On Friday afternoon, after dropping my parents off at the airport (more on this in next blog entry), I crossed the border back into Swaziland and received the best text message ever from the Assistant Peace Corps Director in Swaziland:
"Hi Justine...I just want to let you know that your project has been funded!"
That's right, I've raised all of the $8591.69 I need to begin my water and community garden project for my community! I should get the money in the next 2 weeks, which means I can begin the implementation of the project sometime in the beginning of April. I can't wait to tell my community that we have the money!
I want to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who donated to the project, everyone who passed along my emails and links to videos and blog and website addresses, everyone who raised money at their workplace or school or club, and everyone who has helped me along the way. Unfortuantely I don't know who you are (they don't tell me for another couple of weeks), but YOU know who you are!
If you happen to have been raising money to donate to my project, or if you were planning on donating but didn't get a chance, I suggest that you donate to another Volunteer in Swaziland, Erica Briant, who is raising $2697.78 to build a workshop building for a women's sewing cooperative in her community. The beneficiaries of the project are the women themselves, who will have greater capacity to make school uniforms (that's what they do) so they have a better income, as well as the school children in the local community who receive the uniforms. It's a great project initiated by a great volunteer, so I promise the money will be used wisely! The link to her donation page is posted below:
https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=645-082
On that note, I'm off to my house to play with my new Dremel tool and sewing machine and to watch DVDs that my parents brought for me. And, hopefully, to write a blog about the adventures I've had over the last 2 weeks with my parents here. Tomorrow I'm back in town to hang out with the kids at Pasture Valley, then plan the first of a series of workshops for Bambanani (formerly Bambani Sandla, we changed the name) that will take place on Monday. Busy, busy, busy!
Love from the Swaz!
Justine
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
All the small things
As exciting as my life in Swaziland may seem to those of you who have so-called “boring” jobs, most of my days are pretty uneventful. Yesterday I did 4 hours of laundry, watched movies, made sweet potato hash browns (delicious!), and waited patiently for my parents to call. Today I made some earrings, polished my floor, had a 10 minute meeting about a business studies club I’m trying to start, and posted this Blog. Not exactly an adventure…
Having been in Swaziland for over 19 months now, the novelty of it has kind of worn off. Still, as my time here comes to a close, I’m making a conscious effort to appreciate the everyday things I’ve come to take for granted. The purple silhouette of the mountains surrounding my community, which I see every day without even thinking about. The kids in my community who get excited every time they see me, even if it’s only been 10 minutes since the last time. The days that start out overcast then turn out to be beautiful and sunny. The availability of cheap vegetables, even if variety is limited by season, and the convenience of the local sitolo (shop) where I can buy bread, eggs, and Cheetos only a 5 minute walk from my house. The kindness of my host family who, despite their limited resources, shares their dinner with me at least once a week. And so many other things I know I’ll miss.
Sure, there are things about Swaziland that I won’t miss (the big snake that’s taken up residence in the rock pile by my pit latrine, for example), but when I look back on my Peace Corps experience in 10 years, I don’t want to remember those things. I want to remember the beautiful landscape, how it felt to be adopted by a Swazi family, and everything I learned about myself during these 2 years. Other volunteers in my group have started counting the days to their flight home, but I don’t want to look at the next 7 months as something to get through; I want to use those 7 months to appreciate all the little things that make this experience so wonderful and unique.
I AM, however, counting down the days to my parents’ arrival. In 5 days…
After a frantic couple of weeks spent cleaning my house (seriously, it needed it) and starting a bunch of new projects, I get to take a 12 day vacation. Sort of. I’ll meet them Saturday morning in Johannesburg, South Africa, then spend 3 days hiking, craft market shopping, and exploring all the places in Swaziland that I haven’t had time (or transport) to get to. We’ll visit Pasture Valley for 2 days or so to help plant an orchard at the children’s home, then head back to my site for the rest of the trip. At my site we’ll be working on two projects: a jungle gym at the local NCP and preschool, and painting health awareness billboards at all the bus stops in my community. Relaxing, I know. THAT should be an adventure. We’ll also be taking all of the kids on my homestead up to Mlilwane Nature Reserve for a day to have a braai (cookout/picnic) and go swimming and such. None of them have ever even been to Nhlangano, let alone Mbabane or Manzini, so they’ve been counting down the days for a while now. (And I’ve been busy hoping that none of them drown or are bit by monkeys or anything.)
And it’s not just the kids. I have NEVER seen my host family so excited about ANYTHING. In Swaziland, family is a huge deal, so for my host family it’s a big honor to get to meet my parents. It was cool for them to meet Jess and Brittney, and they were excited to meet my sister Erin, but my PARENTS. Man, they can’t get over the excitement. This week, Gogo (grandmother) went around the homestead and “cleaned up” (pulled) all of the grass to make sure there were no snakes, and planted flowers all around my house. They’ve cut all the grass, washed and waxed the floors in the main house, put up a clothesline for my parents to dry their clothes on, and finally cleared all the rubble from the kitchen that collapsed in late October. They’re almost as excited as I am, and they’re MY parents…
In other news, I’ve been working my butt off trying to start new projects and wrap up others I’ve been working on for a while. And it’s kind of overwhelming. Here’s a breakdown:
1. I’ve started the JA Company program at Jericho High School, which is about 2 hours away from my house on public transportation. So far the teacher I’m supposed to be co-facilitating with has yet to show up to a meeting or answer any of my phone calls, but the students seem really motivated, really organized, and respectful, which is all I really need to keep going. After 3 more weeks of lessons on business and entrepreneurship, we’ll start a mini-company that will run (and hopefully make a profit) for about 8 weeks. And I will have an opportunity to learn how to make floor polish out of old plastic bags, paraffin, and laundry soap. (Hello, carcinogens.) Hopefully I’ll be starting the same program at Evelyn Baring High School this week, but we’re having a tough time scheduling our first meeting because the students and teachers all value sports over education and prefer to cheer on their volleyball team than show up to meetings. They keep saying that we’ll meet if it’s raining, but so far no rain. But it will happen eventually, I hope.
2. I finally got permission from the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to do a mass media campaign on HIV/AIDS, diabetes, TB, nutrition, STIs, and other health issues. I’ll be hosting a series of 9 weekly workshops, each focusing on one topic, at the bus shelters along the tar road in my community. After each workshop, I’ll paint a message about the topic onto the bus shelter (they’re cement) like a billboard, so that everyone in the community will see it. The Ministry was REALLY supportive of the idea when I talked to them last week, and I’ve submitted the grant proposal to Peace Corps to get funding for the paint and other supplies, so now all I have to do is wait. (And after 19 months in Swaziland, I’m really good at that.)
3. My partnership project to do the community garden and borehole is ALMOST funded. I currently need about $3600, but $2000 of that will come from an endowment for Peace Corps Volunteers in Swaziland so I REALLY only need $1600. If you or anyone you know has $10 to spare, visit www.swazilandproject.com for info on how you can donate to the project. Also, check out my videos on YouTube. There are 2 now (one about my partnership project and a slideshow of photos from my experience so far), and hopefully I’ll be posting a few more later this week.
4. I’m ALMOST finished with a new curriculum for Life Skills education for high school students in Swaziland. I’ve combined and revised 4 different manuals and adapted them to the Swazi school system (and learning style), and I’m working with the Career Guidance department at my local school to perfect it before printing and distributing it to other schools. HOPEFULLY they’ll actually use it to teach the HIV/AIDS and decision-making lessons in it, but at least I’ll know that they have the resources they need to teach it. Sustainable development is frustrating sometimes because it depends so much on other people caring about development, but there’s no way to make anyone else care…
5. This week, I finally finished painting the walls of the preschool at the NCP near my house. You know, the one that I started in November with Jess, Brittney, and Erin. I’ve finished the rainbow, a food chart labeled “A Balanced Diet,” shapes, colors, numbers, seasons, a diagram with all the body parts labeled, and tail of rabbit under the letter “R,” which we somehow forgot to paint in November. I also painted the words “Rise and shine and give God your glory,” which is the first line of a song the kids always singe. It’s amazing and colorful and the whole community is impressed with my painting ability, which is kind of funny to me because I’m not artistic at all. (Just good with stencils and straight lines.) I wish I had photos of it, but I think I’ll have to include them next time. (And my parents will get to see them in person next week…)
6. Last week, I got a flu shot (for H1N1) and got stung by a bee on the same day, then proceeded to have hives for 4 days and the cause is a mystery to me because there are too many variables on that particular day to determine the cause of it. Either way, I think I'm now immune to Benadryl and afraid to get stung or shot because it was a miserable 4 days, even if I was only half-conscious (thanks to the Benadryl) for most of it.
I think that’s all for today. I’m off to Pasture Valley to prepare for our first meeting for the Bambani Sandla craft project, which means painting the walls of the workshop we’ll be using and doing lots of administrative things. We’ve decided to start the project out by teaching the women how to do paper beads and jewelry, and Tuesday morning is our first meeting. We’re hoping to have a group of 10-20 women, but we could have none or we could have 40 and we won’t know until the meeting. But, as always, I’m optimistic.
Love from the Swaz!
Justine
My host family sisis (sisters) Zandile (l) and Londiwe. Zandile is 19 years old and in 7th grade, and Londiwe is 12 years old and in Form 1 (8th grade--the first year of high school). These are 2 of the uniforms I bought for them with the money my grandparents gave me for Christmas. I tried to get the boys to take a picture in their uniforms, but they always wake up late and are in a big hurry to get to school on time, so I can never get them to hold still long enough to take a photo.
One of the little girls in the preschool at Pasture Valley. If I'm at PV in the morning, I try to help do preschool. On this day, we were practicing squiggly lines (them tracing) and straight lines, and then playing with homemade play-doh at the end.
This is what I usually look like in my community. Somewhat ridiculous, I know, but the blue headband thing counts as a hair covering, which makes me more respectful in my community. Plus it absorbs sweat and covers up my blonde roots.
The windowsill of the cottage at Pasture Valley. Those are bees. Peter and Michelle used to raise bees for honey on the farm, but even after they stopped (Swazis kept breaking in at night and stealing the honey, so it became too dangerous to keep them) it was impossible to get rid of all the bees. Now, one hive has moved into the guest cottage on the farm, which is how I got stung last week and maybe why I got hives. Who knows.
Eliza loves peanut butter! This tub was stuck on her head for a couple of minutes and it was absolutely hilarious. I guess you had to be there...
A play-doh birthday cake one of the kids made for me at the Pasture Valley preschool. We were practicing the Happy Birthday song because it was Gogo Constance's (one of the house mothers) 60th birthday and I was trying to get them in the spirit. It worked--they sang quite enthusiastically at the party that night.
Having been in Swaziland for over 19 months now, the novelty of it has kind of worn off. Still, as my time here comes to a close, I’m making a conscious effort to appreciate the everyday things I’ve come to take for granted. The purple silhouette of the mountains surrounding my community, which I see every day without even thinking about. The kids in my community who get excited every time they see me, even if it’s only been 10 minutes since the last time. The days that start out overcast then turn out to be beautiful and sunny. The availability of cheap vegetables, even if variety is limited by season, and the convenience of the local sitolo (shop) where I can buy bread, eggs, and Cheetos only a 5 minute walk from my house. The kindness of my host family who, despite their limited resources, shares their dinner with me at least once a week. And so many other things I know I’ll miss.
Sure, there are things about Swaziland that I won’t miss (the big snake that’s taken up residence in the rock pile by my pit latrine, for example), but when I look back on my Peace Corps experience in 10 years, I don’t want to remember those things. I want to remember the beautiful landscape, how it felt to be adopted by a Swazi family, and everything I learned about myself during these 2 years. Other volunteers in my group have started counting the days to their flight home, but I don’t want to look at the next 7 months as something to get through; I want to use those 7 months to appreciate all the little things that make this experience so wonderful and unique.
I AM, however, counting down the days to my parents’ arrival. In 5 days…
After a frantic couple of weeks spent cleaning my house (seriously, it needed it) and starting a bunch of new projects, I get to take a 12 day vacation. Sort of. I’ll meet them Saturday morning in Johannesburg, South Africa, then spend 3 days hiking, craft market shopping, and exploring all the places in Swaziland that I haven’t had time (or transport) to get to. We’ll visit Pasture Valley for 2 days or so to help plant an orchard at the children’s home, then head back to my site for the rest of the trip. At my site we’ll be working on two projects: a jungle gym at the local NCP and preschool, and painting health awareness billboards at all the bus stops in my community. Relaxing, I know. THAT should be an adventure. We’ll also be taking all of the kids on my homestead up to Mlilwane Nature Reserve for a day to have a braai (cookout/picnic) and go swimming and such. None of them have ever even been to Nhlangano, let alone Mbabane or Manzini, so they’ve been counting down the days for a while now. (And I’ve been busy hoping that none of them drown or are bit by monkeys or anything.)
And it’s not just the kids. I have NEVER seen my host family so excited about ANYTHING. In Swaziland, family is a huge deal, so for my host family it’s a big honor to get to meet my parents. It was cool for them to meet Jess and Brittney, and they were excited to meet my sister Erin, but my PARENTS. Man, they can’t get over the excitement. This week, Gogo (grandmother) went around the homestead and “cleaned up” (pulled) all of the grass to make sure there were no snakes, and planted flowers all around my house. They’ve cut all the grass, washed and waxed the floors in the main house, put up a clothesline for my parents to dry their clothes on, and finally cleared all the rubble from the kitchen that collapsed in late October. They’re almost as excited as I am, and they’re MY parents…
In other news, I’ve been working my butt off trying to start new projects and wrap up others I’ve been working on for a while. And it’s kind of overwhelming. Here’s a breakdown:
1. I’ve started the JA Company program at Jericho High School, which is about 2 hours away from my house on public transportation. So far the teacher I’m supposed to be co-facilitating with has yet to show up to a meeting or answer any of my phone calls, but the students seem really motivated, really organized, and respectful, which is all I really need to keep going. After 3 more weeks of lessons on business and entrepreneurship, we’ll start a mini-company that will run (and hopefully make a profit) for about 8 weeks. And I will have an opportunity to learn how to make floor polish out of old plastic bags, paraffin, and laundry soap. (Hello, carcinogens.) Hopefully I’ll be starting the same program at Evelyn Baring High School this week, but we’re having a tough time scheduling our first meeting because the students and teachers all value sports over education and prefer to cheer on their volleyball team than show up to meetings. They keep saying that we’ll meet if it’s raining, but so far no rain. But it will happen eventually, I hope.
2. I finally got permission from the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to do a mass media campaign on HIV/AIDS, diabetes, TB, nutrition, STIs, and other health issues. I’ll be hosting a series of 9 weekly workshops, each focusing on one topic, at the bus shelters along the tar road in my community. After each workshop, I’ll paint a message about the topic onto the bus shelter (they’re cement) like a billboard, so that everyone in the community will see it. The Ministry was REALLY supportive of the idea when I talked to them last week, and I’ve submitted the grant proposal to Peace Corps to get funding for the paint and other supplies, so now all I have to do is wait. (And after 19 months in Swaziland, I’m really good at that.)
3. My partnership project to do the community garden and borehole is ALMOST funded. I currently need about $3600, but $2000 of that will come from an endowment for Peace Corps Volunteers in Swaziland so I REALLY only need $1600. If you or anyone you know has $10 to spare, visit www.swazilandproject.com for info on how you can donate to the project. Also, check out my videos on YouTube. There are 2 now (one about my partnership project and a slideshow of photos from my experience so far), and hopefully I’ll be posting a few more later this week.
4. I’m ALMOST finished with a new curriculum for Life Skills education for high school students in Swaziland. I’ve combined and revised 4 different manuals and adapted them to the Swazi school system (and learning style), and I’m working with the Career Guidance department at my local school to perfect it before printing and distributing it to other schools. HOPEFULLY they’ll actually use it to teach the HIV/AIDS and decision-making lessons in it, but at least I’ll know that they have the resources they need to teach it. Sustainable development is frustrating sometimes because it depends so much on other people caring about development, but there’s no way to make anyone else care…
5. This week, I finally finished painting the walls of the preschool at the NCP near my house. You know, the one that I started in November with Jess, Brittney, and Erin. I’ve finished the rainbow, a food chart labeled “A Balanced Diet,” shapes, colors, numbers, seasons, a diagram with all the body parts labeled, and tail of rabbit under the letter “R,” which we somehow forgot to paint in November. I also painted the words “Rise and shine and give God your glory,” which is the first line of a song the kids always singe. It’s amazing and colorful and the whole community is impressed with my painting ability, which is kind of funny to me because I’m not artistic at all. (Just good with stencils and straight lines.) I wish I had photos of it, but I think I’ll have to include them next time. (And my parents will get to see them in person next week…)
6. Last week, I got a flu shot (for H1N1) and got stung by a bee on the same day, then proceeded to have hives for 4 days and the cause is a mystery to me because there are too many variables on that particular day to determine the cause of it. Either way, I think I'm now immune to Benadryl and afraid to get stung or shot because it was a miserable 4 days, even if I was only half-conscious (thanks to the Benadryl) for most of it.
I think that’s all for today. I’m off to Pasture Valley to prepare for our first meeting for the Bambani Sandla craft project, which means painting the walls of the workshop we’ll be using and doing lots of administrative things. We’ve decided to start the project out by teaching the women how to do paper beads and jewelry, and Tuesday morning is our first meeting. We’re hoping to have a group of 10-20 women, but we could have none or we could have 40 and we won’t know until the meeting. But, as always, I’m optimistic.
Love from the Swaz!
Justine
My host family sisis (sisters) Zandile (l) and Londiwe. Zandile is 19 years old and in 7th grade, and Londiwe is 12 years old and in Form 1 (8th grade--the first year of high school). These are 2 of the uniforms I bought for them with the money my grandparents gave me for Christmas. I tried to get the boys to take a picture in their uniforms, but they always wake up late and are in a big hurry to get to school on time, so I can never get them to hold still long enough to take a photo.
One of the little girls in the preschool at Pasture Valley. If I'm at PV in the morning, I try to help do preschool. On this day, we were practicing squiggly lines (them tracing) and straight lines, and then playing with homemade play-doh at the end.
This is what I usually look like in my community. Somewhat ridiculous, I know, but the blue headband thing counts as a hair covering, which makes me more respectful in my community. Plus it absorbs sweat and covers up my blonde roots.
The windowsill of the cottage at Pasture Valley. Those are bees. Peter and Michelle used to raise bees for honey on the farm, but even after they stopped (Swazis kept breaking in at night and stealing the honey, so it became too dangerous to keep them) it was impossible to get rid of all the bees. Now, one hive has moved into the guest cottage on the farm, which is how I got stung last week and maybe why I got hives. Who knows.
Eliza loves peanut butter! This tub was stuck on her head for a couple of minutes and it was absolutely hilarious. I guess you had to be there...
This is the shed we're painting to turn into a workshop for the Bambani Sandla craft project. It doesn't look like much now, but just wait!
A play-doh birthday cake one of the kids made for me at the Pasture Valley preschool. We were practicing the Happy Birthday song because it was Gogo Constance's (one of the house mothers) 60th birthday and I was trying to get them in the spirit. It worked--they sang quite enthusiastically at the party that night.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
I promise I'm alive!
Sanibonani!
I just want to let you all know that I'm alive and well and working hard. Between the craft project I'm helping to start, the HIV curriculum I'm writing for my local schools (and possibly the Ministry of Education), the mass media project I'm starting, the water/garden project I'm fundraising for, teaching computer classes and business studies, grad school stuff, planning my parents' visit, and my many attempts to build a dog house that is proving to be very tricky, I've been busy! Excuses, excuses. I know. I'll try to post something on Tuesday or Wednesday when I make a mad dash for the Peace Corps office (day trips are difficult because I have limited daylight...)
In the meantime, check out my new video on YouTube (yes, something ELSE I've been doing this week...).
So far, my fundraising for the project is up to $2295! I'm super excited about the project, and even moreso for the fact that I'm a little more than 25% of the way to my fundraising goal! I also learned, recently, that there's a fund for volunteers in Swaziland that will donate the last $2000 to my project, so I really only need something like $4000 more! Pocket change, right?
I have also found out that if you would rather mail your donation in check form, you can mail it to:
Peace Corps Headquarters
Peace Corps Partnership Program
1111 20th Street NW
Washington, DC 20526
To ensure that all your donations are allocated to my project, please put my project number 645-079 in the memo section of your check.....and once again....we all thank you so very much!
Anyway, salani kahle (stay well) and check back on Tuesday/Wednesday!
Love from the Swaz!
Justine
I just want to let you all know that I'm alive and well and working hard. Between the craft project I'm helping to start, the HIV curriculum I'm writing for my local schools (and possibly the Ministry of Education), the mass media project I'm starting, the water/garden project I'm fundraising for, teaching computer classes and business studies, grad school stuff, planning my parents' visit, and my many attempts to build a dog house that is proving to be very tricky, I've been busy! Excuses, excuses. I know. I'll try to post something on Tuesday or Wednesday when I make a mad dash for the Peace Corps office (day trips are difficult because I have limited daylight...)
In the meantime, check out my new video on YouTube (yes, something ELSE I've been doing this week...).
So far, my fundraising for the project is up to $2295! I'm super excited about the project, and even moreso for the fact that I'm a little more than 25% of the way to my fundraising goal! I also learned, recently, that there's a fund for volunteers in Swaziland that will donate the last $2000 to my project, so I really only need something like $4000 more! Pocket change, right?
I have also found out that if you would rather mail your donation in check form, you can mail it to:
Peace Corps Headquarters
Peace Corps Partnership Program
1111 20th Street NW
Washington, DC 20526
To ensure that all your donations are allocated to my project, please put my project number 645-079 in the memo section of your check.....and once again....we all thank you so very much!
Anyway, salani kahle (stay well) and check back on Tuesday/Wednesday!
Love from the Swaz!
Justine
Monday, January 25, 2010
Lightening DOES strike the same place twice
So I always thought that the worst part about getting caught in the rain here was elastic waistbands. You know, when it's pouring rain and your skirt, which is invariably a cotton-blend, gets heavily water-logged and heavy and begins to slide down to the point of indecency because all the weight is just too much for the elastic waistband. Sunday afternoon, returning from a visit to another volunteer's place, I was juggling my computer, groceries (18 eggs and a loaf of bread, which got soggy) and a big bag full of brand new school uniforms, AND trying to keep my clothes from washing away. And then I tripped over a rock, rolled my left ankle, and ended up stumbling to the side of the muddy road. Why? Not because I'm clumsy (well, maybe that's part of it), but because of a faulty shoe. That's right, my lifetime guaranteed, super heavy-duty Chaco flip-flops came apart (the straps came out of the sole) and I then had to walk the rest of the 2 kilometers home half-barefooted. On a gravel road. In the rain.
But wait, there's more...
So I get home to my flooded little hovel to find, unsurprisingly, that the electricity is off. Fine, I think, I'll read a book until it comes back on. I opened the windows to air out the dank, molding smell that inevitably develops any time I'm gone for more than a few hours, and settled in to read "Blink" by Malcom Gladwell (really interesting book!). An hour or so later, I heard the distinct sounds of WWE wrestling coming from the main house's TV, so I got up to plug in my computer and get started on my "To do" list for the week...when I realized that there had been a fire. Apparently, there was an electricity surge or lightening or SOMETHING that shot out of my surge protector (which obviously does nothing to protect from surges), melted the surge protector's plug that went into the outlet. Everything was charred and, since it had been sitting on the top of some cheap, plastic shelves, the shelf was melted a little. And it burned up about 60 teabags in a box of 100 that was sitting near it. And, surprisingly, nothing else. Luckily, I had unplugged everything from the surge protector before I left, just in case, and there wasn't anything TOO flammable (though I would have thought tea bags were pretty flammable...) sitting near it, and the fire put itself out. In a way, I'm glad I wasn't there becuase I definitely would have been scared out of my mind (I'm afraid of fire anyway...).
So, long story short, I don't have electricity anymore. I went to the Swaziland Electricity Board today (all utilities are government-owned) to see if they could/would fix it, but they charge E200 for the FORMS to fill out to request a quotation be made to have someone come out and appraise the damage, then you have to pay for the appraisal, then the transport of the appraiser and the repair person, then the repair person. And all the materials required to fix it. Not worth it right now.
In other news, school FINALLY starts tomorrow, so I've been trying to get together all the things the kids need for back to school. Thanks to a donation from my grandparents, I was able to buy all of them the essentials they need for their school uniforms (every school in Swaziland requires uniforms), and I'm in town today exchanging things that didn't fit or weren't right. I bought them all pencil packs and erasers and other basics, and then at least one piece of uniform for each of them--replacing the oldest thing(s) or things that didn't fit anymore. And I realized something...it's expensive to be a girl! The boys uniform for the high school is gray pants and a gray long-sleeved button-down shirt--a total cost of E110. With shoes, E180. The uniform for the girls involves skirts of 2 different colors, dresses of 2 different colors, shirts of 2 different colors, a polo shirt with the school logo, sweatpants for gym class, 2 colors of v-neck sweaters, a belt with the school logo that HAS to be purchased from the school, and 2 different colors of jackets, PLUS shoes. And it's not like a girl can just buy the one dress and wear it every day because there's an assigned uniform for each day of the week.
Why? I asked one of the teachers, and he told me that it's because girls smell and if they give them the same uniform for every day of the week, they wear it all week and never wash it. So they give them a different uniform for every day so they don't smell. OR (this is my thought) it's a way to systematically keep girls out of school. But that's just my opinion...
Anyway, things here are going really well. I've been keeping busy these past couple of weeks, but now that I can't sit in front of my computer for hours at a time (no electricity, remember?), it seems like I'll have a little more free time this coming week.
Tommorrow, I'll be meeting with the head nurse at my local clinic to talk about the progress of my partnership project. I'm still raising money, if you haven't donated yet! So far, I have $1000 of my $8591.69 goal, so I've still got a long way to go! But I'm making progress. The project is to build a community garden and dig a borehole to provide improved nutrition and water access to the families in my community, particularly those involved in the HIV-positive support group. It's a great project, and you can donate at www.peacecorps.gov, or to learn more you can visit www.swazilandproject.com. Thanks to EVERYONE to has helped to promote the project or who has donated money. Unfortunately, I don't get the names of everyone who's donated (until later, maybe...I'm trying to figure this out), so I can't thank you individually, but you know who you are and I really appreciate it!
That's all for today. I'll be back Thursday, hopefully with no more stories of mishaps involving shoes or fizzy water or falling down.
Love from the Swaz!
Kwanele is getting pretty good at taking photos. About 200 a day. Digital cameras are so much fun.
Me making jewelry. I'm making my concentration face. See the ones I have on? They're my faves. Someday I'll post a close-up picture of them.
January 14 was "dress up your pet" day, so I tried to celebrate. Eliza was not a big fan of the holiday...this is the only picture where she's getting READY to bite me, not actually biting me. I also put a shoe on her, which was hilarious. Kwanele and I were absolutely ROLLING with laughter when she tried to run away. We never got the shoe back (but its mate was long gone already, so it was no big loss).
The kids and I spent an afternoon trying to make balloon animals with a kit Brittney sent, but we failed. We ended up making a wide variety of balloon boats, which we played with in my bathtub. (Bathtub=small basin full of water)
One of the neighbor boys (I should know his name by now, but I don't), Londiwe and Kwanele hanging out in my house. Londi has been learning how to use the little XO computer that I brought, and I think it's really helping her with her typing skills.
But wait, there's more...
So I get home to my flooded little hovel to find, unsurprisingly, that the electricity is off. Fine, I think, I'll read a book until it comes back on. I opened the windows to air out the dank, molding smell that inevitably develops any time I'm gone for more than a few hours, and settled in to read "Blink" by Malcom Gladwell (really interesting book!). An hour or so later, I heard the distinct sounds of WWE wrestling coming from the main house's TV, so I got up to plug in my computer and get started on my "To do" list for the week...when I realized that there had been a fire. Apparently, there was an electricity surge or lightening or SOMETHING that shot out of my surge protector (which obviously does nothing to protect from surges), melted the surge protector's plug that went into the outlet. Everything was charred and, since it had been sitting on the top of some cheap, plastic shelves, the shelf was melted a little. And it burned up about 60 teabags in a box of 100 that was sitting near it. And, surprisingly, nothing else. Luckily, I had unplugged everything from the surge protector before I left, just in case, and there wasn't anything TOO flammable (though I would have thought tea bags were pretty flammable...) sitting near it, and the fire put itself out. In a way, I'm glad I wasn't there becuase I definitely would have been scared out of my mind (I'm afraid of fire anyway...).
So, long story short, I don't have electricity anymore. I went to the Swaziland Electricity Board today (all utilities are government-owned) to see if they could/would fix it, but they charge E200 for the FORMS to fill out to request a quotation be made to have someone come out and appraise the damage, then you have to pay for the appraisal, then the transport of the appraiser and the repair person, then the repair person. And all the materials required to fix it. Not worth it right now.
In other news, school FINALLY starts tomorrow, so I've been trying to get together all the things the kids need for back to school. Thanks to a donation from my grandparents, I was able to buy all of them the essentials they need for their school uniforms (every school in Swaziland requires uniforms), and I'm in town today exchanging things that didn't fit or weren't right. I bought them all pencil packs and erasers and other basics, and then at least one piece of uniform for each of them--replacing the oldest thing(s) or things that didn't fit anymore. And I realized something...it's expensive to be a girl! The boys uniform for the high school is gray pants and a gray long-sleeved button-down shirt--a total cost of E110. With shoes, E180. The uniform for the girls involves skirts of 2 different colors, dresses of 2 different colors, shirts of 2 different colors, a polo shirt with the school logo, sweatpants for gym class, 2 colors of v-neck sweaters, a belt with the school logo that HAS to be purchased from the school, and 2 different colors of jackets, PLUS shoes. And it's not like a girl can just buy the one dress and wear it every day because there's an assigned uniform for each day of the week.
Why? I asked one of the teachers, and he told me that it's because girls smell and if they give them the same uniform for every day of the week, they wear it all week and never wash it. So they give them a different uniform for every day so they don't smell. OR (this is my thought) it's a way to systematically keep girls out of school. But that's just my opinion...
Anyway, things here are going really well. I've been keeping busy these past couple of weeks, but now that I can't sit in front of my computer for hours at a time (no electricity, remember?), it seems like I'll have a little more free time this coming week.
Tommorrow, I'll be meeting with the head nurse at my local clinic to talk about the progress of my partnership project. I'm still raising money, if you haven't donated yet! So far, I have $1000 of my $8591.69 goal, so I've still got a long way to go! But I'm making progress. The project is to build a community garden and dig a borehole to provide improved nutrition and water access to the families in my community, particularly those involved in the HIV-positive support group. It's a great project, and you can donate at www.peacecorps.gov, or to learn more you can visit www.swazilandproject.com. Thanks to EVERYONE to has helped to promote the project or who has donated money. Unfortunately, I don't get the names of everyone who's donated (until later, maybe...I'm trying to figure this out), so I can't thank you individually, but you know who you are and I really appreciate it!
That's all for today. I'll be back Thursday, hopefully with no more stories of mishaps involving shoes or fizzy water or falling down.
Love from the Swaz!
Kwanele is getting pretty good at taking photos. About 200 a day. Digital cameras are so much fun.
Me making jewelry. I'm making my concentration face. See the ones I have on? They're my faves. Someday I'll post a close-up picture of them.
January 14 was "dress up your pet" day, so I tried to celebrate. Eliza was not a big fan of the holiday...this is the only picture where she's getting READY to bite me, not actually biting me. I also put a shoe on her, which was hilarious. Kwanele and I were absolutely ROLLING with laughter when she tried to run away. We never got the shoe back (but its mate was long gone already, so it was no big loss).
The kids and I spent an afternoon trying to make balloon animals with a kit Brittney sent, but we failed. We ended up making a wide variety of balloon boats, which we played with in my bathtub. (Bathtub=small basin full of water)
One of the neighbor boys (I should know his name by now, but I don't), Londiwe and Kwanele hanging out in my house. Londi has been learning how to use the little XO computer that I brought, and I think it's really helping her with her typing skills.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Failure and Success...
On Tuesday evening, after a miserable 6 hours of researching graduate schools in the hundred degree internet cafe in town, I boarded a kombi (mini-bus) to head back home just before dusk. I took the kombi's last available seat in the front row, wedged right between two bomake (women) with blankets and bathing dishes and bicycles (no joke) on their laps, and we started on our way. I took a few deep breaths to let go of the stress of the day, then decided to crack open the 2-liter of Aquelle-brand flavored fizzy water that I'd bought as my reward for all I'd accomplished that day. I twisted open the cap and, of course, it exploded. But I'm not talking about a normal "Haha, I'm so glad that's not me" sort of explosion, this was an EXPLOSION. Obviously, my first reaction was to put the cap back on the bottle, but the pressure of the sticky liquid spewing out of the bottle was so great that it actually knocked the cap out of my hand. And I was wedged into a moving vehicle, so it's not like I could move to get it out of the way. So I just sat there, trying to cover the top of the bottle with my hand while Aquelle water ran down my arm and onto the woman beside me, who was staring in awe. Finally, it stopped, but that wasn't the end of the problem. My lap was a PUDDLE of Aquelle water. Just sitting there, sparkling in defiance. My legs were pressed tightly together, making the reservoir water-tight, but I knew I couldn't keep it up for the whole hour-long trip. So I unclenched and let the water splash onto my feet and run down my legs and pool on the seat and the floor below me. Excellent. My papayas were wet, my transcript request papers got wet, my waterproof Timbuk2 bag was HOLDING water and, worst of all, I looked like I'd been in a waterballoon fight. Or peed myself. (If you recall the experience where Patrick peed on me on a kombi, this was 20 times worse.) It wasn't such a big deal until I got off the kombi at my bus stop and had to walk the 20 minutes home, since I looked like I'd had an accident and I felt compelled to explain to everyone staring at me that it was really just Aquelle water. And that's my failure of the week...
But, that aside, it's been a super successful, super productive week!
Most importantly, with the help of friends, family and all of you, I've raised a total of $1000 towards my community garden and water project! Yeah, that's right, in 2 weeks I've managed to collect about 1/8 of my total amount of $8591.69. I want to say THANKS to everyone who has contributed, and everyone who has passed my blog address, website (http://www.swazilandproject.com/) or desperate begging emails on to friends, family, etc. I really really appreciate it, and I know my community will too! But I still have a long way to go, so keep passing on the word!
In other news, I'm crazy. For a while now, I've been looking in to graduate programs in public health for after my Peace Corps service, which I plan to start in 2011. I'd narrowed it down to a few schools, with Tulane being my top choice. Then, I learned that Tulane was accepting applications on a rolling basis for the Fall 2011 term, so I've decided to apply. More than a year ahead of the application deadline. Because I'm nuts. So I've spent the majority of this week working on the application and personal statement, which is actually really exciting for me. I'll be submitting the completed application by the end of next week (hopefully, I'm waiting on a transcript from Washburn University), and I SHOULD have a decision in the next couple of weeks. For a program that won't begin for more than a year.
That's all I've got going on for now. Schools start on Wednesday, supposedly, so I'm in town today buying school uniforms for my host family so they don't have to go barefoot or wear short-sleeved shirts in the winter like they did last year. Students get beaten if they wear anything not included in the school uniform, yet uniforms are super expensive and don't include ANY sort of warm clothes (jackets, coats, scarves, tights, etc.), which just seems ridiculous to me. But, then again, lots of things in Swaziland don't make sense to me.
Love from the Swaz!
Justine/Phindile
But, that aside, it's been a super successful, super productive week!
Most importantly, with the help of friends, family and all of you, I've raised a total of $1000 towards my community garden and water project! Yeah, that's right, in 2 weeks I've managed to collect about 1/8 of my total amount of $8591.69. I want to say THANKS to everyone who has contributed, and everyone who has passed my blog address, website (http://www.swazilandproject.com/) or desperate begging emails on to friends, family, etc. I really really appreciate it, and I know my community will too! But I still have a long way to go, so keep passing on the word!
In other news, I'm crazy. For a while now, I've been looking in to graduate programs in public health for after my Peace Corps service, which I plan to start in 2011. I'd narrowed it down to a few schools, with Tulane being my top choice. Then, I learned that Tulane was accepting applications on a rolling basis for the Fall 2011 term, so I've decided to apply. More than a year ahead of the application deadline. Because I'm nuts. So I've spent the majority of this week working on the application and personal statement, which is actually really exciting for me. I'll be submitting the completed application by the end of next week (hopefully, I'm waiting on a transcript from Washburn University), and I SHOULD have a decision in the next couple of weeks. For a program that won't begin for more than a year.
That's all I've got going on for now. Schools start on Wednesday, supposedly, so I'm in town today buying school uniforms for my host family so they don't have to go barefoot or wear short-sleeved shirts in the winter like they did last year. Students get beaten if they wear anything not included in the school uniform, yet uniforms are super expensive and don't include ANY sort of warm clothes (jackets, coats, scarves, tights, etc.), which just seems ridiculous to me. But, then again, lots of things in Swaziland don't make sense to me.
Love from the Swaz!
Justine/Phindile
Friday, January 15, 2010
Video!
Sanibonani Bonkhosi! I've been playing around with my video camera, trying to figure out how to actually make a video with it. The answer, apparently, was that I needed to have some additional driver installed on the computer before I could do anything, so I got that taken care of today. (And the computer expert fixed the wireless on my computer so I can actually update my anti-virus, which is amazing.)
Here's my first video, which I shot on Wednesday when I was trying to figure out how to work my camera, etc. I put it together as a video today to make sure my new software actually worked. It does.
I think it's hilarious that any time you ask a Swazi child to sing something, it's always a song about Jesus. My favorite song that they sing goes: "Come come, my sweet. He's so, he's so sweet. Jesus is sweeter than the honey of the bee." (It's the second one they sing on this video.) There's also one where the only words are: "Jesus, Jesus my savior. I love Jesus, of course I do." They do it in a sort of round, like Row, Row, Row Your Boat. The dancing they do in the video is the traditional Swazi dancing called "inkhwazi" (I think that's how you spell it). It's the dance I kept doing in public when Erin, Jess and Brittney were visiting. For some reason, they were embarassed to be seen with me. In the dance, your hands are supposed to represent snakes (I think) and sometimes two dancers "battle" with their snakes in the dance. Unfortunately, my bobhuti (brothers) are still a little unsure of this whole camera thing, so they were a little too shy to battle. I'll save that for my next video, I guess.
I'm currently working on a video where I'll talk about/show you where I live, what Swaziland is like, what I do, etc. It's been more difficult than I anticipated because every time I pull my video camera out of my bag, a Swazi comes up to me and wants me to "shoot" them, or wants to know how much my camera cost or if I'll video tape their wedding for free. My goal is to have it finished by the end of the month. There's also that thing about how a lot of older Swazis think that cameras steal their souls, so I have to be really careful about not stealing the souls of the elderly.
Oh, and to update you on my fundraising efforts, I'm currently at $465 of my overall goal of $8591.69. Keep passing the word around!
Here's my first video, which I shot on Wednesday when I was trying to figure out how to work my camera, etc. I put it together as a video today to make sure my new software actually worked. It does.
I think it's hilarious that any time you ask a Swazi child to sing something, it's always a song about Jesus. My favorite song that they sing goes: "Come come, my sweet. He's so, he's so sweet. Jesus is sweeter than the honey of the bee." (It's the second one they sing on this video.) There's also one where the only words are: "Jesus, Jesus my savior. I love Jesus, of course I do." They do it in a sort of round, like Row, Row, Row Your Boat. The dancing they do in the video is the traditional Swazi dancing called "inkhwazi" (I think that's how you spell it). It's the dance I kept doing in public when Erin, Jess and Brittney were visiting. For some reason, they were embarassed to be seen with me. In the dance, your hands are supposed to represent snakes (I think) and sometimes two dancers "battle" with their snakes in the dance. Unfortunately, my bobhuti (brothers) are still a little unsure of this whole camera thing, so they were a little too shy to battle. I'll save that for my next video, I guess.
I'm currently working on a video where I'll talk about/show you where I live, what Swaziland is like, what I do, etc. It's been more difficult than I anticipated because every time I pull my video camera out of my bag, a Swazi comes up to me and wants me to "shoot" them, or wants to know how much my camera cost or if I'll video tape their wedding for free. My goal is to have it finished by the end of the month. There's also that thing about how a lot of older Swazis think that cameras steal their souls, so I have to be really careful about not stealing the souls of the elderly.
Oh, and to update you on my fundraising efforts, I'm currently at $465 of my overall goal of $8591.69. Keep passing the word around!
This afternoon I'm headed out to Pasture Valley Children's Home to install Mavis Beacon typing tutor (which was donated by the computer place in Nhlangano) on all 3 of their computers, then teach the older kids how to use it so they can work on their typing skills. I'll be doing some basic computer classes and tutoring in the coming months (because I don't have enough to do already, haha), so this is a start! And then, tomorrow morning I'm going up to Manzini for a workshop on how to teach a business studies program that I already taught last year, but for some reason they're making me re-train. Free lunch, I say.
That's all for today. Lots of love from the Swaz!
Justine/Phindile
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