The Benefits of Bronchitis

So it turns out that getting bronchitis less than two days before my scheduled Peace Corps departure might not prove so tragic after all. Waiting for me when I arrived home on Thursday night was a large, brown envelope from the Peace Corps with an invitation to serve in... South Africa!

Although I had eventually come to see The Gambia as a great assignment, my initial reaction to my first assignment drew a sharp contrast with the impromptu dancing that followed reading that my new assignment would be in South Africa. For sure, my assignment in South Africa is going to be no picnic--physically or, especially, emotionally--but I can imagine little that I would find more rewarding than working to build the capacity of a local NGO in South Africa to fight the spread of HIV/Aids. And from a more selfish perspective, I must say that the (relatively) affordable flights to and from the US and the presence of some of the continent's best rock climbing certainly do not hurt either. When combined with the opportunity to spend the holidays and a few more months with friends and family and to work in the Governor's Office during a time of transition, I'd have to say that a week of struggling to breathe was well worth it ;)

As for the details of my new assignment, there are not many at this point. I know that I will live and work in one of four eastern provinces: KwaZulu Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, or NorthWest Provinces. I also know that my primary project will consist of both formal office work and outreach work in and around my host community. And I know that my staging event (i.e. pre-departure orientation) is planned for February 2-4. What I do not know at this point is whether I will be in a rural or urban area, whether I will be living on my own in an apartment or with a host familiy in a traditional village home, whether my work will involve youth outreach, support services to people living with HIV/Aids, and/or income-generation activities for caregivers, whether I'll have consistent access to internet and other communications technology, or which of South Africa's eleven official and nine non-official language(s) I will be expected to learn (at least English is one of these twenty languages). The answers to these questions (and many more) will depend upon the judgment of the Peace Corps staff in South Africa who will be evaluating my performance during my 8-9 weeks of training.

That's really most of what I know at this point. I'll be spending much of the next 2.5 months learning as much as I can about South Africa's history and culture (with Jenn's help), especially focusing on the HIV/Aids pandemic and the legacy of apartheid. I'm also planning to volunteer with a local nonprofit that runs an HIV/Aids outreach and prevention program here in Durham. While there's nothing I can do here to adequately prepare for what's to come over the next two years, even inadequate preparation should prove to be quite valuable.

Africa in February 2009

The last five days have proven rather eventful in terms of learning more about how I'll be spending my next 2.5 years. On Thursday, a physician at a local clinic here in Durham confirmed that I had fully recovered from my bronchitis deemed me fit (at least physically) for Peace Corps service. The following day, I was fortunate to discover that the Office of State Budget and Management would be inviting me back to work between now and my Peace Corps departure. Given the state of the economy and the reluctance of most employers to hire on such a temporary basis, this news came as a welcome relief.

The welcome news continued this morning with a call from my Peace Corps Placement Officer. After inquiring about my health and continued interest in serving in the Peace Corps, my PO informed me that she would be looking into an assignment whereby I would be working to assist a newly formed African non-governmental organization (NGO) to develop and implement strategies for HIV/AIDS education and outreach. Odds are that I would be leaving for this assignment in early February of next year.

Although my previous assignment working with an agricultural or forestry NGO was perhaps a better fit with regard to my greater familiarity with livelihood development versus health outreach, I am quite enthusiastic about the prospect of working to help combat the world's worst epidemic in modern times. At this point, any prospective assignment is still very much tentative, but I should know more within the next week. Because of my insatiable curiousity, however, I did a bit of online research to see if any other prospective Volunteers have been invited to leave for Africa in February. Based on a cursory online search, it looks as if the Peace Corps has already sent February invitations for Malawi, Namibia, and Zambia. The only assignment I've seen with a connection to the health sector is for Namibia. Thus, it looks like there's a chance I'll be following in the footsteps of my friend Mia, who happens to have written one of my Peace Corps recommendations (thanks again, Mia!). If so, then I guess that means I'll have to make Afghanistan my next stop.

Anywho, I'll be sure to post again as soon as I get any more information from the Peace Corps.

Getting Back on Track

First, thanks to all of you who sent along kind words wishing me a speedy recovery. I reached a new milestone along the road to recovery yesterday by enjoying a leisurely five-mile hike in the Eno River State Park with Kristin without recourse to an inhaler. Perhaps I'll feel well enough to resume my usual running regimen by the time of my doctor's appointment on Thursday, when I hope to receive full medical clearance to be put back in the pool of prospective Peace Corps Volunteers.

I spoke with a nurse in the Peace Corps medical office this morning, and she was kind enough to notify my placement officer (the person in charge of my next assignment) that my medical condition is improving, which should speed up the reassignment process. According to the main listserv for prospective Volunteers, it seems that the Peace Corps is already sending out invitations for assignments in March. Although this does not rule out my getting an earlier assignment, it certainly seems unlikely that I'll be heading overseas before the New Year and perhaps not even until the spring. At this point, I'm just going to concentrate on consistently checking to make sure that the wheels of bureaucracy are still in motion. I'll be sure to keep you all updated as soon as I receive additional information. In the mean time, I'll just keep up the job search and try to spend as much time with friends and family as possible.

Sickness & Health - Peace Corps Edition

Well, sometimes the unexpected strikes, well, unexpectedly. Over the weekend, while visiting my parents in South Carolina, I came down with acute bronchitis and ended up in the hospital at 3am early Monday morning - leaving me dependent on an inhaler to breathe.

I spoke with someone in the Peace Corps medical office, who told me that my options were either to catch my flight to Philadelphia on Tuesday morning or give up my assignment in The Gambia and wait for a new assignment. After speaking with a doctor, getting advice from some friends who have served in the Peace Corps, and waiting to see if my condition improved, I decided that attempting to travel with acute bronchitis (especially since it may have [temporarily?] reignited my long-dormant asthma) would jeopardize my health.

I'm currently recovering at my parents' house and will likely be returning to Durham tomorrow. Next week, I'll be visiting a doctor to get medically cleared to re-enter the pool of Peace Corps nominees. If cleared, I will likely receive a new assignment within the next 1 to 4 months, which may or may not be in Africa. As I learn more, I'll be sure to keep you all updated.

I can't thank you all enough for the words of support you've given me, and I hope you're not too disappointed to have me around for a few more months ;)

Nine days to go...

As many of you know, in a mere nine days I will begin a new chapter in my life. And while I hope that November 4th will be the beginning of a new chapter in our country's history, for once I'm not talking about the upcoming election.

At 9:55am on Election Day, I'll be flying to Philadelphia to spend my last full day in the US before flying off to the smallest country on the continent of Africa--The Gambia. If all goes as planned, I'll be spending virtually all of the next 26 1/2 months within a few hours walk of the lower Gambia River working with local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to help rural Gambians reverse the tide of deforestation and soil erosion that threatens the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people.

Before I get to the point where I can even hope to make a positive difference in the lives of rural Gambians, however, I have much to learn, including (but certainly not limited to) a language or two, a host of technical skills related to West African agro-forestry, and how to navigate a web of cultures about which I currently would have trouble writing a one-pager. Towards those ends (and others), the Peace Corps will attempt to fill my next ten weeks with as much information, challenges, and cultural immersion as I can manage. At this point, I just hope I'm up to the task.

During my time overseas in the Peace Corps, I intend to use this space to share with you (i.e. friends, family, random passers-by) my experiences, thoughts, stories, and, when necessary, catharses. If you want to keep in contact offline, I hope to keep up regular correspondence by snail mail (and in the case of postal service in The Gambia, emphasis should be placed on 'snail'). My address for the first few months, while in training, will be:

Edwin McLenaghan, PCT
C/O Peace Corps/The Gambia
P.O. Box 582
Banjul, The Gambia
West Africa

I am as of yet unsure of whether I will have much access to the internet or to a cell phone during my pre-service training, but it would be safe to assume that, if I do not have any new posts up after my first few days in-country, it's probably because I lack the time or access. Until next time...