LST in Durban and the approach on the One-Year Anniversary

Life-Skills Training is a Peace Corps workshop designed to teach us the skills to teach youth about the skills they need prevent HIV. We were all gathered in Durban, a big city on the coast of KwaZulu-Natal. I love Durban, a big city and a beach, I could ask for nothing more. The training was useful but the best part was being in Durban with other volunteers. We could go outside at night, see movies and go to beach. I could walk around without being stared at all the time. I could talk in English and eat food I really liked.

When I first arrived in the village, everything was quaint and beautiful. The hardships made it seem like I was really doing something here, I could brag about washing clothes by hand and heating and carrying water. I was living like the people, learning how to survive. There comes a time when things stop being quaint and beautiful but dirty, noisy and annoying. The kids aren’t cute anymore, but malnourished and demanding. Washing clothes isn’t making me a stronger person, just a really irritated one. Thus, getting away from the village and going to the city and seeing other volunteers makes everything seem alright again. I returned from LST with only one more week at my NGO before it closes for the holiday and we get a three-week break. I am going to Durban and Capetown, getting a much needed rest from the woes of village life. I hope to be rejuvenated and see the community in a new light when I get back.

World AIDS Day

Mpilonhle marked World AIDS day this year by involving the youth in a making a quilt representing their feeling about HIV and AIDS. While in America, you may see people wearing red ribbons to commemorate the day, South Africa tries to raise awareness through large and small events. South Africa has one of the highest HIV rates on the world and while we work all year long to prevent the disease from spreading, we took this day to step back and let some of the youth show us their feelings about this disease that is shaping their lives. HIV is diminishing much of success the country has seen. I can’t think of any other place that could have gone what South Africa went through with apartheid and not go through a civil war and yet the battle with HIV goes on with no end in sight. Of course, this is not all without hope, places like Mpilonhle are working constantly and have seen many successes in the people we have helped over the past year.

A Peace Corps Thanksgiving

Peace Corps volunteers from all over South Africa descended on St. Lucia for the first ever Mpilonhle Thanksgiving. Turkeys were roasted, rolls were enjoyed, many bottles of wine were consumed, more pies than could be counted were made. We swam in the pool, went to the beach, and watched many hours of E! TV (a peace corps favorite) and movies. Since I couldn’t spend Thanksgiving with my family in America, this was really the next best thing.