Job WHAT

So what do you do again? Common question. I've been avoiding addressing it here, don't know how to self analyze that; but I'm going to try and explain it as best I can.

I work for a USAID program, Higa Ubeho, which operates off PEPFAR funds. PEPFAR is the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief which was set up by George W. Like all great bureaucratic ladders, the money is handed down through many layers. USAID gives it to CHF (used to stand for Christian/Catholic Housing Federation although that doesn't make much sense anymore) who gives it to Rwandan partner organizations (RPOs). I directly work for the RPO called EPR - Presbyterian Church of Rwanda. Higa Ubeho is a HUGE program with different sections addressing education, economic strengthening, nutrition, etc. Because it is funded by PEPFAR, all the services target people living with HIV/AIDS (PVV). Had enough acronyms yet? Well, in case you're an avid reader who remembers details - Claudia is the person in charge of education. She helps coordinate the paying of school fees for OVCs (orphans and vulnerable children) and gets them their school supplies. She is also starting PTAs (yes, like American PTAs - parent-teacher associations). We are also holding a holiday camp at the beginning of August, which she will be in charge of. Holiday camps are usually week long camps for secondary students to teach them life skills. It will be similar to a leadership camp - focusing on their individual talents and resilience and creating goals and support networks for creating success in their future. We will have over 500 students coming from all over the district to stay at the local boarding school for a week (school is out of session for the month). I will be helping out with this although it is not my primary function.

I work with the economic strengthening officer/food security officer, Fidele. We are creating ISLGs (internal savings and lending groups). To put it as simply as possible, we are taking parents of the OVCs and creating a culture of saving so that when the program is finished, they can afford to pay the school fees themselves. We are also targeting members of cooperatives who are living with HIV/AIDS. Cooperatives are hard to explain because there is no direct American comparison. The best I can come up with is a small business if the business partners all had the same social problem they were trying to combat. These people, specifically, were mobilized to come together to improve their situation because they are living with HIV/AIDS, although there can be other social reasons for them to come together. They are encouraged to have IGAs (income generating activities). So creating ISLGs within cooperatives, is fueling capital internally to promote their IGA, not just personally but for the cooperative as a whole.

Let me give you an example so this will make more sense. We have a cooperative called Benimana. They make honey. All the 40 some members are living with HIV/AIDS. They aren't always healthy at the same time so it's good that they can run their honey business as a group. They can also lean on each other for support as friends. They have a whole system already set up for how they run their business, possibly monthly meetings of the entire assembly, biweekly meetings of the e-board and a schedule for manual labor and marketing. We split the cooperative into 2 ISLGs. They can make their own rules. They elect a president, secretary, treasurer, 2 money counters and three key holders. They decide how often they will meet and the amount of money they will collect at each meeting. Usually it's a weekly meeting with 100 francs being collected for loans and then 25 francs for social funds. The interest rate is usually set around 10%. Members can petition for a loan. They have to present a IGA that they will start. One such activity could be raising chickens and then selling the eggs. The member needs the initial capital to buy some chickens. They will tell the assembly how quickly they will be able to pay the loan back, plus interest. The interest goes into the community pot for other members to take loans from. The social funds are not used for loans. Members can use these funds for emergency instances - a funeral - or if a member becomes very ill and other members want to bring them food and supplies. Social funds don't need to be paid back. The ISLG is set up on a strict time line (usually a year or two). At the end of that time, all the money in the pot is split amongst the members. They can agree to restart the group and elect a new e-board if they want. The ISLG helps them generate their own capital for business, while keeping them on a strict schedule of saving. It also helps them avoid banks while necessary. Banks can have fees, too much bureaucracy and urban locations for these incredibly poor and rural citizens.

So in case you are wondering what economic strengthening has to do with being a health volunteer - it all leads back to everything being connected and trying to figure out the best way to help people living with HIV/AIDS. Should we just keep giving them free prescription drugs (which we don't actually do at my hospital)? and all the orphans whose parents died of AIDS and they themselves are HIV positive, should we pay all their school fees and leave it at that? Should we treat them as if they are incapable of still generating their own income and feeling productive and self sufficient? Well, of course not. Economic strengthening (which I'm crossing my fingers will actually work) could create a cultural shift to start organic savings and create small businesses that support local communities. What a beautiful sight that would be. If just one person finds the money to pay for their health insurance so they can get ARV medication…success.

Higa Ubeho is coming off the heels of a previous USAID program called CHAMP (another acronym that means something about HIV, mobilizing people, community, blah, blah). From the impression I've gotten from people working on CHAMP, it was more heavily focused on handouts - whereas Higa Ubeho is more about giving people the tools to help themselves. There was 2 planned phases to CHAMP. For one reason or another, CHAMP was not approved to perform phase 2. All I know is that there were a few RPOs that were dropped and new ones added, and reporting and monitoring is being heavily stressed this go around. I'm really hoping we make it to phase two. For one thing it is where all the nutrition activities are housed, which would be incredibly helpful, and it will keep me with some semblance of a job for the entire two years I'm in Rwanda.

Luckily I already have side activities that have been occupying my time - English club, Anti-SIDA club, mental health office and I even got to see some of the data management that happens for my hospital and the 11 health centers in the district yesterday. I am only now ready to admit what a data geek I am. Data entry and number crunching is both calming and exhilarating to me. What is wrong with me?!