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.

Training and Water

I planned an Izinduna and Field Assistants training workshop for Mpilonhle last week. There was a great turnout, with about 40 people. We did training on what Mpilonhle is about, health education and community mobilization. I even went back to my Peace Corps roots and used PACA tool, where I had them draw maps of their community, pointing out all the important places. It will be there job to hand out flyers for our community outreach events. Everyone was super excited to receive certificates and Crocs in the end.

In village news, we have nearly reached a water crisis. The water use to go off during the day and come back on for a few hours each night. Now the water has been completely off since Sunday and on Sunday it was only on for about 45 minutes at a mere drip. We haven’t really had water for a week now. I have been creative with my water use, cutting down to only absolute necessity, no washing clothes, no making tea, bathing only when absolutely necessary. I had the children go around the village to fetch me water in return for candy however, now there is not even any water to fetch. Yesterday I saw kids getting water out of the swamp, but I draw the line at bathing or washing with swamp water. I am going to leave the village for the weekend and perhaps do a couple of rain dances.

Heritage Day and Taxi Accident

Wednesday was Heritage in South Africa, a day we celebrate the heritage of the country and get the day off work. I was sent by my NGO to a meeting in my village. The invitation said the meeting would start at 9:30am, so I arrived promptly at 9:30. I knew the event wouldn’t start right away so I brought a book. However, when I arrived, the tent was set up, about 25 kids were milling around and the stereo system was up and blaring music, not a good environment to catch up on a good book. I waited around until 10, then asked one the ladies around what time she thought the meeting would really start, she said maybe 10:30. I decided to go home for awhile and wait there instead. I went back at 11:30 and things were just getting under way. The little girls of the village were doing a dance to welcome all the guests to the meeting. Of course, I was made to sit up front with all the VIPs, even though I really had nothing to contribute to the meeting. It finally started about noon, only a mere 2 and half hours late, so just on time in Africa. The meeting was two and half hours of talking in Zulu. The little girls did two dances and the staff of the organization holding the meeting did a song as well. The performances were great, but the rest, while I am sure was extremely interesting and informative, was over my head in terms of my Zulu language skills. They served a meal at the end of the meeting, which was really the prize for all those who could sit through the whole meeting (not that I had a choice seeing how I was sitting right in front of everyone). Although I do not eat meat, the main food at any South Africa gathering, I was happy to eat some beans and give the rest of my share of the meat to some of the kids who stuck around after their dance. I suppose the hosts felt badly about giving me meat and they gave me another entirely full plate of vegetarian stuff. I ate some more beans but then when most people were gone, I gave the food again to some children. I find it difficult to eat at a big gathering where the children are sitting around waiting for the leftovers. However, since this organizations main function is to take care of and feed orphans, I saw they were giving out bowls of food to the kids before the adults ate, which made me extremely happy. The rest of the week, I have noticed people around town all dressed up in traditional clothing, so far, this is my favorite South African holiday.

Yesterday I was taking a taxi to work, only the taxi didn’t quite make it all the way to Mtubatuba. Just outside the town, the wheel fell off the taxi while we were going about 80kph, sending everyone inside up in the air, then back down very quickly. Everyone was screaming and scared, there was smoke and burning rubber, but no one was seriously injured, we all hit our head on the top of the taxi when the tire first fell off though. We were very lucky not to fall over, some quick thinking by the driver who apparently wasn’t quick thinking enough to make sure the tires were fastened securely to the vehicle before taking off that morning. Everyone rushed off the taxi when it stopped, not knowing what had happened, just that there was a bunch of smoke and burning. While normally I wouldn’t appreciate being squeezed into a taxi with the maximum number of people possible, all piled in on top of each other, I think this is the only reason no one was hurt, none of us could actually go anywhere but up. I was close enough to town to walk to my NGO, since there was really no way I was getting back on that taxi (although other people did). Everyone was very supportive of my freaking out, despite it not being a serious accident. I believe the scariest thing was being in the back of the taxi, thinking you are about to crash and not being able to do anything about it. I calmed down considerably as the day went on and was able to take a taxi home that evening.

iSimangaliso, Mozambique

Keeping sane during a Peace Corps experience is a difficult task even at the best of times, thus taking a vacation with other volunteers is essential for ones mental health. I spent the past week on holiday with four other volunteers, visiting the iSimangaliso Wetland Park and going to Mozambique. We spent the first part of the week in St. Lucia, which is really just down the street from my house, but I was able to see the area in a new light, the way the tourists do. While it was rainy, cold and windy, I still had a good time, even if I had to wear two fleeces and a ski cap to the beach everyday. We went out to a lot of restaurants, went to the St. Lucia beach, Cape Vidal, Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve, and on the Hippo and Croc tour.

In the middle of the week, we headed up the park to Kosi Bay. We got a bit confused by the directions to the backpackers, seeing as how we needed to turn onto a dirt road, past an abandoned building to get to it. We were all very skeptical of the place, but it turned out to be the best backpackers I have stayed at in South Africa. Each group could have their own little building. The rooms were connected by walkways made of sticks. The place was not busy at all, so we had out own kitchen and got the bathroom to ourselves most of the time. While we were only there for two days, if felt longer because the owners took us on so many tour and were very accommodating to everything we wanted to see.

The first day, we went on the tour’s first ever trip into the raffa forest of Kosi Bay. We road on a small boat make of raffa wood, pulling it across the lake with a rope. We walked through the forest and it was amazing seeing all the palms.

In the afternoon, we went to Kosi Bay to see the fish traps, go snorkeling and to the beach. It was a beautiful beach, but we were the only ones on it. Friday I went into Mozambique, the backpackers is only about ten minutes away from the border. It was pretty cool to get my passport stamped on my birthday. A Brazilian couple sang to me in Portuguese. Immediately after crossing the border, all tarred roads disappeared and the driver had to put on the 4X4 drive. Mozambique was in a civil war for 25 years that ended in the 1990’s. I went to Ponto D’ouro and spent the morning on the beach.

They took us to lunch at a restaurant on top of a sand dune. They even gave me a free drink for my birthday. In the afternoon, I went back to the beach and to the shops along the road. Despite being only about a 30 minutes drive from South Africa, Ponta D’Ouro had a very different feel, with different culture, language, currency and architecture.

The beach in Ponta D’Ouro was one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen but very few people were around. Back at the backpackers, I found the owner had decorated the place with balloons and streamers for my birthday. We had cake and champagne in the evening. I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday! Check out the photos of the great adventure with the link to photos on the side. Now it is back to work in Mtubatuba

Carrying on

8/14/08 (wouldn't let me update on that actual date)

It has been a good couple of weeks in Africa. I am making progress with my work at Mpilonhle. Every Saturday, the mobile health unit goes out to counsel, test, and provide medication for community members. We have chosen 12 communities to serve with our three units. During the week, I plan for the events, going over logistics like who will staff which unit and on Saturdays, I got with the units to see the community. Since we started three weeks ago, the communities have really responded, from the local induna (chiefs) spreading the word to people signing up for computer courses. Community members are given the opportunity to sign up for a whole week of computer courses when they come to the unit on Saturday when they see a counselor or a nurse. In November and December we will go back to each community to hold the courses. I am excited about offering these courses to community members whom many have never worked on a computer before. Not only can we provide health services to the community, but we can also bring technology to extremely rural areas of KwaZulu-Natal.

Life in the village is also becoming routine, I once thought this would never happen. I doubt I will ever become use to all the staring, but I am use to eating the food and heating water for bathes. The children are still amazed by my presence. I have learned that I cannot feed all the hungry children in the village, I can play with them and read them stories. After receiving a wonderful package from the US, I promptly covered the children in temporary tattoos and stick-on earrings. The girls were so excited to have the tattoos, but I think they are also excited by receiving so much positive attention from an adult. The only problem being that now they hardly leave me alone for 10 minutes, even if they just want me to simply watch them play card games. I have taken to reading while they color and play games in hopes of showing them that reading can be fun.

I am going on vacation next week and I am very excited. A few other Peace Corps Volunteers will join me here in St. Lucia for a few days, then we are heading up the iSimangaliso Wetland Park to Kosi Bay. I plan on sitting on beaches, reading, snorkeling, going to game reserves, eating good food (i.e. nothing with cabbage in it) and celebrating my birthday.