Yesterday went well. My mornings have been starting a little later than I want, but I’m in somewhat of a routine. I try to wake at 5am, can’t muster the will power for it, and then continue sleeping until 6ish. At that point I wake up, get ready, do one or two things and then have some breakfast and it’s off to work.
On my walk to work yesterday I noticed this sign for the first time. I’m surprised it hadn’t caught my attention earlier because, boy-oh-boy, I am the target audience for this marketing. In Ethiopia it was difficult to find ice cream (unless at an overpriced shop), so I’m more than happy to know it is readily available here. And I think I have a working freezer in my hotel room—I’ll have to check it actually works. I spent most of my morning at work in the office, around 11am I left with the field team to go on a little tour of the project area.
Our first stop was at a rural health facility where WFG is currently constructing a latrine. The WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) approach that WFG takes is “holistic” meaning that they focus on every aspect of the community, not just the water points. So they work with health facilities, encourage community forums, create school facilities and curriculum, and much more.
Next up we stopped by a school where latrines done being built, but undergoing “branding” where they get this beautiful paint job.
Finally, we stopped at another school to drop off some supplies for the teachers and menstrual hygiene materials for the students.
All throughout the day, my coworkers were stopping by houses to check-in and taking me to visit and see the homes that have successfully adopted the practices that WFG teaches. The project area was massive and most of the time was spent driving. I didn’t mind it though as the environment is beautiful, and I got to relax a little bit (despite the bumpy and rough roads).
We got back to the office after about five hours of field work and I was able to spend an hour on some data analysis stuff. The tasks took me longer than I had hoped, so I ended up getting home around 5:30. I took off for my run and was a bit nervous I wouldn’t have enough day light—it ended up being fine because I got tired quickly and moseyed on home.
I’d been procrastinating figuring out my laundry situation—I guess I knew my options (I could pay a few dollars each time or just do it myself) and I just didn’t like them. Like all procrastinating, it didn’t solve the problem, just put it off until it was absolutely necessary for me to do laundry. That day was yesterday. I went to grab a pair of socks and noticed only two remaining, meaning today I’m okay, but I would have been out of luck tomorrow if I didn’t do anything about it. I decided to save my five-ish dollars, filled my buckets with some water and laundry detergent and got to scrubbing. To dry I hung them in my room on a rope I had previously bought, expecting this situation to arise, and turned my fan on high through the evening.
I got to sleep around 9pm and the instant I got in bed I was out. The day was long and my time to slow down and relax was relegated to the bumpy driving or my desk work. By the time I finished with the laundry I was ready to call it a day. Thankfully I slept very well; my body is still a bit sore, but I slept soundly and my head feels extremely rested. Today I think will be more of the same—some desk work mixed with field visits. Yesterday was a nice temperature, hopefully today will treat me with the same kindness.