Project Design & Management

I'm back from my week-long training in Windhoek! It's put on by the Peace Corps as part of our "ReConnect". We will have another one at the end of October. After 3 months of "observation" at our sites, the reason behind ReConnect is to check in on all of us - how we're adjusting, answer any questions/concerns, review our Needs Assessments that we had to fill out and turn in about a month ago, meet with the doctors for 1 more shot (Lord, I hope there are no more! I have been poked so many times during PST, that I should be immune to everything for the rest of my life!), discuss PC vacation/travel policies and other admin stuff, and this time, they have included the Project Design & Management workshop. Most of us brought our counterparts for this training. This is the time to sit down, without distractions from our jobs, discuss our main project, and begin figuring out how the heck to get it all done….

We stayed at a remote little lodge, just south of Windhoek. It was very pretty, but VERY far off the beaten path….

 So, in my last blog post, I talked about how I will be working with the AIDS Awareness Club at the school, and hopefully expanding this to the other 6 nearby schools, as my main project. Well, as it goes here in the PC, plans completely changed 2 days before I left for the workshop. 

me and my fellow PCVs enjoying our lunch break!
from l-r: Denise, me, David, Cherie

Here in Namibia, hierarchy is very important. You must go through the correct channels, in the correct order, to get anything done. One of the main groups of people I still had yet to meet was the Clinic Committee. These are community members of my village. The Headman was not part of this Committee - and by the way, this would be equivalent to a mayor of a town. There is a governor above him, and so on. Some villages have chiefs, others, headmen. This is a way for Namibians (and this may be the same in other African countries?) to take care of, and maintain, the traditional aspects and running of the village. The Committee meets to discuss the running of the clinic and address any of its needs. For instance, in my clinic, there are only 2 nurses - and only 1 of them is an RN. (I have been there since May, and have yet to see a doctor.) Although the RN (my supervisor) has requested more help from the Ministry of Health & Social Services, the Committee has decided to form an official letter of request, for more staff, and send this to the Ministry. 

Well, before little ol' me can do anything here, on behalf of the clinic, I had to meet with the Committee. I have had to maintain a high level of patience, because my supervisor has been so busy, and I almost accepted the fact that everything was going to take twice as long (or more) to get anything done…..But, ahh…finally, without any notice, they showed up at the clinic for a 3-hour meeting. Since I had not been formally introduced to them,  my supervisor wanted me to wait in the other room, until it was time to introduce me. Just from walking around the village, I had already met many of them. When I introduced myself (luckily, the Chairman speaks decent English, and so he translated everything for me), I explained that I am here in the village to lend an extra hand and I will be assisting in 1 main project, along with a few secondary projects - but that these must be something that will continue on after I leave - to quote the PC, "sustainable projects". Because, really what is the point of me coming in to their community, doing something for 2 years, and then leaving - and maybe that something I did was never really anything THEY wanted or needed. And how will that help them in the future? (I'm currently reading the book DeadAid - and highly recommend it! Also, for further reading check out the public Dropbox folder I have included on my blog - especially the PACA Manual.) 

I asked them what was their greatest health concern or need, and how can I help. And they answered:

"A garden"

Let me just say, that over the past 3 months, I have been feverishly researching HIV/AIDS Awareness Clubs for schools, and any- and everything related to this topic. 

And now they want me to plant a garden. 

And I have never grown a plant in my life. 

Should be interesting.

But again, this is THEIR project. And although I will need to know the process of gardening, I will not be the one doing all the digging and planting and harvesting. I will be ASSISTING. Plus, I'm sure there are some expert farmers here in the village - seeing as how most of them have land to grow their food (mahangu, mainly).

My counterpart, Penehafo, and I got to work! This workshop was definitely educational and we were able to accomplish a lot. I especially enjoyed how they guided us through every step and detail. I guess you can say I'm a detail kind of person (although maybe I didn't realize this beforehand). Pene, on the other hand, is not. And so this workshop, I think, was an eye-opener for her - and how we can't just jump into a project without fully discussing and planning all aspects. I think it overwhelmed her a bit.

But we came up with a plan! And, really, the plan is, to take the information we learned, and bring this back to the Committee. I am hoping to meet with them this coming week. See, THEY are the ones who will be making the decisions. And as I had to keep reminding Pene, I am just an ADVISOR. I will be there every step of the way, but this is the COMMUNITY'S garden. And as I was advised, I will be that extra hand, the outreach person, who can help gather all the necessary info, and I should take a back seat and let them plan this, with me advising them. And when it comes down to implementing and even writing a grant for the funds to support this garden, this is Pene's responsibility. I will, of course, help her through every step of the way…..

Also, in October, during our second part of ReConnect, we will have a gardening training workshop. More specially, Permagarden workshop, put on by PC's own Peter Jensen. If you don't know anything about Permagarden's, check out this link: Permagarden. This technique is used when the soil has very little-to-no nutrients, and has been successfully implemented in Tanzania by Peter and the PC. Also, I have uploaded the Permagarden Field Manual on my Dropbox folder.

Oh, and the initial purpose of the Clinic Garden? (I will be asking the Committee to be a little more detailed in their goals for this garden when we meet). The plan is to give some of the vegetables to HIV patients who are on ARVs (the medicine specifically for HIV/AIDS patients - without eating properly, the medicine won't work as well. PLUS it helps keep their immune system strong, to continue to fight this virus.) and some of the food will go to orphan and vulnerable children (OVC). Here in Namibia, and in our village, there are many OVCs. I originally thought this meant children on the street - homeless. Of course, we have no "street" here in the village! What OVC really means, is that there are many children whose parents have either passed away, or have moved to a town, leaving them with the grandmother (older women are more prevalent here in the village than older men - many men pass away at an earlier age). And the parents don't have the money to support these children. And the grandmother doesn't have the money to support them either. So, the children have a place to lay their head at night, but may not have the money for a school uniform, food, etc. Also, some of these children may have HIV and/or don't go to school, and have nothing to do during their days. The Red Cross is helping them, but still, more needs to be done. I'm hoping to partner up with our TB field coordinator, who is also a volunteer for the Red Cross. He wants to start clubs for them, as well as a garden. So, I'm hoping we can join our efforts and give these kids a chance!

And not only will we be helping to feed people in the community, but the clinic also wants to use some of the vegetables as an income-generating activity for the clinic. The funds will go to these OVCs for school uniforms, as well as HIV patients to get their medication. And to further explain this - here in the village, once a month, HIV patients go to the church, where doctors and the Ministry hand out the ARV medications. (By the way, rarely does this doctor stop by the clinic to help with the "other" patients.) This is great - these patients can continue their care, without having to travel far. BUT, in order to get the ARV medication, you must be a registered HIV patient. And in order to become registered, you must go to the hospital for complete bloodwork, to determine if you are a candidate for this medicine (HIV patients only go on ARVs when their CD4 cell count is about 250, here in Namibia - which marks the beginning stages of AIDS. Oh, I'm learning so much!) Well, many of these patients don't have money to get the transportation to the hospital to get registered. SO, the clinic wants to create an income to help in this transportation. (And, you might say that these patients could work or do something to get the money. Well, that's a whole other issue, and I'm hoping to start some kind of business/entrepreneurship club for the community, to give them a chance at earning an income. BUT the reality is, getting ARVs is a life-or-death situation. These patients MUST start immediately, in order for them to have the chance of a healthy, long life. Maybe, once their health returns somewhat, we can discuss IGAs (income-generating activity) for them.

I am also hoping to use part of this garden to help teach the community how they can incorporate the Permagarden method in their own homes, as well as nutrition classes. There is another program the PC has successfully used in other countries for mothers with malnourished and under-weight children, called the HEARTH program. For more info, go to this link: HEARTH, or the Dropbox Folder (under Nutrition/Gardening).

So - this garden will be my main project. My supervisor still wants me to continue to work with the AIDS Awareness Club at the school (including using the Grassroots Soccer Program) , as well as maybe form a Girls' Club. The teenage pregnancy rate is high, here in the village, and these kids need something to do with their time - AND become a little more educated in sex, STDs, etc. Of course, I will be facing many cultural issues - some girls feel it is a sign of womanhood to be pregnant - and you will even find the daughters and mothers in a bit of a rival to see who can have more children. Or, there is the peer pressure of becoming pregnant - since all of their friends are doing it. Or their is the feeling of many women/girls to not force condom-use issue with their partner. And I could go on….

As you can see, there are many layers here……

And I just want to make one point. I am not here to change their way of life or culture. I respect it. Namibians are amazing, wonderful, loving, friendly people! I just want them to get all the facts, and to fully think things through, before moving forward…..

Well, it's time for me to learn all about gardening!!!

Have a great day everyone!

~Johanna

p.s. Thanks to my friends who sent the Oreos to keep me company while writing this blog!! :)

p.p.s. My next post will be about my trip to the ocean....Swakopmund!

a pretty bird at our rest camp