I am currently working on a project to get library books for schools throughout Swaziland. You can check out the project at:
https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=645-077
Giving to a cause like this is a valuable contribution that can be made in honor of family for the holidays. Every donation (no matter how small) will help! You can also help by telling your friends and family about the project as well. Thanks so much!!
Monday, November 30, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Gotta watch out for leopards, giant lizards, and even chickens!
September
These last few months have flown! In September I spent a lot of time in the capital for routine medical exams and a short episode of H1N1. Fortunately, Peace Corps required that I stay at a cute little guest house until I felt better (this took about six days). Although it was great to have home cooked meals, catch up on the news, and take showers it wasn’t long before it got really lonely at the guest house. Being there really made me miss my hut, the family I stay with, and all the options I have for things to do with my free time.
October
In October, I had the honor and privilege of representing Peace Corps at a standards setting workshop for the care of Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs) throughout Swaziland. The event was facilitated by UNICEF and attended by many “experts” in the field. I remember the days when I used to sit in lecture halls at the University of Washington wondering what it was really like to work with the U.N. Now I honestly have a good idea (UNICEF is a U.N. organization). It was not an easy workshop! We were working on creating a document that will serve as the standard for all OVC care. To make this enormous task easier, we broke into small groups to focus on specific topics. I went with the group that was focused on education. Because education plays such an incredible role in the lives of OVCs, it felt like every time our small group got up to present our ideas to the big group, we were bombarded with questions, comments, and ways to make our section stronger! In the end, however, we were all proud of the standards that we created over the course of three days. We will continue to meet and work on making these standards stronger as time goes on. After completing the standards setting workshop, I rushed back to my community to prepare for another workshop. This workshop was to train “peer educators” in health education, the employment process, and leadership. Another Peace Corps volunteer and I joined together to teach the workshop for fifteen people. We spoke about HIV/AIDS, STIs, gender roles, supporting people living with HIV/AIDS, dealing with abuse, writing resumes, conducting job interviews, professionalism, and how to be a leader amongst our peers. It went really well and the students demonstrated that they were willing and ready to go back to their communities and spread the information they gained. Then, the last weekend in October, I went with some friends on one crazy hike. We went to Malalotja Nature Reserve which is not too far from where I stay. We wanted to camp very far into the camp, so we all came with big backpacks holding tents, sleeping bags, food, and equipment. The Nature Reserve has baboons, zebras, warthogs, panthers, and springbok (to name a few animals). We were hoping to hike by moonlight to the highest peak. Unfortunately, heavy fog moved in and kept us from being able to reach our destination. Nevertheless, the trip was a blast! We had many great conversations and got to see and hear so many animals in their natural state. It was the longest and hardest hike I have ever attempted.
Crazy Animal Stories
Yesterday we found a giant lizard on the homestead. From the distance, it looked like a little crocodile. These animals live around rivers. They aren’t dangerous to humans, but a blow from their tail could severely hurt a dog or a bite from an angry would leave one with much disease. The lizard was stealing eggs from the chickens. I also have an interesting chicken story. A few months ago, I kept hearing what sounded like a chicken squawking inside the home of my family. The house was locked, so there was not much I could do about the situation. I just kept wondering if there was chicken inside the house. Later in the day the family came home to say that the same chicken was flying through their window everyday. It would land on their bed, lay an egg and then make a mess on their bed. After a few weeks of this happening, they decided that the only solution was to have that chicken for dinner! There is nothing quit like eating chicken with other chickens walking by your feet. Swazis love to serve meat at important functions, and so it has become a regular part of life to eat chicken around the other chickens. It has also become a regular part of my life to chase chickens out of my room. My room is next to a room storing chicken food, so when I open my door, the chickens come rushing in hoping I will feed them. The family also killed a spitting cobra on my homestead last month, but there is no need to go into any details about that! Anyway, I hope that you and your family are doing well! Take care.
These last few months have flown! In September I spent a lot of time in the capital for routine medical exams and a short episode of H1N1. Fortunately, Peace Corps required that I stay at a cute little guest house until I felt better (this took about six days). Although it was great to have home cooked meals, catch up on the news, and take showers it wasn’t long before it got really lonely at the guest house. Being there really made me miss my hut, the family I stay with, and all the options I have for things to do with my free time.
October
In October, I had the honor and privilege of representing Peace Corps at a standards setting workshop for the care of Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs) throughout Swaziland. The event was facilitated by UNICEF and attended by many “experts” in the field. I remember the days when I used to sit in lecture halls at the University of Washington wondering what it was really like to work with the U.N. Now I honestly have a good idea (UNICEF is a U.N. organization). It was not an easy workshop! We were working on creating a document that will serve as the standard for all OVC care. To make this enormous task easier, we broke into small groups to focus on specific topics. I went with the group that was focused on education. Because education plays such an incredible role in the lives of OVCs, it felt like every time our small group got up to present our ideas to the big group, we were bombarded with questions, comments, and ways to make our section stronger! In the end, however, we were all proud of the standards that we created over the course of three days. We will continue to meet and work on making these standards stronger as time goes on. After completing the standards setting workshop, I rushed back to my community to prepare for another workshop. This workshop was to train “peer educators” in health education, the employment process, and leadership. Another Peace Corps volunteer and I joined together to teach the workshop for fifteen people. We spoke about HIV/AIDS, STIs, gender roles, supporting people living with HIV/AIDS, dealing with abuse, writing resumes, conducting job interviews, professionalism, and how to be a leader amongst our peers. It went really well and the students demonstrated that they were willing and ready to go back to their communities and spread the information they gained. Then, the last weekend in October, I went with some friends on one crazy hike. We went to Malalotja Nature Reserve which is not too far from where I stay. We wanted to camp very far into the camp, so we all came with big backpacks holding tents, sleeping bags, food, and equipment. The Nature Reserve has baboons, zebras, warthogs, panthers, and springbok (to name a few animals). We were hoping to hike by moonlight to the highest peak. Unfortunately, heavy fog moved in and kept us from being able to reach our destination. Nevertheless, the trip was a blast! We had many great conversations and got to see and hear so many animals in their natural state. It was the longest and hardest hike I have ever attempted.
Crazy Animal Stories
Yesterday we found a giant lizard on the homestead. From the distance, it looked like a little crocodile. These animals live around rivers. They aren’t dangerous to humans, but a blow from their tail could severely hurt a dog or a bite from an angry would leave one with much disease. The lizard was stealing eggs from the chickens. I also have an interesting chicken story. A few months ago, I kept hearing what sounded like a chicken squawking inside the home of my family. The house was locked, so there was not much I could do about the situation. I just kept wondering if there was chicken inside the house. Later in the day the family came home to say that the same chicken was flying through their window everyday. It would land on their bed, lay an egg and then make a mess on their bed. After a few weeks of this happening, they decided that the only solution was to have that chicken for dinner! There is nothing quit like eating chicken with other chickens walking by your feet. Swazis love to serve meat at important functions, and so it has become a regular part of life to eat chicken around the other chickens. It has also become a regular part of my life to chase chickens out of my room. My room is next to a room storing chicken food, so when I open my door, the chickens come rushing in hoping I will feed them. The family also killed a spitting cobra on my homestead last month, but there is no need to go into any details about that! Anyway, I hope that you and your family are doing well! Take care.
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