Before we get started, I wanted to mention that I don't post a lot of pictures on this blog to start with. However, I do post more on Instagram because I like the platform more and I find it's easier to use with less of an internet connection. So if you want to see more pictures, Instagram is the spot you can find me at tdaniel541.
The ride in went well. It turns out my new home, Eagle's Landing, is only about a five minute drive to the office.
Once I got to the office I met a bunch of people, including the two interns that I am here with. They're both students at Emory. It's a good school but not as good as DU or Oregon State.
Julian is from California and he's working on a project surveying prisoners at the prison. Apparently his job is to get an idea of the conditions in the prison which seems like a slightly scary proposition.
Chris is from Washington and is also and RPCV (Honduras '10-'12). He's working on surveying religious leaders about what types of mental health services they provide.
And that's about how the first half of my day went, just chilling in our little work space. The three of us share an office in the back. I think, secretly, that it might be the worst office because the air conditioner doesn't seem to work properly. I think it's actually sucking in hot air from the outside so maybe it's a ploy to get us to go outside? More on this conspiracy later.
Everyone seems really nice at the office. It's a bit of a different vibe than my time in the Peace Corps. Being in an office solely focused on one thing feels a little weird. Normally during the work day in the Peace Corps your with other teachers in the school or nurses in the health center. And while all of them are very competent professionals there's a different air here that seems to insinuate everyone is working towards the same goal. It's a good feeling for the most part, despite it's alienness? alienosity? Alieniferousness? Alieniferousness.
In the afternoon I had a meeting with Janice, Dyonah, and Alex. Janice is head honcho around here, she runs literally everything. Dyonah is in charge of the training program. The Carter Center has a training program that trains nurses and PAs in mental health for six months. Alex is sort of the liaison to the people that have been trained after they leave. Everyone is very nice and seems very committed to the goals of the Carter Center.
Anyways, for those of you who want to know what I'll be doing here's the rundown. The Carter Center is trying to implement a new mental health program in elementary school. I can't quite remember the name but I know it starts with the words Eastern Mediterranean and the full acronym is EMROH. Janice asked if I'd be the point person in making sure it gets through whatever hurdles come up for the next eight weeks. That's one thing. Every month the mental health clinicians that have been trained all get together to talk about exceptionally difficult cases or the Carter Center puts on a presentation about something the clinicians want to hear about. Dyonah asked for my help with that. And Alex wants to give the people they've trained a refresher course in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and so now him and I are supposed to have a training curriculum done by this Friday and have a five day training starting next Monday the 18th.
Well, that's the majority of what happened on my first day. There's a few more piddling details but I don't think I have the time to give you anything but the broad strokes as you can see I have a lot of work to do. In fact I'll probably have to stop writing in the middle of the next sentence and get back to work.
See y'all nex
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