Real Peace Corps Work Before Capetown March11

Friends, This was written before our big trip to Capetown and describes our work challenges. Could not be sent before due to challenges from IT capabilities. Love to you all.
Blog 11 march


Today, Saturday, we looked forward to going to town and taking a break as our jobs at Mountain High cranked up this week and became more like real work. The woman in charge of the hospital business office went on maternity leave so the Peace Corps volunteers were called upon to help keep the hospital running smoothly. The job has a certain rhythm and pattern, ebb and flow, but demanded all of our attention as hospitals change their patient load on an hourly basis and mini crisis must be dealt with. Statistical inputs and payroll reports also add to the workload

At 7am in the morning the nurses round up the patients who will be traveling for X-Rays, ARVs, pensions, transfers, weekend passes, and discharges while the mobile clinic is loading up supplies for their trip to the tiny villages that have no health care. The drivers are readying their vehicles and taking instructions from the nurses and business office regarding the many errands that need to be done in town. Some days the drivers and vehicles do not match- more drivers are needed or vehicles are not available for the work load. The atmosphere is charged and work laden as everyone’s work for the day becomes clear and duties assigned. After the mobile clinic leaves and the patients travel to their destination, the nurses attend to the remaining patients to assure that their treatment needs are met. Many of the patients are confined to the hospital rather than homestay to assure that they will take the needed drugs for TB or AIDS and will have access to nutritious foods.

At 1030am I go through the wards and announce that Jabule (Happy) Time has come and the willing and able are invited to join the handcraft/sewing/knitting/beading/crochet group. Many of the women are sleeping after their morning drug therapy but get out of bed to join the fun. The Jabule Group was cut short this week because of office duties but materials are distributed to the patients and they wander out to the garden and create their own masterpieces. The photo on the blog from last week depicts the Zulu rag dolls made from black cloth and beads. They have a beguiling look and come in all sizes. Our beading teacher Monki showed the patients how to assemble the dolls and decorate them so that each is unique.

So after a week of real work, we were ready to travel to town and enjoy a restaurant meal, reading and some relaxation. The trip down the mountain turned out to be a bigger ordeal than expected. At 6am we walked to the taxi stand and found that there were 25 people already waiting for the taxi which holds 15 maximum passengers (at least that is what is posted). It started raining and the crowd grew in numbers and impatience. After 20 minutes the taxi showed up without Mr. Zulu. The pensioners in the valley below had received their pensions on Friday and were eager to get to town. I also noticed a patient on a weekend pass from the Jabule group. She had made a skirt and wanted to show her family her handiwork. Brendon and I held back and tried to determine the next strategy.

We walked to the tar road to catch the bus; someone called out that another taxi was coming. The walk felt good so we continued on for 2 km when the second taxi appeared and picked us up. It then went back for the other hopefuls at the taxi stop and picked up 19 passengers. It stalled a couple of times and then started up the rock hill where the engine died and could not be restarted. The driver put his head down on the steering wheel in defeat. Everyone got out of the taxi and started walking to the tar road to catch another taxi or the bus. Just before we reached the tar road the disabled taxi charged up behind us and picked us up for the second time. The windshield wipers were not working and it began to rain in earnest. As an old hand at dealing with this problem I got out my Kleenex and started wiping away the defrost. The passengers were not in a happy mood; they did not want to pay the R22 fare from the hospital since they walked most of the way to the tar road and the taxi driver was adamant about charging R22.

This was not all on this difficult trip to town. About halfway down the mountain a skinny dog jumped out into the road. We felt the thump and the dog’s days were over. Nearer to town we witnessed a tragic car accident so our moods were subdued by the time we finally reached the taxi rank and walked into the peaceful town.

Escape to the Cape

Greetings from Cape Town and the Garden Route!
The Bond’s are traveling again-this time to Cape Town, The Cape Peninsula, Franschoek, The Garden Route, Tsitikamma National Park, and Durban. Peace Corps Training pertaining to Lifeskills for AIDS Orphans and Vulnerable Children brought us close to an airport where we hopped on a bargain Nationwide flight and were in Cape Town to enjoy the delights of South Africa’s favorite city. The parallels to San Francisco are too numerous to mention-the cool sea air as soon as you disembark the plane, dramatic mountains that cradle the city (Table Mountain is only one of hundreds of mountains that form the backdrop for the southern half of So Africa.), a city with concert halls, live music in the street, museums, a waterfront to delight any jaded tourist, restaurants, cathedrals, botanical gardens, tarted up painted lady Victorian buildings, fine Cape Dutch homes, resident’s pride in their city, close proximity to wine country, and the gorgeous Cape Peninsula where one is almost blown away at the southern tip of Africa. A highlight of the 4 days in Cape Town was attending Mass at St. George Cathedral, Desmond Tutu’s church, and experiencing the beauty and deep spirituality when the rainbow nation joins as one in worship. The message of forgiveness for all and the compelling organ music brought peace to my soul.

After church we hurried down the Cape Peninsula to join the other gawkers at the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point, which was a fantastic spectacle, but required every once of strength to hike to the view point against the fierce winds. The drive down the cape was unexpectedly beautiful as it is a national park with fynbos (wild flower tapestries and scrub), baboons, ostriches silhouetted against the rough surf, and dramatic views at every juncture. The towns along the way were darling beach resorts with antique shops, cafes, and charming gardens. We stopped to visit the South African penguins at Boulders and found them cute to watch but not the commanding presence that the Emperor Penguins promise in Antarctica.

After four days in Cape Town we headed up through craggy mountain passes to Franschoek- Napa Valley set in the middle of Glacier National Park!This is the foodie capital of South Africa and the guest houses all try to outdo each other with their upscale comforts (picture a bathroom bigger than our flat at the hospital with heated towel racks and soaking tubs, down comforters, coffee presse, biscotti on demand and views of the duck pond and vineyard.) Ironically Franschoek was settled by French Huguenots in the 17th century escaping religious persecution in France. They brought their wine making and culinary skills with them as well as their Calvinism. The restaurants were exceptional and met world class standards. After a day of high living we were ready to tackle the mountains and hiked up Mount Rochelle to find fynbos in bloom with our first look at wild pink and yellow protea dominating the side of the mountain. Protea are the national flower of South Africa and grow wild only a few environments on earth. The tapestry of flowers, colors, and scrub with pinks, oranges, plum and purple flowering natives against the jagged geological formations and amazing views down into the valley below were a great payoff for the uphill clim

Frog Blog AKA Toad Jam

Frog blog March 12

Many Peace Corps volunteers adopt dogs or cats as pets to keep them company on the long nights they live as shut-ins. We did not have to go looking for pets as the guttural toads have adopted our modest flat as home. After a month of chasing full-sized Daddy toads we now have baby toads surprising us in the shower and popping out from under the furniture. When we walked in our flat after a weekend in our shopping town, a very still toad was sitting on top of a New Yorker that had been tossed on the easy chair. When grabbed to join his pals out on the lawn, he seemed very light. First case of death by New Yorker desiccation!! The toad should have looked for juicier reading. The hope is that the toad invasion is a seasonal condition and when winter comes they will move back to the creaks and springs where they are appreciated. Colleagues at Mountain High have suggested extermination through by dumping salt unto their flesh but this seems like drastic treatment for fairly harmless roommates. However old people do not like surprises in the night and the toads require demand that one wear slippers when getting up. Toad jam is not fun and the babies deserve a better place to grow up than a hospital business office!

Shop Till You Drop (Mortuary Table Blues)

Note: Brendon has posted our collection of African photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/brendon.bond

Office duties at Mountain High Hospital were a bit unusual this week as I scoured the province of KwaZuluNatal to purchase a mortuary table with drain and accessories. I would wager that this is a first for a Peace Corps volunteer, not to mention negotiating over price and T and C (terms and conditions). This job was not as easy as one would think in this land of mortuaries on every corner, as the search went clear across the province to find a supplier. Of course, the job was hindered by lack of internet, phone book and sporadic phone service. Eventually the trick was to contact one of the more popular mortuaries and ask the owner where he had bought his mortuary tables and to ask if he had a spare (which he did not-mortuary tables are hard to come by). Given a name and city the contacts were made and a deal negotiated.

Shopping for a stainless steel sink and drain board for the hospital supply department proved easier and an act of serendipity. On Friday I hitched a ride in the patient transport to town to purchase sewing and knitting materials for the patients. My first stop after the fabric store was a side trip to the nougat manufacturer that makes this town famous. Delicious soft nougat (nothing like the hard rocks in the US) are stuffed with almonds, chocolate, cherries, pistachios, cashews) and packed in edible rice paper. The factory is unmarked but has a small retail store where I am becoming a very good customer. Brendon and I try to save some of the delicious candy for those trying days when home in Palos Verdes beckons, but rationing does not come easy. Walking down the side street to the candy store, I spotted a heavy duty stainless second hand sink and drain board on the sidewalk of a used furniture store with a posted price of R250. The sink looked like it was sent from Heaven as it met the specifications and was the right price. After some small talk with the owner of the store in Zulu, I offered R200 ($30) for the sink and the owner said “Yebow” – Good News for the Hospital that has to justify every purchase. The owner was delighted to unload the sink and I was happy to finish a task. The next task was to arrange the 80km delivery up the mountain to the Hospital.

Patient Transport is somewhat of a misnomer as the pickup truck and camper with benches is called the ambulance but is used for conveying patients, staff, supplies, equipment, mothers delivering babies, ARV recipients, pensioners collecting their monthly grants, blood specimens to testing labs, and employees attending workshops up and down the mountainside. The drivers are in charge of the human cargo and get constant calls for their services. Due to limited public transportation, the sight of the truck moving out brings throngs of people who need to get somewhere. There is initial haggling over who sits where and stops to be made but the patients needs come first. My confusion is that the schedule for the run is determined as it plays out depending on new calls and hospital errands to be done. My personal confusion is magnified by the language problem. I grab a ride on a moment’s notice and never know when I will return but the ability to go straight into town and haul supplies back is irresistible.

Trips in the Hospital Patient Transport are interesting and full of drama. The truck and cab are loaded for the trip, the driver signs the log at the gate and the drama begins. If something goes wrong in the camper, the nurse bangs on the window of the cab and the driver pulls over. Friday’s trip started with a critically ill patient who needed to transfer to a critical care facility. Pensioners were loaded in to be transported to the pension pay site where they receive their cash grants in person. After this trip down the mountain the patient and pensioners were delivered and I hopped out of the cab to do the shopping for the hospital and deliver dry cleaning for a hospital chaplain. After an hour or so the driver picked me up and we headed to the second hand store to pick up the new sink. The owner of the store carried the heavy sink and loaded it into the camper securing it under the benches. We then trekked back to the Vryheid hospital to pick up the nurse. The driver then got another call to pick up a former patient at the taxi rank who needed
medical care for his foot. The driver drove to the taxi stand and helped the patient hobble into the back of the camper to go back to the hospital. The driver started down the road and pulled unto the shoulder. He got out and ran across the busy street to purchase some corn roasting in hot coals on the roadside and brought them to the nurse in the camper attending the patients. The driver was tired on this Friday trip as he had transported a young boy to the Hospital the night before and was up past one am. He pulled the truck over again when we reached a large pond and ran to the water to splash the cold water on his tired face. As he drives he toots the horn (here tooting is called hooting) at every passing taxi and waves to every pedestrian on the busy road.

There is a unity of spirit for with all people that do not have private cars – patients, nurses, pedestrians, bus riders, taxi goers and Peace Corps Volunteers. The wait for the bus or taxi sometimes seems interminable but often produces intimate conversations and new friendships. In fact the Bond’s now have a private Zulu tutor two days a week that resulted from a chatting up at the bus stop. A few weeks ago we met a high school student while waiting for the bus (and complaining about the poor service) that wants the job of teaching Americans to speak his language and needs the money to buy a cell phone. So perhaps at least we will be able to communicate with our new community!

Weekend at the Beach

he weeks sail by here at Mountain High with office duties, occupational therapy for the patients, shopping for handcraft materials and gardening in our vegetable garden. The garden was started shortly after we arrived in Sept. and has not been a great success as it was devoured by some hungry goats and their kids and then vandalized by 4” long locusts that found the veges tasty morsels. The 60 mealy (maize) plants were a pathetic bunch after they had been severed at their waist by the goats and finished off by the locusts. This week we called it quits with the mealy and pulled the pathetic plants out. Toads have moved into our flat but are day sleepers and generally very quiet roommates. Showering at night requires toad inspection before hopping in the shower. Our toad hunting technique has improved and we keep a large piece of white lace handy for netting the toad and throwing him out into the night.

However, the ravaged 80 cabbages have made comebacks and are starting to thrive. The nasty goats went straight to the heart of the cabbages, took two bites out of the apical meristem and went on to the next plant. Time has healed their wounds and we now have 60 plants with small heads that look like they are food. Other plants that are thriving are the non Zulu foods like spring lettuce, basil, parsley, and thyme. The tomatoes and green beans gave us a short run for the money but were eaten or died during our weeks of travel. The one acre plot in front of our flat has been plowed- it is time to plant the winter crops. The lemon and guava trees are bearing fruit which will be welcome when it ripens. Mango season has just passed. They are sold on every street corner and are eaten with everything. One of the great condiments of South Africa is a green mango chopped relish with chili oil and bits of seed called Ache. This is one sauce that people either love or hate.

Work has been busy with plans for Employee Computer Training and curriculum for introducing computer literacy to very rural people. We also developed plans for running a camp for AIDS Orphans and Vulnerable Children in July to deal with their psycho social problems and give them a break in the mountains for a week. South Africa is populated with OVCS (as they are known) and it is disturbing to consider how they will achieve productive adulthood with the handicap of losing their parents from AIDS and also the burden of taking care of younger siblings. The communities here do not turn their backs on the OVCs but the resources are spread very thin with some women acting as “Aunties” to provide some adult supervision. Other services are Drop-In Centers where children can get a meal or adult company, and full-time centers where 24 hour a day support is offered within the village. Social workers are in very short supply and are sorely needed to provide assistance with getting the grants that the children are entitled to. However, the first step in obtaining the grants is producing birth certificates or identity documents which may not exist due to the OVC status. The worrisome fact in this situation is that the OVC problem will continue and the society has been cheated out of its parents and breadwinners. Grandmothers (gogos) have taken on the job of raising the children in some cases but their lives are also a struggle on a daily basis.

This weekend we traveled to Richard’s Bay for the Peace Corps monthly “weekend out” and enjoyed being back in the first world and tested our ability to have a good time without a car. The local bus taking us down the mountain was an hour late and we worried that we would miss the Greyhound but we arrived in time to board and travel the 3 hours over the mountains to the beach city of Richards Bay, home of birding, beach going and shopping in American style malls with cinemas. The town is tropical with high heat, high humidity and gorgeous flowers and palms everywhere. We found a motel next to the Greyhound stop which advertised “All you need in a hotel.” After one night it may have been all I needed (noisy and hot) but my psyche begged for more that I wanted so we grabbed a taxi and found our way to the beach which had beautiful hotels, restaurants and swimming pools with clean water. Brendon is turning 59 this week so we celebrated with dinner out on Sat. at a Swiss restaurant with posters of St. Mortiz and cheese fondue. The setting in the 90 degree heat (remember this is summer in Africa) was a little bizarre but a lot of fun. Today we shopped at an Indian spice store in the mall and had a great time buying tandoori spice mixes, rice condiments, saffron, curry powders and talking about the Indian culture in South Africa. Curries are on every menu here and are always different and delicious.

Richards Bay has many lakes, ponds and marshes in addition to a beautiful beach facing the Indian Ocean. However it is confusing to see the sun setting over the ocean as it rises on the ocean side and sets on the mountains. We enjoyed a long walk down the deserted beach and wondered where were all the beachgoers on the beautiful summer day. A short walk from our hotel we found a charming resort with cabins in the woods, birds everywhere and an outdoor restaurant on the pond populated by yellow weaverbirds and ibis’s honking away. It was an ideallic setting for breakfast before we headed back to our mountain by taxi, bus, taxi van and hiking down the dirt road. A great weekend to restore health, happiness and that sense of discovery.