Thoughts & Prayers!!

Receiving an email from Peace Corps director Mr. Williams early this morning to inform everyone of yet another death of a volunteer really hurt/worries me. Should I just pack up and go?

During my time in South Africa volunteers have been lost for an array of reasons: rock climbing accident, attempted robbery/ murder and natural causes at the early age of 26. Every time I hear news of a PCV losing his/her life I think about my friends and family back home. I know they are receiving the same news and are probably just as worried as I am.

Personally I don't know any of the fallen PCV'S, but as long as I am a PCV they are family to me. My thoughts and prayers go out to those who have lost loved ones while serving as volunteers..

Bella Bella Game Reserve

Mcgrath, our country director, granted one of our four wishes, a trip to a GAME PARK!! Bella Bella game reserve in Limpopo. Look at the Pics.








GO TEXAS TECH!!!!!!

Site Annoucements

The day we find out exactly where we will be placed for the next 2 years!!! I was sooooo PUMPED!! I was aware that we may not be able to visit our sites this week due to the on going strike, at least we will know where in South Africa we will be so we can plan vacations, yes Peace Corps Volunteers do travel.


I have been placed in the Kwa-Zulu Natal Province. All I can think about is DURBAN, RICHARDS BAY AND ST. LUCIA!!! O and the Largest elephant park in Africa!! My site is Jozini, check out the pictures.

















What a short distance to DURBAN!

Site visit cancelled the strike continues..

McGrath THE Country Director of South Africa arrived at the training site to explain to us in detail how training will be structured moving forward.
I was not surprised when she informed us that the site visit and supervisors workshop would be postponed.
The supervisors workshop – A 3-day event where our assigned principal, peace corps staff and us, the volunteers come together to discuss the roles and expectations of all three parties.
Example – The principal should understand that we are not paid staff, we will be involved in secondary projects.
Example – Americans for the most part are anal in regards to time. “when we say 10 o’clock we mean 10 o’clock”. From what I’ve heard that’s not the case in South African rural schools.
Before McGraph arrived, some of the trainee’s asked, “why cant we just do the site visit?” During our sit-down with her it became clear why that was not an option.

McGrath explained, “It’s your principals responsibility to introduce you to your host family, shop owners and police. This cannot be done without having this very important workshop. Your host family also needs to understand that as Americans we are vary independent, that you are not sick or sad if you decided to stay inside your house for a long period of time”. During the strike the principals, teachers and staff are discouraged from participating in any kind of school related activity.
She then switched gears and asked the group for suggestions regarding our last week of training since there was not going to be a site visit. At this point all important material had been covered. Here was the groups list.
1. Trip to Game Reserve
2. Mall Trip
3. Pizza/Pool Party
4. Cape Town…haha


After McGraph spoke I thanked her for taking the time to come out and thoroughly explain the situation. It is now that I completely understand how everything works and why things are organized in such a manor. Something like a strike was not planned for.
It has been an intense 6 weeks. Since the beginning of week 3 we have witnessed this Public Sector Strike that wont go away!!!! This was the week scheduled for our site visits, I have been looking forward to this since day one. I mean yeah the 8-week home stay is important but not like your permanent site, your new home for 2 years.

BLOG ON DRUGS!!

Since the beginning of training the medical staff has held many sessions. Today the topic was anti-malarial drugs. Some of us will be placed in malaria regions, all volunteers who are placed in Kwal-Zulu Natal, will take malaria meds.
Peace Corps currently prescribes two types of anti-malarial drugs, Mefloquine & Doxycycline. Medical explained how each drug should be administered, side effects and possible complications. If you are curious just google “Peace Corps Volunteers and Suicide from Lariam” The first hit really bothered me and other volunteers. Luckily, I have been prescribed Doxy. I can manage sun sensitivity and no milk, but vivid dreams and thoughts of suicide, not so much. As a default you are prescribed Doxy, but if you are taking other medications you maybe prescribed Mefloquine. After reading the reports on Mefloquine (Lariam), I don’t think I could bring myself to taking such a drug.
While we are in training we don't have to take anything.

Read this and form your own opinion..

http://www.levaquinadversesideeffect.com/2008/11/26/peace-corps-volunteers-and-suicide-from-lariam-a-quinolone-antibiotic/

Terri Shaved her head!!

Terri cut her hair!!! She shaved it.. look at the pics.. This was sooo funny.. I guess you had to be there.. Her host family enjoyed this very much..












PLEASE WATCH THIS VIDEO!!!

Apartheid Museum

This week nothing much has changed, the strike is still on, more informational sessions, and of course more language lessons. On Saturday, we were taken to Johannesburg to visit the Apartheid Museum.



This was a very moving and intense experience, similar to my experience in Amsterdam at the Anne Frank House. Apartheid ended in 1994, by 2001 the museum was up and running, this really threw me of.
When you enter the museum you are handed a card; the card reads either WHITES or NON-WHITES. When I was handed my card chills ran up and down my spine. The WHITES enter through a separate entrance than the NON-WHITES. Posted on the wall was an explanation of the racial classification system. This system was used as a basis for enforcing Apartheid.









I viewed numerous pictures videos and testimonies of victims, a lot of these videos were in color. Growing up I’ve watched many documentaries on the civil rights movement, as we all know those were in black & white. Now for those baby boomers reading this I’m sure you remember the civil rights movement. For me seeing people being discriminated against in color, in the 1990’s was just mind blowing. I do understand that things like this are currently going on in other countries, but im here, I’m in South Africa where 90% of the population is, for lack of a better word NON-WHITE.
My only questions is where was our all powerful military, I guess by that time all the gold was mined out of Johannesburg. AT the end of the day it was a great museum and an eye opening experience.
When I returned to Siyabuswa, I spoke with other South Africans and the overwhelming majority have never visited this museum. When I asked my friends host father why he replied, “Apartheid just ended in 1994, 16 years ago, I still have nightmares. I can still remember being beaten, turned away from shops and denied many things.” I felt so bad. Standing there breathless I began to weep.....

STRIKE!!!

It looks like SADTU (South African Democratic Teachers Union) are going on strike. Our training director informed us that this is striking season, not only for education, but for many public sector unions. There was a teacher strike in 2007 that lasted 5 weeks. Now if history repeats itself this strike could outlast training.
The union is asking for more money. An 8% salary increase & a R1000 housing allowance
The department is offering a 6% increase & R600 allowance.
I Feel bad for the students, especially the seniors who are preparing to write their final exams. I hear the current pass rate in South Africa among seniors is 35%, this strike will not benefit ANYONE
Until the strike is over we will not be permitted to enter any educational facility, hold classes at our homestays or participate in any demonstrations. If this strike lasts for an extended period of time, we will not be able to travel to our permanent site to see our schools where we will be teaching for the next 2 years. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Funeral

On Sunday, My host Mother invited me to a funeral. I wanted to see how a South African funeral in a rural village differed from a funeral in the states. We walked about 2km to the house where the service was to be held. We arrived late, but even after being there 30min people were still arriving. During the service several guest were on their cell phones. On a side note, in South Africa incoming calls are free, maybe that’s why some people will pick up the phone in any situation. The funeral was held in the front yard, the family sat under a tent. I really wish I had pictures to show you, this image is really difficult to paint. Cars flooded the streets. Some spectators did not bother to enter the compound.
After the service my mom and I walked with the majority of the funeral party, the others, including the family of the deceased drove to a lot about 2k away. There the priest said a few words and lowered the casket. Immediately after the priest walked away men from the crowd began handing out shovels, ran to the mound of dirt and began burying the deceased. A line of men then formed, it looked as if everyone wanted to help bury this person. I chose not to participate in this, as I did not feel comfortable.

Week 3 Voortrekker Monument, school visit, and MALL!!

In my village there are three schools, Primary, Middle and Secondary. The 20 of us will attend Peace Corps training sessions at the Middle School. For activities such as following a learner, shadowing an instructor and leading a lesson, the 20 of us will split into smaller clusters and be divided evenly into each of the 3 schools.

Here is the morning assembly, this takes place daily. After song the principal and vice principal give announcements.






Aside from sessions on classroom management, which proved useful for some, I spent my time familiarizing myself with the schools time table “the daily schedule”. The majority of these training sessions were conducted by current PCV’s. I like this approach to training because not only were we receiving useful information, the PCV’s were a very good resource in regards to life in a South African village, school and traveling in SA.


Next week I will lead a lesson. So this week I spent about 1hr working with the science instructor, who’s class I will lead for a period. He gave me all the necessary resources to prepare. I cant wait to get some good practice in.
The reasoning for us entering the schools during training is exposure to the schools and, how the learners interact with their instructors, how lessons are planned and executed…ect This was something I deemed necessary and I took as many notes as possible.


We were first instructed to follow a learner for 2 periods. This consisted of the principal hand picking a learner for each of us. My learners name
"Sensation". I greeted her in my target language and then shrugged my shoulders saying, “That’s all I have right now”. She smiled and replied, “My science class is this way”. I was happy that her English was good.

Sensation and her friend




MORE LEARNERS!!




Hmm…. The observation was, for lack of a better word, different. The lesson consisted of the instructor copying his lesson plan from the book to the board. This lesson looked like it had been used for the past 4 years. The instructor was unable to answer any questions. When the instructor asked the class a question all the learners would reply with, “YES”. After about 3 times I realized that the students were programmed to say yes regardless of what came out the instructors mouth.

On Saturday the 52 of us jumped on a bus and headed for Pretoria, “The Capital” to visit the Voortrekker Monument. Situated on a nature reserve this monument commemorates the pioneer history of SA and the history of the Afrikaner.
Here are a few pictures of the monument.












Video!!





We then went to the mall. I went CRAZY!! I ate PIZZA, and McDonalds! I also bought spaghetti that I will make for my family. Imagine 52 American rushing the mall. I was so stressed because we only had 2 hours.

Food Drop

Every 2 weeks we receive food to bring back to out host families.. Let's eat!




I'll take those egg's!!!

MY HOST HOUSE AND FAMILY!!!

Yes!!! I am finally on my way to my new home.. I am soooo pumped up to see how I will be living for the next 8 weeks. I mean, I know what my mom told me but seeing is believing. After loading what seemed to be a 100kg bag, “I’m attempting to use the metric system” we drove a short distance to my new home. On the ride I really did not say much to my new mother, as I was more concerned with the house, my bed and what was for dinner.

We arrived at 914 Ga-Phaatha!! A 2 story flat!! “I’m moving into a 2 story flat in South Africa this is incredible. I cant believe this!!!” Ok, ok that’s enough, but who would have thought or even imagined that one would be staying in a 2 story house in South Africa. This goes to show that one should not assume anything but experience everything.
Here is a Picture of the house.





I was shown to my room, here is a picture of it.




Bathroom.. No PIT TOILET FOR ME!!!



I put my things down and helped my mother put away the food. She then gave me a grand tour of the house. Here are a few pictures of my house.













She also showed me the garden. It is very beautiful. She plants and eats her own carrots, spinach, beets, onions, lettuce and tomatoes. Here a picture of the garden. “ I cant wait to try fresh produce from SOUTH AFRICA!






I also met my sister Thabile.



Thats all for now…

Week 2

Nothing special going on here more language. It’s Women’s month here in South Africa. What a great concept, women have a whole month of August dedicated to them. I asked my mother what happens during this month, she replied with, “O, Nothing, it’s nice”. My host mother’s first name is Eln. She sells candy, chips and other sweets at one of the local schools.

Here is a picture of her and one of the students.

















Here is a picture of the candy she sells.




I help her package the candy so she can sell it the next day. Some nights she would stay up till 12am packaging candy, so I began helping her package candy, with my help she is done by 9:30.

Here is a picture of us working together.





We watch T.V. as a family. It seems that a lot of my peers spend a lot of time with their host families watching Soap Operas. The favorites are The Bold and the Beautiful, Generations and 7 De Laan. Most of these are either in English or Afrikaans. We watch the news as well. The news comes on 4 times a night, in a different language every time. If you are unaware South Africa has 11 official Languages, I guess the other 7 are not that important

Week 1

The village that I was live in has once tar road. The other roads are all dirt roads, “the dirt reminds me of LUBBOCK, TX”. In-between every other house there is an alley or pathway to the next street. The blocks are situated like many developed neighborhood in the U.S. What is different are the cows, chickens and goats that roam aimlessly. No dog tags on the cow’s, I wonder how the residents know who’s cow is who's.




Another difference that I have noticed is the fact that in this village there is no waste management program. Most people burn their trash “Including aerosol cans, plastic bottle and aluminum foil”. Around dusk you can smell the trash burning and a thick fog covers the sky. Behind most of the house are backhouses. Backhouse - a 1-3 room house detached from the main house in the same compound, used for storage, and or extra sleeping space. Most compounds also contain an outhouse, “Not my house though”.
My mother introduced me to all of her family who stay relatively close. In a 1km distance her mother, sister in-law and aunt just to name a few.

Everyday for the next 8 weeks we are required to meet with our language group for 3 hours in the morning. Here is where we study





Inside a backhouse



Terri and Sn'e

The Big Day!!!

The day I meet my Mother and Sister. From what I have been told they have been randomly selected. I don’t know a thing about my family or how far they live from the college. All I know Is that I will be living with the 2 of them for the next 7 weeks.

10 volunteers at a time we were seated in a room as we awaited out families to enter. I felt as if I was in an adoption office about to be taken far away. We waited patiently for 10 min. I don’t know if this was Peace Corps aim to have us sitting there in suspense or what. I had chills running down my spine and butterflies in my stomach. There was a lot of talk that most parents requested white Americans. Where does that put me? Honestly I was not to worried about that because the deal is sweet for the families they receive compensation via money for utilities and weekly food drops.


When the families walked in, you could just feel their energy. They were so happy to have an American come home with them. IT WAS LIKE CHRISTMAS!! Everyone wanted to be there.

Here is a picture of the room with the families on one side and volunteers on the other.





My name was called and then my mother’s, I stood up and ran over to give her a HUGE HUG!!! We held each-other and twirled around in circles. I wanted to show her that I was just as loving and caring as anyone else in the room, if not more. I could feel here spirit..

Here is a pic of my mom and I along with Dan and his mother, the two are neighbors.



After, our brief introduction “due to the language barrier” we proceeded to the adjacent room to fetch our food for the next 2 weeks.

Here is a pic of all the food.





Lettuce, Tomatoes, Canned Fish “a first for me”, Maze Meal, Spinach, apples, bananas, milk and chicken it was a lot of food to carry. My mother and I shared plenty of awkward smiles. My Zulu was not where it needed to be, but who’s was at week 2.

I did ask her some questions that she seemed to understand.
1. Do you have hot water?
Response – YEBO!! “Yes in Zulu”
2. Do you have electricity?
Response – YEBO!!
3. Do you have INSIDE TOILET?

Response – We have everything!!! Any thing you want!!

4. Microwave?
Yes, Yes

I know what your thinking, but hey can you blame me. I have been spoiled just like you!!

She then told me that my surname was, SHABANGU!!!

I asked my mother, "where is my sister?"

He reply, "Cleaning the house for you!!"

I smiled and said, "I cant wait to see her."



We waited outside for transport to my new home. I will be living in the village Ga –Phaahaa. The residents in this village speak Ndebele, from what I have been told its almost identical to ZuLu. Now how am I supposed to become fluent in a language when my host family does not speak it. This bothers me just a little bit knowing that 85 percent of the people living in rural villages in Kwa-Zulu Natal speak.. ZuLu. I will give it my all, I thrive in these situations!!

While we waited a dance group from my village put on a show for us, while we loaded up our bags and food. Attached is a video..






well give me a month and I will post it.. DATA is expensive.

My next blog I will post pictures of my house and more pics of my family.. Until Next time..