Wednesday, April 27, 2011

What Does That Mean?

“I have no idea what you’re saying…” and “What does that mean?” have been my signature phrases the last month. It’s hard to believe that I’ve been living here a month – it has FLOWN by. So far I am loving it. Sometimes I’ll be walking and just get the thought that…I’m living in Africa. I’m in Africa right now! And it makes me unbelievably happy as I take that quick second to realize I’m living my dream!

I have a pretty regular routine down, which will probably change as I get more familiar with my surroundings. I go to work, come home, cook dinner, bucket bathe, and sit on my computer e-mailing and looking at Facebook minus the pictures (probably more than I should). Just recently I have thrown going on runs into the mix. I had been working out regularly in the States but then I got mono and had to stop working out. I think I’m finally “over” mono though and I’ve been really enjoying the runs. Running is a great stress reliever for me – so it serves multiple purposes. Side story: today when I went on my run some neighborhood kids joined me! It was great and gave me a good idea for a possible secondary project since sports teams don’t really exist at their schools.

I had what I consider a breakthrough at my work when I met and interviewed the founder of Ikhwezi Support Group who was recruited two years ago to be the HIV/AIDS Coordinator of the whole Municipality. A job she deserves – she is an AMAZING woman. I talked to her for a good two hours – and met her awesome daughters. And then I got to watch the E! Channel on their satellite TV…it was pretty much a dream come true. Only in this dream the girls favorite show is “Jerseylicious” (similar to the Jersey Shore only about a hair salon)…if you haven’t seen it DON’T, and if you have you will be mourning for society like I am at the fact that TV like Jerseylicious exists. No wonder people have crazy stereotypes about Americans. But they redeem themselves because they also like Keeping Up With the Kardashins (which I fully support). ; )

I have been able to meet with, and set up meetings with a lot of the other important people I need to in order to write my Community Needs Assessment due in two months. A teacher at the secondary school, the Clinic, the Councellor, and the list goes on. The story about the police station is pretty funny though. So – I had already been to the police station to interview them about crime and let them know who I was, where I was staying, etc (it was my first interview!). Well, I met another police officer at my “introduction to the community” and he is on the leadership team of the station and picked me up the next day, gave me a big tour, introduced me to everyone, and then we took some pictures! I do have to say though I wasn’t really in the mood for pictures because my morning started with waiting outside in the rain for a full hour to be picked up. I tried not to be annoyed the rest of the day but when your day starts with waiting in the rain for a full hour…maybe you can agree that it’s not easy to get over.

I have been enjoying my home life – despite some of the terror children that like to torture me. That’s exaggerating a little BUT there are two little boys that I swear try to make me mad. They play a game of “who is brave enough to touch her” while I’m trying to do something as simple as eat my dinner outside, or do my laundry. And when I yell at them to go away they just laugh and imitate me. I’m trying to be patient with them – and I love the majority of the little kids that stand at my back door to watch me cook dinner nightly, but these little boys are slowing ruining it for the rest. The other day they actually punched me and kicked me as I tried to chase them out of my yard. The only reason they went away is when I started actually yelling in English (I was over trying to be mature and nice) the neighbor girl came over and was able to yell at them and chase them away. Thank God.

At my organization we had a long weekend for Easter and I decided to head into Port Elizabeth (PE) one of the big cities in South Africa (and the biggest in the Eastern Cape) for a little R&R. I met up with two other PCVs from the Eastern Cape and stayed at a backpackers (aka hostel) that was two blocks from the beach! It was perfect because every Easter weekend there is “Splash Festival” in PE which is where they have a couple stages with music and shows, lots of water sports competitions, and a beach volleyball tournament. Also – there was a big market so for the first time since I’ve been here I was able to see anything that was slightly touristy! This whole festival was taking place on the beach we were staying two blocks from! And the weather was PERFECT all weekend nice and sunny. I was also able to do some exciting things – get a haircut, see a movie, use wireless internet (without data restriction) to upload photos, skype, take a SHOWER. It was all so magical! I also ate at McDonald's for the first time since being here, and got to point to a plaque in honor of Ray Kroc and say “I’m from there!” when it talked about Illinois and the first McDonald's. YAY! Pretty sure the lady didn’t understand what I was talking about/or care.

The weekend was so nice getting to catch up with the ladies, meet some cool people, eat some great food, spend lots of time on the beach, and just do what we wanted! PE is a really nice city and I enjoyed the backpackers we stayed at. There are lots of other backpackers though so I think I’ll do some exploring and then decide on my favorite. I have two years after all! It’s only an hour away from me, but PE is WORLDS away from Alexandria. It will be tempting to escape to this urban paradise often, however my bank account and the poor transport options there will stop me. But it is comforting to know that when I NEED it it’s there.

I’m not sure when I will need it. I’m sure I’ll have low points, but for now I’m enjoying it and trying my hardest to live in the moment! After all – I live in AFRICA!

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

"This is John Deere Country"

Who knew I would leave one John Deere Country only to land myself in another? That is the sign that all visitors to Alexandria see as they drive out of town. Hilarious. That along with KFC are probably my two favorite American-things-that-they-don't-realize-are-American things! KFC here is SO GOOD by the way. The "sprinkle pops" aka popcorn chicken are my fave. I might be a vegetarian in my own house but give me fast food and I'm lovin' the chicken! Despite my assumptions that McDonalds would be the most popular fast food export (anywhere really) there are tons of KFC's here. And I have taken it upon myself to make sure everyone knows it's from America. They have to appriciate all the great things we've given them! ; )

I've had lots of people ask me about my work so I want to explain in a little more detail what exactly my "job" is. I've been assigned to work with Ikhwezi Support Group to do "capacity building". In addition to my work that I will do with Ikhwezi, I can pretty much take on anything I want in the community. The way that the Peace Corps works though is for the first three months you're at your site, you are in what's called the "community integration" period and working on a community assessment report. So, I won't be able to tell you about all my fun projects - because I'm not allowed to start any projects during this time.

This is because one - I don't know anything about this community. I need to spend some time learning about the strengths and gaps that exist here to know what I can work on (hence the community assessment). Secondly, I don't have any credibility in this community yet(besides that I'm white, so that does give me some automatic credibility, which is of course not warranted but that's SA!). So in order to start effective and lasting projects I need to have the trust of those involved and have counterparts that want to continue the things that I've started once I leave. That's the whole point of why I'm here. Which will probably be a challenge because I'll have the things that I think are good, and I think the community needs. But in the end, if it doesn't come from within this community as something THEY want, and need it won't be sustainable after I'm gone. I don't have a problem though trying to convince someone that a project I want to do is needed and valuable. For example - I REALLY want to start a girls group at the local secondary school. So, I'm going to be pushing for that one!

I've had a week and two days at work so far and it has been good! I REALLY like my co-workers and it's clear that they are all really passionate about what they are doing. I have been able to identify some things that will be challenges for me to deal with. We just had an all day assessment by one of our funders - Starfish wish is an organization that disperses funds from the United States coming from USAID/PEPFAR to HIV/AIDS organizations here in SA. It was REALLY helpful both for me and my coworkers to see the places for opportunity and growth within our org. That was actually on my first day of work and was a GREAT first day! I learned so much about Ikhwezi in one day! My whole job right now is assessment so that worked out great! I'll be doing my own assessments within the organization but it was good to know that they don't mind doing assessments and afterward are able to appriciate that process. Makes my job easier for sure.

I'm doing great here - enjoying meeting lots of people, getting to know the area, and exploring bit by bit.

"live in the moment and make it so beautiful that it will be worth remembering!"
-crosby