Peace Corps Journals

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin From Anasara to Yovo

2012-02-09 20:40:49

The boy in the back was my student who was killed this past weekend. I called upon him quite often …

PTC Meeting

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin Doucement, Yovo. Je viens!

2012-02-09 18:04:00

We had a PTC (Pharmacy & Therapeutics Committee) meeting today. All hospitals are required to have them at least monthly, but the last one was in October. The chief medical officer attended as well as the hospital manager and various department heads. It's an opportunity for everybody to sit down and hash out any issues at the hospital. The pharmacy department brought up the problem with the fridges as well as doctors not writing diagnoses on scripts. Without them, we can't properly dose patients. Also, not all of them are following treatment guidelines nor are they aware of what we have in our formulary. Mount Ayliff is a level one hospital which means they carry the most basic drugs. The doctors are all general practitioners which limits their prescribing rights. Medications which require a specialist are out of their realm. The issue of the long queues was also brought up. Ideally the hospital wants to get rid of the ARV clinic entirely and just have patients come to the dispensary for their meds, since many of them are being treated for other chronic conditions anyway. As it stands, the ARV clinic functions separately from the rest of the pharmacy. The patients have their own charts there, and their ARV meds are often not listed on the out-patient charts when they pick up their other medications. This is dangerous because of the potential drug interactions, especially since there's not even a pharmacist working in the clinic. Hopefully, if I'm able to get RxSolution up and running, this will solve these problems as all of the patients' medications and information will be on one page.

Speaking of which, Sandile was able to get in touch with Jean Pierre, the head of MSH in South Africa about the issue of computers. I then spoke with Jean Pierre myself, and he said that MSH would provide them. Yay! Now I just have to wait to hear back from him about when exactly they will be delivered. I'm hoping they'll arrive by the end of February. That'll give me three months to get things up and running.

As for my World Map, I'm going to start the grid this weekend. In order to get funding though, I had to fill out a PCPP. Since I'm only asking for a little bit of money (less than $100 bucks) the turn around time is much quicker since it doesn't have to be posted online to elicit donations. I can get the cash from the country fund, which is that extra bit of money from other PCPPs that have received more money than their estimated budget.

The Final Post & Final Projects: Why We Were Too Busy to Finish our Blog

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin Where have Charlie and Miranna Benin?

2012-02-09 17:12:00

Charlie and I completed our service in Benin on September 16, 2011. We want to apologize that we didn't post for the last 8 months of our service, but we really busy and it became more difficult to have access to a computer- mainly Internet! However, we would like to thank those that did follow our blog and write a final entry to conclude our time in the Peace Corps.

Charlie and I spent out last year working hard on two projects for the community of Lalo. Many of you are most familiar with the school's library project because we reached out to many of you for a donation to help us complete this project. Thank you, again, to those of you that supported this project!

These are some "before" pictures to give you an idea of why we decided to re-do the school library. It was a mess and totally inaccessible!

These are pictures of the project in progress: Cleaning and classifying the books, installing the new furniture, and moving the books into their new home.

And... the final product!

We could not have completed this project without the support of those that donated, so again a big THANK YOU on behalf of the students at CEG Lalo.

Charlie worked hard on organizing a project to install 10 latrines for communities in or near Lalo that did not currently have them. You may be thinking, "Where, then, did they go to the bathroom?" Answer: the closest field. As a public health specialist, Charlie had to do his part to make sure that the citizens of Lalo had access to the most basic means of sanitation! Here are a few pictures to show that process:

While it may seem that these projects made a large impact on the lives of those living in Lalo, we feel that the Beninese made a larger impact on our lives than anything that we left behind. We had a great experience and wouldn't trade it for anything. We miss our friends there, but they will stay in our hearts forever. Again, thank you to all of our friends and family (and blog readers!) for their support- we wouldn't have made it through without you!

The Great Beninese Gas Crisis [UPDATE]

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin Craig and Heather's Excellent Beninois Adventure

2012-02-08 16:56:00

The Great Beninese Gas Crisis of 2012 is over--mostly. In the face of protests that nearly shut down the country, the government of Nigeria decided to partially reinstate its gas subsidies, which ended the general strike and resumed illegal gas exports to Benin.

Gas stations are back to empty, and roadside gas stands are back up. Rather than up to 1,400cfa (about $3!) a liter, gas is back down to a more manageable 475cfa per liter, though still more than the 300-350cfa per liter that gas was going for before the crisis.

Zem prices are still slightly inflated, but we have found that if we travel in packs and gang up on zem drivers we can get a better price, though taxi prices are still quite inflated. To wit: the price from Bohicon to Cotonou used to cost 1500-1800cfa, but now costs a minimum of 2500cfa each person, each way. We do not travel much between town and we generally ride our bikes within our city so this has not impacted us too much, but it was quite a shock to pay so much to get down to Cotonou last week to take the FSOT!

Heather has her Nutritional Recuperation project going on this week and I am getting started on creating a Beninese-friendly Excel training course for budding entrepreneurs who already have some computer knowledge (I am not reinventing the wheel, mind).

It is still hot. Harmattan is about over, which means that chaleur is about here. Mango season is almost upon us. Rainy season will commence in a few months, and we are anxiously waiting the relief that it brings.

Cheers.

World Map Version 2.0

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin Doucement, Yovo. Je viens!

2012-02-06 19:01:00

I went to visit the principal today of the appropriately named, Mt. Ayliff Hospital School. As it turns out, it's not just for children of hospital staff, but for the entire community. It functions as an elementary and middle school. There are two other elementary/middle schools in town and one high school. At the Mt. Ayliff Hospital School, there are about 700 students and over 60 in each classroom. Directly adjacent to this school (it's literally within 100 feet) is the Nolitha Special School for physically and mentally disabled children. There's a huge contrast between the two schools in terms of infrastructure. The MAHS is small and doesn't even have toilets. It's made up of four or five lonely dilapidated buildings where as the NSS is beautifully ordained in blue paint and made of brick. It's about the size of my high school, even though there are less than 200 students there. I'm fairly certain the NSS was a gift from some rich white person while the MAHS was initially designed to educate children that were bedridden in the hospital. It clearly outgrew its capacity and had to relocate elsewhere.

I stopped by the NSS first as it was closer to me, but it was gated and I couldn't find anybody to let me in, so then I proceeded to the MAHS. The principal seemed to really like my World Map idea and wants me to involve the students if I can. I could somehow incorporate it into a geography lesson or arts and crafts. Honestly, I think the students at the MAHS would benefit more from the World Map anyway than at the NSS. I've already done the World Map once, so I'm hoping the second time will be easier. Last time it took me almost three months to complete, but that's because it was so hot and I could only work for a few hours a day. Even at high noon here, it's sunny and warm, but neither hot nor humid. I'm still trying to figure out how I can fit it into my schedule if I'm to be at the hospital Monday to Friday. If I only have the weekends to work on it, it'll take me much longer to complete. I wanna at least get the grid done this weekend. I'm still waiting to hear back from PC anyway about whether or not they can give me the money for paints. I've learned from my mistakes too, so now I know what to do differently this time. For starters, I'm going to paint the whole thing blue first (for the oceans) so I don't have to color around the countries later. I was advised to do this before I started last time, but I was so eager to get working on it that I just chose to ignore it. I didn't realize how difficult it was going to be to color the ocean, especially around the tiny islands. Second, I'm not going to label any of the countries until they're all on the map. Last time, some of the names ran into other countries so I had to repaint them. I couldn't even fit all the ones in Europe. Third, I'm going to buy less paint. Last time I had to throw out a whole bunch of it because it went bad so quickly. I think it had to do with the humidity.

I wanted to make the map slightly larger than the last one, but due to the size of the wall, it's actually going to be the same size - about 2 meters high and 4 meters long. I'm excited to get started on it because at least now I have something to do on the weekends.

DC livin'

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin From Raleigh to Benin

2012-02-05 20:14:00

From Raleigh to Benin to New Jersey to DC... At least there's a period on that phrase now. We're settled in DC and although we're thinking of where we'd like to be this time next year, I'm fairly confident that we'll still be working the same jobs and living a similar life to what we've established for ourselves here in DC.

The most exciting thing that has happened recently was purchasing my first spinning wheel. This was a Christmas present from Ryan, though it took a while to make it happen because apparently they don't have a lot of stores around here that stock wheels...go figure?! Well with the help of our good friend Katie, we made it out to Vienna, Virginia and were able to scope out the wheels in a store called Uniquities. There, the wonderful Caroline explained all about the Kromski Sonata that I was interested in. She broke it down for us and we decided to buy it on the spot!

It was wonderful that Katie could drive us, because originally we had thought we could walk to the store (2 miles) from the metro...but I don't think we could have actually done that... And of course, it being the DC metro area on a Saturday, there was track work, which meant walking up the escalators to go ride a bus to take to another station where we would walk this giant backpack with a wheel down the escalator. Well, it was a lot of walking.

I set the wheel up in our living room and set to spinning. I thought I would have forgotten how since I've only spun for a weekend in 2008, but I picked it right up! I actually had to switch out from the original bobbin, which had some not so great spun fiber from the class that the shop had had earlier in the day, and by the end of the night, I had almost filled my second bobbin!

Now I have a few little spinning items to search for online, then I'll be back up stairs to keep spinning!

The HEAT is On

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin Tout Va Bien au Bénin

2012-02-05 17:28:00

Yes, the hot season has arrived. Bye bye cool nights of sleeping in my bed with a sheet and hello to nights of sleeping on my cement floor next to my screen door.

I’m sure you’ve all been wondering where I have been for the last 6ish months and why I’ve not written about my weird life, the crazy happenings, and other miscellaneous events that have taken place here in Benin. The truth is I’ve got words coming out of my ears! I have so much I want to say and can never seem to find the appropriate way to explain. A new year means new habits (or broken resolutions) and one of mine will be to better document these remaining months I have as a Peace Corps volunteer.

Weather report:

December and January I used 2 sheets at night and wore a sweater in the mornings. A sort of African winter.

February is hot. Not much else to say but the heat is here. L

About work:

I have been BUSY these last few months. As most of you know I have been planning my latrine project since last year and have finally begun construction. The “Prekete Poo Pit Project” is officially underway; a big thanks to everyone who donated or spread the word about the pits. (Look for pictures through the link to the right!) It’s pretty amazing how quickly the mason and his helpers can make the platforms and bricks with just their hands and a shovel. Manual labor is the name of the game. No pre-fabrication by machine here.

I’ve been really lucky to have a great counterpart who is helping me organize the project. I was so afraid that I would be the only one trying to organize buying materials, transporting them to my village, and getting the families on the same page but that fear has dissolved thanks to my counterpart and other helpers in the village.

Honestly, I had my doubts about the value and sustainability of constructing anything here in Benin because there are so many foreign agencies, NGO’s, and international aid that comes in and builds wonderful buildings that are not used because they’re not really needed. The problem is that these groups give money just to give but it doesn’t trickle down to the people who really need it or it is wasted on an office building that is not necessary. Luckily, since I have been living in Prekete for a year and a half now I can say that I really understand what the village could USE; hence the latrines.

Another project I have been working on is my environmental club. Sharing information (ie education) is the KEY to development and change. My reason for even applying for the Peace Corps was to teach people skills that I’ve learned and more specifically to do environmental education. I attempted a club last year but my French level wasn’t really all that great and I was still adjusting to EVERYTHING. This year I have great students who understand my broken French and are eager to learn. The kids are about the age of 6^th-8^th graders. Last week we chose the President, VP, secretary, and disciplinarian (these kids can get a lil wild) and the kids are even more invested in the club now. This week we are planting our garden and hopefully we can use our vegetable money to take a field trip to the sacred monkey forest about 40 km away.

I really just want to give these kids something different. There are not many (or any) extra curricular activities for them, which is so different than our American uprbringing, right? One thing the kids here are not is OVERPROGRAMMED! But that can be a little boring so hopefully this silly American girl can get them interested in protecting their fragile environment.

I have some secondary projects too such as helping with the pre-natal consultations at the health center (I am basically the scribe), helping the gardeners improve their crops by teaching about compost, natural pesticides, etc, and planning the Girls’ Empowerment Camp for June. I am also planning a bike tour with the volunteers of my region; we are planning to do a tour of the villages along our road for a few days in May. We will stop in each village to do an environment related session.

Things have really taken a turn for the better these last few months and I’m hoping the momentum will keep me going strong til the end! I will officially be finished in Prekete in September of this year. How the time has flown. I have had some of the longest days of my life in this village where time passes slower than you can imagine. Thankfully I have found some outlets to the mundane. It’s amazing how different my life is this year compared to last year even though I am in the same place. It took me about 9 months to get completely comfortable and really learn my limits here.

If you can speak a little of their local language, learn to greet people every morning (between 6 and 8 am), eat their food, wear their clothes, and change your daily routine to mirror theirs you’ll have a much easier time just living. In America we have a thousand things to distract us or to “do” to keep us from monotony; they usually involve technology. In Benin, if you are bored, the best thing you can do and sometimes the only cure is to go outside and be with REAL people. Funny how the best form of entertainment here is people (or often dirty little children), huh? You can’t be a hermit in this society.

If you've ever read Kerouac's Big Sur, living in Prekete is much like living in the desolate cabin in the canyons on the coast of California. Sure, I am not alone but I often have the same realization that Kerouac had; he says he went crazy (or possibly stir crazy) after just 3 weeks of isolation. Again, I'm not isolated in that I'm alone but isolated in a culture I am still trying to grasp. Well, I think I beat Kerouac in that I have endured being somewhat stir crazy with a dash of cabin fever for the last year and a half; but, I am afraid I will have the same realizations he did upon returning to what he calls the "gooky city." Guess we'll see when this is all said and done.

Farewell and I hope I didn’t ramble too much.

PCV Life

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin Doucement, Yovo. Je viens!

2012-02-04 13:58:00

The Peace Corps has three goals:

1) Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.

2) Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.

3) Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

What most people don't realize is that many volunteers, with a few exceptions, will spend about 95% of their time on goals two and three. To me, a successful volunteer is somebody who is well integrated into his or her community, not necessarily one that has a lot of projects going on. It's ironic that I say this since I spent most of my PC experience worrying about work. I didn't realize how important goals two and three were until now. Yes, it was annoying being called a Yovo, but I kinda loved the attention. I was easily the most popular person in my village. My CA always joked that if we ran against each other for mayor, I would beat him out. PCR is different in that there's a clearly defined task for the volunteer, and thus now, 95% of my time is spent on goal one and less on goals two and three.

For the time being, I've been pretty busy at the hospital. The day goes by quickly, but when the weekend comes, time drags on. It's really hard to find things to do here without a car or a motorcycle. I'm surprised PCVs aren't given bikes in South Africa. I would love to have a bike here cause then I could just ride for miles and admire all the scenery. Most people hitch hike if they wanna go anywhere, and unfortunately, I'm forbidden to do that. Besides, even if I could, I won't hitch hike in the states, so I'm certainly not going to do it here. The problem is though, since most people hitch a ride, the taxis take longer to fill. Next weekend I'm thinking about going to Umtata to see the Nelson Mandela Museum, but again, it may be an all day affair even though it's only two hours away.

I didn't realize how much I would miss the Peace Corps community here. Including myself, I believe there are three PCRVs currently serving in South Africa. One is in Cape Town, and David, the one I did my training with, is in Kimberly. Both are far from me. A new group of trainees just arrived in South Africa last week, but they won't move to their sites until probably around April. When Sandile came to see me at the hospital, he mentioned he was doing some site development in the area, so who knows, maybe I'll get a post mate in the next few months. It seems moot though since by then I'll be close to being done. I really would like to meet some of the volunteers here just to see how they live and what their day to day activities are like. All those in the Eastern Cape are about a six hour drive from me, so I might have better luck in the KZN. In the mean time, I'm gonna have to start thinking about some secondary projects to keep me entertained on the weekend. There are two elementary schools not too far from my home, so I'm going to go check them out on Monday. One of them is for special needs children and the other one caters to children whose parents work at the hospital. I'm thinking I might do another World Map. I had fun with the last one I did, so why not do it again? I have to speak with the director of the school first to make sure it's okay and look into funding to buy paint and brushes.

Fridges

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin Doucement, Yovo. Je viens!

2012-02-03 16:21:00

Whenever I have any free time, I like to hang out in the pediatric ward. Although, it's a little depressing being there. For starters, most of the children don't speak English and my Xhosa goes as far as saying hello, asking people their name, how they're doing, and their age. Secondly, most of the patients are malnourished, septic, orphaned with HIV/AIDS, burn or rape victims, or have cellulitis. It's probably a good thing I never became a pediatrician. I've seen enough medical shows to know I would not want to become a physician. Despite their illnesses though, the children in the ward are fairly happy. It's probably the only time in their lives they've been looked after and cared for. Some of them have been there for months. There's a social worker at the hospital who's trying to figure out where to place the orphaned children. Since most of them are infected with HIV/AIDS, it makes it more difficult because of compliance issues.

I've finished entering most of the drugs into RxSolution, just in time too because a massive order came in today. They come every other week, and there are at least 30 or 40 boxes full of drugs. I updated them all into the computer and afterwards, I sifted through all the pharmacy's paper work. Even though their drugs are organized, their requisitions, orders, and invoices are all over the place. I spent most of the day separating them by ward, month, and year, and then did the same for all the controlled drug substances. Some of them hadn't been filed since 2008.

Last week we started up the "Best Practice Meetings" again, and I argued that it probably wouldn't be necessary to do them weekly. Well, I was wrong. There wasn't a single ward today that didn't have at least five expired drugs. To be fair, a lot of them were expiring at the end of this month, but some went as far back as September of last year. I don't know why we didn't see them last week. In addition, everybody loves to place food and drinks in the same fridges as the medications. They're not supposed to do this, but I understand that there's a lack of fridges available. One ward had sodas and other beverages literally sitting on top of other drugs. The drinks leaked out all over the medications and we had to throw them out. So of course, I had to be that asshole that posted signs on all the fridges that said, "Please don't place food and beverages in the same fridge as medications." You should've seen the looks people gave me. I even tried to compromise and told people that if they couldn't find another fridge to put their food and drinks in, then at least separate them from the medications. Don't mix them together or put them on top of each other. I'm curious to see if next week my signs will still be posted or if people even bothered to follow the directions.

Weekly Update (2.1.12): Ant Nest! And Other Minor Disasters

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin Bless The Rains Down In Africa

2012-02-02 17:16:00

Ant Nest! So I was sitting on my floor reading a book when I noticed a line of teensy little ants. This was suspicious. I followed the line and found a whole pile of ant eggs, with dutiful little ant nannies tending to them. Ew. To the dismay of Buddhists everywhere, I sprayed them with a solid layer of bug spray, then reorganized the whole thing. In the process, I...
Found 3 Eggs! Like miniature chicken eggs, each about the size of a Milk Dud. One broke, and was a little unidentifiable, fetus-y blog with black pinpoint eyes. I was convinced and worried that they were from mice, and then I realized that mice don't lay eggs. It is unlikely that I have miniature invisible platypuses running around the house at night, so I'm currently unsure of their origin. Except, well, the whole lizard thing. Cross your fingers for lizards.
Exams (again). Spent this week overseeing exams. It was boring. Highlight: during the 6eme math exam, someone thought it'd be a great idea to burn a giant pile of trash right next to the classroom. We all smelled like a barbecue afterward. The end.
Crime and Punishment, even though it tricked me, was really good! First half's a little wallow-y, because the guy is basically going crazy, but the end is exciting and interesting. Score one for Russian literature.
Three Products I'm Loving: I brought these things back from Amurrica, and in the off-chance you're looking for a new energy bar, sunscreen or soap, I suggest these. They're awesome!
Neutrogena UltraSheer Sunscreen and LemonZest
Luna Bars!
Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap: Peppermint!
That's all for this week, next update: Parakou!

Atacora Bike Tour

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin Benin or bust

2012-02-01 13:16:00

1/31/12

Back from bike tour as of this morning. We all took a taxi from Kouandé toPehunco, then people split off to go back to their posts. Since there were 13 of us, we rentedout the whole car and squished in for the hour long ride with 13 bikes strappedonto the roof of the car. I washome by 10 or so, swept my very dusty house, pet Roe (my kitten) who looks likeshe survived 4 days living outside pretty well, made lunch, and then took anextended, multi-hour nap. Fourdays of biking 30-40 k, doing sensibilisations (trainings), dealing with hoardsof swarming kids, and sleeping outside on concrete caught up to me. It was a great bike tour though - fun,challenging, effective, and meaningful. The group of volunteers was great and everyone was positive, flexible,and enthusiastic the whole time. We had two Beninese high school boys with us to translate and theyreally made the tour. One of themstarted every sensibilisation with a song about eating well (the theme of thetour) and they were both animated and eager to help.

Here is the basic plan of each sensibilisation. We arrive in the village and stop inthe market area, generally in the center of town and a place where peoplegather to eat, buy, and sell things. Generally we had a pretty good crowd together by the time everyone gotto the village (we didn’t enforce a same pace policy, so it was go as fast asyou like) by the sheer power of our white-ness. We’d hang up our banner which said ‘Roulons pour la bonnesanté et le Moringa, Corps de la Paix’ (we ride for good health and moringa,Peace Corps) and find a good place to do the session. Like I said, one of the translators, Jacob, would start asong and get the crowd to join in. Then we’d start things off with a skit. First, we had the healthy family. I was the mom and another volunteer wasthe dad, and we pulled kids from the crowd to act as our children. One of the translators would walk upand ask how the family was, and I’d respond oh we’re all in very good health, everyoneis happy and has a lot of energy, the kids are all in school and papa workshard in the fields all day. Thetranslator would then ask what we ate. The volunteer playing the dad would say we ate bouillie with peanutsthis morning, pate with soy cheese, and then igname pilée with meat for dinner. Then we had the sick family, again withvolunteers as the mom and dad and kids from the crowd (there were alwaysplenty) as the children. The momand dad were coughing and bent over or sitting on the ground, and when thetranslator asked how they were doing they replied that the whole family is sickand doesn’t have energy, and that the kids can’t go to school and papa can’twork because they don’t have any energy. When asked what they ate the mom said pate (corn flour cooked in water,a staple here) morning, noon, and night. Then I’d get up in front of the group and ask which family is in goodhealth and why, looking for the answer that the first family is because theyate a balanced and varied diet. Wegot a correct answer in every village. Next we’d go through the three major food groups as they are here –energy foods (carbs), constructor foods (proteins), and protector foods (fruitsand vegetables). Following that wewould introduce the moringa tree, which someone could identify in every village,though generally by its Bariba name, lagalagagandi (and yes it is fun tosay). We explained that the leavesare protein and vitamin rich and that they can be used fresh or powdered andthen added to sauce or bouillie. Because some people have the habit of boiling the leaves and thenthrowing out the water or adding the leaves at the beginning of the saucepreparation, both practices that essentially zap all the vitamins, we explainednot to do either of these. Finally, volunteers explained how to plant a moringa seed in a plasticbag and transplant it, pulling two adults from the crowd to act as volunteersand demonstrate how to do this. Inconclusion, we answered questions and then I asked questions on topics coveredin the presentation and gave out little baggies of moringa powder for correctanswers. The whole thing tookabout 45 minutes.

There were, as always, interesting cultural exchanges. In one village, someone made a fusswhen I started handing out powder at the end and the translator told me it wasbecause they were upset that I hadn’t tasted it before I gave it to them. In Benin, it is taboo to pour someone adrink or open their drink out of their sight because by doing so theopportunity exists for you to poison it. Same goes with food, apparently. The crowd wanted me to taste the moringa powder in front of them toprove it wasn’t poison, which of course I did. Now I’ve added moringa powder to food and you generallycan’t taste it very much at all. Turns out though, eating it straight is very honestly disgusting. It tastes like alfalfa, but it’s powderso its very dry and, well, I was trying very hard to not make a face less theytake it as a sign that the powder was indeed poisoned. I unintentionally offended the king orchief of another village by not asking his permission before we started oursession. He was having none of ourintrusiveness so he just walked in front of us after we’d already started anddemanded he be asked for permission. I did, he was happy, and we continued on with it. We slept, in order, in a hospital,Catholic mission, elementary school, and another Catholic mission. The night in the elementary school wasprobably my favorite. It was in asmall village and was therefore pretty much our only option. One of the teachers opened hisclassroom to let us sleep in, but most of us just put our mats outside. There were little thatch shower stallsoutside, a pump, and latrines so we were all set. When we pulled up to this village, Dambouti, I went to seethe délégué (political representative, like a lesser version of a mayor) to lethim know we’d arrived. Hetold me he wanted to see the whole group so I dutifully brought back the restof the volunteers a few minutes later. Someone pulled out chairs and we sat in a circle just kind of staring athim. I assumed he called the wholegroup over because he wanted to greet us, welcome us, or give some kind oflittle speech or something. I waswrong. We sat there for probably10 minutes, him never saying a word, and then abruptly he says ok, you canstart your sensibilisation now. Usjust sitting there showed him honor I guess.

Before the tour I wondered if it would be one of those allto frequent well-intentioned but not really influential or productive activities. As in, it is really going to be worthall this effort and will we actually help anyone? But I think it was, and I think we did. It felt so good to be able to tell somemaman who throws away the water she boils moringa in to stop doing it becauseshe’s throwing out all the vitamins, and to have her nod in comprehension andsay she won’t do that anymore. Totell people they can add moringa powder to their morning bouillie and have themapplaud in excitement and appreciation at learning this. Atacora bike tour 2012 – success.

Queues

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin Doucement, Yovo. Je viens!

2012-01-31 18:48:00

One of my tasks while I'm here is to "develop a plan to limit queues and control backlogs," but I'm not really sure how to do that. The hospital is understaffed. There are about eight physicians, but they don't all work at the same time. I spend most of my time in the pharmacy located right next to the out patient department. There are always so many people there waiting to see the doctors. Some of them wait all day and arrive as early as 8 AM. However, usually by 4 PM, most of the patients have been seen. In the ARV clinic, there are also long queues, but I've spent a few hours there and the two pharmacy assistants that work there run through the patients fairly quickly. The people are there just to pick up their meds after they've already seen the nurses. Despite the long waits, compared to my health center in Benin, this hospital runs much more smoothly. They're clearly busy, they have a decent amount of equipment, and plenty of nurses. Unfortunately it's difficult to hold onto physicians because we're in a rural area with not much to do. There's nothing I can do about that though and I suppose if the hospital is having a hard time keeping the staff, then they should provide more incentives for the workers. Compared to most of the nurses here, I have pretty decent accommodations. They usually just get a tiny room, not an entire house. It also could be though because I'm "white" and they want me to stay. Supposedly an audiologist will be moving in with us soon and another PCRV next door as well, who will be functioning as a dietician.

Adjacent to the hospital is a smaller health clinic which functions separately. All patients are actually supposed to go there first before being admitted to the hospital. There are no doctors at the clinic, just nurses, but they are allowed to start patients on ARVs or anti TB drugs if necessary. They also do pre and post natal consultations, family planning, baby weighings, attend to minor injuries, and handle any chronic ailments, like hypertension or diabetes. To help limit the long lines and waiting at the hospital, patients are slowly being referred to the clinic to get their meds.

I'm almost done imputing all the drugs into RxSolution, so I just hung around the pharmacy today to see how things are run. Patients come to the dispensary with their charts after seeing the doctors. The pharmacist (or the assistant) then just pulls whatever drugs the doctor prescribed and gives them to the patients after explaining the directions and writing it on a label. The very last person to come to the pharmacy today was an eight year old girl who was raped on her way home from school by an old man. She arrived with her grandmother, a cop, and a social worker. She was started on post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for HIV/AIDS and given lamivudine and zidovudine. All patients that are given PEP must be logged in a book. Many of them are rape victims, and I was shocked at how young some of them are. There was one girl who was only five years old. WTF?! What the hell is the world coming to?

The winds of change

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin Life under a mango tree

2012-01-30 16:33:50

natures first green is gold. her hardest hue to hold. her early leaf’s a flower. but only so an hour. so leaf subsides to leaf. so eden sank to grief. and dawn goes down to day. nothing gold can stay. I set my alarm that morning for 6:40am. So I turned it off and went [...]

The joy of manual labor

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin Julia in Benin

2012-01-25 14:07:00

Having successfully ingratiated myself to the health center staff, I was asked a while ago to help plan and execute a "malnutrition initiative", for which the materials had apparently been donated by UNICEF almost a year ago and then forgotten about until another aid worker (me) came along. The idea is to go to the smaller villages surrounding Adja-Ouere, ones without their own health centers, to test children for malnutrition and help the ones who are in a bad way. After the requisite postponements and cancellations of any project in Benin, we went to our first village - Houegaba - yesterday.

And it was fun! I mean, you know, as fun as testing children for malnourishment can be. We all left together in the "ambulance" (which says on the side that it was donated by India, and was clearly not intended to be used as non-emergency transportation for staff, but whatever) and travelled down an increasingly bumpy path for about 45 minutes before arriving in what I can only guess was the Houegaba market, due to the 10 or 20 empty stalls that were clustered around the road. As soon as we stopped, women with babies on their backs seemed to come out of nowhere, and so immediately I set to work measuring arms. Believe it or not, upper arm circumference is pretty consistent from the age of 6 months until like 4 years, so if any kid in that age range has an arm smaller than 11 cm, they are severely malnourished. I measured arm circumference for almost three hours, and aside from my back hurting, it passed pretty quickly. I managed such Nagot phrases as, "How many months is he?", "Go tell the doctor," and "Other arm", and only made about half the babies cry for fear of my unfamiliar white skin.

It is weird how inverted your reactions can become. Like, obviously finding a kid who is severely malnourished is a bad thing, but I can't deny feeling satisfied when I measured a kid's arm under 11 cm. It's just that when you devote a chunk of time to searching for something, even if the thing is awful, you're bound to be a little pleased when you find it. We found several moderately malnourished kids, but there was (happily) only one severely malnourished kid. I knew even before measuring that this kid was in trouble - his upper arms were concave, his eyes were too big for his face, and his mother was heart-breakingly young. She couldn't have been older than 15 - no wonder she couldn't take care of her baby. And for heaven's sake, while she was waiting to get her child weighed, she bought herself a can of cold bissap, the price of which could have bought her kid at least three meals. That's not heartlessness on her part - just a complete, cultural lack of understanding of money matters. So we will take her kid to the health center, and since he was still active enough to cry when I measured his arm we will probably be able to plump him up and save him, but then what? A lot of the times I think that, as boring as it sounds, the best way to improve health and everything else in this country would be just to give everyone accounting classes.

Mountain Climbing

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin Doucement, Yovo. Je viens!

2012-01-29 17:34:00

Sometimes I wonder if I made the right decision coming here so soon. It's boring and lonely at times without my dog or petits to keep me company. But then I look outside my window and think to myself, "How can you be so upset living in a place so beautiful?" Then I also ask myself, "Well, if you were living in America what would you be doing?" And I remind myself that even at home, I'd probably have nothing to do either. At least now I'm working again.

Speaking of which, there was supposed to be another PCRV/pharmacist stationed at the Holy Cross Hospital in Flagstaff not too far from me. That was originally where I was supposed to go, but at the time, the accommodations weren't ready yet, so they sent me to Mount Ayliff instead. I noticed that the position has been reopened, however, on the PCR website (and now there are some PCR positions that are open to non-RPCVs too granted they have at least ten years of work experience). I emailed Sandile and told him I wouldn't mind helping out the Holy Cross Hospital either as it's only about an hour away. I can't do much at Mount Ayliff without that second computer. I'm almost done logging in all the drugs and it shouldn't take me long to teach the staff how to use the system either. The pharmacy isn't as much of a mess as I was led to believe, and I'm concerned that there won't be enough work for me to do later on. Even if I wanted to, I can't practice pharmacy here because the laws are different. I'd have to get certified by the South African Pharmacy Council first.

I climbed the mountain in my backyard today with two petits and my housemate. From the top, there's a great view of Mount Ayliff and the surrounding areas. Here are some photos:

Notice the Project Red Africa shirt I'm wearing? I used to love them and bought a whole bunch from the Gap. I'm not sure if it's still an ongoing campaign or not. They were not cheap either. I think one t-shirt was close to $30, but supposedly a whopping 10% of the proceeds went to fight AIDS in Africa. South Africa has one of the highest incidences of HIV/AIDS in the world. The only t-shirts I brought with me were the Project Red ones, not only to show my support (although I doubt the South Africans know the significance), but also because they're light weight.

Kokstad

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin Doucement, Yovo. Je viens!

2012-01-28 16:07:00

The weather was supposed to be sunny this weekend, so I made plans to go to the beach. The nearest nicest one is Port St. John's, about two hours away on the map. Without having a car though, I have to rely on public transportation, so a simple two hour trip can take the entire day.

In Mount Ayliff, there's a taxi rank with minivans that go to the surrounding areas. Some of them go as far as Durban and Johannesburg. These taxis are much nicer than the ones in Benin. For starters, there's only one person per seat and animals and live stock are not allowed. They even have seat belts, although almost nobody uses them. To get to Port St. John's, I have to take three separate taxis - one from Mt. Ayliff to Kokstad, another from Kokstad to Lusikisiki, and then finally Lusikisiki to Port St. John's. The problem is the taxis won't leave the rank until they're completely full and depending on the time of day and the day of the week, this could take several hours. In Benin it was similar, but the cars seated fewer so they left quicker. I rarely had to wait more than 30 mins. to go anywhere, and in the off chance the cars did not fill up before leaving, they would just pick up passengers along the way. It's not like that here. The taxi has to be full before leaving. Thus, Kokstad, which is only 30 mins. away, took me an hour to get to because I had to wait for the taxi to fill up. I left relatively early too, around 8 AM. Once I got to Kokstad, I transferred to another 15 person taxi (incidentally there's only the one size) and then waited for that one to fill up. After about an hour, only three people were in the vehicle, including myself. I wasn't in any rush nor did I have any other plans for the day, so I could've sat in the vehicle for longer, but I got restless. I decided to get out and explore Kokstad instead (And honestly, at the rate the taxi was filling up, I don't think I would've gotten to Port St. John's until night fall - remember that I had to wait for another taxi in Lusikisiki too - and wouldn't have had that much time to go swimming nor see the town. Plus I was concerned about not being able to find a taxi back the next day).

There's not a whole lot to see nor do in Kokstad, but there are many more shops than in Mount Ayliff. They have a shop called "Game," which is actually owned by Walmart. They sell lots of random items for cheap. I went inside the pharmacy chain, Clicks, to see what it was like. Oddly enough, they keep all their OTCs behind the counter. I found a loofah there which really made my day. (That's one of the aspects of PC I love - how easily excited I am. In America it's so easy to take things for granted because practically anything we want is available to us in the blink of an eye.). The loofah and the shower curtain I bought earlier combined with hot running water will make bucket showering much more enjoyable.

Kokstad has a lot of American type food. I saw a KFC, McDonalds, Steers, and many restaurants that sell wraps and burgers and what not. I was tempted to get a chicken salad with mushrooms, avocado, and bacon bits, but I figured I should enjoy South African food while I'm here. It's actually quite tasty - so much better than Beninese pate. I bought a plate of samp with some beef and veggies and then headed back to the taxi rank a little after noon. When I got there, I noticed that the same taxi for Lusikisiki still hadn't left yet. It had been over two hours. I find the taxi drivers here to be much more pleasant than the ones in Benin. They're actually very helpful and not trying to scam me with ridiculous prices. The taxi ranks are also much more organized. It clearly says where each vehicle is going on the wall.

I decided to purchase an MTN sim card. Apparently they have this unlimited 24 hour data plan for only 50 rand. Maybe that way I can finish downloading Shameless. I'd hate to have to wait to get back to the states to do it, and I don't wanna bring my laptop with me on vacation to Durban, Cape Town, and Victoria Falls. The catch is though after 150 MB of downloaded material (which isn't that much) the download speed is capped at 128 kps, so I still won't be able to finish downloading the remaining eleven episodes. For the mean time I have some other TV shows to keep me busy. Before being used though, each sim card has to be registered through this South African program called RICA, which is used to prevent fraud. Each SIM card is linked to an individual user using some form of identification and proof of address. It's a good idea, but it's also inconvenient as I still haven't been able to register my MTN card since the system hasn't been working the last few days. At least my Vodacom phone is working.

I've been trying to learn some Xhosa, but it's difficult to get the clicks down. Plus, it's so much easier when most people speak English. At this point, I'm able to greet people, ask them their name and age and how they're doing. I've also learned the names of some foods. I asked for an South African Xhosa name at work, and of course, they give me one I can't pronounce - Qaqabimle. It means "bright" (like intelligent not like the sun). The "Qa" is a hard click and the "Xho" is a softer click. There's also an "Nqa" sound which is a soft and a hard click and then another click sound for "c" and "k." It's really neat listening to them talk, and yes, the clicks are important because without them, the context changes. South Africa has eleven national languages - Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, North Sotho, Setswana, South Sotho, Swati, Tsonga, Venda, Xhosa, and Zulu.

I feel a little guilty not trying to integrate myself more and learn the local language, but again, English is very widely spoken. In Benin, I learned Goun/Fon because it was a necessity at times, especially at the market, but I always communicated with my petits in French because number one, it was the only nationally recognized language, and number two, if you didn't know French, you were pretty much stuck in village for the rest of your life. I wonder how it works here then when people have to relocate. I noticed that many of the elders don't speak nor understand English. I've found though that most South Africans know at least three languages - English, their native language, and then another tribal one. All schools are taught in English and some in Afrikaans. I wonder if there's any resentment when South Africans learn Afrikaans, the language of their oppressors.

Bienvenue Chez Moi

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin Benin and Beyond

2012-01-28 12:41:49

January is almost over, marking the end of month seven in Benin and the completion of a forth of my Peace Corps service – even if that still seems hard to believe. It also reminds me of my New Year’s resolution and promised parental Christmas present of house pictures. So without further ado – welcome [...]

Best Practice Meetings

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin Doucement, Yovo. Je viens!

2012-01-27 17:27:00

I'm trying to restart something that was done (and then stopped) by the pharmacy staff a few months ago called "Best Practice Meetings." Every Friday we go to the different wards to make sure that things are running smoothly. We check to make sure that drugs are properly labeled, that they aren't expired, and that patients are receiving appropriate medications and doses for their illnesses. The pharmacy team (which consists of myself and the two other pharmacists) usually does this with other department heads, but inevitably people forget, meetings come up, or people just get lazy. Eventually this whole practice was stopped, but it's worthwhile to start up again...so we did today.

I've been rather busy the last few days organizing all the drugs that I haven't even had an official tour of the hospital, nor have I had the opportunity to meet everybody. This way I got to do both and check up on how things were running. There were few problems in the peds, ER, female, and maternity wards. I was interested to see what meds were locked up there. The hospital doesn't carry many "heavy hitters," just morphine and codeine. I find it odd that they also lock up drugs like fluconazole (an antifungal), risperdal (an antipsychotic), and promethazine (an antihistamine). The male ward was kind of a mess. We came across many drugs which were expired (most of them insulin) since August of last year. They also keep their food in the same fridge as the medications, which technically they're not supposed to do. In an old box of metformin, a diabetic drug, we found a roach living inside.

I'm not sure if it's necessary to do these Best Practice Meetings every week as I don't think much will change weekly. The same drugs will still be there next week. We decided though that in the beginning, we're still going to meet once a week and then have the meetings monthly if things go smoothly.

Last night, I found such a steal on airline tickets that I just went ahead and bought them. I'm planning to take a week off at the end of March. I'm going to spend three nights in Durban, followed by three nights in Cape Town, and then two nights in Livingstone Zambia to see Victoria Falls. I was able to do the whole Durban to Cape Town to Livingstone to Durban loop for only $600 via South African Airlines and Vayama. I heard the falls are nicer on the Zimbabwe side, but it was also $300 more to fly into that airport. I'm just worried about visas now though. I'm sure they have a Zambian embassy in Pretoria, but I won't be there anytime soon. I'm told I can just buy the visa once I arrive at the airport, and then buy another one for Zimbabwe and see the falls on the other side. I hope it won't be too cold when I go. I didn't bring much warm clothing with me, just a pair of jeans a hoodie.

I'm usually not one to spend money on travel. I prefer to buy things as they last me longer, but after doing PC, I realize that material possessions aren't really that important anymore. Besides, when else am I going to be in this area? I don't plan on staying any place fancy, just hostels. Although, I would like to eat some good food. I haven't done my research yet though, so I'm not really sure what there is to do in any of those cities, but I'm looking forward to it nonetheless. I've heard Victoria Falls is absolutely breathtaking.

Biweekly Update (1.27.12)

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin Bless The Rains Down In Africa

2012-01-27 09:29:00

- The Struggles of a Wednesday. I went to Porto-Novo to work on getting the books for our library, but ran into several little annoying problems. First, the application to request books wasn't actually ready like my project partner told me, so we couldn't order books like I thought we were. Next, the organization's catalogue now doesn't have a bunch of the books I wanted (no worries, I have multiple backup plans). A drunk man got in my face to demand money, and no one in the very packed cyber decided to help me fend him off for a full 3 min. of him rubbing my arm and demanding my money. The bank took $80 extra out of my account for the shipping costs. And finally, the woman at the bookstore overcharged me for school books for my scholarship girl. Sigh. Having been here for a year and a half, though, I now have a solid list of calm-down-breathe-in strategies. I bought vegetables, made fresh mint tea, and listened to Adele. Stress: solved.

- The State of the Library: the room is now separated (!) from the informatique classroom, and the furniture is being built as I write. It looks good so far! Working through the pile of paperwork to get the books from France. Am hoping to order them in a week or two, which would be they'd be here in late February I think. As soon as that request's in, I'll start trying to find a librarian!

- Crime and Punishment. Someone (whoever printed this edition of the book) tricked me. After years of being intimidated by Russian literature, I finally looked at Dostoyevsky in our library and discovered that C&P was actually kind of a small book. Maybe 300 pages by the size of the book. I got it home and started reading, and then found out that The Modern Library just prints on super thin paper. It's like tracing paper, and now I have to read 550 pages. Cheaters.

- At School: we have our 2nd round of exams next week, so I've been hauling my very chatty classes through review lessons to make sure they've seen all the types of activities that'll be on the test. Ho hum. I also promised each of them an American pen if they can get a 15/20... 75% is a really good score here.

- Girl's Club Begins! Yes, I was supposed to start this in October. Thanks to projects and classroom availability, though it just started last week... It's pretty awesome. :) Only 6 girls have showed up, but 4 were girls I took to Camp GLOW last year, and the others were shy girls from my classes, who I'm excited to work with. I kind of love them. We sit in a circle (I am maybe the only teacher that will ever sit at a desk and just chat with them) and talk about things like how to study and what they want to be when they grow up. They make fun of each other (and me), we play games, everyone laughs... it's amazing. It's exactly what I want to be doing with my time. And soon we're going to get into sex ed and setting goals and women's rights, which are, I think, the most important things I could possibly teach them.

- A quick note on Camp GLOW: It might just be in my classes, but you can really tell which girls came to GLOW. They speak up, they don't take crap from the boys next to them, they ask questions and engage with the lesson... They care about getting everything they can out of school. Feel lucky to have been a part of getting them to this point.

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin vita si uti scias longa est

2012-01-26 12:27:12

I asked my ninth-grade students to write, in English, an excuse note explaining why they hadn’t done a hypothetical homework assignment. (This is their third year of English and their second year with me.) Here are some highlights. Translations of French words are in brackets. … I am malaria, flu, cholera, after three day I [...]

Bonsoir Yovo

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin Benin and Beyond

2012-01-25 22:07:06

I finished reading James Baldwin’s Another Country this past week, a deliciously disturbing novel that delves into the ideas of race and identity. I found it especially interesting considering my own current minority status. Although as another volunteer pointed out, we’re more than simple minorities – we’re oddities, the other personified. Toddlers see me as [...]

APCD Visit

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin Doucement, Yovo. Je viens!

2012-01-25 16:59:00

I think I'm working too hard. It's actually not going to take me as long as I thought to catalog all these drugs, so I'm trying to space it out little by little so that I don't run out of things to do too quickly. RxSolution seems to be running without any problems, and believe it or not, the IT person for the hospital came today to check on the one broken computer. I'm surprised she arrived so quickly since we only just called her yesterday. She was able to get the broken computer to work again, but as it turns out, it's too old to even run the RxSolution software (it's still using 3.5 inch floppy disks). Thus, if we want a new one, we have to request it from the South African government, which who knows how long will take? I'm only going to be here until June.

Sandile actually came to see me today as he was doing some site development in the Eastern Cape. He only stayed for about five minutes though because then he was off to Kimberly to see David, the other PCRV. I told him the frustrations I was having with RxSolution, the computer (or lack thereof) and MSH/SPS. As it turns out though, MSH/SPS promised him that they would be bringing a new computer to the hospital, but it looks like they reneged on that too. He's going to speak with them again on Monday, and meanwhile, I'm going to see if there's anything PC can do. I don't have the time to write a PCPP or anything, but Sandile told me that in some instances, PC will grant computers to PCVs if it's for a project (like a girls camp or something), and well, this will certainly be a big one for me. I know PC is not in the habit of giving out freebies, but I'm certain the hospital will truly benefit from it. I mean, c'mon, they're still doing everything by pen and paper! Plus, PC is all about sustainability, and this way, I'm not only giving them a computer, but also the tools necessary to use it once I'm gone.

I found a great place right near the hospital that sells some killer South African food. It's only 20 rand, and the plate is absolutely ginormous. Sometimes I'm so full from it that I don't even eat dinner. The best part is there's meat - lots of it! I was honestly surprised by how much food it was the first time I got it. A plate like that would've cost me a fortune in Benin. I choose from either chicken or beef and then it always comes with mashed butternut squash, cabbage, and then my choice of either pap or samp. The first time I had samp I was not a big fan, but this samp is really good. It's mixed with beans and covered with some kind of sauce. The woman who makes it is only there Monday-Friday though and leaves before dinner, so nights and weekends I have to cook for myself. I haven't made much thus far cause having a fridge is wonderful. I can make one big meal and then eat it again for the next two or three nights. I've made some mac & cheese from scratch and some pasta with spaghetti sauce. I can get bread here too, along with PB&J so if I'm lazy, I'll just do that instead.

Amour et Vie

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin YouTube Videos matching query: "peace corps" "Benin"

2012-01-24 22:55:06

	Amour et Vie PSI's Beninese affiliate ABMS launched the sixth Amour & Vie campaign thanks to the Impact program -- a five-year $18 million program funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The Impact program is designed to improve youth behaviors associated with HIV/ AIDS and family planning. Through Amour & Vie, Beninese youth work with ABMS and the Peace Corps to produce this popular weekly radio show and bimonthly magazines designed to address young peoples' questions and concerns regarding sexual health, HIV/AIDS and teen pregnancy, and to encourage them to adopt safer, responsible sexual behaviors. Peace Corps volunteers also organize meetings to talk about issues featured in the magazines.	From: HealthyBehaviors Views: 0 0 ratings
	Time: 03:46	More in Nonprofits & Activism

Productivity

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin Doucement, Yovo. Je viens!

2012-01-24 18:42:00

I'm the type of person that enjoys productivity. I hate wasting time and sitting around all day doing nothing. Thus, I can't tell you how good it feels to finally be working again and doing something useful.

I spoke with the IT guy from MSH yesterday upset that empty promises were made about RxSolution being up and running. Later that evening, he emailed me a step by step installation guide with screen shots, which I was able to follow and successfully install RxSolution on the one running computer. Yes! One point for me! Unfortunately though, I still need a second computer to perform backups in case this one crashes, and to print labels. One step at a time though. Now that the program is running, I have to go in and manually enter everything including drug inventory, doctors, patients, suppliers, purchase orders, and receipts. The most important thing though is getting all the drugs counted first. I can't dispense anything anyway until I get that second computer.

It took me practically the whole day to catalog about 100 drugs. All of them had already been counted on paper, so I just had to enter them into the computer. Unfortunately though, many of them weren't listed so I also had to key in some of them. I'm about one third of the way through.

Sugarcoated, Blunt Tip

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin Jessica Janene

2012-01-24 12:41:05

I don’t understand, and I guess that’s okay to admit. “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference” Read “Sugarcoated, Blunt Tip“

African Salad

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin Doucement, Yovo. Je viens!

2012-01-23 17:50:00

So MSH/SPS kinda left me high and dry with this whole RxSolution thing. They told me that first, the program would be installed already on the pharmacy computer when I got there (which it isn't) and if it wasn't, that somebody would meet me this week to install it (which they aren't). At one point the hospital was using RxSolution, but the computer crashed and it hasn't been fixed since. On the other working computer, RxSolution is installed, but it won't run and it's an older version. I tried uninstalling and then reinstalling the software that was given to me, but of course it didn't work. Sandile called me later during the day to check up on me and I told him the problem I was having, to which he informed me that MSH/SPS jumped on the Peace Corps bandwagon unofficially later on in the game. No contract was every signed with them. Mount Ayliff was the one who originally requested a volunteer and the prior PC SA Country Director knew about this project that MSH/SPS was implementing in the Eastern Cape and thought, "Hey, why not involve them too and kill two birds with one stone?" Despite what I've been told, I doubt anybody from MSH/SPS has even been out here. Thus, rather than spend the whole day trying to get this program to work, I concentrated my efforts in the anti-retroviral clinic instead.

The hospital has two dispensing areas - the main dispensary that deals with chronic medications and the second which works strictly with HIV/AIDS meds. The main dispensary seems to be functioning pretty well. There are four people that work there, two pharmacists and two pharmacy assistants. The drugs are fairly organized, but all the record keeping, ordering, drug inventory, and dispensing is still being done by pen and paper. The ARV dispensary, on the other hand, needs a little more work. Technically a pharmacist is supposed to be working there full time, but there isn't one (and actually, my job description says I'm supposed to spend most of my time there). The ARV pharmacy is open Monday to Thursday and patients filter in periodically during the day to pick up their prescriptions. Some of them are new patients, but about 95% of them have been on ARVs for years. Currently they have a running stock of lamivudine (3TC), stavudine (d4T), abacavir (ABC), tenofovir (TDF), zidovudine (AZT), nevirapine (NVP), efavirenz (EFV), and lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r). Guidelines suggest starting patients on two NRTIs and one NNRTI (or one PI if untolerated). Thus, most people receive 3TC, d4T, and EFV. However, the drugs have many side effects and patients sometimes switch regimens. Most of them are available generically, but even still, they're very expensive (in South Africa, however, all patients on ARVs receive them for free). Yet, even on my first day of work, I found a way to save the hospital thousands of dollars (or rands).

In the US, most drugs are prescribed in month intervals (i.e. 30, 60, or 90 day supply), and that's how many drugs are packaged. In South Africa with government hospitals, everything is prescribed on a four week basis (i.e. 28, 56, or 84 day supply). The rationale behind this is it makes it easier for patients to remember their follow up appointments if it's on the same day of the week each month. Almost all the ARVs, however, come prepacked in 30 day supply. What the hospital has been doing is giving out a one month supply of medication, but the patients will always have left over pills if they're being compliant with their meds and coming to their appointments on time. Two pharmacists ago, the patients would just keep their extra meds, but the problem with that is, they'll eventually accumulate enough medications where they won't even have to come in anymore. Then the last pharmacist changed the policy so that all the leftover meds would be collected (in order to determine compliance) and then discarded. To me that seemed extremely wasteful because the pills can't be redispensed and have to be thrown out. So then I proposed just repackaging everything into 28 day supply so no meds would be wasted. This made much more sense to me. The argument was made, however, that the extra pills might be beneficial to some patients in case they lose one or something. While that's a valid point, I rationalized that most patients who have been on these meds have been taking them for years and understand the importance of taking them on time. If they miss a dose or two it won't kill them, and if they are in fact being compliant and coming to their appointments as scheduled, they should never be without drugs because their last dose will fall on the date of their next rendez-vous. Of course, prepackaging everything is much easier said than done and took practically the entire day to do, especially with no machine. For those who are mathematically challenged, every fourteenth prepack of 28 produced another fifteenth prepack that would've just been thrown away. When you're prepacking 200 or 300 bottles, that adds up to a lot of pills and a lot of money.

I made friends with a few petits around here who happen to be the children of one of the woman I work with. They invited me over today for dinner to eat "African Salad" (um-voo-boh in their language). It's made with pap (um-poo-too) and sour milk (ah-mah-see). I was a little hesitant to try it because of the sour milk part. All they do is buy some milk and then just let it sit out in the sun for a day or two. I tried it alone, and it was not very good. Together, the um-poo-too and ah-mah-see make um-voo-boh, which reminded me a lot of cottage cheese. Here's what it looks like:

Um-poo-too (pap)

Um-voo-boh ("African Salad")

My homologue at the hospital, I suppose, would be the pharmacist who's been working there for about a year. Her name is Ongama. She's really chill and much more personable than my last h'log in Benin. She'll be leaving soon though for maternity leave and won't return until July. The other pharmacist I work with, Sabelo, is a CSP and my housemate. He'll be taking over for Ongama during her absence and will be here until at least December. My supervisor then, who approves all my vacation leave, would be the temporary manager of the hospital, Mr. Magula, who is currently filling in for the normal hospital manager who is on leave. I asked Mr. Magula today for some "extra accouterments" for my home, principally a shower curtain, a microwave, and a sofa. It's kinda funny to me that they have a bathtub here with no shower. That's probably why they didn't think it necessary to install a shower curtain. But it seems awfully wasteful for me to take a bath everyday. Every once in a while is nice to relax, but often times when I take a bath, I don't feel clean afterwards. I'm just sitting in my dirty bath water for 30 mins. So instead, I've been bucket showering (and when I told my coworkers this they all looked at me like a neanderthal), but the water then gets all over the place. So I told Mr. Magula that the shower curtain was the number one priority, followed by the sofa, and then the microwave. Immediately after I told him this, he had someone come to my home to see about the shower curtain and they said they would have it installed the next day (it pays to be "white"). The other two might take a little bit longer, but he said they are on order. Unfortunately I've used up all of my settling in allowance by now. Otherwise, I'd just buy them myself.

The weather fluctuates here quite a bit. During the day, it's sunny and crisp, and at night, it rains most of the time. It's very comfortable though and I find myself not needing a fan as much as I thought, even when I go to bed. I'm actually a little bit cold in the mornings. And just now, as I'm sitting here writing this, the power went out from a thunder storm. Good thing I brought a head lamp with me.

Library Project Needs your Help!

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin YouTube Videos matching query: "peace corps" "Benin"

2012-01-21 18:29:40

	Library Project Needs your Help! Hey everyone, my name is Wendy Gutierrez and I am a Peace Corps volunteer in Benin, Africa. I have been and English teacher in the small village of Gouka since 2010. Here, most students do not have any educational resources to help them with their studies. This is why I decided to help my school to create a library where students and teachers can both have access to books and materials to help them better their studies. I invite you to see for yourself and to donate to this cause. We need your help! To donate you can click on the link below: www.peacecorps.gov	From: wengutierrez Views: 2 0 ratings
	Time: 05:59	More in Nonprofits & Activism

Downtown Mount Ayliff

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin Doucement, Yovo. Je viens!

2012-01-21 14:07:00

I took a walk downtown today to see what was available around here. I discovered two supermarkets with fresh fruits, veggies, dairy, and all sorts of meats, a few ATMs, several hardware stores, a clothing store, a dozen or so mom and pop shops selling the exact same thing, a taxi station, and this place:

And yet, there's no Internet here.

I had a few other items I wanted to buy with my readjustment allowance, including a hammer and some nails to hang up my mosquito net. There's no malaria where I am, but unfortunately, the mosquitoes are still plentiful. Every night I kill at least ten of them, and I don't want to have to douse myself with DEET every night before bed. What I didn't notice until just recently is that there are very few flies around. This improves my quality of life that much more as I don't have to be extra careful about covering my food all the time. Plus it's nice to be able to sit outside without them swarming. I've seen a few dogs around the neighborhood, all of them much bigger than Rex. I kinda miss the chickens, goats, and pigs running around all the time. There's so much farmland here that most of them are confined within barbed wire and electric fences. I've even seen several horses and cows.

I stopped by the supermarket to pick up a few groceries, but of course, I dunno how to cook anything except what I made in Benin. Grocery shopping here is like grocery shopping in the US. It's nice that I have a fridge now because I can buy milk and yogurt and it won't go bad. Plus, I can use the fridge to store all my leftovers now that I have no more petits around. In terms of produce, I saw a lot of onions, garlic, ginger, tomatoes (all staples in Benin), green peppers, bananas, grapes, cabbage, peaches, plums, and a whole bunch of butternut squash. I bought one just for shits and giggles to put in my spaghetti tonight, but I've never cooked with one before so I have no idea how to prepare it. I'm surprised there's no tomato sauce here, like the kind you put on pasta. However, I did find tomato paste (and incidentally enough, "tomato sauce" here is ketchup). I should probably learn how to cook raw chicken, beef, and pork. In Benin, I could find all these things pre-cooked for me and I would just add them to the sauce for flavor.

I kinda miss being the center of attention. When I walked around, nobody said anything to me. Although, several people did ask me what I was doing here as they'd never seen me in town before. I doubt there are many Asian people in Mount Ayliff, but I did see quite a few Indian people and Middle Easterners, mostly running the shops.

The Great Beninese Gas Crisis of 2012

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin Craig and Heather's Excellent Beninois Adventure

2012-01-21 13:18:00

Benin does not produce any oil. Nigeria, our neighbor and biggest trading partner, however, does. In fact, Nigeria is the largest oil producer in West Africa and Benin imports close to 100% of its petroleum from its large, overpopulated neighbor. Talk about being addicted to foreign oil! Much of Benin’s economy is concentrated in what is called the “informal sector”, which means that most people who work do not get a paycheck like we do in the United States with taxes taken out. Instead, employers (and employees) in the informal sector get paid in cash only. Examples are women who walk around and sell food, men who grill meat on the side of the road, women who sell vegetables at the market, and people who sell gas on the side of the road.

Wait, gas? Yes, every city has a thriving informal gas market, brought over illegally from Nigeria and sold in stands on the side of the road. Well, that is until last week when the Nigerian government ended its domestic oil subsidy that kept the price of oil down and affordable for everyone. Protests have erupted in the streets of Nigeria and illegal roadside gas stations have disappeared in Benin since the end of the subsidy last week. Roadside gas in Benin is no longer affordable; long lines are popping up at the few legal gas stations in the country. Roadside gas used to be 300 cfa per liter (about 60 cents), but has now skyrocketed to more than 1,000 cfa per liter (about 2 dollars), almost triple the price of legal gas offered at (likely state-subsidized) gas stations.

You can see how the end of the gas subsidy not only affects Nigerians but Beninese, as well. Add to that rumors of a rumored 35% devaluation in the price of the franc cfa used by 13 countries in the West African Economic Union, and there is a possible disaster on the horizon. My work partner, Arimi, makes 30,000 cfa (or about 60 dollars) each month which supports him, his wife, and small child (his wife also works and makes 20,000 cfa per month, so together they make $100 each month). Gas prices have just tripled, and soon he will make essentially 10,500 cfa less each month if the rumored devaluation happens. The local mayor’s office pays his salary and since the mayor’s office refuses to even give us a $400 marketing budget for this year, I would be surprised if they would increase salaries to make up for the devaluation, if it happens.

So, what will happen to Arimi if the cfa is devalued? Well, with the gas issue I have heard other volunteers complain that their work partners will not go to work until they can afford gas for their motorcycles. Arimi would have to find some way to cut back on expenses, which would be a stretch for a guy who already essentially lives on $1 per day (the other dollar he makes per day goes towards recurring expenses, such as rent, electricity, water, motorcycle upkeep, and, of course, gas). What will it mean for us? The price of transportation has already massively increased. Zemijohn prices have doubled, bush taxi prices have gone up 20%-50%, and it seems as if bus service has declined. Rumors abound that buses are now installing a bench in the aisle of the bus to pack more people in, plus slightly increasing the price of fares, to make up for the difference in gas prices. With more people on the bus, the bus is heavier and more difficult to navigate through the slalom of potholes that litter the main north-south corridor and can cripple a vehicle. I imagine that we will see more bus accidents as they continue to become more and more overloaded with passengers and more difficult to maneuver.

Higher gas prices have also driven zemijohn drivers to literally fight for business: zem drivers have been pushing volunteers off of the back of other zem’s motorcycles to try to literally steal their business. It is not difficult to see the social and economic consequences of the new gas prices and we cannot imagine what will happen if the cfa franc is devalued, as well.

Travel is less safe and more expensive. Crowds swarm to legal gas stations while the thousands of people who once made a little money selling illegal gas now must find another profession. There are no jobs here, no craigslist or monster.com to search for jobs, a poor education system, and shoddy, crumbling infrastructure. It feels like the country is literally falling apart in front of our eyes. But people will find a way to get through it. The roadside sellers of gas might make and sell charcoal instead, or grill meat. People may ride bicycles instead of motorcycles. Without any help from the government, everyone will need to find a way to scrape and save and find money for their next meal. As Arimi is fond of saying to me, “C’est l’Afrique.” That’s Africa.

**Update: Nigeria reinstated their fuel subsidy last week, albeit at a lower rate than it was previously. There are still problems with zem and food prices, but they are becoming part of "normal" life now. Check out this line at the gas station!

click me to see me larger

Polygamy, Pop-culture, and a Plea

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin Benin and Beyond

2012-01-21 09:57:43

January 20, 2012 Benin ranks pretty low in most gender equality rankings: the Gender Inequality Index places the country at 127 out of 138 nations, the Gender Equity Index at 154 out of 157, and the Global Gender Gap Index at 128 out of 134. Even without the numbers, the reality living here is easy [...]

Safari in Tanzania

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin I've Benin Everywhere, Man

2012-01-20 20:27:00

This is a video of a three day safari in Tanzania in September 2011. We visited Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater, and Olduvai Gorge. Special thanks to our guides, especially Sam, who went out of his way to make sure we got to do everything we wanted to in the price range we needed.

Fun photos!

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin Doucement, Yovo. Je viens!

2012-01-20 20:45:00

Here are some photos of my site (will post more later).

Tiny little villages in the mountains!

They even have a peds department!

Pretty green mountains!

The view from my backyard.

I made it!

Kilimanjaro

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin I've Benin Everywhere, Man

2012-01-20 19:21:00

In September of the Year of Our Lord 2011, I and five brave souls set out to tackle the mountain known as Kilimanjaro, roughly translated as "the hill." This is a video documentation of that journey.

Settling In

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin Doucement, Yovo. Je viens!

2012-01-20 17:45:00

It goes without saying that the five months I spend in South Africa will be very different from the two years I spent in Benin. In terms of economic development, South Africa wins hands down. Everybody talks about how "rural" Mount Ayliff is, and while it is surrounded by nothing but mountains and greenery, everybody still manages to have running water and electricity. I have yet to see a single mud hut or dirt road. It's hard to compare the two experiences because they're both so different. South Africa to me isn't really like Africa because everybody speaks English and almost everything is available here. I didn't realize how much I miss village life style though. I'm more situated in a town than a village. I don't get stared, pointed at, or get called "white person" wherever I go. There are almost no petits to be found. I actually have a supermarket where I can buy produce, and even better, a fridge to keep it cold in! My house has four bedrooms and a living room, which I was supposed to have all to myself, but then there was not enough housing for the hospital staff. That's fine. It's not like I was going to use all the rooms anyway, but I'm not sure how comfortable I'll be living with somebody again after being on my own for two years. It's like having a college roommate all over again. Whatever. As long as he does his share around the house, I don't mind. I have a toilet (that flushes) and a bathtub, but no shower. I have hot running water, but odds are I'll be bucket showering to conserve water. I've got a stove with an oven, but no microwave. This place reminds me so much of Kayenta, AZ where I did my IHS rotation from the housing, to the hospital, to the surroundings, to the living situation, and to the local shops.

This morning I got to meet some of the other doctors, nurses, and administrative staff working at the hospital. There's a maternity here as well as a radiation unit, a dentist, and an emergency department. Doctors are also on-call 24/7 to see patients for whatever reason. Even this morning when I went in at 8, there were at least 30 people waiting. This new job with the PC will be very different as I actually have a designated place I need to be everyday, rather than making up my own schedule and coming up with my own projects. The pharmacy is open M-Th from 8-4:30 and Friday from 8-4. It's closed on the weekends (which means those are my days off!) even though the hospital remains open all year round. There are emergency meds available if needed. I met one of the pharmacists who's been working here for almost a year. She's done with her CSP, but still decided to stick around as she's from this area. She's preggars though and will be going on maternity leave soon for four months. By the time she gets back, I'll be gone, but she still wants me to teach her the RxSolution program. I was honestly expecting a real shit show when I walked into the pharmacy based on what was described to me, but things were very well organized which makes my job a lot easier. Everybody is also computer literate and they have their own laptops, email addresses, and FB profiles. That also makes my job much easier. The pharmacy department has one computer which is currently located in the stock room. They need another one though in the dispensing area if they're going to be printing labels. Procuring it might be a problem, and now that I'm out here, MSH/SPS doesn't seem to want to help very much. The person I was supposed to be meeting with is no longer available, so I'll have to see if I can install and run the program myself. There's an entire how-to user guide on it, but I am definitely not an IT person. I'll give it a whirl next week and see how it goes. I was amazed that they were in fact still doing everything by hand from keeping track of drug inventory to writing prescription labels for patients.

The PC driver who took me to site was nice enough to stick around for another day and drive me around so that I could get some supplies for the house. I had spent about half of my settling in allowance already on souvenirs, eating out, and buying my 3G key. I wasn't sure if I would have enough money left over to get what I needed, but it ended up costing me a lot less than I thought. I managed to find this cheapo dollar type store run by some Chinese guys that saved me a lot of money. I stocked up mostly on kitchen and cleaning supplies. Tomorrow I plan to walk around town to see what's available around here.

Mount Ayliff

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin Doucement, Yovo. Je viens!

2012-01-19 19:07:00

I had to stop by the bank this morning to pick up my ATM card before moving to site. To give you an idea of just how much more progressive South Africa is than Benin, volunteers aren't even given check books. Everybody's given an ATM card (with the Visa logo on it nonetheless) that can be used almost everywhere, even in small rural communities. This, of course, saves countless hours waiting online at the bank, and there's even the option of getting smaller bills so that breaking them won't be a problem.

After the bank, one of the PC drivers took me to my site. It took us about nine hours to reach Mount Ayliff. The entire ride was very beautiful. There are green hills and valleys everywhere. It reminded me of driving through Southwest America in that there's nothing for hundreds of miles but scenery and mountains. The highways are all paved here, and there are even tolls, expensive ones too. They range anywhere from $1-$14 dollars.

We didn't arrive at Mount Ayliff until dark. I met with one of the hospital managers and one of the quality assurance managers who showed me to my temporary residence for the night. I'll be living with two other people, so they're currently in the process of procuring a newer and bigger home for us. One of them is another pharmacist in his CSP year who has been here for about three weeks now (Coincidentally enough, he's not 100% thrilled about his career choice either and is going back to school part time for computer science). The other is an audiologist who I have yet to meet. Tomorrow I'll be given a tour of the hospital and will have the opportunity to do some supply shopping.

Klerksdorp

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin Doucement, Yovo. Je viens!

2012-01-18 20:07:00

This morning we drove to the Klerksdorp hospital, just a few kilometers down the road from where we were staying. The pharmacy wasn't as busy, so I was able to ask more questions, and I even got to help fill some prescriptions. It gave me a good opportunity to learn what some of the brand names are here. There are some exams in pharmacy school that I never ever forgot taking, just from their sheer difficulty. The first pharmacology II exam was a complete mind-fuck (I believe the average grade was a 53%) as well as the infectious disease exam on HIV/AIDS. Well, all of that crap on anti-retrovirals came swarming back today as I filled some of those prescriptions. I'm definitely rusty and will need to review which ones are NRTIs, NNRTIs, and PIs. Plus, they all have abbreviated names like 3TC, d4T, LPV, etc. The MSH/SPS people that I was traveling with will continue on to other sites during the week, but I had to go back to Pretoria because I'm leaving for post tomorrow. Somebody was kind enough to drive the three hours to Klerksdorp and then the three hours back to drop me off. To celebrate my last night in civilization, the med-evacs and myself returned to Boer'geoisie for one last feast.

So I've been thinking about it, and I wanna use my vacation days to see Durban, Cape Town and Victoria Falls at the end of March. Hopefully by then, things will slowly be up and running at my site and I won't feel so bad about leaving for a week and a half. I really wanna return to my village in Benin once I'm done here. My visa is still good until the end of June, so I might as well use it. I have no idea when the next time I'll be back in this part of the world. I've started looking into tickets and I can do both trips for around $3000, which includes my flight home to the US. I'm ultimately going to lose money on my cash-in-lieu, but that's okay. Tickets from Joburg to the US are so cheap that I don't expect to get more than $1000 bucks anyway.

Potchefstroom

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin Doucement, Yovo. Je viens!

2012-01-17 14:53:00

I took a three hour drive this morning with MSH/SPS to Potchefstroom. I fell asleep most of the way, but the parts of the drive I did see were very beautiful. It's very green here and farm like, and the highways are similar to the ones in the US, albeit with a few more potholes and everybody drives on the opposite side of the road. One of the many things I miss about Benin is being able to pee wherever you want, and unfortunately, you can't do that here. There are actually gas stations here where you can fill up your car and use the toilets. And yes, gas is about as expensive here as it is in the US...maybe a little cheaper.

We arrived at the Potchefstroom hospital around noon. MSH/SPS considers them a "success story" as they've been using RxSolution there for about two years without any problems. The hospital was a legit hospital, not like the tiny health center where I worked in Benin. I only walked through part of it, but I noticed they had an orthopedic wing, a surgical wing, and an anti-retro viral clinic dedicated specifically to peds patients on Tuesdays. I spent most of my time in the hospital pharmacy observing while the MSH/SPS guys worked on the computer system.

Potchefstroom is located in the North West province and is very heavily Afrikaans. The language most closely resembles Dutch, but the people themselves are a mix of different European bloods. They look very Aryan - blond hair and blue eyed. There were six or seven pharmacists working there, all of them female. Pharmacy school in South Africa is four years followed by one internship year and then the CSP year in a government assigned institution. Only after those six years are they considered a registered pharmacist and allowed to practice wherever they like. They take their licensing exam during their internship year. Currently they only have the B.Pharm., but they're slowly introducing the Pharm.D. (or an equivalent doctoral degree) and clinical pharmacy.

I haven't been in a pharmacy setting since I graduated from school, so my pharmaceutical knowledge is not where it once was. Many of the brand names here are different, and there are also a few drugs that I've never even heard of before. Doctors still tend to write for the brand name even though the hospitals dispense mostly generics, so I have to learn what the trade names are here. Abbreviations are also slightly different (i.e. bds instead of bid for twice daily). Perhaps the biggest difference though is the schedule of drugs. In the US, they are classified as CI-CV (sometimes CVI in some states) with CI being the most highly controlled due to high addiction potential and limited medical use. CI drugs include heroin, peyote, and marijuana. CII drugs are mostly pain killers and AD(H)D meds - oxycodone, meperidine, amphetamine, etc. CIII contains opiod drugs mixed with other substances like Tylenol #3, Vicodin, and certain steroids. CIV has the benzodiazepines - Xanax, Ativan, Klonipin, Valium, etc. CV includes some cough and cold medicines and drugs like Lomotil, which contains diphenoxylate and atropine for diarrhea. CVI drugs are everything else. In South Africa, there are also schedules 1-6, but 6 is the strictest. Even pseudoephedrine is considered a schedule 6 drug. Schedule 5 includes many antipsychotics and antidepressants like Prozac, Risperdal, chlorpromazine, etc. The benzos are also considered schedule 5. Cipro is a schedule 4 drug. In South Africa, drugs are categorized not only according to their addiction potential, but also their possible side effects. Cytotec is a schedule 6 since it can be used to abort babies.

Anyhoo, I spent several hours watching the pharmacists work and navigate RxSolution. It was pretty busy so I didn't bother to ask many questions. I was able to see how the ordering was done, how patients meds are transferred to smaller clinics, and how prescription labels are printed. We didn't actually make it to the Klerksdorp hospital, but did spend the night there at a bed and breakfast similar to the Rose Guest House.

Office Space

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin Doucement, Yovo. Je viens!

2012-01-16 10:45:00

I don't think I could ever work in an office. It's far too sedentary and being in a cubicle all day long would make me claustrophobic. Plus, there's all this "Internet etiquette" which you're not sure of. Porn at work is obviously a no no, but what about YouTube and Facebook? Are those acceptable to be perusing while you're bored? My first day at the MSH/SPS office, I was very conscientious about that and didn't jump on the Internet at all. I basically just read through the RxSolution training manual and played around with the software. This got really boring though and while walking around, I noticed other people using Facebook, Amazon, Ebay, or whatever so I thought..."Hmmm..okay...so I guess it's alrite if I use the Internet too." Thus, day two, I spent a lot of time on FB, checking my email, and reading more about the MSH/SPS mission. I felt a little guilty, like I should be focusing more on RxSolution, but like I said, it's pretty straightforward, and once it's up and running, it shouldn't take me more than a few days to get the hang of it. I guess we'll find out tomorrow when I go to Klerksdorp.

I met David today, the IT guy for MSH/SPS in the Eastern Cape, and will be meeting with Lindilé, the pharmacist for MSH/SPS, sometime next week. I'm hoping they can help me set up the software, but I don't imagine getting it up and running until at least a month after my arrival. At one point, RxSolution was installed on the hospital computer but it crashed and was never repaired. They never sent it away to get fixed, and David is based in East London which is almost 8 hours away. Regardless, I would like to spend the first few weeks just figuring out how things are run at the hospital, and my first and probably biggest responsibility will be managing their drug inventory. Supposedly they don't even keep records of the drugs they dispense nor receive, so patients could very well be getting expired drugs.

MSH/SPS had a meeting today and I decided to attend since I thought it would be a good opportunity to learn more about the work they're doing in South Africa. Little did I know that it was going to be six hours long! One or two hour meetings are pretty brutal, even when you have an idea of what's going on. Imagine sitting through a six hour meeting with no idea what the hell anybody's talking about. After about three hours in, I had to excuse myself and tell the manager that I wanted to dabble around some more with the RxSolution software just so I wouldn't fall asleep.

During the meeting, I learned that pharmacists here are referred to as CSPs, Community Service Pharmacists. After their schooling, they spend a year training at a government assigned institution. Afterwards, they have the option of staying or going some place else. The problem at Mt. Ayliff is that there's a constant revolving door of pharmacists since nobody wants to stay there after a year. My job then, will be to train the more permanent staff, like the pharmacy technicians (or pharmacy assistants as they're called here). In the US, depending on the company, pharmacy technicians are allowed to do almost everything the pharmacist can except verify prescriptions, perform DURs, and take new prescriptions. RxSolution enables physicians to enter prescriptions right into the system, which can be retrieved later by the pharmacist or pharmacy technician. Thus, I don't imagine there's a lot of oral transcribing like in retail settings. I highly doubt there are clinical pharmacists here who attend rounds, recommend medications, or perform drug interventions. A potential issue I see is if only pharmacy technicians are being trained on RxSolution, how will they be able to spot potential DURs? The system isn't programmed to do it automatically.

365 Days And All The In-Between

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin From Anasara to Yovo

2012-01-16 05:47:26

One year ago today, I was evacuated from Niger. Over the past 12 months, I did things I didn’t think …

Where are all the CT-CA trip details.

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin The Ratna Ling Journey

2012-01-15 20:39:00

In my written notes, some on the Neo2, the rest in my mind.
I will get to them, trust me ;)

Meanwhile I put in place holders post for the last 3 weeks, with a bit of dull route/cost information. So if you like that type of mundane stuff...read on. And don't forget to check the old CT-CA trip posts occasionally for new info. K?

Cheers!

December 27, 2011, Tuesday

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin The Ratna Ling Journey

2012-01-15 19:50:00

RTE: I-95S, I287W, I287S, I-78W
States: CT, NY, NJ, PA
TOLLS: Delaware River Bridge, $1.00
Note: (Only toll for the entire trip)
Miles: 285
Motel: Ramada, Mechanicsburg, PA: $73.66
Fuel: $44.24

Rambling Details/Thoughts: TBA

December 28, 2011, Wednesday

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin The Ratna Ling Journey

2012-01-15 19:56:00

RTE: I-78W, I-81S
States: PA, MD, W. VA, VA
Miles: 281
Motel: Quality IN, Troutville, VA $76.16
Fuel: $33.79

Rambling Details/Thoughts: TBA

December 30, 2011, Friday

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin The Ratna Ling Journey

2012-01-15 20:03:00

RTE: I-81W, I-40W, I-75S
States: TN, SC, GA, AL, MS
Miles: 479
Motel: Vicksburg, MS, Best Western $81.12
Fuel: $51.95

Rambling Details/Thoughts: TBA

December 31, 2011, Saturday

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00

Benin The Ratna Ling Journey

2012-01-15 20:05:00

RTE: I-75S, I-24W, I59S, I-20W
States: MS, TX
Miles: 275
Motel: Lindale, TX, Best Western $69.14
Fuel: $31.73

Rambling Details/Thoughts: TBA