Another one I didn't feel...

Many of you will read about the quake that just hit southern Sumatra - a 6.3 quake. Remember Indonesia is big - the distance between me and this quake is roughly California to Nebraska. These disasters are terrible but nothing new in this "Ring of Fire" area...

Mediations

I won't go into the details, but had a good day yesterday in which I was able to mediate between GC and a group of gay men (mostly educated types, with good computer skills and such) who had essentially broken away from GC due to what turned out to be nothing more than a misunderstanding. They came to GC to see me as a "neutral person" to talk about their plans for the future, knowing that it would give them a chance to talk to the GC staff too. So I was able to mediate the conflict and now they're going to do some interesting events together, and also help the GC staff out with computers and such.

I've seen needless conflict undermine groups in Java and Bali so many times, so I've got some experience with this, and I'm glad I was able to help mediate this misunderstanding. We'll see what happens, but things look good. Every little thing that keeps the focus on the important things is helpful.

Computer training

It's very sweet to watch all the staff helping each other learn how to use Word, Excel, the Internet, email, etc., with the new computer they've just got, partially as a present from me. There are a couple computers in the office but they're in the rooms of particular staff and used for reports, accounting, etc., so it's hard for the outreach staff to use them without feeling that they are stepping on toes. The new computer is right in the main back room, in the middle of everything, so anyone can use it and people can watch and learn as they go along.

A Fishing Village

Yesterday had an adventure out of town with two folks from YGC (including Andy, YGC's treasurer) and a guy who works for an NGO concerned with rural empowerment. We took about an hour motorcycle ride down south along the coast (which given how slow traffic moves on the narrow roads here, means about 20 miles). We met up with a group of about 6 other NGO activists and then went to this little village right on the beach. Quite beautiful, with a little island right off the coast and a big nonfunctional ship right up on the beach:



Some smaller fishing vessels too:



These folks are quite impoverished - electricity, but no running water and such. So the NGO activists are helping the villagers develop alternate sources of income by making ceramics, weaving, etc., since the money from fishing is limited and not that much. We went up into one of the little wood homes and had a lovely lunch of cucumbers, beans, cabbage, and fresh grilled fish. Then had a meeting with representatives from four villages touching base on the alternative income project. Andy had come as an accounting expert and met with the persons from each of the four villages in charge of accounting - it was very helpful because they were making all kinds of mistakes in their bookkeeping and were getting confused as to how to manage the money allocated for the project.


It was great to see how the GC staff are becoming trusted by other NGOs as a source of knowledge.

DSL and spiders

Started off the day today with the first return visit to one of the puskesmas where we've been doing the HIV testing and counseling program. It was nice to see the staff there - I just hung out with the staff while 3 of the staff did one-on-one posttest counseling with the pregnant women. I won't reveal which ones, but there are at least two cases of women who we've found to have HIV at the various community clinics, so there is some tension behind the lighthearted visits.

Later in the day, helped set up the DSL on the new GC computer. They've never had anything but dialup before. It's great to see how they are using the new computer, which on purpose we're putting in the main back area, so that it will be the staff computer and not associated with one person's desk. The staff really want to build their skills in using the computer and the Internet, so this is all very exciting.


In the evening, I went to a kelompok diskusi way on the outskirt of town, almost all the way to the airport. We went down a little dirt road in the dark - felt like being in a village. A very run-down home but a group of really nice waria. We had a great discussion. All the while I kept looking up at the opposing wall - up high was a giant spider - about 6 inches across. There are bird-eating spiders in Sulawesi - this might have been a small version of one? Of course, funny thing is the the black widows and brown recluses back in Long Beach are much more dangerous.

House visits

Today in the afternoon I went along with a GC staff member to make house visits to two persons living with AIDS who can't make the support group meetings at this time. It was a sobering experience - I've met and supported folks who were pretty sick before, but it's still hard. In both cases the men in question are supported almost entirely by their mothers, who in both cases are very brave and understanding. The men are both former injecting drug users. One is really having trouble eating - the antiretrovirals are causing lots of nausea and vomiting. Ade (the staff person) did a great job helping the mother figure out how to navigate the health care system here to try and get some better answers and perhaps modification of the medication. This guy was really thin and weak - I could see him struggle to breathe as he sat with us, and even talking was an effort. The drugs are making his arms itch too. He's dealing with tuberculosis and hepatitis C at the same time - it's very hard.

The second person comes from a wealthier family which helps, but he's if anything in worse condition. As in the first case, a mother who's a widow who's really caring and supportive. GC is in the process of setting up a support group especially for parents of people living with AIDS - both of the mothers think that would be great to share experiences and tips. This second guy is not having trouble eating, but some combination of the drugs and opportunistic infections is causing horrible, horrible dry peeling skin (at least 1/4 inch thick) on his arms and legs. His feet almost looked like sponges. It's frustrating because they've been going to lots of skin doctors but no luck as yet. And because of this, the person is not really seeing anyone, and he used to be quite active, so people are worried the isolation is making things worse. The mother greeted us and then we used the arrival of an American as an excuse - the mother went into his room and finally he came out. Ade was so happy because this is the first time in a long while that he's seen anyone other than his family. It was good to offer him support - he's having vision problems too.

All this just drives home the point that GC's work is so important, and that there's a need for continued efforts in both treatment and prevention.

Mami Ria

Among other things today, we had our first real official English class which was a hoot. Also the computer we ordered yesterday got delivered (I helped pay for it, just a couple hundred dollars but it makes such a difference to them). Hopefully the DSL will be up and running by tomorrow. Then in the evening, after a nice dinner of coto (Makassarese speciality, beef soup kind of thing), went with 3 friends to go see Mami Ria, who's one of the main community leaders for waria in Makassar (in the whole region, really) and who Bill and I know well! She said her hellos to Bill and we spent a couple hours on the side of the road next to her salon sitting in chairs and talking in the cool(er) night air, eating fried jackfruit and just having a good time.