So I just had a really successful week. I am helping some members of the local community start up an athletic youth club that is centered around running and so far its been going really well. The committee members are really motivated and have been trying to get this going for a little while now and have the drive to make it happen.
So me and one of the committee members, who is also my supervisors daughter, went to a nearby town and spoke to the department of sports and found out that we could receive as much as 8000 Rand for our world aids day event which I was really pushing for. HIV is a HUGE problem here and the worst part is people don’t want to talk about it or even recognize it as a problem No one dies of AIDS they are either ambiguously sick or its TB or meningitis or pneumonia, regardless of the fact that 71% of all deaths between the ages of 15-45 are from AIDS. Then we went to the local municipality and spoke to the most straight forward and mildy harsh man I’ve met in south Africa, which was actually refreshing because normally you have to read through the BS, indirect speaking, and formalities to get the real meaning of things. He said he could help us with several things involved with the 9k race we want to have at the end of December especially logistics and he really seems to want it to happen which is great. Finally we went to the department of health who agreed to give us an emergency personnel on call for the race as well as provided us with information about how to get red cross facilitators to our world aids day event. So overall it was a hugely exciting day that we never could have expected to go any better!
Then Friday we had our first club practiced which started out pretty unorganized until one of the committee members got in her car and picked random kids off the street to join. It only took about an hour and a half but we ended up rounding up and retaining about 40 kids it was amazing. In Africa time is a very fluid concept. I ran all sorts of relay races using sand filled coke bottles and a lot of silly gestures to make my point. The shuttle run was particularly interesting especially when the kids would start running to pick up the bottle before the other kid got back and would come close to colliding. Then we did a short 3k run that the kids absolutely loved even if they didn’t stay in the lines we asked them too and finished by rewarding them with icy pops. It was a really great response and we are looking forward to next Fridays club. We are trying to gain official club status so we can get some funding. We need to have a mission and 350 signatures. It may take a little while but I think it will happen. So that’s my exciting news about the running club.
I have been running pretty much every day training for the 56k next falll. I still get accompanied by barefooted children. Today I actually almost met my match with some 9 year olds that kept up with me all the way until the end…it actually kind of pissed me off! I mean I should totally be able to outrun 9 year old barefooted children. But I complimented them at the end and invited them to our next practice. Well at least I think I did. I tried speaking setswana it may have gone badly.
Anyway its pouring and dark and I have to walk back home where there is no internet probably no electricity and a leaky roof. Home sweet home! Oh and all of my laundry is hanging in my room bc I forgot that occasionally it rains in Africa…and it did so right after I dumped all of my clothes in the wash bucket….ouch. Ok remember to keep me updated on your lives! Miss everyone!
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
yay i blogged!
So I haven’t really gotten into this blogging thing but blog envy has made me want to try. As most of you may know I have been placed in Tlhakgameng…which means exactly NOTHING to all of you.
So Tlhakgameng….it is at least on the map which is cool. Well I exaggerate…it is on some maps. We got to go meet our supervisors in a really sweet resort for 3 days before traveling to site for another 5. Tlhakgameng is slightly hilly and rugged which really excited me since I’ve been living in a flat wasteland that is marapyane. I will have a new host family however I won’t be living in the house with them. I get my own little room with a tin roof and clay walls which I have come to call the oven for obvious reasons. I bought a fan…I think that it is more of a mental cure than anything else though. My host family has been a bit stand offish which I was a bit put off by at first but then I found out my supervisor (principal of one of my schools) was telling people that I was leaving for a week and a half to decide if I wanted to stay. So that was not particularly helpful in sparking my family’s desire to play get to know the white girl.
I ran almost every day I was at site at various times and found out, much to my surprise, that noon in the desert is NOT a good time to run even when you bring a water bottle. I also discovered that I will probably have calves of steal by the end of my time here from running in sand. While running I discovered a few guarantees that come with the activitiy 1: little barefooted African children will accompany for part of the run. 2. Women (sometimes carrying groceries) will often run with me for part of the run 3. Creepy old men will hit on me in afrikanns 4. I will inhale a lot of dust. That’s about it though. My supervisors daughter is attempting to plan a marathon for December 30th which is historically a day reserved for heavy drinking so they want to draw people away from that. She has asked me to help recruit and train interested people as well as organize some fundraising events maybe write a couple of pathetic letters to wealthy companies…the usual! The two official schools I will be working at are both primary and extremely overcrowded. Shupu is the name of the one that’s right next to where I live and the average class size is about 47. They were shocked when I told them the US has laws against that. So i have no doubt I will be teaching some. I also went to the high school near by and the principal was interesting and apparently believes adamantly in corporal punishment. He said something about the proper way to flog a student and I blatantly flinched, so he then told me he was joking, but I know better.
Other than that I have shopping day to look forward to which is when they take all of the trainees to Pretoria drop them in a mall and say “GO” and you get as much stuff as you can possibly afford and carry to your little house for 2 years. It’s gonna be great.
Swearing in is the 17th in mafikeng in which I officially become a volunteer and leave for the site. Communication will probably be much more limited after that but please please keep in touch. I want to know the word on the street even if you don’t think its as cool as living in an oven and pooping in a cement hole. Ok hope everyone’s well!
So Tlhakgameng….it is at least on the map which is cool. Well I exaggerate…it is on some maps. We got to go meet our supervisors in a really sweet resort for 3 days before traveling to site for another 5. Tlhakgameng is slightly hilly and rugged which really excited me since I’ve been living in a flat wasteland that is marapyane. I will have a new host family however I won’t be living in the house with them. I get my own little room with a tin roof and clay walls which I have come to call the oven for obvious reasons. I bought a fan…I think that it is more of a mental cure than anything else though. My host family has been a bit stand offish which I was a bit put off by at first but then I found out my supervisor (principal of one of my schools) was telling people that I was leaving for a week and a half to decide if I wanted to stay. So that was not particularly helpful in sparking my family’s desire to play get to know the white girl.
I ran almost every day I was at site at various times and found out, much to my surprise, that noon in the desert is NOT a good time to run even when you bring a water bottle. I also discovered that I will probably have calves of steal by the end of my time here from running in sand. While running I discovered a few guarantees that come with the activitiy 1: little barefooted African children will accompany for part of the run. 2. Women (sometimes carrying groceries) will often run with me for part of the run 3. Creepy old men will hit on me in afrikanns 4. I will inhale a lot of dust. That’s about it though. My supervisors daughter is attempting to plan a marathon for December 30th which is historically a day reserved for heavy drinking so they want to draw people away from that. She has asked me to help recruit and train interested people as well as organize some fundraising events maybe write a couple of pathetic letters to wealthy companies…the usual! The two official schools I will be working at are both primary and extremely overcrowded. Shupu is the name of the one that’s right next to where I live and the average class size is about 47. They were shocked when I told them the US has laws against that. So i have no doubt I will be teaching some. I also went to the high school near by and the principal was interesting and apparently believes adamantly in corporal punishment. He said something about the proper way to flog a student and I blatantly flinched, so he then told me he was joking, but I know better.
Other than that I have shopping day to look forward to which is when they take all of the trainees to Pretoria drop them in a mall and say “GO” and you get as much stuff as you can possibly afford and carry to your little house for 2 years. It’s gonna be great.
Swearing in is the 17th in mafikeng in which I officially become a volunteer and leave for the site. Communication will probably be much more limited after that but please please keep in touch. I want to know the word on the street even if you don’t think its as cool as living in an oven and pooping in a cement hole. Ok hope everyone’s well!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
On how I probably won't use this blog very much
Soo I have not really gotten into this. I will say this: so far my experience has hit almost the entire spectrum of emotions aside from madly in love and bottomless breakdown. But everywhere in between. Most of my experiences have just been with other volunteers. In fact my best and worst experiences. Other than running with african children which had little to do with other volunteers. It will be nice to get out of training and actually do something. I will get to spend a couple hours in a primary school the next 2 days. Site assignments are on the 28th of august. Who knows where I'll be. Everyone says the training part really sucks though so that is good to know because I'm not having the time of my life (nor a bad time). Just feels like I'm stuck in a rut as far as making an impact. Oh government operations!
Friday, July 3, 2009
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