I have set a schedule for myself as I start to establish a weekly routine. Wednesdays are my day out. I head out on the "axes" to check out the surrounding countryside. I accompany the external activity supervisors, but my goals are threefold.
I'm supervising the drivers and keeping tabs on the fleet. We have 5 big, white Toyota landcruisers (like every other NGO in the world) right now, and will soon go back to our usual 8 once the rain hits. For 4 weeks, we'll rent a few more and increase our fleet to somewhere around 12. That's a lot of cars to keep track of. I'm checking how the drivers handle the cars, especially on these tiny tracks through the bush. There's mud (and it's only the dry season), river crossings, deep sand, herds of cattle, and villages with small children running after the cars. Plenty to keep the drivers busy. Add onto that manual transmission, optional 4-wheel-drive mode, and two frequency-ranges of radio to also monitor, and it's quite a job. The drivers do a pretty good job of it, including having the big boss in the front seat next to them.
I'm learning the layout of the health centers, meeting the manager, and surveying the needs of each health center. We're going to do some major rehab in each center, standardizing their facilities (latrines, shade structures, the basics), so I'm getting a jump start on the surveying (most of the surveying has already been done, but try to read 100+ pages of reports [in French] about centers with extremely similar names in places you've never heard of--I'm a visual learner).
I'm checking on security of the routes. We pass a UNHCR convoy that is doing a distribution for the 529 refugees relocated from across the border in CAR. There's a lot going on here. On one trip, we stop to see the sous-prefect of the southern part of the district. He discusses rebel movement, refugee placement, nomad schedules, and vaccination campaigns.
It's a long day out, but much is accomplished. There are 24 health centers, and I have only been to 9 of them. It'll come.
I'm supervising the drivers and keeping tabs on the fleet. We have 5 big, white Toyota landcruisers (like every other NGO in the world) right now, and will soon go back to our usual 8 once the rain hits. For 4 weeks, we'll rent a few more and increase our fleet to somewhere around 12. That's a lot of cars to keep track of. I'm checking how the drivers handle the cars, especially on these tiny tracks through the bush. There's mud (and it's only the dry season), river crossings, deep sand, herds of cattle, and villages with small children running after the cars. Plenty to keep the drivers busy. Add onto that manual transmission, optional 4-wheel-drive mode, and two frequency-ranges of radio to also monitor, and it's quite a job. The drivers do a pretty good job of it, including having the big boss in the front seat next to them.
I'm learning the layout of the health centers, meeting the manager, and surveying the needs of each health center. We're going to do some major rehab in each center, standardizing their facilities (latrines, shade structures, the basics), so I'm getting a jump start on the surveying (most of the surveying has already been done, but try to read 100+ pages of reports [in French] about centers with extremely similar names in places you've never heard of--I'm a visual learner).
I'm checking on security of the routes. We pass a UNHCR convoy that is doing a distribution for the 529 refugees relocated from across the border in CAR. There's a lot going on here. On one trip, we stop to see the sous-prefect of the southern part of the district. He discusses rebel movement, refugee placement, nomad schedules, and vaccination campaigns.
It's a long day out, but much is accomplished. There are 24 health centers, and I have only been to 9 of them. It'll come.
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