What Now?

Hello everyone. I know I updated a few months back about what my next steps were in Malawi but it seems that process of "next steps" never ends. At least not the questions from friends, family, and well meaning people. But for me I guess the answer now is that there is no more big "next step."

As I've been constantly reminded on my trip home to the States, I grew up telling everyone for as long as they and I could remember that one day I was going to live in Africa. I always had different ideas of what exactly I would do there but what was for certain is that I would be across the ocean. A lot of people have been reminding me of my certainty that my life partner would be there too. So in 2013 after years of traveling short-term to Kenya and finishing a Masters Degree in International Policy and a minor in African Studies, I joined the Peace Corps and moved to the place I loved. And what I found was a plethora of more "what's next" questions all throughout my service and it even got me quite stressed for a while. But what I've realized during my vacation in America is that for me, there is no more what's next. My lifelong dream is what I'm living now! I am in the dream I've always wanted and for me, there's no more next. I'm here, I'm staying, I'm starting the rest of my whole life. If you go years and years back in my other blog called "Evolution of the Mind" you will see the posts of mine longing for this day. For so long I wanted to be where I am and when I finally got there I got so caught up in the what's next that I forgot I had already achieved all I ever wanted. There was nothing more. 

So my dear friends, I live and will continue to live here. Maybe not in the country of Malawi forever but Africa is a huge continent 3x the size of the US full of the most diversity you could ever imagine and I will spend my life here on this beautiful land. God blessed me with my dream and I'm enjoying every minute of it for the rest of my life. 

What that life looks like now is a dual contract between Peace Corps and the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF). So for all of you who I've thoroughly confused, yes, I work for 2 organizations and am still with Peace Corps under a program called Response (read about it here: http://www.peacecorps.gov/volunteer/response/) which is a different version of Peace Corps from the 2-year volunteer program I just finished. And if you want to know more about the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, please see my previous post from a few months back entitled "EGPAF."

This year I've moved from my village home about 5 hours away to the capital city of Malawi named Lilongwe and now have a new house and office there in the city. I work 7:30am to 5:00pm Monday through Friday and have weekends free just like a typical American office job. And that is more what I am doing now- I'm not living in and among a community everyday doing projects in the village with the people. I actually work from an office with some few days of travel a month to project sites which are many times located in the village. But the majority of my days now are spent in the EGPAF office analyzing health data for our facilities and programs. I write reports, edit reports, help plan programs, create presentations, enter and clean data, attend meetings, participate in strategic planning, work with other Peace Corps Volunteers who are at our project sites, conduct data reviews, write and edit success stories, work on quality improvement objectives, help with research and conduct site visits to health facilities to help them better implement programs and improve their services (this is my favorite thing to do). It's a whole new set of skills to learn from my 2 years of doing community outreach in the village. The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) which is heavily involved in Malawi and provides much funding has a need for up-to-date, accurate and complete data/reports to closely monitor their expenditures and efforts to be sure they are making the most impact and change for the time and resources used. As an Evidence to Programs Officer with EGPAF, I help EGPAF collect that evidence and report on it to see if our programs are effective and working. This has become a large portion of what development work is.

So how long will I be working under this dual contract? At least until mid-year of 2016. What's after that? I'm really not sure. But Lord willing I will still be in Malawi just living, learning, working and loving. The biggest longing of my life has been fulfilled and I'm where I want to be and have peace living in Malawi. 

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life." Proverbs 13:12

My desk.

The street I now work on.

In my new office.