First day of work

Today I went to the the Agincourt Health and Population Unit offices, located in Acornhoek, to do work. I am still trying to verify and debug our data system and I was needed to approve questionnaires and consent forms as they come back from the printers. There is renovation ongoing at the AHPU, so they are currently housed in three mobile units. I met 7 or 8 people and the atmosphere is quite nice. Tea is at 11 in the kitchen, and I introduced myself to quite a few people then.

"Going to the office" in this case means about 20 minutes of driving from Wits Rural Facility where I am living. Half of that is in second gear on narrow dirt roads, the other half on highways. Unfortunately most of my work here requires much longer drives than that. The main office for the survey area is in Agincourt, probably an additional 25 minutes drive (edit: actually 45 minutes). I'll be stopping by that office each week to deliver completed questionnaires to our data typists. I may also use it for access to the internet, phones, and printing as needed. This is because the field office where I will be stationed most days is even farther down the road (edit: an additional 20-25 minutes) and has no phones or internet. They put me there because the annual census of the area will happen concurrently with our study and the Agincourt office is going to be crowded. I'll be in a more rural place very close to Kruger Park. My placement makes it easier for the field teams to reach me if needed. So most days I will be in the car for at least a couple of hours, and perhaps more if I am needed two or three of these offices.

This reminds me that I haven't mentioned the car. I rented a VW Golf Chico. It is cheap, but I have also been told it is one of the best for the roads here. The clearance off the ground is higher than most small cars. It has been interesting getting used to driving on the left side of the road, using my left hand to shift gears, and being on the lookout for large animals and pedestrians most of the time. So far it has gone well, but the more challenging driving will come with my near-daily commute through the bush.

I didn't get to take any pictures today, but maybe I'll put some up tomorrow.