Monday, October 11, 2010

Last week: Team Paramount! This week: Audit?!

Yes, way less fun, but true.  This week we are being audited by good old PEPFAR.  Well, I should say we are being audited (or assessed is the softer way of putting it) by the contractor who was hired by the in-country contractor who was hired by the domestic "beltway bandit" contractor who was hired by the US government.  Holler at your boy.  Bureaucracy at its best.  Though it is not the most efficient process (I was in the longest meeting of my life today, 9:30 AM to 4:15 PM with an hour lunch break around 2:45), there is a lot to learn, between watching our fearless leader Mike to the rest of our staff to the assessment team themselves.  And I think the key lies in all of our belief in a global health mantra Mike taught me years ago:

There is a difference between wanting to do good, thinking you are doing good, and actually doing good.

That is more or less what the assessment team is trying to sort out in this process.  It's also what I think makes Mpilonhle special, that it doesn't forget this mantra, and is trying to sort this out within the organization everyday.

Anyway, after a day like that, all I could really handle was watching a movie, so TK and his family brought over "Goodbye Bafana", a great movie about Nelson Mandela and his main prison gaurd.  I highly recommend it.  Oh, and to make the night extra special, TK's daughter brought over popcorn she made!  It was soooo good!  I couldn't stop eating it and am pretty convinced I will be sick in the morning, but it was some nice comfort food, popcorn with a movie. :) Thanks Senna!

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