a vida continua

It's been several months since i last wrote. I think the last time i wrote i was in a particularly “blue” state feeling like i was losing the daily battle on many fronts.

Well life goes on. Here in Mozambique people often say “A luta continua” (The struggle continues) and life here (like everywhere) continues to throw curve balls but life is going on and

In June I had the opportunity to go to Uganda for an internaitonal meeting on HIV. Uganda is known as the “Pearl of Africa” and clearly earns its reputation with its rich music and culture, friendly people, and green lush landscape. The meeting also was a good opportunity to hear about what successes and challenges other countries are facing in scaling up the response to HIV. And now that i've been in this field for 4+ years now, it was also a good opportunity to catch up and network with friends and colleagues in other countries.

I am (finally) a bit more settled now. My worldly belongings arrived from Malawi in late June (more than a year after I had packed them away) but just in the last month, I have finally finished painting all the rooms, hanging pictures on the wall, and it finally feels like home. For the first time in a long time, i have my belongings from all the chapters of my life (Morocco, travels when i was living in the States, Malawi) all in the same place. Which is nice. And while I have a lovely home, it is the first time I have lived on my own and this remains something I am still trying to get used to.

One of the highlights of these past months has been the visit of my cousins from Indiana. I met Wayne, Joanne, Ellen and Dean first for a few days in a game park in South Africa, where we had fun tracking rhinos, Wayne discovered morning coffee tastes much better when you put alcohol in it, and we had lots of fun catching up with old stories, etc. And they then came and hung with me in Maputo for a couple of days where we hung around the house, explored the city, introduced them to Mozambican prawns and beer, and we even spent a day in a local community building houses through Habitat for Humanity, which i think was one of the most meaningful days for us all.

I do feel like I've settled in socially here. I have a good core group of friends, many of whom i see almost daily, and many of whom have become close confidants, colleagues, running mates, and mates on weekend adventures.

And work continues as well. I do feel like i am battling what I think I should be doing and want to do (e.g. Working with Ministry of Health and national systems) versus what I am required to do (in particular a lot of reporting for internal US Government use) but trying to find the balance, get what i need to done, and still have enough time left to do the fun (and important) stuff.
I'm working on a couple of projects right now that I both enjoy and feel are important, monitoring and evaluation systems for persons getting HIV tested, for pregnant mothers to prevent HIV transmission to newborn infants, and persons on HIV care and treatment. We are also trying to get a national study up and running among groups at higher risk for HIV (including sex workers, long-distance truck drivers) to better understand issues related to HIV for these specific populations as well as to learn how programs might be best tailored to be responsive and effective with these populations.

So life goes on day by day. I was back in Malawi this past week for a meeting but also was able to catch up with friends, who noted that I seem “calmer” and more at peace now than i did when things always seemed a bit frantic in Malawi. There are still days where lots of little things get me down (e.g. Someone decided to steal all the mirrors from my car yesterday when it was parked in the street.) And perhaps most importantly, each day I am trying to actively seek out the little things that make life beautiful, for example the two birds who have perched on my door right now and are keeping me company.

So life goes on, I'm learning how to live and breathe through the downs and discover the little gems in life that keep us going and moving forward.