An introduction

Hi!

For those of you who don't know me and weren't following my previous blog (www.travelblog.org/bloggers/into_east_africa), having recently returned from an incredible 9 months in Africa, performing voluntary work, I am happy to have found a job that is enabling me to return there, and continue in the line of work that motivates me.

This Saturday I am off to Namitete, Malawi, where I will be working as the representative for a U.S. company - PointCare - on a project that they won a World Bank competition (and funding) for. The aim of the project is to provide community-based T-cell testing to HIV patients in rural areas. This testing enables HIV-infected patients to be put on anti-retroviral therapy at the right time, and treatment to be better managed afterwards. Many people in Africa, and especially those living in remote areas, do not currently have access to such testing. Therefore they can be started on therapy too early (risking drug resistance), or too late (risking death from opportunistic infections). I will be spending the next 18 months or so working with a team from St. Gabriel's Hospital and using PointCare's portable equipment to take the testing out to people in the community, through their 11 outreach clinics and 6 health centers. Instead of going into all the details here, if you would like to know more about the project, PointCare, or HIV/AIDs and T-cell testing in general, then take a look at www.pointcare.net.

I am writing this blog to keep you updated on the progress, successes and challenges of the project and also to share with you my personal observations, experiences and emotions as I adjust to my new life in Namitete!

Wish me luck!

Joanna.

P.S. Sharing some pictures taken during my last trip to Malawi......

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