South Africa…here I am!

Hey all! I’m in South Africa! Yey! Ok, first things first, it’s gonna be difficult to keep in touch from now on as I have very poor access to internet – in the office I only get a chance to get online once a week during our weekly management meetings (most of the work I do is in the field as I’ll explain), but the network connection is quite slow. In the village there is only one “internet cafe”, but it’s quite expensive and the network is on and off. But don’t give up checking for my updates once in a while! I’ll let you know when I’m gonna stop writing here so until then… Also I have to disappoint you that I will not post pictures for a while because my camera is broken (I’m waiting on some software to fix it) and no one else who I directly work with has a camera so must be patient…but just to give you a bit of a ‘picture’ of the area I’m located, it’s very dry and deserty with reddish (clay) soil, gravel and rocks. Vegetation is sparse, but quite varied - with various types of cacti as well as ‘green’ vegetation and even some fruit trees! I’m in a flat plain with surrounding rocky mountains and one almost dry river passing through. There is no viable farming activity in this area due to lack of water – all the fruits and vegetables are transported from neighbouring areas. There are some vegetable gardens here and there, but they are still difficult to manage, especially when far from water sources. Boreholes are the main sources of water (during the rainy season, people collect and use rainwater). So luckily water from any tap is potable. But some areas have few boreholes so people still need to walk some distance to fetch water. Luckily we have a tap in our backyard so I cannot complain ;)
Despite the dryness, it’s beautiful here. You don’t need to go far to get a nice view. Imagine a clear pale blue sky against a reddish desert landscape of a vast plain surrounded by mountains... I will post pictures as soon as I have can…
Back to the beginning though, I arrived on the 5th of September after a 3 day journey (due to the connections). Luckily I travelled with my team mates who were going to Mozambique and we split up in Johannesburg (I’m the only one from my team who is in South Africa). I then traveled to Durban first (8 hrs by bus) to the country office and then from there I traveled (8 + 6 hrs by bus) to the project in Sekhukhune District in Limpopo Province (north east). So my first impressions of South Africa were of the huge cities, Johannesburg and Durban, and of the cold (having arrived at the end of winter)! Even after warnings from others before arriving I didn’t believe that it can get really cold over here (relatively speaking of course), especially at night. It’s definitely a drastic change from St. Vincent. Even up here in the project, I’m still in shivers most nights. But during the day it’s hot (too hot for most, fine for me!). And it will get hotter in the coming months during the rainy season.
Ok enough about the weather…the project (TCE – Total Control of the Epidemic, check previous post for link) is very interesting – much of what I expected, but also a lot of new things. The structure of the project is like I expected, it’s a clear and comprehensive system that aims to reach a large number of people – educating and mobilizing communities to combat HIV and AIDS and related issues. My area is one of a number of areas around the country, as well as in neighbouring countries, which has adopted this military-like system – structured into corps then divisions then troops then patrols then field officers. The idea is to ‘arm’ people with knowledge, support systems, tools etc., so that they can fight the ‘enemy’, HIV and AIDS, and in the end to take total control of the epidemic (TCE). The slogan is “Only people can liberate themselves from the epidemic”. It sounds very straightforward, but of course there are many challenges, for example reaching poor, uneducated people in remote areas, addressing cultural barriers and traditional beliefs, mobilizing people to get involved, to get tested etc. The Field Officers are the ones in the fields – they are the driving force of the system as they are the first point of contact with the community and the ones educating people and setting up support programs. Each Field Officer is responsible for 2000 people (Field Officers are themselves locals and work in their home areas). There are 50 field officers in a TCE area (a troop), which means that 100,000 people are reached in an area. The program takes 3 years and the idea is to leave communities equipped with the knowledge, tools and systems in place, to take control themselves. I have joined the first year of this area, in the phase of implementation of support systems. The initial phase has been reaching people, mainly by visiting them at their homes (door to door) to introduce the TCE system, to share basic HIV and AIDS information, to investigate what people know and to mobilise people to get tested. The extra programs which are now being set up together with the community are the support groups, youth clubs, orphan programs, school programs, partnerships, income generation projects and many more. In the meantime the Field Officers continue educating themselves and enhancing their skills (they have several manuals to follow and material to read with assignments). My main task is to support the Field Officers with their education, to train new Field Officers and to train Passionates (community volunteers). I also support the Field Officers in the field when they go door to door and I will also support and assist them in setting up activities and extra programs in their communities.
So my weekly schedule looks more or less as follows – Mondays: management meeting; Tuesdays to Thursdays: supporting the Field Officers in the field; Fridays: Patrol and Troop meetings (when Field Officers meet, share experiences, challenges, receive classes or tests and submit weekly reports).
So far, I’m enjoying it. Those who know me know that I enjoy teaching (not in a school or classroom structure though). I like teaching in small groups and I’m getting that opportunity here. I’m still educating myself as well of course and I know that I’m going to learn a lot, especially from the Field Officers – it’s two-way exchange as I always keep saying. I already got a sense of their work in the fields I have visited so far and I really respect them – they walk long distances in the piercing sun all day and in the evenings or weekends they are reading and writing assignments. And I can relate to them because of my training in St. Vincent when we were out walking all over for fundraising. So I’m already seeing some results of my previous six months experiences ;) But there are other things that I’m having to adjust to, e.g. living conditions, and other situations which I will tell you about next time so I can keep you in suspense for now ;) hiihiihii
Yuhuuu SVG people, I haven’t forgotten you and hope you haven’t forgotten me yet!
Till next time…
HUGS!!