I appreciate the way the children interact with one another here. They take care of each other. Every time I look around I see an older child holding a younger child, comforting them. It’s refreshing to know that children can be so attentive when they themselves aren’t quite old enough to care for themselves completely.
Every day I’ll hear this slow scraping of a living creature moving on my roof. It’ll traverse the length of my roof up near the peak where there’s a tiny opening. I’ve seen it poke it’s little head in, but I’ve never quite been able to make out what it was. I decided one day to throw a marker at it and figure it out once and for all. In my head I was saying, “please be a lizard, please be a lizard”, afraid that a rat would free fall from my roof. Fortunately, it was a huge-ass lizard. I mean this guy was big. I’d make all that noise if I were his size too. So, now I know whenever I hear him it’s a lizard, not a rat.
I’ve actually had a rat-free streak for the last couple weeks. Or at least none that I know of. I’ve been better at plugging up the cracks of my doors at night, as to deter them from entering. The malaria pills have been giving me insomnia lately, and I think sometimes makes me hear things at night, so I’ve been paranoid. But to no avail when I get up in the morning, take a look around, and only see lizard poop.
The other morning I helped weigh babies at the Zahanati (Health Dispensary). It was amazing. They always cry when they’re put up on the hook and their mama lets go. I’d cry too if I was just hanging there, all eyes on me. To my astonishment, most of the babies/children were in the green zone. There were maybe 10 of the 45 total that had either lost weight, or had never made it up to the green zone. These are the mamas I’d like to work with.
Speaking of work, I’ve been making progress on the Village Situational Analysis (VSA). It’s a comprehensive assessment we have to complete within the first three months of being at site (so, by Mid-March). We’ve had to set up village meetings, village leaders meetings, family interviews, school interviews, health dispensary interviews, and interviews with the youth. I’ve got a few more interviews to do, and then I’ve just got to type it up. Which is easier said than done with no electricity. Looks like I’m back to middle school when we’d have to hand write everything before we got our allotted computer time.
Ok, I think this guesti might kick us out soon. When’s the latest you can stay before they expect you to pay for another night? I think 1pm might be pushing it…
