What do you do again?

Let's talk about work. What exactly am I doing here? I'm at a good place to describe my work because my supervisor and I are at a sort of hopeful jumping off point.

Technically the Peace Corps describes me as a health and community development volunteer. With a bit of imagination that could encompass a wide range of activities. Community development is just about assessing an area and striving to make it a better place to live. Your goals can be very large or very small because often even the tiniest of actions can have a ripple effect. Health also has the advantage of meaning physical, mental or really anything relating to quality of life. Peace Corps gives me the freedom to be creative and come up with projects concerning these broad, broad themes.

I've been given some advantages as well. I was placed in a hospital setting which is also the hub for community health workers, who go into the community for sensitization, education and low skill medical care. I was also assigned to help a USAID program called Higa Ubeho. It is characterized as a health promotion program and goes about that goal by doing economic development.

Presently I am helping two cooperatives (read small businesses). The cooperatives are comprised of individuals who are HIV positive. By getting them training in a specific trade, helping them with management skills, accounting skills, marketing skills, etc, we accomplish many goals. The individuals themselves will have a better mental state, feel productive and have a reason to get out of bed in the morning. The work will be designed specifically for them - nothing too labor intensive and with a flexible schedule so that their health fluctuations can be accommodated. Once there is a steady income, these individuals can then afford health insurance and medications. Since many of these individuals are widows, they are the breadwinners for multiple children, their own and orphans they have adopted. With the income, they can also buy health insurance for their children and pay school fees. All of that, plus they form an excellent community and support system amongst themselves.