Success

So... the 'Condoms and Clubs' campaign was a success, despite having lost all funding two weeks before the official launch. We passed out 14,000 male condoms and 800 female condoms in four days.

There were two demonstration sights- one in Traps Bar and the other at the TOTAL gas station, and three participating nightclubs. Trained volunteers went around from 8pm to 11pm and handed out packs of condoms and lube. Although the response could have gone either way, we were delighted to see it favored our campaign. As the week continued we had to incorporate additional nightclubs by request from managers and owners.

I've finally returned to Lautoka and feel ready to start the campaign again here... but first I'm off to the Yasawas for three days with work, then vacation when my dad arrives on Saturday :o)

I've added a sort of photo diary below because people keep asking me to post pictures... enjoy.

Suva sunset

Plenty of condoms and lube

Condom packing parties

Packing with the HIV Project Officer for Ministry of Health HQ

A trainer for the campaign (left), and a volunteer (right)

Fiji Network for HIV+ People (FJN+) volunteers packing female condoms

PCVs [and Kaori- my JICA counterpart] watching 'My Best Friends Girl' at Carla's house

Dec. 2nd- the first day. Setting up the demonstration sight at TOTAL gas station.

Boxes of 25

Project coordinators with two male Peer Educators in Suva

Tuesday night volunteers

Wednesday night

Thursday night PCVs

Promotional red tequila shots from one of the Bars- they were delicious!

Lost idealism

I don't believe in fairies anymore....

Funding seemed so simple when the Ministry had $400,000 to spend in 2 months... a bottomless pit as far as our condom distribution campaign was concerned. But somehow it up and left, tapped, ran dry, no longer. So now we sit and wait. Corporate sponsorship... not by Monday. UNFPA is our last hope and they're already funding most of the project as it is. Tomorrow is dooms day.

I suppose it wouldn't be so bad if it was a matter of our condom distribution campaign not getting off the ground, but the National Advisory Council for AIDS (NACA) fund has left Suva- the capital city- sans a World AIDS Day celebration. Everything has been transferred to Lautoka, where buses will filled with youth and MoH staff will be piled to capacity. What?! No World AIDS Day celebration in the capital. I'm afraid not.

It's raining again in Suva, quite appropriate for the somber mood filtering through the HIV/AIDS division at HQ.

On a lighter note, we have finished most of the preparation for the campaign. The club owners/managers have been really excited about the campaign. One club is going to have $2 shots of red tequila, another has agreed to promote our signature drink- the "rub-her"... hehe. Laugh, its funny. We've also prepared everything for for the workshop/training we'll be having with our 50 some volunteers. The list goes on, but the funding does not.

Worst case scenario, we'll have to move the campaign to another week. Anyway, the saga will continue, so stay tuned.

Back and forth

It's been a while and I think an update is in order. I've been working on a condom distribution project three major cities in Fiji; Suva, Latuoka/Nadi and Labasa. I'm working with two other JICA volunteers to set up our launch to pilot the program in Suva. We're targeting high risk youth that attend night clubs by providing the bars with condoms. the intention is to increase "off-peak" accessibility to condoms.

The project began as a small campaign- just some condom dispensers, t-shirts and print material. It hasn't exactly happened that way... it's blown up into a $50,000 project involving public service announcement (PSA), billboards, and 10,000 condom carrying cases.

The launch will start on December 1st, World AIDS day, and will last throughout the week. There will be outreach along the main drag in Suva- inside and outside of the clubs. I think the owners/managers are just as excited about the event as we are... some of them have gone as far as making entire drink menus for the week with price cuts given to participants who will be identified by a stamped hand. Others are bringing in red tequila for two dollar shots - who knew red tequila even existed?

I just got back to Lautoka this Saturday and am off to a conference on Project Design and Management. When the conference is over, I'll be back to Suva to work on the PSA and get ready for the event. I wont return until I have to pick up Pops from the airport in December. Thankfully this'll be my last trip to Suva for a looonnnggg time.

Life, liberty, and fireworks

Two big things happened this week; 1.) Yesterday was Diwali and 2.) I VOTED!

I wont go in the order I wrote it- because that wouldn't be fun and voting needed to be second for dramatic effect. I feel very.... well, patriotic. I certainly never thought I would say that, let alone write it down in a place for everyone to see. But, living in a country where elections are constantly postponed due to cues and other political strife, I feel very fortunate to have the ability to draw tick marks on a piece of paper, and have it mean something. In fact, it was so satisfying that once the postage was placed on the letter, I strutted over to the FastPost bin, kissed the letter, and gently dropped it in. That's it. I VOTED, and I think I should get a sticker for that. Wheres my sticker?!

Like most Americans and the rest of the world, I'm very anxious to see what happens. Every morning I listen to the innumerable opinions broadcast on the BBC about the matter- I'm not sure its healthy to have your anxiety peak at 8am. I cant imagine what its like in the states right now, with this sort of news blaring throughout the day. I guess my 30 minute breakfast anxiety is nothing compared to what many of you are exposed to.

Diwali- the festival of lights, the Indian equivalent to Christmas, happened yesterday (Oct.28), and since almost 40% of Fiji is made of Indo-Fijian, its national holiday. Lights of all colors (I would call them Christmas lights, but that would be wrong in this context) framing many houses, fireworks everywhere, and the smell of sweet molasses coming from many kitchens consumed Lautoka. From an outside perspective, Diwali is a day for eating sweets and playing with fireworks... and both are done in excess, its fantastic.

The day itself of wasn't terribly exciting for me because the evening was spent in Nadi saying goodbye to the first of our group to be sent back to the U.S. - the cause, medical separation. Sad. I didn't feel too bad about missing the celebrations because I had been to two parties the weekend before. I even wore a salwar kamis on two different occasion. The first was a loan from a Bangladeshi doctor and the second was my first Fiji purchase of Indian attire.

It's really nice to be back in the Sugar City- Lautoka. I came back this past friday from my two week adventure to Suva. I was welcomed by 15 puppies. Three of the six dogs that guard my house gave birth while I was away. They're all really cute and I would probably be more cuddly with them if they werent infested with fleas. The owners are trying to get rid of them because there are already 6 at the house. Anybody need a puppy? No charge, you just have to come and pick it up.

Never home

I knew October was going to be a busy month filled with lots of traveling and people invading my house. It's actually been quite fun.

As a volunteer we are required to meet three times during out services (at 6 months, at a year and a half, and right before we leave). Its already been 6 months? Where has the time gone?

Our conference was held at a resort in Nadi. It was a five day workshop to see what other volunteers were doing and also learn about potential projects and additional resources. Coming into it I dreaded the thought of re-experiencing the oh so frustrating pre-service training that forced us all to endure endless hours of unnecessary time wasting. But, I was pleasantly surprised at how painless the workshop was, not to mention it was nice to hear about other peoples experiences. I'm starting to see how vastly different the lives of rural and urban volunteers are.

The day before and the days following the workshop, I had plenty of people crashing on my couch and extra bed. Lautoka is about 25 minutes from Nadi so some people who came in a day early and left a day or two after stayed and partied their little hearts out, a luxury not always available living in the bush.

It didnt stop there. The day after everyone had finally cleared out was the day of the "Stand up against poverty" campaign. A local NGO held an event (a game really) similar to the Amazing Race- which everybody BUT me seemed to know about. There were 16 teams at 25 different locations. Essentially its like a scavenger hunt with questions challenges at each sight. I was stationed at MaiMIX FM- the only radio station in the west. I wasn't very creative with my challenge because I was at the beginning of what I would later find out to be a bad case of Strep throat. Admittedly lame and boring, the challenge was to spell "Alleviate poverty." Other people had limbo contests... I cant remember any others right now, but I do remember really wanting to limbo.

Two days later I was off to Suva. Amoxycillin in one hand and a jug of water in the other. 5 and a half hours later I arrived a mess at the bus station on Sunday afternoon (Everywhere in Fiji all but shuts down on Sundays). I was sick, carrying a heavy load, nothing was open and I couldnt get a hold of my host. Everything was all wrong. All I wanted to do was turn around and go back home.

Another 5 hours passed as I sat staring at the water with my backpackers pack still on. Finally, a call came and I was off to Kaori's house. Kaori is a JICA volunteer who works at Ministry of Health headquarters in the HIV prevention section. She and I are collaborating on a club outreach project for the major cities in Fiji (Suva, Lautoka, Labasa, Nadi, and maybe Savusavu). The outreach will be focusing on condom distribution and HIV awareness. The program is in response to people feeling that accessibility is apart of the reason for not using condoms consistently. Hopefully through this and other projects and programs we can provide information and material to make it easier to access condoms throughout Fiji.

We've spent the last week in a workshop learning about Behavior Change Communication. It ended on friday, so we're just starting to make plans for our launch on December 1st, World AIDS day. It should be really fun.

I'm still here and I will be for another week. Its been a lot of work, and little down time- which is good, but unusual for Fiji as everything moves quite slowly here. I'm starting to really feel like I have a job. I foresee busy months ahead, lots of preparation and condoms... lots and lots of condoms.

where's the gurney?

Its a bird, its a plane, no, its a helicopter! Behind the hospital swooping down faster and closer to residential housing than should be aloud, a chopper came for some very serious medical something or other. I was on my way to another day of medical rounds this morning and couldn't wait to find out what and who is the cause of this ruckus.

I'm not going to tell you the end of the story just yet, I'm going to make you sit through another boring blog first... some incentive to read through what I have to say. So stay tuned.

The Lautoka hospital is a large building that sits on a hill across the street from the Botanical Garden. It almost looks like a hotel from a far, until you get close enough to see the smoke stack jutting out from the boiler room (which acts as a crematorium and general waste management- most things are burned- its Fiji) thats housed 30 ft from the main building. A very simple and symmetrical building, it consists of 5 levels with two wards facing each other on each floor. Its seemingly well equipped for hospital in a developing country.

Medical rounds are really fun. I've joined a team with two last year medical students, an intern, one registrar, and a consultant - that order is the basic medical hierarchy here in Fiji, with nurses answering to anyone prefaced with the two letters D and R. No specialties in our group, just general medicine (internal medicine). Basically we spend four hours (without tea breaks, do you believe that... no tea breaks! Dont they know this is Fiji?) walking through four different wards- mens, womens, ICU, and private ward (aka the pay ward- basically a place where people pay for their own rooms).

The medical students- Hilda from Kiribati and Monasa, hes Fijian- watch and answer questions when asked as the registrar writes what the consultant- Dr. Baravilala- has to say about a given patient. Its much more informal than it sounds. Me, well I'm there for show, as in I stand there, look pretty, nod and smile, and laugh on cue. Really though, I just observe and listen and viciously write down new words that I later have to look up (medicine is truly like learning a language- and I would say, anyone with an aptitude for languages should seriously consider going into medicine). A lot of times I have to hold my tongue, but sometimes I get really excited and ask away. I tell myself that I'm doing them a favor by testing their knowledge for their final exam in December.

Anyway, after rounds I head down to the library (which is so nicely placed next to the staff dining hall), look up my new words and brush up on my general biology, physiology and anatomy. After about an hour I head next door for some chow. Its good chow too, not normal hospital food- we get curry and roti and fresh fruit and dhal, mmm.

Today was pretty slow, which might be surprising from my description of my walk to work. But, turned out that the chopper wasted $3,000 of the governments money to go pick up an asthmatic man from a near by island. I found out that what I had seen was a doctor pickup. When the chopper flew back, we all pressed our faces against the window to see who had been so loudly med-evaced. The patient was fine, no gurney, no sling, nothing... he was walking! Thats all it takes, a nervous call and choppers will fly and pick you up. In fact, maybe next weekend I'll call in from one of the islands... you know, I've never been on a chopper before.

If nothing else it gave me a good, but uneasy, laugh. I kind of asked about regulations and issues concerning severity for a med-evac and the consultant said there wasnt really a system in place. In fact, he said that when he was in Suva there would be fake calls like that from the Lau group if the boats werent running properly for an extended period of time. I dont know what to say about all that except that it was a waste of money. It's really unfortunate because this man got fast care when the queue is out the door for people who are still waiting and may have traveled even farther than he did.

Okay, its almost 4:30pm and I'm off to go witness my first natural birth. yikes.

back on the grind

What they often leave out in talking about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is that shit happens along the way. Or maybe I just have selective hearing. It's been a while since I've written an entry because my house was broken into and I was robbed- two separate occasions. Cleaning up the mess wasnt easy...

All of that hullabaloo only took about a week so I will begin with the week after:

Working with outreach programs often allows you to attend really fun functions. Last week I went to two days of the U19 South Pacific National Rugby tournament. Teams came from Tahiti, Tonga, PNG, Vanuatu, Samoa, and the wonderful Fiji. Even though we played on our own turf, we lost by one point to the strong Tongan boys. Sad.


Boys from the PNG team


watching Vanuatu vs. PNG

The outreach involved distributing material between games and doing an assessment on the basic knowledge of HIV. The survey is a lot like a test- the idea being the the most misunderstood information will be better highlighted in future IEC material, or at least thats what I would do with it.

Funny story. I was in the post office sending a letter and what do I see? A guy wearing a Cornell tshirt. Now, with all of the second hand shops I thought it was just a funny coincidence that the shirt made its way all the way to Fiji, but since a kaivalagi (white person) was wearing it I thought I'd take my chances and ask. Turned out that John (the kaivalagi wearing the shirt) went to Cornell and after graduating in 2007 decided that he and his friend Keith (a collage mate) would buy a sail boat and sail around until they didnt want to anymore- that was almost two years ago. With them was the first time I've spent any extended period with Americans that weren't volunteers.



Loud Americans on boats


wigs were involved...



playing on expensive things- like boats that cost more than houses

The weekend crept up on me because I spent most of the time drinking with sailors. Saturday was a big day for the office. We were hosting an HIV and sports rally and tournament. It was called 'Walk in the West.' We were collaborating with STOP (the same organization that was doing outreach at the U19 rugby tournament).



After rallying the streets of downtown Lautoka it was time for the games to begin. Two sports; volleyball and soccer. I joined the soccer crowd... and we kicked ass because of me! Semi finals and we're down two points, the games are short (6 minutes a half) and we're clearly going to lose. But no, i came in like a cherry picking wonder woman to save the day- two consecutive goals with my mean right foot- tied, into overtime and we score- we made it. That right, into the finals for the Lautoka Hospital team. I'm kind of a big deal, so start sending in requests for autographs now if you want any chance of getting one.


Sweaty after the soccer games

Anyway, work is still fun and Fiji is still beautiful. I have started to attend medical rounds at the Lautoka Hospital with the Fiji School of Medicine medical students. It gives me a chance to get out of the office when things are slow and still makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something, even though I'm not really doing my job. Yesterday I spent the day in Radiology learning about different bones (broken and normal) and how to tell if fluid is leaking into someones lungs, among other things. Rounds are actually really fun and I learn a lot.

Thats all for now. More to report later.

more to do

It's been a while since I last updated the blog and theres a lot to catch up, so I'll try to keep the stories from last week brief

Monday was a normal day in the office- some typing, watching the Olympics (which I'm sad to say is now over- boohoo, there goes my entertainment at work), and wandering around with other staff. Later in the day I received a phone call from someone I had met over a beer at the Northern Club. He turned out to be the vice president of the Rotary Club in Lautoka. Since Rotary does quite a bit of outreach and philanthropic work around the west, we both agreed that attending a meeting would be a good idea for me.

The meeting was very organized. Introductions, speeches, future plans and ideas, etc. The district governor came for his official visit that night so a lot was mentioned about Rotary's involvement with eradicating Polio around the globe and further initiatives on the international level. It was great to hear, but by the end of the night I still wasn't sure what this Rotary branch was doing locally. This week, I plan to attend another meeting which will hopefully clarify current and upcoming local projects.

The next day I expected to go into work and have another normal day. The slow pace made me nervous so I decided to step out and find something else to do- write my blog, yay! Unfortunately the library was closed, so I sat accross the street under a nice big tree and started working on my project reports while I waited the 15 minutes for it to open.

While waiting and writing, a group of people began calling me from the 4th story of a building. hmm, what to do. Ignore them? yes, I'll do that, I'll just sit here and pretend to be working hard. My forehead wrinkled up and my pen began to move more fluidly. Uh oh, they're coming down, running towards me trying to get my attention. What to do? Confront them, yes, thats what I'll do. I sat there as they came towards me, only two this time.

"are you busy"

"umm, well, I have this paperwork to fill out"

"so, are you busy?"

hmm, what to say now? "no I'm just waiting for the library to open"

"well, would you like to have a massage, manicure, pedicure, and you hair styled? we're a part of the cosmetology school and we're doing our practicals today." I'm sure she sensed my confusion and skepticism so she said "dont worry, its just for practice. we have an exam coming up, so it's all free."

Okay, sounds good to me. I went upstairs where students were learning how to cut, color and style hair, do manicures, pedicures, body wraps, massages, etc. Four hours later I left feeling relaxed and refreshed, not to mention my newly painted nails and nice straightened hair :o) -- needless to say I never did get to write my blog for the day... but, I will have you know that I did make it back to work!

Wednesday afternoon another call came. A project working with sex workers of the west created an advocacy group, and I was allowed to sit in on their meeting. The project that had originally brought the sex workers together is opting to take a back seat role in the advocacy group (the politics of the whole matter is still a little unclear to me) so the ladies, men, and viaviayalewas (transgender- mtf) were told that the advocacy group would only survive if they created their own project outside of the organization- though there would still be help and support from the original project. The meeting was all about the development of the new project created internally from the sex workers themselves.

Anyway, it went well and the participants created the 'Pacific Rainbow Project' -the new name for their advocacy group, and I have offered to be the health liaison for it. This means that if any or all need condoms, materials, or testing, they will call me and I will link them to the necessary resources (i.e. the Hub Centre where I work).

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On Thursday, I made it back into the interior. I went to a village called Nadrau, much more rural than I was expecting, where I helped with a combined TB/HIV workshop. The ride itself was 3 hours straight into Viti Levu, which essentially means I went to the center of the largest island of Fiji. The workshop was a day event in itself and my brain was exhausted by the end. My Fijian is coming along very slowly, and its always frustrating when I go on full day events like this one.

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Yesterday was a very long relaxing day. A good day, a fantastic day, I would say. My friend and I hopped on a boat out to an island called Beachcomber. Its a day trip island and resort. Since it was my first time out on the island I decided to go exploring... I wanted to trek the WHOLE thing. About 15 minutes later I realized I had walked the entire coast of the island, hehe. It's tiny! A few bure (thatch roof huts), perfect white sand beach and beautiful trees.

My day was spent under the sun snorkeling, napping, and reading. A good wrap up for the week I would say.

energizing the energized

This past Thursday I was able to finally get out to the Prison. Natabua Prison is about 7 km outside of Lautoka proper, it has about 200 inmates who are in for a short period of time- all others would be sent to the Suva prison. It isn't what you would call maximum security...

Upon entering the prison I was quite nervous, not because of the inmates themselves, but because of what was expected of me- I was asked to do 'energizers.' It was explained to me that these 'energizers' were useful as trust activities. So, I chose to do two; one where the group tries to get into line according to their birthday without talking, and a game of two truths and a lie.

So there I was, standing outside the gates of the Prison about to treat convicted felons like primary school children. I walked through the grounds to the 'classroom.' When we got there, it was just the two of us- me and the life skills educator who had initially asked me to come with her.

We waited while the inmates came in one by one dressed in their full orange or blue outfits. As they came in a few stopped at the sinks just outside the 'classroom'- farts, jokes and laughter came wafting in. It was amusing to see how embarrassed they were when they saw me sitting there. All I could do was giggle and suddenly I was no longer nervous...

Once the session started I got up and explained the 'energizers' and their purpose. The 10 of them seemed happy to be moving around, communicating and doing something a little different. Yes, there were a few that gave off the vibe of disinterest, but overall it was just fine under the overall circumstances.

After my little stint (which took about 25 minutes out of the two hours spent there), they all sat down and the life skills session began. The day was focused on making a priority matrix for reintegration into their communities. Many of them had families and support structures to go back to, others were focused on where to go, and everyone was concerned about money, land, and employment.

My job shifted to transcribing what was written on the board onto large sheets of paper, so I was able to listen and not feel completely useless.

I was supposed to return to the prison the next day, on friday, but unfortunately there were logistical issues that needed formal paperwork for me to enter again. Prison reform is really cool and I hope that 'Fiji time' doesnt take over and the paperwork is processed in a timely manner. Also, the life skills educator seemed to like having me around because I was able to give suggestions when she asked for it.

Anyway, so friday at the prison didnt work out, sad, so I went down to work and decided to see if I was needed there- or to watch the olympics, which has been on in the lobby all week, yay! I did neither because when I arrived everyone was getting ready for 'sports day'- a friday afternoon activity where all the nurses and medical staff get together at Shirley park and play soccer and volleyball. It was fantastic! Most people had no idea what they were doing, but we were all having fun and laughing (side note- I did get invited to play on the Lautoka Medical 7's soccer team by the medical officer, we'll see what comes of that). I was among the last to leave and was very sweaty at my departure, which was unfortunate because I was off to a family barbecue at a friends house.

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Saturday was a big event- a black and white formal function with an open bar, uh oh. I beautified myself and headed down to the northern club (a place where people go to swim, play tennis, squash, and drink) with two friends. The whole club was transformed and everyone looked wonderful- I'm used to seeing most of them in a t-shirt and board shorts. I danced, ate plenty of delicious food (sashimi, dumplings, curry, etc.), drank lots of wine, and chatted the night away with many of my new friends. It was a great time, and the night that started around 7 pm ended around 2:30 am.

The next day was a day to sleep in and have a small barbecue at my house. We made hamburgers. My room mate is finally starting to move in, so it was nice to have her and some of her Japanese friends around.

Nagisa's friend Hiro, funny boy, gets very drunk off of one beer, in fact it was the one he's holding that did him in that day.
Sitting down for lunch in the front room


nagisa (the room mate) and tim (another volunteer) cooking at the house- me? I'm setting the table

At President's night- the black and white function

Things are slowing back down as the week starts up again. My projects are dependent on other people right now, so there's only so much I can do while my counterpart and supervisor are both on leave.

the 'youth' workshop

Since the last entry I have been to a youth workshop. The workshop was for high school drop outs. The basis for this 3 week long workshop is income generations for squatter settlements outside of major cities.

Initially, the program itself didnt seem to have anything to do with income generation- it was a day of yoga, energizers, and learning a play. There were about 10 'youth' (in fiji this word encompasses any person that is unmarried up to the age of about 35), the youngest 14, the oldest 23. I participated in all of the activities, except for the play...

The play was centered around the issue of alcohol and domestic abuse- educational entertainment, if you will.

It was later explained to me that the 'youth' doing this workshop would have the opportunity to continue to pursue creating a theater group in the community. Currently, there is a lot of funding for programs like these. The community theater group would have to commit to doing outreach programs for the local villages and other squatter settlements.

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Oh... and on Saturday I went to an island and sat on the beach sipping on a strawberry daiquiri. It was fabulous, but I was a little grumpy this weekend because I slept in late the morning my friends went out on the 45 ft yacht... sad :o( --- ahhh the trials of a volunteer.

the interior

A reproductive health workshop in the interior of Viti Levu. Woo! the first one.

Two hours straight into the interior. There are really only one paved road that goes around the island- everything else is unkempt gravel, so the ride was bumpy... We traveled to a village called Tabalei, a small village in the mountains of Ba. The two peer educators I went with were requested- by the village, how cool!- to come and talk about STIs and HIV/AIDS.

The workshop lasted the entire day and was done completely in Fijian. It started with introductions (which is always embarrassing for me because I have to stumble through my Fijian while everyone giggles), sign up sheet and expectations.

The village expectations for the workshop were mostly questions like; what is HIV, how can you get it, how do you know if someone has it, etc. So, the program proceeded and they answered the questions while also giving the basic training for all reproductive health workshops. We had our break for, tea (and kava of course- I dont know if I mentioned that most if not all community workshops and events are done around the tanoa bowl, where the kava is mixed and consumed), lunch, and tea again.

Around 2:30pm (just after afternoon tea) there was sense that the end of the session was coming so people began to pass up pieces of ripped paper with their own personal questions on it. The mood changed, people were suddenly more interested. The questions were very specific, which was surprising because everybody knows everybody elses business in a village. The questions came, and floor was open for discussion... though everything was in Fijian, I was able to pick up enough to know what was going on, with help from a colleague who would translate when she saw wrinkles form on my forehead. It was fantastic! This was the first workshop I had been to with the Ministry of Health, and it seemed to be more or less effective and worthwhile. Whether behavior change will take place or not is another question, but with community outreach we can only hope that a difference was made.

On the ride home, we stopped on the top of a mountain and watched the sun set over the ocean while blasting oldies (like the Four Tops) out of the SUV. Sitting on the car and looking out at my new home was a perfect way to end the wonderful day :o)

'eh... it's Fiji'

We had our meeting today, but only 6 people showed up. Everyone kind of chuckled an "oh yeah, of course that would happen... it's Fiji" chuckle. I was sad, the few people that DID come had traveled from all over- doctors, head medical officers, even an HIV+ women who wanted to voice some concerns. Apparently there are still nurses who have stigmas against HIV too- one doctor told me that a nurse turned down treating an HIV+ patient, her reasoning... she "was pregnant and didnt want 'risk it'." --- how a trained medical professional could say that is beyond me.

I still dont know what the meeting was supposed be about, but it was still worthwhile for me. I was able to make some contacts which will hopefully lead into working on projects outside the hub center. We'll see.

I have a sinus infection, yuck.

nothing and everything

Is it time for a new post? I think so...

You should feel honored by this post because Im missing a showing of the Bee Movie in the lobby to write it. Aside from watching movies during lunch hour (or three hours, as the case was yesterday), I finally have travel/work plans for the coming week.

Tonight- I'm helping with a workshop for primary school teachers on how to incorporate the topic of puberty into the classroom.
Thursday- a meeting with most of the medical officers for STI sights in the west.
Friday- Red Cross disaster preparedness mini-training

Mon-Weds - a training of trainers workshop in Tavua (about an hour and a half from Lautoka). its unclear what the topic will cover- I'll report more on it later.

I found this all out today from the medical officer at the hub center (AKA my boss, AKA the shiznit). He is Ratuman (an islander from Ratuma, a place 3 days north by boat- thats what he said, but I have yet to confirm it with a map, though Im inclined to believe him since his family is from there) and looks very Polynesian. He told me how he flunked his last year of high school and said "well.. I guess I'll just do that over again and then go to medical school." Very inspirational. He's been really helpful and I think he'll be a great resource for the next two years.

So far, I still havent spoken to my counter part but, I've been keeping busy with odd jobs for whoever needs it- typing, playing UNO, talking to kids who are bored, accompanying other staff to the hospital or clinic, etc. It seems like a slow time for everyone, not just me.

under construction

the house. It's... how shall I put it, well, fantastic. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine a three bedroom house with an exercise room (kind of), living room, kitchen, two toilets, hot water, a fridge, stove, and a bath tub... thats right, a clean, operational bath tub! As a volunteer my image of living quarters generally involved a non flushing toilet, cold bucket showers, rats running around my bed, etc. - which is what I spent the last ten weeks with.

Anyhow, my room mate moves in when the renovations are finished- oh did I mention, they thought the wrap around porch wasnt up to standard without brand new tile, eehhhmm. She is a jica volunteer (Japanese equivalent to US peace corps, as I understand it) working for the local special education school. She speaks virtually no english. Its actually quite fun. I get to play charades, make up japanese words, and speak broken fijinglish with her. Shes really nice and giggles a lot, aaanndd she works at a special ed. school so she must be cool.

My job is starting off slowly, as I expected it would. The days are spent walking to work, sitting around, schmoozing with the people in my office, going to the library (lautoka has the western regional library- they have a section that offers free internet!), running errands here and there, sitting in the park eating lunch (the view is of the ocean, three humongous yachts, and one of the yasawa islands), and walking home to listen to the BBC on my tiny portable radio. Things are slow now, but next week they have plans to travel- so I'll jump on that like a fat kid on cake.

the start

The description of this blog was based on a few reoccurring thoughts- 1. the inability of my daily life to stop, even for good reason- most people would refer to this as the principle of "time," and 2. that timelessness is not the idea of immortality, but something felt by people who clearly have too much time on their hands.

The training process I just finished was 10 weeks long. Each incoming volunteer is assigned to a village (about 5 volunteers to every village). The villages were a 25-30 minute bus ride to Nausori- the closest town/small city. Needless to say that no one really lived "in the bush." But, as far as living the rural life- I, little ol' Kiva, lived vagalala (outside the village or literally, on its own). My house was about 6 minutes walk to the main (dirt) road. Crossing the road would put me in the village where I had language class.

Most days were as full as they could be, with 4 hours of language class (with one hour break for tea and nap- hey, its Fiji) and then health technical sessions for the second half of the day (with one hour break for tea- again, its Fiji). Every week we would have hub days were all programs (all 32 incoming volunteers) would come together. The programs were health (which also included youth) and environment (which also included business). These were days with combined sessions and the opportunity for the villages to show off their cooking/partying throwing abilities.

Blackness fell at 6 pm and no really left their houses after that. My evenings were spent playing rummy with my host sister, mom or dad (I became the master champ by the end) and watching old American and Australian tv shows (or movies, everything is called a movie).


saying goodbye to my host family- the transition from training to becoming a volunteer

my host dad and the chief of the village I was staying in

hehe...

Anyway, so here I am, living in the Lautoka area. I received an amazing assignment to work with the western division with the Ministry of Health. The Hub Sight (as they call it) is both a clinic and reproductive health promotion sight. There are big plans, but things move slow and get stuck in the "pipe-line." There is foreseeable traveling, and opportunity to carry out workshops all over western Fiji.

With that, my first day of work at the Hub Sight I arrive to find no counterpart. hmm, I say, hmm... I call her on my new and very sleek mobile phone. She explains that just last night she decided it would be a good time to take one week leave from work. Again, I say, hmmmm. I was able to meet a lot of people and eat some good curry with roti. Later today I will go for my first lesson in tennis- further explaination to these sotries I reserve for people who email me...

It's coming to the end of my first full day of work and I feel quite accomplished, and I was even able to have a mid day nap. Like I said, too much time on my hands.