Site Announcements!
The verdict is in and I’ll be heading off to Louvinvilli, Ambae to work at a health dispensary. I’m really happy about my placement and I can’t wait to get started. I’m very excited about going to Ambae for several reasons. First and foremost, Ambae is a volcano. I’m not exactly sure how safe it is to live on the side of a volcano, but it’s definitely something I’m looking forward to putting on my resume.
Ambae is also where the provincial offices for Penama province are located so I’ll be close to the provincial hospital which will make for some interesting work experience. I’m told Louvinvilli is about a 45 minute truck ride up the volcano from the hospital and airport in Lolowae and Longona. I’m not sure how treacherous the terrain is but I’m told it takes about three hours to walk, which might just be worth it for a cold beer at one of the few stores that has a refrigerator and the prospect of internet at the hospital.
The short job description I was given highlights that the community requested a woman to come and work with the other women in the village on maternal and child health and work with the children in the school on health education specific to reproductive health. It also touched on strengthening the delivery of primary healthcare and developing the preventative capacity of the clinic through working with the village’s health committee. I’m ecstatic that this community requested a female as this is rare for Vanuatu (most sites request males) and was bracing myself to potentially be undermined in my work based on my gender.
I’ve heard great things about my community in that it’s very open and welcoming and collaborates together, which should make the facilitation of health projects go a little more smoothly (some communities are not very cooperative). I’ve also heard that my work counterpart at the dispensary is very nice and has a lot of ideas about where to start, so I’m excited to meet her and get to work.
My house is also very nice, Peace Corps provided us with a few small photos. I’ll be living in the nurse’s quarters right next to the dispensary, it’s a cement house with a tin roof and legitimate windows and doors. It has an indoor bathroom, although no running water or electricity. I will still need to bucket shower but I have a water seal toilet instead of a hole in the ground like many locations. I’ll still need to dump water down the toilet to flush and from what I can see there’s no toilet seat, but I’m still unbelievably excited about this. I can’t wait to get settled in.
Ambae is pretty far away from Efate/Port Vila so I most likely will not be coming into town much. It is however very close to Santo/Luganville, which is Vanuatu’s other urban center and I’m told beats Vila any day. Santo is also the diving mecca of Vanuatu and I’m excited to get certified and go find Nemo. I’m not sure how this will affect my access to internet though. It’s rumored that all of the provincial hospitals have internet and if this is true, I may be able to access it there every so often. It’s sort of a wait and see type situation, but I was anticipating absolutely no internet access while at site so the prospect seems almost too good to be true. I will also have cell reception at my site, which I’m incredibly thankful for and still a little shocked about.
All the trainees are headed to Vila for the week for a bit more training and some time to purchase all of the necessary goods for site. After the weeks up we’re all headed in different directions and I’m not sure when I’ll see everybody again. Peace Corps is flying all of the health volunteers in again in February for phase two of technical health training.
The best way to reach me is still via the address to the left.
So this will most likely be my last update for the next three months. That being said… Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!
Ambae is also where the provincial offices for Penama province are located so I’ll be close to the provincial hospital which will make for some interesting work experience. I’m told Louvinvilli is about a 45 minute truck ride up the volcano from the hospital and airport in Lolowae and Longona. I’m not sure how treacherous the terrain is but I’m told it takes about three hours to walk, which might just be worth it for a cold beer at one of the few stores that has a refrigerator and the prospect of internet at the hospital.
The short job description I was given highlights that the community requested a woman to come and work with the other women in the village on maternal and child health and work with the children in the school on health education specific to reproductive health. It also touched on strengthening the delivery of primary healthcare and developing the preventative capacity of the clinic through working with the village’s health committee. I’m ecstatic that this community requested a female as this is rare for Vanuatu (most sites request males) and was bracing myself to potentially be undermined in my work based on my gender.
I’ve heard great things about my community in that it’s very open and welcoming and collaborates together, which should make the facilitation of health projects go a little more smoothly (some communities are not very cooperative). I’ve also heard that my work counterpart at the dispensary is very nice and has a lot of ideas about where to start, so I’m excited to meet her and get to work.
My house is also very nice, Peace Corps provided us with a few small photos. I’ll be living in the nurse’s quarters right next to the dispensary, it’s a cement house with a tin roof and legitimate windows and doors. It has an indoor bathroom, although no running water or electricity. I will still need to bucket shower but I have a water seal toilet instead of a hole in the ground like many locations. I’ll still need to dump water down the toilet to flush and from what I can see there’s no toilet seat, but I’m still unbelievably excited about this. I can’t wait to get settled in.
Ambae is pretty far away from Efate/Port Vila so I most likely will not be coming into town much. It is however very close to Santo/Luganville, which is Vanuatu’s other urban center and I’m told beats Vila any day. Santo is also the diving mecca of Vanuatu and I’m excited to get certified and go find Nemo. I’m not sure how this will affect my access to internet though. It’s rumored that all of the provincial hospitals have internet and if this is true, I may be able to access it there every so often. It’s sort of a wait and see type situation, but I was anticipating absolutely no internet access while at site so the prospect seems almost too good to be true. I will also have cell reception at my site, which I’m incredibly thankful for and still a little shocked about.
All the trainees are headed to Vila for the week for a bit more training and some time to purchase all of the necessary goods for site. After the weeks up we’re all headed in different directions and I’m not sure when I’ll see everybody again. Peace Corps is flying all of the health volunteers in again in February for phase two of technical health training.
The best way to reach me is still via the address to the left.
So this will most likely be my last update for the next three months. That being said… Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!
1 Response to Site Announcements!
Hey Kara!
This is Nikalas. I've been enjoying reading your blog updates and hope to be reading some more in the near future. I was working on a small package for you, but apparently it would cost around 150 bucks to send even the smallest package. Though I'm not giving up, it has caused a bit of a delay until I can find a cheaper solution.
Your New Years romp around the island sounded awesome. I'm happy everyone is treating you well and that you're settling in easily. I hope to read some more about your experience working with the Vanuatu folk, and what it is like to finally leave the States for a good chunk of time. I envy the fact that you get to experience something so different from the norm.
Keep writing those blog updates! When you finally do come back to the states, I'm sure you will miss Vanuatu deeply and will want to go back immediately.
All the best
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