Still here, don't worry

Akwande!

Hello friends and family. I just realized that I haven’t updated my blog in 2 months…not acceptable, I know. To be honest, there has been was a lot of coming and going, and many emotional ups and downs over the past 2 months, and I am now finally having the time to sit and process all of it.

To begin, after an ineffable Camp GLOW experience (I’m still riding the high of that week, even now almost 3 months later), I got to see my parents! Now, some of you (PCVs) may be rolling your eyes right now—didn’t your parents come last year, Emily? Greeeeeedy. Well yes, they did. I am very fortunate to have been able to see them multiple times, and now that I think about it, maybe that is a perk of joining the Peace Corps straight after college—your parents still can’t get used to being without their baby ;)

Anyway, they came with a missions team from their church, FPC, and the whole experience was wonderful. The first stop on a 2 week trip visiting partners and other rural villages around SA, I was lucky enough to host the team in my village. The team members put on a full day camp for the learners (grades pre-school until 6) complete with puppet shows, games, music, bible stories, sports, and crafts. The chicken dance made an appearance, and I still have little children follow me home flapping their arms and wagging their tails. It was really exciting to have the team there, for there are no outreach programs that ever reach as far into the booneys as my village. Yes, the kids may have seen white people while in the city, but I doubt that many of them have ever interacted with any of them outside of Peace Corps. The energy was so high and I think that the kids truly appreciated the love and kindness that radiated from every member of their team. After the camp, we had a big braai (barbeque) at my Home Based Care. I invited friends, family, and people that I have been working with over the past year and a half (teachers, nurses, girls club, etc) to come and meet the visitors. The Gogos, dressed from head to toe in traditional garb, danced for them, Caregivers cooked delicious SA foods, and we even had an impromptu drama performance from some of the high school students. The best part, however, was the gift-giving. During Christmas of 2010, their church had challenged the children of Houston to raise money for the children of SA. They successfully raised $5000, which bought school uniforms, new shoes, and blankets for 100 Orphans and Vulnerable Children in my village and the neighboring village. This was HUGE. Though we had some problems with the sizes, it was an incredible gift for which I and those families are extremely grateful. The next day we had a great meeting with the Gogos, and then took off to visit the rest of the partner organizations/villages. Having had my family come at the same time last year—when I had not accomplished a single thing, and wasn’t even completely comfortable in my village yet—and then to have them see how I was living and what I was doing a year later was really great, and in a way it proved to me how much I actually had accomplished and how much I had grown over the past year. I was even able to celebrate my pseudo birthday with them, complete with a spa-day and Nobu sushi (later to be followed by celebrating my actual birthday with many of my PCV friends at an impromptu all-volunteer conference, which included cake and dancing until 4 in the morning). After a wonderful 2 weeks, the inevitable goodbye occurred, filled with tears and lots of hugs, yet this time it wasn’t so heartwrenchingly sad; I believe this is because I am finally truly happy where I am, and I knew that it wouldn’t be too long before I was home cuddling by the fire with them again.

After my parents left, I continued life as usual for a few weeks before my next big adventure: Paris! Yes, I boarded a plane and met my boyfriend in Paris for a week at the end of August. I’ll spare you the sappy details, but it was another amazing experience and important time for us together, filled with exploring the city on bikes, running along the Seine, sight-seeing, soaking up the sun in the various parks, wine tasting, classical music concerts in a chapel made almost entirely of stained glass, admiring impressionist art, and EATING! Seriously, we ate and drank so much, it was just divine. I was averaging a baguette a day, by myself. I don’t think I have to tell you how satiatingly good French food is, and it’s better that I stop thinking about it for my own sanity…but the food could very well have been my favorite part. Then again, the inevitable goodbye, which with him is every time harder than the last. As I dramatically walked through security while turning around once to say goodbye again like they do in the movies, I had to remind myself over and over just how lucky I was to be able to have had that week at all.

After THAT trip, I spent another few weeks in my village just coasting—Gogo group meetings, Girls club, chipping away on the library, but mostly just trying to survive the Post Vacation Depression and look forward to the next big thing. The next big thing was fortunately only a stones throw away, as I and a few others from my group facilitated a Lifeskills and Permagarden training for the SA23 group for a week at a nice hotel in Pretoria. Our basic function was to help train this group and their South African counterparts on how to teach lifeskills to the youth in their community. We talked about our personal experiences teaching lifeskills, and I yet again got all teary eyed talking about Camp GLOW and forced my friends to watch our 12 minute slideshow. I had attended this training with Sbongile 2 last year in Durban. Our hotel was on the beach and several of our sessions took place out there. Sorry bout it SA23.

Now, I’m back in the vil for good. Well, at least until my next trip ;) My short term goal is to have the library up and running by next month. Unfortunately all of our computers in the new computer lab were stolen earlier this month, so we are working on increasing our security and finding a way to get more computers to use. Eish. There are plans in the mix for expanding the Gogo group. We were fortunate enough to be the beneficiaries of the practical gardening training from Peace Corps—meaning the trainees essentially created a garden as part of their training, and now the Gogos will take over and tend to it themselves. We hope to sell the vegetables as part of an income generating project, and also to save money on our food costs by using the vegetables from our garden. A coworker is trying to convince me to do one more lifeskills camp with the 7^th grade girls and boys, making it a day camp during the December holidays and taking place at the school. It sounds like a good idea in theory, but I’m a little nervous about the feasibility of it. The last Camp nearly took it all out of me. I am also running an art contest turned mural project with the Jr. High. Because we already have a ‘World Map’ (very popular PC project) I decided to have the learners compete in an art contest which we will transfer to a mural on the side of the school, depicting patriotism as well as pride in their school and community. Finally, my last “big” project before I go (omg) is to put on a 3 part World Aids Day event for the community. This event will encapsulate several of my larger projects, and hopefully send the message of my purpose here. In our minds, we will be having the girls club attend an HIV and Peer Education training, then use it to spend one day teaching the learners in grades 4-6. This will hopefully give them the skills to continue peer education, as well as help them to truly learn and abide by the information. The second day will be an event, inspired by Hilcrest AIDS center, of Gogo Olympics! We hope to have around 100 Gogos form 4 teams to compete in soccer, netball, and a relay race. The general theme of this day will be healthy and positive living, and it will be a great wrap-up of the year we have spent together emphasizing those issues. Finally, the event will summit on the third day with a HIV awareness and testing campaign, which will be an event for the whole community. I’m having the Girls Club help in planning this event, both so that they get experience planning a community event, but also so that the youth will come ;). Much like our World Aids Day event last year, we will have guest speakers, HIV education, testing and counseling, and entertainment provided by the community. This 3 day event is going to be a lot of work, stress, anger, happiness, failure, and success, but I’m excited about the possibility of what it could be.

As I start planning for my “last big project”, it means that I have to start thinking about the fact that in 6 months this will no longer be my life. I will save those musings for a later, more introspective post, but all that I can think right now is, OH EM GEE!

Thus, I leave you with the quote that has gotten me through the struggles and periods of doubt over my past year and a half. I promise that I will not be so absent in the months to come, mostly because I’m sure that you as well are starting to get nervous about the fact that you only have 6 more months of my blog to spend long nights walking on the beach and drinking wine with. Peace good people.

“I have learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”

-Maya Angelou