Note on gifting Haley in SA:

I have received several inquiries concerning items to be sent this side. If you are interested in sending me something or advising someone of what can be sent, I’ve noted a list of items that I would like, but really, I would most appreciate some LETTERS/EMAILS and or your support in funding the LONGTOM half-marathon I will participate in at the closing of March.
The race benefits learners in need of financial support, Peace Corps South Africa annually supports by participating in the event and I will be required to raise the 100 USD to support the KLM Foundation. I have posted below the link to follow and place your support payment via PayPal. I promise the means of contributing are easy and legit.
(Please visit www.KLM-FOUNDATION.ORG)

But otherwise there is a list of my likes to the RIGHT.

in motion

bus stop at my place

Interterm-service training took place at the closing of January, marking a completed 6 months in South Africa. Within this time we have been sworn in as official volunteers, have had 11 Peace Corps Volunteers early terminate service in our cohort, I have traveled to two other Provinces of SA, PC has gained a new Country director, and I have met dozens of new people and made even more friends. The list will continue to grow within the next coming 20 months, but already it is apparent how really grand this time is and will continue to be even once I return. I am exhausted most days, from giving my very all. Communicating is tiresome but I think continuing to push my self whether in target language (IsiNdebele) or English, to build relationships and really understand the persons I am serving, the better my work is and the larger an impact I really can make.




Meet Molly Murphy
It is even within this months training alongside PC Volunteers that I realize how fortunate I am to call these Americans my friends. I appreciate our close conversations and their willingness to open up to further my growth. The assistance and support we offer one-another is like nothing I have ever experienced. I know that these will be life long friends.

Traveling back from a visit to Pretoria (capital) where I can enjoy an Italian cuisine, a bottle of wine with American friends, and a warm shower, I fall exhausted into my bus seat after standing at the bus station for 6 hours, waiting for a bus to arrive.

A large duffel bag packed to its capacity, a plastic bag that is double-bagged to hold the 10 books brought from the Peace Corps office library, and a Shop-Rite environmental initiative cold bag filled with great food (chedder cheese, tuna, broccoli, cucumber) all of which are difficult to find so close to home sit on my lap, provide a great cushion for my worried mind to relax and breath for the moments that seem to pass so quickly from first world to third world. 15 minutes into the drive, I am tapped on the shoulder by a friend. Many of the people I am driving with work or stay in Pretoria and so have never seen me in their village nor have heard of me and so it is this depart home that can be particularly frustrating as no one understands why I (a white) am choosing to wait and travel to the “other side” down the way. My friend is Nhlanhla and she is the head of the School Governing Body of the primary school I work at. She is 18 and is the head chair board member. She has a compassion for leading and helping others and having only just completed her Metric (12th grade graduating tests) she is determined to begin a life in nursing or the police force(she ventured to PTA to look for work that afternoon). Evidently, I just woke from a short nap and my voice is horse from all the excited time with friends during training, but I know it must be done- I am ready to use this opportunity to get to know this talented young person. This opportunity placed next to me will make for easy conversation rather than sought out, and formal guest appearance at her parent’s home. We are both relaxed and I know that our conversation will be able to meet such deep subjects as love and areas of opportunity in SA. She slides in next to me and our conversation graces the topics of the best persons in her life, her thoughts on increased rape rates in SA, and her tendency to mother her younger sister.

Two of my community counterparts (Laurence and Nhlanhla)
performing a drama at a Lifeskills training conference

The connection I am able to make with her is based on our similar home lives( yes a suburban from Ohio and a South African can both love their mothers and have big dreams) and our 5 year age difference matters very little. Nhlanhla desire to go after her dreams despite barriers, displaying her true maturity which is beyond what I ever held at her age. Realizing that this is not an ordinary teen and that the compassion this lady holds for development in her community is aligned with the empowerment a leader of any one of the programs I which to begin must hold, I am quick to figure what I can do with this information, now. Recently, I had spoken with a PCV at the backpackers about her work in lifeskills and peer educator training. She left me with two manuals she is using and only moments early waiting in the bus line, I had flipped through them. And it was in the heat of our discussion, that I pulled one of the manuals back out and handed it over to Nhlanhla. Informing her that I was interested in involving some youth in this project and I thought she would be the perfect person to work on it with me. There are rare opportunities that just hand themselves to you. However, at those moment, you must tell yourself to leap forward even if it is influenced by the seconds flighty feeling. There is enough time spent in your room pondering the answers to the worlds problems, this moment is worth missing an opportunity of processing. That is a successful moment, in this journey, and there are many more like it, and I am confident this is how this “development work” plays out. These small opportunities usually lend themselves to a full day of difficulties, and why being here and doing this is worth all the tiredness and strain your brain faces each day.

holiday and arrival of 2009

Many months since my last blogging, I want to apologize, I just received my lovely lap top from super friend Erin Gannon, you all have this beautiful Ohio lady to thank for strengthening our communication!

Within the last months, I have had the extraordinary opportunity to vacation coastal Zululand of South Africa(KwaZulu-Natal Province) and Swaziland, have attended further PC training, and returned to site for the start of another school year.

VACATION
Our east coast tour using Baz-bus(a hop-on hop-off door to door bus service)picked us from Pretoria (capital city in Gauteng Province, 70k from my permanent site) and we traveled to the following over 14 days.
1.)Ezulwini Valley, SWAZILAND(one of the smallest countries in Africa, relaxing, rich in culture, it has now surpassed Botswana as the country with the world’s highest HIV infection rate in the world-around 39% of the adult population in Swaziland is HIV positive, reasons include: more Swazis work in SA and those left behind wives or gf are particularly at risk, cultural practices-widow inheritance, decline in polygamy has led to more ‘informal’ relations outside marriage, stigma attached to AIDS hindering flow of communication and hampering prevention efforts)

2.)St. Lucia, SOUTH AFRICA and it’s wetland park(Lake St Lucia itself is Africa’s largest estuary(what is an estuary? We asked the same thing; check out this def. estuary=),
3.)Hluhluwe Park, SOUTH AFRICA( where we spotted giraffe, rhino, zebra, wart hogs, and etc.),
4.)Durban(South Africa’s third-largest city, with beachfront, and home to the largest concentration of people of Indian descent in the country)

Some small vacationing details:
During our stay we visited a Swazi ceremony-Incwala(first fruit ceremony). Kings have played a leading role in the Swazi tradition since the countries beginning. The Incwala, or first fruits ceremony is the most sacred of all the Swazi rituals. The king places the dominate role in the 4 day event. A date for the event is chosen by astrologers in conjunction with the phase of the moon and sun (usually in December or January).
Most males in attendance dressed appropriately in animal skin and held a tall stick. Given you were a member of the royal family you wore a crown of red feathers in your head signifying your relation to the King. The lourie is a clever and cunning bird; its red wing feathers symbolize intelligence and royalty. Elders also wore some sort of hairy over top that made their shoulders appear very broad. Some males also held the traditional shield and spear. The shield depicts racial harmony and is also part of the weaponry of the soldiers from World War II.

At first during the new moon, the “Bemanti” (people of the water) journey to the Indian Ocean to collect water. At the full moon, youths from all parts of the kingdom travel to collect sacred branches of the “lusekwane” shrub, a species of acacia. A bull is slaughtered by the youths on the third day to instill solidarity among them and spirit of valour. It is the fourth day when the King gathers in full ceremonial dress, joining his warriors in traditional dance. The Swaziland King entrance was grand and involved the nations instrumental band and army presentations. Even the policemen on duty were dressed in traditional garb with gun holster at waist. Positioned every couple yards the policemen faced attendants and did not break their stern stares. Entering a special sanctuary the King participates in further rituals and then finally eats the first fruits of the season. Following the Kings greeting, men shuffled inside the tall thatched gathering circle for traditional dance. Women were ushered through earlier at a side entrance, most of which would be the dance entertainment prior to fruit feasting. Of the 2,000 person crowd only about 200 were permitted to gather inside. Certain parts of the Incwala may not be witnessed by outside people and it is vital to have a permit to take photographs within the proximity of the royal cattle byre.

Adventure Caving in Swazi. Geared in our white jumpsuits, hard hats and hip held battery powered head lamps we ventured up to the site at 5pm for night caving. Once we reached our destination, (an hour hike up hill), we were given our precautionary talk and I quit my incessant conversing. Fortunately, our guide sensed my nervousness and placed me directly behind him for our cave travels. Bending this way and that way, I had to mimic his acrobatic movements to get myself through the tight squeezes. Diving into shallow cold waters and rock climbing in the dark, I did my share of screams and complaining about the need for knee pads and hand coverings. When told that we had a choice between the easy exit and the challenging one, I was peer pressured into the challenge. I am sure my crew that followed enjoyed my interpretation of the guide’s moves. I had trouble following his technique for each nose dive. I called on my buddies to rotate my hip holster for me and push my behind through the crevices, as I advised them of the fearful left side they must beware of when passing. We concluded our caving and then headed down the hill in the dark, I felt much more comfortable in my footing having survived the caving and not fallen into the deep unknown of the cave.
Meeting with fellow PCV’s for Christmas in St.Lucia and New Years in Durban was among the many highlights of this vacation. I have returned with a hand weaved basket that the Zulu people are known for, a musical instrument from the Indian market, and a beaded bracelet. I felt the fullness of a neighboring country that wasn’t subject to apartheid evilness, and the joy accompanied with moving freely after 4 months of sedentary living.