Site Placement

After a one day delay in finding out our sites for the next two years, we were told today where we will be spending the next two years of our lives. As I've said earlier, this is pretty crazy. But anyways, to refresh people's memory, I was mostly concerned with working with a NGO. I had also done my volunteer visit on the Essequibo Coast and loved it there. So.... drumroll please..... I was placed with a small community health center in Queenstown on the Essequibo Coast!!! I'm pretty darn excited. My initial reaction was disappointment that I was not placed with a NGO. However, I am on the Essequibo Coast, which was beautiful and fun. Plus, the volunteers that are already there, along with the ones from own group who are going to be there, are amazing. So I can't really complain.

And the more I've thought about it, this will be good for me. I've had lots of experience working in offices of some sort or another. Though working in a NGO would be more comfortable for me, nobody said Peace Corps was about comfort. And the ability to interact with people and deal directly with their health care will be both challenging and rewarding. So I'm very excited.

So let me explain a little about community health centers. Basically, they are the first level of preventive health care in Guyana. All communities have their own health center. They will typically be staffed with some number of nurses, medex, and other staff. There is a lot pre- and post-natal work done at these clinics. So I will have lots of opportunities to talk with new mothers about their care of their new children. On top of that, they represent a great captive audience. As I get more comfortable and discover the major health issues that need to be addressed in my community, I can do health presentations and talks with them as they wait. Anyways, there is little structure but lots of potential for me. I'm excited to get started!

By the way, if you are trying to figure out where the Essequibo Coast is, basically the Essequibo River is the biggest river that runs through the middle of Guyana to the Atlantic Ocean. I'll be on the northwestern coast of it. So just Google it.