Circle of the Peace Corps

On Sunday afternoon I received a phone call from Tirana asking me to host one of the new volunteers from Group 14 for his site visit. This is the few days allowed to see your future city or village and meet with your counterparts in your assigned work before the end of pre-service training and swearing in as a full-fledged Peace Corps volunteer. I was happy to comply, but it did seem a bit unusual. I was only two weeks from leaving Korca and would not even be in the country when he started work at the end of the month. Also, he is an English teacher, while I am in health education. Then I learned the two other volunteers from Korca were at meetings in the capital. I was the only volunteer available.

Late Tuesday morning, he sent an SMS that he had arrived. I was not expecting him until the afternoon and was in the middle of talking with a young woman who had just been given a probable diagnosis of a terminal disease. I gave him directions to the main hotel in the center of town and asked him to wait in the lobby until I could get away. I hope the woman did not feel rushed and that I answered all her questions despite my limited language proficiency. I am not sure she understood how dire her prognosis was. Maybe she could allay some of her fears by attributing them to miscommunication. In any event, I excused myself from the clinic for the rest of the day and walked over to the Hotel Grand Palace.

We took his large bag over to Dr. Isufi’s office to leave it until the other volunteers returned, so he could store it until June. Then we walked up the hill to my apartment. I made some lunch and then I showed him around the city. I bought some fresh veggies and some bread at my favorite bakery. For dinner we had a stir fry. We walked up the hill to the cross the next morning and then he went off to the University where he will work and I headed to Isufi’s. That afternoon I took him to meet Iris. I am hoping he will continue with her and keep her tutoring unbroken since Group 6. That evening he went to the championship soccer match between Korca and Elbasan and I was taken out for another going away dinner.

Thursday morning was rainy and I didn’t go up the mountain. My guest slept in and I headed to a conference, where the nurse educators I work with were presenting their report on a series of round table meetings held in the region on the health needs of women and children. This had been done through an EU sponsored program. In the afternoon, I helped some people from the Public Health Department watch a lecture on an air pollution and health study done at the Beijing Olympics. We were able to watch it live on the internet from the University of Rochester in New York. It was a good lecture and a topic that my counterparts are very interested in, but, unfortunately, the webcast had many features that required more bandwidth than is available in Korca, especially in the afternoon when the teens get out of school and hit the internet cafes for Facebook and gaming. The lecture stream was frequently interrupted and had to be reloaded. Fortunately, I had downloaded the slides previously and translated enough of them for the small group to follow pretty well.

After that, I had my last meeting with the Aviation Interest Club of Korca at the American library. The kids had done a flight plan as a project and flew it on Flight Simulator on the computer which had been previously donated to the library, but is not used much. To my amazement, the “flight” was flawless. They found their check points and navigation aids. The destination airport appeared on the screen. The descent check list was completed, the airplane was slowed to approach speed, the flaps and landing gear lowered, the plane touched down and came to a stop on the runway. I was so impressed I felt like tearing their t-shirts off them, writing their name and the date on them and posting them on the library wall. This is the traditional commemoration of a pilot’s first solo.

That night the other volunteers had returned and we got together at a favorite pizzeria. I was not feeling well, probably from overeating the night before, and headed home early. They went out to orient the new volunteer to some of the night spots in Korca. There was a huge political rally going on in the square in front of the theater, complete with bands, search lights and fireworks, that went on longer than the celebratory fireworks that followed Skanderbeu’s, Korca’s soccer team, championship victory the night before.

Friday, the weather was better and we were able to walk to the chapel on the hillside and return through Mborje, the village just east of Korca, a scenic loop of a little over an hour. I went back for the second day of the conference and at the coffee break helped the new volunteer move his bag to one of the other volunteers who will still be here when he returns. Isufi was at the conference although the discussion groups didn’t cover any topics related to disability. One point he did make was that the Association for Physical Benefit was able to do many things for itself and he thought this was a good model for improving healthcare in other situations by empowering the patients and not wasting resources on the usual top down bureaucracy. This idea was not well received. After all, the conference was sponsored by the EU and run by the Public Health Department. He was probably the only private health care provider in attendance. A doctor from Azerbaijan represented the EU. She works in Tirana, administering the program in Albania. She told me she had previously been a Peace Corps medical officer and was pleased to see someone from the Peace Corps at the meeting.

I had my last class with my visually impaired student. He is in college now, and probably doesn’t need to continue. Even so, I had previously introduced the new volunteer to his family. His father is now teaching at the University and should be a good contact for him.

Local elections are being held around the country tomorrow. The candidate of the ruling national party has spent a lot in Korca, with multiple offices in each neighborhood, lots of posters and banners, and young people driving cars around town as they wave flags and honk their horns. A sound truck with Tirana license plates drives up and down the streets carrying large billboards and playing a recording promoting the candidate. This has not been matched by the other candidates and I am a bit worried by the imbalance. The safety officer has asked volunteers to steer clear of the offices and rallies and to avoid travel around the country on the day before and after the election. I hope the elections go smoothly and that observers from the EU, the US and elsewhere can certify a free and fair election.

I am spending Election Day with Iris and her family on a hike and picnic in the mountains; another event in my continuing going away partying. I made brownies to bring along as a contribution, but I am sure they will be superfluous. This being Albania, I wonder how we will be able to carry all the food. We are meeting at 6 AM in front of their home to begin walking.