Yes... so I am going to Ghana at the end of March! I'm really excited, especially since it took about 3 weeks to hear back. They wanted me to stay here and read reports, just because I'll be gone for 2 weeks... even if there are Anne Claire and Natalie in Kinshasa to do that. In the end though, they've approved. I can't wait to go see Ashitey and Shoko! She'll be coming too, and it's fun to think that we've visited Spain, Morocco, Japan, and Cambodia together already... and now Ghana! I have to buy my ticket first, and I have to start to do it early b/c our logistics is slow at getting things done. Just to go see the mailbox in Rwanda, it has taken them 3 weeks and they haven't even done it yet... a bit frustrating!
Besides that, I taught today. I watched Crash last night with Daniel, and we had an interesting conversation about the movie. I think it was very much in his face how I was talking about racial relations and the importance to acknowledge that it exists but to also do sthg about it. I think he saw how much of an advocate I am on these issues... well, at least, it gave him a different perspective of looking at things. We also talked about what it means to be expats in a country like the DRC where disparity is so in your face, and how we live in our own bubble here. So today, teaching. The kids were excited about the little conversation exercise we gave. I gave a kid a piece of my mind. He's been lazy for the past 3 months, and all he does is disrupt the class. So I told him that if he really didn't want to be there, that he shouldn't have to. That my goal in coming every Saturday morning is to teach and to get them excited about learning, and that if he's not happy, he should tell me, and if he doesn't want to be there, to go to another class. I think he got my point, and we'll see next week. I told them to memorize the short conversation.
We tried to play a little puzzle game, where I put words in English and French for them to match... goodness, how frustrating it was to explain the rules to the last class. I was getting a headache and losing my voice... I definitely can't do teaching for more than 3 hours, the 4th hour is always painful for me. The kids take about 10 minutes to write 2 lines, and then you explain the rules over and over, and some just make a blank face. Oh well, it tells how teaching the same thing 4 times on a Saturday morning is not healthy! But the kids are cute and excited to be there. The last class wanted to stay for an extra hour to continue teaching... I was going to die, so I stayed for an extra 15 minutes.
I am now in the office, finishing up a report on nutritional milk. We're in the process of hiring an english teacher, so I had to write the letter to potential candidates. It's all very interesting, and I do feel like I'm playing a role and getting this done.. at least today ;) We'll be organizing intl women's day, so I can't wait to get involved in organizing that.
All right, boating tomorrow with the Uruguayans.. should be fun. For now, that's all, I'm out... got to go home and eat!
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
In the field...
So I was too tired yesterday to write on this blog. I went to the field in one of our health zones, where we were conducting focus group discussions with the community and traditional birth attendants to get their views on current emergency obstetric care services in the health zone. We arrived at one of the health centers, where there were a few women with their children, waiting to be assisted. I saw a baby, about 5 months old, who had malaria and kept crying. The mother was trying to breastfeed him. It was sad to see just how poor the women were, wearing dirty and torn clothes. Seeing the baby, I couldn't help but think about my own niece and nephew and how privileged they are to be in the US, have access to food and health care, and have access to toys. I sat down and tried to chat with the women... I think it was the first time that they had seen an Asian woman, and as usual, they were quite interested by my hair. Although they spoke a local language and no French or Kiswahili, all we did was stare at each other and smile. The women were telling my coworker that they had many children. Ben, my coworker, asked them who worked in the field and provided for the family. They said the women did, while the husbands stayed home or went around to drink/eat. We were told that's how it's done culturally here... the women provide for the home while the husbands are supposed to be served. It's something I've known about Mashi culture, this patriarchal kind of society where the women is seen as the property of the men. But it's changing, although extremely slowly. Ben, who is himself Mashi, was telling the women that they need to be sensitized and understand that when a family has many children and the woman can no longer work alone to feed the whole family, the husband needs to help out. I am not sure what the women responded to this... I only saw that they were nodding. It's so different to see how societies differ... for instance, in Cambodia, field work is the man's job, while here, the women do all the hard labor. And the babies just keep popping. I think on average women have 7-9 children in the villages. It's a bit crazy, especially given the poverty level. The kids can't go to school, they get sick, and there's not enough food at home. I've had a few conversations with our drivers, who are also Mashi, about the status of women in the household and family planning. They tell me the women should go and get a tubal ligation... but I tell them it's safer for the men to get a vasectomy. I'm seen a bit as a feminist here, although I'm really not b/c I just bring different points of view. It's really interesting though to see that not all men agree with how things are done here. And they agree that the men are treated as kings in the household, and that this needs to change if the family and country as a whole want to survive and move forward.
We conducted a small focus group discussions with the community on EmOC services available. There were about 5 women and 3 men. The facilitator was a man from the local health department. I was a bit skeptic, since I knew that the facilitator wasn't best trained and tended to be a bit bias. The discussion was done in Mashi, but already, I could see that he was asking the questions directly at the men, and didn't encourage the women to get involved at all. The women had some really good points to raise, especially since it concerns them. They were discussing how the local health facility doesn't provide them with adequate services b/c the nurse who works there is rarely there, always out and about. They also mentioned how they weren't properly treated at the health facilities, with the personnel not having the capacity to conduct an accurate evaluation or provide medications. They also discussed the problem of transportation. When a woman is in labor and needs to go to the health facility, she's kept there until it becomes really dangerous and she has to be transported to the hospital, about 10 km or so away. The villagers do so by carrying the woman on a locally made stretcher. One woman also complained about the nurses and how they made her wash the sheets by hand before admitting her into the facility, even though the woman was shivering all over.
For me, it was very interesting to hear the community's point of view, and especially the women's. This discussion helped us to see that the health facilities aren't necessarily being honest with IRC. True, when IRC visits in the field, we see everyone working... but I think that it's also all a show b/c IRC warns them ahead of time that we're coming, which gives them enough time to come to the facilities and act like they're working. It's the problem though with the whole health system in the Congo... too many people talking and saying what we want to hear, but not enough being dedicated to bring the support to the communities and bring about real, tangible change. The community did mention though that the health situation has improved, in comparison to a few years ago... but we're not there yet and there is work to do.
After the discussion, kids from the community were just getting out of school. As usual, they gathered around us, especially me and Ben. They spoke a little bit of French, and since we were there for a while, I decided to teach them a game. About 100 kids were gathered, watching, and just as we were getting into it, we had to go. I think it was a nice way for them to decompress and play. Not sure if I helped at all, but it was a nice interaction that I haven't had yet when going to the field. They usually just get scared of me, stare at me b/c they're curious, or smile and shy away.
Well, here I am in the office again... out for now.
We conducted a small focus group discussions with the community on EmOC services available. There were about 5 women and 3 men. The facilitator was a man from the local health department. I was a bit skeptic, since I knew that the facilitator wasn't best trained and tended to be a bit bias. The discussion was done in Mashi, but already, I could see that he was asking the questions directly at the men, and didn't encourage the women to get involved at all. The women had some really good points to raise, especially since it concerns them. They were discussing how the local health facility doesn't provide them with adequate services b/c the nurse who works there is rarely there, always out and about. They also mentioned how they weren't properly treated at the health facilities, with the personnel not having the capacity to conduct an accurate evaluation or provide medications. They also discussed the problem of transportation. When a woman is in labor and needs to go to the health facility, she's kept there until it becomes really dangerous and she has to be transported to the hospital, about 10 km or so away. The villagers do so by carrying the woman on a locally made stretcher. One woman also complained about the nurses and how they made her wash the sheets by hand before admitting her into the facility, even though the woman was shivering all over.
For me, it was very interesting to hear the community's point of view, and especially the women's. This discussion helped us to see that the health facilities aren't necessarily being honest with IRC. True, when IRC visits in the field, we see everyone working... but I think that it's also all a show b/c IRC warns them ahead of time that we're coming, which gives them enough time to come to the facilities and act like they're working. It's the problem though with the whole health system in the Congo... too many people talking and saying what we want to hear, but not enough being dedicated to bring the support to the communities and bring about real, tangible change. The community did mention though that the health situation has improved, in comparison to a few years ago... but we're not there yet and there is work to do.
After the discussion, kids from the community were just getting out of school. As usual, they gathered around us, especially me and Ben. They spoke a little bit of French, and since we were there for a while, I decided to teach them a game. About 100 kids were gathered, watching, and just as we were getting into it, we had to go. I think it was a nice way for them to decompress and play. Not sure if I helped at all, but it was a nice interaction that I haven't had yet when going to the field. They usually just get scared of me, stare at me b/c they're curious, or smile and shy away.
Well, here I am in the office again... out for now.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Ate crocodile!
So I didn't have to go teach on Saturday b/c the students had a day off for having taken exams earlier during the week. It was very nice not to have to wake up at 7am on a Saturday morning and go teach for 5 hours straight! On Friday, got off from work a bit late, around 7:30pm. I went home and House 2 were having a bit of a get-together. I guess some of the mercenary kids from the US were returning home, and we were throwing them a little party. I wasn't feeling very sociable, so I went for maybe 1 hr or so. I saw a few people that I had not seen in a while, and it was nice to sit, chat, look at the lake, and sip some coca cola. Anne-Claire also came from Kinshasa, and she'll be here for about a week.
After the small sunset drink, I went home to sit and relax and smoke shisha. I think I smoked a bit too much of that stuff, b/c I ended up feeling dizzy and with a stomach pain. It went away after 10 minutes... thank god! Georgia, Fidele, and I decided to go dancing, as Fidele is going home at the end of the month. He's not really getting recognized for his work, and as the health coordinator, he's got so many responsibilities, and IRC with all its procedures, well, it delays the work... and poor Fidele gets blamed when things do go as planned. Javier brought some reggaeton music, so I gave it to the DJ. It was a fun night, and a very nice way to decompress. It's ironic though that even here in Congo, people of color feel more comfortable hanging around each other.. the expat get-together was all white people, with me as the only non-white person in the crowd.. a bit ironic to see that here again.
On Sunday, Job and his roomates had a bit of a get-together and bbq. Simon brought back some crocodile, and I tried it. Funny thing, it wasn't bad and tasted very much like pork. the meat was white. I invited one of my coworker along, since he plays volleyball with me and we had to cancel volleyball yesterday. The guy though got drunk and puked all over... that was not pretty, and I was worried b/c 1) his wife recently had a baby, and 2) that's inappropriate.
Otherwise, today worked on a few reports and the week is starting off well. I do feel like I'm on top of things and am providing a good support to the programs. It's a good feeling and a nice reminder to why we're here.
Ok, Isa off for tonight...
After the small sunset drink, I went home to sit and relax and smoke shisha. I think I smoked a bit too much of that stuff, b/c I ended up feeling dizzy and with a stomach pain. It went away after 10 minutes... thank god! Georgia, Fidele, and I decided to go dancing, as Fidele is going home at the end of the month. He's not really getting recognized for his work, and as the health coordinator, he's got so many responsibilities, and IRC with all its procedures, well, it delays the work... and poor Fidele gets blamed when things do go as planned. Javier brought some reggaeton music, so I gave it to the DJ. It was a fun night, and a very nice way to decompress. It's ironic though that even here in Congo, people of color feel more comfortable hanging around each other.. the expat get-together was all white people, with me as the only non-white person in the crowd.. a bit ironic to see that here again.
On Sunday, Job and his roomates had a bit of a get-together and bbq. Simon brought back some crocodile, and I tried it. Funny thing, it wasn't bad and tasted very much like pork. the meat was white. I invited one of my coworker along, since he plays volleyball with me and we had to cancel volleyball yesterday. The guy though got drunk and puked all over... that was not pretty, and I was worried b/c 1) his wife recently had a baby, and 2) that's inappropriate.
Otherwise, today worked on a few reports and the week is starting off well. I do feel like I'm on top of things and am providing a good support to the programs. It's a good feeling and a nice reminder to why we're here.
Ok, Isa off for tonight...
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Focus Groups Discussion Training
So I just got back from the field, was there all day, and back safe and sound. We left early this morning, and as usual, I had to run after admin to make sure they had my papers so I could go to the field. We need them in case we run into some military guys who give us some trouble and ask for our "papers." I went with the health team, and today, they were training the health facility workers, head nurses, doctors, etc., on how to conduct a focus group discussion. Next week, we're planning to conduct 3 discussions on emergency obstetric care, which will measure the impact of our program in the health zone in that area. Among services we give are training of traditional birth attendants and emergency care.
The training started a bit late, since the head nurses, etc. weren't there yet. The drive to Kabare wasn't as bad, although always as slippery and muddy, with the cliff on one end. It's crazy, b/c the driver was new, and we were all telling him to slow down and to put the 4-wheel drive b/c we didn't want to fall off the cliff and die. I spoke a bit of kiswahili with the health workers there, and we started the training. Overall, there was one woman participant, which is not so great b/c the focus group discussions need to include women so that the participants won't feel as intimidated. Anyways, the discussion went well, but I feel that we didn't have enough time to do role-plays. They spent more time verifying some translations, which I thought was silly b/c they apparently need to improve their facilitating skills. One of the guys in my group who was facilitating didn't even introduce the rules, purpose, etc of the discussion.. bad!
Anyways, now I'm back in the office after a bit of a tiring day. I'll be going to the field next week again to do the discussion with the community participants.
Radio check, blah!
The training started a bit late, since the head nurses, etc. weren't there yet. The drive to Kabare wasn't as bad, although always as slippery and muddy, with the cliff on one end. It's crazy, b/c the driver was new, and we were all telling him to slow down and to put the 4-wheel drive b/c we didn't want to fall off the cliff and die. I spoke a bit of kiswahili with the health workers there, and we started the training. Overall, there was one woman participant, which is not so great b/c the focus group discussions need to include women so that the participants won't feel as intimidated. Anyways, the discussion went well, but I feel that we didn't have enough time to do role-plays. They spent more time verifying some translations, which I thought was silly b/c they apparently need to improve their facilitating skills. One of the guys in my group who was facilitating didn't even introduce the rules, purpose, etc of the discussion.. bad!
Anyways, now I'm back in the office after a bit of a tiring day. I'll be going to the field next week again to do the discussion with the community participants.
Radio check, blah!
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Visiting Ben's daughters
So yes, I forgot to write into the blog. Yesterday wasn't that busy, but I just got entangled with work and completely forgot about it! I am translating this legal document for the World Bank, which is pretty good since it forces me to review again my legal terminologies... good practice.
During lunch time, we went to BIOSADEC to visit Ben's daughters. Both of them (4 and 13) were sick with malaria +++. Poor girls have been hospitalized since Saturday and they were there with their glucose. The beds weren't the cleanest, and it seemed more like a room from one of the lowest quality of hostels... if you can picture that. I met Ben's family for the first time, and it was unfortunate that it was at the hospital. His wife was also sick with malaria last week, where she fainted and lost feeling on one side of her face. Man, I am glad I didn't get that kind of malaria. The family though seemed pretty nice, but they were coughing all over, and the room didn't have a window, and I was thinking to myself, shit, I'm gonna get sick. So we stayed there for about an hour, and we chatted here and there about the family.
The rest of the expats went to dinner with our regional director, but I was too tired and broke to go. I just don't want to have to spend for a meal that's gonna cost $30 and that's gonna be worse than the food we have at home. I watched a movie and just drank some coca cola and took it easy for the night. Georgia and Amaka got back yesterday as well.
Today, not much otherwise, preparing a presentation for our local partners on effective reporting. It should be interesting. I am also checking our house expenses for food, and man, it is annoying to see how much the cook tries to cheat on prices... again, another sign of corruption. I saw this morning that he made chocolate mousse for himself and hid it in one of the fridges. I ate dishonesty, but I let it pass since it's not a big deal. If it gets out of hand, I will warn him.
So no running for today, feeling a bit lazy. I started looking for some jobs starting in September. A few opportunities in Kinshasa and in other parts of the world, but I want something hands on in the field with more management responsibilities. Still looking...
All right, isabelle out!
During lunch time, we went to BIOSADEC to visit Ben's daughters. Both of them (4 and 13) were sick with malaria +++. Poor girls have been hospitalized since Saturday and they were there with their glucose. The beds weren't the cleanest, and it seemed more like a room from one of the lowest quality of hostels... if you can picture that. I met Ben's family for the first time, and it was unfortunate that it was at the hospital. His wife was also sick with malaria last week, where she fainted and lost feeling on one side of her face. Man, I am glad I didn't get that kind of malaria. The family though seemed pretty nice, but they were coughing all over, and the room didn't have a window, and I was thinking to myself, shit, I'm gonna get sick. So we stayed there for about an hour, and we chatted here and there about the family.
The rest of the expats went to dinner with our regional director, but I was too tired and broke to go. I just don't want to have to spend for a meal that's gonna cost $30 and that's gonna be worse than the food we have at home. I watched a movie and just drank some coca cola and took it easy for the night. Georgia and Amaka got back yesterday as well.
Today, not much otherwise, preparing a presentation for our local partners on effective reporting. It should be interesting. I am also checking our house expenses for food, and man, it is annoying to see how much the cook tries to cheat on prices... again, another sign of corruption. I saw this morning that he made chocolate mousse for himself and hid it in one of the fridges. I ate dishonesty, but I let it pass since it's not a big deal. If it gets out of hand, I will warn him.
So no running for today, feeling a bit lazy. I started looking for some jobs starting in September. A few opportunities in Kinshasa and in other parts of the world, but I want something hands on in the field with more management responsibilities. Still looking...
All right, isabelle out!
Monday, February 12, 2007
Yes, I'm keeping my promise! (at least for today)
I almost forgot to write on this blog... I guess after this restful weekend and charged Monday! So on Saturday, I went to teach the kids at the school. I had given them some homework to do on the conjugation of the verb "to be" and how to ask questions with who, what, when, where, how, etc. Most of them did their work, but some tried to cheat in class! It really PISSED me off, especially as I had let them use their notes and gave many free bonus points just for having done their homework. So, I was mean with the last class and told them that if I caught any one of them cheating, they would all get 0. Fortunately, I calmed down within 5 minutes and the students didn't seem to have minded my earlier outburst!
I came back home exhausted after school. With trying to recover from malaria, having to wake up at 7am on a Saturday morning is just not cool. So I slept for about 3-4 hours. It was nice. I woke up, showered, and got ready to go to the Uruguayan party that the military was having at the Welfare club, which is the local UN bar. There were about 100 people, with 90% men. Yeah, literally, only 10 women or so, and I was the youngest. So, I had all the guys staring, old or young. One was actually pretty cute, blue eyes, but I couldn't tell if he was in his 20s or early 30s, so I didn't give it a try... We danced cumbia, ate lots of great pizzas, and drank some tonic and sprite (remember, malaria meds...)
When I got home around 1am or so, I watched some of my Korean soap opera and fell asleep after wanting to kill our 2 dogs. Those stupid dogs kept running by my window, barking non-stop... yes, that's our lullaby music every night, and it sucks! I don't even know why we have those dogs. They keep eating, they sleep all day (instead of at night), and then they attack us outside when we try to play ball (stupid dogs almost broke our volleyball). Anyways, another reason why I don't like dogs.
On Sunday, I woke up around 1pm and watched Sweet November. I cried my eyeballs out... it's such a sad and sweet movie.. cheesy, but oh well, it's nice to decompress on a Sunday. After that, we went to play volleyball. Quentin, our "coach," couldn't come. So we played for about an hour, got our asses kicked, since the other team had this professional guy, and I just wasn't feeling it either.. maybe the rainy weather :)
So today, we had a few grant-closing meetings, talking about procurement and regulations and making sure that we followed donor compliance. I hope I am not boring anyone too much. Otherwise, worked a lot, spoke Kiswahili with Ben, and translated some docs into French all day. This week we're supposed to lead some trainings on focus group discussions. Should be interesting. That's all... I'm out!
I came back home exhausted after school. With trying to recover from malaria, having to wake up at 7am on a Saturday morning is just not cool. So I slept for about 3-4 hours. It was nice. I woke up, showered, and got ready to go to the Uruguayan party that the military was having at the Welfare club, which is the local UN bar. There were about 100 people, with 90% men. Yeah, literally, only 10 women or so, and I was the youngest. So, I had all the guys staring, old or young. One was actually pretty cute, blue eyes, but I couldn't tell if he was in his 20s or early 30s, so I didn't give it a try... We danced cumbia, ate lots of great pizzas, and drank some tonic and sprite (remember, malaria meds...)
When I got home around 1am or so, I watched some of my Korean soap opera and fell asleep after wanting to kill our 2 dogs. Those stupid dogs kept running by my window, barking non-stop... yes, that's our lullaby music every night, and it sucks! I don't even know why we have those dogs. They keep eating, they sleep all day (instead of at night), and then they attack us outside when we try to play ball (stupid dogs almost broke our volleyball). Anyways, another reason why I don't like dogs.
On Sunday, I woke up around 1pm and watched Sweet November. I cried my eyeballs out... it's such a sad and sweet movie.. cheesy, but oh well, it's nice to decompress on a Sunday. After that, we went to play volleyball. Quentin, our "coach," couldn't come. So we played for about an hour, got our asses kicked, since the other team had this professional guy, and I just wasn't feeling it either.. maybe the rainy weather :)
So today, we had a few grant-closing meetings, talking about procurement and regulations and making sure that we followed donor compliance. I hope I am not boring anyone too much. Otherwise, worked a lot, spoke Kiswahili with Ben, and translated some docs into French all day. This week we're supposed to lead some trainings on focus group discussions. Should be interesting. That's all... I'm out!
Friday, February 09, 2007
Recovering from malaria
Wow... so I can't believe my last entry on this blag was almost 5 months ago. I was motivated then, but with all the mass emails and individuals emails and individual journal, I just lost the energy. However, I've decided to write daily on the blog, either during lunch time or after work.
So, I found out I had malaria two days ago. I initially had some bad stomach pains and couldn't sleep, but I thought it was just food indigestion. When I went to work, I started getting all weak and cold, and one of our doctors told me to go check it out. Going to the hospital, which is supposed to be private and one of the better ones, was quite an experience.
I went with a Congolese coworker (whose wife and children also have malaria... how ironic, it's spreading!). First, the floor was dirty and dusty. The reception was a guy in front of his computer who took about 5 minutes to write down my name. I then had to go up the stairs to get my blood tested. The lab technician comes, puts on his coat, grabs the instrument to pick on my finger, and all the while, I'm scared that I might get infected... thankfully, I don't think I did. Another 30 minutes later, the doctor, who was sitting beside us while we were waiting and watching tv (right, it's a horrible local channel that doesn't even work) arrives, tells me to go into the room. He writes down how I feel, takes my temperature, my weight, asks about my symptoms... I tell him about my stomach pains.. he makes me get on the bed, which is not even clean and I think I was laying near where the feet are supposed to go... so anyways, he presses hard, and i mean HARD on my stomach and asks if it hurts... duh! so, I'm diagnosed with a parasite and given medication. I'm also told I have malaria, but luckily, it's the beginning stages, so that's why I'm not laying almost dying on my bed... good to know... and woof! just missed it!
So yeah, I've been back at work, working on translations and reports... and slacking off reading some humanitarian reports that help me get through the day. It's crazy how much the work is becoming the same thing... I can't wait to go to the field next week... gonna try to do some partners' evaluations and then participate in focus group discussions... should be interesting and a good time away from the office.
We tried to watch Kiss of the Dragon yesterday... I was gonna break the DVD player, kept skipping. We had a projector though and some speakers, so it felt somewhat like a movie theater.. the Bukavu theater, the one and only!
Until Monday then...
So, I found out I had malaria two days ago. I initially had some bad stomach pains and couldn't sleep, but I thought it was just food indigestion. When I went to work, I started getting all weak and cold, and one of our doctors told me to go check it out. Going to the hospital, which is supposed to be private and one of the better ones, was quite an experience.
I went with a Congolese coworker (whose wife and children also have malaria... how ironic, it's spreading!). First, the floor was dirty and dusty. The reception was a guy in front of his computer who took about 5 minutes to write down my name. I then had to go up the stairs to get my blood tested. The lab technician comes, puts on his coat, grabs the instrument to pick on my finger, and all the while, I'm scared that I might get infected... thankfully, I don't think I did. Another 30 minutes later, the doctor, who was sitting beside us while we were waiting and watching tv (right, it's a horrible local channel that doesn't even work) arrives, tells me to go into the room. He writes down how I feel, takes my temperature, my weight, asks about my symptoms... I tell him about my stomach pains.. he makes me get on the bed, which is not even clean and I think I was laying near where the feet are supposed to go... so anyways, he presses hard, and i mean HARD on my stomach and asks if it hurts... duh! so, I'm diagnosed with a parasite and given medication. I'm also told I have malaria, but luckily, it's the beginning stages, so that's why I'm not laying almost dying on my bed... good to know... and woof! just missed it!
So yeah, I've been back at work, working on translations and reports... and slacking off reading some humanitarian reports that help me get through the day. It's crazy how much the work is becoming the same thing... I can't wait to go to the field next week... gonna try to do some partners' evaluations and then participate in focus group discussions... should be interesting and a good time away from the office.
We tried to watch Kiss of the Dragon yesterday... I was gonna break the DVD player, kept skipping. We had a projector though and some speakers, so it felt somewhat like a movie theater.. the Bukavu theater, the one and only!
Until Monday then...
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