All systems go!

I just received a notice from the Peace Corps today letting me know that I received my final medical clearance. That means there are officially no more flags to lift or hoops to jump through anymore. I'm officially on my way to Guyana (April 30th).

FAQ’s

What will I be doing exactly?

My Job title is Community Health Promoter under the program EH!PICC: Engaging Health Partners and Individuals for Community Change. From the PC:

“Peace Corps Guyana EH!PICC Project name seeks to bring to mind the “EPIC” nature of what we do as a Post while incorporating a common local Creole term. “EH!” is a typical response that Guyanese use in many social situations. Including it in the Health Project title was the perfect way of merging our mandate with the everyday life and language of the audience we serve.”

At this point I’m not sure exactly what I’ll be doing or what projects I’ll be involved in as the program is broken down into 4 areas:

1. Maternal, Infant, and Child Health Promotion
2. Nutrition and Non-Communicable Diseases Promotion
3. Healthy Lifestyle Promotion amongst Children and Youth
4. Improved Practices of Health Providers

If I had to guess, I’ll probably be working in the third area, but I won’t know until I get there.

Where will I be living?

No idea. I know for the first three months of training I’ll be living with a host family. After the three month training period I’ll move somewhere else in the country (TBD) and with a different host family. For the first six months of my service (9 including training) I must live with a host family. After that 6 month period I’ll be given the option to stay with my family or move out on my own. I’m guessing I’ll stay with my family as that’s one part of the Peace Corps service that I’m looking forward to.

How can you contact me?

I may/may not have access to the internet or phone service, but I won’t know for sure until I get there. But feel free to send me an email or comment on this blog, I’ll check it when I can.

Here’s an address to send snail mail/packages:

David Medansky, PCT

Peace Corps

P.O. Box 101192

Georgetown, Guyana

South America

THIS ADDRESS IS ONLY VALID BETWEEN MAY 1^ST – JUNE 26^TH 2013! (I’ll update when I find out my new address)

 

In an emergency call the Peace Corps office of Special Services at 800.424.8580; select option 2, then extension 1470

PS: I’ll add more if I get comments with new questions

Guyana… Oh Yeah… That’s Um… Near…?

My first reaction when I found out I would be serving in Guyana was, “OH NO! NOT THERE!” because I knew where the country was, and I know that most people have no idea where it is.

“Guyana… that’s in Africa right?”

No.

“… Southeast Asia?”

No.

“… The Pacific?”

No. It’s in South America.

“WHAT?!”

Yup. It boarders Venezuela and Brazil.

I don’t even bother telling people that it also boarders Suriname, because let’s be honest. If people don’t know where Guyana is, they sure as heck haven’t even heard of Suriname.

But that’s OK. Really that’s my only hesitation about serving in Guyana; telling people where it is. I didn’t really have that problem when I was announcing I’d be serving in Peru, most people have heard of Peru and at least knew which continent it was in. To be honest, I really didn’t know anything about Guyana, other than it’s part of the three forgotten South American countries (Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana). What I found out from a brief Wikipedia search and what info I’ve received from the Peace Corps is that it is a Caribbean country located in South America. So the only downside of that is I won’t be speaking Spanish during my time there. On the other hand, there was never any guarantee that I’d be speaking Spanish in Peru; a good portion of the population there speaks Quechua. All in all, I know very little about this new country I’ll be living in, other than it should be pretty darn hot all year round (no more snowboarding). And I have little to no expectations, which I see as a good thing.

 
To find out more about Guyana check out the CIA's World Factbook website, or even Wikipedia

What’s New Since August 2011?!

If you happened to read this blog about a year ago, you may have noticed that the description and about me has changed; there used to be a lot more references to “PERU.” Well life changed a little since August 2011…

I originally set up this blog as I had been assigned to serve in Peru starting September 15^th 2011. Well 4 weeks before hand through a kind of freak accident I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes…

I went to the doctor because I kept getting muscle cramps in my legs at night. I figured since I’ll be living in Peru I mine as well go ask the Doc why this is happening/how to manage/get rid of the cramps. He said it was nothing to worry about; I was just working outside all day (as a camp counselor) during a bad heat wave in Chicago that summer. Once the heat wave breaks the cramps should stop. But he took some blood just in case to see if I had a virus or anything else floating around my body. It turns out I did… a ton of glucose. I guess my pancreas had enough so here I am left with Type 1 diabetes (I hate the term “juvenile diabetes” because I was anything but juvenile when it happened; three weeks shy of 23 years old). Just to clarify for those of you who don’t know; the diabetes (Type 2) you see on TV and movies is caused by poor lifestyle (e.g. lousy diet, lack of exercise, etc.) and HAS A CURE- it’s called RUNNING! I’ve got the other kind, where there was nothing I could do, my pancreas just died and there’s no cure in sight. So I have to supplement with injecting insulin. The upside is I get to have all the chocolate cake I want!

I guess the Peace Corps didn’t think it was the best idea to send me off to Peru as a newly diagnosed diabetic (crazy right?!) So my placement was deferred until recently when I found out that I’ll be going to Guyana. So 20 months later, I’ll finally get the chance to fulfill a childhood dream by serving in the Peace Corps.

Please feel free to share this blog (http://dmedansky.blogspot.com) with friends/family or anyone else that seems interested in following my journey in Guyana. I hope to be updating it somewhat often with pictures and posts. And Comment! I’m not sure what you’re thinking or want to know about what it’s like where I am, so by commenting on my posts it can be a quasi-conversation.

Enjoy! Or as they say in Guyana (I think) “Enjoy!” – They speak English there, or I’ll find out real quickly that their English is totally different than mine.