A Peace Corps Journey: Two Years in South Africa

Inspiration

2008-11-05T00:59:00.000-08:00

Today is a day that I will never forget. I started off the morning being completely humbled and inspired by one of the seven "wonders of the world," then witnessed history as Obama was elected president. I can't remember a day that I felt so proud and excited about the future as I do today. These past few weeks have been filled with inspiring events, and I am trying to take in as much as I can in my final days of travel before I return home to Minnesota.

Jeff and I spent four days in Goa, southern India, relaxing, laying on the beach, and watching evening movies in an outdoor restaurant near our hotel. It was nice to spend some time taking it easy, but was all too similar to the lazy days I spent lounging on the beaches during my travels in Africa. After a couple days, I was anxious to move on and experience the diversity, chaos and awe of the rest of India.

After Goa, we headed to Varanasi, a city described as "the beating heart of the Hindu universe." This area, on the banks of the Ganges river, holds dozens of ghats--a series of steps leading down to the river where people of the Hindu faith come to cleanse themselves of sins or cremate members of their family.

Many people I met traveling said Varanasi was one of the highlights of their trip in India, and I can easily see why. The city was a bit overwhelming at times, but the chaos, balanced out by a few yoga classes and some relaxing time on the steps of the ghats, helped us to appreciate all that the city had to offer.

After our exhausting 30-hour train ride from Mumbai (which, because it was the Hindu holiday of Diwali, was overbooked be about 300%, and I had to share my tiny "bed" with three other people), we took an autorickshaw to our hotel. After two years of practice riding in questionable forms of public transport and getting used to incredibly scary and potentially life-threatening driving, I thought I could handle anything. Obviously, I had never been to Varanasi. The streets are lined on both sides with fruit stands, makeshift barber shops, roadside restaurants, horse-drawn carriages, bicycles, idling people, cycle rickshaws, and possibly as many dogs and cows as there are people—in the middle of the city! On top of that, there are thousands of vehicles weaving their was in and out of traffic, around cows, over potholes, etc…all the while blowing their horns at every possible opportunity (which, we discovered, is about every three seconds). I have never been so concerned for my well-being as I was during that ride. But somehow, amid all the chaos and noise, there were no accidents during our 4-day stay. I will assume that one of the Hindu gods was watching over the roads…

A good portion of our time was spent walking along the river, visiting the various ghats. Varanasi is probably one of the best people-watching places in the world. People from all over the Hindu world, and tons of tourists (many of them burnt-out hippies) spend their days on the ghats—praying, swimming, meditating, doing laundry. Throughout the day we saw at lease 30 men, many of them old, strip down naked and walk into the water. Even the cows joined in the fun, cooling off in the water or getting soaped down by their owners.

Further down we watched the ceremonial cremation of dozens of Hindus. Bodies were laid on bamboo stretchers and doused in the river before being covered in wood and burned. Apparently Hindus believe that dying in Varanasi offers the person "moksha," liberation from the cycle of birth and death.

When we weren't wandering around enjoying the city atmosphere, Jeff and I decided to take some yoga classes. For three days, we spent two hours learning some yoga basics and enjoying the benefits of meditation and exercise. Our instructor, a funny man with wild hair and rather bad teeth, focused on a practice that integrated various yoga techniques with a good amount of breathing exercise and meditation. I really, really enjoyed the classes and left everyday feeling rejuvenated and calm—something I could use more often. And at the beginning of each class we started with a laughing exercise, which the instructor claimed to be a very healthy thing to do. He told us to follow the simple instructions: "Half the food, twice the water, three times the exercise, and four times the laughter" in our daily lives. I think that's some pretty good advice.

After four days in Varanasi, we took the night train to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. This morning we spent about three hours wandering around the awe-inspiring structure as the sun rose. Everyone has seen pictures of the building, but there is no way to put in an image or describe in words the incredible intricacy and beauty that the Taj Mahal possesses. If it weren't for the election coverage on TV, I think I might have spent the whole day lingering in the gardens and enjoying the view.

Tomorrow we go to Jaipur, another famous Indian city in the Rajasthan state. We have about 2 ½ weeks left, but plenty of activities to fill our time. I'm looking forward to experiencing even more of this incredible country.

Uganda, Switzerland and India...

2008-10-25T23:42:00.000-07:00

These past few weeks have taken me thousands of miles and to three different continents. I am currently in Goa, India, where my friend from college, Jeff, and I are relaxing on the beach and easing ourselves into the madness and excitement that is India. I've uploaded some pictures from the past few weeks, which do my experiences more justice than a wordy post could :
UGANDA:

Mama! John Mary's mother, who we visited when I traveled to Uganda in 2005 with CSB/SJU students. I stayed at her house for a week.

Some of the kids at the school that has been built at Mama's house. About 60 high school kids are currently enrolled at the school, and over 100 elementary kids come everyday for extra-curricular activities.
Classroom during a debate for the high school kids: "Is agriculture or industrialization better for the future of Uganda?"

SWITZERLAND
I visited my friend, Ueli, at his home in Bern, Switzerland for two weeks. It was a very welcome change from the chaotic uncertainty of Africa. I was able to experience life in a developed country for the first time in two years. Much of my time was spent baking (in a real oven!), eating cheese, and exploring this beautiful country.
A view from the bridge below Ueli's house.
The Swiss Alps (we did a 6-hour hike through the mountains one day)
A small town in the Alps
Some of the most beautiful mountains I have ever seen

Ueli and I at the top of a peak
Ueli and I in Bern
The view from the steeple of a church in the middle of BernHouses along the river

QATAR:
I flew on Qatar Airways from Nairobi to Geneva, Switzerland, and again from Geneva to Mumbai, India. Each time I had a layover in Doha, Qatar. The first was from 8pm to 8am, so I had plenty of time to explore the airport.
The gate for my flight.

INDIA:
The view from my hotel window in Mumbai (luckily, I had this gorgeous view...unluckily, I was attacked by bedbugs...)

The Mumbai train station, the largest in all of Asia (and possibly the most confusing)
The road from the train station to Anjuna, the beach town we are staying at in Goa.
Cows. Why wouldn't there be tons of cows wandering around the beach? It's India!

I will be in India until November 22nd, when I (finally!) fly back to Minnesota. After a relaxing week in Goa, we have a full itinerary planned in the northern part of the country that will take us to three major religious pilgrimage points (Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism), a camel fair with over 50,000 camels, snake charmers and desert, the Taj Mahal, and many other exotic and interesting places. But for now, I'm just enjoying the relaxing atmosphere of the beach!

Never Again

2008-09-21T05:58:00.000-07:00

I am sitting at a very nice and modern internet cafe in Kigali, Rwanda. I just came back from the best grocery store I've stepped foot in for over two years, and I took a taxi ride this morning in a minibus that only allowed 15 passengers and required me to wear a seat belt! These past three days in Rwanda have been a very welcome change from the random inefficiency that has been the norm throughout my travels. The roads here are in perfect condition, taxis depart at scheduled times (and you can buy your tickets ahead of time), and there are police (yes, armed with giant rifles) every 10 feet in the city so I feel extremely safe. On top of that, I have met more kind and helpful people than anywhere else. The city is definitely up-and-coming and you can sense the optimism in the people. I really like it here.

Yesterday I went to two genocide memorials outside of Kigali at Nyamata and Ntarama. I'm still trying to process what happened and what I saw. For that matter, I am still trying to understand my visit to Gikongoro, another genocide memorial, that I visited on my first trip to Rwanda three years ago. How can you possibly make sense of the horror that occurred 14 years ago? At the same time, though, it is inpiring to see the country where it is today: young, optimistic, and full of hope for the future. To me, Rwanda is a success story. They have managed to get past those 100 terrible days and rebuild in a positive way. Of course, reminders of the genocide still exist everywhere--in the various memorials throughout the country, in the man limping down the street with a stump for a leg, or the woman with no fingers begging on the side of the road. But the overwhelming feeling in Kigali and Rwanda in genera is that of hope for the future. That makes me very excited for Rwanda and optimistic that the future will hold great things.

I took a minibus to a genocide memorial in Nyamata yesterday, located about 45km outside of Kigali. From the main road, I walked about 250m on a dirt path that led past various mud houses, two well-kept schools, and a crowd of young girls playing games in a nearby field. I entered the gate to find a very simple one-room brick church--the site of unimaginable tragedy 14 years ago.

Being the only visitor at the time, I was met by the young man working there and given a private tour, allowing me to have a very long and personal conversation. The man is 26 years old. He was 9 at the time of the genocide. We first walked into the main church: a large, open area with simple benches and a statue of Mary near the alter. He didn't say much at first, as I waslked around slowly, looking at thousands of articles of clothing, coverein in dust and dirt, that were laid upon the benches and strewn across the floor. On the alter there was a white sheet draped on top, most of which was stained a deep red-broan color. And the corrogated tin ceiling had hundreds of holes, allowing rays of light to shine throughout the church.

After spending a few minutes in here, without any explanation, we walked outside to a beautiful garden area and down some steps into a tomb that has recently been turned into a mass grave where victims can rest in peace with at least some dignity. In this structure were hundreds of wooden caskets, each containing approximately 10 bodies. Each casket was carefully covered in a beautiful white and purple cloth. Flowers were laid amongst the caskets. Tears welled up in my guide's eyes as we stopped at two coffins and he told me, "Here...here is my mother and father." Then, pointing to the box directly underneath, "...and my three brothers and three sisters." Up to this point, I had no idea that he had suffered so severely and lost everything. I thought he would just give me an overview of the area and tell me the facts. What I received was something much more personal and profound.

We went down a few more stairs where there were about 10 shelves containing hundreds of skulls and bones. Many of the skulls contained gaping wounds where people were bludgeoned with machetses, rocks, guns. It was incredibly difficult to look at these things, but important to see the reality of the genocide--to remember what happened.

After spending a few minutes trying to make sense of the situation but only becoming more confused and infuriated, we walked back into the church. My guide began explaining. The door, a steel-barred structure, was still bent and the bars had been torn off. This, he explained, was where the Interhamwe militia forced their way into the area where an estimated 10,000 were hiding--hoping to be protected in their place of worship and the only place they thought was safe. Hundreds of militiamen forced their was in and systematically massacred all those inside-using machetes, rocks, grenades, guns... The holes in the ceiling were remnants of the grenades and gunshots. Dark patches of blood still clung to the brick wall.

He showed me the exact spot he was when the Interhamwe entered the church. Desperate to stay alive, he hid his small body in a corner, covered with bodies of people slain. He explained to me that he stayed in this position for two full days, too terrified to move an inch for fear that the militia was stll present. After 48 hours, though, he was so starving and weak that he had to get up to find some water and bananas. But he quickly came back to the church and hid for another ten days, too scared to go anywhere else. After many days, the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF), the Tutsi rebels, took over Nyamata and he was able to come out of hiding.

When I asked how the Hutu militia knew to come to the church, he told me that the killers were his neighbors, family friends who had lived together for many years. Yet, somehow, he is still able to live here today. I asked what it's like to confront the people who did this to his family, and he replied, "I have forgiven them. What choice do I have but to move forward?" This man has unimaginable strength that I cannot begin to fathom and a testament to the desire of Rwandans to put the past behind them and build a brighter future. At the second memorial, the woman showing me around told me, "We are no longer Hutu or Tutsi. We are all Rwandans--one people. That is our future."

A sign posted at Ntarama, written in Kinyarwanda, the local language, translated to: "If you know me, and you really knew yourself, you would not have killed me." It seems like the new Rwanda is successfully helping people to know each other, break down barrier, and move ahead to make sure that the slogan commonly used, "Never Again" actually holds true.

Since I last wrote, I spent a week hanging out on the tropica island of Zanzibar, wandering around the labrynth that is Stone Town, the Arabic-built city of tall buildings and narrow streets. Then I spent a few days relaxing on the northern beach of Nungwi. The sand was perfectly find and white and the waters were clear, warm and a beautiful turquoise color. This was the closest to paradise that I have ever been, and nothing beats drinking a cold beer in a little restaurant directly on the beach, watching the sun set over the ocean.

On Monday night I took the "economy" ferry back to the mainland. The trip generally takes about three hours, but because the port doesn't open in Dar until 6am, we had to anchor the ship on the very choppy and unpleasant water for about 5 hours. I was nauseous the entire time and couldn't sleep because I was jammed between two other people on a rather uncomfortable bench! But we made it back and I sat around Dar for 12 hours waiting for my 36-hour train ride. I took the Central Line train from Dar Es Salaam all the way across the country, and got off at a tiny stop in the middle of the night, from where I would get a connection to the Rwandan border. Luckily, a very wonderful old woman was in my cabin who lived in Kahama, where I was going, so she took me under her wing and showed me where to go. After four full days of travel without sleeping in a proper bed and many hundreds of km behind me, I arrived in Kigali and was able to find a nice resthouse. I've been here for three days now, and while I would like to stay longer, I am moving on to Uganda tomorrow to see the amazing peope I met when I visited three years ago.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles (and steamboats, flatbed trucks, sailboats and dugout canoes...)

2008-09-06T06:25:00.000-07:00

Wow. Where do I begin? It’s been almost a month since I last wrote, but I feel like I’ve done enough to fill a year. I’ve traveled through three different countries, met some of the most incredible people, and really challenged myself to travel through some of the most remote areas of these countries by myself.

When I wrote last, I was in Blantyre, the largest city in Southern Malawi. Zane and I stayed for about three days, enjoying real food (and ice cream!) and stocking up on supplies for the next leg of our journey. From there, we went to a little coastal village called Cape Maclear, located on the southern edge of Lake Malawi, where we generally laid on the beach and hung out. I wasn’t especially impressed with Cape Maclear—as the Lonely Planet correctly notes, the area has been taken over by “beach boys” hanging around, trying to get everyone to take a boat ride or let them cook a meal. Honestly, I can’t blame them for trying to make a living, but it is incredibly frustrating when you know that nobody is genuine and only wants to make a buck off of you. However, I did see some of the most spectacular sunsets of my life and was able to relax quite a bit.

Following that, we traveled to Monkey Bay where I met up with Liz, Marti and Dave, fellow Peace Corps volunteers who are also traveling after our service. It was great to catch up with them and hear all of our stories from the short time we had been apart. Friday morning, we all packed up and walked about 3km into town to catch the Ilala Ferry, an extremely old steamboat that travels up and down the lake, transporting passengers and cargo to some very remote areas in Malawi and Mozambique. The ferry was a great experience. But after all the hype I’d been hearing and reading about it, I was expecting our entrance to be a bit like the beginning scenes of Titanic. I was hearing the theme song (My Heart Will Go On…) in my head and picturing women with wide-brimmed hats and fancy, well-groomed poodles parading around on the first class deck. In reality, there were plenty of people with baseball caps and the only animals on board were the chickens and goats that would be dinner for the passengers onboard! Nonetheless, it was still an excellent experience. The boat, of course, left over an hour late, and somehow got farther and farther behind schedule at every stop. At many of the ports, we were stopped for over five hours while small boats shuttled all of the people on and off, and brought various supplies to the shore. And while it was a bit frustrating at the inefficiency of the whole process, it was working. The boat simply needs to make it up and down the lake within a week, where it starts the process over again. So while we may not have been breaking records, the people and supplies were still getting where they needed to be, and the boat would inevitably make it back to Monkey Bay before the next departure. We left on Friday morning and were scheduled to reach my destination, Likoma Island, at 1pm on Saturday afternoon.

We reached the island 12 hours late, at 1am on Sunday morning. The only light came from the electrified boat and the brilliant glow of the full moon. About ten backpackers got off (but I said goodbye to Liz, Marti and Dave who were continuing onto the mainland), and we were met by a small boat that took us to the backpackers we would be staying at, Mango Drift, which is a quaint little property directly on the beach. We got to know the other backpackers very well during the five days on the island, and also spent a lot of time wandering around the various villages. Likoma Island is very small, maybe 2 km by 5 km, and supposedly has 6000 people (but it seemed like much less). Because the island is in the middle of the lake and has little access with the outside world, it has retained much of its tradition and charm. Also, there is virtually no crime on the entire island, so it was nice to walk around and not worry that every passing person would try to rob me! My favorite ‘hang out’ became a little restaurant called the Hunger Clinic, located on the opposite end of the island, about 45 minutes from the backpackers. We went here on four occasions and enjoyed a simple but tasty meal of beans and nsima (pap) for the equivalent of $0.80. The people were incredibly friendly, and the island may be my favorite place so far.

While on Likoma, I met some people who were staying on the Mozambican side of the lake, where one person’s mother is in the process of starting a community development tourist project. Basically, they are employing people from the local village to build a resort literally using their own hands and completely local materials. In the process, they are creating dozens of jobs and doing various development projects within the community. They invited me to come visit the project, so, because I have a very open schedule and wanted to be flexible, I changed my plans and went to Mozambique once again. So, the next morning, after enquiring about the boat I would need to take and the immigration and visa process (and getting generally uncertain answers), I said goodbye to the people I had been traveling with, put on my pack and trekked for over an hour across the island to find a boat off the island. Before leaving, I had to locate the immigration officer (just a man sitting in the middle of the market with a briefcase) to get stamped out of Malawi. Then, I boarded a rather small and homemade sailboat that transported local people from Likoma Island 10km across the lake to Cobue, an extremely small and remote town on the Mozambican mainland. Because the wind was strong and the boat did not have the best steering, we landed about 3km from the main town on the beach of someone’s home. Fortunately, a nice man named Felix was on the boat and took me under his wing because I had no idea where to go. He led me through a few rivers, around a banana plantation and over some large hills, directly to the police station that doubled as the immigration office. I sat with the officer for about 30 minutes while he figured out the proper procedure for a visa (I don’t think they get many foreign travelers passing through this way). But at the end, I paid the correct fee of $30 and he didn’t even demand a bribe! Felix then proceeded to walk around the entire (but tiny) village asking if anyone was going to Metangula, a town about 120km south, where I needed to go. No one knew of anything, so Felix first invited me to his house for a some tea and biscuits, then took me to a little restaurant run by a very sweet woman who let me set up my tent on the sand by the lake. At about 9pm, though, someone showed up with a truck that was headed down to Metangula, and because there is hardly any transport that way, I jumped in, and was on my way.

I spent a week hanging out at the resort with my friends, snorkeling at some great reef in the lake, walking around the village, and going for hikes along the lakeshore. It is a great location for a resort, and the project is empowering the entire village—I hope that when it opens next month, it is a great success.

From there, I decided that, since I was already in Mozambique, I would take the road less traveled and enter Tanzania through the northern part of Mozambique. Not many people travel in this area because of the huge distances, limited transport, and lack of tourist accommodation. But that was the part that was the most appealing to me. I’d been traveling with lots of tourists my entire trip and I was ready to get off the beaten path a bit and see some places rarely visited by outsiders. And that is exactly what I got. It took me six full days to travel from Metangula to Tanzania, but I took a two day break in Pemba. First, I went from Lichinga to Cuamba, a 300km journey that somehow took over 10 hours to travel. The entire day, I was squished in the back of a flatbed truck, surrounded by women with babies, bags of maize meal, and various chickens and goats from place to place. The road was unpaved and very bumpy, and I was extremely sore by the time we got into Cuamba at 9pm that night. I stayed in a local resthouse and was waken up at 4am by my driver from the night before who had arranged transport to take me to the train that would be my mode of transport for the next leg of the journey, to Nampula. The train was a great experience. I had tons of space to myself, and while the train was crawling along at a very slow pace, I spent the day looking out the window and enjoying the beautiful scenery and comfort relative to the day before. Along the way, we stopped in dozens of tiny villages where everyone came running up to the windows, selling everything imaginable from fresh fruit to live chickens to airtime. At about 4pm we arrived in Nampula, a relatively large city in the northern part of the country. There were no backpackers, and little budget options available, so I stayed in a very sketchy (but safe!) guesthouse in the middle of town. My room was like a shoebox, and there was no running water in the bathroom (so it smelled quite bad), but it was a place to sleep before moving on the next day. At 5am the following morning, I caught a 10 hour bus to Pemba, a beach town on the northern coast. I stayed here for three nights in order to rest and recover from the three long days of travel, but was soon on my way again, leaving on a 4am bus up to Mocimboa da Praia, the last town before the border to Tanzania. Like Nampula, this is not a well-traveled town, so I stayed in a local resthouse on the main road. I wasn’t exactly sure how I would get to the border the next morning, but was told to wait outside at 3am and a truck would come by that was headed to the crossing. Well, at 1:30am, a man knocked on my door, and in broken English I could decipher the words “Tanzania” and “Border.” So, I jumped out of bed, threw my things together, and within 5 minutes, I was out the door and in a truck and proceeded to make various stops around town collecting people before we took off for the border.

We arrived at about 5:30 am, just as the sun was rising above the ocean, to the border post. After waiting for an hour and the border guards scrutinizing my passport looking for some problem in which they could demand a bribe (and finding none, thankfully), my passport was stamped and the truck took us 5km to the Rovuma river that separates the two countries. This was definitely the most adventurous border I have ever crossed and I loved every minute of it. There is no bridge, but rather lots of men with dugout canoes who load people and luggage into the tiny compartment and use very long oar/sticks to push people across the river. There were about 5 of us and our bags crammed into this tiny boat, the top of which was almost under the water. I got quite wet during the 15 minute ride across, but made it safely and without incident. Apparently this can be quite dangerous during the rainy season, where canoes have been known to capsize in the middle of the river! Across the river, I went through immigration and received a visa without problems, then continued on to the nearest town, Mtwara. I spend the night again in a local resthouse and took a very old and rickety bus the next morning to Dar Es Salaam. Most of the road was paved, but there was a patch of about 50km where it was just dirt and incredibly bumpy. I was sitting in the back of the bus (which quite obviously had no shocks), and had to hang on to the seat in front of me for dear life. Every bump sent us flying into the air, and I hit my head on the ceiling a few times! But, we made it safely to Dar, from where I caught a taxi to take me to the Safari Inn hostel.

I’ve spent the past couple days just walking around the city and planning for the next leg of my trip: Zanzibar, the famous spice island located off the coast of Dar. Tomorrow I will take a ferry out to the island and spend a week walking around “Stone Town,” lying on the famous beaches, and hopefully taking a spice tour to see the hundreds of spices growing on the island.

Some days I ask myself what the hell I am doing wandering around Africa alone. I wonder why I travel for 10 hours in the back of a flatbed truck, squished among 50 other people, goats and chickens in the hot sun. I wonder why I put up with that insect that burrows into my foot and lays eggs, that I then have to dig out with my swiss army knife. And I wonder why I eat peanut butter and honey sandwiches for breakfast and lunch, and rice for dinner every single day because I can’t afford to go out to eat. There are definitely moments that I feel it would be easier to go back to Minnesota and enjoy the comforts of home (and trust me, I am MORE than excited to go home). But then I realize that I am having some of the best experiences of my life here. I feel more alive now than I ever have. Every day brings a new adventure, and new challenge, and I learn something new about myself. And it is the insignificant things: watching people sell fresh fruit to the passing train, observing a religious ceremony while walking through a random village, hanging out at the local fish market when the boats come in, that I would not trade for the world. I really do love traveling in Africa and I am excited for the second half of my trip.

Traveling to Malawi

2008-08-11T00:48:00.000-07:00

In the past few days, I’ve traveled over 100km, through some of the worst roads imaginable and some of the most beautiful scenery imaginable to reach Malawi. I am currently in Blantyre, the country’s 2nd largest city in the south.

I spent 7 days in Tofo, generally lying on the beach and relaxing. Coconuts constantly fell out of trees, so I enjoyed plenty of sweet coconut milk and fruit. One afternoon, while walking on the beach, I noticed something jumping in the water, maybe 50m offshore. For the rest of the day I sat on a grassy hill watching dozens of dolphins and a humpback whale jumping and diving right in front of the beach.

As beautiful and relaxing as Tofo was, I was ready to move on after a week. Another traveler, Jasper, and I left at 6am to journey up to another coastal town, Vilankulos. First, though, we stopped at a field just off the main road to town where an organization is training rats to uncover landmines left from the civil war. I’d heard a little about the project but didn’t completely believe it existed. When we walked up to the area, though, we saw about 8 people leading rats around on a leash over sections of land. Apparently these rats, a rare type found only in the mountains of Tanzania, are trained there for about a year before being sent to the field—in Mozambique, Angola and the DRC. They are conditioned through a positive rewards system to smell TNT in the landmines, then given a bite of banana for the good work. The ‘training field’ was sectioned off into 10x10m squares. Each rat did one practice run every morning, walking up and down the square. When It smelled TNT, it began to dig a bit to alert the people. The mine is then marked, the rat is given a treat, and someone can dispose of the mine safely. We stayed for about an hour, talking to the guys in charge and watching rats searching. It was amazing to see these little creatures working and to see such a creative approach to such a terrible problem.

After hanging out with the rats for awhile, we went to Inhambane where we caught a ferry across the bay to the town of Maxixe, where we caught a chapa (local taxi) to Vilankulos. The chapa was half full of passengers and half full of gin and wine being transported to villages along the way. About 2 hours into the trip, the road went from being in decent condition to absolutely dilapidated—huge, deep potholes every few meters, and sections of the road that were completely missing. We were constantly swerving back and forth, trying to avoid holes. Luckily, our driver was not driving like a maniac, so I didn’t feel in danger too often!

I stayed in Vilankulos for 3 nights in a backpackers located directly on the ocean. I spend most of my days lying in hammocks, reading and eating fresh pineapples from the market. Every morning, dozens of fishermen go out to sea in their homemade fishing boats called dhows. At about 4pm, as the tide comes in, so do the boats with their catch from the day. Everyone from the village rushes out to meet the boats. Women carry the catch in baskets on their heads, unloading tons of fish, squid and crabs on the beach. A makeshift market forms for about an hour while people purchase the seafood, then take it back home to prepare. I walked along the beach, through the middle of the fish market, watching the dhows sail in and the sun set.

On Friday morning, and Australian traveler, Zane, and I caught a bus at 4:30am to start our 2-day journey to Malawi. We traveled in a relatively comfortable half-bus for 7 hours to Inchope, from where we caught a chapa to the town of Chimoio. It was a easy day of travel and we got to the backpackers at about 2pm. We spent the night relaxing and hanging out with two students from Boston College doing research with a local microfinance NGO. We went to bed early, knowing that the next day would be long and tiring.

At 3:30 on Saturday morning we showed up at the bus scheduled to leave at 4am. Because there was so much extra luggage—bags of mealie, huge suitcases, baskets full of fruit, etc., they had to tie all of our bags to the roof to allow about 40 people onto the bus with a capacity of 25. So far in my life, I have never been so uncomfortable! I boarded the bus at about 3:45, sitting next to a window. The wheel was under my seat, so there was a big hump in place of the floor. My legs were crammed almost to my chest, my smaller bag sitting on my lap. 5 people were crammed into our row with 4 searts, so I couldn’t sit flat against the back of the seat. The whole ride I was partly sideways and unable to move an inch. We finally left an hour late at 5am and traveled like that over pothole-ridden roads for 7 miserable hours! Arriving in Tete, I had never been so happy to stand in my life.

From Tete, we caught a chapa that would take us to the border. It took about an hour and a half to load up—again our bags were strapped on top. There must have been 5 babies and 3 chickens on board, along with the 22 other people jammed into the 16-passenger vehicle. The two hour trip to the border took almost 3 ½ hours because we had to stop at practically every village along the way, unloading boxes or picking up extra people. We were a little nervous because the sun was quickly setting and we still ahd to get through the border and travel 100km to our final stop. After exiting Mozambique, we were trying to negotiate a decent price for a private taxi to take us the 5km to the Malawi entrance. The driver was trying to charge us a ridiculous amount, so, getting irritated, I stuck my hand up as a really nice Land Cruiser drove by. Luckily, the man pulled over and gave Zane and I a free ride to the border entrance and all the way to Blantyre. We passed three police checks along the way, but got by without a problem when the driver slid some money into the hands of the police, who were more than happy to let us by without hassle.

Finally, at 8:30pm, we arrived at the backpackers. We had been traveling for over 17 hours and were absolutely exhausted. I put up my tent in the yard, laid out my sleeping bag, and fell right asleep. I’m sure there will be more travel days from hell in the next couple months, so I will be sure to enjoy the other days that much more. And as obnoxious as the transport was, it is an integral part of the experience traveling in Africa and I an glad to be able to experience the unedited version of life here.

Tomorrow I am going up to Lake Malawi and will catch the Ilala Ferry, a steamboat that takes people and cargo up and down the lake. I’ll spend a week relaxing on Likoma Island with a couple other Peace Corps Volunteers, before heading up to Tanzania.

Mozambique (aka Paradise)

2008-07-31T02:05:00.000-07:00

I am writing this entry in a little coastal town in central Mozambique called Inhambane. One week ago, I officially finished Peace Corps and said goodbye to South Africa. It wasnt difficult to leave Pretoria, but i had an incredibly hard time saying goodbye to my village--especially my host family. i had a wonderful farewell function in both of my villages and have memories that will last a lifetime.

now, though, I have begun my 4-month trip around africa and india. after hanging out with a some peace corps friends in south africa, i made the trip to Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. even though its only about 75km from South Africa, the city is drastically different from everything i ahve known for two years. maputo is very laid back, with a kind of latin-africa mix. not many people speak English, as Portugese is the national language, and there are really no grocery stores--only markets selling anything and everything you can think of. i went to the infamous fish market the first afternoon. other volunteers have visited and raved about the incredible seafood and atmosphere. when you walk in, there are dozens of stalls of women selling seafood fresh off the boat. Being from Minnesota, ive never been a seafood lover, but the lobster and prawns that i ate were by far the best iºve ever had. after choosing the food on a platter, we walked over to the mini restaurants set up that take the food and cook it right in front of you. it was amazing.

i met up the first night with some Italians living in Maputo that Becca and i had met while pony trekking in Lesotho. We went out to dinner, and while walking back to the backpackers, we were stopped by the rather corrupt police patrolling the streets. i didnºt know that i was supposed to be carrying my passport at all times, so i stored it in a safe at the backpackers for safekeeping. however, if stopped in maputo without either your original passport or a certified copy, the police will try to take you to jail or, more commonly, demand a bribe to let you off. luckily, i was with my Italian friends who speak Portugese, so they were able to bargain for me and it only cost a few dollars to get off. I learned my lesson though. this is definitely not South Africa anymore!

Yesterday i took a bus up to Tofo, about 8 hours north of Maputo. This is one of the best beaches in the world, and for two years ive heard other peace corps volunteers rave about this tropical paradise. when i left south africa, it was the middle of winter and i had to wear long underwear, hats and mittens to bed. even during the day i was wearing a fleece to stay warm. Right now, though, I am wearing a tank top and sweating--itºs amazing how much the climate has changed. The backpackers is directly on the beach, and i can hear the ocean waves from my tent as i sleep. and because the civil war in Mozambique finished only 10 years ago, tourism hasnt really exploded yet, and the beach is relatively empty. i have a feeling that in the next 10 years, hotels and resorts will be springing up all over the coast. for now, though, only a few backpackers are there, making it the perfect place to relax for a few days.

Im really enjoying travelling so far. i was a little nervous about travelling by myself, but ive been meeting wonderful people from all over the world (but no americans), and i donºt think i will be by myself very often on this trip.

i will try to post some pictures sometime in the next couple of weeks, but im not sure that i will find reliable internet, so it may take some time. i am off to the market now to buy fresh vegetables, pineapples and coconuts to eat for the next few days. hopefully everyone is doing well at home. i certainly am doing well! take care!

Wrapping Up

2008-07-03T03:56:00.000-07:00

In 22 days, I will be finished with Peace Corps and heading off to start my next adventure. It's hard to believe that two years have passed by so quickly and that I'm so close to being done. I'm in Pretoria right now--we had our COS (close of service) Conference last week where we said goodbye to the people that have been our support group and best friends during our time here. About 15 volunteers have already gone back to the U.S. and the rest of us will be leaving sometime in the next two months. I don't think it's really hit me yet that I am finished, but I'm sure it will become more real in the next two weeks--my last two weeks at site. I'm going back on Saturday (after going to a 4th of July party at the Ambassador's house tomorrow!) and will hang out in the village for the last week of the school holiday, then I will be busy going to farewell functions in both of my villages and saying goodbye to my host family and dear friends that I've made these last two years. On July 18th, I come back to Pretoria to close out my service and become an RPCV (returned Peace Corps Volunteer). Overall, I'm very happy with my service and wouldn't change anything.

The past term went really well. I managed to paint two giant world maps, one at each of my primary schools (I'll post a picture when I come back to Pretoria with my camera). They turned out well, except for the extra country that somehow ended up in Africa on one map...

My lifeskills group went very well. We met for 6 Saturdays, and I facilitated sessions on HIV/AIDS, communication skills, decision making and relationship skills. We only had about 10 kids that showed up regularly, but they were so eager to learn and participate that the course was very enjoyable for all of us. One Saturday, we were doing a session about role models and goal setting. We discussed the importance of role models and looking to the future and began setting goals and making a plan to reach them. A few days later, three of my students came to visit me at my house. They noticed that I had my goals largely written and hanging on my wall. One of them began talking excitedly about the goals that she had written for herself after the class, and that she was also going to hang them up on her wall, just as I had done. I know that the class wasn't extremely long and that we didn't cover many topics, but I think that at least a few of them were inspired and understand the connection betweek their futures and making good decisions now. That's all I can hope for.

I finished teaching chemistry to my grade 10 and 11 classes. This may have been the highlight of my Peace Corps service because I was working with people who were genuinely interested in learning and was able to put my 4-year degree to good use. I was walking to school to give out the mid-term exam a few weeks ago when some of the best students in my grade 10 class stopped me and begged me to stay. They told me that they loved the way I taught and really understood what we were doing and enjoyed learning chemistry since I began teaching. It was nice to know that I was making an impact, but heartbreaking to know that after I leave, they may never be taught by someone who has formal training in physical science again. I hope that the 6 months that I did teach made a difference. I'm hoping, too, that anohter Peace Corps Volunteer will replace me in September. They could continue teaching chemistry and possibly even math for two years, which would hopefully give some learners a solid base that would help them get scholarships for college.

Finally, we received funding for the Peace Corps Partnership request that I submitted in November. We are trying to build a library and computer training center for the village, and we got almost $2000 donated from people in the US. A few weeks ago, my principal and I journeyed down to Johannesburg to the Rotary Book Project, where thousands of books are shipped in from Texas every week and given away for free to those who need it here in South Africa. We were able to browse through a large warehouse and pick out anything we wanted. We got books ranging from the Berenstein Bears, to Little House on the Prairie, to mathematics text books. Overall we took 300 books back to the school and have set up our small library. Kids have begun to check out books already--their enthusiasm is very inspiring, especially considering that there is virtually no culture of reading here. I hope that after I leave, people will continue to make use of the library and take advantage of those books. We also purchased five computers that will help to start the computer training center. Unfortunately, since I am leaving soon, I do not have time to train a few people in the village to be the trainers for the computer classes. Again, I am hoping that we get another volunteer who can continue this project and help young people in the village learn computer skills. We shall see.

After I say goodbye to my village and finish my Peace Corps service, I will be heading out with a hiking backpack and the readjustment allowance we receive, and spending four months wandering around Africa and (recently!) India. I'll spend 12 weeks travelling through Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya. From Nairobi, I am flying to Mumbai, India, and spend five weeks backpacking around. I found a ridiculously cheap plane ticket to Mumbai last week, and after reading up for a bit, decided to give India a try! I will be home on November 22nd, just in time for a good 'ol Minnesota winter and a proper white Christmas. So while I am sad to leave South Africa and say goodbye to all of the people who have been a huge part of my life these past two years, I am extremely excited to travel and cannot wait to get back to Minnesota again.

Worth the Wait

2008-05-09T02:17:00.000-07:00

It was 2 p.m. when I arrived at the taxi rank. I had just finished having lunch with three other volunteers from the area. My objective seemed simple at the time: get home in one piece without breaking the new wine glass or bruising the bananas. It's always a challenge riding in the taxi with groceries. So many people are crammed into a relatively small area that there isn't space to sit straight back against the seat, let alone fit your bags onto your lap. Inevitably, I always end up in the far back seat where they squeeze four people instead of the normal three to a row. And almost every time, at least one of the other seat-mates is a very large Gogo, while another is usually a woman with a baby (who, might I add, breast-feeds most of the way home and occasionally spits up on me). And because my village is so far from town (about 75 km), when people have access to the supermarkets and shops in Mokopane, they stock up. SO on top of being squished into uncomfortable positions, bags, boxes and other household accessories are piled onto our laps, under our seats and in any other free inch that can be found. So arriving home with bruise-free bananas is quite the feat.

I showed up at the taxi rank expecting a typical rank experience. Normally, my taxi takes forever to fill. The driver never leaves until every seat is taken and all the payments are handed in. I usually show up when the taxi has only a few people in it and wait for an hour or two for it to fill up. When I didn't take into account was that today was Worker's Day--a public holiday, and the first of a 4-day long weekend.

I the villages there are absolutely no jobs, so when people seek employment they go to either Johannesburg or Pretoria, usually leaving their kids in the care of grandparents. Because it is so far and expensive to travel, people working in these areas do not get to visit home very often. Some come home for a weekend every other month, some only a couple times a year. But because it was a long weekend, everyone and their brother decided to come home to visit.

Instead of waiting for peopel to meander over to the taxi as usual, I found at least 50 people lined up, suitcases and bags upon bags of presents surrounding them. And there was no taxi in sight.

I took a deep breath and prepared myself for the long haul. With this many people and no taxis around, it could be hours of standing in the hot sun before I get to leave. As I stoof there looking down at the assortment of empty beer bottles, chicken bones and banana peels scattered across the ground, a women selling apples approached me. "Thobela, Mulungu. O nyaka apoles?" (Hello, white person. Do you want apples?) Mulungu is a deragatory term used for white person. I get called that name all the time, but it is generally from children who don't know any better. Thinking this woman meant no harm, I simply explained, "Ga ke mulungu. Ke nna Mahlatse." (I am not "mulungu," my name is Mahlatse). She laughed a little, then continuted on in Sepedi. "Mulungu, are you too good to buy your apples from me? I see you have some in your bag already." Getting upset now at her disrespect, I refused to acknowledge her question, but repeated "Don't call me mulungu. My name is Mahlatse." She once again addressed my as mulungu, so I turned my back and ignored her until she walked away. Every once in awhile, people treat me disrespectfully because of the color of my skin. Understanding the history of this country, it is not hard to see why some people still have terrible resentment towards white people. However, I was the only white person in the entire taxi rank, waiting in line to go to a rural village where no white people live, and speaking to her in her own native language. Most black people are more than thrilled when they see a white person speaking their language and welcome me with open arms. I decided it wasn't worth it to argue anymore and proceeded to speak to other people in line with me.

Shortly after the apple lady left me alone, two obviously drunk men approached. As usual in these situations, one man began the conversation by saying, "Misses, I am in love with you. We go to be married." (Translation: I want to sleep with you). Playing along, I replied, "Sorry, I can't marry you. You cannot afford the lobola (bride price) for me." This made his friend laugh. Then he asked me where I come from. Someone else in line chimed in and said that I come from Argentina. Another person said, "No, she is from the U.K." When I told them I am from the USA, one asked, "Is that in North America or South America?" I've probably been asked that question 50 times since arriving here. Geography was not a subject taught in schools until very recently. In fact, one of my principals, when introducing me to people, used to say, "This is Mahlatse. She comes from Canada." In each of these conversations, I simply laugh.

For over an hour, I stood in the same place waiting for a taxi to arrive. People came by trying to sell me various items: soda, sandwiches, roasted corn, perfume, hand-carved bowls, watches, airtime, clothing, super glue, etc. Many people make their living wandering through taxi ranks selling everything under the sun. I respect them for their determination.

Finally, a taxi showed up. I know from exerience that your place in line never guarantees you a spot on the taxi. Only those who relentlessly push their way through the crowd, jumping over bags and making their own path, will get on. So, being the culturally adapted volunteer that I am, I began to push and shove with the best of them. My wine glass was held high above my head and the bananas were in the bag directly in front of me. I was about to get one of the last spots when, out of nowhere, a grandmother of at least 70 years with a baby in hand and a giant bag on her shoulder edged her was in front of me to get the last seat. It was a fierce battle, but in the end, the best woman won. After everything was piled up and a few extra people were squeezed in, the old woman looked over and greeted me in a sweet, grandmotherly was. She asked about me and the health of my family and told me to greet Koko when I got home. No hard feelings here. Luckily, the wime glass was still intact and minimal damage was done to the bananas.

The taxi left. Another 40 minutes went by. I recieved two more marrigae proposals, watched an old man dance for at least five minutes even though no music was playing, and explained why I was living in a village for at least the thousandth time. At 4 p.m., another taxi rolled in. Charged with a new-found determination to get on the taxi, I made sure I was at the front of the pack when it pulled in. Strategically, I let a few people board first so I wouldn't get stuck in the back, then I leisurely stepped on to get a prime seat--third row back next to the window. I carefully placed my bag with the bananas on my lap and gently placed the wine glass on top. A small man and a skinny woman got on after me so that I actually had room to sit back. And while we had bags loaded up around us, I didn't have to put anything else on my lap.

I did it. The bananas made it home with no more than a couple minor bruises, and the wine glass made it without a scrape. I am happy to report that I am sipping my shiraz as I write this entry. And despite the time standing in the hot sun, the multiple marriage proposals and the rude comments, it was still a great day. These are the moments that I will look back on fondly after I'm gone.

Lesotho

2008-04-16T03:38:00.000-07:00

I recently had the opportunity to spend a few days in Lesotho, a tiny mountainous country (accurately nicknamed "The Kingdom in the Sky"), completely surrounded by South Africa. Lesotho was a British protectorate which was not incorporated into the Union of South Africa. In 1966, the country gained its independence from Britain and was not subjected to the horrors of Apartheid that plagued South Africa for over 50 years.

I have been wanting to visit Lesotho since before coming to South Africa, having heard of the breathtaking scenery and opportunities to wander through the country by pony. So Becca and I decided to travel to the center of Lesotho and take a 2-day pony trek, traveling to areas not accessible by car, electricity, or other modern amenities we take for granted everyday in South Africa. On Easter Sunday, we took a public taxi from Bloemfontein to the Lesotho border. After going through customs and immigration, we hauled our large bags over the bridge and were officially in another country. As we looked for a taxi to take us to Maseru, the capital city, we were not surprised that we were the only white people around. In the Peace Corps, we are constantly in taxi ranks or villages in which white people never set foot. The difference was that people were not staring at us and laughing because the 'mulungus' didn't have a car. Here, we were just ordinary people trying to find a ride. We quickly found a car that took us directly to the long distance rank where we would catch the next taxi to Malealea, the location of the lodge from where we would start the pony trek.

At first, the country seemed to be no more than an extension of South Africa: tin shacks were erected just outside the main city, donkeys and cows wandered the streets looking for food, and women in long dresses with huge bags balancing on their heads lined the streets. However, as we left Maseru and entered the countryside, the landscape changed from rolling plains to mountains as far as the eye could see. It took almost 2 ½ hours to travel about 60 km due to the twists and turns on the road, but I was completely content just looking out the window and enjoying the view.

Malealea Lodge, which is in the center of Lesotho, is located in a deep rural village at the base of some mountains. I was extremely impressed with the lodge for its dedication to improving the neighboring villages and educating tourists about the local way of life. Their pony trekking center, which takes people on pony treks for any amount of time, is completely run by the local people. The horses and guides are all from the area, giving the trek an added authenticity and providing local people with a sustainable income. They started a craft center where women from the village make traditional Basotho crafts, ranging from woven wool bags to traditional jewelry. And donations from visitors have helped to build a preschool, renovate the local primary school, and provide water taps in many villages in the area. It was a welcome change to see a such a sustainable project that not only helped tourists to see an authentic African village and meet local people, but also provided people from the village income that they depended on to survive.

A couple days after we arrived at the lodge, we embarked on our 2-day pony trek. Our guide, Mpho (meaning "gift" in Sotho) was extremely knowledgeable about horses and the area, and became a friend after our time together. I was given a beautiful, golden brown horse to ride. His name was "Stallment" (I never quite understood the reasoning…), and he was labeled a "lazy" horse. At every opportunity, he would veer off course into the mealie (corn) field and rip up entire stocks of corn, trying to get as many juicy sweet cobs as he was able. And sometimes, he would just stop for no reason to eat some grass or rest. Despite my best attempts to click or kick him (gently) in the stomach, he did not listen to me. The only way to get him moving again was for Mpho to whistle or tap him with a stick. The slow pace of our journey did not bother me, though. I was completely content just to sit back and enjoy the absolutely breathtaking views of the rolling mountains, the endless corn fields, and the children running after us yelling "give me sweets!" In my travels I have found that this is a universally-known phrase amongst children in developing countries that have ever come into contact with tourists. I'm not sure that my descriptions could this country justice, so I will add some pictures.

After about 8 hours of riding around on horses, climbing up mountains, scrambling down mountains, walking through streams, and passing by isolated villages, we arrived in the tiny village that we would sleep in for the night. Located on the side of a mountain, this village had about 30 mud and thatch houses. The village was only accessible by horse. When people make the journey to Maseru, they ride a horse about 10 km through the mountains until they reach a road, from where they can catch a taxi into town.
More horses wait to carry the supplies back to the village when the person returns. However, I think this is a rare occasion, as many "Western" commodities were not around. As in South Africa, the staple food is mealie pap: dried, ground mealies that are cooked into a porridge. But in Lesotho, people subsist solely on the food they grow and the animals they keep. They depend so heavily on their corn crops that when our horses got out in the middle of the night and ate some corn, the chief was called and our guides were forced to pay R160 (~$25) for the damage. In South Africa, many people are able to take a taxi into the local Shoprite to stock up on the mealie meal and other food that they eat everyday. Few communities still survive completely on home-grown food.

There was absolutely no electricity in the village. At about 6:30 p.m., the sun sunk below the mountain and the darkness made a gradual entrance. Candles were lit in each house, making the mountainside look like the sky with stars flickering in the distance. Food was prepared on the fire, and everyone sat in a circle eating their final meal of the day. Because there was virtually no light, the clear night sky was absolutely filled with millions of stars which shined more vibrantly than I have ever seen before. It was one of the most peaceful places I have ever been; ending the day by staring into the night sky, cows mooing in the distance and people laughing as they sat around the fire. As Becca and I retired into our hut for the night at about 7:30pm, completely exhausted and sore from all the riding, we climbed into our sleeping bags and used our headlamps to see.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little jealous of Peace Corps volunteers in Lesotho. Before coming to Africa, I would spend hours thinking of what the next two years would entail. I always assumed that I would be living in a remote village, far from any town and far from other volunteers. I was expecting to live in a mud hut and spend evenings reading by candlelight. And I always envisioned that the people in my community would hold traditional values and be "untainted" by the Western world. This small Lesotho village was, more or less, exactly what I had pictured. Because of its remote location in the mountains, electricity has not found its way into the houses. Modern amenities like TVs and radios have not yet been introduced, so the younger generation that we met was not obsessed with pop-culture, rap music, and trendy clothes. However, after spending almost two years in my village and becoming completely immersed in life in Jakkalskuil, I have come to appreciate and understand South African life—both the good and the bad—and would not change anything about my time here.

The next morning, we loaded up the horses and trekked back, over the mountains, through the rivers, up the steep cliffs, until we were back at the lodge. I was getting a little bored with the very slow amble Stallment was going, so I picked up a stick and softly tapped him on the back. Out of nowhere, the horse got excited and started to walk faster, then trot, then gallop…so fast that I wasn't sure I could hang on! He kept up this pace for about 25 minutes until we reached the lodge. It was a good end to an amazing trip. I was inspired by the breathtaking views, the very kind people, and the tranquil feeling of the country.
I know this is one place that I will be seeing again, someday.

Summertime!

2008-02-22T22:16:00.000-08:00

Here's some pictures of the kids that live near me hanging out one hot afternoon by the waterfall:

The Ants Go Marching

2008-02-22T22:09:00.000-08:00

I wish I could write this entry about the timeless children's song and tell a heart-warming story about the kids in my village putting on a play with little ants, or using the lyrics to teach a lesson in a class. However, if I were to use this in a project, I would no longer, in good conscience, be able to sing “The ants go marching two by two, hurrah, hurrah…” Oh no. My version would be more like “The ants go marching two million by two million, God help us!” These past few weeks I have seen an influx of ants in my house like never before. Whether it is raining or completely dry, whether I have left out dirty dishes and spilled water, or everything is spotless and closed up, they will not leave me alone!

Recently, Koko told me that the house I am living in is made completely out of cow manure. If you look at the walls, you wouldn't be able to distinguish it from any normal brick and cement house in the village. But if you look closely around the door frame and near the ceiling, it is quite clear that the house is not quite as sturdy as I had once thought. Many areas are being eaten away by my arthropod friends, and the floor has numerous cracks running from one side of the house to the other. In fact, I am quite certain that there is an intricate underground network of ant tunnels burrowing between the two rooms of my house. Every morning, I wake up to find at least one area of my floor completely covered by ants. Usually they are densely packed, wandering aimlessly around my room. Sometimes, though, they are climbing up into my electric water kettle or attacking my cupboard. Each time, I find the crack or hole they are coming from and sprinkle cinnamon in the area or spray them with Doom. After about 20 minutes, they go away and I can live my life in peace for a few minutes. Until…they move forces through the underground tunnels and find a new place to attack. Within an hour, they are back. Millions of them. Wandering around, getting into things, and generally being complete nuisances. It never ends.

Normally, this process continues. They keep shifting from one area to another, and I deal with it. I was beginning to think that I could handle this system, because although they are quite annoying, they do not bite and usually stay out of my food (but not my water). Until last week. I was about to go to bed when I saw about 30 dead ants stuck to my pillow. I thought it was strange because I have a mosquito net above my bed that is supposed to keep these creatures out. Then I looked a little closer and saw that there were hundreds of ants climbing up the INSIDE of the net, right into my bed! Hesitantly, I pulled the blanket up only to find thousands of little ants all over my sheets! And more were climbing all over my walls right next to my bed.

I believe that this was my breaking point. Until that moment, I was coexisting with these irritating beings, able to carry on with my life in relative peace. But the moment they try to take over my bed is the moment I declare war on the whole colony. I took off all the sheets and blankets, moved my bed into the middle of the room, and poured an entire bag of cinnamon around the area. Unfortunately, I didn't have any Doom (poison spray) at the time, because I would have used the entire can as well. I have since deep-cleaned the house and swept every square centimeter. And you can believe that when I get to the store to buy Doom, those suckers will wish they'd never chosen to take over my house, cow manure and all.

I suppose the war will continue. I will fight each battle with a vengeance, hoping that one day they will pack up and move to the next unsuspecting household. But, deep down, I know I am fighting an uphill battle. With every thousand ants I wipe out with a spray of doom, another hundred thousand are produced. This may prove to be the most difficult challenge I face in the Peace Corps. But, as a persevering volunteer, I will not get up. I hope the ants are ready for a 6-month fight.

My future

2008-02-09T00:47:00.001-08:00

On a more personal note, I found out a few weeks ago that I was accepted to a masters program at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in the International Health Department. I will be in the 'Social and Behavioral Interventions' program, a broad, multidisciplinary program that looks at "development, implementation, and evaluation of disease prevention and control in such areas as HIV prevention, nutritional interventions, malaria control, and a host of other topic areas relevant to the enhancement of health in developing countries."

People in this program concentrate on a variety of fields ranging from maternal health issues to HIV education to community mobilization. I don't know with area I will specialize in, but I am very interested in many health issues in developing countries, so I am sure I will find my niche.

From what I understand, the first year will be spent taking classes at the campus in Baltimore, followed by a 4-6 month internship in a developing country, then (I believe) a few months will focus on a thesis or large-scale research project. Right now, I plan to start in September 2009. I will defer for a year so I have time to travel for a few months after Peace Corps, and spend a few months saving some money before I become a poor student once again.

I am extremely excited about this program and think it will be a perfect fit for my interests and strenghts. And while I am not exactly sure where my life is going to take me, I am confident that this program will take me one more step in the right direction.

The reality of teaching in South Africa

2008-02-09T00:32:00.000-08:00

This week I had my first experience teaching outside under a tree. The overcast sky threatened rain the entire time, and the wind continually blew my notes out of order. The noise from the other classes created so much distraction that it was difficult for even me to concentrate, let alone the 45 kids in the class.

Mookamedi Secondary School, which draws learners from my village and neighboring Kabeane, has about 280 students. There are 13 staff who teach grades 8-12, and the school has only five classrooms. In South Africa, secondary schools are supposed to offer different "tracks" of study--specialized elective courses to help prepare learners for specific futures. For example, one track offers courses specializing in business and economics, which another deals with math and science. being a small school,, Mookamedi does not have the staff to offer many tracks, but they are offering a general stream and a math/science stream this year. Therefore, whenever these "elective" classes are taught, the class divides into two groups, one of which must go outside, under a tree, for its lesson. During any given period at school, 2-3 different classes are being taught outside.

You can imagine a few issues with thei situation. Besides the ineviatable distractions caused by sitting in an open space, the weather often complicates the situation further. We are currently in the middle of summer, or more commonly known here, the rainy season. I wrote a post last year about the severe drought in the area and the traditional ceremonies that took place where little girls were praying to the ancestors to bring rain. I think they got the message a little late, because we've been blessed many times over with rain this year! Apparently we are getting more rain than anyone can remember in the past. The rivers are overflowing, crops are flourishing, and the infamous waterfalls are gently flowing from the mountain behind my house (I waited all year last year to see these waterfalls that everyone told me about, but with no luck).

While this rain is absolutely needed for the livelihood of the village, it is very detrimental to the kids at Mookamedi. Every time it rains, the learners remain in the classroom with the other "track" and no teaching takes place. Often, it will rain four days in a row, essentially stalling any learning for a whole week.

For the past five or six years, the department of educaiton has been promising to build a new block of classrooms for the school. Absolutely nothing has come of these promises. The department says that we are first on the list for new buildings. That's funny, because a school a few kilometers down the road, with more than enough classrooms, is currently having another block built by the department.

So, as we wait for the block that may never come, we will continue to sit outside under the tree, attempting to overcome the distractions and help these kids get a good education.

Vic Falls

2007-12-14T04:56:00.000-08:00

I'm back in South Africa now. I flew from Lusaka to JoBurg on Tuesday, and I am currently in Port St. Johns on the "Wild Coast" of South Africa. We are making our way down to Cape Town, stopping in towns along the coast the whole way. i'll try to put up some pictures soon--it is really beautiful here.

Last week, I was in Zimbabwe and Zambia visiting Victoria Falls (or, more appropriately named by people from the area, Mosi oa tunya "The Smoke that Thunders"). We had an AMAZING time. The whole area is beautiful, and Omar and I had fun exploring the black market economy of Zimbabwe, going on a sunset cruise, white water rafting, and visiting the falls. Basically, it was the best vacation I've ever had. here are some of the pictures i took:

This was taken after we walked across the bridge in between the Zambian and Zimbabwean border posts. The second we got through the Zim post, it started POURING for the rest of the afternoon. Welcome to Zimbabwe.

Bling Bling. Zimbabwe has the highest inflation rate of any country in the world. The "official" rate is aboeu $1USD to $300,000Zim dollars. But the "black market" rate is about 1:1.6million. We found a guy at a restaurant who exchanged $20USD for us. Those bills in the picture are $200,000 each. Basically, the money there is worthless. It costs over $1million to buy a loaf of bread.

HIPPOS! We saw tons of these guys on our sunset cruise on the Zambezi.

Apparently these guys were also hanging out on the shore where we were rafting....

Omar and I on the cruise

Me with Vic Falls in the background--from the Zimbabwe side.

The falls.

You can't really tell, but I am leaning over the main waterfall on the Zambian side. Thank God our guide didn't let go of my ankles!

Rafting the Zambezi

2007-12-08T00:33:00.000-08:00

A couple years ago, I went "white water rafting" in Utah. We were expecting an intense, thrilling day, but the trip turned out to be little more than a leisurly float down a calm river. Last week, I had an experience that a little different from that trip in Utah. We spent the whole day rafting down the Zambezi at Victoria Falls. Apparently, this is the largest commercially raftable river in the world, with some of the biggest rapids everywhere. I believe it. The whole day was full of big waves, amazingly gorgeous scenery, and lots of fun. It was also extremely scary at time, especially knowing that someone had died in that river a couple of months before! But don't worry, the company we went with was very good and we felt safe the whole time. There were four rafts full of people, each with an experienced guide on board, and about 8 "safety kayakers" that stayed with us and helped to pull us back to safety when we got thrown off the raft.

During the day, we went through 23 rapids, about 4 of which were grade 5 rapids (the largest that people usually raft). We managed to stay upright on all but one rapid, #8. This was one of the most intense of the day, and we went right through the middle of it. About halfway through, our guide yelled "GET DOWN!" signaling for us to drop to the bottom of the raft and hold on to the safety rope for dear life. While we were clinging to the side, a huge wave came under the raft and flipped us right over. I tried to hang onto the rope, but the current was too strong and I got swept under for a few seconds, unable to do anything but hope I would resurface soon! Not long after, i felt the bottom of the boat and realized that I was directly underneath the overturned raft, still in the rapid. I took a quick breath, then pulled myself the the outside and saw our guide on top of the raft. He pulled my up first, and I clung to the raft as we continued through the rapid and the guide continued to pull us one-by-one onto the boat. One woman was stuck under the boat for about a minute, unable to pull herself out (but she could breath the whole time). And another girl in our group got swept into the current away from the boat. She was pulled in by one of the kayakers. This was the most intense part of the day--losing total control and being pulled under by the rapids. But it was also the most exciting!

We saw crocodiles in the river towards the end (but not where we jumped in...crocs apparently only like the calm water and stay far away from the rapids!). We passed right under the victoria falls bridge and watched people bungi jump directly above us. And the views from the bottom of the gorge were breathtakingly beautiful. I had to leave my glasses behind for the day, so I was squinting to see everything, but that did not take away from the beauty of our surroundings.

Going...

Gone! (that's the guide pulling me back onto the raft...)

KRUGER!!!

2007-12-03T03:26:00.001-08:00

Mom's Visit (Part 1)

2007-12-03T03:06:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from mom's visit. We had a GREAT time! I don't have time to write captions because I am about to fly to Zambia. I'll try to post pictures from Victoria Falls shortly!

mom and me wearing our traditional clothing made by Ma Shiburi (center)
The fam
Making Bogobe

My two moms.

Third Time's a Charm

2007-11-24T03:56:00.000-08:00

Alright. Attempt number three at my long-overdue entry. I am typing this from an internet cafe in Pretoria, where I finally have enough time to spend at a computer, and the prices are cheap, so I'm not in a hurry. Today I'm just hanging out in Hatfield, an area of Pretoria full of restaurants, bars and a movie theatre. It's also next to the university, so young people are everywhere. Tomorrow I am going to the Johannesburg Airport to meet my mom, who will be flying in from Minnesota. She'll be here for about a week, which will include everything from a traditional welcome in my village to (hopefully) seeing the Big 5 at Kruger National Park. I can't wait to see her--it's been over 16 months since we were last together. Then, after mom leaves, I am going to Lusaka, Zambia where I will meet up with Omar, and we'll travel together to Victoria Falls (one of the seven natural wonders) for about a week. Expect to see some great pictures from those trips. Then, after Zambia, I will be taking a trip down the coast of South Africa from Durban to Cape Town. Basically, I will be on vacation for the next six weeks, seeing some great sights and basking in the summer sun while swimming in the Indian Ocean. Rough life, right?

In addition to travelling and going on vacation, I actually do a lot of work here in South Africa! However, lately, I have been working on some projects that aren't exactly the "assignment" I am supposed to be doing. I am a "School and Community Resource Volunteer," and my primary assignment is to work with teachers at three primary schools, helping them to adapt to the new curriculum, come up with new teaching methods, and help the schools in whatever they need. Over the past year, I've put on many workshops helping various stakeholders understand their roles and responsibilities, helping teachers to have better managed classrooms, and helping the school management to actually manage the school. We have put together detailed action plans that clearly lay out the steps needed to be successful, and I've even tried to offer incentives to teachers that follow up on a new practice or skill learned in workshops. However, almost all of these suggestions and plans remain just that: suggestions and plans. The schools now have detailed action plans that they show to officials, "proving" that their management is working hard. And teachers refer to workshops and exclaim how much I am helping them. But nothing is being put into practice. Nothing is improving.

I've been thinking a lot about the contributions I've made since being here, and what I hope to achieve by the time I leave. And I am beginning to realize that making progress in my primary assignment is probably not going to happen. I'm not the only one that feels defeated in the primary schools. We recently had our mid-service training, where all the education volunteers came together to talk about how things are going, halfway through our service. Pretty much everyone acknowledged that not a lot of progress has been made in the schools. Teachers are incredibly hesitant to change and adopt new strategies for doing their jobs. When talking about the highlights of the past year, most people noted experiences dealing with their host family, vacations, and people from the states coming to visit. And often, when we did have a high point in the schools, it came from direct involvement with the students.

After our conference, I decided that, for the next nine months, I would focus my attention on different kinds of projects and activities. I am still going to my schools and trying to help, but I will focus my efforts on groups that genuinely want to work with me. I have three big projects that I hope will keep me busy, and also give me something to look forward to. First, I am going to start teaching chemistry to grades 10 and 11 at the secondary school next year. The current teacher went to college and studied math and physics. She has never even taken a class in chemistry. But due to the shortage of skilled teachers, especially in the sciences (understandably, because black South Africans were taught science during apartheid because there were no jobs available to them in the science field), schools have unqualified teachers teaching math and science. This is a huge problem, especially in the rural areas. The kids are now allowed to study sciences (and many are very motivated and eager to learn), but the teachers dont understad the content. So, these kids never get a good background and therefore do not pass their matric tests, which is their ticket into higher education. And if this generation does not produce qualified science teachers, then the next generation will also suffer. I truly believe that the government needs to actively work to train science teachers quickly so they can stop the problem before it's too late. Anyways, after spending some time with the chemistry teacher at the secondary school, she admitted to me that she cannot properly teach her class and asked me to help. We agreed that next year, I would teach the entire chemistry class for grade 10 and 11. We will plan the lessons together, and she will be present at every class, learning from the model lessons that I will be teaching. In addition to helping her to be more comfortable with the content, I will be doing what I love--teaching. I was expecting to spend my two years as a volunteer in a classroom teaching chemistry, so this will give me the opportunity to do something I have always wanted to do.

In addition to teaching chemistry, I will be working with a group of youth from the community. After the HIV project, I told everyone on the committee that I would be more than happy to support future projects, but that I would not initiate them. I was hoping to work with the women's beading group to turn their new skill into a small income-generating business. And I wanted to work with the local clinic to start a support group for people living with HIV. However, no one wanted to take the initiative to lead these projects. The only group that did approach me and ask to start more activities was the youth. During the HIV project, about 15 high school kids regularly came to meetings and diligently helped at the functions. They were always enthusiastic and excited about the project, and interested in learning more. So, after the project was finished, they approached me and asked to have a meeting. We discussed ideas for future activities, and they had ideas like giving speeches about HIV/AIDS, and having a youth group where they would discuss important issues facing kids today. What I was hearing was that they wanted to be peer educators, and go out into the community to talk to people. he only problem is that they have never been trained in HIV, and may not have the skills needed to successfully start these groups. No problem. The Peace Corps has designed a very comprehensive and user-friendly "Life Skills Manual" that has many interactive sessions that deal with HIV/AIDS information, peer pressure, decision-making skills, relationship skills, etc. Other volunteers have used this in the past and had good experiences. So, I agreed that I would work with the kids to train them in these life skills, which they will then be able to use as peer educators as they go out and educate others about these issues. Tentatively, we are planning to do the class in about seven full Saturdays during February and March. And I will be leading the class with Dimakatso, a very smart and dedicated girl who is graduating from high school this year but does not have enough money to attend college. I am hoping that this will help her develop some leadership skills may help her get a bursary (scholarship) for college in the future. I am really excited to work with this group; the youth have always been the most eager to learn, excited to try new things, and willing to change. I know that these classes will give me something to look forward to throughout the week.

My third and final large project is working with the school governing body at my keyschool to build a "learning center." We are hoping to construct a building in which we will have a library and computer center. Currently, the closest public library or computer is in Mokopane, over 70km away from the village. One must pay R50 (~$7) for round trip transport into town. Many young people in the village have NEVER done this. They don't have enough money to afford these trips. So, essentially, access to library books and computers is off-limits. Also, because unemployment is so high, it is very difficult to get a job. Today, many employers require that the applicant have computer training even for the most unskilled jobs. Computer training, which is only offered in town, costs up to R2500 ($300). This is impossible for many young people. So our plan is to train someome from the village, who will then lead computer classes in the village for a small fee that everyone can afford. We will also train a librarian to work in the learning center. The income from the computer classes will then be shared among the computer teacher, the librarian and the school. So everyone has a vested interest in the project. We have sent out donation requests for the building to over 30 South African organizations. Also, there are many South African groups that donate books to rural libraries. We also wrote a proposal for the Peace Corps Partnership Program (PCPP), requesting money to purchase five computers, pay for transport to collect donated books, and create a cataloging system in the library. I am hoping that all of these things come through and that we can start construction of the center within the next couple of months. This will give me lots to do during the week until I leave, and will really help people from the community once completed. I am really excited about this project.

So, while I may not be putting my time and energy into changing the attitudes and teaching practices of my teachers, I am still working hard in my community. I am excited about next year--after being here for so long, I have figured out what I can do and what I want to do. I think that I will really enjoy these next few months and hope that they are productive and worthwhile. Before that, though, I will be busy exploring Southern Africa! I will try to put pictures up as much as possible during my vacation and keep everyone posted!

Frustration

2007-11-17T01:01:00.000-08:00

Twice now, I have spent about two hours typing up very long and detailed blogs talking about everything that has been happening these past few months. However, the laptop computer I inherited has a virus that I have been (unsuccessfully) trying to remove. So, for the second time now, my ENTIRE entry has been deleted the minute I put it into a computer at the internet cafe! So I do apologize for not updating for a long time, but I never have enough time at the internet cafe to sit down and type a long post, and there aren't any computers in the area that I can use! I will try to write something next weekeng, though.

I hope everyone is well. Expect a post in the next few weeks :)

Final Function Pictures

2007-09-03T08:21:00.000-07:00

Well, it's over. We finished the testing drive project, and over 230 people were tested during the four-week period. I am very happy with those numbers, considering that only about 1000 people live in my village and each of the two neighboring villages that participated in the project.

I don't have a lot of time to write now, but I want to post some pictures from the function. Everything went off without any major problems and people were very happy at the function.

Some of the kids that worked on the committee.

The cooking ladies after a long day of stirring giant pots and cutting up hundreds of pounds of vegetables. They just wanna dance!

Some of the crowd durign the function. The Coca Cola stage. This was bigger than anything most people have ever seen!!
The bicycle that was given away in the raffle drawing.
Charles Molekoa, one of the winners of R1000.
Here we are with the big check that was supposed to be given to the winner of R5000. Unfortunately she wasn't there, so the last moment of the drawing was a little anticlimatic.

After the function, Omar was taking some well deserved R&R with our good friend, Worms.

Folang Community Testing Drive

2007-08-10T23:53:00.000-07:00

The testing drive is now in full swing. Two weeks ago we had the kick-off event, and since then, over 220 people have been tested. Thus far, the project is a huge success. But it wasn’t without a lot of hard work and preparation from the community that it’s gone as well as it has.

We’ve been busy getting ready for this project since the end of January. We’ve been having community meetings every week, Omar and I have been soliciting support from various companies and groups in town, and the Municipality set up a forum in which different departments (Red Cross, Department of Health, etc) can come together to discuss the logistics of the project. Despite the fact that these different groups are contributing to the functions, the project is still a community-based endeavor, and most of the real planning was done by the village.

So, for two weeks before the kick-off, I was running around the various meetings and getting things in order. We were arranging the cow and chickens, getting the donkey cart lined up to collect cooking pots and chairs in the village, and double checking to make sure the various stakeholders were still doing what they had promised. Everything looked like it was coming along very nicely. Coca Cola donated 300 water bottles to be given out to people tested, the radio station was playing a commercial advertising the event, and the municipality was still promising 500 chairs and 125 t-shirts to be delivered the Friday before the event. We were really counting on these last donations because we were running very low on money since the municipality demanded that we buy an expensive tent and cater a meal for everyone in order to make the event “up to their standards.”

Well, on the Wednesday before the function, I get a call from someone at the municipality saying that there is a problem with the chairs and they can no longer use the chairs they were planning to bring. I wasn’t too worried, because I assumed that since they made this promise, they would follow through and find a way to bring 500 chairs, one way or another. Wrong. Basically, they fell through on everything they had promised and made for a VERY stressful couple of days before the function, scrambling last-minute to put things in order. In addition, they made me change the program around to include only people from the government, leaving out the committee members that have been working hard on this project for months now. And as it turns out, they failed to tell the people they were on the program, so at the very last minute (actually, and hour AFTER the function was supposed to start), we found out that the whole program was useless and had to put together a completely new and unorganized plan. The only redeeming part of this story is that Becca took the man that was lying aside and had a little “talk” with him. By the end, he was put in his place and the phrases “you should be ashamed of yourself” and “I hope you lose your job for this” had come out of Becca’s mouth. Thanks Becca!

Needless to say, I am very disappointed with how we were treated, and the entire community is upset with what they did to us. So, they will not be invited back to our final celebration function on the 25th of August. That is all I am going to say about the municipality, and from here on, I will only focus on the positive parts of the day (of which there are many!).

The Friday before the event, all of the setting up began. I spent the morning at home folding 50 pamphlets with information about the event and waiting for the men to collect the cow. I arrived at school around 9:30 a.m. to find the kids cleaning the classes and picking up garbage outside the school grounds where the function was to be held. Mr. Baloyi had delivered the wood for cooking, and the donkey cart was busy picking up chairs from various groups in the village. Because everyone was taking care of everything they were assigned, I had nothing to do. So I decided to try my hand at donkey cart driving. For about two hours, I drove the donkey cart around the village collecting large metal pots for cooking. It turns out I’m a natural! (That, or the donkeys just know what to do and it does not take much skill to pull the reigns right or left to direct them…). In the afternoon, about 20 women arrived to begin killing the chickens and peeling the vegetables, and about 10 men came to slaughter the cow. We spent the afternoon hanging out; people were laughing and singing as they worked, and everyone seemed to be excited for the big day. We even got to have the traditional pre-function meal of pap, cow intestines/stomach, chicken feet, chicken intestines, and chicken head! Mmmm…..

On Saturday morning, the day of the event, Omar, Becca and I arrived at about 7 a.m. to start setting up chairs and tents, continue cooking, and get everything in order for the big day. The Red Cross arrived with about 10 HIV counselors, the Department of Health had nurses ready to do the testing, and Thobela FM, the radio station, arrived with their big van and huge sound system. And the whole village arrived at about 9:00 a.m. (unheard of here in South Africa) ready to go. Basically, everything was ahead of schedule except the municipality, which made the program start about 2.5 hours late. Anyways, we decided that we would begin the HIV testing while waiting to start, so one of the Red Cross counselors made an announcement. To my surprise, people literally jumped out of their seats and began running for the clinic doors. It was a mad rush comprised of men and women, young and old. I was definitely not expecting so much enthusiasm! And that was the story for the rest of the day; the waiting room was overflowing with people wanting to test, and the nurses and counselors were working without stop for hours. It was really amazing. So, people would go into a private room, receive pre-test counseling, then the nurse would come in and prick their finger, run the rapid test, and tell them their status (it takes only about 2 minutes for this whole process). After getting the results, the counselor does the post-test counseling for up to an hour, depending on the person’s status and their mental state. Overall, we had 83 people tested during the kick-off event. At about 2 p.m., the counselors were so exhausted that they could not continue testing, so we had to ask the 50 or so people still waiting for the test to come back the next week. I still can’t believe how much enthusiasm there was for the testing! When people were tested, they received prize bags that included some candy, a certificate of bravery, a t-shirt with the name of the project on the front and “I know my status” on the back, a water bottle from Coca Cola, a Certificate of “Bravery,” and a raffle ticket that they sign and put into a box. Then, on the 25th of August, we are having the final celebration function where we will be drawing from the box and giving away some small prizes, a bicycle, five prizes of R1000 (~$150), and one grand prize of R5000 (~$700). I’m really looking forward to that function and will put up another entry afterwards!

During the program (the last-minute revised version), we had some speakers from different government groups. Also though, we had 3 HIV-Ambassadors who are living with HIV. They spoke about the importance of knowing your status and showed people that even if they are HIV-positive, they can still lead a healthy, happy life. This really helped some people decide to be tested, because in the village, most people believed that if you are HIV-positive, you would die right away. The ambassadors helped to dispel that myth and empower people to take responsibility for their health. In addition, I was tested in front of the entire audience (+/- 1200 people). Luckily, I did not faint, and managed to keep a smile on my face even though it hurt a little bit! For entertainment, my host grandmother (Koko) and her traditional dance troop did their Sepedi dance, we had a Xitsonga dance group, and the radio station brought two local hip-hop artists. The crowd was happy, and hopefully received the message about the importance of testing. Overall, it was a huge success.

After the program was through, everyone was able to have a free meal, thanks to the many men and women who spent the whole day cooking food and missed out on the program. Surprisingly we had enough to feed everyone, plus food leftover at the end. As a payment for their hard work, the cooks were able to split up the extras and bring them home.

After an exhausting few weeks, the function was over and the HIV-testing drive was off and running. People are still going to the clinic everyday for testing, and we are offering some outreach days to the neighboring villages where people can be tested near their homes. As I said before, over 210 people have already been tested. We set an ambitious goal of 300, and it looks like we might actually reach it. I am so happy with the way things are going and can’t wait for the final function, which will surely be the most fun yet.

The next week, on 4 August, Omar had his kick-off event. You can read about it here.

Out collecting the pots before the cooking began. Step #1 to preparing chickens for a big meal: cut off their heads, then wait until it stops shaking.

Step #2: Put them in hot water to get the feathers loose, then proceed to pick each of the feathers out, one by one.

Step #3: Put the meat into a pot on top of the fire and stir (This is an unusually small pot...the women were cooking on pots of about 3 ft in diameter)The men after they slaughtered the cow. Yes...we stored the meat in the library overnight!
Here are the "real" cooking pots that the women were using. I tried to stir the pap in these pots, but apparently I'm not strong enough...Taking a break from the hard work to pose for the camera.
Traditional Xitsonga dancers from the village.
Traditional Sepedi dancers from the village. The woman in front is my host mother. She's also the leader of the dance troop. Notice that all the other women are wearing nice pink head wraps. Koko, however, being the leader, was wearing the ever traditional baseball cap. Also, in her left hand is a fehla, the utensil one uses to make pap. I'm still trying to figure out how that fits into the traditional dance. These women were great.

Me, getting tested in front of the whole crowd. Don't worry, I'm HIV-Negative!
A snapshot of the crowd.
Some of the committee after all getting tested.

Hiking in the Drakensberg Mountains

2007-07-20T02:12:00.000-07:00

During the past school break, Omar and I spent 5 days hiking in the beautiful Drakensberg Mountains. We stayed at a nice, cozy lodge and took long hikes during the days. It was just what I needed and a nice break from life in the village. Here are a few pictures we took:

Am I in Minnesota or Africa???

A Deep Breath

2007-07-20T01:35:00.000-07:00

Today I have some time at a cheap internet cafe. So I think I'll spend a few minutes updating my blog on things that have been happening and things that are coming up.

First, the strike is over. If you remember, the unions were demaning a 12% salary increase, but the government was offering 6%. Well...3 1/2 weeks after the strike began, the government had increase its offer to 7.5% and refused to budge. The public workers were getting tired of the strike and worried about not being paid while they were not at work, so the unions backed down and took the 7.5%. However, there are many disgruntled teachers out there complaining about the raise, and I've heard rumors about the possibility of another strike. I doubt this will happen though. I think the unions lost most of the sympathy they had from the public when people started dying at hospitals dur to a shortage of nurses, and violent riots broke out during some protests, injuring and sometimes killing innocent bystanders. So schools are back in session and the secondary schools are desperately trying to help the 12th graders catch up for their mid-service exams.

Second, I spent about 3 weeks in Pretoria during the school holiday (21 June-15 July). I took a quick vacation to go hiking with Omar to the Drakensberg Mountains (I'll try to post some pictures later). But most of the break was spent working on my HIV/AIDS project or working to prepare language manuals for the new volunteers coming in. A couple volunteers in my group got together to try to improve the language training that happens during the first two months in country. Peace Corps hires local people to teach us the language, which is great because that is their first language and they know everything about it. Except the grammar. Try to imagine teaching a non-English speaker English grammar...perfect tense, interrogatives, past participles...yikes! So you can understand how difficult it is for native speakers of South African languagese to teach their language to volunteers who come in! So another volunteer, Evan, and I put together weekly grammar guides that try to explain different grammar topics in a way that Americans will understand. Then, after the guides were written, we spent a week with the trainers helping them to understand what it will be like to teach Americans, and trying to go through the grammar guides so they won't be surprised by what we are expecting. This year will definitely be an experiment and changes will be made with the incoming groups, but we are hoping this will make life easier for volunteers and trainers! We'll see how it goes, as the new group of volunteers will be arriving in South Africa this Saturday.

The rest of my time these past few months has been spent preparing for the HIV/AIDS project. We're finished with the Saturday Speak-Outs, the women's beading group has successfully beaded over 350 pins, and everything is falling into place for the big kick-off event next Saturday. I have had meetings every single day since coming back to site last week, and I'm getting really nervous about the logistics that will happen for the next week! In the community, my committee is busy getting quotations for a cow and chickens, we are organizing chairs from the community that will be transported by donkey cart, traditional dance troops are preparing to perform, and we are gathering up about 30 women from the village that will be cooking a meal for over 1000 people!

In addition to the community work being done, we are busy collaborating with the local municipality. Yesterday we had a 3-hour meeting discussing all of the logistics. It looks like this is going to be a rather high-profile event. The municipality is inviting the MEC of Health for the Limpopo Province (he is famous...seen on TV, and travels with a group of about 30 people wherever he goes). The speakers at the function will include high-level people from the Department of Health, the Mayor of the Municipality, possibly the mayor of the District, and HIV-ambassadors. Yikes! They told us to prepare for 100 "VIPs" who will get special treatment including a special tent to sit under, a specially catered lunch from an outside catering service, and bottled water (that's a big deal in the villages!).

In my opinion, however, the biggest draw to the event will be the presence of the most popular radio station in the Limpopo Provice, Thobela FM. This is an all-Sepedi station that is ALWAYS turned on in the village. For example, whenever my Koko (grandma) is around the house, the radio is always on to Thobela FM, and everyone looks up to the broadcasters. So basically, the DJs that come will be celebrities to the people at the function. We just got out of a meeting with them, and they are planning to advertise on the radio starting next week, come to the function with some of the popular DJs, and even bring local musicians who will provide entertainment. So while the MEC of Health might give a speech, the big draw is going to be Thobela FM.

So for the next week, I will be incredibly busy with last-minute meetings, making copies of pamphlets and programs, buying food for the event, and trying not to lose my mind! Even though the logistics of the project are more than I can handle, I have an incredible committee behind me that are handling most of the details. This project really is community-driven, and I hope the function turns out to be a great success next Saturday!

I will be taking A LOT of pictures next week and will try to post them when I get a chance. Also, for those of you who donated to the project, I am sending you one of the beaded HIV-pins from the beading group, and will send a few pictures after the function. Thanks to everyone who has given me support for this project in any way--it is so nice to get letters and emails from people back home, that is what keeps me going. I promise to write back to everyone as soon as this project is finished and I have nothing to do again!

Until then, take care and enjoy these summer months at home!

I'm still alive!

2007-07-19T01:19:00.000-07:00

I know some people (Andrew) have been worried that something is wrong because I haven't posted in so long. Briefly, I am FINE, things have just been VERY busy lately and I haven't had a lot of time to post. I will write more soon!!

I hope all is well with everyone back home :)

STRIKE!!!

2007-06-01T00:58:00.000-07:00

Well, here I am in town. It's Friday. You may be thinking, "Erica, shouldn't you be doing something productive, like working in your schools? That is, after all, what you are supposed to be doing during the week." Good question. But, as it turns out, I am indefinitely not going to schools. Not while the strike is going on, that is.

Today is the first day of a nation-wide public workers strike. To make a very long and complicated story short, the ever-powerful unions (see some previous posts to learn about unions in South Afrida...) are demanding a 12% increase in all public workers' salary. However, the government is saying that it does not have enough money and is offering 6%. Both sides have been unwilling to move for the past few months, thus bringing us to today: the first day of a strike.

How long will it last? That's a great questions. On the radio this morning, both sides said they feel their offer is quite adequate and do not want to budge. So, we may be in this strike for the long haul. Who knows? Maybe we'll be back to school in a week...maybe in a month...a year?! I guess only time will tell. Until then, the schools will remain empty. The nurses and police, well, they're supposed to be working...let's hope for all of our safety that they dont skip work! And every other public servant in the entire country will remain on the picket lines.

All I can say is: TIA.

Saturday Speak Outs

2007-05-27T23:04:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we had the second “Saturday Speak-Out” event. We have four events planned throughout my three villages which are serving as precursors to the big testing drive in August. The purpose of these events is to give people an opportunity to talk about HIV/AIDS and think about being tested during August. Since so many people are so resistant to testing, we decided it would be nice to have a few non-threatening events to let them begin to think positively about testing and ensure everyone that if they are, in fact, HIV-positive, life will go on and they can productively live for many, many years.

So, despite the fact that the function got started 2.5 hours late, the event was a success. I showed up at 7:30 and sat for four hours, freezing, waiting for people to come. While no African event ever starts on time, 2.5 hours is pushing it a bit! As it turns out, the water pump in the village has been broken for the past month, so people have had to walk over 1 km to the river to get water. Yea, it’s a lot of work and a huge pain. But Saturday, the pumps were working again for the first time, so the whole village was waiting in line at the water taps to fill their buckets with clean water. So we just waited. And waited. And waited. But around 11:30, people really started coming and the event was a big hit. Overall I think we had around 120 people at the event. This is pretty good, considering my village has only 1000 people total.

I was really proud of my committee Saturday for the amount of initiative they took to put on the function, and the way they really took ownership of the project. In fact, I wasn’t even in the room most of the time! I spent the first two hours buttering bread and preparing polony sandwiches (polony: think a more processed version of spam & bologna combined…yum…). During the time that I was out of the room, Mr. Baloyi, a teacher and a member of the committee, led the function, putting his 2-cents in about every 2 seconds. We had someone from the local Red Cross speak about HIV: what is it and why should people be tested. Then, a nurse from the clinic talked about what it is like to live with HIV and the importance of taking away the stigma that exists here. And finally, a social worker spoke about all the various services provided by the Department of Health. The audience was busy asking questions and getting involved in a lively and productive debate about the difference between HIV and AIDS, how HIV is spread, and how long you can really live with the virus. And at the end, my favorite teacher and another member of the committee spoke about the upcoming events in the community, including the big kick-off event in July and the testing drive in August. When she mentioned that one lucky person will win R5,000 just for being tested, the audience got extremely excited and started clapping and cheering. Also, my counterpart and the leader of the newly formed women’s beading group in my second village, Kabeane, got up and proudly showed off the beaded HIV-pins that the women have made so far.

The only contribution I made during the entire day (besides the 180 sandwiches that I prepared), was to give the Vote of Thanks at the end of the function. So I got up and, in Sepedi, asked who wanted to win R5000. Almost every hand shot up. Then, I asked who was planning to be tested in August. Almost every hand remained up. Keep in mind that just a few months ago, I could not find one person who was willing to be tested. So, I consider the day to be a complete success. And when it finished at 5 p.m., I walked home, exhausted, but feeling good about a successful day. These are the days I am proud to be a Peace Corps Volunteer. These are the days that make it all worth it.

Want to donate?!

2007-05-14T02:27:00.000-07:00

I've been receiving questions from people who are interested in donating to my project. First, let me say a gigantic THANK YOU to anyone who is willing to help me. It really will make this project a success.

If you would like to donate anything at all to this project, I think the easiest way will be to write a check to ERICA LAYER, and send it to my mom, who will then deposit the money into my account. I am able to withdraw from my American account here in South Africa, and that is probably the safest and easiest way to make sure the money will make it into the community.

So, my mom's address is:

Shelley Layer
13133 182 Ave NW
Elk River, MN 55330

If you have any questions, feel free to call her at 612 670 1231. Or, you can always email me at ehlayer@gmail.com or call me at 27 72 021 1330.

"Folang" Community Testing Drive

2007-05-13T06:06:00.000-07:00

In my last post, I talked about the HIV/AIDS project I am planning with my community. I'm sure you've heard all you care to hear about the project, but just in case you're still interested, I'm going to post more! For the past four months I have been running around like crazy meeting with community groups, NGOs, the local government, etc. to write a proposal so that this whole project can be possible. I've never actually written a proposal for a grant before and, well, I'm pretty darn proud of it. So I'm going to put up some excerpts from the actual proposal so you can see what I am officially supposed to be doing! Enjoy :)

Summary

Members of the “Folang” Community Testing Drive Project (FCTDP) recognize that people in our communities are unwilling to confront HIV/AIDS personally, and therefore do not go to the local clinic to be tested. We feel that it is vitally important for people to begin to acknowledge that the disease affects them personally, and begin to talk about HIV/AIDS in the community. In addition, we believe that everyone should know their status and be pro-active about their health. This project aims to address both of these concerns. Through a series of events in two villages of Kabeane and Jakkalskuil, FCTDP hopes to educate over 800 people and encourage open dialogue about HIV/AIDS, all leading up to a month-long testing drive at the local clinic, which is scheduled for the month of August..

FCTDP is comprised of five separate activities that will help us stimulate dialogue about HIV/AIDS in the community and motivate people to be tested, including:

1. Phafogelang Bophelo: A women’s beading group that will create beaded HIV/AIDS pins which will be given to the local clinic and passed out to people who are tested (see #4).

2. Saturday Speak-Outs: A series of informal education sessions over a period of two months that will provide a non-threatening atmosphere for people to come together to lean about the disease and its impact in our community.

3. Parade/Kick-Off Event: The Saturday before the month of testing, we will have a parade and kick-off event to spark interest in the community and explain the testing drive fully to the community.

4. Month of Testing: For four (4) weeks, people in the villages will be encouraged to get tested at the local clinic. Once they receive their results, they will be given a prize bag that will include the beaded HIV/AIDS pin made by the women’s group and an invitation to the final celebration event, among other things.

5. Celebration Function: At the completion of the testing drive, we will hold a party for people who were tested. Admission will be reserved to those wearing their beaded pin. The party will celebrate their great achievement, and include a meal and a raffle with large prizes.

With the many facets of the project, we believe that we will reach over 800 people in the community, and begin to bring about a culture of open dialogue about HIV/AIDS.

Statement of Opportunity or Need

FCTDP will focus primarily on Kabeane and Jakkalskuil villages, though we will invite people from neighboring Galakwena village to join us. Kabeane and Jakkalskuil villages are approximately 70 km northwest of Mokopane, the nearest shopping town. They are located in the northern part of Bakenberg Area in Mogalakwena Municipality, Waterberg District, Limpopo Province. Both villages are very small and situated along the base of the Waterberg Mountains. According to information from Census2001, Kabeane has a total of 1091 people living in 218 households. Jakkalskuil has 1103 people living in 221 households. The large majority of people are of the Sotho and Tsonga tribes, with small numbers of others. The primary languages spoken are Sepedi (64%) and Xitsonga (34%).

Because the villages are so far from any town, most people are unemployed. Information from Cencus2001 suggests that 90% of people in the villages are either unemployed or not economically active. To work, people usually go away to Pretoria or Johannesburg. Therefore, many families consist of a grandmother raising many grandchildren because their parents have moved away to find jobs. 84% of the population has no monthly income, so a vast majority of the community receives their income from old-age pension grants and child support grants provided by the government.

Due to this situation, many youth grow up without a parental figure or positive role model. They become influenced by negative factors and begin to engage in risky sexual activities without thinking about the consequences of their actions. These dangerous practices give HIV/AIDS the opportunity to spread among community members at an alarming rate. However, people still do not talk about HIV/AIDS or take responsibility for their actions. Because of this current situation, we believe that the Kabeane/Jakkalskuil Community Project is vitally important.

To date, no NGOs have been present in Jakkalskuil or Kabeane villages. Programs and activities have never been developed, especially in the area of HIV/AIDS education. As a result, myths about the disease circulate in the villages, and HIV/AIDS is off-limits in most conversations. Most people are unwilling to go to the Jakkalskuil Clinic to receive free testing; on average, only 8-10 tests are conducted every week, and that is the mandatory test that is given to pregnant women. The result of these tests are that about 10 tests per month, or 25% of the results, turn out to be positive.

Most people in the villages are unwilling to go to the Jakkalskuil clinic to receive free testing for a number of reasons. First, because the villages are so small, many fear that people will gossip and rumors will spread about the person. Many people are afraid of the test itself; they fear that the needles will be painful and that the test will be very difficult to go through. People also worry that they will be expected to tell their status to others, which, if positive, can be very detrimental to the person’s reputation in the village. But most importantly, people are unwilling to be tested because they are afraid they might be positive. One young man said that, “If I find out I am positive, I will die sooner because of the stress of knowing than if I had never found out.”

We believe that being tested for HIV/AIDS is the first step to acknowledging the disease, as well as a crucial step for those who may be positive to obtain the support they need. Through education and other incentives, we hope to encourage 200-400 people to get tested at the local clinic over the period of one month. If we can motivate hundreds of people to go in for the test, the risk of rumors spreading throughout the villages will be eliminated. And by being tested, people will gain valuable information about HIV/AIDS and learn about positive life choices that will help them lead healthier lives. The message of practicing abstinence and being faithful to your partner will be stressed throughout the entire project. In addition, if people find that they are positive, they will be given the medication and support that they need. Finally, if a large number of people know their status in the village, they can serve as ambassadors in the community to encourage others to be tested. This could serve as a springboard for dialogue about HIV/AIDS that has never existed in Jakkalskuil or Kabeane villages.

Goals and Objectives

Goals
In the long-term, we hope to make the process of being tested for HIV/AIDS a non-threatening, acceptable practice in the villages. Also, we hope to inspire a culture of open dialogue about HIV/AIDS.

Objectives

1. We will provide over 800 people in the community with education about HIV/AIDS and healthy living, promoting the message of abstinence/be faithful.

2. We will motivate 200 – 400 people in the community to receive a free confidential HIV/AIDS test during our “month-of-testing”.

3. We will provide the stimulus to make the process of being tested for HIV/AIDS a non-threatening, acceptable practice in our community.

4. We will teach 8 – 10 unemployed, middle-aged women the skill of beading and will empower them through the formation of a beading group.

Project Design and Action Plan

Management

FCTDP is comprised of two committees, one in Kabeane Village and one in Jakkalskuil Village. For most people, it is difficult to move easily between the two villages, so the committees will have separate weekly meetings. Once a month, they will come together to discuss their progress and provide support to one another.

Each group will be responsible for planning different events in the project. The Kabeane Committee will plan the women’s beading group, the parade, and the Saturday Speak-Outs. The Jakkalskuil Committee will plan the Kick-Off function, the month of testing, the final celebration event. Each committee will have a chairperson and a person in charge of each sub-committee. The PCV will oversee all activities.

1.Women’s Beading Group

The first phase of this project will be to form a group of 10-12 women who will make beaded HIV/AIDS pins. The pins will then be given to the local clinic to pass out to people who are tested. We will try to find unemployed, single mothers to participate. This will allow for income-generation and empowerment. Once the group is formed, we will find a venue, and set up a schedule for beading. We will bring in a beading expert from the community to teach the women how to make the pins. After 300 pins have been produced, the women will be paid for their labor (R15/pin).

2. Saturday Speak-Outs

Because being tested for HIV/AIDS is a very difficult process for many people, we feel that it is important to have counseling and education well before the month of testing to help people prepare to be tested. During the months of May and June we will have a series of informal gatherings on Saturdays to talk about HIV/AIDS with the communities. These events will be called “Saturday Speak-Outs” and allow participants to have discussions about HIV/AIDS, its impact on our communities, and the importance of being tested.

We will have a guest speaker at each event (someone from the Red Cross, a person living with HIV, etc.) who will give a short presentation, then we will have a conversation and question/answer period. One of these events will be exclusively for people under the age of 25 so they can discuss issues that affect young people personally.

Because the villages of Kabeane, Jakkalskuil, and Galakwena are too far for people to walk among, we will have one “Saturday Speak-Out” in each of the three villages, and one session for youth in Jakkalskuil village. Will hope to have at least 100 people at each session.

In order to attract people to the events, we will put up advertisements in all three villages. Also, we will serve lunch consisting of sandwiches and cold drink. We will ask guest speakers to volunteer their time, but may need to help cover the cost of transport to the villages.

3. Parade/Kick-Off Event

In order to elicit support from the community and motivate members to participate, we will hold a parade and kick-off event at the beginning of August. We will create posters to advertise for the event, which will be hung in local tuck shops, churches, schools, and the clinic.

a.Parade
The parade will begin in Kabeane village and finish at Sekanekamoyi Primary School, the venue for the event. The total distance is approximately 3km. We will gather 50+ people to walk in the parade, and use a stereo and megaphone, which will be transported on a donkey cart. We will use the megaphone to advertise the event and encourage people to join us in the parade and attend the event. Also, we will make giant HIV/AIDS ribbons out of poster board and sticks, which we will wave in the air to draw attention to our cause. ·

b. Kick-Off Event:
The kick-off event will begin directly after the parade. Through advertisements around the community, word of mouth, and the parade, we are hoping to attract 600-800 people to the event. The program will promote the “Month-of-Testing,” and include various speakers that will emphasize the importance of knowing your status and acknowledging the presence of HIV/AIDS in our villages. A representative from the local clinic will talk about support services available, and ensure confidentiality in the test results. The motto for the event will be “Be Tested. Be Proud.” We hope to convince participants that they should take pride in knowing their status, and give them the courage to go to the clinic to be tested.

We are hoping to bring an HIV-ambassador to the event to speak about living with AIDS to show people that they can indeed go on living after they find out they are HIV-positive. Also, because many people are very afraid of the test itself, the PCV will publicly be tested in front of everyone to show exactly what happens during the test. Pamphlets will be available to all guests, which will include information about the month of testing and educational information about HIV/AIDS. These pamphlets will be written in English and Sepedi to allow for maximum understanding.

The event will also include entertainment for all guests. A local DJ will provide music, and we will have HIV/AIDS ribbon face painting, along with some other small games/contests with small, inexpensive prizes. Local groups will provide entertainment throughout the day, including a traditional dance troop, dramas, poetry, and singing. Punch and snacks will be available free of charge to all guests.

4. Month of Testing Drive

Directly following the kick-off event, we will begin a month-of-testing drive. During this period, we hope that 200-400 people from the community will be tested for HIV/AIDS at the local clinic. As an incentive to be tested, participants will be given a prize bag which will include:

*a beaded HIV/AIDS ribbon made by the women’s group
*a “Certificate of Bravery”
*condoms
*candy
*an information card to pass along to a friend
*invitation/directions to the final celebration
*a blank raffle card for the final celebration

We will decorate the clinic during the month, and create a large banner advertising the events that will be hung on the clinic gate.

5. Final Celebration Event

Following the month of testing, we will hold a final celebration function to reward everyone who participated in the testing. Admission will be reserved to people wearing the beaded HIV/AIDS pins they were given in their test prize bags.

The event will celebrate the huge accomplishment of the people tested, and include motivational speakers who will talk about the importance of acknowledging the disease and being proud of knowing your status. A representative from the clinic will speak about support services available for those who tested positive. Also, we will reiterate the message of abstinence/be faithful and encourage guests to practice these ideas to stay healthy. Pamphlets, written in English and Sepedi, will be passed out to people. They will include information about healthy living, support services available, and encourage open dialogue within the community.

Entertainment will be provided be a local DJ, and we will provide games and a choir. There will be a raffle with prizes that will be donated from businesses in nearby towns, and the PCV will ask for donations from organizations in the United States. Lunch will be provided to everyone in attendance.

Potential Problems

While we hope this project will run smoothly and without problems, we realize that unexpected events could occur to hinder the success of the functions. Following are four potential problems, and ways we plan to cope with them.

Funeral: If someone in the village dies, the funeral will take place from Friday evening to Saturday morning. Since both of our large events are planned for Saturday morning, this could significantly decrease the number of guests in attendance. If there is a large funeral on the day of an event, we will move the start time back to later in the day to accommodate for people who attend the funeral.

Rain: Currently, the kick-off function and celebration function will take place outside. Because the events will be held in August, the likelihood of rain is very low. However, if it does rain, we will move everything into classrooms throughout the Sekanekamoyi Primary School, the venue for the events. We realize that people will be packed tightly, but there is no other large venue in either of the villages that could accommodate such a large crowd.

Lack of Testing: We are hoping to have 200-400 people tested during the month of August. However, fewer people may actually go to the clinic. If this happens, then our final event will be poorly attended, and only a few people will benefit from the activities planned. If, at the end of the month, fewer than 100 people have gotten tested, we will allow anyone not tested to attend the event if they pay a fee of R10. However, only people who were tested will be eligible for the raffle. The money collected will be saved and used to fund projects in the future.

Local Labor: We will find people in the village to help with the event (i.e. transport of materials, supplying music, setting up stage, etc.). It is possible that some people may not follow through with their agreed upon job. Therefore, we will make contracts for each person before the event to ensure that they are clear on their job description, and they will not be paid until they complete the work. Also, we will have back-up people in the community to transport material and provide labor if someone does not show up to do their work.

Likelihood of new projects

While FCTDP is just getting started, we believe that this project will be the first of many HIV/AIDS related initiatives. Because the group is made up of such a diverse group of people from both villages (males and females of all ages), it has the potential to reach everyone in the community. Also, because this is the first effort to address the issues of HIV/AIDS, many possibilities for further community outreach projects exist. Experience on this committee will equip members with the skills of planning, project design, and proposal writing which will make future projects possible.

While it is not likely that we will have another huge testing drive, we hope to create a non-threatening environment in which people will feel comfortable being tested. Therefore, we hope that people will continue to go to the local clinic to be tested long after this project is finished.

If people find out they are HIV-positive, local support services must be available. Along with the local clinic, we hope to create and promote a support group to help people who are living with HIV or AIDS. This will create a forum for people to talk about their concerns with others experiencing the same thing.

We also hope to start a lifeskills groups targeting teenagers in the villages. Since young people are most at risk for contracting HIV/AIDS, we feel that they could most benefit from an intensive course about the disease and healthy life choices.

Also, we hope to expand the women’s beading group into a long-term income-generating business. They will continue to make HIV/AIDS beaded pins and other beaded products which can be sold locally and in nearby towns.

HIV/AIDS Project

2007-05-11T01:45:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, I asked my host brothers (19-year old twins) if they would ever be tested for HIV/AIDS. Automatically, they sharply responded "absolutely not" and looked at me like I was out of my mind. When I asked why they had such strong feelings about the subject, they simply said, "What if I am positive? I will die right away if I know because of the stress. I couldn't live like that."

This seems to be the general consensus among young people in my village. When I began asking more people this same question, I got the same response from just about everyone. They know that HIV is real. They know that their risky sexual behavior can lead to infection. Yet, they do not want to confront the disease and take ownership for their actions. In addition, being HIV-positive holds such a stigma in the villages that people fear being tested because others will gossip that they are positive, regardless of the results.

Because of these conversations, my boyfriend Omar and I decided to plan community projects in each of our villages to tackle this stigma associated with being tested and to challenge people to begin to take personal responsibility for their actions and acknowledge that HIV can affect everyone.

The project centers around a month-long HIV testing drive. We are hoping to have over 300 people in the village be tested during a 4-week period in August. Currently, no more than ten people are tested every week, and this is the mandatory test given to pregnant women. We hope to motivate many people, especially secondary school students, to confront their fears and be tested. However, as you could see from my first paragraph, this is going to be a very difficult process. Therefore, we have a number of events before and after the testing drive to help educate and motivate people to take that step.

First, we are forming a women's beading group to make 300 beaded HIV/AIDS pins. When people are tested during August, they will receive one of these pins. The women in the group are from my second village of Kabeane. All are currently unemployed, most are single mothers. So this will help not only for our project, but it will teach the women a new skill which will potentially lead to an income generating and empowerment project for those involved.

Second, we are planning a number of events called "Saturday Speak-Outs" in order to get people talking and thinking about HIV/AIDS and testing. We feel that it is important to prepare people to be tested before August, so starting on May 19th, we will have four informal sessions in my villages where people can come together and have an informal discussion about HIV/AIDS. We hope to have HIV-positive people come to these events and tell people that life DOES go on after you find out you are HIV-positive, and give people a chance to ask questions about testing and start to think about personally being tested.

Then, on the 28th of July, we are having the big Kick-Off event. The day will start with a parade marching from Kabeane to Jakkalskuil (about 3 km). It will be complete with donkey carts, giant AIDS ribbons, megaphones and music. We will end the parade at the village soccer field and venue for the event. Hopefully, over 1,000 people will come. The day will include a few speakers who will talk about the importance of being tested and encourage people to take part in the project. One of the speakers will be a woman who has been LIVING with HIV for over 18 years. She is an incredibly strong woman who has started an organization to help people confront the disease, and her message will surely inspire many people, especially those who believe you will die when finding out you are positive. Also at the event, we hope to have many nurses and HIV/AIDS counsellors who can perform tests right at the soccer field. And, like any true South African function, there will be plenty of music and entertainment that will include a traditional dance troop headed by my 73-year old host mother.

For the next four weeks, from 28 July-25 August, people will be able to go to the clinic to be tested. This will include pre- and post-test counselling from a certified counsellor, and if the person is positive, will include information about services available. When people are tested, they will receive a prize bag that will include the beaded HIV pin from the women's group, candy, condoms, and a slip to enter a drawing for prizes.

On August 25, we will have another large function, but only people wearing the beaded pins will be allowed to enter. At this event, we will again have entertainment and music, but we will also buy a cow (this time from my 75-year old host father!) and cater a complete meal for everyone in attendance. The big draw to this function, though, is that everyone who was tested will be eligible to win prizes. My GOAL is to raise R10,000 (about $1,500) for prizes. I hope to give out one prize or R5,000, and five prizes of R1,000. In a village where over 90% of the people have no income, this is a huge amount of money. Really, we feel that this will be the biggest factor in convincing people to be tested. And even though they may be doing it for the money, people will still need to confront HIV and, in the process, hopefully learn a very valuable lesson. (NOTE: I am currently trying to get donations for prizes from the Rotary Clubs in both Elk River and St. Cloud, but they are not responding. Therefore, if anyone would like to help me, I would GREATLY appreciate a small donation to make this possible! Contact me if you are willing to help. I will take lots of pictures of all the steps of the projects and send them to you!!)

Most of our project is being funded through the U.S. government's "President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief" (PEPFAR), $15 billion to be spent over a period of five years in 15 countries most severely affected by HIV/AIDS. As Peace Corps volunteers, we are eligible to receive small grants for community initiatives that address issues of HIV/AIDS, or help orphans and vulnerable children (this does not include money for prizes though). So I have been planning this whole project with the help of over 30 people in my two villages. I have been amazed by the enthusiasm for the project and willingness to help. It seems that people are beginning to talk about it, and hopefully over the next two months, they will be excited to join in!

Just last week I was talking again with my host brothers. I casually asked them how they felt about being tested again, expecting to hear the same response. To my surprise, though, both of them said that they planned to be tested and felt that it's important to know your status. Maybe, just maybe, all the young people in the village will feel the same way soon.

Longtom Marathon

2007-04-12T02:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I finished it. On March 31st, I completed my first half-marathon in 2 hours 28 minutes. It took about 5 more days for me to be able to walk without extreme pain in my thighs, but it was all worth it! About 60 other Peace Corps Volunteers participated in the race and we had a blast.

I ran the whole way (exceot a couple of huge hills, which I walked!) with two of my friends, Lizbeth and Katie. And for the first 15 km, I felt great. Basically, we were running down a mountain, so I was letting my momentum drive me and didn’t have to put that much effort into running. Then, we reached the bottom and realized there was still 5 km left of flat and slightly uphill terrain. That’s where the pain kicked in. Basically, I hobbled to the finish line in some combination of run/gimp, and after I finished, I could barely stand up! But they had unlimited Powerade and free massages after the race, so I did manage to survive.
I guess I learned my lesson. I was training pretty regularly from January until about 3 weeks before the race. But then things got busy and I didn’t run as much (aka not at all!). So next year, I am going to attempt to train right up until the race so I can walk afterwards!

The Village Welcome

2007-04-12T02:21:00.000-07:00

When Dad arrived in South Africa, I brought him to my village to meet my family and a few people from my commnity. It was the holiday break, so I expected it to be a nice, quiet visit where he could meet some people and see where I lived. Wrong. We pulled up to find about 150 people lining the street by the school, singing and dancing as we drove in. For the next 3 hours, there was an official welcome ceremony where my principals and a few teachers gave speeches, and the kids sang and did traditional dances. Following the welcome, we all piled into cars and drove about 2 km to my house where my host family was waiting for us. More people from the village came at this point, everyone was dancing and singing. It was quite an event! I was not expecting all this, and my dad was definitely surprised by the kindness and hospitality shown by my village. About 5 teachers even drove over 70 km just to be there to greet him! Dad shaking hands with the kids. You can't see it, but there are about 150 kids waiting to shake his hand!
Traditional dance.
At my house where Dad is being introduced to my host family.

Blyde River Canyon

2007-04-10T10:41:00.000-07:00

The Sunday after the marathon, my dad, Omar, Nicolette, Bree and I went up to the Blyde River Canyon area, which is about an hour from where we were staying. We spent the day driving around seeing the sights. Here they are:
On of the waterfalls we stopped by.
The Three Rondavals. They are named after the traditional huts that South Africans live in. This was my favorite part of the day.
"The Potholes" (much prettier than the potholes in the roads we drive over every day...)
Omar, me, Nicolette and Bree in front of God's Window

Kruger trip

2007-04-10T10:20:00.000-07:00

After the marathon, we headed over to Kruger National Park for 3 days. We spent about 15 hours driving around the park by ourselves and took a guided sunset drive. Overall, I think we were pretty lucky! We saw 4 of the big 5 (lion, elephant, water buffalo and rhino) and also saw giraffes, hippos, zebras, warthogs, babboons, and various other animals. I recommend going to game parks to anyone that comes to visit South Africa!!

Table Mountain

2007-04-10T10:01:00.000-07:00

On Easter Sunday, we climbed Table Mountain. I was expecting it to be a nice Sunday stroll, but in fact, it was a 2-hour climb straight up a mountain on what you could possible call a rock path (lots of large rocks that resembled a path). It was tough, but the view from the top was all worth it!
Here is Omat and I overlooking the city of Cape Town.
This is the view from the top of the mountain.

Dad taking a little rest halfway up the mountain.

Update on Life

2007-03-25T02:44:00.000-07:00

Things have been going extremely well for me these past few months. It's hard to believe that another term has passed, and even harder to believe that we recently celebrated our 6-month anniversay as actual volunteers. We are more than 1/4 of the way done with our service. It's amazing how some days I watch the seconds pass by and suffer from extreme boredom, but looking back, these six months have flown by.

Right now I am in Pretoria for a few days. I had a meeting for the diversity committee last Friday, and now I am working in the Peace Corps office, planning some projects for next term. I have 3 weeks until the next term starts, so I will be away from site for awhile. On Tuesday, my dad flies in for a 2 week tour of South Africa. We will be starting out by staying with my training host family and visiting my current site. Then, I'm dragging him with me to the Longton Marathon (sorry dad!). After that, we touring Kruger National Park (be ready for soem great wildlife pictures), then we're off to Cape Town for Robben Island (the prison Nelson Mandela was kept for 27 years), Table Mountain, Wine tours, and possible even some more skydiving!! So I am more than excited for these next few weeks. I hope you're ready, Dad!!

As I mentioned, we just finished the first term of the year at school. This was my first term of doing actual "work" (aka not just observing classes). I did a lot of workshops dealing with classroom management, the new cirriculum, and working with the management teams to plan some year-long action plans for various programs. Also, we had a carnival at one school--read the next entry to hear all about it. Overall, I was happy with the results of the term. I am getting very comfortable with my teachers and have lots of ideas for future activities. At first, I struggled a lot with existing conditions and thought that I needed to fix it all. But now, I realize that I am not going to transform my schools, and not everyone is going to change. If I can help a few teachers to become better teachers and have fun with my job, I will consider my two years a success. So now, I am trying to do activities that I personally enjoy--planning carnivals, working with community members to plan HIV/AIDS events, etc. I find that if I am doing what I love, my life is much happier, and other people are more motivated to join me! I will write an entry later about my HIV/AIDS project, but I am running out of time now .

Overall, things are great. I have a lot of exciting things coming up, so I will try to update my blog as often as possible.

The Best Carnival Ever (Africa style)

2007-03-25T01:15:00.000-07:00

Before I write this post, I would like to give a big THANK YOU to my mom, who has been working VERY hard for the past 5 months buying prizes, supplies, and making costumes for the carnival that I had at one of my schools last week. She sent over 400 small prizes, face paint, water balloons, balloons for balloon animals, and even made a clown costume! Really, the entire event was made possible by her and we definitely couldn't have pulled it off without her help. We love you mom!!!

Also, thanks to Christine Lofgren for sending a giant bag of carnival prizes. The kids especially loved the buttons that they were wearing on their uniforms all day! And thanks to Ann and Dennis who sent directions for the balloon animals. We would have been lost without you!!!

So last Tuesday, 10 of my Peace Corps friends came to my site to help me put on a carnival. The carnival was intened to encourage parents and community members to get more involved in their childrens' education, come to the school more, and get to know the teachers. But the most exciting part of the day was the party, which included lots of games, activities, and prizes for the kids.

This was the first time anything of the sort has ever happened in Galakwena village, and it will definitely be remembered for years to come. There have never been 11 Americans in the village, much less an American dressed up as a clown, and another as a giant hot dog! It was a really great day :)

Here are the activities/games:

-Face Painting

-Balloon Animals

-Pap-Eating Contest

-Pinata

-Water Balloon Toss

-Bean Bag Toss

-Fishing Game

-Cake Walk

-3-Legged Race

-Potato Sack Race

-Bottle Race

-"Potato" Race

-A Clown

-A juggler

-A "hot dog" man (see picture below...)

I think the best way to describe the carnival is to post pictures from the day. So here they are. Enjoy!

Omar the clown and Tom the giant hotdog. They were a big crowd pleaser, especially when they got up in front of over 500 kids and parents and danced during the program!

One of my teachers, Mam Makgae, handing out prizes after the 3-legged race.

An example of one of the 500 faces that Emily and Martha painted during the day.

The sack race!

Peter leading the Cake Walk, which was changed to the "cookie walk" because we had no cakes. Also, we had no music, so Peter cheerfully clapped his hands and made the kids dance as they walked around the circle.
Becca heading up the water balloon toss. We filled up almost 200 water balloons, so the kids were occupied almost the whole day!!
Cort and I participating in the water balloon toss. It was hot, so we tried to pop the balloon on the other person. The kids loved it!
The Bottle Race. Imagine going 100 meters with a large coke bottle on your head. These girls did it while running. Unbelievable!

Cort showing off his mad juggling skills.
The Fishing Game! This was a big hit once the kids figured out that they ALWAYS won!! You can't see him, but Chris is hiding behind the sheet attaching the prizes to a clothespin attached to the stick. Remember, we're in the Peace Corps-this was a very hand-made carnival!!
The Potato Race. Basically, this is a "shuttle run" style race where the kids have to pick up one rock, being it back to the bucket, get the next rock in line, and so on. The day before the carnival, Omar and I raced--it was exhausting! The one and only: Omar the Clown. Enough said.

These are four of my female teachers. They got all dressed up and surprised everyone by dancing to old music. They say this was a traditional dance done by people living in townships long ago.
The South African part of the pap-eating contest. We had parents get up and race to finish the big wad of pap (the staple food here). The woman in the blue kicked butt!
Here is the American part of the pap-eating contest--no hands-style! This was quite a sight: 11 Americans shoving their faces in plates of pap, racing to finish first.

Martha was the winner!

Sarah leading the bean bag toss.

Nicolette showing off her lovely South African Flag with a bunch of the kids.
Here are all my teachers at Galakwinstroom. They are an amazing group of people.

The Marathon

2007-02-23T04:32:00.000-08:00

Last time I wrote, I mentioned that I was training for a 1/2 marathon. Yup. On 31 March, myself, along with 64 other Peace Corps Volunteers, will run in the "Longtom Half Marathon," an annual event that Peace Corps participates in. I am not only running for the pure satisfaction of travelling 13 miles (satisfaction? maybe I should say "pain" or "torture"), but also, I am running to support a foundation that was started by two previous Peace Corps Volunteers in South Africa.

Basically, PCVs run the 1/2 marathon and collect pledges from people back home in the states. This money is then used to provide 1 or 2 (depending on how much money we raise) children from a rural, impovershed school (much like the schools I work in), the opportunity to attend one of the best secondary schools in the country. This opportunity absolutely transforms the life of a child who would otherwise be stuck living in poverty and may never reach his/her true potential. I am here as a volunteer to help make the schools better and imrove education for children. However, as we all know, the current system has a long way to go, and giving a child this opportunity will open doors they never dreamed possible. My good friend Peter, another volunteer, is serving in a village that sponsored a child last year. He has met her can see that this scholarship has absolutely changed her life in a positive way.

Here is an excerpt from one of the program founders:

Greetings from the KLM Foundation! As many of you have heard, the 2007 KLM/Longtom Half Marathon is on the horizon! We'd like to invite you all to this third annual event!The KLM Foundation is a non-profit organization founded by two SA-11 volunteers in an effort to make a lasting, sustainable contribution to a better future for South Africa's kids – long after the end of Peace Corps service. With the support, input, and encouragement of our fellow PCVs, we founded KLM in 2004 in partnership with Uplands College – a private secondary school outside of Nelspruit. KLM provides a 5-year bursary and leadership development program to talented, motivated kids from under-resourced rural areas. To date, there are 3 KLM students enrolled at Uplands College with more to follow! Refilwe Ndimande, Sibusiso Shube, and Sandile Mbuza are fantastic kids and it is truly our honor to support their success.

In 2005, we convened the first annual Longtom Half Marathon fundraiser as a way to bring our friends and fellow PCVs together and to share with them our vision and plan for KLM's future. It began as a social, community-building exercise with modest fundraising goals … and, thanks to people like Gerrit Hamre, Jesse Herrera, Ann Hathaway and many others, it has become an exciting annual event and a significant source of financial support.

The third annual KLM/Longtom event is scheduled in Sabie, Mpumalanga, on March 30th! If past years are any indication, it's going to be a great weekend and we hope that you can all attend! The Longtom Half Marathon is open for runners, walkers, strollers, and scenery-viewers alike, so don't be intimidated by the pros! Over the past two years PCVs have raised $20,000 for KLM – It is essential funding and all your efforts will go directly to help the KLM kids on their journey. Don't doubt that the $25 and $50 donations add up – nearly all of the $20,000 has come from these modest, meaningful amounts.

If you would like to donate any amount of money, you can send a check to:

Allison Howard
Kgwale le Mollo Foundation
49 East 117th Street, #2
New York, NY 10035

The full 100% of the money you raise will be transferred to KLM's South African bank account at First National Bank in Johannesburg. We respect and entirely understand that this is a rather unorthodox way to collect money for an established charity. The difficulty is that KLM’s 501(c)(3) status in the US is still being processed. We have full legal, charitable status in South Africa, of course, and by collecting the donations personally and then transferring them in bulk to South Africa we will avoid the overseas processing fees. Initially, we hoped that our 501(c)(3) status would be approved in time for the race, failing which, CAF would perform the transferring function for us; but, we have made the difficult decision that CAF cannot efficiently process donations. For donors who wish to contribute over $500, CAF is still the way to go because they will be able to offer a tax receipt. All donors will receive a personal letter of thanks from the Board of KLM along with a brochure about our work.

Thank you for your support! I hope that together, we can raise money for this worthwhile cause and change the life of one child here in South Africa.

Rain Ceremony

2007-02-03T02:31:00.000-08:00

The rainy season usually lasts from December-March. We have large barrels that collect the water, which we drink from instead of taking the wheelbarrow all the way out to the community tap. The streams in the village begin to fill with water, and sometimes you can see waterfalls from the mountain behind my house. Most importantly though, the rain helps the crops grow. And because most of my community subsists on the crops they grow during this time, it is extremely important for the rain to fall on a regular basis.

For the past few weeks, however, there has been no rain. The temperature soars to around 100 degrees every day, and the ground is completely dry. I’ve been told that if the rain doesn’t start in a couple weeks, all of the crops will die. In response to that, people in my village had a traditional ceremony last week to pray to the ancestors to bring rain.

Last Sunday morning, about 15 young girls between the ages of 4 and 8, accompanied by a very elderly woman in the village, marched out to the river. The girls were wearing skirts, but no shirt or shoes, and each carried a bucket on their head. At the river, they filled the buckets with water and some tall grass, then marched back through the village, singing and chanting as they went. People came outside, yelling and dancing as they passed, cheering on the girls. They marched all the way to the mountain where the village cemetery is located. Here, they poured the water on the graves and asked the ancestors to bring rain. It is believed that the ancestors serve as a medium between the living and God, and if we pray to them, they will relay the message to God.

Shortly after the ceremony, the sky began to fill with gray clouds, and I truly believed it would begin to rain. Unfortunately though, they went away and it ended up being another hot, dry day. Hopefully, the ancestors will relay the message soon, and Jakkalskuil will get the rain that it so desperately needs.

Marathon preparations

2007-02-03T02:16:00.001-08:00

On March 31st, I am going to attempt to run a half-marathon. My goal is simply to finish without walking, but I have decided that it is a good idea to prepare myself so I don’t die trying. For the past few weeks, I’ve been running in the afternoons after school. Normally, I like to run by myself, listening to my discman and working off the stress of the day.

Last Thursday, I started to run just like any other day. I was ready to go with my music, and looking forward to a nice, slow 5K jog. However, right before I reached to main dirt road, a 15 year old girl came running after me. “ke nyaka go kitima le leina,” she said. (I want to run with you). She was wearing a tank top (and no bra), a wrap-around skirt, and had no shoes. I agreed to let her come, thinking that she would last about 100m, then turn around and go home. So we started to run. She was running rather fast, and I had to struggle to keep up with her. Again, I thought that she would tire of this pace and turn around in no time. But she kept running. Fast.

We passed the stream with the goats and cows drinking. We passed Koko (my 71-year old host mother), who was out herding the goats. And we kept going. Pretty soon, I heard little voices behind us. About 8 small children, none over the age of 9, were sprinting after us. They also wanted to run. However, I knew that they wouldn’t be able to keep up. Chasing after us was a fun game, and they would quickly tire of the long jog. …wrong again! Somehow, these children (also without shoes), managed to run the rest of the way with us. They were sweating and breathing hard, but each one kept up—and they were going faster than me!!

So here I was, out of breath, running very fast so that I would not be beaten by a bunch of kids without shoes, as many of the villagers watched on. When we were about 1 km from home, we once again passed Koko. This time though, she raced out to the road and started running with us!! It was quite the spectacle for Jakkalskuil to see: a white girl, a bunch of shoeless kids, and a grandmother in a long dress, all running together on the dirt road!!

I will admit, I was very skeptical of this rag-tag group of running partners, but now I’ve found that they are the best incentive I have, and will help me to not only finish the half marathon, but run rather fast as well!

Family Life

2007-02-03T01:57:00.000-08:00

In South Africa right now, it is the middle of summer. And in my village, that means extremely high temperatures, occasional breathtaking thunderstorms, and farming. For the past few months, I have seen just how much work goes into the preparation of food that is consumed for the duration of the year.

As I mentioned before, every day of the year, my 73-year old host father wakes up and takes our herd of cows out into the bush to graze. Normally, he will come home for a brief lunch, then go back out into the hot sun where he follows the cows around for the rest of the day.

For the first few months at site, Koko (my 71-year old host mother), would be busy every day preparing food, cleaning the house, carrying buckets of water on her head, and visiting with neighbors. I figured she was fulfilling her role as a traditional wife in rural South Africa. However, it wasn’t until a couple months ago that I saw all that she contributes to the welfare of our family. Beginning in December, she would leave the house at around 5:30 a.m., saying she was going out to “the garden.” She returned around 12 or 1 in the afternoon, ate a snack, then fell asleep under the tree for a few hours. I didn’t understand what this meant until last week, when I hiked out through the bush and discovered Koko and about five other elderly women, all standing in a line, weeding “the garden.” Actually, the garden is about a 5-acre plot of land with thousands of corn stalks growing on it. And every day, these women spend about 7 hours in the hot sun with their hoes, ensuring that their crop survives.

When the corn is harvested, it is dried, then ground up into ‘mealie meal,’ which is then used to cook ‘bogobe,’ the staple food in South Africa. We subsist on this food, the dried spinach that is also grown, and the meat from our animals for the rest of the year. Understanding this has helped me put my host family’s life into perspective. Neither of my parents have ever had a “real” job, but the way they live has sustained them and their ancestors for hundreds of years. Life for my host parents today probably does not vary much from the way it was when they were both children. They grow their food, cook over a fire, consult traditional healers, and pray to the ancestors. They work incredibly hard day in and day out, never complaining about the work to be done, but rather accepting that this is the way of life.

I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to experience this lifestyle. Many of my friends are living with teachers or other professionals who have abandoned this life and enjoy the conveniences of running water, trips to the grocery store, and modern technology. But I already know that life; I came to the Peace Corps to experience life in a different way. And that is exactly what I’ve gotten. I wouldn’t want it any other way.

2007-01-04T00:50:00.000-08:00

I just got back from the best vacation ever. The past two weeks, I've been hanging out in Durban (on the Indian Ocean), with 25 of my PCV friends. My days were filled relaxing by the water, eating at some great restaurants, and generally catching up with the friends I haven't seen for three months. It was very refreshing to get away for awhile and do nothing but enjoy myself.

It was very strange to be away from Minnesota for Christmas, and I definitely missed home when I woke up Christmas morning to the 90 degree weather and beach. I missed the hot apple cider, hashbrown casserole, being with my family, and of course, the snow. But we had a gift exchange and I talked to my family, so it turned out to be a good day. Nothing will ever compare to a Minnesota Christmas though.

The rest of the trip was amazing. The highlight was definitely skydiving (see below), but I had plenty of other great times. I spent a lot of time getting burnt on the beach (which I am now regretting because my whole body is peeling), wandering around little markets and buying handmade jewlery, and eating out at lots of good restaurants. Even though durban has the largest Indian population in South Africa (and therefore amazing Indian food), our favorite restaurant became a Mexican place called "Taco Zulu." We all ate there at least a few times, and it is the only good mexican restaurant any of us have found here in SA!

It was a great vacation, but I think I am ready to get back to my site and into some kind of a routine again. I am excited to start working at the schools again, and have lots of ideas after talking to other volunteers about projects. And I get to see all my friends in less than two weeks when we have a week-long In-Service-Training (IST) with the Peace Corps staff.

Here are a few pictures from some of our parties.

Skydiving!!!

2007-01-04T00:24:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, some of my friends and I decided that it would be fun to skydive. And what better place to do it than in between the Indian Ocean and the Drakensberg Mountains?? So, on January 2nd, I jumped out of an airplane. I know this seems a little out of character for me. In fact, I've never done anything even remotely close to this. But hey, I'm in the Peace Corps! I came here to try new things and have an adventure, right? It all seemed logical at the time.

I don't think I actually realized what I was doing until I climbed into the rickety little plane (without a door) and took off on a grass runway into the sky. We flew up to 10,000 feet and had an amazing view of the ocean on one side and mountains on the other. I remember thinking only three things during the entire ride: “This is the most beautiful view I’ve ever seen.” “What the HELL is wrong with me?” and “I sure hope I don’t wet my pants on the way down!!”

Right before we jumped out, the instructor hooked himself to me, told me to dangle my feet over the edge of the plane (which actually meant that my whole body was hanging out of the plane and he was sitting on the edge!), and count to 3. Before I knew it, I was tumbling towards the ground at 100 feet/second. It took a couple seconds to realize that I was in free-fall because I didn’t get that “sick falling feeling” in my stomach. I just felt like I was floating through the air, staring down at the world below. This was the most incredible feeling in the world. After 35 seconds of freefall, we pulled the cord and the parachute opened. For the next 3-4 minutes, we floated down to the ground. Overall, it was an amazing experience that I would like to do again in the future (sorry Mom!). We all had a great time, and it was definitely the highlight of my vacation!!Getting suited up for the big jump!
This is the airplane. Imagine a pilot, 2 jumpers, and 2 instructors crammed in here. It was tight! (And I was sitting next to the open door the whole time. Yikes!!)
On the way up (before I actually realized what I was doing!)
This is the view I saw--the clouds and the Indian Ocean. Amazing.
Falling from the sky!

The end of the year

2006-12-07T00:21:00.000-08:00

I successfully survived my first term as a Peace Corps Volunteer. The past ten weeks have included a lot of sitting in classes, getting to know my teachers and students, and trying to figure out exactly what I am doing here and what I will do for the next two years. Things are going really well, and I am excited to begin some bigger projects when the new school year starts in January.

For now, though, I am on vacation! In a couple weeks I am heading down to Durban with about 25 other volunteers. I hope to spend a lot of time relaxing on the beach of the Indian Ocean, seeing my friends that I haven’t seen since September, and eating lots of good food. I can’t wait—it will be really nice to see some different parts of South Africa and take a little break for awhile!

Nothing too exciting has happened these past few weeks, but I will try to put in a few highlights from my life recently:

Donkey Cart—Usually, I get a ride from one of my teachers to get to one of my schools, Galakwinstroom, which is about 7 km from my house. Last week though, no one showed up, so I sat on a rock for about an hour, watching cows walk out to the bush to graze and thinking about alternative routes to school. I’ve been told not to walk to school because about 5 km of bush separate my house and the school, and they think it s not safe. As I was pondering how I would get to school, my solution came wandering up on the dirt road: a donkey cart! 3 boys from one of my schools and 2 older boys were driving an old, rusty cart carried by four donkeys. I asked if I could hitch a ride with them, and they let me jump in the back. It has been a goal of mine since arriving in South Africa to ride in a donkey cart, so I was completely satisfied with my transport for the day. And then, just as I thought things couldn’t get better, they asked me if I wanted to drive! For the next 30 minutes, I sat in the front seat, reigns in hand, driving this marvelous contraption to school.

New flavors of yogurt—New flavors of yogurt are always coming out—bubble gum, tripleberry, etc. Well, I think I have discovered a new flavor that is sure to sell in South African grocery stores: Goat Intestine flavored. A few weeks ago, I ate dinner with my family. Instead of the usual dried spinach and pap, they decided to change things up a little: goat intestines. Mmmmm…..I like them better than cow intestines, but they are still a little difficult to choke down. The next morning, I went to the refrigerator to take out my strawberry yogurt. I noticed that the leftover intestines were sitting, uncovered, in a large bowl in the top of the fridge. This is not unusual at our house, so I thought nothing of it. I walked out to my house and took a big bite of my strawberry yogurt. However, there was nothing strawberry-tasting about it. I realized that I was eating Goat-Intestine Flavored Yogurt!!!!! Yes, it was just as disgusting as it sounds. I can handle eating plain goat intestines, but I draw the line when my favorite snack is also contaminated by this taste! But I learned a valuable lesson that day and have since stopped buying yogurt!

I hope everyone is doing well at home. Have a great holiday season and enjoy the new year. Thanks to everyone that has been sending me letters and packages, I really enjoy them :)

Preschool Farewell Function

2006-11-17T02:56:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday I attended the preschool graduation at my key school. Little did I know, this is a bigger ordeal than graduating from secondary school! The entire day was a big cultural party/ceremony, and about 400 people from the village came.

Before I left home that morning, Koko insisted that I wear traditional Sepedi attire. So I spent the day decked out in a traditional dress, necklace, bracelets, and a rather funny looking head wrap. The villagers loved it though!

When I showed up at 7:30 a.m., about 10 women from the village were busy preparing the food: cooking the bogobe and rice, cutting up cabbage, beetroot, and squash, and simmering the chicken and freshly slaughtered cow. They arrived at 5 a.m. to start the process. The women were busy cooking, the teachers were setting up the tables, and the kokos were passing around Black Label Beer, which made for a very interesting time when they began to dance!! I hung out with the learners in the morning, until the program started at 10 a.m.

During the actual ceremony (which took 6 hours!), I saw a variety of traditional dances, skits and songs from the learners.

Towards the end, they decided that I should get up on stage and give a speech in Sepedi. As I walked up, trying to figure out what I was going to say, the music blasted some remix/techno/dance music. So I found myself alone on the stage in front of over 200 staring people, waiting for me to do something. I must have been confused with all the noise, because without thinking, I started to dance! (For those of you who have seen me dance, you understand how ridiculous this whole situation was!!). But luckily, the crowd loved it. The kokos (the one’s who were drinking their beer earlier) and my teachers stood up and started dancing, and the whole place turned into a mini dance party for a couple minutes. After the music stopped, I mumbled a few things in Sepedi, then ran off the stage. Fortunately, no pictures were taken to document this!!

At the end of the program, the preschoolers, wearing their caps and gowns, were given “diplomas” and introduced to the group. Here are some pictures of the adorable kids:

Training Pictures

2006-11-04T01:04:00.000-08:00

Evan, Nicolette, Peter, Geetanjole and me at the pig roasting party

My girls! Me, Nicolette, Lizbeth and Geetanjole

Dance Party!!!

PC Training in South Africa cannot be complete without a trip to the traditional healer (witch doctor)!

Monkey

Pics from Jakkalskuil

2006-11-04T00:25:00.000-08:00

My host mom (or grandma), Koko. She cooks bogobe every night on the fire.

My host dad (grandpa), Rakgolo. He spends all day, every day, out in the bush with our cows and goats. I don't understand a lot of what he says, but we get along very well.

The pit toilet :)

My dining room

My bedroom

This is the closest thing I have to a roommate. He stays on my wall and usually leaves me along. We get along pretty well!

These are the learners from one of my schools. They were VERY excited to see a camera!!

Pictures!!!

2006-10-28T02:55:00.000-07:00

I am trying to upload some pictures onto webshots. It's going pretty slowly, so I'm not sure how many will make it, but you can try to look at them by going to:

www.webshots.com

and search for: ericalayer.

The first 100 pictures or so are from my trip to Uganda & Rwanda last year. I will make it easier to navigate when I get more time on the internet though :)

New Address...Again!

2006-10-28T02:50:00.000-07:00

I once again have a new address. I tried to share a P.O Box with my school (and the entire village of Jakkalskuil!), but I have found that it takes a ridiculous amount of time to get my mail, and that it's almost impossible to receive packages from that address. So, I am now sharing a PO Box with my friend Emily in my shopping town of Mokopane. I come into town about twice a month, so this should be the most efficient way to get mail. I hope so, anyways!

My new address is:

Erica Layer
PO Box 1955 Mokopane 0600
South Africa

I apologize for not responding to mail in awhile. I actually haven't gotten any letters for the past six weeks. Anything that has been sent to Pretoria has been sitting in the Peace Corps Office since it arrived, but I will be getting that mail next week. As soon as I get the letters, I will respond! Thanks so much to everyone that has been sending me things, I really look forward to getting letters.

An Update on My Schools

2006-10-28T02:27:00.000-07:00

The past few days have been so hot that I can barely think. No matter what I am doing, sweat is running down my body and the air feels heavy and moist. The worst time, though, is when I ride my bike to one of my schools. Nkonthla Primary is about 6 km from my house and takes me 30 minutes to get to on the dirt road. There is no shade to protect me, so by the time I arrive at school I am literally dripping in sweat. I change my clothes, but I am sticky for at least the first hour of the day and my hair is so wet that it looks like I just took a shower (although I sure don’t feel that way!!). But I guess I will need to get used to the weather—this is just the beginning of the summer months and I’ve been told it gets much hotter!!

Besides being sticky all day, things have been going extremely well at my schools. I was expecting to do little more than observe classes for the first three months, getting to know the teachers and having them become comfortable with me. At two of my schools though, the teachers and students have welcomed me with open arms and made me feel like I really belong. In only four weeks at the schools, I already feel like I’ve made some contributions and I’m excited about the rest of the school year (which ends in the beginning of December).

At my key school, Sekanekamoyi, I have been helping the staff start a program called the Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS), which has been designed by the Department of Education as a way for teachers to evaluate each other and identify areas in need of development and support. In theory, I believe this system has the potential to help teachers discover their weaknesses and consciously work to improve. However, training was insufficient and the schools received little help from the Department, so they had no idea how to begin the whole process. So I have been giving workshops and working closely with the teachers to help them evaluate themselves and their peers. Things are going very well now, and I hope that beginning in January, we can really work on their personal development.

Also at Sekanekamoyi, I’ve been working with the grade 3 teacher on teaching math. Last week, I helped her write a lesson plan about 2-D and 3-D shapes, and I even team-taught a 90 minutes lesson, mostly in Sepedi, to 48 3rd graders! The lesson was very interactive; we brought in physical objects to represent the different shapes, and then we had the kids construct their own 3-D shapes from a pattern. Everyone had a good time, and I think the learners and the teacher learned a lot. It’s hard to believe that lessons we’ve grown up with such as interactive group work or hands-on activities are so foreign to teachers here. But slowly, some teachers are beginning to pick up on a new way of teaching that will hopefully become standard practice—someday.

At my second school, Galakwinstroom, I’ve been spending a lot of time planning activities to get the parents and community more involved in the school. We’re working on getting a video projector so we can show a big-screen movie to the community. Most of the children here have never been out of the village, let alone seen a big-screen movie. If we can pull it off, it will be a wonderful treat for the learners and an easy way to raise funds for the school.
In addition, I have convinced my principal that it would be beneficial to everyone if we had a school carnival!! Before I left for South Africa, I decided that if I did nothing else, I would plan a school carnival. I think that every child should have the opportunity to experience the cake walk (Peter!), no matter where they grow up! Tentatively, we are planning the carnival for February so we can kick off the school year with clowns, face painting, water balloon tosses, and much, much more! Also, I think this will be a great opportunity to introduce the parents to the teachers, and bring everyone together. Details and pictures will follow after the big day!

At every school, there is a “School Governing Body” (SGB) made up of parents and educators, that essentially oversees the running of the school. Since South Africa has become a democracy, the government has been trying to give people more control of the schools and be in charge of making important decisions about their children’s education. Members of the SGB serve for a 3-year period, and last May, there were elections. So all three of my schools have brand new SGBs, and many do not know their duties and responsibilities. So I am in the process of planning for a 3-day training workshop with all three of my schools together. We are going to go over all of their duties, have them get to know each other and their neighboring SGBs, and start to plan goals so they can be productive starting with the new school year in January. This will be my last big project before the year ends, but I am enjoying planning for it and hope it goes well!

Overall, I am extremely happy with my schools. Teachers are generally motivated and truly want to improve themselves. I see a lot of potential for these next two years and can’t wait for everything that is to come.

HIV/AIDS

2006-10-28T02:20:00.000-07:00

When one thinks of South Africa, two things probably come to mind: the Big Five wild game (elephants, lion, rhino, water buffalo, and leopard) and the plague of HIV/AIDS. Surprisingly, in the three months I have been here, I’ve seen neither. The lack of large animals is simply due to the fact that I have not visited any game parks—something I hope to do soon. However, the absence of the latter seems much more perplexing. How is it that I can live in the country with more people infected with HIV/AIDS than any other country in the world, and not come across even one person affected by the disease? Every year, approximately 3 million people die of AIDS. Hundreds of thousands of children become orphans because of the diseases debilitating effects. Yet, no one is willing to acknowledge its presence.

Along all major roads in SA, billboards line the sides of streets, advocating for healthy life choices to prevent the transmission of HIV. Slogans such as “No till we know” and “HIV loves skin on skin” saturate the media, but the messages seem to do little more than fill up space. In SA, HIV/AIDS carries such a stigma that people are unwilling to talk about it, much less believe it poses a personal threat. In the four weeks I’ve been in my tiny village, we’ve had three deaths. I’ve tried to enquire about the causes, and have been told that the people died of diabetes, the flu, and “just an ordinary sickness.” The last person to die was 35 years old. It scares me that people have become so immune to death that going to a funeral has become as routine as going to church every Sunday.

I’ve had a few serious conversations with teenagers in my village about their thoughts and perceptions about HIV/AIDS. Most seem to consider the disease “someone else’s problem” and refuse to believe it could ever happen to them. At the same time, many are engaging in risky sexual behavior at an alarming rate. During an observation of a grade 7 lifeskills class, groups of boys and girls were each asked to write down changes that occur when they reach puberty. One group of girls came up with a list that included: “hair begins to grow in private areas, face gets oily, and you begin to go out at night and sleep around.” Children are indiscriminately having unprotected sex because, as I’ve been told, “it’s fun” and “it’s something to do.” And condoms are seem as an uncomfortable distraction that, if used, indicates that you do not trust your partner. As a result, it is extremely common for teenage girls to have babies (which they are then left to care for, virtually eliminating their chance for further education, while the boy runs off with no responsibility—another topic I’ve been struggling with lately). Also, teenagers are giving HIV/AIDS an open invitation to infect them.

Maybe one reason that people refuse to acknowledge that they may be at risk is because they never know if they have the disease. Anyone here can be tested free of charge and, in theory, confidentially. However, some of the youth I’ve spoken with are too afraid to be tested because they believe that rumors would spread throughout our tiny village, regardless of the results of the test. People are more afraid of the stigmatization inflicted by the community than they are of the disease itself. I see this as an extremely serious problem.

Last year when I was in Uganda, I visited a mobile HIV/AIDS community-based care group. Doctors and nurses traveled around to rural communities, providing ARV’s and counseling to people living with AIDS. In the village we visited, at least 40 people were present, receiving treatment and offering support to one another. One by one, people stood up and shared their story of survival—courageously confronting the disease and moving forward with their lives. Everyone in the community came together to help those infected, and there was no negative stigma associated with the disease. It’s amazing how two countries on the same continent can be so drastically different. In Uganda, they embrace those living with HIV/AIDS and help to pull them up. In South Africa, AIDS is seen as “someone else’s problem” and is completely ignored. It’s difficult to watch young people so blatantly disregarding the disease and potentially throwing their lives away.

Cultural Moments

2006-10-07T02:43:00.000-07:00

These past two weeks have been a whirlwind of adventure. I've done many things that I have never done before. And coincidentally, I have had more embarrasing/awkward experiences than I can remember in the past two years! Some of those situations are completely inappropriate for this blog, but I will try to share a couple that I find very entertaining/interesting:

The Chicken Adventure

Disclaimer: Mom, you may not want to read this paragraph!

Last week, my cousins approached me and said that I needed to help "gather the chickens." As always, I had no idea what this meant. I followed behind them as we walked across the village to the house of an old lady. She led us to the chicken coop in her back yard, and proceeded to hand each one of us a chicken. I was standing, holding the chicken with one hand at the base of its wings (which I was told does not hurt him), as it was making noise and wiggling around. So the three of us walked back, at least 1/2 mile, with chickens in our hands, waving at the villagers as we passed. No one seemed to think this was strange--except me!

When we got home, we proceeded to "process" the chicken (Mom, I won't go into too many details), which included cutting off their heads, plucking out all of the feathers, and peeling the skin off the feet. After, my brother took out all of the insides, cut off the feet, and threw it into a big pot with the necks and heads. This was our dinner for the night. Yes--I enjoyed a full meal of chicken intestines, head, neck, and feet. It's not as bad as you may think, though. The intestines are a little rubbery, and the feet are rather tough, but it's edible if you remember not to swallow the bones and nails! Mmmm....

I have plenty of pictures to document the day, and will try to post them in the next couple weeks.

The Manure Project

My family has about 20 cows. Every morning, my Rakgolo (grandpa) takes the cows out into the bush to graze and stays with them all day. He's 75 years old, but still gets up with the sun every morning and works all day. Anyways, after Rakgolo left one morning, Koko walked out into the cow pen and filled a bucket with cow manure. She came back and added water to the bucket, then proceeded to reach her hand in and mix all of the manure and water into a disgusting manure mixture! Once again, I had no idea what was going on at this point and was busy praying that I would not have to help with whatever project she was embarking on.

For the next few hours, koko got down on her hands and knees and spread the manure all over our cement deck, creating an elaborate design, about 10ftx10ft. The sun dried it, and now we have a nice manure-made rug on our deck. I'm impressed with koko for her resourcefulness!!

I'm running out of time now, but I will try to share some more stories next time! I'm sure that I will have plenty more awkward/embarrasing stories to tell :)

Life in the Village

2006-10-07T01:45:00.000-07:00

I am now officially a member of Jakkalskuil, my new home for the next two years. And what a place Jakkalskuil is! There are about 300 homes in the village, but it is spread out on the base of the mountain over a period of about 5 km, so it seems much smaller where I live. From what I have gathered, everyone is somehow related to everyone else. And in Africa, the idea of family is a very broad term, so I have been completely confused when everyone introduces a visitor as their sister, brother, aunt or uncle. Regardless of relations though, I can see that the village really is one big family, and everyone looks out for everyone else. Because of this, I feel extremely safe and know that nothing will happen to me. Last week, I was sick, so I missed two days of school. At least four concerned villagers came over the first night to make sure I was okay, and whenever I go anywhere now, people ask me, "O fodile?" (Are you feeling better?), even if I have never met them. It's very sweet.

I have gotten to the point that I can have basic conversations in Sepedi with just about anyone in the village. The best part of my day is speaking with the old ladies, who smile and laugh every time I speak with them. Most of the time, our conversations consist of simple greetings and an explanation of what I am doing. It goes something like this:

Me: Re a lotsa (Hello)
Old woman: Re a lotsa (Hello)
Le Kae? (How are you?)
Re Gona, ra lena (Fine, and you?)
Re Gona (Fine)
Mama, Papa ba kae? (How are your parents?)
Ba Gona (They are fine)
O Robetse gaboste? (Did you sleep well?)
Ke robetse gabotse (Yes, I slept well)
O ya kae? (Where are you going?)
Ke ya Sekolong (I'm going to school)
O tsamaya gabotse! (Travel well!)
Ke a leboga, o sala gabotse (Thank you, stay well)

I am constantly learning more--when I told my koko that I was interested in finding a tutor in the village, she said, "Ke nna morutisi, ke a ruta!" (I am your teacher, I will teach you!), so now she expects that I remember every word that she tells me! I think I am going to find a secondary student in the village that will also help me with more of the grammar. Either way, I hope to be able to have more in-depth conversations with people in the next few months.

I have a phone!

2006-09-20T01:25:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, they brought all 80 of us to a mall in Pretoria to buy things we would need at our new sites. The whole day was a big episode of the beloved TV show Supermarket Sweep. We were trying to buy as much as we could in the least amount of time, while still stopping to enjoy the pizza, coffee and ice cream that we had not had in about two months. At one point, three of us (each with an overflowing cart) ran from one side of the mall to the other to bring our stuff to the trailer. It took a lot of skill to be able to weave in and out of the unsuspecting shoppers and not let anything fall out of the carts! I managed to buy an assortment of goodies, the best being a french press coffee maker that I can use to make FRESH coffee in the morning! My second best purchase was probably my cell phone. It is so nice to be able to communicate with the outside world again! If anyone would like to call me, I would LOVE to talk to you :) My new phone number is:

011 27 72 021 1330 (that includes all the country codes you need to dial)

We are 7 hours ahead here, and I can usually get calls between 5 and 8 p.m. here. I look forward to hearing from some people!

Today, I said goodbye to my host family for training. It is very difficult to leave them, they have been so wonderful these past 7 weeks. They welcomed me into their lives and have taught me how to function in South Africa. There were a lot of tears last night when I gave them a framed picture. It's amazing how attached you can become in such a short period of time. I hope to be able to come back and visit them soon--my host sister is expecting a baby sometime in December.

Tomorrow, I will officially be sworn in as a real Peace Corps Volunteer! There will be a big ceremony, I will shake the U.S. Ambassador's hand, and then I will jump into a car with my key school principal and drive about 4 hours to my new home. I'm getting really excited to get settled in and start to meet people in my community. I hope that the ceremonial slaughters are kept to a minimum and that I do not have to eat many more cow intestines, but I suppose I will grin and bear it for the sake of cultural adaptation should such an occasion arise!

Two weeks to swearing in

2006-09-09T04:48:00.000-07:00

I only have a few minutes left at the internet cafe, but I wanted to let everyone know that I am still doing extremely well. I really love it here in South Africa and I'm still having a great time. We have less than two weeks left before we are sworn in by the U.S.Ambassador in Pretoria, then it is off to my permanent site for the next two years.

Tomorrow we're having a pig roast. My friend Tom bought a pig a few weeks ago and has been working hard to fatten it up. I think today, Inyama (his name means "meat" in Siswati) will take his last breath, and tomorrow we will all have a feast. Most of the education trainees will be there, and I am looking forward to a good time :)

I should be getting a cell phone next week, so I will update you on the number when I get it. Thanks to everyone for sending letters--I've really enjoyed hearing from you all and I'm working on writing back.

I am out of time, but I will hopefully post again in a coulpe weeks!

Education in South Africa

2006-09-09T04:29:00.000-07:00

These past few weeks, I have had varied experiences related to South African schools that have shown me many pieces of the puzzle that is the education system. It is easy to look at the current state of many schools and lose hope, but one must put into context the history of the country and challenges facing educators to begin to understand the existing system.

Consider South African education during the Apartheid- schools were targeted by the government and used as instruments of oppression to ensure that blacks never had the knowlege or confidence to rise up against the govnerment. Teachers were trained to teach rote learning and instilled fear in the learners through corporal punishment. In addition, children were taught from an early age in Afrikaans, a language they did not understand. Imagine being taught from kindergarten in Greek, constantly fearing being beaten, and forced to memorize workds that you did not understand. Essentially, this was the reality for black people in South Africa until 1994--just 12 years ago. And because the blacks had been told for so long that they were stupid, inferior, and incapable of any significant achievement, they began to believe it.

Now jump ahead to the present and consider a teacher who was taught under the Apartheid system. Many teachers had no desire to pursue a career in education, but were restricted to a very small number of options. All were trained to teach in the same way they had been taught--thgouth memorization and corporal punishment. And because they had been convinced that they were inferior growing up, they perpetrate the cycle of oppression and pass it on to thse they teach. So today, even thought Apartheid is over and the laws have changed, feelings of inferiority and hopelessness are alive and well in the black community.

In an effort to improve the quality of education in South Africa and give black children an equal opportunity to succeed, the Department of Education (DOE) has been working hard to transform the schools and culture of learning. A completely new cirriculum has been written that emphasizes "outcomes based education" (OBE), which focuses on critical thinking skills and cooperative learning. Teachers have attended a number of workshops and are now expected to chenge their teaching methods to fit the new cirriculum. However, many teachers lack critical thinking skills of their own because they were taught under a system that did not allow those skills to develop. In addition, corporal punishment is now illegal, and many teachers have no idea how to manage their classes. So teachers are now de-qualified to teach and unmotivated to improve their classes.

Another key player in the education system is the extremely powerful teacher's union. We met a few days ago with three officials and were repeatedly reminded that they had huge amounts of money and power. The unions protect the teachers and principals so well that it is next to impossible to be fired. A principal must compile an unrealistic amount of documentation and follow many procedures to even request that a teacher be investigated. And in order to not be supported by the union, a teacher must either sexually abuse a child or miss 21 consecutive days of school! In my short time observing schools, I've noticed a large number of classes pass with no teacher. Many times, teachers show up late and leave early, and they rarely stay after school to plan for the next day. It is understood that teachers will not be dismissed, and in this way the unions are allowing teachers to perform at low levels. Inevitably, the learners are the ones to suffer.

From what I have seen, there is a huge discrepancy between what the DOE believes is being taught and what actually goes on in schools. And it seems that the teacher's union is so busy protecting teachers that it forgets about the students.

Combine all of these challenges with the fact that many schools have next to no resources. Also, upwards of 20% of educators in the area are battling HIV/AIDS. You can begin to see the immense challenge facing the SA school system.

I know that this is a very critical and negative representation of schools here. And while what I have described is true of some teachers, there are many dedicated people that ahve a passion for teaching and genuinely care about the future of the children they teach. During my visit to my future site, I met many educators with enthusiasm and a strong desire to make a difference. I know that these next two years will be challenging and sometimes very frustrating, but I am also optimistic about the potential for positive growth at my schools and cannot wait to begin as a volunteer at my site.

I'm still alive!

2006-09-05T02:35:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am still alive. It has been over six weeks since I've had any contact with a computer, so I am busy trying to read all of my emails and messages. Thanks to everyone who has contacted me. I really appreciate your letters, and will try to write back as soon as I can. I'm not sure when I will be at a computer next, but when I move to my permanant site on September 21st, I should be able to access the internet about twice a month. For now, it is probably faster to send me a letter in the mail!

These past few weeks have been incredible. I don't have time to write about everything, but I will try to give you an overview of my experience so far, and share a few stories. I am just finishing a weeklong visit in the village that will be my permanant site. I will be living in a very remote, deep rural village in the Limpopo Province. I am quite literally living at the base of a mountain, which apparently has plenty of baboons and monkeys that come out later in the year. During the rainy season, there are waterfalls that I can see from my back yard. The people in my village are very traditional; my host parents (grandparents) hardly speak any English, and the village just received electricity four years ago. I will be living with my host grandma (Koko in Sepedi), grandpa (Rakgolo), and two twin brothers who are 18. They speak English well, so when I don't understand what my grandparents are saying to me, I can ask them! But other than the teachers at my schools and a few older children in the village, everyone speaks Sepedi. The village is extremely excited to have me as a volunteer, and I think it will be a perfect fit for me.

Today I am taking public transportation back to my training village in the Mpumalanga Province. For the past 6 weeks, I've been living with a host family in the village of Matchipe. There are about 25 other trainees in my village, and 25 more in the neighboring village. I have been learning the language Sepedi and spending a lot of time in technical training, getting familiar with the education system. Training has been intense so far, but I feel like they have prepared us well to begin as volunteers in a few weeks. I think the best part of training has been getting to know the other volunteers. Most of us are just out of college and have a lot in common. Every day after training, a group of us meet down by the river in our village and relax. I couldn't imagine going through these next two years without the friends I've made so far.

First day in the village

2006-09-05T02:34:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday, I visited my permanant village for the first time. We arrived at one of my primary schools just as it was getting dark. I was a little nervous about how the village would receive me, and was definitely not expecting anything big. When we pulled up though, about 50 students were waiting at the gate, along with all of the teachers and a few members of the school governing board. They had waited for over three hours after school got out for my arrival! After singing songs and dancing, they served me chicken (the first of many slaughtered animals that I would eat that week) and pap (corn porridge). Apparently my village has been waiting for a volunteer for over a year, so they were extremely excited to have me.

After the school welcome, I was driven to my new home to meet my host family. Again, I was greeted by a huge crowd of people--neighbors, family members, and people from the school that had followed me home. My host grandma is 71 years old, speaks no English, and is a tiny, tough woman. When I stepped out of the car, I was met by Koko jumping up and down, screaming (a common way to show excitement in my village), and running at me. Over the next few minutes, I was introduced to at least 30 neighbors and shown around. It had been about 6 hours since I was anywhere with a toilet, and I realized that I needed to go. In South Africa, the witches come out at night (especially in my village, I was told), so it is completely unacceptable to go to the bathroom after dark. Therefore, most people use a "chamber pot" for emergencies, which is kept in the bedroom. I realized that this was an "emergency" and went to check my bedroom to see if they had provided me with a pot. There was nothing there. So...in an act that was probably culturally insensetive, I asked one of the teachers if I could use the pit toilet in the yard. Big mistake. After they consulted and decided that we could brave the witches if a big group went, I was escorted by six females to the toilet, which is a tiny, unsturdy structure made of corrugated metal. My teacher carried matches, which they lit to look in (and down) the toilet to make sure it was safe. Once this was cleared, they stood in front of me, holding the door open so that I could go. The toilet sits at a forward slant, so the cover does not stay up. So there I was, holding my skirt up with one hand, the toilet seat up with the other, trying to use the bathroom while six women stood in front of me burning matches to keep away the witches!! I think I'll try to hold it next time!

The Traditional Wedding

2006-09-05T02:16:00.000-07:00

I spent 15 hours at a traditional wedding this past weekend. I think it was a cousin of the family, but it seems that everyone in my village is in some way related, so I'm not sure. On Friday afternoon, I went next door to help with the preparations. The women were all peeling vegetables while to men sat in a circle under the tree drinking beer. After the carrots, cabbage, beets and onions were ready for the next day, everyone began to eat. Earlier in the day a cow was slaughtered (which was sitting in pieces in the outside room). The meat of the cow would be eaten at the wedding on Saturday, but on Friday, we had the good fortune of eating none other than the cow's intestines. They served me a plate of bogobe (the staple corn porridge eaten with every meal), and a few chunks of intestines. Trying to be culturally sensetive (especially after the previous experience with the pit toilet), I smiled and accepted the plate. The people were all excited when I started to eat the bogobe with my hands as they do. I realized that every eye was on me as I bit into the intestines. The first few bites weren't too bad, until it occurred to me that the black stuff inside the intestines would have been excreted a few minutes later had the cow not been slaughtered. At this point, I thought I was going to lose it and that everyone would see me get sick. However, I somehow held it together and choked down the entire plate. I just hope that they don't think I enjoyed the meal and serve it to me on a regular basis!

The following day, the actual wedding occurred. During the morning, I sat inside a tent full of the elderly people in the bride's family. There were over 50 people in the tent (I think there were at least 400 in attendance at the wedding that day). For two hours, I sat as the elders negotiated (in Sepedi) what the groom's family should pay as Lobola (dowry) to take the wife away. In the end, the groom's family paid 4000 rand, two blankets, baking powder, a knife, and a few other assorted items. Apparently the family was happy with this offer, because the wedding went on happily. The rest of the day included dancing and lots of food (the meat part of the cow). I think I met every person in my village, and everyone was very happy to greet me.

I'm out of time at the internet cafe now, but I will try to post again in a couple weeks.

6 days and counting...

2006-07-18T13:07:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, I will be leaving for South Africa in a little over a week!! For the next two years, I will be serving in the Peace Corps as a 'School & Community Resource' volunteer. I will be working with three primary schools in a rural village, assisting teachers to improve their teaching and classroom practices, helping to promote HIV/AIDS awareness, and working to get the community more involved in the education system.

I leave on Monday July 24th for Philadelphia, where I will meet the other members of my group, get a bunch of shots, and go through pre-orientation. Then, on Wednesday, we fly to South Africa where we begin 10 weeks of intensive training. I will learn a native language (one of the following: Sepedi, SeTswana, IsiZulu, IsiNdebele, IsiSwatiand Xitsonga), learn about the history and culture of South Africa, and focus on technical training that will help me with my job. Following training, I will be assigned to a rural village where I will work for the next two years.

I will keep this blog updated (hopefully once a month or so) with stories of my experiences in South Africa.