22 More Months to Go! (Mais ou menos)

So, I've been getting a lot of questions as to what kind of work I'm exactly I am doing in Moz.  Hopefully this post will clear things up.  Also, excuse my english writing skills; speaking portuguese changes the way I talk and write.  ANYWHO... During the first three months of site, Peace Corps volunteers are primarily focused on integrating into our host organization and the community.  Therefore, I’ve been observing and participating in the activities of SCIP – Moma to first learn about the organization’s activities, structure, and members before assessing with which areas I am able to help.  For example, I’ve gone out to mobile clinics (mostly doing the vaccinations of mothers, babies, and children and testing and counseling of HIV/AIDS) with the theatre group and ATSC (Aconselhamento e testagem de saúde comunitária).  After a number of them, I observed that the data collection system of the theatre group could be improved.  Also, the syringes used for the vaccinations were not disposed of correctly or safely.  As volunteers, we are not here simply to give answers and solutions.  Instead, we provide questions and guide members of the organization to their own solutions or teach members skills that they can apply to their work in their organization.  This ensures that the change or solution will be more likely implemented and sustainable.  Going back to my example, I asked the theatre group how they collected data of the amount of people that grasped the message of their skit because I had not observed evaluation after the skit.  They basically told me that they estimated the amount of people and their relative ages.  I asked them how they thought that was reliable data.  Eventually, we came up with an efficient and more reliable system of data collection: each member would sit with a specific age group and evaluate the knowledge transfer with questions about topics covered in the skit.  This split up the audience into smaller groups to allow easier counting and evaluation into measurable age groups.  After, they would combine the data of the number of people per age group after the small group evaluations.  As for the syringes, I observed that the mobile clinic simply threw the safety disposal box (if you’ve worked in a biology lab, it’s the same type of box) in a trash pile to be burned.  They did not burn the syringe safety disposal box right away, so some local children took the box and started playing with it.  It was pretty dangerous considering the HIV prevalence in Mozambique; I have no doubt that at least one of the people vaccinated during a mobile clinic is HIV positive.  So, I went with one of the members of the mobile clinic to retrieve the box, and then we all discussed the proper disposal of the syringe safety boxes.  Also, we are encouraged to conduct a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis of our host organization.  I have been working on this through conversations with colleagues about the challenges they face in SCIP and what their vision is of an improved SCIP.  Through this analysis thus far, I have found that there is a lack of communication between the different areas of SCIP – Moma.  More specifically, there is a lack of communication of specific weekly plans.  This is problematic because of the lack of transport and causes SCIP to default on some planned activities.  For example, if there is a planned skit performance and training on the same day, one of them will not be completed.  Instead, with a weekly plan that is integrated through all areas of SCIP, there can be more efficient planning of activities.  SCIP could have a skit at the same location as the training so that both planned activities can be completed.  The last responsibility of a volunteer is to identify a counterpart within the organization.  A counterpart is someone within the organization who will work with me and help me to complete my responsibilities to SCIP.  A counterpart also contributes to the sustainability of skills transfers into the organization for when I leave the organization after my two years of service.  More or less, the role of a volunteer within an organization is to give a fresh perspective, identify areas that with which we can help, and be the agent of change to create a sustainable improvement.  However, the role of a volunteer extends past his or her host organization.  As a volunteer, I also have the responsibility to be a respected member of my community.  This includes getting to know and forming relationships with the people in the community.  Also, we need to respect and learn the local culture and customs.  That being said, outside of our organization, we can have side projects to help the needs of the community that we’ve identified through conversations and observations in the community.  For example, if there is a large interest in having youth and adult English lessons, I can make weekly English lessons a side project independent of SCIP.  Many volunteers also start Redes (girls youth group) or VOA groups (youth group focused on the arts or journalism) in their communities.  In addition, many volunteers organize groups of youth for English Theatre or Science Fair competitions.  These youth groups and competitions are meant to empower the youth of Mozambique.  So, the first three months at site are primarily a testing-the-water period for volunteers to evaluate what our purpose in the organization and community will actually be.  Hope this helps clear things up!