11-04-2011

The last two weeks I’ve gotten to participate in one of the highlight projects of my stint in Africa.

One Sight is a philanthropy that travels throughout the globe, providing free optometric eye care to those who need it but may be unable to afford it or access it. Working with partner organizations in their host country, they run the entire process – from the Snellen Chart (remember elementary school eye charts? ), autorefraction for accurate prescriptions , full optometric exams (cataracts, glaucoma, pterygium, diabetic retinopathy,etc) and at the end, glasses at the closest possible prescriptions. And even if you don’t need glasses: sunglasses! The sunglasses were a big deal, by the way. Kids were coming back through three or four times, complaining about how their glasses didn’t work and they needed extra sunglasses. They got stickers instead…oh well.

The process for a patient is a whirlwind. For those who had never had an eye exam before – which was the majority of the people who came – it was the equivalent of an alien abduction. Have you ever had your eyes dilated? It sucks on a normal day. Imagine being led to a room with thirty other people, listening to a stranger speak a language you don’t understand, right before they start dousing your eyes with burning medicine. Not a lot of surprise when I heard the rumor about the strange white folk coming to blind people in the villages. Oddly enough it took a few days to figure out that the person explaining the temporary effects of dilation might want to do it in Zulu.

You could say my main job was making the experience as comfortable as possible for the gogos. Most of the two weeks, I was working with the doctors doing the eye exams, as a translator. According to the optometrists, the pathology was interesting…different than what they had expected. Most likely they were referring to the man with the mole – complete with hair – growing out of his eye.

Over the course of two weeks, 6000 people passed through. Taking into account the weather (bad) and the site locations (quite rural) that’s an impressive number. The One Sight crew and the Mpilonhle NGO were awesome people. Working with South African physicians and optometrists on site to schedule follow up care for those who required it was possibly the most important part of the whole process, in a manner of speaking. In the face of the HIV epidemic, routine optometric care is a luxury at best – and, at least in my health district (serving upwards of 100000) completely absent. I met with people I know from my village there; people who had traveled nearly three hours to another village for treatment. Bringing to light the resources already available in South Africa, among people who may have previously just resolved to live with a worsening health condition, might improve the quality of life of many for years to come.

Best thing from the two weeks: an older man who had worked for several years in Joburg had a flawed cataract surgery, rendering him essentially blind. After putting on his glasses with an insane prescription, he started jumping for joy and calling out (in Zulu) all of the random objects outside he could see. The display drew some attention, and out of nowhere he was surrounded by about forty digital cameras snapping photos. After basking in his fame for about 30 minutes, he leans over and starts complaining about how we were wasting his time. I asked why, said that I didn’t understand. His response: “Cama manje! Cama manje!” Translates as: “Pee now! Pee now!” The man was, literally, going to piss himself if he was not released. Made my day.

11/25/2010

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. By far.

It has been a bit of a culture shock today to meet people, greet them with "Happy Thanksgiving", and hear virtually nothing in return. Obviously, South Africa needs me, if only to teach them about this eating contest every November. Maybe next year I'll write a grant for some turkey and stuffing. At least a can of cranberry sauce.

I had a great day today; I took a day trip to Richard's Bay with a couple other volunteers, exploring a mall (this is a big deal when your nearest shop has goats living in it) and reveling in being American.

Some things are different about the malls in South Africa; for one, you have to pay to use the restroom. (Yeah...I know). It's not much - R2, or about fifteen cents back home - and when I saw flush toilets and sinks with running water to wash your hands as wastefully as your heart desires, I had to smile, step back and wonder how my standards have changed so drastically in a few months. To be thankful - even willing to pay! - for a real bathroom experience again, on Thanksgiving Day, made me wonder about other things of which I'm thankful.

1) I'm thankful to live in a village where being (somewhat) socially awkward is misconstrued as being culturally unaware. I'm really going to miss this back Stateside.
2) I'm thankful for my wonderful learners, the staff, educators, and community of which I am becoming a part of, here in South Africa. It is for them I'm here, and I do my best everyday not to forget it.
3) I'm thankful for Stoney Ginger Beer; it's the strongest soda I've ever had, like drinking ginger concentrate. There are many, many foods I will never miss about South Africa. This is not one of them.
4) I'm thankful for the fact that, even in the most rural stretches of the world, there are still stunningly beautiful women. This speaks for itself.
5) I'm thankful for all my loved ones. The emails / letters/ phone calls keep me through, and sane, more than you realize.
6) I'm thankful for the occasional night occasional night when the shaky power goes out. On those nights I can see the stars clearer than ever.

About three weeks ago, I started volunteering at a local HIV clinic in a neighboring village with another volunteer. Men, women, even children from surrounding villages - often with no means of transport - come here for testing, medication, and counseling on life with a chronic illness. Nervous patients wait for blood tests to learn if they've contracted the disease; others, some visibly ravaged by the effects, wait for hours for free ARV medication supplied from the government to prolong and improve their quality of life. In the ongoing struggle with this devastating epidemic ravaging Southern Africa, these are the front lines: a small, rural clinic resembling a middle school portable on the side of a pothole strewn tar road, run entirely by volunteers, government donations, and faith.

Each day before the clinic opens at 8, the people gather in a semicircle of broken plastic lawn chairs, and sing hymns of praise that are among the most poignantly beautiful songs I have ever heard, a glimpse of the immediacy of human life. Seemingly they have no connection to one another but tribal ancestry and modern ailment. Yet for a few moments each Monday and Wednesday, they sing together, for one another, and - though I do not know the words - I hear no despair in their voices. They smile. They laugh. They still remain human beings. They face mountains I can hardly imagine, and still they climb. Ever hopeful, ever thankful.

Enjoy today, your food, your homes, your loved ones - wherever they are and wherever you are. Always keep learning. Always be thankful.

Power's going out soon. Time for some much needed star gazin'.

-Ryan

Officially a Volunteer :)

It happened. Finally. I finished training. I'm a PCV.

Oh...how rude of me. Hello, how are you? Sanibonani, ninjani? Dumelang, le kai? It's been awhile, friends. So the last month and...well, and a month, has been - everywhere. I can't come up with one single adjective to cover it. I wash my clothes by hand now; I bathed in a bucket, and pretty much handled all my other business in a pit in the backyard. It's not so bad, really. No splashback.

So what can I say for training? About 40 hours a week of information, ranging from the local language (Zulu for myself) to technical sessions on being an effective teacher in the South African context, to safety and medical sessions. I don't want to write too much about my experience in PST, as it literally finished yesterday and I haven't had enough time to digest it, process it, and prepackage it for your entertainment. Give me at least a month on that one; but don't worry. It'll be good.

So I'm stuck. I have serious writer's block right now. No joke. Hard to believe, right? I guess I could write about the incredible dichotomy between the first world standards in the urban sprawl of Pretoria and the rural outpost villages where witch doctors are still common and feared. I could talk about the 4 hour wedding, and dancing to the spontaneous singing that filled the church. I could talk about pap and chicken....actually, I'd rather not talk about pap and chicken. Not yet.

I could talk about the first time I felt myself as 'white' for the first time in the village. For the first time, I felt self conscious of a trait that I had no control over. I think this is one of those unexpected road blocks that comes up in cultural collisions; I could get past the lack of water for four days, my host mom's constant nagging to iron my clothes, and even the huge spiders that stalk me...but that feeling, that was tough.

I could talk about my experience at the Voortrekker Museum, and my experiencing the Afrikaner culture. How I have asked myself, who is truly an African? How many generations of family living in South Africa before you were born are required to consider yourself an African? Does someone of white descent have any less claim to the land now than indigenous Africans? Would that, in turn, endanger my claim of being American? These are all questions I still wrestle with.

I could talk about playing teaching about a hundred 4th and 5th graders how to properly dance, the Ryan way, in a school courtyard at lunch. They were pretty good, I have to be honest. Not as good as me, but they're getting there.

I could talk about slaughtering my first cow. Actually...nah, I'll wait on that one. Didn't smell though. Aren't you glad? I sure as hell was.

There's a lot I could talk about. But I've got a while, so I'll space it out. For now, I'll just say its had its good moments, its had its bad moments.

I scored an advanced level on my Zulu language skills. Sorry, I have to brag. :)

I miss you. Yes, you. Homesickness - and I probably don't really need to go off on that again - comes and goes, but really, I feel somedays like I'm missing a vital part of myself, without the people I care so deeply about to share the experience directly. I guess that's what the internet is for; talking to the wind, and hoping it answers back.

I'll leave it at that, for tonight.

Ngikuthanda nengikukhulumba.
:)



-Monaghan

Some information...Four days

Gainesville...I can honestly say, it was wonderful. Like a well worn pair of boxers tossed into the yard sale box of life, you will be missed.

Here's some information about what to expect as far as communication. *NOTE* some of this stuff is fairly dated and may/may not apply to me. I don't know yet; living conditions in South Africa tend to vary greatly, I think. Mail/Phones should (hopefully) work pretty consistently; I'm hoping the internet will be the same way, but I can't say one way or the other.

"

Dear Prospective Volunteer: Please give this letter to your family and/or friends and ask them to hold on to it for as long as you are in South Africa.
July 2010

Dear Families and Friends,

Greetings from the South Africa Desk at the U.S. Peace Corps in Washington, D.C.! It is with great pleasure that we welcome you to the Peace Corps circle of friendship. We receive many questions from family members and friends of Volunteers about life in South Africa, so we would like to offer you advice and assistance in advance.
1. Irregular Communication. (Please see #3 for the mailing address to Peace Corps' office in Pretoria, the capital of South Africa) Mail from the United States to Pretoria is fairly reliable; however, mail service within South Africa is not as efficient and reliable. There is enormous variation in the time it takes for mail and packages to arrive at Volunteers’ sites. Generally, Volunteers find that they receive mail and packages from the United States two to four weeks after it has been sent. The same is true for sending mail from South Africa. Of course, there are exceptional cases in which a letter or a package might arrive within a shorter period or be substantially delayed. Some mail simply may not arrive. The destination of mail for Volunteers is as varied as the length of time it takes for mail to arrive.

We suggest that in your first letters you ask the Volunteer to give an estimate of how long it takes for him/her to receive your letters, and then try to establish a predictable pattern of how often you will write to each other. Also, try numbering your letters so that the Volunteer knows if he/she has missed one.

Being a Peace Corps Volunteer is a rewarding experience; however, there will also be times when Volunteers may write home telling of their "war" stories. Letters might describe recent illnesses, frustration with work, isolation, lack of resources, etc.
While the subject matter may be good reading material, it can often be misinterpreted on the home front. Volunteers have a wonderful support network in-country that includes counterparts and community members at their site, other Peace Corps Volunteers, as well as Peace Corps/South Africa staff. The Peace Corps’ highest priority is maintaining the health and safety of every Volunteer. Peace Corps/South Africa maintains a medical unit in Pretoria with two full-time medical officers, who care for the Volunteers’ primary health care needs. If the Volunteer requires medical care that is not available in South Africa, he/she will be medically evacuated to the United States. Fortunately, these are rare circumstances.

If for some reason your communication pattern is broken and you do not hear from your family member, you may want to contact the South Africa Desk or the Office of Special Services (OSS) at Peace Corps Washington at 1-800-424-8580, extension 1470.

Also, in the case of an emergency at home (death in the family, sudden critical illness, etc.), please do not hesitate to call OSS immediately, so that a message can be sent to the Volunteer. Use the above number during regular business hours (9:00 am to 5:00 pm Eastern Time, Monday through Friday). After hours, or during weekends, the Peace Corps Duty Officer may be reached at (202) 692-1470 and you will be transferred to an answering service. Tell the operator your name, telephone number, and the nature of the emergency and the Peace Corps Duty Officer will call you back.

2. Telephone Calls. The telephone system in South Africa is relatively good and service in and out of Pretoria to the United States is mostly reliable. In the interior of the country, where most of the Volunteers are located, phones are fewer in number and of decreased reliability. Volunteers do not have residential phones; however, many Volunteers choose to buy cell phones or use public phones to make and receive international calls. They will be
able to inform you of the actual telephone numbers and the reliability of telephone service once they arrive at their permanent sites in the country.

The South Africa Desk maintains regular contact with the Peace Corps office in Pretoria through phone calls and e-mail. However, these communication lines are reserved for business only and cannot be used to relay personal messages. All communication between family members and the Volunteer should be done via international mail, personal phone calls, or e-mail. Many Volunteers are able to access e-mail at Internet cafes in larger cities and towns on a weekly or monthly basis, depending on their location.

3. Sending packages. Parents and Volunteers like to send and receive care packages through the mail. Unfortunately, sending packages can be a frustrating experience for all involved due to occasional thefts and heavy customs taxes. You may want to try to send inexpensive items through the mail, but there is no guarantee that these items will arrive. Even though many Volunteers choose to get local post office boxes, you may also use the following address to send letters and/or packages:

Ryan Monaghan
Peace Corps
PO Box 9536
Pretoria 0001
SOUTH AFRICA

It is recommended that packages be sent in padded envelopes or bubble envelopes if possible, as boxes tend to be taxed more frequently and might pose as a greater target for theft. For lightweight but important items (e.g. airline tickets), DHL (an express mail service) does operate in Pretoria. If you choose to send items through DHL, you must address the package to:

Country Director
c/o: U. S. Peace Corps
126 Verdoorn Street
Sunnyside 0028
Pretoria
SOUTH AFRICA

The phone number for the Peace Corps office in South Africa is (27) 12-344-4255, as DHL will need this information. If you send the item to the Country Director, no liability can be assumed. For more information about DHL, please call their toll free number, 1-800-CALL-DHL, or visit their web site at www.dhl.com. Other courier services may operate in Pretoria - DHL is only one possibility.

We hope this information is helpful to you during the time your family member or friend is serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in South Africa. We understand how frustrating it is to communicate with your family member overseas and we appreciate your using this information as a guideline. Please feel free to contact us at the South Africa Desk in Washington, D.C. if you have any further questions. Our phone number is 1-800-424-8580, ext. 2255/2332/2333, or locally, 202-692-2255/2332/2333."

Lot of info there. I'll also be in training for about 7-8 weeks when I first get out there (we arrive on July 15th, and training doesn't end until Aug. 27th...my birthday.) During that time, I'm pretty much expecting to be completely unable to talk, but again I am not sure.

I will buy a phone in SA. I'll also have Skype; if my internet is working, I'll try and use Skype more but the phone should work either way. I'll post the phone number once I have it. My skype name is gerdlp1275 .

And yes, I suck at the phone, okay? But this experience will hopefully make me better.

Much love,
Ryan Monaghan

First Post

When I was thirteen and leaving middle school, I made two rules for myself:

1) I would never shave my legs.
2) I would never start a blog.

Times have changed. I've gotten older, thinner, and hairier. Maybe 13-year old Ryan would have a few choice words for me if I went back to see him now, like "Who the hell are you and why are you in my room?"

I guess I'll never know.

What I do know is that, in the next couple of weeks, I'll be departing the US and heading to South Africa as a Resource Specialist for the Peace Corps. I'll be teaching math to students in SA, and working with some of the teachers on outcome based learning. This blog'll give me and you (yes, YOU!) a chance to connect, and allow me to share some of the culture and my new life with friends and loved ones back home.

I'm excited, anxious and terrified. And now I'm blogging about it.

...Yikes.

-Monaghan

P.S. I still haven't broken rule number 1 yet. No promises, though.