12/28/18, Only a few days left in 2018 so I'd best get a blog out. As most of you know I am back in my village after a few weeks in Dar for my snakebite. It was an interesting series of events that taught me a few valuable lessons, but now I am back home trying to pick up where I left off. That is not too easy to do, even my Swahili took a big drop after the six weeks of not using it (3 weeks in America and 3 weeks in Dar). We were just starting the village medical volunteer program and the primary school renovations before I left. Both will have to wait until after the holidays to get going again because people are very busy right now with the holidays and the start of the rainy season.

Life in a farming community like this revolves around the planting and harvesting seasons. When the rains begin everyone heads to their farms to plant their crops. I'm included in that, while I was away my neighbor had the field around my house cleared and planted with corn. We also planted Moringa trees (photo). This tree meets many of the nutritional and functional needs of the villagers, and grows rapidly in this type of arid environment. The second photo is of a meeting we had with some of the mamas to review the benefits of the Moringa tree, how to plant, and how to maintain. I also distributed seeds to these mamas and the others who showed up later. We also discussed trying to get the chicken coop project started again after the unfortunate death of my previous counterpart.

On a more personal level, my battle with the local mice has entered a new phase. Mice in the house becomes a real problem because they love to destroy my food supplies. I have tried various techniques with limited success. Putting food in containers (never have enough), and mouse traps (never caught one yet). My best luck has been just a bucket with water. During the dry season they would just fall in (sorry animal rights activists). Then I learned to put a stick across the top with food dangling down by thread. That worked good for a while.......until now. Apparently they are not only smarter than me, but pretty big too. The picture shows the bucket with the stick. It pulled the stick to the side and ate the bread. But the tomato has been eaten where it hangs. How could a little mouse reach down that far and eat something round? I picture a velociraptor or maybe one of those hyenas (a very small one).

So my next plan will be much more complex (see diagram). Since it is around Christmas I'm going with the Santa milk and cookie plan. So it sits in the chair and has to have a cup of tea. When it picks up the cup that frees the pendulum which swings striking the bowling ball which slides down the ramp hitting the book which falls over and puts an end to this charade. Thinks he's smarter than me huh?

On a more positive note, I made my first loaf of banana bread. It was delicious, and I ate most of it before I thought to take a picture of it. Not bad for a pan on coal stove if I do say so myself.

From my house to yours Happy Holidays and Happy New Year.

Now where do I find a small chair and bowling ball....

Brian

12/11/18 I figured I would give another post to answer some questions and provide an update on my foot.

We think it was a Southern Stiletto snake. It is unique because it has fangs that extend out of the side of its mouth and can strike from the side, hence the name stiletto. If you remember I never saw the bite and I know it didn't strike full on with two fangs, but it did hit my foot from the side and there is only one puncture wound. So basically I was shanked. Figures I had to run into a gangsta snake.

The swelling on my foot has gone down to almost nothing. The only problem is that there is still pain when it is on the floor, and it turns a deep shade of blue when it is down. They assure me this is normal and that it will decrease in time.

I am currently staying with an expat host family who volunteered to take me in. I'm hoping to head back to my ville soon, but will have to wait until the foot is recovered well enough to get around, and the Peace Corps doctors give me the thumbs up.

I hope everyone is enjoying the cold weather and getting ready for the holidays.

Peace, Brian

12/6/2018 It's been a long time since my last post.  The time has certainly gone by quickly. Since my last post I have conducted training for volunteers from the villages, been to America and back, and now I find myself sitting in a hospital in Dar es Salaam writing this blog post.  I guess I should probably start there and work backwards.

On Tuesday, just after returning from America for emergency leave I was bitten by a snake. This is what happened: my home is so hot during the night that I have to leave the windows open but when it rains the wind blows it right in the house so about 4 or 5 AM I got up to shut the windows. I turned the light on to check for creepy crawlies then opened the door to look outside. The snake must have been just outside the door and I didn't even notice it until I felt it going over my foot. My reaction was to step back which is when I stepped on it. I chased it around the house a little bit until I noticed the blood on my foot and figured out that it bit me. Didn't even feel it. After killing the snake I carried it to my neighbors house and he transported me to the local clinic for IVs, then the district hospital for anti venom. I took an ambulance to the local airport (picture a Model T on dirt roads) and a flight to Dar and here I am. The foot is swollen and painful but I have been trying to move around some. Not sure how long I will be here in Dar, but I don't think I will be heading back to my house until I have recovered enough to take care of myself again.

Travels to America. My step father passed away after some time in hospice care. I tried to make it back in time but it took me five days to get back. I got to see many people during my short time home and I really appreciate the support and love. I was not really aware of how much I needed the physical and spiritual break until I got there. I ended up putting on more than 10 pounds in the 2 weeks. To everyone I got to see, thank you for your love and support. For everyone I didn't get to see, I'm sorry and I owe you some time someday. I will make it up to you when I get the opportunity. May he rest in peace.

Training for the villagers. If you remember from my last post I was going to set up a training for basic medical response for the local subvillages. Well we had the training and it went great. There were 13 volunteers from the villages, my counterpart Peter, the Community Health Worker, and the doctor. I taught basic response and assessment, Peter taught about the 4 classes we taught together in the villages (HIV, malaria, water safety, and washing hands) the health worker taught about nutrition, the doctor taught about maternal health. After six hours of training and team building activities we were ready to start visiting the villages to teach about healthcare and getting the villagers the care they needed. Unfortunately that was just before the travels and hospitalization. The next phase will have to wait until things are going a little smoother.

Well that's it for now. Never a boring day here in Africa. I will keep you updated on my progress as often as I can.
Peace,
Brian

Photos: the foot, the snake, the training, the love of my life.