By MAGGIE PAVELKA
J Alumni News staff
Maggie Pavelka poses for a photo with her favorite group of kids in front of her hut in Thiewal Lao
Well, let’s be honest. I came to Africa more than a year ago not really knowing what I was getting myself into.
After two months of training, I still had no idea what I was doing.
And then I was placed in my village, Thiewal Lao, deep in the bush of southern Senegal. From the first day, it has been made perfectly clear what I was brought there to do. The only problem was that I had no idea how I was going to make it happen. So I started making it up as I went.
My task: Complete a rural health center.
Getting started
I started talking to people. I practically stalked the members of the local government. And layer-by-layer, I started getting the full story.
On the west side of my village there stands the rough shell of a building. It has walls and a roof and a long history of lies, greed and all-too-typical scandal that I was given the task of rectifying.
So here’s the background to what has been my primary project:
In 2004, the local government solicited an international NGO (non-governmental organization) to build a much-needed health facility. The NGO handed over millions of CFA (the monetary unit in parts of Africa) to local officials who handed the money over to a contractor to do the project.
What not to do
For those of you who are counting, four huge mistakes were made.
1. The NGO gave out a lot of money with no system of accountability in place, and a year later stopped doing work in Senegal.
2. The local government no doubt skimmed a portion of that money before handing it off to a contractor with no system of accountability in place.
3. The contractor was chosen by the NGO, both of whom were based in the capital city of Dakar, more than 14 hours away from Kolda.
4. The contractor started the project having no doubt skimmed a portion of that money and continued to steal project funds over the next four years as he started and stopped progress on Thiewal Lao’s health center construction. There was no one to stop him.
Then I showed up.
Making it work
And when I started talking to people I realized that none of them were talking to each other. The local government, Ministry of Health, other local NGOs and community members were all working independently of each other with little to no progress.
If you’ve read my blog you know that months of begging, insisting, pleading and even crying through formal and informal meetings with World Vision, we somehow established a working relationship that has resulted in the full funding of the completion of the health center in my village.
You would think this is the good news, but I had known they were going to fund it for several months with no actual progress on the construction.
But that has all changed.
On July 8, 2009, a tractor arrived with every single nail, paintbrush and piece of plywood needed to finish the project. This present came complete with a foreman and crew of four masons. They began work on July 9 at 8 a.m. and have been working every day but Saturday since. Not only do they work quickly, but they are very good at what they do.
The foreman who supervises demands quality. I meet with him every morning and evening to go over what was accomplished and what is coming up next. The crew calls me over every time I am within earshot to show me their techniques and (probably more so) to see if I can do it, too.
If this whole “saving the world” thing doesn’t work out, I may have a future in masonry.
Seeing results
So it is happening. My villagers have stepped up, too, over the past few months, long before our crew showed up. They have formed a Health Committee that will oversee the proper function of the facility. Health outreach volunteers representing 10 surrounding villages have been chosen and have begun training to connect people to the health center.
And I have never been more popular in my life.
We expect to have construction done by Sept. 1, and there is no reason we shouldn’t be open and functioning by the end of the year. The Ministry of Health is on board. Not only does it mean that more than 10,000 Senegalese will have better access to medical care, but it gives the volunteer who will replace me next year the resources to reach out to all these people and work on education and prevention now that the infrastructure will be in place.
Pavelka holds baby named in her honor in September 2009; her Senegalese name is Mariama.
So I am stressed. The project is going well, but it is not done yet. I will hold my breath until then. Because the economy is so bad, solar panels and a well have been cut from my budget so I am anxiously working to find funding. And we are in the heart of the rainy season, which generally just makes things a little more difficult.
But I am thankful. I am thankful I was given such a defined purpose. I am thankful for the people of my village who are willing to work to better their own lives. I am thankful for the support I have received from other Peace Corps volunteers, and friends and family back home. And I am thankful that this thing might actually get done during my service.
You can see pictures of the progress at www.peacecorpspav.shutterfly.com in the “Health Poste and School” Album.
October update
World Vision completed construction at the end of August. In September, we received a grant from an American NGO, Appropriate Projects — Water Charity, who fully funded the construction of a well. The well was dug and cement lined in one month and will provide access to clean water.
We are still looking for funding for the solar panels.
Throughout October and November, the Health Committee (village volunteers who were elected by their communities) president and treasurer will receive official training through the district health center. Fifteen volunteer health extension workers also will be trained and begin education and prevention sessions in villages surrounding the health center. And the doctor who will be appointed to our health facility will finish his two-year training in December. He will arrive at the end of December, and we expect to have an official opening ceremony the first week of the New Year.
Pavelka worked for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation in Lincoln as a special events coordinator for two years after graduation. She joined the Peace Corps for the international experience, the challenge and the adventure. She hopes to return to the United States for graduate school in 2010.
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