If you are receiving this email, it must mean that I care about you or you care about me (or both). You have either requested to be on my ‘blog’ list, you were on my previous ‘Thailand blog’ or I have deemed you worthy to receive updates from me during my current travels. There will be no ‘unsubscribe’ button, so I guess you’re stuck with me.
To those who were on my Thailand blog – I’m sorry the emails were so long. I’m trying really hard to make these shorter, as I expect them to be for several reasons. 1) I don’t intend for this to be nighttime reading material, 2) I think I’ve become lazier and 3) The nature of my work deserves a certain amount of respect, as I will explain.
For those of you that don’t know, I am currently living and working in Bali, Indonesia. Oh, don’t feel too bad for me now! While I wish I were on vacation like most Westerners in Bali, I’m actually here acting on my passion for public health and to intervene in the global AIDS pandemic, specifically in South East Asia. Through several connections with my graduate school, The University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, I was set up with an amazing organization in Bali, the Kerti Praja Foundation (KPF). I’ll be working with KPF for two months, traveling around South East Asia for another month, and then returning to Chicago mid-August. You following?
KPF is a non-profit, non-government organization that works with the community in health promotion, early disease detection and prompt treatment, clinical services, other community development and research. The foundation offers comprehensive care for female sex workers (FSW) and care support treatment (CST) for FSW and persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). For over 15 years KPF has been working with FSW, carrying out HIV/AIDS prevention activities/information dissemination, concerning STI screening, condom use/negotiation.
FSW are girls similar to what we would call ‘prostitutes’ in the United States, but to call FSW prostitutes is not only incorrect, but also disempowering. The concept of a FSW is difficult to grasp for those that have never spent a significant time in a developing country, especially Asia. Commercial sex work is built into the culture here, and the more laws that are passed to abolish the practice; the more it goes underground and becomes less safe. A FSW can work in tourist clubs (generally more attractive, younger and expensive) with western customers, or they can work in cafés, karaoke bars or ‘shacks’ (usually less attractive, older and cheaper) with local customers. FSW often had no intention on becoming a sex worker, but are victims of trafficking and were tricked into the profession.
If you have time, check out this link. http://www.irinnews.org/
KPF has about 10 field workers that go out into the field where these sex workers work (clubs, bars, cafes, ‘shacks’) and talk to them about condoms, STIs, HIV testing, etc. The field workers try to get the girls to come into the office and get tested for HIV. If their test result is positive, KPF provides free counseling, support groups and antiretroviral drug treatment.
So what do I do on a daily basis? Well, I’ve been all over the place. As much as the possible, I go out into the field with the field workers and meet with the sex workers. The value of this field experience is immeasurable. Despite my lack of Indonesian language, I am able to gain so much knowledge from simple observation. (I’ve conducted and observed enough sex education/condom demonstrations that language proficiency is really unnecessary). After these meetings, I usually am able to have conversations with the sex workers through a translator. I only hope that I continue to get these experiences over the next few months.
Through KPF, I am also working to plan the International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP), the world’s 2nd largest AIDS conference. This is an event that I am very excited to be part of. You can check out the website at www.icaap9.org. The conference is being held at the Westin Hotel in Nusa Dua (the upscale part of Bali) at the beginning of August, so I’ll be here to see the event all the way through.
Please email me if you have any questions about the work that I’m doing. 1) I love to talk about it and 2) I know it can be very confusing. I barely understood the situation before I came here! The only problem is that for individual privacy, I must be very careful when talking about certain subjects. For example, I can’t blabber on about someone’s HIV status, as that could potentially break apart a person’s life (career, relationship to family and friends, religious groups, etc). So, I’ll do the best I can!
OK – Now on to non-work related things…
I am living on the eastern coast of Bali, in a town called Sanur. I’m living in a home stay (or guest house) that is owned by a local Balinese family. (I’m sitting on my porch right now drinking a nice, dark Balinese kopi (coffee) – in case you were wondering). For a fraction of my rent in Chicago, my room has air conditioning, a cold shower (hot water would really be unnecessary in Bali), a big bed and free breakfast. Breakfast is the same every day: 1.5 pieces of toast (butter and honey), 2 pieces of pineapple, 2 pieces of watermelon and 1 slice of papaya. Of course, that’s all topped off with a nice pot of Balinese kopi. The home stay is beautifully kept, with a full on tropical garden that I wake up to every morning. At 8:15am, a young kid brings breakfast to my front porch. Oh, and by “family” I literally mean the ENTIRE family. There are two parents and a few children…and I’m guessing a grandma, and a few aunts and cousins. There are also a few full-time staff people that live on the home stay property. It’s comforting to know that if there was ever an emergency, someone is always around to call on. Plus people here are obsessed with texting, so I can just text Made (the owner). They are also teaching me the Indonesian language.
Which is another story (here I go again, you are probably falling asleep by now). I mentioned there is one kid that brings me breakfast every day before I go to work. His name is Wayan. Well, last week I started making Wayan teach me a new Indonesian word every morning. To date, I can’t tell if he likes this little game or if he is getting annoyed with me. The first few mornings he would teach me “morning” words like, ‘good morning’ and ‘you want breakfast?’ and ‘did you shower yet’? After a few days, he told me that he ran out of words to teach me. I told him that’s impossible…he must know more words than the five he had taught me. I realized that he thought I only wanted to know “morning” words. Once he understood that I just wanted to learn ANY new Indonesian word every day, he has loads of words to teach me. The first “non-morning” word he taught me was, “celana panjang bagus” or “nice pants”. I’ll probably never forget that one.
I’m living in Sanur for a few reasons. It’s close to my office, which is located about 10 minutes away in Denpasar. Sanur is also quiet, as opposed to backpacker heaven in Kuta on the Western coast of Bali. Sanur a little touristy, but this necessary for me to could get around, eat and have things to do! It also helps that the beach is about a 2-minute stroll from my front steps. Sanur is known as a popular expatriate town, some of whom I’ve had some interesting conversations with over the last few weeks. Most expatriates I’ve met either became fed up with their Western lives and made a permanent move to Bali or have come here to make a profit (usually shipping art or furniture back home).
Side Note: I have not met another American since my arrival! Just about all the white people here are Australians. Perth is only a 3.5-hour plane ride from Bali. Soon I’m going to be spelling “organization” like “organisation”. I called out an Australian guy today for misspelling that word in a meeting today…he didn’t get my joke at first.
I probably work more days that most of you people do, so there. I work Monday-Saturday! However, my hours are from 9am-230pm. I get driven every day to and from work by motorcycle. It’s really terrifying but I’m getting used to it. My driver is a field worker at my organization and I pay her about $2/day for the ride. It’s a good deal for me and a GREAT deal for her! Don’t worry; I’ve got my own helmet. The helmet also guarantees a bad hair day, every day.
Saturday is probably my favorite day at work. Every Saturday a support group meets at 11am for one hour. The support group consists of sex workers that have been diagnosed HIV+. The group is “secret”, in that the girls who attend are not to speak about whom else attends the group. The group itself is not a secret. About 20-30 girls attend the meeting every week, and so far they have done a variety of activities ranging from learning how to properly put on make up to fortune telling. The group also has its own theatre group, in which the members put on performances for the entire group every few weeks, and the performances all have a central theme of HIV.
The entire purpose of the support group is to give the HIV+ girls a feeling of self-confidence, peer support and a feeling of empowerment and control over their own lives. For the organization, it also is a means to keep in contact with the girls and make sure they are adhering to their antiretroviral drug treatment. At the conclusion of every meeting, all attendees are given a free meal and free condoms. Most of these girls are still working, despite their HIV status. While you may think its crazy to support these girls in their continued sex work, it’s really the best thing you can do. Telling a sex worker to stop working has been universally proven to be ineffective, despite what the Pope may say…and in my opinion this support group is exciting and innovative. Again, I’m excited and honored to be part of it.
So, Monday-Friday I am home by 3pm, and Saturday home by 1230pm. You may wonder what I do with all my free time…well I can answer that for you. I relax! I read, write and sit on the beach, isn’t that what you would do with free time in Bali? Oh, and I eat.
Needless to say, it didn’t take long for me to learn why Indonesian food isn’t that popular in America, its nothing special. The touristy restaurants around me are [relatively] expensive, so I have been venturing out to smaller ‘warungs’ or small family-owned shacks or mobile stands. The food in warungs is more authentic and much cheaper. However, there is about a 50/50 chance I end up with a stomachache. I’ve found the foods I like: fried noodles, noodle soup, fried rice and various other dishes…and the foods I don’t like: real Balinese food. When I feel like spoiling myself/spending $5 on dinner, which I tend to do once in a while, I eat lunch or dinner on the beach. The unique thing about Sanur is that there are nice restaurants that line the beach. For about $7 you can get fresh grilled fish, prawn or squid, which was most likely caught just hours before. Tonight I picked up dinner at the Sanur night market (my fried rice cost about 70cents). I accidentally ate a small potent chili and couldn’t feel the area around my mouth for like an hour. I’ll spare you the details of some other foods I’ve tried…and the painful outcome.
Working six days a week has made traveling difficult, but I’ve done what I can. The first new place I explored was Singapore, in route to Bali (I had a one-day layover). Because US citizens are not required a visa to enter Singapore, I was able to leave the airport and walk around the city for almost a full day. I really enjoyed the Singapore Botanic Gardens and enjoyed walking around and trying the food. In Bali, I’ve ventured over to Kuta (the Western coast of Bali) a few times to sit on the beach and watch the sunset. Kuta is famous for its sunset and surfing – I haven’t gotten around to learning how to surf yet, but I’ll get there. Kuta is about a 20-minute taxi from where I live, which at $8/way can get rather expensive (again, its all relative). Last Sunday I visited Ubud, which you may be familiar with from the book “Eat, Pray, Love.” It’s an artsy town built into the mountains right in the middle of Bali. Ubud is well known for its organic shops, art galleries, restaurants and yoga retreats. Moms would love it! It’s also known for its Monkey Forest, a little jungle completely ruled by monkeys. However, I don’t like monkeys since my stint in Thailand.
You can check out my facebook album here. I have posted pictures and commentary on most of what I have just described above.
http://www.facebook.com/album.
Well, I think that’s enough for now. You may be partially sleeping at this point. The tone of this blog is clearly different than that of my Thailand blogs, but I feel that this is only appropriate given the nature of my work and seriousness of the HIV/AIDS problem that Bali faces today. In just two short weeks, the people of Bali have already provided me with a life’s worth of experiences. I have met several individuals that have told me their stories and have left an impact on my life in a way they will never know or understand; I wish I could tell you everything I have heard, but much of what I have been told I will honorably take to the grave. I wish to thank everyone that I have met in Bali thus far, and would also like to thank Dr. Judith Levy, my global health advisor at UIC. Her support and guidance has made this entire experience possible. What a gift she has given me.
I miss everyone from home and hope that all are well. I hope everyone has had a nice start to his or her summer, and I look forward to everyone’s reply. I’ll write again soon.
Like always, I’ll leave you with my favorite Indonesian phrase thus far: celana paujang bagus…nice pants.
Selamat malam (goodnight),
Dan
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