Finally an Official Volunteer!

Ahhhh it has been so long since my last post. I think I need to start writing these more often! There is a lot to cover.

After I last wrote, my routine of settling into site was pretty much the same. Lots of meeting with school staff (there are six schools in my area all of which I want to help out at), meeting with health care providers, locals, attempting to integrate, and writing my community needs assessment. It felt great to be busy and hear from actual people about what my community needs, and to start brainstorming projects. As of now, I know I definitely want to teach dance classes, help teaching Life Orientation (health class) and English in some of the lower performing schools in Digwale, volunteer at local crèches (pre-schools), help a group of women develop their exercise program, and brainstorm ways for my organization to develop funding strategies so they do not have to rely solely on Department of Social Development, which is often unreliable in my province.

Even though the integration phase was pretty hectic, I was able to take two small weekend trips to take a little break from village life which was nice. The first trip was to Nelspruit with two other volunteers, Lane and Leah. Nelspruit is a lush and green travel destination which has a ton of gorgeous waterfalls and is also very close to Kruger National Park. We did a lot of relaxing, eating, and drinking and got to meet some locals who drove us all around to see some gorgeous views as well. I also got to go to Bronkhorspruit, which is a town about an hour from me. It has a dive bar/hostel called the Sinkshack and a Buddhist Temple (random, I know) and me and some other Education volunteers went for the weekend in April. Education volunteers came the June before I arrived, and they are the closest proximity to me in terms of visiting. I have to say, I have loved getting to know them! George, Sharon, Lily, Eva, and Carolyn are their names and I feel very lucky to be close to such awesome people. Our weekender was just an overnight trip, filled with lots of eating, drinking, and dancing as well haha. Sometimes that is all you need!

By the time it was time to head to Pretoria to catch a ride back to Mosesetjane for phase 3 of training, I could not believe that seven weeks had gone by! I remember sitting in my little room thinking, this time is going to go by so slowly since I cannot start any projects until after I swear-In, and sometimes, it did, but overall once I started scheduling meetings it just flew! I found it really hard to believe that I hadn’t seen some of my cohort in almost two months.

It is hard to explain how much the support and friendship from other PCV’s truly gets you through some of the hardest times in your service. Volunteers and friends who were so far away from me, sometimes even a two day trip to get to, I talked to every day and we shared our highs and lows and made each other laugh via text message. It was such an emotional experience to give those first few hugs and actually see other Americans in person!  Volunteers from Mpumalanga and KZN provinces were able to stay the night in Pretoria on April 26^th before traveling back for training. We all ate and went out together to some local bars which was so much fun! Needless to say, the next morning many of us were definitely struggling. Finally, buses arrived and we were on our way to Mosesetjane to be reunited with our host families! It was so sweet to watch each volunteer get dropped off and their host siblings run out giving them huge hugs, so thrilled to see them. I was last, and was welcomed home with a huge braii (barbeque) where my host brother Alfred was cooking steaks and chicken. My family had bought wine, pre-made salads, and all of this food for the occasion and we all spent the night talking, laughing, and catching up. It is crazy how relative everything is.  I remember sobbing my first night with the Kekana family during phase one of training, missing my real mom and dad and siblings, and coming to them that night truly felt like coming home from college on a weekend for the first time or something. Don’t worry family, not replacing you, just giving examples haha. I slept so soundly knowing my friends were blocks away, my family was there with me, and that I had the comfort of human connection all around me. I am not saying I don’t have that option in Digwale where my site is, but it is definitely different!

Training has been pretty similar to the old format, presentations and technical trainings on health outreach. The last two weeks of training, we got bussed in to a lodge where our counterparts and supervisors from site were staying, and we worked together to create sustainable income generating activities, community development projects, etc.  Right now, we get up at 5 AM every day and get bussed to Shikwaru Lodge, about an hour away where we meet with our counterparts and supervisors from site to do workshops together.

One of the most exciting experiences this past month happened when I got to meet the Peace Corps acting director, Carrie Hessler-Radelet. She came to see our training class on her way to the airport and gave us such inspiration with her stories of service. She emphasized the capability of people to touch each others’ hearts, and really rejuvenated a lot of us who were feeling pretty tired! Her visit just reaffirmed how truly happy I am to be here, and how much I know this is exactly what I should be doing.

The last meaningful part of phase three was SWEAR IN! Finally, I thought it might never come! We were all so happy to say our oaths and celebrate the end of being trainees, and now I am in Pretoria for the weekend and will attend a conference on Orphans and Vulnerable Children tomorrow in Durban where I will actually be presenting! I am happy to be able to see a new part of South Africa and learn more about the populations I want to help.

I think that is about all the information I have for now, and sometimes I feel pictures speak more loudly than my descriptions, so enjoy them! J

Love and miss you all so much!

h

Pictures include the director visit, swear in, my host family in mosesetjane, our retreat in the mountains, some random site visits, etc.! Hope you enjoy

Phase 2 of Training!

Wow I am just realizing it has almost been three weeks since I have officially been on site! Time sometimes seems to go so slowly then I realize wow it has already been a month! I will start by bullet pointing some recent events just in case I leave anything out in this description.

-I am living in Digwale, about 2 hours from Pretoria.

-I am in a one bedroom home in the local village

-I have electricity but no running water so I fill up 5 or 6 jugs at my organization’s tap about once a week

-I have gotten REALLY good at one-pot cooking and eating (I don’t even know why I bought plates..)

-I am throwing all of my energy into decorating my new place and looking for a bedspread!

-Getting my roof fixed and hearing the rain fall without getting wet and buying a BIG bucket to bathe in were awesome highlights of my week J

-Support from other volunteers is really important, and I learn that more and more every day

-The closest volunteer from my cohort is about 3-5 hours from me on multiple taxis, but other education volunteers share a shopping town with me so I see them about once every couple weeks

-I have the sweetest neighbors who always greet me, and every day I feel more integrated into site, the more people I meet

-my neighbors have started running with me in the mornings J

-My community named me “Karabo,” meaning Answer in Sepedi

-I plan to teach in primary schools during the majority of my service

-I am learning to live in a completely different way, and that is not always easy

-I MISS my host family from training! I know I will definitely continue to visit them during my service

-I went to a traditional South African wedding and it was AWESOME!

-I bought a fridge! It is the greatest.

Hmm well I think I left off right about when we were going to site! So after our shopping day in Polokwane, we had one more dinner with our host families and were picked up around 6 in the morning to be taken to supervisor’s workshop, a three day retreat where we met our organization supervisors, got to stay in a nice hotel, and go over our expectations as volunteers. This is now phase 2 of training, the 8 week period where I live in my permanent site, scope it out, attempt to integrate into my community, form relationships, and write a community needs assessment. The supervisor’s workshop was a great place to take a second and breathe and say some last goodbyes to those in my province, and meeting one of my org supervisors was really cool! Mable came to meet me, and she is one of the project managers at Boiketlo Health Care Center, where I work. On Tuesday morning, we all gathered our bags and got into separate taxis (luckily Peace Corps drove me so I did not have to worry about all my bags) with our supervisors and headed to site. Our workshop was in Haveview, about a 7 hour drive from my site. South Africa is HUGE haha. So, around 9 PM, my landlord, Mr. Malaza, let me into my new place. Needless to say this was entirely overwhelming. It was dark out, I was all alone, and I was exhausted but wanted to unpack and make this place home as soon as possible. I took a deep breath, texted my mom (thank GOODNESS for technology!) and started to unpack my things. I live in a one bedroom house (not one BEDroom, one room), and I have no host family. I am next door to a couple but for the most part I am alone. Luckily I have awesome neighbors and a very cute dog that greets me every time I come home J.

                My day to day life here is not exactly routine yet because I am constantly meeting tons of people and getting to know my community. Usually I wake up around 5 in the morning, have coffee and read for about an hour, go for a run, have some breakfast, bathe, and then go to my organization where I meet school faculties, city council, health clinic workers, etc. to try and get an idea of what life is like here. Then around 2, the organization closes, I go home, go for a walk, try to meet some new families in my community, read some more, work on my CNA, make dinner, and sleep. My organization is a drop in center for orphans to get food, although right now due to lack of funding there is no food supply. They also provide home based care for those suffering from illness, providing emotional support, and volunteering at the local clinic. During my service, I think I will most likely be teaching English and life skills classes at local schools, and hopefully teaching dance, and volunteering at the local pre-school while still helping my org spread awareness about their services. However, all of this is very up in the air right now.

 I guess one of the hardest parts of Phase 2 is knowing that no matter what you do, it will take a lot of time before you are integrated, feel at home, settle into a routine, or even start projects, maybe even an entire year. As Americans, we want instant results. We want to walk in, snap our fingers and get what we want no matter where we are. In the Peace Corps, and in life, that is just not realistic. I need to get to know my community on a personal level before I even think of starting projects or getting people to want to hear any input I have. Rightfully so, I can’t imagine if some random young woman from another country just popped into my life and tried to tell me her ideas!

                The biggest thing I am trying to be good at doing right now is going with the flow. I meet new people every day, try to form new relationships, and just take my time settling in here. It is definitely not second nature for me, but reading, journaling, exercise, and the support from those at home and other volunteers really helps with the transition. I wish I had more to say but I am sure I will once phase 2 comes to an end and I head back for more training. This coming weekend, I am going to Nelspruit to celebrate Easter with one of my dearest PCV friends, so definitely looking forward to that J.

Some descriptions of the photos I post: There are pictures of a volunteer goodbye barbeque we had back in our training village, pictures of my home, my little dog friend that visits me, supervisor's workshop,

flowers my child neighbors leave on my front door step, children in local primary schools, pictures of a South African wedding I attended, views from around my village, uh, that is all I can think of right now but if you have questions, let me know!
 

Xoxo,

H

Some pictures....