The next step begins...

Here we are again, and I am slowly making progress. The group is back at Camp PC once more, and starting the next step of this crazy process, better known here as visiting our permanent sites. We found out last week where we will all be going and what (sort of) we will be doing for the next two years, and now we go off our separate ways to actually see our new homes. I will be going to the westernmost region in Mali, the Kayes region, to a small village south of Kita. I doubt the village is on any maps, being as it has only 2000 inhabitants, but I am close enough to a large city that I hope not to get cabin fever too badly. When I stop to think about it I find it crazy that I will be living in a tiny village after living in huge cities all my life, but hey, this is what I signed up for. As a health volunteer, I am partnered with one of the local midwives (often there are no actual doctors in rural Mali, but midwives take care of the process of pregnancy, birth, etc.) working in the local clinic. Technically, I am not a trained health professional, so I will not be doing all the stuff you think of when you think of medical personnel. Instead, my purpose there for the next two years will be more informational, i.e. pushing good habits and changing the way some things are done. A lot of my job will involve working with pregnant women and babies, which I am thrilled about. Being as how Mali has an extremely high child mortality rate (1 in 10 infant mortality, roughly one third of children do not make it to their 5th birthday) the Peace Corps health sector focuses a great deal on fighting these statistics. More immediately, I will be helping my local clinic with pre-natal consultations, baby weighings (i.e. making sure that children are not severely malnourished, a big problem here), pushing vaccinations and good cooking and hygiene habits with mothers. However, a lot of my work will probably not start for a while seeing as how I am still working on the language skills. That, and babies tend to cry when they first see me.

I will be the first PC volunteer this village has ever had, so it should be a bit of a shock for everyone involved when the toubab (that is Bambara for foreigner) shows up in town wanting to learn the language and make friends. I’m also unsure of what my housing situation is like, so I’m not sure if I will be living with another family like my current situation or living in my own housing next to a family that will be taking care of me from afar. I am kinda hoping for the former, because however much I do love my homestay family right now, I am definitely someone who needs more private space. So we will see how that works out after this week. Another good thing about my site is the number of other volunteers in my group that will be within 50km of me, all of whom I like and would love to know better. I doubt I will be getting out that much in the first few months, just because we are supposed to be working on integrating and learning the language and figuring out what are the biggest needs in our community, but it is nice to know that they are there if I need someone.

Otherwise, I am doing really well so far. No major sicknesses, which is a slight miracle, and no mental breakdowns. At the very least, I am not ready to throw in the towel just yet J I can also not believe that it has already been one month since I arrived in Philadelphia, and in a little less than five weeks we will (hopefully) be Peace Corps volunteers, and not just trainees.