outreach programs. The South African Community HIV/AIDS Outreach Project began in 2001, and it has expanded to include many rural areas where the pandemic is growing. Possible projects include mobilizing local community networks, working with youth associations, and providing AIDS relief to those affected by the pandemic, particularly orphans, vulnerable children, and their caregivers. It all sounds vague, but I am excited for what is to come. I will not be placed in a community or within an NGO until after my training is completed. When I am placed, I will work around the needs of the community.

I am a Masters International student, which means that this assignment will provide the necessary experience required to complete my MPH degree. I have finished 4 semesters of graduate work at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and I will complete my internship and research credit with the Peace Corps.