2009 Update

Greetings from the ‘burgh! As of January 2010, we’ve been in Pittsburgh for 18 months. We’re enjoying life here, and not just because both the Stillers and the Pens had banner years.

Ryan: The big story for me in 2009 was being able to continue teaching. I had a nice adjunct gig at LaRoche College in the spring, but found out mid-summer that they were slashing the department budget and eliminating all adjunct positions. Then, just a few weeks later, Allegheny County Community College called me (I had apparently entered myself into their database when we moved here — I had completely forgotten about it) and asked if I could teach Photography 1 and 2 starting in the fall. Photography was myfirst love in the art world, so I was more than happy to accept. It has gone very well, and I am returning this spring. I’ve also found a good home as a ‘utility musician’ at our church, where I play guitar, bass and occasionally percussion as needed. I’ve found a lot of great bike rides up and down the hills in Pittsburgh, and may do a little racing again in 2010. And, of course, we have our dogs to keep me company when Hillary works longer hours; I’ve become a big fan of Cesar Milan and now consider him to be one of our finest modern-day philosophers.


Hillary: I’m now half-way through with my internal medicine residency, which feels great! The program continues to be a good fit. I’m constantly challenged and humbled by illness, medicine, and our “sickness” care system. I’ve decided to pursue geriatrics and palliative care medicine (each are one year fellowships) and health outcomes research related to critical issues that face older adults at the end of life, especially with respect to transitions in care (i.e. the countless difficulties related to care in multiple settings by multiple providers). Personally, we’ve gotten more used to how each month’s schedule can be very different, and learning to make the most of my time “off”. I definitely miss not being able to travel as freely, but Ryan and the dogs are always happy to hang out with me. We have favorite post-call “breakfast” places and multiple parks that we enjoy walking in.

OTHER 2009 HIGHLIGHTS
10 days in Wichita, spending time with Ryan’s family, including Lori, who was home from her first year of teaching history in Kazakhstan.
Adopting Mika from a local foster organization when he was 6 months old. It’s been great to see the dogs living well together.
An updated bathroom, remodeled basement, and freshly painted rooms. Ryan had a productive summer!
Clinical research courses over the summer, which were great for what I learned, but also for the schedule and chance to join my family in Monterey Bay, CA to celebrate my grandmother’s 85th birthday.

Spring in Pittsburgh

Winter has passed and Spring is here in Pittsburgh. It actually feels like summer, with temps in the mid-80s. The first third of 2009 has gone quite well for us. My intern year is nearly over, with just two months remaining. With each passing month in Pittsburgh, we find ourselves enjoying this city more and more. Ryan has one more week of his 2nd semester of teaching Intro to Illustrator, Graphic design for interior design majors, and screen printing. Things have gone well. We hope they'll offer him another contract for the fall.

Current highlights and recent happenings include:
Remodeling our bathroom from "band-aid" pink toilet and tub, hideous wall paper, and forgetable vanity to sleek, Euro-style with the help of IKEA fixtures, Ryan's color sense, and the handy-man help of our new friend, Bill Capcara.





Enjoying Sadie (14 mos, 57 pounds) and Mika (11 months, 30 pounds) - here are their "beauty" shots, taken while Ryan was taking an eBay picture.


Exploring Pittsburgh with Ryan's parents and celebrating our first Easter at our church, Jonah's Call. Ryan is enjoying playing with the worship band, and I like that it meets in the evenings, so I can make it most weeks. http://www.jonahscall.com/



Planning for our (garage) rooftop garden (the sunniest and safest place on our property) - this is the view from our upstairs window.

Mika Joins the Pack

We have a new pack member as of about two weeks ago. His name is Mika, and he is a true "Heinz 57" dog, as they say around here -- your guess is as good as ours as to what breeds he represents. He was abandoned at six weeks of age, and he is now 8 months old after spending a long time in a nice foster home.















He is getting along well with his big sister Sadie, and learning lots of obedience commands. He is not the social debutante that Sadie is, but once he gets to know you he will sit right on your lap and wait for some ear scratching. We like him!

Steelers' Country

Yep, we live in Steelers' Country. This city loves their football. No longer do we see "Go Badgers" on Madison buses, now we see "Go Steelers!"

Christmas came a little early for Sadie. We fashioned a new collar for her. The yellow helps us spot her among other medium-sized black dogs at the dog park or Camp Bow Wow, places she loves to play at. Ryan also recently saw some dogs who had fashionable Old Navy jackets (for only $7) to help keep warm. With a little help from Google, I found a simple dog coat pattern, and now Sadie has a new coat (it cost us $11, but at least I made it in the US). It's reversible yellow and black. Don't worry, we won't often walk her around with the yellow side out, but we do hope it'll help against the winter wind. We're glad Sadie can show her true Steelers colors.

For us, while winter has come to Pittsburgh, we hope it won't last as long as it did in Wisconsin. Ryan is in the final stretch of teaching his two sections of freshmen Photoshop. He's also gearing up for the three new courses he'll teach next semester. I had three lovely weeks doing an outpatient rotation in Rheumatology and am now doing two weeks of night coverage at the hospital. Before doing this, I didn't realize that the night interns are actually at the hospital more (6PM-7AM) than when we work during the day (7 AM- 6PM). I hope the coming week of nights goes very quickly, and am looking forward to having my parents here next weekend.

LUPS

LUPS = Lawrenceville United Progressive Supper. LUPS is an annual highlight of our new neighborhood. It started about 10 years ago as a small group of neighbors who wanted to see each others' houses as they were doing massive remodeling to their turn of the century row houses. Since then it has grown to be over 100 people, and is quite the event. This year's dinner was this past Saturday on a beautiful fall night. We started out with appetizers at a Middle Eastern-styled coffee shop down the hill from us, and then all moved in well-coordinated fashion to different homes for soup, salad, and entree courses with groups of 8-10 other Lawrencevillians (my term!). I was amazed at how well coordinated it was, and glad too, since I volunteered to help coordinate next year's LUPS without even having experienced this one yet.

We hosted a soup course, and while our house wasn't decked out with festive fall decor, we didn't splurge on expensive wine (or any alcohol at all), and Ryan and I were somewhat under-dressed, we still had a great time. I made a no-fail Annabel soup, we had yummy hot apple cider, and even Sadie did ok in her crate with all the commotion. We love our neighborhood and that it has cool stuff like this that helps us get to know our neighbors.

And now for a cute Sadie picture:
She loves peanut butter. One of our neighbors even gave us an "empty" peanut butter container.

"Look, ma! No paws!"

Salmon Fishing in Michigan

Had a great trip to the Lum's fishing cabin in NW Michigan! We caught 5 fish apiece over three days, all between 12 and 16 pounds . . . they really put up a fight. Now we have lots of fresh fish to eat. Mmmmm

Kitchen Complete

The kitchen is done, except for a few finishing touches. We're quite happy with how it turned out. Now it's time to start cooking again . . .

Serious Sadie

How could you not love this dog?

Life and kitchen in progress

We've had a full couple of weeks. I'm almost done with my first clinical rotation. I've been doing Cardiology, which has been interesting, humbling, and overall a good experience. I appreciate that the teaching faculty involved in my residency program value patient care, teaching, and teamwork. My schedule has taken some getting used to, being on call at the hospital overnight every fourth night, but a post-call nap goes a long way and we're doing well. I'm starting to think about research and exploring mentors within the areas of Geriatrics, Health Disparities, and/or Palliative Care.

We're continuing to settle into life in Pittsburgh. Ryan has now removed a lot of the carpet upstairs, including in the guest room, hallway and stairs. We still can't understand why it was the fashion to cover beautiful hardwood with carpet. We're also beginning our kitchen remodeling project. Here are pictures from when we bought the house:


We have about half of the IKEA cabinets assembled and installed and are beginning to remove the old cabinets. By Tuesday, we'll pull out the rest of the cabinets and have 3 weeks without a kitchen faucet while we wait for the countertop to be fabricated. It'll be great to have the kitchen finished by the end of August. We're excited about how it'll look and function.

While I work, Ryan's been training, walking and playing with Sadie (we have a favorite dog park that she loves to run at), making art and volunteering at a print-making organization, and playing music with the small emergent Episcopal church that we've been going to called Three Nails (http://www.threenails.org/). We enjoy that it's focused on community, liturgy, and is only two weeks from our house. Hopefully, we'll be able to join a cell group on a semi-regular basis in the next few weeks.

Burr and Natalie, good friends from Madison, are in town visiting for a few days this week. It's been a great visit and excuse to see more things here in Pittsburgh. They went to the Carnegie Museum of Art, and then we went to the Zoo (and saw the baby tiger) and to the Mattress Factory, an art museum with large installation pieces.

Sadie, Brooms and Bekalu

Sadie continues to get bigger and smarter (although not always at the same rate). One of her current obsessions is the broom, or anything with bristles. "Broom War" is a favorite game pictured here.




















She loves people, although small children need to be brave around her, as she sometimes "loves" them flat on the ground. Bekalu seems to be fine with her, though.

Pittsburgh Zoo

We've been enjoying our zoo membership -- this time I brought a camera along and snapped some of the more photogenic animals. We have guest passes, if anyone wants to come and see for themselves!

New Fence

The Days are hard-working, joyful troopers! In what may have been Pittsburgh's hottest days of the summer, the five of us put up a beautiful new white picket fence for Sadie. Ryan's parents and sister explored Pittsburgh with us as we made three trips to two different Home Depots, dug post holes, painted, measured twice and cut once to put up the fence - all in very hot, sunny, and humid days. The results are grand, and seem to be enjoyed by Sadie as well.


Beyond the physical labor, we enjoyed trying more eateries, a good visit to a new-to-us church on Sunday, and the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium. The PGH Zoo and Aquarium is excellent and very close. We look forward to using our membership and guest passes with anyone who visits.

Home Improvement, Part 1 of ?

Our house was built in 1950. We bought it from the daughter of the first owners. Her mother lived here until she was in her 90s, only moving out a few years ago. When we first saw the house, we were really excited about the space and the original wood. We were less excited about the plethora of window coverings, the glass chandelier, and the carpet, which left a continuous musty smell.

Last week, we pulled up the dining and living room carpeting, replaced the light fixture, removed the window drapes, added new window valances, and generally spruced the place up. Here's how our dining room changed:

And our living room:

We're very pleased and enjoying our "updated" rooms. Now if only the air condition can be serviced to help us with Pittsburgh's near record high temps of 90+ with humidity. It's been a heat wave here!

Graduation pics

It's been three weeks since graduation. It feels like longer with the efforts of setting up life here in Pittsburgh. However, it's never too late to share pictures. It was so nice to enjoy graduation weekend with my side of the family.I was honored to have my dad serve as my escort at the official graduation ceremony.


My grandmother looks and is 83 years young. I'm grateful that she could make the trips both to Madison and Pittsburgh. Her help in packing, unpacking, cooking, sewing, etc was much appreciated! Here we are on our Lawrenceville front porch.

On the Web Again... from Pittsburgh!

Yay! We have internet in Lawrenceville, the location of our new Pittsburgh house.

We've had a very good week! Ryan drove a very full 26-foot Penske truck and trailer from Madison to Pittsburgh over two days. We made it for our closing with time to spare. We were met by my mom and grandmother, as well as some new and old friends, who helped unload our truck, which was a huge help.

Our first week has been full of good connections for Ryan, unpacking and settling in, and exploring new restaurants and places to walk Sadie. My mom and grandmother were a great help to have as we settled in. We're very happy with our house. We've pulled up two rooms worth of carpet to reveal nicely finished hardwood floors underneath, removed lots of old drapes and replaced a few light fixtures. The place feels more like our own each day. Pictures are soon to come.

Tonight is Sadie's first Obedience class and we continue to hear of good church communities that we're interested in learning more about. Ryan's family will be here over the next week to help us explore Pittsburgh and continue making the house our own.

Fun times in Madison

Our last weeks in Madison have been very good. Graduation last Friday was a great time to celebrate with my family. We've enjoyed seeing friends and eating at our fave places. Moving is a lot of work, but we've had great help and time to get things done.

We are also enjoying Sadie, who's now nearly 4 months old. She seems bigger every day and may almost be half her adult weight. She's all puppy, which means she loves to lick, chew, and play. She recently discovered the garden hose. Given her interest in it, we think we can train her to water the yard.

Thankfully, she's also learning some things, including walking on a lease, sitting before being petted, and shaking with both paws. We can't wait until she's better at coming when called and being less rough when playing with other dogs. She's a social dog and has enjoyed our outings to hang out with friends and their dogs.

Ryan did a 10 mile time trial race this morning, with a very long and steep climb. I'm glad I didn't miss the picture because the pain on his face is evident. Our friends, the Gartlands, hosted a farewell open house for us today. We're thankful for this great time to see so many friends and have their help in teaching Sadie to be a good dog. Now it's time to rest, as Sadie is already doing:

Pig and Puppy Playdate

See the video that Kriss shot of Sadie and the piglet greeting each other:

At the farm

One of the things I'll miss in Madison is the Community Supported Agriculture we were part of last year. It's run by great folks who have become friends, Kriss and Shannon Marion. We took Sadie out to their homestead last night where Ryan tuned up their bikes, I helped herd the sheep and goats to a new place to graze, and Sadie loved exploring and meeting all of the animals. Here's Sadie meeting one of the new calves. The horses and larger cows were quite intrigued with Sadie, following her around as we walked near them. They would have gotten much closer had they been able to. Sadie wasn't so sure...Piggy Lou, the mama pig, recently had a litter of pigs. One of them had some trouble immediately after birth and is now being raised inside. Sadie thought she was quite interesting. It looks like Napster 2.0 is telling Sadie a secret...We had a great time and will miss being able to go out to their place to help and hang out!

First Bike Ride

Despite the fact that Pittsburgh has some serious hills, including Canton Ave, the unofficial steepest street in the world with a 37% grade (see a crazy cyclist here: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1344/1403140318_9f138eb6cb_o.jpg), Ryan is committed to cycling all around the city - rain, snow or shine - just ask about the "snow pig".

To this end, he has also researched and purchased a pretty blue, 25 lb trailer to pull with his mountain bike. We plan to use it to take Sadie to the dog park, bring veggies back from the farmers' market, or run errands (obviously, not all at the same time). Here is Sadie enjoying her first ride around the block. The carrier is intended for dogs (or cargo, but not kids) and comes with a leash attachment.You'd think she thought we were going really fast, but how fast can Ryan pull a 25 pound trailer with a 25 pound moving dog?

Computer Training

Weekend fun

We've had a great first week with Sadie at home. We're impressed by how quickly she's learned some things. She's been almost a full two days without an accident, although Ryan is good to get home within 4 hours so she doesn't "explode." Because I've been up early for ENT, they usually get up too, but then enjoy another hour or two of rest in the morning.


Training is going well. She's walking on a leash, coming when called (when her puppy brain isn't tired), and even fetches a frisbee and ball occassionally. Our weekend adventures included visiting a friend of ours out of town where Sadie could socialize with their dogs and enjoy a walk in the woods.












Today, our friend Jeremy helped me watch Sadie at Ryan's bike race here in town. Sadie was very sweet and didn't embarrass us!

That's our update on our puppy who has the brain of a baby but the body of a toddler.

Sadie comes home & Our soon-to-be home in PGH

It's been an amazingly successful and full week. We were in Pittsburgh for five days. We stayed with neat folks, met some new friends, bought this neat little house (3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths in an up-and-coming eccentric city neighborhood), reconnected with Ryan's friend Peter from the cross-country bike tour (who actually lives two blocks from where we'll live), and I attended a general internal medicine conference that gave me an excitement for things ahead. We also enjoyed seeing my parents on the going and return trips as well. We'll move into our new house in PGH on May 28. We can't wait.

We also finally were able to adopt Sadie today. She's now 9 weeks old, which we feel is about 2 years old in people years. She whined a bit on the way home, but thankfully kept her doggie treats down.

After two quick accidents in the living room, she is now quite content in the kitchen. She's not a fan of the lease, but is doing ok with her collar. It's great to have her with us and this will be a great chance for Ryan's patience in all things to show through!

Sadie the Boxador: 2 months old

We visited Sadie today. Born on Feb 4, she and her 3 litter mates are now 8 weeks old. She's very well-socialized, playful but not an instigator. She came right up to us, asking for a tummy rub.
She'll be with her dad (Willie the Boxer) and her mom (Maggie the Lab) for another week.
We look forward to bringing her home with us next Sunday. Hopefully she won't get too carsick on the way home, but we'll be prepared...

We head to Pittsburgh on Monday, by way of Detroit, and hope to find a house to buy. I'll also be attending a General Internal Medicine conference that will help me learn more about the community-based health research happening in Pittsburgh and Ryan will be exploring his options within the art community. We're looking forward to meeting up with friends (new and old) and learning more about Pittsburgh.

Last day

It’s hard to fully express the depth and breadth of the experience we’ve had here in Jos with Faith Alive and NIFES. It has been wonderfully rich and enjoyable. We’ve learned of many effects of HIV/AIDS on this Nigerian community from the perspectives of patients, family, providers, and partnering organizations (PEPFAR, IHV, CRS, AIDSRelief, MCC, APIN/JUTH, Evangel Hosp, NIFES and others) committed to awareness, testing, treatment, and social rehabilitation here in Jos. The work is great. We’ve been privileged to serve alongside the staff of FA, and encouraged them in our “goodbye seminar” at Staff meeting on Wed to continue to work well, with good communication and teamwork. We feel our contributions have been good, small and simple ones – friendships, a logo, compassionate clinical care, an initial analysis of ART here, quality and respectful photos, videos, brochures, pamphlets and articles, joyful interactions and cross-cultural exchanges.

Faith Alive is in a time of great transition. Since Dec 2004, more than 1600 patients are receiving ARVs. Treatment of 2000 individuals is the expected sustainable goal for FA. Since Oct 2005, a large new hospital complex has been under construction. Commissioning will happen on the 23rd of June, and furnishing and effective usage will continue to be worked out for many months to come. It’s the next step in the vision for FA to be a place of excellent training of providers, including a medical library, conferences, and eventually a Christian medical school. On the 13th of April, 2006, the entire lab, medical records, and much of the clinic space, including the in-patient ward, were lost in an amazing fire. Things that were replaceable are slowly coming through God’s provision and the generosity of many, including the formation of the new Faith Alive Foundation (www.faithalive@faithalivenigeria.org), soon to be a 501c3 organization, and which Ryan has been asked to serve on its board in a communications capacity. The work at and through FA is great.

Thank you for following our trip with a desire to learn more about HIV/AIDS, Jos, Nigeria, and us as we’ve been here. We look forward to continuing to be involved with our many connections to Jos, especially through FA and NIFES. We’ll closely follow next year’s elections, pray for stability and peace, and look forward to returning to Nigeria next Nov and Dec.

Posted from Berlin at Annabel and Erik's place!

Working Hard to Wrap Up

The title summarizes what Ryan is doing. With the 10th Faith Alive anniversary coming on 23rd –24th June, he’s working hard to get all of the things he’s produced to the printer ASAP (not unlike his work at the NSC). I enjoyed going to Yankari National Park with Carmen earlier this week, though, the animals were mostly “inside,” as in not out at the river because it’s rainy season. Thursday I gave a lecture to med students at JUTH on “computer applications in medicine” for Dr. Chris, which largely emphasized what are still only potentials here. Next Wed will be our final day with FA and we’ll share at the staff meeting – Ryan’s putting together a simple slide show with some of the 300+ pics he’s taken and I’ll share highlights from the research analyses I’ve done. We hope to encourage the staff by reflecting back to them the unique and quality work they’re doing here. We’re extremely grateful for the chance we’ve had to learn so much here in Jos about HIV/AIDS, to work alongside wonderful people at both FA and NIFES, to complete projects (at least our parts) that we think are of reasonable quality and helpful to others, and to have had the times of rest we’ve had. Life has been a different and simpler pace here (especially for me), which has been enjoyable, though, we’re also looking forward to reconnecting with our community and work in Madison in July (after some time in Berlin and RI).

Wrandom Writings #4

Do your arms feel like they’re going to fall off from lugging that baby everywhere you go? Sure, we’ve all felt that way. Unfortunately, babies tend not to stay put very well when you carry them on your head (see previous Wrandom Writings), so another solution must be found. Perhaps one of those expensive baby backpacks you can get at REI? Who has that kind of money? No, all you need is an ordinary strip of stretchy fabric, and your baby carrying woes are over! At first, it might not seem that safe and secure, but with a little practice you’ll soon see that you can take a baby just about anywhere like this – to the store, to the hairdresser . . . even on a motorcycle. And let me tell you, the babies just love it, and they have greatly enhanced hamstring flexibility to boot. So don’t delay – get yourself a fabric wrapper, and bring new meaning to the very American phrase “Baby got back . . .”

NIFES (and other updates)

Over the past week and a half, we’ve finally had a chance to connect with staff and students of Nigerian International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (NIFES), a sister movement of college students to InterVarsity-USA. Last Sunday, we went to a Large Group meeting of Vet students. It was a lively fellowship of about 60 students where we could tell they enjoyed meeting together and sharing God’s work in their lives. We spent two days this past week at the headquarters here in Jos. We’ve been graciously welcomed in by folks who’ve also hosted Francis F, Ann C, Jeanette Y, and others from our Madison IV community. It’s like meeting up with extended family. Ryan led out of Ephesians at their chapel, and I shared from Daniel tonight at a meeting of NIFES alumni and supporters. Ryan has been working on promotional materials for their tri-annual missions conference in Nov 2007. We’ve been officially invited back, and are excited about the possibility of returning to Jos to serve again with Faith Alive and NIFES. I’ve met with their coordinator for HIV/AIDS awareness and share in his passion to bring correct and holistic information to college students and provide them with an opportunity to be tested. Less than 10% of Nigerian college students know their status, and many still have misinformation about HIV and STIs. I’ve dreamt of the possibility of a partnership between 2-3 US college students coming to volunteer in the area of HIV/AIDS awareness and testing among fellow Nigerian college students, and secondly, perhaps also raising funds to enable testing of all 6000 students from West Africa who will be at next Nov’s conference.
Regarding other things we’ve been up to, I’ve finished the first draft of “Expansion of HIV-1 Screening and Anti-Retroviral Treatment Programs in a Resource-Poor Setting: Results from a Faith-based Organization in Nigeria.” I look forward to Dr. Chris’ comments. Ryan is working steadily on the 2nd Edition of “Touching Lives,” a full-color 28-page magazine highlighting the 10th anniversary of the ministry of Faith Alive, as well as the video of personal stories of how people infected and affected by HIV.
And lest you think it’s been all work and no rest for us, we enjoyed a nice hike yesterday at the highest place in Jos, Shere Hills (including a little free climbing near the top,). It was great to be out of the city for a bit. We’ve also had delicious grilled Tilapia from a roadside stand, met with Carmen for lunch on Thursday, and haven’t yet tired of wonderfully ripe mangos on a near daily basis.

Wrandom Writings #3

I was once told that my head is 'not just a hat rack'. This is true. It is a convenient carrying place for all sorts of things besides hats. You can put ten pineapples up there. Or 20 gallons of gasoline. Heads are amazingly useful, and in America, underutilized, appendages. Why, in Madison, I hardly ever see people carrying cinder blocks on their heads. Why is that? Carrying things with your arms is such a waste of energy. I know I'll never make that mistake again. Next time you see me, I'll be kicking it with my computer bag on my head. After all, heads are for more than hats . . .

HIV awareness

One of the great strengths of FA is the collective life that is thriving within the Support Group. Coming out and sharing their testimonies is a challenging step to decreasing the stigma around HIV/AIDS. Members have committed to doing what they can to help others understand HIV and be tested to know their status. Their message and witness are clear: HIV is not a death sentence. The group regularly has opportunities to do HIV awareness. As an example, yesterday, the Support Group was invited to participate in a Special Lecture on AIDS/HIV and General Health sponsored by the Women's Wing of a local mosque in Jos. Members of the group, a mixed-group of Muslims and Christians, gave testimonies of living with HIV and led a discussion on methods of transmission and ways to prevent the spread of HIV. HIV was explained as a condition that must be taken seriously, and importantly, can be treated but not cured. An emphasis was placed on sexual education of youth, including HIV testing before marriage, and disclosure of status to spouses. They encouraged all present, especially the leaders, to be tested to know their status, and trained in HIV awareness so that they can counsel members of their community. One of FA's pastors emphasized that even if someone is HIV-positive, God will not desert them. The remark was made that it was amazing that Christians were welcomed into a mosque to share on this topic. Indeed, even as a Christian-based organization, the group seemed to be well-received and appreciated for its role in talking about HIV to reduce stigma and raise awareness of ways people can prevent and seek treated for HIV/AIDS.

HIV and Men

Sunday’s FA support group debate topic was “Why are men dying silently?” Easily ninety percent of support group attendees are female. Roughly 70% of voluntary counseling and HIV testing done at FA is requested by women. Many women find out they are positive after the death of their husbands from undiagnosed AIDS. Here in Jos, there is agreement that the HIV epidemic will not cease until effective ways of reaching and treating men are found. Reasons for the silence men keep are complex. We heard rumors of very rich men who pay to have doctors supply medications outside of hospitals so their status remains unknown; another accounted that her husband took pills for “typhoid” rather than disclose his status to her. The stigma felt by many HIV-positive people is tremendous. A man may even be stigmatized by his wife or close family.

Challenges were made for married women to invite their husbands to the support group. Discouraged women were challenged to never cease praying for their “drunkard, smoking, always going out” loved ones. Attendees were encouraged to speak with their pastors about how church families need to do more to support HIV-positive members. For my part, I was humbled to serve as the “doctor” on the panel as I was challenged to respond to, “what will our society be like if men continue dying in silence?” Beyond major expansion of ARV therapy, the ultimate health of the community depends on the living examples of HIV-affected people telling their stories in ways that others can hear and follow.

Wrandom Writings #2

So you've been saying to yourself, "Gee, I sure wish there were more goats around here!" Haven't we all thought that at some time? Well, Jos is where the goats are at. There are goats everywhere you look -- goats crossing the road, goats peering out of windows, goats jumping out of alleys. Where do they come from? Who do they belong to? And what are they doing over there . . . that's disgusting. Anyway, goats are clearly the most popular local source of red meat. They can eat anything, live anywhere, and they don't taste too bad after all. I'm surprised we don't see more of them in Madison. They are natural environmentalists, eating all the garbage they can find and converting it into natural fertilizer. So next time you feel a need for a companion, forget the Labrador -- get yourself a goat. I know where you can get one real cheap.

Halfway

We’ve had another very good week here in Jos, about halfway through our time here. Our experience here resembles an international-student internship of sorts as we learn and work in a different culture alongside other committed professionals. Altogether, we’re very grateful for this opportunity to live in Jos and serve at Faith Alive. We can see the benefit of our flexible help and specific skills, and thoroughly appreciate the generous hospitality of Dr. Chris and others in hosting us here.

Our work is progressing well. Ryan has a rough-cut of a “Voices” video composed of interviews he’s done with FA staff members discussing their personal experiences being diagnosed with HIV, the effect of their status on their lives and family, and the strong source of support that FA has been for them, and allowed them to be for others. Beyond statistics and public health goals, organizations, and outcomes, the most significant costs of this disease are on individuals and families.

Tomorrow, I’ll lead part of the weekly support group for HIV-infected persons. I will be facilitating a “debate,” which in my understanding is posing a question, like “Is it good or bad to tell your church/community about your HIV status?” and then members discuss aspects of the question back and forth. Although much of it is in Hausa (of which I’ve learned only a tiny amount), I trust that it will be helpful to those who come. For the next few weeks, Ryan will be involved each morning assisting in teaching the incoming Computer Skills class, which is part of FA’s Social Services arm that teaches skills like sewing and knitting to HIV+ people.

Thanks to everyone who has e-mailed or commented; it's nice to know you're out there!