October??

Eish! How has it been so long since I've updated? Most probably because I have absolutely NO idea where the time has gone. Honestly I feel like I was just waving the American flag and obnoxiously cheering our team to victory during the World Cup, and now my calendar is trying to tell me that it is almost October? I can't believe it. I'm so out of sorts though, regarding the weather/time of year. It is basically summer now, yet it's October and for the past 23 years of my life, October has meant cold (yes I heard about the SoCal heatwave, sorry to say I can't give you any sympathy). Now I keep thinking that its June or July and every time I look to my wall and see that the Calendar says it is the end of September, my mind gets all dizzy and I forget. Then the next time I look I'm just as surprised. What has Peace Corps done to my brain, you ask? I wish I knew.

I almost lost it during that 4 week strike my previous posts talk about. I was so excited to FINALLY be starting projects and then the entire village chooses to shut down and I was left, again, with nothing to do. So in an attempt to keep my sanity I spent that time coming up with and planning every possible project that any Peace Corps Volunteer in any country in the world could possibly do, and the day everyone went back to work I sprung them on everyone. So a few ideas have been making great progress. I feel like a real PCV now, you know like those ones you read about in the paper. I'm nervous to jinx it by telling you, but I've become pretty busy with the various projects that I'm starting within my organization, the schools, and independently. As I've said a hundred times (I'm excited about the possibility) we are waiting to hear on funding about our potential OVC center where we can feed and play with/educate kids daily. We are also starting a Gogo (grandmother) support group in which these incredible women can come together once or twice a month to share struggles, and offer advice and counseling to each other, and do beadwork as a type of income generation. As a result of low employment opportunities and high mortality from HIV/Aids, most Gogos have to take on the burden of caring for multiple children, regardless of the fact that many are over 50 and have trouble standing up and sitting down. Most parents will go to the cities to find work, leaving their children with the Gogos in the safer villages. My own Gogo is currently caring for 3 children from the ages of 4 months to 4 years old. That's not easy at any age. We've had multiple meetings with the Gogos and they are so excited and interested in this group that you can't help but smiling when you speak with them. I start my first round of monthly trainings with my caregivers and the clinic on Thursday. They requested a four hour (yikes) workshop on cancer, any and all types. There is a very small amount of knowledge about cancer with such a strong focus on HIV/Aids and TB. Given that many in the village are prone to smoking, abusing alcohol, and being extremely overweight, my guess is that many end up being affected by cancer but never know. I'm excited to be able to teach a little about this as fighting cancer has been a goal of mine for a long time now.

I'm working to start a library in the Jr. High, we have many leads for book donations and are just trying to figure out funding for transportation. We are eventually hoping to turn it in to a library/career center/computer lab. We definitely have the opportunity, we just have to find the path to get there. I also started a formal girls club (separate from the running club)of girls in Jr. High ages 13-16, in which we meet two times a week. One day we have fun- play games, sing, dance, do dramas (skits), and the other day we are serious- talking about choices, women's rights, goals for the future, puberty, sex, HIV/Aids, etc. I was so surprised at how excited the girls were about the group, almost all of them attend every meeting and though it can sometimes be hard to get them to participate verbally, I can tell that we are making a lot of progress. And my favorite part is that I started teaching them yoga. We have a lot of fun with it, and are definitely starting from the very basics (exercise is pretty foreign to them, not to mention yoga), but they are loving it. Yoga is a passion of mine and it is really exciting to be able to share the benefits that it has for the mind, body, and spirit. I think yoga can be a powerful empowerment tool for anybody, as you really begin take ownership over your body and your actions towards yourself and others. Eventually the hope is to turn this group into a peer leadership program, in which they can take certain things that they have learned and teach a larger group of students (they are called learners here). The principal has asked me to teach some classes in the school as well, but I'm not so sure I can handle 50 Jr. Highers at one time just yet.

Finally, we are starting an official computer lab in the high school within the next few weeks. The building is there, the computers are there, we are just waiting for them to be set up and all that technological jazz. "You can do it right, Sbongile?" Ummm, no. Sorry. As of my last visit with the educators, there is absolutely no plan on how they will conduct the classes, who will conduct them, or at what time of day they will be conducted. Most of the educators don't even know how to use the computers. This will definitely be an interesting task but if we can make it work, will be such a skill for the high schoolers to be able to graduate knowing how to work a computer and type. We take for granted that pretty much any job requires computer knowledge, and that prohibits a lot of young adults in the rural areas being able to get jobs outside of the village. Another volunteer gave me a great idea to start an income generating activity with them. During the times that the learners aren't using the computers, we can allow people from the community to pay to take classes to learn as well. This can raise money for the school while spreading the skills to the rest of the village.

And still saving a little time to have fun. I went to a wedding this past weekend, which was a lot of fun. It was down the street from my house so I didn't have the usual 'be home before dark, I don't know anybody' worries. I was happy to recognize and know most of the people that were there, adults and kids included. That was sort of an 'aha' moment that I have truly integrated into my community and I've really started to feel like this place is home (not my primary home, don't worry). I love being here because I can sing and dance as ridiculously as I want at weddings, or anywhere, (I actually got caught dancing outside of the clinic this morning by a very amused Gogo) and most people are staring/laughing at me anyway so it doesn't really matter if I'm all that bad. The more that people get to know me, the less I get harassed and the more other people stand up for me, which honestly takes away a TON of the daily stresses of living here. I'm hoping to go camping in the Drakensberg mountains next month with some friends, and we have another training in November which I get to bring my counterpart to. I'm bringing Sbongile 2, her first name is Sbonigle and her middle name is Emily (coincidence? I think not). She has really been my rock and the only person that I have been truly able to depend on in the organization. I've been giving her computer lessons daily while secretly hoping that she won't apply for a new job because I don't know what I would do without her. She has recently started to open up about her life to me and I am amazed at the obstacles that she has overcome while still managing to be there daily for the whiney white volunteer who wants help (that's me). She was really excited that I asked her to come, I thought it was because she wanted to learn about lifeskills (the topic the training is about), but she said she really just wanted to get away from home for a week. Oh well, can't blame her. And then there is always baby mXolisa. He is teething now and simultaneously learning to speak, and he has undoubtedly started to call me 'sesi' (sister) which basically makes me melt EVERY time. I get seriously upset thinking about how I will leave him at the end of my two years.

So if you love me enough to still be reading this, I will reward you with a story. Anyone who knows me knows how much I hate spiders; I'm the girl who makes her roomate come in the shower to kill one, or leaves it under a glass cup with the sign 'spider' next to it for my dad to take care of when he gets home. As luck would have it, I have literally never seen or killed so many spiders in my life. I don't like killing them, but I honestly can't imagine being in here or sleeping while they crawl all over me. I'm getting the chills even writing that. And these guys are BIG. You may think I'm exaggerating, but I'm not. The standard guys are bigger than a dollar coin. I don't like it, but I've gotten used to it. However last Sunday morning, as I was peacefully making breakfast I spotted one on my wall that was bigger than my hand, like tarantula status. I freaked out and ran screaming into my host brothers room (he was not happy about this as he was sleeping off his hangover from the night before) and made him come in and kill it for me. He exacted his revenge by taking the dead guy in his hand and chasing me out of the room with it. The rest of the family thought it was just hilarious. I kind of want to delete this so I never have to remember that scaring moment ever again.

As always, I miss you all and love to hear what you are up to. Please keep in touch!
xo,
Sbongile Emily