Peace Corps volunteers, Susan and Brendon, explored the manifestation of their role as “NGO Capacity Builders” in a rural AID/TB hospital in Zululand, South Africa. This job title has mystified all volunteers in our PC group from the beginning of our service. After 1 ½ years of volunteer service, the jobs for our peers seem to range from receptionist at the NGO to Operations Manager at a rural hospital. We recently learned that the “Capacity Builder” job classification has evolved into a new project called CHOP “Community HIV Outreach Program.”
The week had it ups and downs, with one day experiencing deep satisfaction and enjoyment from our Peace Corps service and the next day, frustration and annoyance.
On Wednesday, Brendon and I hiked down into the Valley community to take photos of the Mountain High Mobile Clinic in action for an upcoming display at “Quality Day” for the District Health Dept. The day was stunningly beautiful with the Valley in full green, women carrying trees on their heads (twala) as they walked as talked and schoolgirls giddy with excitement as the school term ended. It was hard to believe our good fortune to be assigned to hike through the trees and rocky hillside as part of our jobs here. We met the Mobile Clinic as it came over the top of the mountain and parked under the large tree which serves as shade for the patients who come to receive treatment. The mobile clinic is one of the successes of Mountain High Hospital as it serves 14 extremely rural villages where there is no medical care available. Nurses diagnose, treat and care for many acute and chronic conditions, sometimes seeing more than 100 patients a day. Today the turnout was light at this first stop as the community had been given insufficient notice the clinic was coming, but the nurses did not get discouraged. The new nurse/driver turned the converted pickup truck around on the narrow steep dirt road and headed for the next site.
The next day the health department inspectors came to do an audit of the Hospital and the ambiguity of the Peace Corps role as “Capacity Builder” came to light. The director of the hospital was away for the day. Brendon had been sent to the monthly manager’s meeting for the district health. Thursday’s schedule for the Occupational Therapy Program for the patients is leather day with the men making simple sandals and the women small bags. In the middle of the lesson on how to glue the insole to the sole, the head nurse summoned me to the audit team to explain the hospital accounting/accountability process. I lacked the authority and responsibility to properly explain the process and was frustrated by being called upon to represent the hospital. Capacity building entails helping and supporting individuals that have the responsibility and authority to exercise those powers. The greatest satisfaction at this hospital has been teaching basic skills to AIDs patients and helping the administrative staff to learn modern office practices. This experience in dealing with health department auditors has given me great sympathy for the personnel in drug manufacturing companies in California who were called upon to answer for their corporate quality assurance programs but lacked the proper background to answer the complicated questions during the audits of my former career. I answered the questions in the most honest, correct fashion that I knew but was disturbed that I was not the best person to be doing this job and it was NOT capacity building as next year the auditors would be back and the Peace Corps volunteers would be home.
Today our positive experience in SA bounced back as we traveled to our shopping town to participate in our church’s annual bazaar held in front of the 150 year old historic church in the heart of town. I sold fleece hats and scarves while the church members held a “jumble sale” (rummage), cooked sausages/curry, and sold home baked goods and preserves. South Africa produces very delicious steamed puddings, scones, marmalades, cheese cakes and boers wors. The prices for the items at the jumble sale were low and lower so the customers left happy. The fleece hats for sustainability of the occupational therapy program at Mountain High also sold well so the day was a big success. The weather helped and the day was lot of fun.
The week had it ups and downs, with one day experiencing deep satisfaction and enjoyment from our Peace Corps service and the next day, frustration and annoyance.
On Wednesday, Brendon and I hiked down into the Valley community to take photos of the Mountain High Mobile Clinic in action for an upcoming display at “Quality Day” for the District Health Dept. The day was stunningly beautiful with the Valley in full green, women carrying trees on their heads (twala) as they walked as talked and schoolgirls giddy with excitement as the school term ended. It was hard to believe our good fortune to be assigned to hike through the trees and rocky hillside as part of our jobs here. We met the Mobile Clinic as it came over the top of the mountain and parked under the large tree which serves as shade for the patients who come to receive treatment. The mobile clinic is one of the successes of Mountain High Hospital as it serves 14 extremely rural villages where there is no medical care available. Nurses diagnose, treat and care for many acute and chronic conditions, sometimes seeing more than 100 patients a day. Today the turnout was light at this first stop as the community had been given insufficient notice the clinic was coming, but the nurses did not get discouraged. The new nurse/driver turned the converted pickup truck around on the narrow steep dirt road and headed for the next site.
The next day the health department inspectors came to do an audit of the Hospital and the ambiguity of the Peace Corps role as “Capacity Builder” came to light. The director of the hospital was away for the day. Brendon had been sent to the monthly manager’s meeting for the district health. Thursday’s schedule for the Occupational Therapy Program for the patients is leather day with the men making simple sandals and the women small bags. In the middle of the lesson on how to glue the insole to the sole, the head nurse summoned me to the audit team to explain the hospital accounting/accountability process. I lacked the authority and responsibility to properly explain the process and was frustrated by being called upon to represent the hospital. Capacity building entails helping and supporting individuals that have the responsibility and authority to exercise those powers. The greatest satisfaction at this hospital has been teaching basic skills to AIDs patients and helping the administrative staff to learn modern office practices. This experience in dealing with health department auditors has given me great sympathy for the personnel in drug manufacturing companies in California who were called upon to answer for their corporate quality assurance programs but lacked the proper background to answer the complicated questions during the audits of my former career. I answered the questions in the most honest, correct fashion that I knew but was disturbed that I was not the best person to be doing this job and it was NOT capacity building as next year the auditors would be back and the Peace Corps volunteers would be home.
Today our positive experience in SA bounced back as we traveled to our shopping town to participate in our church’s annual bazaar held in front of the 150 year old historic church in the heart of town. I sold fleece hats and scarves while the church members held a “jumble sale” (rummage), cooked sausages/curry, and sold home baked goods and preserves. South Africa produces very delicious steamed puddings, scones, marmalades, cheese cakes and boers wors. The prices for the items at the jumble sale were low and lower so the customers left happy. The fleece hats for sustainability of the occupational therapy program at Mountain High also sold well so the day was a big success. The weather helped and the day was lot of fun.
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