Dear Family and Friends,
This is such a good news/bad news letter that I’m having trouble deciding which to tell you first.
Heck, let’s start with the good news. My various projects are going so well. Just after complaining to you that I couldn’t get funding for the HIV/AIDS training program – Voila! Along comes a letter from Jeff Jenks, president of the Southeast Michigan Returned PCV’s, and they are offering to fund the whole program. Thank you SEMIRPCV’s!!! Another excellent International group, PSI, is providing all the trainers and people to do the counseling and HIV testing. This program is going to make a very significant difference in the level of HIV/AIDS awareness in the remote villages I serve.
And things are finally starting to move on the Cultural Village Project. On June 15th we had a large group of VIP’s from both local and national government visit the site. They brought TV cameras and lots of hullabaloo.
The minister to the Prime Minister, the second most powerful person in government voiced his commitment to the project. The speech made by the Minister of Tourism Environment and Culture was televised and as the camera spanned the crowd many of the Villagers, some who have never even seen a TV were on television. We had a Pitso (Village Meeting) the day after the event and when I told them they’d been on TV the enthusiasm was overwhelming. The ministers all had lunch at my place. I told the top dog Minister about my problem getting food for our workers. He asked for a copy of my proposal. I just happened to have a copy along with a list of every worker’s name. He said he would give it his personal attention.
Then, this past Wednesday, we had our first ever group of “tourists”. O.K. sure, they were new PCV’s and this was a part of their training but to our Village they were Americans coming to see the holy place where the great Moshoeshoe I was born. The Village put on a show I think the PCV’s will never forget. Everyone was decked out in traditional tribal clothes. Many had painted their bodies with a mixture of sheep fat and red ochre pigment.
The Sangomas did wild dances, their naked bodies covered with bells and animal skins. A group of elders and young strong men took us up into the caves where Moshoeshoe first hid his people during the terrible Lifanqane wars. The handsome young warriors accompanying us up the mountain to the caves practically carried the young female PVC’s up the difficult parts.
Everybody loved it. The food was all the ancient things Moshoeshoe would have eaten at a tribal feast – it was delicious. I had notified the newspapers and three reporters and cameramen came. The Public Eve is going to do a special insert on Menkhoaneng. The minister of tourism told me she has finally gotten an empowered executive committee together with whom I can begin serious work on the development of a business plan for the project. I am stoked!
Everything is so wonderful except what happened just this morning. This is the bad news. I think I mentioned we have a lot of dogs – six to be exact, three of whom are four month old puppies. I just love these puppies. Early every morning I let them into my hut for a big bowl of warm milk, oatmeal, dog chunks and whatever food I didn’t eat from last night’s supper. This morning there were some chunks of grizzle from some unidentified meat the family gave me. I hadn’t touched it – a donkey died recently and I was very suspicious.
Anyway, one of the puppies got a piece of it stuck in his throat. I tried to get it out giving him sort of Hiemlich, I tried to get my fingers into his throat. The poor little thing bit me several times with his sharp little teeth. I called for help and one of the daughters in the family came running. We tried to hold his mouth open and get the big chunk out – she was bitten too. Our hands got pretty bloody. The poor darling little dog died. When it was over, I poured liquid disinfectant over our hands and it wasn’t until we were washing our hands together in a basin that I realized my big mistake. We were mixing our blood.
I called our Peace Corps doctor immediately – woke him up, in fact. He told me to come to Maseru immediately. When I got here he began rabies shots and started me on a drug called Lamivudine/zidovudine. It’s a PEP treatment.
That stands for post exposure prophylaxis. I take two tablets a day for 30 days – the side effect is nausea. I have to stay in Maseru until Tuesday for the last rabies shot.
When I return to the village I’m going to ask the young women who helped me if she will go into the clinic for a HIV test. I’ll take her, I’ll hold her hand, and I’ll pay her if necessary. As Dr. Johnson pointed out the chances statistically are one in three that she is positive. The PEP treatment if started within 24 hours of exposure is very effective but it sure would be great to know that she’s negative. Over the next few weeks and months my blood will be tested frequently. I feel certain that I’m not infected but the next few weeks are going to be a bit nerve-racking.
So that’s the bad news. It’s probably nothing. My exposure was slight and the medical response quick.
So that’s it – the good, the bad and the bloody. I will, of course, let you know the minute I get the ”all clear”.
Now I’m thinking I should have started with the bad news – this is not a very upbeat note on which to end this letter. Please read the first few paragraphs again – life is good here, I am happy and all is well.
Love,
Peggi
