Giving thanks

A nice little sunrise from outside my room this morning....



Happy thanksgiving!!

Holidays are always a difficult thing to spend away from home, especially in another country that doesn’t even recognize the holiday. But I am very happy to report that spending the day with my fellow volunteers in Kuruman turned out to be one of the better Thanksgivings I’ve ever had! One of the volunteers here, Jonelle, had stayed at a bed and breakfast in town a few weeks ago, and upon hearing that there was a group of American volunteers living in the area, the owner agreed to cook us a FABULOUS thanksgiving dinner. For the equivalent of about $14 each we got the whole spread…. Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing (sooo good…), green beans, salads, and pumpkin and pecan pies for desert. And in true thanksgiving fashion, we ate so much we thought we were going to die. A perfect recipe for overeating: take a Peace Corps volunteer who lives off rice, beans, and peanut butter sandwiches and give them more food than they could ever imagine. It was awesome. Afterwards we hung out at this beautiful guest house for the night just drinking and enjoying each others company and relishing in the fact the we were able to have fluent conversations in English with people who all understood each other.

Most of us stayed in town for a for a couple of days to continue the fun, and I have to say it was maybe the best few days I’ve had in South Africa so far. Activities included walking around town a lot, hanging out in air conditioned rooms, a night of pizza and beer, and mostly just eating a lot (yeah, we were spoiled for a few days…). It’s really cool to think how the 43 of us who didn’t know each other at all before July 22 have quickly become a family. It’s also really good for us to hear about what we’re all doing in the villages, challenges we’ve come across, and plans for the future. Because no matter how alone we may feel at our sites, it’s comforting to know we’re really all going through such similar things. Sometimes it is rough to go back to the village after sharing such great company for a couple days, but I actually felt really good coming back “home”. After over two months here at site I realized this really is becoming a place where I feel at home and totally welcome. I think this little mini-break allowed me to get a nice little recharge, and I feel like I have a fresh new perspective on my life and work here. Which is great, because the last month has been filled with difficulties, including feeling overwhelmed with the fact that I might not be able to make a big difference here, trying to explain to my staff what my role is (AKA not their secretary), coping with the boredom of this 3 month “lock-down” phase and village life in general, and working out plans for next term. Luckily I still really feel happy and comfortable here, despite this.

Somehow time is flying by and in only a couple of weeks school will be out for the year, and a week or so after that I will be embarking on a glorious Christmas vacation to the Wild Coast (Coffee Bay if you want to google pics and be jealous…) with about 12 other volunteers. It will be my second Christmas spent abroad but definitely my first on a BEACH! Yeah, I’m pretty stoked.

I had a conversation with a few other volunteers that I’ve been meaning to write about for a while now. Basically we all agreed that at some point since arriving in South Africa, the general perspective among (most) volunteers has changed from “we get to spend 2 years in the Peace Corps in South Africa” to “can I really do this for 2 years?”. Luckily I still really want to stay and I can still visualize how I will cope with everything until 2011, but I won’t deny that I sometimes feel like this experience is now all about “making it through”. I’m not sure when this changed occurred, but I think at least for me it was at some point during training when we realized the Peace Corps is not really just the romanticized and exotic “African” life many of us have pictured before coming. It became clear that living in poverty is actually extremely difficult, and while the dusty village roads do still remind us of this idealized notion of what Africa should be like, we are mostly faced with challenges of unmotivated staff who are resistant to change, sexual harassment, extreme cultural differences, linguistic barriers, constantly being asked for money/food/presents, horrendously gross pit toilets, and infestations of all sorts of bugs. It also didn’t help to find out that the group (SA16) that was going through their COS (Close of Service) while we were in training had made it to the end with less than HALF of their original group… and then learning that this statistic is actually not that unusual.

This change in attitude just strikes me as so funny considering what the application process entails to get into the Peace Corps. We all spent months upon months, some even 2+ years busting our asses finishing the application, getting recommendations, constant trips to doctors and dentists to get medically cleared (also the high cost all of this entailed), piles of bureaucratic paperwork, months of not hearing anything about our placements, and finally the crazy preparation of leaving our American lives for our next adventure. When people asked me what I was doing after graduation I would smile and proudly say “moving to Africa to be a peace corps volunteer”. And then there is the fact that we are all crazy lucky to have even gotten an invitation to serve, considering the huge increase in applicants and decrease in positions the organization has faced.

Basically the moral of this story is that I’ve resolved to get back to the point where I remember everyday what it took to get here and that this is an experience that I am very fortunate to have, not something that I should feel like I am suffering through. While I am, of course, faced with more challenges and difficulties on a daily basis than I could have ever imagined, this is exactly what I wanted out of this experience. I knew that the Peace Corps would push me in ways I didn’t know possible and I knew there would be no better way to spend my first couple years in the “real world”. I now have my invitation letter hanging on my wall as I constant reminder that this is, in fact, something I get and chose to do (because yes I am a HUGE nerd and think things like this are really sentimental… it’s just how I roll). I think it really is helping to keep my attitude positive every day!

So, amongst all of the other things living in poverty has made me so very thankful for, this year I am thankful that I was lucky enough to receive a position in the Peace Corps and to live in a country people pay buckets of money to visit! It's not sunshine, rainbows, and butterflies all the time, but its a pretty sweet gig overall.

Interesting SA articles..

Hey guys! Here are a couple of interesting articles I've read in the past week, due to my severe addiction to internet news. Enjoy!

Here's one on the race issues still going on here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7512700.stm

Rainbow nation - dream or reality?

By Audrey Brown BBC News

When Nelson Mandela became president of post-apartheid South Africa in 1994, he promised he would build a nation where people of different races could live together in peace and harmony.

The racial bloodbath feared by many had been averted.

"The time for the healing of the wounds has come," Mr Mandela, who has now turned 90, said at the time.

"We enter into a covenant that we shall build the society in which all South Africans, both black and white - will be able to walk tall. A Rainbow Nation at peace with itself and the world."

His words ushered in a collective reverie as white South Africans discovered their common identity as Africans.

Those who were not white looked forward to the opportunity of earning a decent living and educating their children.

Although there was recognition that it would be hard to reverse apartheid's legacy, there was a general feeling that - with Nelson Mandela at the helm - the country would pull through.

A Truth and Reconciliation Commission was set up to lay bare the horror of the past and put it to rest.

But not everyone noticed that this rosy view relied on the goodwill of the very poorest South Africans who were expected to forgive and forget - even though there were reminders everywhere that this new South Africa did not necessarily include them.

Any talk of the differences between black and white lifestyles, attitudes or expectations was shouted down - no-one wanted to wake from the dream.

'Black diamonds'

Yet white South Africans, basking in their new-found acceptability, maintained their wealth and advantages.

Only a few middle-class black and mixed-race South Africans, the so called "black diamonds", were able to gain an education, get government contracts and tenders - their share of some of the spoils of a powerful economy.

Motsoko Pheko, a member of parliament for the Pan Africanist Congress - a rival to the ruling African National Congress during the long anti-apartheid struggle - said government policies were "pure appeasement".

In truth, the only area where rich and poor, black and white have any shared experience is crime.

It is a terrifying reality for everyone, although white South Africans - on their farms and behind their high walls - believe they are the real targets.

They point to the racially charged language sometimes exchanged between black criminals and white victims.

Bronwyn Patterson, a white woman who was robbed and had to listen while her daughter was being raped by black men, spoke of being called a "white bitch".

Some black South Africans in rural areas speak of unbridled brutality against them as armed white farmers "mistake" them for baboons and shoot to kill.

Timothy, a black activist in a small agricultural town west of Johannesburg, says people get paid too little for back-breaking work.

There have been some widely reported incidents when black people have been attacked by vicious dogs - and even lions - as they go about their business on farms that their ancestors once owned and they now work on.

Mapule Lottering's child Nkarabile was shot and injured in an incident in which four of her neighbours were killed by a white man. Armed, white farmers also fire shots and throw missiles at the flimsy shanty dwelling where she lives.

Xenophobia

Fourteen years after Mr Mandela's new nation was born, the country's newspapers are still filled with stories of snubs and rejections as white establishments blatantly refuse to allow black people in.

Yet white South Africans vote with their feet as they complain that their opportunities are dwindling, as the government promotes its policy of Black Economic Empowerment.

The re-cutting of the economic cake, it seems, is leaving most people dissatisfied.

More and more black people are also leaving the country as the dream starts to fade.

South Africa's streets may not be paved with gold, but as local people leave, millions more come from other parts of the continent to try and make a living.

This has added to the country's racial and economic burdens because more poor black people add to the competition for scarce resources like houses and jobs.

Earlier this year, these tensions spilled over into a shocking outbreak of xenophobic violence, which left more than 60 people dead and thousands homeless - attacks which Mr Mandela condemned.

For me, racism has never been something that I've even contemplated Jamie Patterson, rape victim

"Remember the horror from which we come," he warned.

Professor Neville Alexander of the University of Cape Town says South Africa's racial mix presents a unique opportunity but also a danger.

"We've been given the historic opportunity, because we have a black majority that suffered and has struggled in an anti-racist movement to bring about a non-racial order.

"We have the historic duty, I believe, to demonstrate to the world that it is possible to live in a raceless society.

"But unless we handle it carefully, it can turn into its opposite and I think that most political people haven't thought deeply enough about this - if we fail, it's got the ingredients, like any other racial order, of genocidal conflict."

Perhaps the best hope for Nelson Mandela's lofty ideal of a true melting pot comes in the words of Bronwyn Patterson's daughter, Jamie.

She was born in 1990, the year Mr Mandela was released from 27 years behind bars, and says her black rapists were definitely full of "hatred".

"But to be angry at black people would be stupid," she says, remembering how black church members from Soweto gave her an award after overcoming her ordeal.

"When they prayed for us, it brought tears to my eyes because it was with such sincerity.

"For me, racism has never been something that I've even contemplated."
____________________________________________________________________

And here's one on new PC Director Aaron William's visit to South Africa. A couple of the volunteers from my group recieved a visit from him at their sites... luckies! http://allafrica.com/stories/200911110044.html

U.S. Peace Corps to Bring New Focus to Food Security

The Obama administration earlier this year named a former United States Peace Corps volunteer, Aaron S. Williams, as the program's new director. The Peace Corps, which will soon celebrate its 50th anniversary, draws thousands of Americans who want to work abroad and under the new administration, it is looking at its areas of focus and how best to continue implementing its programs most effectively. Williams spoke with AllAfrica during a visit to South Africa.

Is this your first visit to Africa since your appointment, and what role does the Peace Corps currently play on the continent?

Yes, this is my first visit since I was appointed two months ago as director... As you know, the Peace Corps is all about trying to promote world peace and friendship. That's our principal mission and it has continued to be that way for nearly 50 years. We're about to celebrate our 50th anniversary in 2011 and right now we have 7,500 volunteers in 74 countries around the world and we're in 23 countries in Africa.

Which countries have you already visited on this trip, and what issues have arisen which you believe to be the most important?

I'm only going to visit one country on this trip to Africa: South Africa. I'm here primarily to meet with the country directors of all our programs in Africa and from here I go on to Bangkok to meet with our directors in Asia and the Middle East.

One of the things that I do when I visit a country is of course go out and visit our Peace Corps volunteers. I went to visit volunteers in Mpumalanga [province] and the North West [province] to look at volunteers who are working in programs in health and education. Those are the two principal sectors in South Africa.

Can you tell us what differences in policy or emphasis the Obama administration will bring to the activities of the Peace Corps?

This is a marvelous time for the Peace Corps as we approach our 50th [anniversary]. President Obama has issued a call to service to Americans and Americans have really responded in an extraordinary manner. Applications this year are up 18 percent. We have approximately 15,000 applications for about 4,000 positions right now so we're seeing extraordinary interest on the part of Americans.

We also teach about 250 languages worldwide and the reason for that is so that Peace Corps volunteers can really reach out and work as partners in communities, with grassroots organizations around the world. One of the things that we try to do is that we want to be a responsive to partnerships. We're a people-to-people organization. We work directly with communities.

Which African countries have benefited the most from Peace Corps assistance?

I think nearly all African countries have benefited… Historically, the first country that the Peace Corps went into was Ghana. Ghana is going to be the first country to celebrate its 50th anniversary and we have had uninterrupted service… [there] for nearly 50 years.

I think certainly here in South Africa we're working in areas that are of great interest to the South African government and to South African society, civil society and business. We're focused on education, we work on HIV/Aids. I had a chance to speak to South African government officials while I was here, in the ministries of health and education, and we want to support national priorities and we will continue to do so. Of course, our role is to work at the community level.

What are the Peace Corps' biggest achievements, and its failures, in Africa over the last five years?

I think our biggest achievement has to be capacity development. We work with young people throughout the continent in terms of improving their learning ability. For example, we work with deaf children in many countries in Africa. We work with orphans who have been orphaned because of the HIV/Aids epidemic. We work in areas of small businesses and development with young people. As a matter of fact, probably two-thirds of all the people that we reach in Africa are children…

And now a new departure has been the new food security initiative. Secretary [of State Hillary Rodham] Clinton is very interested in food security; it's going to be one of her primary initiatives and has the full support of course of the Obama administration. It is a priority at Peace Corps, and we're going to do more to expand our work in agriculture. Agriculture has always been an important part of Peace Corps' involvement in working at the community level.

What would you like the Peace Corps in Africa to be doing in three or four years?

I would like to see us continue our program in education; we're very much involved in teacher training … hands-on involvement with teachers in the schools. I want to see us continue to expand our work in health, not just in HIV/Aids, but also in malaria and tuberculosis. We have trained skilled volunteers who work at the community level, really strengthening the capacity of NGOs at the grassroots to work in these areas.

I want to see us having a broad, expanded role in food security, especially because in Africa women play an instrumental role in the agricultural sector. I want to see us reach out to women who are involved in agriculture. I want to see us reach out to young people and introduce them to the importance of agriculture and food security. So those are the areas [where] I'd like to see us really establish a broader presence and deeper involvement at the community level.

Outrunning a storm (almost)

Actually this should be entitled “attempting to outrun a giant storm, failing, and then being rescued”, or perhaps “how a crappy day can turn pretty decent”. But let’s start from the beginning. Firstly, as I have probably previously mentioned, it is definitely rainy season here and the rainstorms are epic! They typically come out of nowhere and just pour rain like nothing I have ever seen. We’re talking monsoon style. Rain on a tin roof creates the loudest, most magical sound ever, and although my tin roof is a bit leaky and I get a nice misty drippiness in my room, I have come to love storms often just for the fact that they give me the most uninterrupted, relaxing time I could hope for in my room. Let me also say that some storms are so intense that they have made me feel like a little kid or puppy who gets scared when there is thunder. But I swear to you I have heard thunder and seen lightning so epic here that it feels like it happened right outside my window and totally shakes the house. It’s ridiculous!

So anyways, last week I was working at Baduana in the next village over, which takes me about 50 minutes to walk to or a 15 minute bike ride if my bike is rideable. Last Wednesday was not the greatest day. Not the worst, but just one of those blah days. I was exhausted and not feeling well all day (knock on wood that this is NOT a flu coming on), bike tire goes flat on my way to school and I realize I must have a hole, principal doesn’t show up for whatever reason, and I’m just feeling pretty useless overall. So at 1 I decide I would just call it quits and head home early to get some rest. Now to put this day into context, it was bright and sunny with no clouds in sight… I had a hot and sweaty walk to school at only 7am. I was in class all day monitoring the grades 1 and 2 learners take their National Assessment standardized exams, thus not noticing the change in weather.

So I walk outside at 1 to leave and realize that there are some extremely menacing, dark clouds rolling right towards us. Complete with the really intense lightning one sees in the South African desert. Due to the previously beautiful and hot weather, I did not pack my umbrella or raincoat. Crap. Naturally, my principal is the only one with a car who could have given me a ride, but not today as he didn’t come to school. All my teachers have to say: “You better walk fast it’s going to rain soon!”. Guess that’s the only option!

I put on my backpack, gather up my things, and begin my uncomfortably fast-paced trek home in my skirt. And between that village and my village, there is literally nothing. Just any old dirt road in the desert, and the only thing I typically see traversing this distance are a couple of goats. So I’m not really expecting anyone to come along and rescue me. Well I get to the intersection that marks about the 1/3 way home, about 15-20 minutes in. Clouds are approaching with ever increasing speed and proximity, wind is picking up, I feel a drop here and there… and I am at least 30 minutes from the village. Crap crap.

I walk about 8 more minutes, picking up my speed as drops are coming down with more frequency and are the really big drops that kind of hurt when they hit your face. I could not hear anything but the wind and thunder, and was startled when a donkey cart came out of nowhere to my right. It rode past me with a couple and their son motioning for me to jump on the back of the cart to get a lift back. RESCUERS! So I’m running in my skirt and sandals trying to catch up to the cart, since well donkeys aren’t the smartest and don’t just stop instantaneously. Finally I get to them and somehow make it on to the rickety wooden cart, not thinking twice about the strict “no accepting rides from strangers” rule that the Peace Corps has placed on us. Surely this can’t be talking about donkey carts anyhow?!?! It probably didn’t look as epic, but to me it totally felt like one of those adventure movies where someone runs next to a moving train trying to get on. By the time all of this occurs the rain is really coming down and we are all getting soaked. But alas we make it to my village, and the nice family drops me off right at my doorstep (because of course everyone, regardless of whether or not we have met, knows where I live). I thank them about a hundred times, and run into my house just in time for this storm to unleash hell on the village. About 10 seconds later it was hailing giant balls of ice and there was wind that I could have sworn was about to rip my tin roof off of my poor little room. Absolutely terrifying to think I could have been caught walking in it. I thought that the sound of rain was intense on the tin roof, but nothing compares to this hailstorm. But at last I was safe in the comfort of my room. I soon cuddled up with my book and headlamp and was able to unwind and laugh about my not-so-great day.

Never in my life would I have thought I would have been rescued by a donkey cart as I try to outrun a desert storm. It was one of those nice moments where I realized what a cool and unique experience this is. I have moments like this pretty often where I just kind of stop and remember “Wow.. I’m living in Africa and that just happened”. In any case, it definitely turned my bad day into a pretty ok one! Lesson learned: Always keep a raincoat handy, no matter how clear the day looks.

This is just one of the many experiences that have reaffirmed the fact that my village loves me and has my back, which is a really nice feeling in what can be otherwise a very lonely life. Just yesterday after a day of grocery shopping and hanging out with a few other volunteers in town, I hop on my taxi at about 1 with others headed back to my village. This is always fun because all of the women on the bus yell "Eeeee Lorato Mokhukhedi!!!" and greet me, excited that I am sharing a taxi with them (I can't remember who most of them are). Sometimes always being the commodity and center of attention in my village makes me want to hide in my shell and I sometimes ache to go back to a life of anonymity. But on taxi rides, having everyone know me is a much more pleasant eperience than a mass of people just staring at the weird white girl who rides taxis.

In any case, after about 10 minutes of waiting for the taxi to leave, I get a drunk man visitor sitting entirely too close to me telling me he loves me. Oddly enough this is actually the gardener at one of my schools, who during the school day never says a WORD. Guess it just took him a little booze to express his love. I make it very clear I don't want him there... I ignore him, I never look him in the eye, I tell him to go away, it even got to the point where I was having to physically push him off my seat.. my space was being far too invaded. Right before departing, the taxi driver stands up, physically pulls him out of my chair, and tells him to sit in the back. I mouth "ke a leboga" at him, thanking him for taking care of it. But of course, a few minutes later he stumbles his way back up to my seat. After a few minutes of the same routine, 3 of the other men on the taxi start yelling at him to leave me alone, and get him to move again to the back. Then, in true South African fashion, the taxi makes a pit stop at the gas station/bottle store, and drunk man takes advantage of the situation by getting just another couple beers. Great. As the taxi is leaving he stumbles his way over AGAIN, same routine follows. But this time one of the old gogos stands up (as the taxi is moving down a bumpy road), comes over and just REAMS him out for harassing me, takes him by the shoulder to pull him out of my chair, and sits down right next to me and uses her bags to take up the rest of the sapce so he can't come back. She didn't really speak any English, but I thanked her about a thousand times and we enjoyed an exchange of pleasantries along the way. It just made me laugh so hard that this old woman was the only one who could really fix the situation, and man was I happy about it. I can't express enough how much the gogos rock... while men here are horrible and untrustworthy, the older women are the kindest, strongest, and most caring people I have ever seen. It felt really good to know that everyone was looking out for me!!

Picture links

I will no longer be using Picasa because i hate it, but here are the links of a couple albums I posted last month for anyone who didnt see them:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=KristinJMayer&target=ALBUM&id=5384331836749277361&authkey=Gv1sRgCLrRtuysq8Llcw&feat=email

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=KristinJMayer&target=ALBUM&id=5384317320879697361&authkey=Gv1sRgCMzikIS8gvGRiQE&feat=email

My internet connection is having a hard time uploading any on here, so I'll do that when I'm in town next and can go to the internet cafe...

Babies, funerals and other happenings….

Friday, Oct. 16 was a great day in the states….. because I am now an auntie!!!! Welcome to the world Indie Morgan! Most of you who read this probably already knew that, but I just had to give a shout out! She is a healthy baby girl and Alanna seems to be just loving everything motherhood has to offer. Very exciting news. I’m not gonna lie, this exciting event presented perhaps this biggest challenge I have faced since arriving in S.A. It was definitely a stark realization that life is going on without me at home. And not just the usual normalcies of life but big, life-changing exciting things! I wish everything could just be put on pause for a couple of years while I go through this, but I knew coming into this that being gone for 2 years would mean missing out on some things. There’s no getting around the fact that it sucks I’m missing out on Indie’s first 2 years, but I have to look at the bright side… at least I’ll be that cool aunt who gets to tell stories about Africa!

On a much different note, I have recently been introduced to an extremely important part of South African culture: funerals. People here are deeply religious and deaths are just constantly occurring (rampant HIV/AIDS + little access to healthcare = ☹ ), so it’s not a huge surprise what an important role the funerals play in their culture. In fact, the only community group that seems really active in every village is called “Society”, which is basically a group of (usually older) women in the community who get together and work out the costs of whatever funeral is to happen that Saturday. Funerals are big events… you typically will go to one even when you didn’t know (or ever even meet) the person who died, all it takes is some sort of community or family connection and you would feel obligated to attend. The first funeral I attended was sadly on the same day I found out I was an aunt, and was for two brothers who died very near each other – aged 16 and 18. Needless to say this was a really hard day for me. I have thankfully been to only a couple funerals in the States, but I can safely say that funerals here are pretty different. They are always on Saturdays and everyone gets super dressed up and heads to the cemetery VERY early that morning. So there is just a giant crowd of people watching the burial, participating in the songs, etc. Women cover their heads with scarves and the ones who are in mourning are usually more covered. As my SeTswana is still pretty limited, I had a hard time understanding who was talking or what was being said, but I think it was mostly a lot of scriptures and whatnot. What I did notice was that without any sort of program, everyone knew when to burst into song and what was to be sung. This is something I’ve noticed at other events also and still remains a mystery to me! Their songs are really beautiful though, so it was at least pleasant to hear them.

The ceremony took about an hour and a half and from there everyone walked together (VERY slowly might I add) to the house of the boys’ mother. The house had a really big tent set up and the family had been cooking I think the entire day before to prepare for the big meal/party that follows the burial. I feel weird saying “party” but in all honestly sometimes it’s hard to tell one social gathering from another. They all include the same kinds of foods (pap, chicken, coleslaw, potato salad, other mayonnaise-y salads…), the same big tent, the same sort of atmosphere (perhaps less dancing and singing was happening at the funeral, but it wasn’t super gloomy either..), house music, and drunk men (mind you, this meal is occurring at about 9am). Funerals are actually very social affairs, I have been asked multiple times by my teachers what funeral I am going to on a particular Saturday. It’s definitely one of the strongest traditions in the culture and the highest way you could show your respect for a person, family, and community. All in all, I have been able to avoid attending church on Sundays (not without much explanation to my Christian community) but I think that funerals will be an inevitable part of my service. But eish let me tell you… they are sooo very exhausting. So many people came that many of them had never seen me before which basically led me to having to greet and explain my presence to more people than I could count. And dealing with drunk men is, as I have already mentioned, the worst part about living here. And they don’t mess around when they drink, they get DRUNK drunk. Nothing I can’t handle though.

So anyways, that’s my spiel on funerals…. Thought I’d give you a little insight into the culture here. It’s sad to know that death is such a huge and normal part of life here. People here are also very secretive about the reasons for death here. They’ll always just say “Oh they were very very sick…”, in fact I’ve never even heard them mention HIV/AIDS at all in relation to a cause of death. In a country some say has THE highest HIV/AIDS rate... one can only assume that it’s a cause for many (if not most) of the deaths occurring. Sad, sad stuff that it still remains such a taboo in the culture.

Things at my schools are slowly but surely moving along. Something that has been really hard for me to deal with is just the complete lack of logic or reasoning used when doing anything. I understand and accept that things are moving in “Africa time”, but certain things my teachers do I just cannot wrap my head around. The biggest thing I’ve been dealing with is the fact that the teachers just don’t teach! Not only do they not teach but they won’t even be present in the classroom for hours and sometimes entire days. These absences are a completely normal part of the schools and are not questioned at all. I’ve been having a hard time drawing the line between what are in some instances just cultural differences but in others just EXTREME laziness. For instance, I can’t tell you how many times I have seen my teachers go to class, do a half-assed lesson for maybe 30 minutes without checking for any understanding and instead just make them memorize and repeat what they’ve said, and then walk out acting so very exhausting from the grueling 30 min of teaching. Maybe they will come back 20-30 min later and do it again, but often they will only be in the classroom for less than a couple of hours in an entire day. It’s one thing if they really were truly busy doing other things that they need to… but many times this is not the case! It’s frustrating when all I hear them say is “we are really suffering, this is a big big problem” yet they just kind of sit around a lot not doing anything that even slightly resembles work. I really just can’t understand how this can be an accepted practice in a school where there are at least 3 7th graders who can still barely read or write.

I reached my absolute breaking point with this the other day. Wednesday I had planned to be in the Grade 2/3 class all day and help the teacher in class. Of course, as things here never really go according to plan, my principal felt this morning would be much better spent switching the staffroom and the grade 2/3 room. Her reasoning: the staffroom gets too dusty when its windy. Naturally this would be a much better environment for the students. Like I said… logic = NONEXISTENT. So after 2 hours of making every single learner carry desks, chairs, papers, even a fridge, back and forth, the classrooms were officially switched. Ok, so not quite the morning I had planned on but maybe the afternoon would go better. OR maybe not. After about 15 minutes of break, my principal calls me into the new staffroom saying “oh we have a big big problem can you help us”. So of course I go to help them. With what? Inputting all of their 2008 budget information into this horribly complicated chart. Duh, what else would be so important? The rest of the DAY was spent working on this, with me doing most of it because I am apparently much better with a calculator. The problems with this: 3 out of the 5 teachers at my school DID NOT EVEN STEP INTO THEIR CLASSROOMS FOR A WHOLE DAY, we employ an “administrative assistant” who was supposed to do this (so that the teachers could TEACH.. what a concept) but who apparently does not do his job, and how in the hell is updating 2008 budget info more important than being in your class?!?!?!?! It’s been 3 days of working on this and they haven’t gotten past October’s numbers. And the 2009 numbers: still to come. These are times where I have to take a step back, a deep breath, and remember this is probably the way things have been done for decades. I will try my best to get these teachers in the classroom more but frankly I’m questioning how much you can really change adults who are set in their ways.

So it’s been a frustrating couple weeks at school only because I think I’m just beginning to grasp what an administrative mess the education system is here. In fact, I would say utter “shambles” is an appropriate word. I suppose that’s why we’re here though right? I am now very thankful for this 3 month observation period though… it’s pretty hard to figure out what’s really going on in a situation when you are just a beginner with the language and culture.

Another interesting thing that has happened as of late is my first introduction to Afrikaner culture. This weekend I met some other volunteers in Vryburg, a town about 2 hours away from where I am. We stayed the night at this hotel in town where a couple people had previously stayed and met the owner, a middle-aged Afrikaner man. Not only did he give an amazing discount to the group of volunteers staying there, but he also invited us to a braii (bbq) at his house with his family. So about 10 of us show up at this house only to realize it is a very intimate family gathering. The host still seemed happy we showed up and we ended up hanging out at his house all night. The house was RIDICULOUS… I guess being a hotel owner is not a bad gig. First of all, the house is situated in a neighborhood that made me feel instantaneously transported back to any normal middle-class American neighborhood. A really weird feeling after living in my village for 6 weeks! The house was complete with many rooms, a full bar (of which we were allowed full use), an oversized pool table, a pool and waterfall in the courtyard, but let’s not forget the most shocking part: stuffed animal heads EVERYWHERE, including springbocks, zebras, a giraffe (yes, a giraffe), and a fully-stuffed lion! Apparently game hunting is a hobby of theirs. While it was a little awkward at first being in such a different environment than we were used to, and facing the many questions they had about what we could possible be doing living among the blacks in the villages, it turned out to be a great evening. We were lucky enough to have a night of cold beer and really interesting talks, both with each other and with the family. And when I say this was an Afrikaner family I mean it in the greatest sense…. There were even medals on the walls that members of their family had received during WWII and the Anglo-Boer War.. crazy stuff! They were absolutely fascinated by what we were doing in the villages. It was nice to get to explain to them that while Tswana culture was very different from their own, in the end we are just people living among other people. It’s funny how these people have been living with each other for centuries and can still act like they are from different planets. Overall it was a great weekend though, and just another fascinating cultural experience I can add to my list.

Well, weeks seem to be just really moving along and I can't believe it's already November! I'm looking forward to this week, I found a French press coffee maker in vryburg this weekend, along with regular, non-instant coffee... which means I will now get to enjoy ACTUAL coffee, something I never knew I could miss so much.

Black and white

So I finished writing my last update and I decided I would let you know about another big part of my life here – being white in South Africa. And because it takes so many megabytes from my internet to update my blog… I figured I’d just write it now! Anyways race has been a big part of my life here, and the first time I have ever experienced something like it. I have always learned about race relations in American history, but it is really not something I have ever felt like I directly experienced. Since my arrival in South Africa, I have been constantly aware of the color of my skin, and it has really changed my perspective! In fact, I wrote in my journal about it a couple days ago… so I’ll just put that up here.

“Every time I go to town I am struck by how much the race relations fascinate me. Race is really not something that has never been a big part of my life, at least not directly. Here I find myself constantly aware of the color of my skin and how my race affects the way people perceive me. This was a really big deal to me when I first arrived in my village, since most of the people here had never really interacted like this with a white person before. Some of the younger kids had never even seen a white person up close before. But as people in the area began to know me, my name officially went from being “lekgoa!” (white person) to “Lorato” – a pretty big moment! So here in my village I am becoming less and less concerned with the fact that I am white. Although I do still notice how it affects my daily interactions with people. I am spoken to in Afrikaans a lot (a language in which I only really know how to say how are you and good morning), and people have a really hard time grasping the fact that I am white but don’t speak it. I also get asked for money a lot, which is particularly uncomfortable but they are beginning to understand that I am a volunteer and not making a lot! The most annoying thing, though, is people constantly assuming I am an expert at things, even when I know nothing about the problems – like cars, or land care. I noticed this a lot today with Mma Maqondose (educator for grades 1, 2 and 3). I have been observing her for 2 days and anytime she has her kids do an exercise she looks at me and says “Am I doing this right?”, “Is this ok?”, or “Was that the right answer?”. The topic was Setswana phonics… pretty sure she’s more of an expert than me! I appreciate that she is eager for help, but it gets really frustrating being looked at as a wealth of knowledge because of my skin color.
It took the kids a couple days of me being in the school for them to get used to me. Some of them even seemed to have a hard time looking me in the eye. Now we have obviously all become best friends ☺, but it really didn’t come that easily!

Now where the race issue really fascinates me is in town. There is a significant Afrikaaner population there and it’s really a culture I do not yet understand. Mma Magketla (my supervisor) has given me interesting insight into the issues and how they’ve affected her. Like how she owns a house in the middle of a white neighborhood, and some of her neighbors are still really racist and not OK with her living there. She is very open to talking about things like this, which is awesome for me to learn from someone directly affected by the government I have learned so much about - her life was significantly changed after apartheid ended (she wasn’t even allowed to own a house or any other land before then!). The Afrikaaners who do make an effort with the black Africans really stand out, even if it’s just the smallest attempt to speak their language or interact with them on a totally equal level. I’m amazed at Mma Magketla’s attitude towards it all – I can see how much racism has affected her life but she still has the outlook that even though many of them are still very racist, many are getting better and life is steadily improving.

I’m almost more aware of my color in town where there are white people around. It’s like there are these unspoken “rules” of where white and black people are supposed to stand, shop, eat, etc. As someone being thrown into the situation without any knowledge of these regularities, and on top of that being much more comfortable and immersed in Setswana culture, I find I feel out of place no matter what. A good example of this is when Nate and I were waiting for a ride back to our villages and we were standing on a curb in front of the gas station. These (Setswana) men approached us, curious as to who we were as we were “clearly not from around here”. We asked if it was the way we looked that made us stand out as Americans, but they said it was in fact just because we were white people standing next to the taxi rank – it’s something that just doesn’t happen! The good thing is that these small gestures seem to be taken really positively by people, like I’m trying to say “I’m white but I don’t mind doing things as the black people do them”. If I can make just one person smile because of where I decide to stand on the street, or buying fruits and vegetables from an old woman’s cart instead of in the grocery store (um, hello it’s way cheaper).. then I say my work here is at least having a positive impact in that sense! The funny thing is that when I go to town I feel more awkwardly stared at by the local Afrikaaners… they can immediately tell by the way I dress and what I do that I am not from here, and they just seem fascinated with who I am and why I ride in cars with black people. Honestly I’ll feel good if I make just one person see that it really isn’t that weird to not just interact with people of the other race but live like they do too, then I will feel really good about life.”

Anyways just thought I would give you all an insight into the complicated issue of color here in South Africa. It’s really not that surprising since color was the entire foundation of their government for so many years, but people say things really are improving with time. Makes me wonder what it must have been like here during Apartheid….

Updates from the Kalahari

Dumelang!

Time for more on life here in Afrika Borwa. Things are still going really really well for me in my village! I’ve been here 3 weeks and feel like I’m really getting the hang of things. I spent the first week at the school in my village, Mecwetsaneng Primary, and I have consequently fallen in love with every single kid in my village. Last week school was on break, but I ended up going to school almost every day to help my principal. She teaches grades 4, 5, 6 and 7 and was having a really hard time getting her lesson planning done, but I was happy to help as it gave me some more knowledge on how their curriculum works and what regulations the Department of Education puts in place (which happen to be abundant). I also spent a day helping her create the Whole School Evaluation, School Development Plan, and School Improvement Plan. This is something they do every 3 years, but the Dept. of Ed. has recently changed the format they have to use, so I helped her understand exactly what they were looking for. It was nice to get to see the school’s issues from her perspective and how she thinks they might be fixed, but I kind of felt like she was just rushing to fill out the papers for the Department and that she didn’t really intend on doing most of the things she was writing down. She is really passionate about her school, it’s just that many of the issues are out of her control since there is no time for her to do them as a full-time educator and principal. Needless to say, she’s putting me right to work! I was happy about this though because even though this first 3 months is supposed to be solely observation, I don’t think I can physically handle not doing any work at all!

During break I also got to meet up with some of the other volunteers in the area in Kuruman… a really nice change of pace from the monotony of my village! I was actually really proud of myself though, as much as I was happy to see them, I didn’t feel like it was something I really needed to do or I would go crazy. Luckily I feel really comfortable and happy in my village so I don’t feel like I’m counting down the days until I see other Americans. Of course its awesome to meet up with them though, as we have a really great group of people and are all getting really close!

This week I have been spending at Baduana Primary, the school in the next village over. I was lucky enough to receive a bike from my school so that I can ride it the 3km there and back the weeks that I spend there. Riding my bike with the view of the sun rising over the Kalahari is really not too shabby! I have been having some issues with the principal there, but I think it will all work itself out. He is a 30 something year old crazy Rastafarian man who tends to hit on me absolutely constantly. Men here are extremely hard to deal with, it doesn’t really matter how many times you tell them you aren’t single or aren’t looking, they just feel like they have the right to continually harass women (and of course being white only results in more of this attention). I have learned to deal with it from the drunk men at the Shebeens (the taverns in villages), but to receive it from one of the principals I’m working with was something that really really frustrated me. I wouldn’t say he harasses me necessarily, it’s more the uncomfortable things he says, like always commenting on how nice I look and calling me late at night “just to talk”, always asking me when he can come visit me, etc. It has been very hard to deal with this week, but after a couple of days of being very forward and forceful with him saying he can’t act that way, the situation seems to be improving. I’ve been reinforcing the fact while women in this culture may accept that as normal practice, it is not acceptable for me and I will not be able to work in an environment that makes me uncomfortable. So in any case, it’s been a part of the culture that is really hard to deal with, but I know that he doesn’t mean any harm and that hopefully it isn’t something that will continue.

Despite the way he treats women, he is a really great teacher and is probably one of the most liberal and progressive people I have met in rural South Africa. He is strongly opposed to corporal punishment and is all about finding new methods of learner behavior and classroom management. There is only one other educator in this school, and she seems to abide by this system. Yesterday one of the girls who comes and hangs out at my house after school everyday (coincidentally my new best friends!) was sitting on my porch telling me about how she had a bad day at school because her teacher (the male educator at Mecwetsaneng Primary) beat her in class. The principal at that school is also opposed to corporal punishment in theory, but she as no time to observe the other teachers as she is always in the classroom herself. So I think this is an issue I will try to tackle at some point – I had tears welling in my eyes as this sweet girl was telling me about getting smacked right in the middle of class and in front of everyone. It makes the learners terrified to ever make a mistake, resulting in the total fear of speaking up in class. I think he’s the only educator I work with who actually still hits his kids, but I can tell it’s been the way these kids have been brought up. Sometimes when I’m with them in class I’ll go up to one of them to pat them on the shoulder and say “good job” with a smile, like many teachers in America would, and the kid will flinch like I am about to smack them across the face! But anyways, the principal at Baduana is hard for me to deal with but luckily has a really great education philosophy – this will be one less challenge for me at the school.

On the note of my schools, I just have to mention how absolutely in love I am with these children. Most of my education experience has been with students from 13-17, which I thought was what I preferred, but I am really loving working with the really young ones. In both of my schools my favorite days have been with Grades 1, 2 and 3 – words cannot express how cute they are! An added bonus to working with them is that I’ve realized I’m at about a 2nd grade level in Setswana, so I learn a lot in their class too! But you can tell they don’t get a lot of attention at home… the second they realized that I will play with them and encourage them they started getting really excited everytime I come around. When I ride my bike to Baduana Primary they wait at the fences of their houses and run next to my bike the rest of the way to school! I can’t think of a better way I could start my day….

One thing I have particularly enjoyed about these first few weeks is getting closer to my host family. At first I was pretty nervous about living with a family for two years, but I was lucky enough to be placed with one who is really eager to help me be a part of the community and the family (which really go hand in hand as I am finding out I’m practically related to everyone in my village!). My gogo (aka my grandmother… Mmamma Mokhukedi) is maybe the cutest and welcoming woman I have met. She doesn’t speak much English but it’s been a great way for me to speak more Setswana. Some of my favorite times are just sitting on the porch and drinking tea with her and the kids in the evenings. Papa Mokhukedi is too old to hear anyone, so our communication is really no different than anyone else who talks to him! I absolutely love my host brothers who live here, too. In fact, Tsepisho and Olefeng (ages 13 and 9) went running with me this evening! And they did the whole thing without shoes… showoffs. We spend most evenings playing together… our favorite activities include riding my bike around, playing soccer for hours and hours (with a ball made from balled up bread bags… heartbreaking!), and drawing pictures in the dirt. Sometimes we also like to race to the community water tap… and of course I let them win all the time.

Summer is on it’s way and it’s getting hotter everyday. The heat hasn’t been too big of a problem for me yet, it seems that it’s only really hot in the afternoons, but it’s been cooling off in the evenings. I don’t know if that’s because we are in the desert or because it’s still spring, but I’m hoping it lasts through summer… as long as I can sleep at night all is well! What does suck about summer coming is that the bugs are coming out, and anyone who knows me should know this is not something I handle particularly well. The big problem here seems to be flies that swarm everywhere in the heat. Which has coincidentally turned me into a total clean freak… I swear I’ll freak out if cockroaches start becoming a part of my life!

Alright, time to make some dinner! Oh also I have an address in Kuruman now so let me know if you want to send anything and I’ll give it to you.

Sala sentle! (stay well)

PS - more pictures to come soon! Picasa really just sucks so I'm trying to find a better photo program to use that doesn't use up too much data to upload photos....