Where to begin!?! So much has happened…. My trip thus far has been quite interesting, starting in the airport in Atlanta. I met two former Peace Corps Volunteers on their way to Crisis Corps assignments – one heading to Lusaka, Zambia and the other to Malawi (in a small city to the North) to do HIV work. His work is part of PEPFAR – the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, so most likely, I will be evaluating his organization. And, the other guy was a former Peace Corps Volunteer in Jamaica! Talk about a small world.

After twenty-six hours of flying, including a five hour delay in Cape Verde waiting for authorization to refuel the plane, I finally landed in Johannesburg. I stayed in a five star hotel…too luxurious for my taste but I’m sure I’ll get used to this lifestyle 🙂

Also at the hotel were a group of people from Philip Morris! I ended up having dinner and Amarula with two tobacco buyers from the Carolinas. Tobacco remains Malawi’s biggest export – so I was extremely curious to hear about Fair Trade and what a tobacco farmer can expect from his/her crop. They informed me that there are no large tobacco plantations, only small farmers who grow on a few acres of land. I can only imagine the low prices they receive for their hard work and labor.

I flew to Lilongwe this morning where I was met by my driver and taken immediately to the CDC. I was pleased to discover that I have my very own office, complete with a PC, a cell phone and a door! My cell phone # is the following:

(265) 9-960386

And the people in the office are fantastic. I had a brief meeting with staff, then I was whisked away to my very first TB/HIV Clinic. On the drive to Old Town, it was hard not to notice the poverty. The shanty towns rival those in Kingston, yet the surrounding scenery is gorgeous. The clinic itself is somewhat modern, a nice brick building with signs everywhere (Please don’t spit here). However, the TB/HIV clinic sits towards the back of the compound….the general hospital is towards the front, hence in order to reach the clinic one needs to drive by the streams of people sitting along the outskirts of the buildings – family members camping out at the hospital in order to care for their loved ones inside.

A group of people are here from the CDC (as well as various other organizations) to beta test a new Web-based HIV/TB reporting system. One of the women is actually a friend of mine from Emory! What luck! Plus, I’m in on some groundbreaking developments in terms of monitoring and evaluation, so I’m sure I can truly have an impact.

I finally was taken to my new home around 6pm. The grounds are incredible. This place has some serious potential, yet it’s looking pretty scarce and a wee bit depressing at the moment. It’s too bad I won’t have my stuff for awhile…I could use a lot of my things about now! Regardless, the place is enormous…in fact, I haven’t found the laundry room yet…and I still haven’t checked out the guest house or the staff quarters. So if anyone wants to visit, I have plenty of room!

So far, I absolutely LOVE Malawi. I have a busy day tomorrow (well, every day from here on out). I even have a schedule, which includes meeting the Ambassador and everyone at the Embassy. And this weekend I’ve been invited to go to Lake Malawi with the Sailing Club 🙂

OK…I’ve written enough for now. Please drop me a line when you can!

Much love to all,
Amy