It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

I hope you are keeping warm as winter approaches, even though I hear it’s been unseasonably warm in Chicago lately!  Here I can finally declare: summer has arrived!  I have to say if I can’t have a white winter, a hot beach holiday is not a bad trade.  The year is winding down here in South Africa which means one thing - vacation!  The school year in South Africa begins in January and ends in November with summer break taking place from now until half way through January.  The students have finished writing their exams that they’ve studied so hard for, and summer holiday has begun!

December break feels like a country wide vacation because it is not just the schools that close for extended periods of time.  My organization for example will close its doors December 14^th and not reopen until the schools do.  In my opinion this is fantastic and I’m sure I will never have this much vacation time at any other job.  The holiday time here isn’t quite like how it is in the States.  Here Christmas things made an appearance in big city stores before October – my friend’s theory is this is because they don’t have Halloween or Thanksgiving to hold it off.  I would have to agree, more evidence of this came when I attended a festive Christmas dinner the day after Thanksgiving. 

Vacation time in the township is a chance for everyone to do things that they’ve put off for a while.  One example of this is the intensive all house cleans where all furniture is removed from the house and every square inch is scrubbed inside and out.  My host sister spent over two full days with hired help doing this!  Many people will spruce up their homes with a new paint job (in awesomely bright colors).  Some have cement or dirt floors that they cover with the floor equivalent of wall paper, and December is the time to replace these papers.  I’ve seen countless people walking back from town with rolls of flooring slung over their shoulder.  This is a time for getting things done! 

Christmas is widely celebrated here as most people are Christian.  While Christmas for some South African’s might be similar to what we are used to in the States, Christmas in my township is quite different.  Looking around in my town you wouldn’t know that it’s Christmas time because there aren’t decorations up (with very rare exceptions).  The Xhosa people I live with don’t set up Christmas trees in their house, hang stockings, wreaths or lights, but they still have plenty of Christmas traditions.  Christmas morning starts with a trip to church in their new Christmas clothes.  After church little children will go around the neighborhood with bags and collect sweets and little toys from their neighbors.  Extended families will come together for a big Christmas lunch and parties afterwards.  Children are familiar with Santa Claus but don’t believe that he brings them gifts.    

Many families in my township are in poverty and can’t afford to give gifts on Christmas day.  Despite this most families will find a way to make sure that everyone at least has a brand new Christmas outfit – “Christmas clothes” are a very big deal.  Another big holiday tradition is to go to the beach on New Years Day.  This is the one day a year that people will go to the beach which is only a 20 minute drive from our township.  At the beach they go swimming, braai (bbq) and party!  You would not believe how crowded the beaches of South Africa are on New Years Day – it is a country wide tradition! 

It has been sort of bizarre coming from 23 years of white, winter, consumer Christmases - to summer with almost no commercial indication that it’s Christmas time – but it’s actually kind of nice!  I look forward to next year when I’ll be home for a winter holiday, but in the meantime I’ll take my Christmas on the beach and not complain!  I’m celebrating the holiday season my own way by watching holiday movies and listening to Christmas music.  I also set out my little Christmas tree thanks to the Smith family!

My big vacation of the year is finally here and begins on this Friday!  The “holiday” kicks off with our PC Close of Service (COS) conference in Pretoria.  I honestly can’t believe that this is here – this is the event that happens to prep us for when we finish our service in March (by the way my OFFICIAL end of service is March 22^nd!).  All of SA23 (the group I arrived with in South Africa back in January 2011) will come together for this final conference.  We will get all the details and logistics of what’s to come.  I haven’t seen most people in this group (with the exception of three people in fact) since back in March – so I am VERY excited to see everyone again! 

The conference will take place at a nice lodge outside of Pretoria (and the last night is my birthday and there is a This is Africa (TIA) themed party which I’m going to pretend is my birthday party!).  After the conference three of my PCV friends and I will head back down to Port Elizabeth to start our journey on the “Garden Route” on a road trip to Cape Town!  We’ll be on the Garden Route in the Western Cape for five days as we make our way along the coast.  We have lots of adventures in store including zip lining and caving!  I’m really, really excited!  We will end our road trip in the beautiful city of Cape Town and there with other Peace Corps Volunteers, and my South African friend Michelle I’ll celebrate Christmas and New Years.  As if that wasn’t enough, after I come back from Cape Town with Michelle I’ll spend the week with her and the rest of the Smiths at the Cannon Rocks Kite boarding Classic – a kite surfing competition.  Pretty much I’m in for a month solid of fun in the sun! : ) 

Happy Holidays to all of you!  I hope you all have a great winter break and whatever you celebrate I hope it’s filled with lots of happiness and joy!

Traditional Xhosa Work

One of the coolest parts of living in another culture so different from the United States is getting to learn about and participate in different traditions.  Here in the land of the Xhosa people I’ve had the opportunity several times to attend traditional events and it’s always a great time!  The first weekend this November was a big deal for my host sister Phakama’s family as they held the biggest kind of “traditional work” you can have – slaughtering a cow. 

The people where I stay refer to their traditional ceremonies that are centered on giving gifts to their ancestors as “traditional work”.  There are many kinds of ceremonies that a family can do.  While each one can have a different specific purpose, the general reason for having traditional work is to please the ancestors, which in turn should result in good luck for the family.  The most common traditional works are either the brewing of traditional beer (called umqomboti pronounced: um-com-boat-ee), or the slaughtering of a goat or cow.  A cow is the biggest deal because it is the most expensive (around 1,000 dollars which here is a BIG deal!).

 

In the case of Phakama’s family, she herself had purchased the cow, but the weekend long event would take place at another family member’s house.  The preparations for the event took the entire week.  A particular Aunt had to come into town and sleep at the house where the event was taking place because she was responsible for brewing the umqomboti which takes a full week to make.  Phakama spent a lot of time at the house cooking for her other family members that had come into town to help with the other preparations like setting up the family’s yard.  In the front yards of Xhosa families you will find a wooden post with animal horns attached to it.  This is the place where the offerings to the ancestors are given.  When a traditional event is going to take place a fence is put up around this area, and the branches of a particular tree are added to the fence, almost like a screen. 

These and other preparations take some time, and by Friday close family members have begun to arrive for the big day which is always on a Saturday.  On Friday night the cow arrived, and on Saturday at noon the ceremony began.  A male member of Phakama’s family conducted the ceremony (it is always a man) with the family sitting around the inside of the fence in a semi circle.  The Tata (a respectful way to refer to an older male) gave an impassioned speech to the family and the ancestors.  When it came time to slaughter the cow, other male relatives joined in helping to tie the cow down.  Things were very tense for several minutes because the cow would not moo. 

In Xhosa tradition if the animal to be slaughtered doesn’t “cry”, as they call it, right before it is slaughtered there is a very serious problem in the family.  It is a very bad omen, and extremely bad luck if the animal won’t cry.  Our cow was not crying and the family was starting to get upset.  At last it did and everyone jumped up and was crying with happiness and relief.  I even felt a huge sense of relief, and was really happy for Phakama that everything turned out okay. 

After the cow was skinned and cut up, they began to cook it.  At this point lots of family members and people from the community start to show up waiting to eat the meat.  No formal invitations are given out for these events but throughout the weekend many people from the community will stop by to partake in the festivities.  Anyone and everyone is welcome to come to one of these events, and no one gets turned away.  The meat gets cooked in very specific ways during these events.  It can only be cooked with water and salt in huge iron pots over fires or over the coals directly.  At the front of the house the men cook, and at the back of the house women are also cooking over a different fire.  As the meat becomes available it is distributed to the family and the people who have come to be part of the celebrations.  It must be served on a specific kind of branch with leaves.  This was the third cow slaughtering I had been to and the only one where I actually saw the cow being slaughtered.  I did eat a little piece of meat, but I am very picky about what meat I eat anyway.  My friend Noxolo came with me to the event and we were given a plate full of all liver pieces.  I let Noxolo who is a self-described meat lover eat the whole thing.  The only down side is you can’t request a fillet at these events! ; ) 

A common thing taking place in my community (and undoubtedly around the world) is the blending of Western culture with traditional ceremonies and rituals.  Alcohol plays a large part in these events and in addition to supplying the food, the family is responsible for supplying people with drinks.  In the old days the only alcohol consumed would have been the umqomboti, now days because of people’s preferences there are all kinds of alcohol served at these events.  Another blending of modern culture and tradition is the clothes you must wear.  For the family – the women will generally be wearing traditional dress.  The levels of how traditional the clothes are vary on the family, but it always involves either a skirt or dress.  For older women who are married they will wrap their head in a scarf.  I’ve noticed the men at these events tend to wear whatever they want (unless the family is very traditional which I’ve only seen once).  The youth take these traditions less seriously and some girls will wrap a towel around their jeans and call it a day. 

Even with the “modernization” of some parts of these ceremonies, the Xhosa tradition and culture remains very strong.  I really enjoy getting to experience these unique parts of South African culture.  It’s a privilege to be able to see how other people in the world live and get to experience first hand what they believe. 

Girls Leading Our World :: Camp GLOW

Last September as Noxolo and I were coming up with the goals for our Alexandria Girls Clubs one of them was “to hold a Camp GLOW”.  That goal finally became a reality this October 1^st – 5^th as six counselors and twenty learners from Ukhanyo Secondary School and Alexandria High School joined us at Bushbuck Adventure Camp for a week like nothing we had ever experienced! 

Planning Stages

As soon as I heard of Camp GLOW (a program that was started by PCVs in Romania in 1995) I knew it was something I wanted to do with my time in the Peace Corps – and I knew it would be my biggest project.  I worked in the Leadership and Service office at ISU – leadership development is kind of my nerdy thing.  After participating in a life-changing week long leadership program myself (and then working as the Student Coordinator of it for three years) I knew how immensely impactful, wonderful, and fun a week long leadership camp could be – and my standards were set high.  Using my experiences in the Leadership and Service office, including things from Alternative Spring Breaks I began the task of putting together a week long leadership camp focusing on four things: leadership (obviously), HIV/AIDS & wellness, personal discovery and growth, and female empowerment.  These four overarching themes directed each and every lesson and activity that we did. 

The week was put together to follow daily themes: community, the value of you, challenging the status quo, leading with your values, and taking it home.  Each day we had a goal which correlated to the daily theme as we worked through our lessons and activities.  The Camp GLOW curriculum took me a looooooooong time to put together and in total was 144 pages.  The counselor’s manuals were a detailed, step by step guide for staff.  They included: facilitator training, the daily to do list, the daily curriculum, inspirational materials, and ice breakers and energizers. 

The Camp GLOW [Rock Stars] Staff

Starting in June the planning committee (aka the Camp GLOW staff) started meeting to prepare and plan.  Putting together our staff was something that came together amazingly easy.  I needed a group of committed women, who were already positive role models in their community that would be willing to not only spend an entire week working for free, but also spend four full months planning and meeting.  I had my eyes open for good counterparts and was able to find an AMAZING group of women for the camp.  Our lead facilitators would be Noxolo (an employee of the local Department of Social Development, and Alexandria Girls Club leader) and me.  One of my best friends in the Peace Corps Sam offered to come down and help out and she served as our site coordinator.  She was my right hand woman throughout the whole week and helped to make sure it all went smoothly (which it did thanks to her!).

Our Sister Leaders – the women who would be interacting with the girls on a much more personal level as their small group leaders (aka Sister Teams) were all made for this job!  Phindiswa and Nelly both work for the Department of Education as “learner support agents” comparable to social workers at the local schools.  Elgene works as a monitor at the Alexandria Christian Academy and runs the youth programs at the church I attend.  She got her sister Kaylynn to fill in as our fourth Sister Leader – unfortunately Kaylynn was unable to actually come because she got a new job that began on the same day as Camp; but she was an invaluable asset to our planning committee in the months leading up to GLOW. 

Something that makes me really proud of our GLOW is that not only was it empowering the learners we had from the schools, but also our staff.  This was such a unique opportunity for them to learn and grow professionally and personally.  These women are passionately committed to seeing the people of their community empowered – and it is truly inspiring to see all the hard work they put into their roles as Camp GLOW staff.  I am so grateful, blessed, and inspired by them continually!  My expectations of them were extremely high and they were there ready to rise to each and every challenge I put in front of them.  They did an outstanding job and I’m so proud of all of them!

The Camp

After four months of Saturday planning committee meetings, me stalking the participants and their schools, three shopping trips to Port Elizabeth for supplies, and endless hours of preparation the week finally arrived – Camp GLOW!  All of our participants showed up (I was worried that someone would forget despite my mass text messages of last minute reminders) and the camp began!

At first the girls were shy and quite, a little apprehensive and not quite sure what to expect.  That quickly changed and by day two we could see the girls coming out of their shells.  By day three we were astounded at some of the transformations we were seeing.  Girls that hadn’t said a single word were suddenly speaking up in the big group discussions – it was so encouraging.  The following are some of the highlights of the week…

Day Two:

A LOT of girls cited learning about their values on day two as one of their favorite things about Camp GLOW.  The focus was on learning about who you are, what you value – your “core values” and then congruence between your values and actions.  I think this message really impacted them! 

The challenge course – was not only hilarious but a great workout!  A lot of girls enjoyed this part of the day and working on their team building – doing activities like the human knot.  The key message of the day was that each of us has our own value that we bring to the table but it’s also critical for leaders to be able to work well on team!   

Know Your Epidemic – this was one of the only times that we actually discussed HIV/AIDS at Camp GLOW.  Part of the reason is – all of the youth in my community know what behaviors are risky and put them in danger of contracting HIV.  They know what HIV is, they understand how it can affect you, and that it can’t be cured.  What they don’t know is exactly what HIV looks like in South Africa as a nation.  It is not widely understood that HIV is actually a pandemic in South Africa and exactly how widespread it is here (and that it is not how it is in the rest of the world).  In my opinion – you cannot fight something if you don’t really understand it.  If the youth of this country don’t understand that they have a unique challenge to overcome in regards to HIV they will not be able to see an HIV free generation.  We showed the comparison to statistics on HIV in the United States and South Africa.  The small group discussions that took place as part of this session were amazing!

Day Three:

Why Gender Matters: we talked about the difference between sex and gender, did an activity that demonstrated how much influence gender stereotypes have on us, and discussed why this is important for us to talk about and relevant to them. 

Dream Big: Vision and Goals Development: Each participant went through the process of developing a vision and goals.  A vision was something that was “others focused” – an improvement that they wanted to see in their community.  The focus was not on individual desires and goals – by going through this process they could apply it to their own personal lives, but we wanted to encourage community involvement and active citizenship.  This was very powerful to many of them, especially at their age (15-19) as they generally aren’t used to thinking about how they can impact their community.  The visions and goals that they developed were so incredibly inspiring!  These ladies have big dreams and hopes for their community!

Challenging the Status Quo: The main activity addressing this was group discussions on the following things: women’s rights in South Africa, caring for the environment, racism in South Africa, and HIV/AIDS.  These discussions got them thinking about the tough questions and the attitudes and circumstances that people generally just accept as “how things are” here.  The conversations that ensued were extremely interesting.

Women Leaders in Our Community: Guest Speaker Panel.  Three women from Alexandria that are leaders in their community were invited to speak about what it’s been like for them as women leaders in the community.  The HIV/AIDS Coordinator of Ndlambe Municipality, the Ward Counselor of Alexandria, and the Project Manger of Ikhwezi Support Group all attended and shared their knowledge with us.  The girls engaged the guest speakers by asking insightful questions.  Having living examples of women from their community that have become leaders was so important for the girls – and I think made a lasting impression on them. 

Day Four:

Outdoor Adventure: Hiking.  Part of our day consisted of a two hour hike through the bush.  It was along a stream and so much fun!  Several girls’ citied hiking as one of their favorite things about the Camp.  Most of the girls don’t ever get to go hiking so it’s a rare and fun opportunity for them! 

Embracing Failure: in their Sister Teams the girls talked about new ways to look at failure.  We were encouraging them to dream really big with their visions and goals - “great leaders have a healthy disregard for the impossible” after all.  In order to prepare them for the challenges that lay before them we wanted to provide them with a new outlook on failing.  The following quotes were just some of the inspiration we provided for the new viewpoint: 

“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly” – Robert F. Kennedy, former United States Congressman

“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”  –Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa

“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm” – Winston Churchill, former Prime Minister of England

Juggling Life: Stress Management.  This was a session that a large majority of girls cited as being something they had learned at Camp GLOW – how to manage their stress in positive ways. 

Seeing the Possibilities: I Can’t Funeral.  After their final sister team reflections where participants got to meet one on one to share each others positive qualities we held an I Can’t Funeral.  Each of us wrote down things that others have said to us, or that we say to ourselves that are negative.  We each then read these things out loud to the group (it was optional but everyone chose to participate) and then threw the paper into the fire “burying” those negative messages.  This turned out to be an extremely emotional activity with a lot of girls letting out things that they had clearly been holding in for a long time.  Sharing these deep things with each other allowed them to finally release that burden and find the support that they needed to prove their own self worth to themselves.  It was extremely touching and empowering.

Day Five:

Taking It Home: we discussed the different ways they can apply what they have learned at Camp GLOW at home, the potential challenges they thought they might face, and how they could address each one of those challenges.

Celebration: Silent Thanks – as one of our last activities we all got a chance to anonymously thank one another.  With our eyes shut and back facing the inside of the circle five girls came into the middle at a time and touched the shoulders of people for statements like “someone that always makes you laugh”, “someone you liked getting to know better”, and “someone you want to thank but haven’t”.  It’s a very feel good activity! 

Acknowledgements and Certificate Ceremony: I surprised the staff with gifts – picture frames, water bottles, and bracelets for all of their hard work.  To our huge surprise the Sister Leaders and the girls had organized gifts for Sam and me – also pictures with an African scene and really cute necklaces!  It was such a surprise I couldn’t believe it!  We all got our certificates and then it was time for the final activity before Camp was over. 

Touchstones: everyone got a small glass pebble to remind them of their time at Camp GLOW.  I gave a final speech which ended with the quotation by Robert Kennedy: “It is from numberless acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped.  Each time a person stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends out a tiny ripple of home, and those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

Feedback

One of the great things about such a long program is you can see the transformation in many of the participants.  Yet it can be very difficult to actually assess how successful a program was besides qualitative stories.  As part of our monitoring and evaluation of Camp GLOW each participant filled out a pre and post camp survey to assess their knowledge and skills gained.  We also had feedback forms which asked: what did you learn about yourself this week at Camp GLOW, and what was your favorite part of Camp GLOW.   

I’m proud to report that there were great improvements on the post Camp surveys which showed that after the Camp all of our objectives were successfully met.  Yay!   

Feedback Forms:

The following are a few examples of what the participants of Camp GLOW had to say…

What did you learn about yourself at Camp GLOW?

I learned how to make healthy decisions for my self.  I learned how to resolve conflict, about leadership, and my values.  I also learned about how HIV/AIDS affects my country and the youth. 

I learned that I can achieve my goals and visions and I can be what I want to be in life.  I learned how to make important decisions and that I can be a leader in my community and I shouldn’t let anyone discourage me.  I should have faith in myself if I want to change the way my community is.  I can work with people and everyone should be respected no matter what our age group is.

I have learned how to: communicate with people and teammates, my values as a person, how to look at failure, and how to manage my stress.  I have the ability to be a role model for my peers, and finally I have learned that I can be a leader and I will be a leader. 

In this week I learned everything about community.  I learned how to manage stress and how to live with my values.  Mostly I learned about how to behave as a girl, how to make good choices, and how to handle peer pressure.  As a young teenager you must follow your dreams.

What was your favorite part of Camp GLOW?

My favorite part was the challenge course because there I faced my fear of failing and heights.  So I enjoyed it a lot and it has taught me to not fear failure because it is how you learn and it makes you stronger. 

My favorite part was when the Sister Teams were together.  We learned that everyone is special in different ways, and we laughed together. 

My favorite part of Camp GLOW was the making and understanding of new friends.  The best part of Camp GLOW was the learning part because I was asking the Lord, let this Camp give me something to live for and instead of something you guys gave me a lot to take home and apply in my own life.

My favorite part of Camp GLOW is when we were talking about our values because I never thought our values are so important and that they make you who you are.  You should respect others values and you have to lead with your values as a person so that you can succeed. 

The following are notes I wanted to share that I got in my Happy Bag.  Two of them make my life and two of them are just hilarious:

“I want you to know you are the best thing that ever happened to me I LOVE YOU!!!”

“You have a lot of energy you don’t get tired, you always teach and talk but I like you……..”

“You’ve showed me what humanity means in so many ways.  I have changed as a young person: Thank u”

“Thankz to you & Noxolo this camp is very nyc [nice] I thought it would be boring love u a lot”

: )

I want to say a HUGE thank you, dankie, and enkosi to the following people and organizations for making Camp GLOW possible:

Noxolo, Phindiswa, Nelly, Elgene, Sam, Kaylynn, Almare, the Bushbuck staff, Ukhanyo Secondary School, Alexandria High School (special shout out to Mr. Meyer and Mr. Wentzel), Ikhwezi Support Group, Life Christian Center, Sunshine Coast Charity Trust, SA Chicory (thanks Henry!), all the local businesses who donated (there were lots!), all of my lovely friends and family in the States who after countless times of me harassing them for money for this or that - they STILL donated, and last but absolutely not least the participants!  I’m so grateful to all of you – a thank you will never really express exactly how much I appreciate a community coming together to try and make a positive change in the world!

After all…

"We must be the change we wish to see in the world..." - Gandhi

Back to Bucket Baths

Well my friends it is back to my trusty bucket baths after two weeks of visitors from America (and mostly hot showers)!  I want to state for the record that I’m not complaining about this.  I don’t mind bucket baths…I have a great system.  It’s not very efficient in regards to time or resources but I realize it could be worse (like a COLD bucket bath!). 

I had two great friends visit me for the last two weeks.  The first to arrive was my college roommate and Phi Sig sister Allie.  Two days after her Dani my Leadership and Service bestie arrived!  We had a BLAST and the time passed by in a blink.  Before I knew it I was sending them off at the Port Elizabeth airport. 

We had a crazy schedule when they first got here – trying to find a good balance between showing them my life at site and seeing the local sights (which there are a ton of!).  Here are my highlights of the trip…

Fourth of July Traditional Dinner

We went across the street to my South African family’s house for a traditional dinner and celebrated the 4^th with some ‘Merica themed temporary tattoos, fancy straws, and American Flag banners.  One of the goals of the Peace Corps is to share American culture with the host country nationals and I believe that goal was achieved fully in this night!  My favorite part was when my middle aged mama requested a temporary tattoo of an American flag on her face.  It was great.  They cooked my favorite traditional food which I can’t spell (or say) the name of.  It’s supposed to be made with a plant that is collected out in the bush but can be substituted with spinach.  It’s made of spinach, mealie meal (a form of corn that in this case looks like a smaller version of couscous), onion, salt, and if you want, chilies.  It is delicious and the girls thought so too!  

National Arts Festival in Grahamstown

We wandered around the huge arts market and were temped by many cool things!  All of us came away with something unique.  We also ate at the “famous” pub Rat & Parrot which has been on my bucket list since I saw it!  It looks like an old British pub…which in reality it kind of is, just in South Africa. 

After the festival we went back to the Smith’s house where we proceeded to mix cultures some more with a traditional braai in honor of the 4^th.  We made traditional BBQ foods from the States (potato salad, fruit salad, and a spinach dip with taco chips) and they braaied the meats.  Dani literally fell in love with warthog fillet.  When I say fell in love…I really mean it.  Someone find a specialty store in the States and get that girl some warthog.  We had a great night and all ate so much we had stomach aches (or at least I did). 

Addo Elephant Park

This was simply amazing.  We were able to drive through the park at our own leisure and choose our route.  We saw so many different animals!  Tons of elephants along with zebra, warthog, kudu (like elk only with spiraling antlers), meerkats, monkeys, cranes, other birds, and other kinds of buck (deer-like animals).  The elephants were so amazing and came SO CLOSE to the car.  There were three separate times that we were in the middle of elephant crossings on the road and more than one time that I was slightly concerned if I should roll up my window.  You are not allowed to get out of your car expect at designated points in the park.  We did get out at one point in one of the designated areas despite the signs “BEWARE OF LIONS – Get out at own risk”.  Luckily, no lions were present at that point in time.  The whole experience was incredible, and I’m so grateful I was able to finally visit there!  It’s an absolutely breathtaking place – with beautiful blue rolling hills as the backdrop to herds of elephants.  Can’t ask for much more than that.  

Port Elizabeth

At different points in time we spent the night (or nights) in Port Elizabeth.  Sometimes for airport proximity and other times because it was raining for days straight and we had nothing else to do (sorry Dani)!  We went out to my two favorite places dancing – Balizza and Aqua, and had a great time chatting with the locals and the international crowd at the backpackers.  Also, Dani and I saw Snow White and the Huntsman one particularity rainy day and couldn’t believe that it ended with a solid minute on a close up of Kristen Steward making awkward faces.  Seriously?!   

Nature’s Valley

We spent two nights on the Garden Route near Tsitsikamma (10 points if you can guess how it’s pronounced correctly) in a cool place called Wild Spirit Backpackers which boarders the Tsitsikamma National Park.  We got to do some cool hikes in the area (the weather was a little bit rainy while we were there) so we also swung down to the posh Plettenberg Bay (which reminded me of an outlying LA beach town along the lines of Santa Monica).  We also saw baboons which was really cool/terrifying.  They are CRAZY.  We had lots of shenanigans at this place and it is where we discovered our love affair with Amarula thanks to my friend Matt.  I highly recommend a double on the rocks.  Absolutely delectable.  Also, we saw a lot of fire-twirling performers (it was fully of hippies) and I seriously think that my brother needs to take up this hobby for multiple reasons.  

The Billabong Pro

From Nature’s Valley we made a pit stop in Jeffery’s Bay for the Billabong Pro which was totally rad.  I have never seen professional surfing and it is so impressive – they make it look extremely easy.  I couldn’t believe how good they were (although they should be since it’s an international competition I guess…).  It was so cool to see.  We were able to watch several heats and see some really great surfing.  There was an American for which were cheering and I tried to say hi when we saw him on the beach and all I managed was a “Go America…YAY!”.  It was slightly embarrassing and he did not seem to appreciate our US pride.  Oh well.  Maybe if we had offered him a temporary US Flag tattoo he would have taken us more seriously…

We ate out at this restaurant/bar The Mexican which actually has pretty good “Mexican” food by South African standards (they have sour cream/guacamole which is a big deal).  Hilarious moment ensued when the waitress brought me my “burrito” which was in fact two hard shell tacos.  Me: “Oh, I’m sorry, I ordered a burrito”.  Waitress: “Yes.  This is a burrito”.  Okay.  They were great tacos though.  

American Time

It was really great getting to spend time with old friends, catching up, and hanging out.  I was laughing constantly, and enjoyed being able to share this huge part of my life with two great people!  Now that I’m back at site I’ve been catching up on sleep, eating healthy, and trying to motivate myself to work out.  I was so unhealthy for two weeks – it’s time to get back on track!  

I have been getting a little nervous at the thought of coming back to the States after two years over here in my own South African/American world.  Dani and Allie’s visit made me realize that I have very little to worry about going back.  At least when it comes to friends I know that I’ll be able to pick up right where I left off (after a few hours of catch up and wine that is).  Before their visit I was also nervous that somehow their trip would make me homesick.  That didn’t happen although any mention of great (or horrible food places ie. Taco Bell) made me super jealous but it’s fine! 

All in all, I’m happy to still have time in South Africa.  I look forward to the lessons, challenges, and successes ahead of me in my service.  I also can breathe a little easier and look forward to the stage after Peace Corps and my return to the States.  And, even though I can’t believe it myself, I don’t even mind coming back to the bucket bath. 

I feel so content and grateful in this moment. 

“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is mystery…today is a gift” – Roosevelt. 

Good Things

The last few months seemed to have disappeared into thin air. Although I have to say that some big things have happened and are about to happen!  

Camp GLOW
I applied and have received a VAST Grant for a program called Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World)! Camp GLOW is a program that was started by a group of PCVs in Romania in 1995. Since then Camp GLOWs have been held by PCVs all over the world – a lot right here in South Africa! The core idea is as relevant today as it was in 1995. I am absolutely, over-the-moon, totally stoked for this program! Our Camp GLOW will take place over five days of the October school holiday and will cover four main themes: HIV/AIDS and wellness, leadership, female empowerment, and personal development and growth. We will be taking 20 girls from our girls clubs out to the “bush” for the experience of a lifetime! With five local female counterparts, my PCV friend Sam, and myself – I’m confident we will be able to hold an outstanding camp and reach our four main project objectives.

I’m in the process of developing the full camp curriculum and I have to say that even though it’s an extremely long and detailed process – I’m absolutely LOVING IT. I have found that I really enjoy the development process and even though I didn’t think it was possible it’s making me MORE excited as I imagine us doing all the things I’m planning. The process has made me realize how grateful I am for my previous experiences and connections. Thanks to my work with LeaderShape and the Leadership and Service Office I have an endless amount of ideas for the camp – and also the most outstanding example I can think of – LeaderShape. If there ever was a leadership camp to aim to be even half as good as – LeaderShape is it. I also am just so grateful to the Leadership and Service Office at Illinois State and my old colleagues. On day two of the camp we will be doing leadership/personality assessments to find out “our style”. I needed something basic – with not too high a level of English. I wasn’t finding anything on the internet at all that fit the requirements (basic, easy, printable). With two emails I had 30 attachments of EXACTLY what I had been looking for! I’m so glad and I can’t wait to find out who in our group is a North, South, East, or West when we take the Personality Compass!

I can’t lie – I’m pretty proud that I have successfully written a grant. I just need to say a huge thank you to my Aunt Kelly, Aunt Pat, and my Mom! Their feedback, corrections, and suggestions helped me so much. Thank you! While I am so pleased that we have received this grant – there is still a lot of fundraising work to be done. I’ll be posting more about Camp GLOW as the weeks go by, but if you are interested in supporting Camp GLOW – please consider going to the following website and donating http://fnd.us/c/cJeG1. While the VAST covers the majority of our costs there was a cap on the amount of money we could request for food/lodging. Obviously four nights and five days of food for 26 people isn’t cheap! We are fundraising like mad-women in our community but need your help as well!  

Cape Town
I was given the best surprise last month when my good friend Michelle’s boyfriend Mark contacted me with a special idea. He wanted to surprise Michelle by bringing me out to Cape Town for a week that he was going to be away on business (talk about a great boyfriend!). I don’t ask questions when it comes to free travel so my answer was a very speedy – absolutely!

I had a blast in Cape Town hanging out with Michelle and just relaxing! It is a truly beautiful city. It’s the most dramatic, and unique looking city I’ve ever been to. With Table Mountain at the center of the city it’s breathtaking. My friend Michelle was working during the week but we still got to see and do a lot of cool things. The waterfront, beaches, wine country, shopping, eating great food – it was perfect! I really enjoyed the city, and can’t wait for when I go back in December with my PCV friends as well. We didn’t do a lot of the big things you do when in Cape Town because the weather is so much more ideal for them in December when I’ll be back (liking climbing Table Mountain!).

It was so nice to see my friend Michelle and get to hang out. She was in the process of moving into her apartment in Seaside and I was able to help her. We also explored her new neighborhood together which was so fun. And besides Chinatown in San Francisco I have NEVER seen so many Asian food restaurants on one short stretch of neighborhood! There were well over 10 in a matter two miles. I’m more than a little jealous.  

Visitors! Visitors! Visitors!
For the first time in over a year I’m going to have visitors to my site! One other PCV has seen my site – my friend Will and that was less than a minute when we got a ride back from PE together. This time they are here to stay! Recently I found out a fellow PCV will be visiting me for a few days which should be really fun.

My other visitors I have had a countdown for them to get here for months! In EIGHT DAYS my dear friend and “roomie-for-life” Allie will be arriving in PE! Two days after her Dani, my bestie from the Leadership and Service Office will be arriving! I can’t wait for all the adventures we are going to have! Having people visit me almost has me a little nervous and it definitely has me noticing all of the things I do daily that are so normal to me, but may not be to other people.  To name a few:

Taking 10 tries to unlock the back door – when I do nothing different at all…it just WON’T OPEN.
 
Having to use all of my body strength to close the refrigerator and lock it since the ice block in the back is so huge it makes the drawers stick out. Last night – I called my host sister and asked what to do because after - no joke - FIVE solid minutes of attempting and failing to close it I had given up. I let it open for a while, washed a few dishes and then managed to close it (that luckily is being fixed today though – we’re unplugging it and letting it melt).

Bucket baths. Enough said. This is going to be a time consuming and tricky process when more than just me needs to bathe…

My “chamber pot”, if you will. I'm sorry if this is TMI but once I’m locked in my room for the night – I’m in. So…I sometimes pee in a bucket. You might be wondering why I would do that. Well, this would be my process to go inside after I’m in for the night: Unlock room door, unlock burglar door, lock room door, unlock house door (which as I stated above can take me multiple tries), lock house door, go to bathroom, unlock house door, lock house door, unlock room, lock burglar door, lock room door. So – it’s just so much easier to skip all that. Especially when it’s dark and cold and I’m lazy.

My complete disregard or reaction to cockroaches/bugs. Although lucky for them it’s winter and the cockroaches go away for the most part. I haven’t even seen any in the kitchen lately which is pretty amazing.

That’s all I can think of now but I’m sure there are a million other things that are totally NOT “normal”, that I don’t even notice at this point. Regardless – I CAN NOT WAIT for them to get here and to share my PC life with them! It’s going to be such a blast! We have some really cool things planned – seeing Addo Elephant Park, visiting the National Arts Festival, seeing the local beaches, celebrating the 4th of July (that’s my request) with a traditional South Africa braai, and whatever else we can come up with!

Unfortunately for Allie and Dani who both love service and were looking forward to doing some projects with me – nothing is happening! All the schools are on a three week school winter holiday. That means that none of my programs are taking place as normal. Hopefully we will be able to do some fun things with the local youth regardless. I’m sure I can gather some kids – even if it’s just the neighborhood kids that always play at the park on my street. It will be great!

I’m looking forward to so many parts of Allie and Dani’s visit. I’m looking forward to sharing the most basic parts of my life, having people to talk to non-stop for two weeks that have the same context and references I do, and hearing what they have to say about South Africa. I’m looking forward to seeing familiar faces after a year and a half of new faces. I haven’t seen anyone that I knew before January 2011 in OVER A YEAR. That is such a bizarre realization to have. In addition to all these things - I’m most excited to introduce all the people that have been a part of my life for the last year and a half to my American friends! It’s going to be so much freaking fun!  

Fun Thing
I am the June Alumnae Spotlight for Phi Sigma Sigma! I was featured in their June newsletter Connections and my story is on the website! I was even on the homepage! : ) You can read my spotlight here: http://www.phisigmasigma.org/phisigmasigma/inaction/alumnaspotlight/profiles/alumna/AlanaMcGintyEpsilonAlphaChapteratIllinoisStateUniversity/.

As a parting reminder – please consider donating to Camp GLOW! If you could share the link to the page on your Facebook/email/twitter I would really, really appreciate it also – the more people know about it the closer I can get to my fundraising goal http://fnd.us/c/cJeG1. Huge thank you to my Uncle Rick - my first donor! : )  

“Live in the moment and make it so beautiful that it will be worth remembering!” -Crosby

Challenges

“Most obstacles melt away when we make up our minds to walk boldly through them.”
-Orison Wett Marden

I haven’t written in a long time! The time since January has flown by, and I literally cannot believe it is April (I always say that don’t I?). This time I mean it. I have multiple times now thought to myself “the weather was not this cold last March!” and then I remember that we’re half way through April. Unbelievable. From January until the end of March I was exhausted between all of my new projects and training for Longtom. I was too exhausted to do much else besides just collapse on my bed every night.

March was an exciting month because we had our Mid Service Conference (MSC) in Pretoria. You may remember me talking about how I had been in South Africa for a year back in January. A few weeks ago marked the one year anniversary of being in my community. It is really exciting and also alarming to think about it. The clock is now ticking and I have less than a year to accomplish all of the things that I still hope to do! It’s a lot of pressure (self imposed) to get things done. At our MSC we had doctors’ appointments, dental appointments, and did some reflection. It was also my first time being able to meet the new people in charge of PC SA – our new Country Director and our new Director of Programming and Training. It was AWESOME to get to meet them and hear all of the exciting changes they have in store for PC SA.

I was really impressed (as I think we all were) with their plans to improve the program that I am a part of – CHOP (Community HIV/AIDS Outreach Program). The way the program is currently designed is that PCVs get placed with partner organizations and are supposed to focus on “building capacity” of those organizations. Well, as most of us realize after some time, for a variety of reasons that I won’t get into, that mission is admirable but extremely difficult (dare I say impossible?) for many of us. Therefore we shift focus, and redirect to different things. For example starting in December I shifted my focus to be on reaching out to multiple community organizations, largely the schools. The new CHOP program will look like basically what all CHOP volunteers are already doing – which is working with whatever community organizations we can to see an impact. Basically, PC SA is changing its program to be what it already really is in reality. From now on when they report back to PC it will look like they are actually reaching the targets they are aiming for! : )

Other changes are to refocus onto two (possibly three) Provinces instead of all the ones they are in now (I believe it’s seven). This means that my EC group (the six of us that are currently in the Eastern Cape) are the first and last to be sent here. I am personally sad about this, because I know how much the Eastern Cape could benefit from a long term partnership with the Peace Corps, but I also understand where PC SA is coming from. They want to really start to see an impact in South Africa and have seen great success from the Provinces they are planning to work in. I am so happy to have had the opportunity to serve in this amazing Province and I already look forward to the day that I can come back with my children to South Africa and show them where I used to live. I love the Eastern Cape!

At MSC we did a lot of reflective activities on the last year, and the year to come. There is a PC life cycle chart which shows the “typical” ups and downs of PC service (the mental/emotional rollercoaster so to speak). This chart we reference at every PC training/conference and it’s supposed to help you anticipate your feelings and also know that you’re not alone if you are feeling one way or another. There is a “slump” at MSC usually which I can sort of relate to. Lately, I think I have been having my first feelings in my life of “homesickness”. It’s funny to me that I have to put that in quotes, but this feeling is so bizarre and new to me that it didn’t even dawn on me that it WAS feelings of homesickness until a few days ago.

I can honestly say that I can never in my life remember feeling homesick – not that I don’t love my family, friends, and home. Traveling is probably my favorite thing in the entire world, and being off and experiencing new things is what I live for! But, I think that the realization that I haven’t seen my family, best friends, and home in over a year (and won’t again for another year) is sad to me. I miss all those things so much! It started back in February with me thinking an abnormal amount about the United States and all of the wonderful foods (and other things but mostly food/drinks) I could get there (I fantasize about a food…A LOT…). Lately I’ve been missing football games? I don’t think I ever actually really enjoyed a football game – this is what my mind wanders to though. Eish. While I have been feeling homesick, but I also think of this as my home and I can’t even think about leaving and the goodbyes I’m going to have to say without tearing up. It’s such a bizarre feeling. I think also, once you hit the year mark, the charm of the restrained life you live gets less and less charming.

I’m not talking about the simple things like getting used to bucket baths or cockroaches…I’ve gotten used to that and don’t even MIND the things like that. Its other things like not being able to leave your house by yourself after dark. Or, not having easy to access (basically ANY in my case) transportation options. Peace Corps Volunteers are free, but we have a restricted and restrained freedom that after a while loses ANY of the charm that it might have at one point held. The other thing that begins to lose charm is specific parts of the cultural differences. Each PCV has a different cultural thing that really impacts them and is difficult to deal with. Again, I’m not talking about the quirky things that South Africans do that we might think are silly or funny, but we get used to right away. For example the fact that random women strangers may occasional kiss me on the lips or people are consistently late is not a big deal to me, nor does it bother me. Those things are easy to get used to. I’m talking about the fact that gender inequality is all around me, all the time, in covert and overt ways. It is these types of cultural things that make you feel absolutely helpless that are the hardest to deal with.

I have no qualms about calling myself a feminist. I have what I would consider liberal views in this area and I’m not claiming that America is the land of gender equality by any means. However it is strikingly different here and having to see gender inequality all around me causes so many different emotions: anger, sadness, helplessness, annoyance, shock, and disbelief. Mostly it encourages me to try and figure out a way that I can reach both females and males to empower them to not allow these things to continue. Today I had a very disturbing experience that relates directly to this. As I got back from my run, I witnessed a very public fight between a couple on my street. The parents of the children that stay next door to me (they stay with their grandma) were fighting. The father wanted the mother to come back to my neighbors house (the couple doesn’t stay there just their children). Well she didn’t want to go. This did not matter. He was grabbing her arm, hitting her, while she was using all her weight to stay on the ground to not be dragged back. Eventually he picked her up by the throat and began to drag/push/pull/hit her back to the house while screaming at her. I was watching this in absolute horror, and really felt at one point like I was going to throw up. I watched a little bit longer to see him get her into the yard and continue to hit her with all his strength. I have never in my life felt so completely helpless.

I spoke to my host sister about it a little later and was so happy (and honestly surprised) that she said that if they are doing that then someone must call the cops. She told our other neighbor about it who basically shrugged it off saying that they always do that when they are drunk. I have to be honest and say that I don’t believe that anyone would ever actually call the cops on them, and multiple people witnessed this scene probably thinking what our neighbor thought “they are always like that when they are drunk”. Why? Because abuse of women is so unbelievably common and accepted that it’s normal. I have not ever witnessed a beating until today, but I have seen the outcome of abuse too many times and heard many survival stories.

Why am I telling you all this? Well, I generally like to keep this blog happy and upbeat but I also think it’s important to be honest and share the things that I struggle with, and PCVs all over South Africa (and most certainly all over the world) face as serious challenges. Things like cockroaches are insignificant when it comes to facing things like restricted freedom and gender inequality. And, for me, these things have taken a year to really sink in. They were always there, it’s just when you realize that they are there to stay for the rest of your service when it gets a little bit harder to bear. I’m so lucky though to have an amazing support system both in country and out. I don’t even want to think what I would do without my amazing PC friends!

The other big challenge I’m facing is knowing that I’m not going to see most of my friends again until December. This is a major bummer. My sites location might as well be on the other side of the world from most of PC SA. Also my South African besite Michelle is moving to Cape Town this Wednesday. I’m so excited for her because she’s wanted to move there for so long and this is an exciting new adventure for her, but selfishly I’m sad and wish she could pause her adventure until next March. And then finally I broke my external hard drive which compared to all of these things is ridiculously unimportant (except the potential loss of ALL pre-PC photos) but felt like the last little punch. Eish. Luckily I have my Eastern Capers to get together with! And I absolutely CAN NOT WAIT for my visit from my “roomie for life” Allie in July. I cannot wait to share South Africa with one of my best friends from the States!

For a happy ending: I did really well on my first ever half marathon! I got to see Sabie, Mpumalanga which is beautiful (minus all the clear cuts…sad day), and got to meet tons more PC SA volunteers from other groups. I ran 21.1 km (13 miles) in exactly two hours and ten minutes which I was totally stoked about. I couldn’t walk properly for three days, but it was worth it! The braai after the race was so delicious and a great party! PCVs are a fun bunch when you get us all together! I’m planning on keeping up a running routine but also adding some exercises in. I’m running a 5km race with Michelle’s sister in PE in May which I’m looking forward to and will be a breeze after 21.1 km!

Winter is upon us (even though it was 82 degrees today) earlier in the week it was in the 50s. It’s definitely getting colder and I’m just hoping it’s not such a wet winter like last year. I’m in the planning process of my Camp GLOW that we hope to hold in September over the school holiday. I’m getting ridiculously excited for this Camp even in the planning stages! Now I just need to buckle down and REALLY plan since the funding proposal is due in May. Eish. Otherwise all else is well. I’m re-reading my favorite book “Gone With The Wind” (which if you haven’t read you should) and loving it even more this time around. I am also SO excited that my kindle is finally up and running thanks to access to wireless internet (FINALLY) and thanks to sharing and giving nature of my fellow PCVs I have an absurd amount of ebooks to choose from. I’m really looking forward to starting the Hunger Games series, after that all the Harry Potters, and then the Lord of the Rings. Should keep me busy for quite some time!

My Inspiration:

“The adventure of life is to learn. The goal of life is to grow. The nature of life is to change. The challenge of life is to overcome. The essence of life is to care. The secret of life is to dare. The beauty of life is to give. The joy of life is to love!”
-William Ward

One Year In

The 26th of January marked the one year anniversary of living in South Africa for myself and the rest of my SA 23 group. It is the most bizarre feeling. While it’s almost impossible to wrap my mind around that figure: one year, it in some ways feels like so much longer than that. I have done a lot of reflecting about the last year, and I am feeling so satisfied and fulfilled.

I believe that in most things – it takes a full year to truly find your footing. I consider myself a fast learner – but to truly understand how things work I believe it takes at least a year. Which is why I am so happy that I have 14 more months here in South Africa, I finally feel as though I have some things figured out.

Thinking back on the last year I have learned so much that while it was happening I wasn’t able to really understand. I had lots of people say things to me like “you must be learning so much about yourself and changing” and honestly when people would say that I would think…well if that’s true I have NO IDEA what those things are. I think that’s because the first year living in South Africa it was basically survival mode. Not in a physical sense (I’ve always felt safe) but constantly being in a state of “am I doing this right?” or “is this rude?” or “can I say that?” or “should I do that?”. It was one uncertain feeling and question after another. And at the end of the day – after constantly being in situations that were new – I didn’t have the energy to attempt to reflect back on the day about all of the things I may or may not be learning. As much as I loved and appreciated reflection time on Alternative Spring Breaks – when you are LIVING an ASB the deep reflective time goes out the window and all you want to do is NOT think about the fact that you have no idea what’s happening most of the time, and if your honest – very little control over anything.

When it hit me that I’d lived in South Africa for a year – it almost felt like a switch flipped and I no longer feel unsure. I belong in this community – it’s my home, has been for a year and will be for the next 14 months (since it’s now almost thirteen months to the day). I have friends, I know what I’m here to be doing, and I can accomplish the things I want to accomplish. I’m so excited about my remaining time in South Africa and about all of the projects and programs I am working on. I no longer always worry if something I’m going to do or say may be interpreted in a certain way. There are a lot of things I have learned about myself and others. I would say one of the biggest lessons I have learned in the Peace Corps is no matter where I am in the world – I can only be myself – and I should embrace the strengths that I have to offer (and continue to work on the weaknesses). I can only be me and there is such a great feeling in becoming secure in the person you are! I’m so incredibly happy right now!

The Year of Action…
So far, 2012 has been a year of action for me! I came back from my holiday with a renewed sense of where my focus should be – the youth. Not only do I love working with youth – but I also happen to believe that if you’re going to make a change – a good place to start is the youth. So – this year my focus is almost 100% youth driven. And, I thought I was busy before…HAH! Now that I have my set schedule down – I’m busier than ever. Throw training for a half marathon into that mix and you got yourself someone on the go 24/7! I’m pretty sure that I’ve done more in the last two months than I did in the first six. So far in 2012 I’ve been up to the following…

Training:
Training for Longtom the half marathon in Mpumalanga. I’m on week five right now, and feeling GREAT! Some days, I hate running, but most of the time I love it. Actually what I’ve decided is that I will never really enjoy long runs – my ideal run length is three miles, but I’m really enjoying the challenge and pushing myself both mentally and physically. I can say that before this – I never even ran five consecutive miles in my life (I was a sprinter after all!). Well now five miles is almost easy! Longtom is a Peace Corps affiliated event, in that it is used as a fundraiser for the KLM Foundation. The KLM Foundation was started by two former PC SA volunteers and is a scholarship for rural South African learners. If you are interested in learning more, or in donating please go to: http://www.klm-foundation.org/. If you feel inclined to make a donation, please make sure to include that you are donating on my behalf. It is an amazing cause – the gift of education has no price really. Thank you to anyone who has donated! The actual Marathon is five weeks away and I am SO EXCITED! Although I am slightly nervous. One friend suggested what great lung capacity I was going to have after training in Africa, which is when I realized, quite the opposite. I’m training at sea level and the marathon is going to take place wayyyyyy up high near the Northeast boarder of South Africa. So much for lung capacity.

Girls Clubs:
My girls clubs started back up again in January, and we just finished our third topic this week. So far we’ve covered the dimensions of wellness (we’re using a model that includes seven dimensions), peer pressure, and most recently healthy loving relationships. I LOVE this project. I look forward to my girls club meetings every single week. My friend Noxolo and I run them at the two local secondary schools. I was VERY worried earlier this year when Noxolo was hired by the Department of Social Development that she was going to have to give up the club. I actually couldn’t believe our luck when they told her she could as long as she reported about them! When she called me to tell me the good news I was walking to town and literally jumped up and down in the street screaming. Literally, jumping for joy. Someone was smiling on us from above! She is PERFECT for this job, and an amazing counterpart.

The actual clubs are so interesting. Each has its own unique dynamic that is completely different than the other. One is a small group, but very close. They share extremely personal and deep things and we’ve really gotten close. They are sharing things that they’ve never told anyone before and it’s really powerful. The other one has a much bigger attendance and is full of sassy ladies. Each one has its positives and negatives. I really enjoy learning about the differences between the two clubs. I could go on forever about some of the things that have sparked debates among us (namely, cheating – we could talk about that topic FOREVER!).

One of the things we have is the “question box” which is a converted shoe box that says either “umbuzo” or “vraag” which are “question” in the respective languages of isiXhosa and Afrikaans. One of the clubs makes me feel like Dear Abby every other week when I have to answer their relationship questions. Each week, the amount of relationship questions seems to be increasing; only they are all asking the same questions just with different words. Most common are some sort of version of the following…“is it bad to have two boyfriends….”, “my boyfriend is cheating, but he denies it, but I love him….”, “I love my ex boyfriend but he ignored me after we had sex what should I do…”. Some of the questions make me laugh; others really stick with you and make you seriously worry about the girl that wrote it. We do our best to answer them the best that we can.

We had an activity today (which we do on some Saturdays). It was a movie day, and since our topic was relationships I thought I would show them The Notebook. No one here has heard of The Notebook which boggles my mind, as it’s such a huge hit (at least in my generation). I cried, as I always do, numerous times. It was only slightly embarrassing. They really liked it and a few of them said they were going to come overseas to try and find a man like Noah…uh, get in line ladies. ; )

Tyhulwazi Disabled Center:
Twice a week I and a caregiver from Ikhwezi go to the disabled school in our location which is just a block away from my house. This place is run by Mrs. Bloko who is a truly amazing woman! They have learners of all ages and all abilities. There is a very large range of disabilities. None of the learners have had any of their disabilities labeled or diagnosed officially by a doctor. What we do with them is give them a chance to get active outside in a safe and encouraging space. We take them to the sports center which is a short walk away and play different games. My favorite to play with them is kick ball which we call rounders (which I guess is a game in South Africa which actually isn’t the same a kick ball, but whatever it works). We don’t actually REALLY play kick ball but we play with the principles and forget some of the rules. For example we let one whole team kick and when the last person has kicked we switch teams. A typical game includes us all having to yell “Baleka! Balekaaaaaa!” (run!) and point to the next base that player is supposed to go to (for almost each player). I have a BLAST with these learners and they make me laugh and smile each time I’m with them. I like playing this best because it gets every person involved and each one has the chance to kick the ball and participate. Maximum group participation = my goal!

On other days if the weather isn’t nice, or it’s too hot we work on an art project. This is slightly tricky because again their level of comprehension and ability is a huge range. The message I’m trying to get across to them is no matter what you draw it’s “right” and beautiful. Unfortunately that message isn’t always conveyed by other people who work there, but I’m working on every time we do a project stressing how “they can do whatever they want – there is NO right or wrong picture for them to draw”. I really enjoy working on these projects with them, although it is a personal challenge for me to find something that can be a good project for their huge range of abilities. (Anyone who has any experience or resources for working in special education I would REALLY appreciate some tools or ideas! I need some suggestions and advice!)

Computer and Life Orientation Classes:
At the beginning of the school year I approached the schools that I have my girls clubs with and offered my services in whatever way I could. At one of the schools that was to begin to teach computer and life orientation classes. For both of these I have made sure that I have a counterpart with me from Ikhwezi. I try not to do any projects on my own since after all one of my biggest goals is to transfer skills to South Africans. And I shouldn’t overlook the importance of transferring the skill of transferring skills. ; )

So far I have taught two days of computer class. On Tuesdays I head to Ukhanyo and (in theory) teach four classes. Both days I’ve only taught three classes for some reason or another. I started with the grade 10s (which there are four classes of). They are pretty great kids. I really enjoy teaching them as a matter of fact. So far, only one boy has asked me for my number by typing it out when he should have been practicing typing something else. Gut reaction which I thought later might have been too harsh was to laugh and say “in your dreams”. Then I teased them by saying they really wanted the number of my counterpart for the class Abongile. Other than that and asking if I have a boyfriend/husband/child there haven’t been any issues. There is one class that is the largest of them (35ish students) and extremely talkative. It doesn’t even matter though – after each Tuesday I’ve obviously strained my vocal cords and have a bad sore throat.

The computer lab at the school hasn’t been used in (ever? a long time?) I’m not sure HOW long. The computers are very old school – Windows 2000 to be specific. I would say less than half actually work. Some days 10 will turn on and work, most recently it was 13 were working. There is no telling. So the students come in and sit two (or more if the class is bigger) to a computer. It’s not ideal – but I learned very quickly that “ideal” is often not what I have to work with. Therefore – we make it work no matter what the issues are. I remember a while back struggling with this kind of thing – and saying I thought I was flexible but soon realized once I got to South Africa I really wasn’t as flexible as I thought. Well, I can say with confidence that I’ve achieved flexible. And now I realize why South Africans are so chill. They’re used to NOTHING going according to plan their whole lives so they don’t ever freak out because it’s normal to have things go wrong. They are also used to needing to have not only a plan b, c, and d but also a plan e. And if plan e doesn’t’ work…well then guess it wasn’t meant to be, and I think it’s close to 1:00pm anyway which is hour lunch time soooo….

Oh I also have to jerry rig the projectors cord to stay into my computer so that my PowerPoint slides actually project. I have to get the computer that doesn’t work next to my laptop in just the right position then set it down on top of the cord to hold it in. The actual computer lessons were created by Trevor – a former? current? PCV here that was kind enough to add them to our flash drive that we got in training. I take his workshops and turn them into PowerPoint presentations. They so far have been really good! (Thanks Trevor!) The kids are really eager to learn about computers so that actually really helps I’m sure. My only other qualification for this job is that I’ve been using a computer since before I was even five years old.

I haven’t actually really started teaching the life orientation classes yet. LO classes are the equivalent of health class in the States. I really want to work with the grade 8s, and LO is the class that I REALLY want to teach (as in, I’m teaching computer classes because the school asked me to – I don’t feel any real passion for teaching about computers but it is an important skill and I realize that. And as a PCV we are supposed to respond to community needs and wants so hence the computer classes.). I want to work with grade 8s because I know a lot of them from SKILLZ last year, and Ikhwezi – and I just really love that awkward age. They are so absurd and hilarious. I’m sure I’ll have plenty of stories once that does really pick up. I did teach it this Thursday, but only because the LO teacher was out sick and no one else was taking over his class (so they would have just sat for the whole period without a teacher and I figured that seems silly when I can give them something) so we talked about our values and our goals. None of the classes were grade 8s but it was fine. It was actually really cool to get to hear their values and see what some of their long term and short term goals were. I feel really strongly about helping out in the LO classes because I don’t believe that they are getting enough straightforward lessons about very important health topics (one in particular - sexual health). Through my other interactions with youth (girls club, SKILLZ) I’ve seen the level of understanding on some critical things and heard the myths and beliefs that get circulated about very basic and important health issues.

Pseudo Guidance Councilor:
At the other school in town the Principal had something different in mind for me instead of teaching. He had an issue with some of his learners that he was concerned about. He asked me to start by helping to talk to the students involved and do what I could to help them. I have not ever been trained as a social worker or as a councilor so this job has actually made me a little bit nervous. (I guess I don’t officially have teaching experience either but I have a LOT of facilitation experience which I think is very similar to teaching so I haven’t been nervous about teaching at all – only excited!). So anyway, this situation is definitely over my head, and I am certainly not qualified to be dealing with the issues that I am, but there is no one else at the moment so I’m making do. The case will get referred to the appropriate people though. It has helped me to realize the larger picture needed at this particular school which is education on what sexual harassment and sexual abuse is.

It’s become obvious that what I and others would consider extremely alarming behavior is neither alarming nor abnormal to the youth of this school. I’ve also realized that they don’t even know what sexual harassment or abuse is. I have talked to the principal I’m going to put together a presentation about these issues that I’ll give in same sex assemblies. It is things like this that I get worked up over and really feel a strong need to teach about.

On the back burner:
Those are the major things I have going on currently. There are other things that I’m trying to work on but they keep getting pushed to the back burner. Our final SKILLZ intervention will begin in March which will just add to my hectic schedule. I’m really looking forward to SKILLZ though – it’s a really fun program. We will be doing it at Ukhanyo with grade 8s (yay!). I say final, but really it’s just the final intervention which is part of the pilot program that I’ve been doing. Hopefully afterwards they give us the “okay” to continue to do SKILLZ with the same materials so that we can expand and provide that program to an entire grade over the course of the year instead of just one group of 30 or so learners. Other things in my thoughts: planning Camp GLOW for September, coming up with projects for when I work with another local organization this year, and projects for when Allie my college roomie of four years comes to visit in July! This year is going to be so epic!


If you're going to be passionate about something, be passionate about learning. If you're going to fight something, fight for those in need. If you're going to question something, question authority. If you're going to lose something, lose your inhibitions. If you're going to gain something, gain respect and confidence. And if you're going to hate something, hate the false idea that you are not capable of your dreams.
- Daniel Golston

Ps. Fun story from last night: You know that sensation that you get on the back of your neck where it feels like something is crawling on you? But usually it’s just a stray hair or something? Well last night at 3:30am I woke up to that sensation on my neck. I jolted up, and after turning the lights on and checking under pillows I found what I feared: a large cockroach. I shudder just now thinking about it. Anyway, I killed it with my flip flop, or at least I think I did. I couldn’t find the body which was really weird, but it probably fell under my bed. The best part is my attitude. I was/am disturbed, but…whatever. I would rather a spider be on me than a cockroach, but what can you do? I’m just going to use this as a reason to believe that – I’ve had this horrible thing happen – and I have to believe that a huge cockroach will not ever walk on me in my sleep again. I mean – what are the odds?! That’s my theory and I’m sticking to it!