Ohmygoodness I have so much work to do! August, September, and October seem to be THE months that the action is happening – for both my org and myself! I myself have four major projects that I am focusing on, all which require a LOT of prep work and planning. The first one is now over (yay!). It was a Strategic Planning Workshop that I planned and then facilitated. It went REALLY well, and I’m so proud of the staff for all their hard work and enthusiasm! It was inspiring to me to see them so excited for everything. I would say it was a major success (not without minor hiccups daily of course but that is what I’ve grown to expect!). No matter how prepared I am nothing ever seems to go the way I planned. That is a challenge that I personally struggle with. I always used to say that “being flexible” was one of my strengths. Well – yes in the United States I would say I am flexible. But the level of flexibility required here is a whole different level. It’s like I was minor league flexible in the states and here – you have to be the VIP of the major league in your flexibility. At least by the end of two years I will be able to say that I really AM flexible…aka – nothing could go the way I planned or thought and hey – just gotta go with it. Oh, Africa!
Despite that, things have been going great at work and with my projects. We have had nothing but excitement and welcome from the community for the projects we want to do. In September we will be launching our two support groups, and starting our Skillz pilot program. We have already created our first “team” of learners – 20 of the kids from our after care program. They range in age from 10-13 (with one nine year old). This last week my counterpart and I were giving them the pre quizzes of the program to gauge what their knowledge and feelings are about HIV and related issues before they do the program. The same quiz is given after the full 11 “practices” to see how far they’ve come. We didn’t call them quizzes of course and just said we had some questions to ask since we verbally ask them the questions and record their answers. The only thing that really shocked me was the amount of children that said they agree with the statement “At times, it is okay for a man to hit his girlfriend”. It was definitely majority opinion that it was okay. Eish. Let’s just hope by the end the majority say DISAGREE – that is NOT okay! That’s one of my goals!
In October our two girls groups will be begin – and I am SO SO SO excited for that! I’m also super excited about Skillz but this one I really cannot wait to begin! More updates on that to come. I can’t wait to have some cool stories to share from both of those projects. Speaking of cool stories, I helped two boys from the secondary school apply to University of South Africa a couple weeks ago! I had offered to help one of them with it when he said he was going to apply and then he brought a friend along. I was so happy to help them with that and I really hope that they get the opportunity to attend.
In two weeks two of my counterparts and myself (one is doing the girls group with me and the other is assisting with Skillz and our OVCs) are going to a “Life Skills Training” for a week in Pretoria through the Peace Corps. I can’t wait for that because it the timing and topic is extremely relevant for us – especially for the girls clubs. Yesssss. Then, the first week in October two of my fellow PCVs are coming for a quick visit and do work on a project with me. We hope to do the World Map project done by PCVs all over the world where you paint a map of the world and then the host country on a visible wall somewhere. Not sure if it will happen due to me having zero time to plan it – but I’m hoping we can at least do prep work.
Last update, today I went to my first Xhosa funeral. For those of you that remember, I had one sad post a while ago about HIV/AIDS. I mentioned two stories that had really touched me. Well, the young girl (my age) that I mentioned in that story passed away on the 17th of this month and her funeral was today. Such a sad thing, but I am happy that she is no longer suffering like she had been for such a long time. The funeral began at 8:00am at the family’s home. Neither of her parents are living so it was at the house of my Granny. From 8:00am until 10:00am we were at the house and people were praying and singing and preparing for the part that comes after the church.
Then there was a church service and program from 10:00am until 1:00pm. This is not a joke. It was a full mass first (it’s a Catholic church) and then was a program where various people got up to speak. And there was a lot of singing. In between basically every speaker or prayer there is a song, it’s actually really beautiful. I do have to be honest and say that I was struggling through this since it was three hours of not a word I understood. After the church we went straight back to the house, but most people went the cemetery as is customary to bury the body. Afterwards everyone comes from the cemetery to the house and is given a meal. After the meal most people leave except for immediate family and good family friends or neighbors. I left after a lot of people had left because I stayed back to help clean up and since it was my Granny I got to stay and sit with the family for a while. It makes me sad that such a young life was lost due to HIV/AIDS. She was such a sweet girl, and I hope she has found peace.
The only last thing I have to add is I had an amazing surprise and got a phone call from one of my best friends last night (who also happens to be a fellow PCV serving in Ecuador)! It was SO UNBELIEVABLY GOOD to actually hear the voice of one of my friends. Not to sound too much like a desperate girl after a first date, but can you please call me?! That’s all! : )
“Walk with the dreamers, the believers, the courageous, the cheerful, the planners, the doers, the successful people with their heads in the clouds and their feet on the ground. Let their spirit light a fire within you to leave this world better than when you found it...”
- Wilfred Peterson
