On the Beach…Matoso Beach

I didn’t realize how long it has been since I’ve written in my journal and correspondingly since my last blog. Consequently, there is much to relay, and perhaps I will break this entry into two parts like Kill Bill – there will be a Vol. 1 and a Vol. 2.

On the food front, Joyce (the cook and the wash lady) has been making a lot of effort to make stuff I like. She has made 3 curries including a chicken curry and tried her hand at Fettucini alfredo that unfortunately did not come out well amd required the addition of Tabasco sauce just to be edible. However, she makes great brownies and this past week added chocolate cake to her baking repertoire that is extremely tasty.

Over the past few weeks, there has been much discussion about the direction of PSC and its improved functioning. It began with a discussion in the cook house by the 3 J’s – Jackson, Joseph, and yours truly (Jeevan that is). Jackson is part of management and Joseph is the real person behind the optimal functioning of the PSC. When Joseph relayed the woes and challenges of PSC, Jackson was quite intrigued by these facts of which he was seemingly unaware. He suggested that I present the same arguments to the rest of the Management staff the following day during our meeting. I did so, and they were in agreement with what we thought needed to be done. I pitched our project ideas in the setting of our move. They have built a new building here that is to be the “new and improved” clinic structure. The construction of the new building was a great idea from last year. The PSC people are to get the current clinic building. It is a win-win situation for everybody. When I described the set-up that we proposed for the current clinic building and how PSC was going to utilize it, I then emphasized to the management why certain rooms had to be such and why certain staffing were required in this manner, etc. In the end they were quite convinced of the need to support PSC a little bit more than they have in the past. I think things will go well.

The conversation then meandered into American politics and recent American history. I regaled them with stories of how Bush is bad, why the Iraq war is horrible, why our politics of intervention have always been destructive. They were very intrigued by my “stories.”

I’ve been studying Go, or as I sometimes refer to it – Japanese table war. I brought two books with me and I have completed reading them. The systematic learning of the game has definitely improved my playing. Although, one must admit that in order to play this game, there must be some study of the fundamentals. Some people say that the game is extremely easy to learn; well in the sense that there are black and white stones, and one must put them on the board to capture territory, and the person with the most territory wins. However, looking at a large 19x19 square board that is devoid of any game pieces is a daunting experience. It’s like looking at a blank page and being expected to write a novel or a blank canvas and being expected to create a visual masterpiece. The possibilities are endless – how does one even start? Well, apparently there are a few rules that one can follow to make the game a little less nebulous. Regardless, the intuitiveness of the game is a challenge.

I downloaded a couple of programs to help me compete against a computer. Despite the insistence of many that computerized Go lags far behind the ability of even average human players, I’m getting my ass kicked repeatedly. On one of the program, I am average at the 9x9 version w/o any handicaps. Now, I’ve improved to a 13x13 board with 2 handicap stones on the “weak” level (there is a weakest level that is the lowest - meaning that I’m not too horrible). It was definitely an intimidating first game when I graduated to the bigger board. When I finally make it to the 19x19 board, it will be a big accomplishment regardless of whether I have 9 handicaps or not. Like I said, this blank slate, this Japanese Tabula Rossa is daunting.

Another cool discovery on the Go front is the fact that Arpan plays the game. Playing against another human, even if it’s on the internet over thousands of miles, is a much better experience than the computer. He had mentioned that to play in person is an experience unto itself. The game has so much history and rituals attached to it (typical of the Japanese) that it is no doubt exciting to sit across from a person and place these simple pieces on this big, blank, piece of wood.

Well, that’s the end of Volume 1. Volume 2 will arrive shortly!

Another message from Hotel Matos-afornia 10/14/07

A new experience for me these days is the lake flies. They are called flies but they look more like big gnats than flies. In fact, they act more like gnats, too: they hover in groups, land on doors and windows, climb on your head, try to enter your nose and ears – extremely annoying creatures but thankfully benign. They don’t bite and are mainly a nuisance. I am not sure what they eat or what their life cycle is like because they seem to just appear and disappear which happened the next day. Recently, while I was at Barak’s house (the head guard), I looked out onto the lake and I saw this dense, grey cloud over the water. I saw multiple ones actually. I asked Barak what they were, for I thought perhaps there was some kind of river bonfire going on. He informed me that they were a cloud of lake flies. I was amazed. If one didn’t know they were benign, I think I would be frightened for my life to see this plague of insects moving towards me. They move fast, too. I have pictures of them that I will include, eventually. One of these days, you will have a photographic blog.

In my quest to learn more about how to implement a program to start treating pediatric patients with HIV, I took a tour of a nearby hospital – St. Camillus. It is a hospital that is owned by the Camillian Fathers, a group out of Italy and operates under the auspices of the Catholic Church, although they don’t receive any money directly from them. It was founded in 1998. Man, that place is seriously state of the art for the area we are in. It looks like any facility out of the U.S. – well almost. The children’s home they have definitely looks like any First World facility. They have their own power lines extending from 2 large fuel powered generators. They have enough land for half-a-dozen new buildings, if they wanted. Their children’s home houses almost 50 full time “effective” orphans and caters to almost 2000 other children daily for food and social and academic support. Unbelievable. It made me feel that our outfit was insignificant and puny when of course it isn’t. But that first impression was impressive.

After researching the Camillian Fathers, I discovered that they do fundraising around the world. Considering the real estate holdings of the Catholic Church, the elaborate nature of their Churches, the notion of the tithe, I guess it’s not surprising that so much money is available to support this endeavour. I’m glad. That is one thing that I have noticed in general, the Catholic organizations do some good work.

The other volunteer, Tami, has left the Matoso Clinic to return to the US after finishing her tenure here and I am here alone – well the only foreigner here. In fact, the rest of the Matoso Clinic staff is concerned that I am left alone at the end of the days and on the weekends in the compound. I actually am doing quite well with regards to that. There is always so much to do - I am trying to learn Go, study French, and just enjoy the free time I have on those days and evenings. I am reading a lot which is something I always relish. And of course, I visit people on the weekends, too. In fact, I don’t think I’ve gone through a weekend without spending it at somebody’s house or having a nice time on the compound.

Well, as the other volunteer left, I had to fill in the role of person in-charge of the PSC (patient support center, where they care for the HIV/TB cases). While I was here just getting the lay of the land, the responsibility seemed pretty big. My trepidation over taking over was such that on that first day, I really didn’t want to face the day. However, the day was slow and we were able to have an impromptu meeting with the whole staff. We went over all the goals to make sure everybody was on-board and they seem to be taking the transition in stride and were appreciative of my openness of communication. So, I think things will start to go well.

Another participant in the pest control here is the bats. There are lots of them. They are always flying and don’t seem to ever stop. Consequently, I can’t ever get a good look at them. Since I have no power in my house, I am always at the PSC to do any computer work. I leave the door open so that people know I am in here. Often, a bat will find itself in the PSC building and will fly around our heads looking for a way out. Their echolocation is good enough that we have not had to help a single bat out the door. They find it on their own – maybe not right away but eventually.

Well, until next time.