Progress

July 13^th

As I was walking home from the tap I was struck by the ugliness of the new power lines. My view of the sunset used to include my hangar, the roof of my neighbor's house, and a tree with a full, bushy top. Now it includes 4 lines running west through the destroyed top of the tree and one line running north that mysteriously stops between my hangar and the neighbor's house, and frankly it's just ugly. I know this is “progress”. I know it's good in many ways for my village. I know that I see power lines all the time in the US, that they get in the way of my sunset photos so frequently I try and make the horizontal stripes into a pleasing part of the composition. I know the next PCV won't know what she's missing, and won't care if she has a fan and a light. But I care.

Pharmacy part 2

July 12^th

I talked to Boureima tonight, asking about this pharmacy-threatening issue. First he said that the issue was that there's some kind of issue between people from Napalgue and people from Kossouka (we're so close together that Napalgue is now considered a neighborhood of Kossouka), and the pharmacist is from Napalgue so people from Kossouka are threatening him. But then he was talking with Rosalie and Binta (they were speaking in Moore but Boureima kept replying in French so I could follow the conversation) and said that people were accusing the pharmacist of stealing (drugs or money I didn't catch). The three of them clearly thought the idea was preposterous, and Boureima, the CoGes treasurer in charge of the profit from the drugs sold, pointed out that if stealing was going on there was no way the treasury would be as rich as it is now, apparently we've got something around 7 million cfa in the bank (where is all this money when I need projects done? What else are they saving it for?!). And if drugs were being taken it would be obvious when they do inventory audits.

The three of them are members of the CoGes, the group of elected villagers in charge of the functioning of the CSPS. They said they catch flack from villagers for their work, since people see them work with functionaires but don't see any extra money flowing back to the community, which they expect to happen if they know someone who works with someone perceived to have money. I still don't get what changed, why the pharmacist is now being threatened for work he's been doing for 11 years. I suspect there might be something to the stealing charge, no reason this many people would get upset if it were truly nothing, but Boureima was explaining how Salim's been making a profit on the side raising and selling animals, the proceeds from which people might assume came from the CSPS and are jealous that they're not getting a cut. It was discussed having 2 pharmacists, which would be nice, given that the pharmacist needs to be on duty nearly 24/7/365. We'll see how things work out. Oh, and since I've been having so much trouble getting a hold of Francois, I told Boureima about neem cream and he was super excited. I said I'll call when I get back from OHG and we'll do it immediately, several times if we can arrange it. Awesome!

No pharmacist?

July 11^th

There seems to be a new situation in my village, which might make the last few months of my service a little tricky, and could make it very difficult indeed for the next PCV. Salim, the pharmacist at the CSPS for the past 11 years, is apparently experiencing harassment and threats because of his job. I couldn't quite get anyone to explain the nature of the threats or exactly why anyone feels the need to threaten him, but they apparently started about a week ago and have been sufficient to get him to stop coming to work and ask to be released from the position. Many people have tried to convince him to stay, including the MCD, chief, and CSPS staff, but it seems to be a no-go. To get a new pharmacist would require putting out a notice in the village, creating a committee to chose an applicant, and then sending that person to be trained – a process that would take about 6 months. In the meantime we would have to send people to the market pharmacy or to Seguenega to get any drugs or materials required, including things we normally give out for free or don't charge for, such as folic acid for pregnant women and gloves for exams. The state normally underwrites a large part of the cost of giving birth in the CSPS, bringing the price from 3,000 ($6) to 900 ($1.80), and that 900 is currently covered by an NGO in our district. But now that we aren't using state supplies, women will have to pay for everything at the pharmacy or will have to go to another CSPS.

Kerry's village also doesn't have a functioning pharmacy and the attendance dropped dramatically, hardly anyone goes there if they can help it. I'm afraid the same thing will happen here, which I suspect will lead to staff apathy, boredom, and a decline in standards of care and work ethic. It also means that I'll have less of a reason to go there. The staff was preparing themselves for some kind of anger or retaliation from patients and upset relatives who will arrive during an emergency only to be told that no drugs, bandages, or supplies are available immediately. It seems a bit unlikely and I don't think I'll get caught up in it personally, but I'm still concerned for my friends.

In random other news, it rained again this afternoon. My bike tipped over into the mud but I'm trapped by the lake standing between me and my hangar, so it's just going to have to stay tipped over.

Bus confusion

July 8^th

Back in village, finally! Camp planning went well. I felt a little less than useful, having come in a bit late, so I ended up sitting around while other people worked on lesson plans or handouts, but I did feel like I contributed some good ideas, helped as a sounding board, and even provided some handouts of my own (the ones recently taken from Halley to use for the September science camp). It's fun getting to know a new group of volunteers, and I'm looking forward to working with them, as well as hanging out with old friends.

I got home tonight after a bit of bus confusion. Major never called back to tell me if WPK was running but it worked out for the best, I caught the STAF at 1:20 as it was pulling out of the station (40 minutes early, I might add) and made it home just before it started to rain, which it has continued to do for the past 5 hours. My moringa, that pathetic looking stick a few weeks ago, has now impressively turned into a tree again! I might just pull up my newly sprouted one and put it elsewhere. The lettuce and basil is looking good, the swiss chard is sort of ok and the spinach is looking pretty small still, not sure why. No carrots, onions, tomatoes, or lavender, but I'm hoping the rain tonight does them all some good and encourages them to sprout. It's good to be home, I'm actually really sad that I'll be leaving again in just 8 days.

Note

July 1^st

My parents are going home on Tuesday from their very long stay in Scotland, and I'm going to Ouaga! And, after threatening for days, it's finally raining, a nice solid hard rain that will make everyone very happy after 3 days without any. Plus the ground will be soft and I can try to re-start my carrots, onions, cilantro, lavender, and tomatoes :)

Mystery bug?

June 29^th

Why do I feel so reluctant to write recently? During the day I have thoughts I want to record, but at night when I put down my book to pick up my computer I can only think of how today was just another day, why bother? But I tell myself it's like yoga – once you start you're glad you did.

I got to the maternity around 9, and to my dismay the annoying Seguenega supervisor was there, as he always is on polio days. At least there was no marriage proposal this time. We worked until pretty late, nearly 1pm or so, because we just had an overabundance of women for some reason including 13 for their first CPN, normally it's less than 5 any given day, and new women take so long with all the questions we have to ask them and the longer physical exam. Mariam came to help me write and brought us each a bite of peanut butter sandwich, which allowed Sali to take over questioning the new women, which sped up the process quite a bit.

I headed home to read and eat lunch, then got water for laundry tomorrow. I was getting ready to walk back to my house when I had a sudden prickling sensation on the back of one thigh, almost like a thorn had gotten stuck in my pants even though I hadn't brushed against anything or sat down. I tried to find it, but it seemed to keep moving across my leg in a way that didn't seem to change no matter what I did to my pant leg. I went home and took them off, expecting to see a thorn or even a bug, but nothing. Washing the area didn't stop it, almost made it burn worse, and it looked like I was breaking out in hives. I tried anti-itch cream but it just kept burning and stinging no matter what I did. Satisfied that it didn't seem to be spreading, and convinced that my pants were probably safe, I put them back on and got my last bidon of water. It's been a few hours and the hives have gone away, and it only prickles a little. I wonder what it was?

Visit From Aicha

June 28^th

Dear Journal (and friends reading this once I put it on my blog) – you better be feeling quite appreciative, because I am only writing this out of a deep sense of obligation to record what was actually a surprisingly productive day. I would much rather be finishing my book or watching Glee, just so you know.

*deep breath*

Last night I woke up in the middle of the night because the howling wind was threatening to tear my roof off. I closed the windows and the door, and somehow, even with a piece of corrugated tin roof slapping against the side of the coffee shack next to my house, fell back asleep. Deep asleep enough that I didn't hear the rain when it started, but saw the evidence when I woke up and my yard was so flooded that I couldn't even get to my latrine without wading through several inches of water and mud.

I prodded myself into doing yoga in my living room, and I'm really glad I did! It felt good, an encouraging start to the day. My moringa sprouted! And the old one that I took for dead is even trying to make a comeback, I'm crossing my fingers. Insects or animals ate it while I was gone, it was just a 3 foot tall stick, but now a little branch is sprouting off one side.

At 9, as agreed, I biked over to the Mairie to see Francois and find any paperwork we needed to show Aicha, coming from Ouaga to visit and help with the library situation. He wasn't there. After waiting a bit I called and he said he was at a funeral, he'd call when he was on his way. So I went home. 30 minutes later, near 10am, he called and said he was on his way. I waited 5 minutes and biked over. Still no Francois. So I sat and read until he showed up just before 11am, right on village time. We walked over to the library and started talking about what the payment system for the library was (finally!), what we could offer to pay a new librarian, and when we can have a meeting to discuss finding one. Man, I should have just lied months ago and said someone from the Bureau was coming! Although when Aicha showed up we did have a more in depth discussion, just the fact of her arrival started conversations that I've been trying to have for ages.

The way she went about it was very different from an American, and I'm curious to see what happens. I would have barged in, asked to see the financial reports, demanded action immediately, and probably made them feel guilty for not taking good care of the library or the librarian. Aicha listened, asked a few questions, and started praising all the things they were doing right, all the plans they had made to work on the problems they'd identified. I was sitting there thinking that everything Francois was saying was probably made up on the spot to appease her, but she took it at face value and appreciated the steps they had taken rather than berating them for the ones they hadn't yet done. I'm not sure if it will help, if her praise and trust will be more encouraging of tangible action than my berating and disappointment would have been, but we shall see. There were a lot of specifics I had been hoping to hammer out, like a drawn up contract detailing where the money goes, who gets it, and how much gets set aside for new books and such, but maybe later. I've realized that I need to take a much more active role in this, which is frustrating but at least gives me something to do.

Aicha also had tons of good suggestions for new projects, like sensibilizations to teach students how to take care of library books since they get handled a lot and start falling apart if people aren't careful. I mentioned talking to the secretary at the Mayor's office about making neem cream and Francois was all over that, telling me that we'll pick a day when I get back from Ouaga and he'll have 3-5 women from each village waiting for me to teach, that he'll tell them what to bring and how much, and maybe the Mairie can chip in a little from it's budget for some of the supplies. Um...sweet!! How did I never realize that this is how to get this kind of thing done? Here I've been trying to do it through the CSPS when really I should have done it this way. I should probably talk to the Chief as well, he'll be angry if I don't, and of course I'll tell and involve my CSPS staff, maybe we should aim for a Saturday so it's nobody's day of prayer and functionaires have the day off. We talked about making liquid soap and handwashing stations at the Maison des Jeunes as well. Overall, very productive indeed! I'm happy but not overly optimistic, everything seems to always fall apart at the last minute, but at least I've got something to aim for.

We ran into Major and the people from TDH (a child malnutrition NGO), but couldn't go greet the CSPS staff since Aicha had to get back to the bureau by 18h and it was already nearly 15h. I went home and called Al back, then headed to the CSPS to charge my phone and help with the polio campaign paperwork. I requested to not be part of a team, so from 2-8pm I drew maps, made charts and grids, re-copied paperwork, and fended off the flying termites that flocked to the lamp over my head. It was tedious but I do feel a little less guilty about not getting up early to help tomorrow morning, having stayed so late tonight.