Sunday, July 10, 2011
Since my last entry (which I wrote several weeks ago but didn’t get around to posting until now) there have been several major advancements in my project, and a major work/fun week.
First the project update:
After returning from the VAST training in Rabat I needed to pick up the data Jed collected on condom usage and distribution of medication for STIs in Itzer. I invited my counterpart Abdlrahim to come with me to Itzer so we could get the data and any last advice from Jed who was about to head home, bringing to a close his three year service. Well an easy pick up turned into 3 hours of project planning, assisted by Jed but largely run by Abdlrahim and Zineb. Our little project of teaching HIV and STI prevention in Itzer ballooned into a major training of trainers (or ToT, a type of project heavily pushed by Peace Corps with the “teach a man to fish…” proverb in mind). In this case it will be a training of nurses, youth center directors, health association presidents and members, and PCVs. If all goes according to plan the training will be two full days in the second week of September, run with material support from Peace Corps, and train around 50 people all together. After the training participants will return to the communities they work in and do six weeks of data collection like what was done in Itzer, before doing community focused trainings of their own with PCV support. After this second tier of trainings we will wait three months, for information and behavior change to hopefully disseminate in the communities and then do another six weeks of data collection to see what sort of an impact we’ve had. This major training will be to my knowledge the largest Peace Corps training of HCN (Host Country Nationals) on how to teach about HIV/AIDS and STIs in recent history. Daunting? Very, but so far everything is going without a hitch.
Last Tuesday I spent all day with Abdlrahim in Midelt meeting with Ministry of Health (MoH) officials. First we met with his direct boss, the head doctor in Midelt, who was extremely supportive of what we are doing, believed it was important work in our region, liked our project model specifically, and even introduced us to the president of an HIV/AIDS Association in Midelt who has experience teaching about HIV/AIDS and is excited to help us with the logistical side of things (and better yet he has a lot of volunteer friends and is the first English speaking member of the project!). In the afternoon we met with the Ministry Delegate (aka the head honcho of health in Midelt), who asked some great questions to flush out our plan, advised us on our selection of towns to bring people from in order to better represent the whole province, and provided us with names of health related associations in each of towns who were registered with MoH. All together it was an very successful day of meetings.
Last night I met briefly with Abdlrahim, who had met earlier that day on his own with Zineb to go over the materials they received from Peace Corps, and found out that he had been approved to take 20 days of vacation from his normal work duties to work solely on this project. This was an exciting development as the true role of a PCV is not to organize and run projects solo, rather our job is to support Moroccans to organize and run projects on themselves. I am now on the train to Rabat for a medical exam (hurt my wrist while playing capoeira at the Gnaoua Music Festival, after work that is) (update on wrist: no fracture! Just hurts so I’m getting a brace). I hope to meet with Mustapha, my programming staff, to talk about the project and work out what resources Peace Corps can provide, and to nail down the logistics of the event.
Ten months left and if all goes according to plan, this whole project will be done just two weeks before I finish my service. An exciting year ahead, and as a result there will likely be more frequent blog posts to come.
