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.