This blog could easily be about six pages long because it has been a while since I last updated and because the past few and upcoming few months are crazy. Thankfully for all of you with a short attention span, I will just give you 1-2 sentence blurbs about everything going on in my life. I will, however, start with a brief update on my future plans.
The big news is that I have booked a round-trip ticket home for the holidays. That is obviously exciting because it means that I will be eating a burrito, watching Jeopardy and seeing all of you in less than two short months. But the hidden excitement (depending on who you ask) is that the ticket is round-trip. I have been accepted to and will be entering the Masters in Public Health Program at the University of Cape Town. I will briefly describe the program and why I have decided to go there as opposed to any other option, such as coming back home. Let's be honest, I know most of you are asking yourselves/ my Mom that very question.
First, the easy part: the program is technically a part-time two years of coursework program. I will attempt to do all of the coursework in one year along with my field work for the mini-dissertation. I will likely expand my life skills girls clubs for the dissertation research. My goal is to graduate in June 2011, or December at the latest. The program is easily the best public health program in Africa and recognized throughout the world. I will live in an apartment with my rapidly growing pup, Jack, near the main campus of the school in what I consider to be on of the world's most beautiful cities. Anyone who is keen on a place to crash during the World Cup is more than welcome to come visit (or any other time). Eish. So I guess the easy part went quickly.
Now, the hard part: I honestly miss all of you every single day and I would love to be with you guys ASAP, but I absolutely know that this program is the right option for me. Some of the advantages are that I will graduate over a year earlier than I would if I did an MPH in the States, the degree is literally less than 1/10 the cost of a similar US program, and it will allow me to still be involved with my work here in Acornhoek. I am involved in a huge research project on home-based care that is an amazing opportunity for me. Studying in South Africa will allow me to gain a better theoretical public health background, while still being able to be involved in the work and with the people whom I am passionate about. This is just too good of an opportunity for my future for me to walk away from. I will return to the USA, but I hope that you understand and support my decision to delay that return for a few years.
Okay, now the fun part: Here are your update blurbs about what I have been doing!
Studies- the two studies I am coordinating are progressing pretty well and I am definitely learning a lot on my feet. The one on diarrhea has also meant that I am now the poop girl. Awesome.
Jack- my dog is a bottomless pit who just excreted some very rank gases as I was typing about the studies. Despite his lack of manners and the fear I have that he may never stop growing, I still adore him.
Natasha's visit/ trip to Cape Town in September- my friend Natasha came to visit and we met up in CT in September where we had fun faking being grown-ups at vineyards. She then came with me to visit Acornhoek and we ate a lot of KFC.
Botswana- After Cape Town I flew to Gaborone for the International AIDS Impact conference where I spoke on a panel. I was definitely the youngest person there, but managed to show my maturity out on the dance floor at the gala. Or not.
Upcoming Projects- In the next 7 weeks I will: finish my research studies, hopefully submit two articles for publication, help plan a World AIDS Day event, help plan and then open a library for Acornhoek, spend as much time as possible with my Acornhoek friends, plan an end-of-year party for the Orphan youth group, potentially visit and move some stuff to Cape Town, and teach the dog to stop eating garbage. Wish me luck!
I promise to write another update in the next month!
Lots of love,
Rose
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Becoming a Mom!
Hey guys,
It seems like I am getting a bit behind on my blog entries again, but I have a good excuse this time. I am now a Mom. Before you get all paranoid and start freaking out and thinking “I KNEW Rose was going to come home from Africa with a little adopted orphan!” (SARAH), I should probably clarify. My baby has a long tail and enjoys licking his balls and eating flattened frogs and medical gloves that he finds on hospital property. Again, before you get much more worried about what sort of demonic child I have, I should clarify that my baby is a dog named Jack Bandito. The dog of one of my Peace Corps friends had puppies in May and she asked if I would take one of them to ensure that it didn’t become road kill. After a lot-yet still insufficient- thought, my boyfriend, Steve, and I decided to take the puppy. It was only later that I realized that I would be stuck with this Village Blend (which I am sure is a breed of equal nobility as a French poodle) for the next 15 years or so. Oops. But the good news is that he is a pretty clever puppy and we have a lot of fun (even though he is currently chewing on what appears to be part of a diaper or insulation as we speak… the joys of having a walking garbage disposal living on hospital/ under-construction grounds).
I think that I have mentioned the terror that most black South Africans experience when they see dogs in prior emails/ entries. Well, Jack has provided an interesting study in contrasts for me. For the first time in 2 years I am able to walk around with something that attracts far more attention than my blindingly white skin. I am no longer Acornhoek’s # 1 celebrity. About half of the people that we see run away in terror. I must admit: it is pretty entertaining to watch local thugs freak out at the site of a 10 pound puppy. The other half tell me that Jack is very “fresh” and say things along the lines of “You must give me this dog!” I think one of the funniest days was when I was coming back from BHSSC and picked up some groceries in the local store. I didn’t quite know what to do with the puppy so I stuck him in my bag. I am sure this violated about 12931230 health codes, but the security guards are my friends and everyone seemed to think it was pretty hysterical to have a crazy white lady toting her pup around ala Paris Hilton. Maybe I should have named him Creampuff or Fluffy or something equally tough.
Anyhow, I swear that there is more going on in my life than a dog! Work is busy and the two studies are demonstrating the frustrating realities for me of research, particularly within rural Africa. But I am learning a lot and developing a lot of skills. Last week I had to interview for field workers/ clinic assistants which was pretty strange since I was interviewing people (many of whom are former colleagues from BHSSC) for a job in an area with 80% unemployment. No pressure or anything… But we hired 3 great candidates and the projects should progress much faster now.
I also have some exciting travels coming up. I will be meeting up with my friend from JHU, Natasha Desai, in Cape Town on 10 September (so soon!) and then we will come back to Acornhoek and travel together until 20 September. On 20 September I fly to Botswana where I will be speaking on a panel on “Care in the Home” at the 11th International AIDS Impact Conference. I will be talking about the literature review that I recently completed on Home-based care and trying not to faint. I am pretty anxious, but it will be a great opportunity and I am also looking forward to exploring a bit of Gaborone.
The other news that I think a lot of you have heard about is that I have applied to enter the Masters in Public Health program at University of Cape Town. I should hear whether or not I was accepted within the next few days, so expect a blog entry about my excitement/ disappointment (let’s hope for the former) soon. If all goes according to plan, I will finish up Peace Corps 11 December and come back to visit the USA for a little under a month prior to see all of you, to eat Mexican food and to likely catch pneumonia (I haven’t been in weather below ~50 degrees in nearly 3 years…). I would then move to Cape Town and begin my year of coursework in January 2010. So keep your fingers crossed!
Hopefully I will have good news in the next couple of days! I love and miss you all!
XO,
Rose
It seems like I am getting a bit behind on my blog entries again, but I have a good excuse this time. I am now a Mom. Before you get all paranoid and start freaking out and thinking “I KNEW Rose was going to come home from Africa with a little adopted orphan!” (SARAH), I should probably clarify. My baby has a long tail and enjoys licking his balls and eating flattened frogs and medical gloves that he finds on hospital property. Again, before you get much more worried about what sort of demonic child I have, I should clarify that my baby is a dog named Jack Bandito. The dog of one of my Peace Corps friends had puppies in May and she asked if I would take one of them to ensure that it didn’t become road kill. After a lot-yet still insufficient- thought, my boyfriend, Steve, and I decided to take the puppy. It was only later that I realized that I would be stuck with this Village Blend (which I am sure is a breed of equal nobility as a French poodle) for the next 15 years or so. Oops. But the good news is that he is a pretty clever puppy and we have a lot of fun (even though he is currently chewing on what appears to be part of a diaper or insulation as we speak… the joys of having a walking garbage disposal living on hospital/ under-construction grounds).
I think that I have mentioned the terror that most black South Africans experience when they see dogs in prior emails/ entries. Well, Jack has provided an interesting study in contrasts for me. For the first time in 2 years I am able to walk around with something that attracts far more attention than my blindingly white skin. I am no longer Acornhoek’s # 1 celebrity. About half of the people that we see run away in terror. I must admit: it is pretty entertaining to watch local thugs freak out at the site of a 10 pound puppy. The other half tell me that Jack is very “fresh” and say things along the lines of “You must give me this dog!” I think one of the funniest days was when I was coming back from BHSSC and picked up some groceries in the local store. I didn’t quite know what to do with the puppy so I stuck him in my bag. I am sure this violated about 12931230 health codes, but the security guards are my friends and everyone seemed to think it was pretty hysterical to have a crazy white lady toting her pup around ala Paris Hilton. Maybe I should have named him Creampuff or Fluffy or something equally tough.
Anyhow, I swear that there is more going on in my life than a dog! Work is busy and the two studies are demonstrating the frustrating realities for me of research, particularly within rural Africa. But I am learning a lot and developing a lot of skills. Last week I had to interview for field workers/ clinic assistants which was pretty strange since I was interviewing people (many of whom are former colleagues from BHSSC) for a job in an area with 80% unemployment. No pressure or anything… But we hired 3 great candidates and the projects should progress much faster now.
I also have some exciting travels coming up. I will be meeting up with my friend from JHU, Natasha Desai, in Cape Town on 10 September (so soon!) and then we will come back to Acornhoek and travel together until 20 September. On 20 September I fly to Botswana where I will be speaking on a panel on “Care in the Home” at the 11th International AIDS Impact Conference. I will be talking about the literature review that I recently completed on Home-based care and trying not to faint. I am pretty anxious, but it will be a great opportunity and I am also looking forward to exploring a bit of Gaborone.
The other news that I think a lot of you have heard about is that I have applied to enter the Masters in Public Health program at University of Cape Town. I should hear whether or not I was accepted within the next few days, so expect a blog entry about my excitement/ disappointment (let’s hope for the former) soon. If all goes according to plan, I will finish up Peace Corps 11 December and come back to visit the USA for a little under a month prior to see all of you, to eat Mexican food and to likely catch pneumonia (I haven’t been in weather below ~50 degrees in nearly 3 years…). I would then move to Cape Town and begin my year of coursework in January 2010. So keep your fingers crossed!
Hopefully I will have good news in the next couple of days! I love and miss you all!
XO,
Rose
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
2 Years in South Africa
It's hard to believe it, but it has now officially been 2 years since I arrived in South Africa. I can't honestly decide if it seems like way more or less than 2 years. I have learned a lot of invaluable lessons about the world, about development, and about myself during this time. I think the lessons are probably half good and half bad.
There is a lot of pain, poverty, neglect and unnecessary suffering in this world, but there are incredibly beautiful, kind, and loving people doing their best to alleviate these negatives.
I often see people started but not sustained on medications or employment or education in the name of development only to see their lives worsened by these ill-conceived plans that crumble. I have also seen the positive impact that a concerned individual or organisation can have on the lives of people my community.
I have also seen myself grow hardened and solitary at times, overwhelmed by everything around me. Yet I have overcome and achieved things that I never would have dreamed possible prior to coming here. So all things considered my time in South Africa has been a really good, yet difficult, learning experience for me!
That sounded far more melancholy/ trite than I actually feel, but I guess that's the nature of looking back on milestones passed. Things are going pretty well for me around here. Some of you are up-to-date on my current work, but I am not sure everyone knows. I am now spending most of my time as research coordinator for two studies under the University of Witwatersrand that are taking place here in Acornhoek. I still do work with the orphan programming at BHSSC though and also with local orphan initiatives. One study is a record review of patients at the HIV clinic who were tested for pulmonary tuberculosis. A different study found that half of patients taking anti-retroviral therapy are dying from TB so we hope to better understand Tuberculosis suspect outcomes.
The other study is also at the HIV clinic but it is assessing patient access to water and their experiences with diarrhea in order to better understand why a quarter of all patients are dying of diarrheal infections. In this study I have 4 field workers involved who are interviewing a total of 280 patients and we will also be taking a total of 30 stool samples. At this point I am sure you are all thinking gross. Yeah, me too. But we are not actually physically touching anyone's poop and am working really hard on getting the field workers to feel very comfortable talking about diarrhea which I think is probably a taboo subject in every country! We started the study pilot today and it is going well, although we are not seeing as many patients that meet study inclusion criteria as we had hoped so the study will take longer than anticipated. Also- Last week I had my field worker training and I Realised that I am Perfect for this country since my name, Rose, is like a Prince. You are now probably all scratching your heads in confusion. Long story short, 3 of the 4 field workers also have names that are words which means that I finally fit in (they are Realise, Perfect, and Prince).
The other exciting news is that this weekend I am going to get a puppy!! My boyfriend, Steve, is coming to visit on Sunday (also exciting) and he is picking up a puppy from another friend en route. He is a village mutt and I am so so so thrilled to have him. I am contemplating naming him Bubba. So look out for a new post next week with pics of my baby:)
Lots of love,
Rose
There is a lot of pain, poverty, neglect and unnecessary suffering in this world, but there are incredibly beautiful, kind, and loving people doing their best to alleviate these negatives.
I often see people started but not sustained on medications or employment or education in the name of development only to see their lives worsened by these ill-conceived plans that crumble. I have also seen the positive impact that a concerned individual or organisation can have on the lives of people my community.
I have also seen myself grow hardened and solitary at times, overwhelmed by everything around me. Yet I have overcome and achieved things that I never would have dreamed possible prior to coming here. So all things considered my time in South Africa has been a really good, yet difficult, learning experience for me!
That sounded far more melancholy/ trite than I actually feel, but I guess that's the nature of looking back on milestones passed. Things are going pretty well for me around here. Some of you are up-to-date on my current work, but I am not sure everyone knows. I am now spending most of my time as research coordinator for two studies under the University of Witwatersrand that are taking place here in Acornhoek. I still do work with the orphan programming at BHSSC though and also with local orphan initiatives. One study is a record review of patients at the HIV clinic who were tested for pulmonary tuberculosis. A different study found that half of patients taking anti-retroviral therapy are dying from TB so we hope to better understand Tuberculosis suspect outcomes.
The other study is also at the HIV clinic but it is assessing patient access to water and their experiences with diarrhea in order to better understand why a quarter of all patients are dying of diarrheal infections. In this study I have 4 field workers involved who are interviewing a total of 280 patients and we will also be taking a total of 30 stool samples. At this point I am sure you are all thinking gross. Yeah, me too. But we are not actually physically touching anyone's poop and am working really hard on getting the field workers to feel very comfortable talking about diarrhea which I think is probably a taboo subject in every country! We started the study pilot today and it is going well, although we are not seeing as many patients that meet study inclusion criteria as we had hoped so the study will take longer than anticipated. Also- Last week I had my field worker training and I Realised that I am Perfect for this country since my name, Rose, is like a Prince. You are now probably all scratching your heads in confusion. Long story short, 3 of the 4 field workers also have names that are words which means that I finally fit in (they are Realise, Perfect, and Prince).
The other exciting news is that this weekend I am going to get a puppy!! My boyfriend, Steve, is coming to visit on Sunday (also exciting) and he is picking up a puppy from another friend en route. He is a village mutt and I am so so so thrilled to have him. I am contemplating naming him Bubba. So look out for a new post next week with pics of my baby:)
Lots of love,
Rose
Monday, July 6, 2009
Birthday Blog!
Hey everyone!
It has been a little while since I posted, so I figured I would quickly tell you about what I've been doing. I also want to share with you how I was able to celebrate my birthday (a bit early)!
Things are going well here and it is hard to believe that the two-year mark is rapidly approaching. I am currently juggling work at BHSSC and doing research at the hospital which is a bit of an odd mix, but nice. It allows me to start my research work but to still stay in touch with the community and reason why I came to SA in the first place. I honestly feel as though I have started a new chapter of my life. I now have running water, co-workers who don't sleep 95% of the day, and a social life (not to say my nights timing myself at Sodoku weren't gregarious...) I have started to become friends with some of the other expats who are doing research around here and have also been spending more time with my SA friends like doing a Chick Flick Thursday sleepover at my friend Maggie's last week- yes, I have reverted to being about 12 years old.
Speaking of which, I am now actually 24 years old. I can't decide if that sounds really grown-up (gag) or incredibly young since most of my friends are in their 30s. This past Saturday I hosted a joint birthday party for Abuti (my now-16-year-old "little brother"), the US of A and me. It actually turned out pretty well and was a lot of fun. I made a Mexican feast (not overly-American, I know) for Abuti, and a whole random assortment of SA friends and co-workers, Expat researchers, kids, and two Peace Corps friends who drove up to visit. It was really nice to have so many of the people that I care about in one place sharing burritos. We had way too much food, a lot of fun, danced a bit, and overall the event was a success. I managed to fit 15 people in my place which would have been... err.. a bit uncomfortable in my old place. I even got Abuti to dance with me! I will post some pictures of the event once I get them from a friend.
So today is the actual not-so-big day and I am happy to have the hosting duties over and to just relax. I started my day with a Reese's Cup (the breakfast of champions, thanks, Liz!) and am now headed to do some work in the clinic. This afternoon and tomorrow morning I am lecturing and facilitating some sessions with study abroad students from a Bard University/ Wits program studying human rights. Tonight the big plan is to do absolutely no work (really hard for me to let myself do), eat left-over Mexican, and talk to a few loved ones on Skype. I can't imagine a better birthday around here, but I obviously wish I could be spending it with all of you. Thanks for all your love and warm wishes.
XO,
Rose the Grownup
Monday, June 1, 2009
Cape Town and Trailer Life
Hey guys,
Sorry that it has been a while since my last post, but I have been doing a lot of traveling. I attended my Close of Service Conference with Peace Corps which was bizarre- I have not finished with PC, but this is my last PC conference/ official event. It was wonderful to see everyone again, but there are now only 16 NGO volunteers left of our original 43! Not a great batting average!
After the conference I went to lovely Cape Town to visit a pediatric AIDS researcher that I met at the SA AIDS Conference. And that town is LOVELY. We're talking Table Mountain vistas-, happy people-, and roaring ocean-lovely. It was really fun exploring the city and eating tasty food. I found a relatively fantastic (relative to well... probably the one other option in this country) bagel place and ate at an almost-Mexican restaurant. Which is pretty exciting when you live in Africa! We went to cool little cities along the coast, spent a weekend along the West Coast and explored Cape Town.
We were also able to visit Robben Island (I couldn't go when my family was visiting because the seas were too rough). The tours are led by ex-political prisoners and it was surreal to step foot on the historic island and to be fully exposed to mans' inhumanity. It was a really interesting and memorable visit. But I now understand why our earlier trip had been canceled because those seas can get rough! On the boat ride over the boat was rocking and the staff were literally just walking down the aisles and grabbing everyone who looked green and escorting them away where they presumably had access to extra-strength barf bags. It was pretty hilarious. I mean... sad? You can tell how windy it is by the picture of me on the boat in front of Cape Town. My hair is definitely whipping me! I included the pic of me at the beach for my parents. Gag. Sorry!
I got back to Acornhoek last Monday and have been getting in the swing of spending most of my time working at the hospital. I am going to be coordinating some research projects which is cool, but intimidating. I also am helping BHSSC to develop smaller organisations in some of our villages which will hopefully help us to cover community needs more effectively. I was at BHSSC on Wednesday and I was really happy because they were managing really well and just had a list of little questions that they needed help with. I continue to work and visit with the orphans, but am enjoying my transition into higher level work helping the local municipality to manage orphan programming. So all good progress!
Lots of love! Rose
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Trailer, Sweet Trailer!
Hey All,
Some of you may have heard by now that I have moved out of my old quarters and into a lush trailer home on hospital property. This place is fantastic!! Running water, stove, three bedrooms and a STUNNING view. I honestly think that the view out of my bathroom window (look at me bragging) is one of the most beautiful vistas that I have seen in a while. Here are some pics.
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