The other side

Tuesday November 16^th, 2010

After many tears shed on Sunday and a couple on Monday when saying good bye to the sweet faced, loving kids, my peers and project leaders it was time for me to go. Leaving more scared to come back to the life I know so well but is so much more complicated than when I left for Mozambique. It reminds me that less is more. We can all say it, think it or want it to be true in this modern life we live (even I being guilty of feeling that but not understanding it truly), until you live it and feel not only content but completely happy without all the amenities we have and desire, you can not appreciate how peaceful simple is.

This journey was worth every sacrifice that was made. My experiences have highlighted qualities that I never knew I had. It opened up my eyes to a new way of life that I never thought imaginable. I left home thinking that I was going to enhance the lives of the unfortunate. In the end it was them who enhanced my life. 

Rememberance

Monday, November 15^th, 2010

Today I experienced something that no tourist ever will and so rare that very few volunteers for African Impact ever will either. One year ago today a much-loved teacher from the preschool pasted away after a long battle against an unknown illness. Our morning at preschool was spent remembering and honoring Esparanza. Before we left to school this morning I volunteered to cut flowers from our resort gardens to take along with us. They were a vibrant fuchsia; after seeing her beautiful smile in a picture it seemed as though they couldn’t have matched her personality better.

After playtime we gathered the kids up to walk to the cemetery. The two school teachers Zailia and Delyndia lead the way humming and singing a soft song in which we could not understand but it was without a doubt in commemoration of their friend. Delyndia balanced a large pale of water on her head while Zailia carried the flowers I picked along with a few they had brought as well. It’s hard to know what the kids were thinking, but they knew what was going on to some extent. They were all a bit quieter than average and some very clingy. We walked together in small groups; I had two on both sides of me. Meena and Mosash were holding hands to the right and Delcia and Clousia were on the left.

Without someone to follow I could have easily gotten lost.  Along the way we trudged on the hot sand, passed through a community of huts and dodged thorn bushes (that the kids love to play in). Before we even realized it, it was as if were in a secret spot under a large tree. Flattened mounds of dirt raised from the ground with only a small piece of wood with a name and a date on top, some had a shell or flower to mark the rows of graves before us. After finding Esparanza’s grave on the end of the row, the kids circled around it holding hands, the teachers still singing, only a bit louder now as the rest of us a step behind them. Along with us came a handful of stragglers that I did not recognize from school and a young girl about 12 years old with a baby (about 18 moths old) tied to her back. The girl stood next to me as everyone watched the teachers get down on their knees and clean the dead leaves off the grave, and then they started to churn the sand/soil on top with their hands to make it look fresh again. As I glanced over I saw a small tear trickle down the cheek of the young girl next to me. I grabbed her hand and squeezed it softly. Receiving a light squeeze in return I knew that I was accepted graciously. After the teachers finished grooming the grave they handed out the flowers one by one to every kid then allowed them to place them in the dirt as decoration. Then they handed them out to us and let us do the same. Last they handed what was left in a small bouquet to the girl next to me. My hunch was then confirmed that the girl was Esparanza’s daughter holding her baby. Letting go of her hand and watching her bury the end of the bouquet in the ground at the end of the grave just about broke my heart in two. Last Delyndia cupped water in her hands and sprinkled it on the grave while Zailia sang. I’m not exactly sure what he water symbolized but it was as if they were cleansing the ground and refreshing Esparanza with moisture and beauty.

As tears were running down my face, for the first time, I looked up and saw all my peers in the same emotional state. It was such an overwhelming moment. The thought of anyone losing a parent is heart-rending, but knowing this sweet baby will never even know its mother was a crushing thought. The girl was so strong but so subtle. I’m sure she has taken on the majority of her mother’s role at home and looks after the baby as her own. I wish I could have given her so much more than just a small bit of compassion. But I will always be grateful just to have had the opportunity to share this day of remembrance with her and everyone who clearly loved Esparanza so dearly.

To Good friends:

Sunday, November 14^th, 2010

This Blog is dedicated to Kaitlyn. Thanks for leaving me with memories for a lifetime of our last day off together. After a crash and burn on a cloudy sunrise we enjoyed Kalua and peanut butter bread rolls for breakfast. Being a bit buzzed I let my blond haired blue-eyed friend get her beauty sleep and I packed my bags. Yes, it was heard (not to pack I gave away half my clothes and supplies) but to get ready to let go and say good-bye.

I didn’t want to spend any of my last moments mourning what was not lost yet so I ran over to hut 7 and jumped in the window to wake up my friend. There is no way anyone could get any real sleep around here with the heat so we gathered our things and headed out for a day at Beach Lodge. Lathering up sunscreen from head to toe for the last time was more depressing than I thought ever possible, just knowing paradise would not be waiting for me at lunch any longer.

As we baked in the sun and played in the pool we shared many of our long heart to heart conversations and laughed at our dumb selves more than ever before. We are two very different people with different back rounds and different experiences but understand each other, relate to one another and see both points of view as if we have always walked the same path together. Kaitlyn is a Canadian construction worker for her dads business (yes, gorgeous but butch ;)). She is from a split home with 4 siblings. She loves her family dearly and continues to be close with them even after the tremendous amount of obstacles they have had to overcome. She will tell anything like it is and admit her faults with a smile and a joke. What is not to love about her???!

Although I can’t give away all of our stupid secrets, we basically acted like we were 13 again. We took a disgusting amount of pictures, most being underwater blowing bubbles in weird poses and some kissing odd fish statues. We ran on the beach and in the ocean, and chatted with locals along the way. We poked great fun at each other and mostly tried to neglect the underling sadness of what was soon to come. 

At every volunteer’s last dinner they are asked to share their top 3 highlights. I had been pondering mine for most of the day. So hard to only pick 3. I prolonged until we finished eating, trying to enjoy the most of our family style dinner discussing every ones day off and learning about our newest volunteers that came in this afternoon from the U.S. When the time came for me to share, surprisingly my stomach was twirling with the confusion of sadness and happiness and the battle of emotions in-between.

After reading my blog, most of you can probably guess my number one highlight. It has been without a doubt, my Edson’s class. I feel as though they have taught me as much as I have taught them (hopefully). They are an inspiring group of positive young men.

Highlight number two, the friends that I have made and the people I have met. I love the different cultures bonding together to form one. I love the common interest amongst us, but even more the uniqueness of each individual. The expression that six to one is a half dozen to another couldn’t be more true. And most of all the kindness and passion that radiates from our group.

Last but not least is the difference in the way I thought when I came to help a country, community or family and the way they have changed my views. I do not feel sorry for these people, I commend them for the life they live. They are truly happy, loving, caring and content with all (or very little) that they have.

If I could give any advice to anyone coming to a traditional African community, I would say start your journey completely open minded with no preconceived notions. Second, don’t come to change the lifestyle, enjoy it and engage in it. You are sure to make a difference.

Good-bye

Friday November 12, 2010

It’s so hard to say good-bye, but what a way to do it. This was my last Edson’s class this afternoon. I had a very average lesson plan put together, a word search with new vocabulary, a reading and discussion and finished off with a rousing game of Boulderdash. After many good laughs the boys asked me pull out my video “Flip” to say good-bye. They all left me with a message, regards to my friends and family and some with their hopes for the future. To my surprise they ended our day with a good-bye song one of them had written for me. They all rehearsed rapping the simple chorus of the numbers 1,2,3; 3,2,1 and Serviano chanting out a few lines. They’re not going to make it to Hollywood like they might hope, but the effort and thought was priceless.

For the rest of the evening I heard about how what a great job they did, how kind my boys are and how lucky I was to have gotten to teach them and make the kind of connection I did with them. It’s not that everyone doesn’t love the people they teach at Edson’s but they are not all able to hold a conversation and communicate enough to build the same kind of bond. I do know how lucky I am, and am so appreciative. Good luck to you all!

Comunity Project

Thursday November 11^th, 2010

Thursday afternoons are community project time. We have gardened, built huts, and today we painted the preschool we teach at. Recently the Traveling School Girls, a group of 15 American high school students who spend a semester learning abroad, where in Vilanculos and drew an amazing mural of a garden on the front of the schoolhouse.

As we divided into partners and different projects, I was lucky enough to get to work on the mural. It by no means will it be finished before I leave here but it was exciting to see it start to come to life. It brightens the whole area and it will be a great education tool. We have everything labeled from fruits and vegetables to colors and shapes. Plus, in a selfish sense, it’s fun to feel like I left a small mark behind.

Although projects like these are fun, the clean up is a whole different project in its self. Trading off pumping water to wash brushes and dabbling in a drops worth of turpentine to try to get off the most important parts weather it be us, or utensils we will need in the future. Remembering to save and take care of every little thing is key. 

Another project that was completed while I was here was building the chicken coop at the school. The money was donated by a past volunteer and the credits of the project have to go to Kerrie. It was her aspiration to have chickens that could lay eggs to put in the kids rice at school for a little protein and nutrients. Although both of these projects may seem so simple and average they are more of a challenge than you could imagine. The paint doesn’t just come from Sherman Williams down the street and the locks, hinges and chicken wire can’t be picked up at Lows. Some of the items were arranged for volunteers to bring on their way, some were specially ordered from South Africa and some were creatively scrounged together. Difficult, yes, but all the more rewarding!

Clean Teeth!!

Wednesday November 10, 2010

After many complements on my teeth since I have arrived, I was given the privileged of teaching dental hygiene day. Many of my peers have asked jokingly if all Americans are granted a dentist or orthodontist when they are born. I can honestly reply, “No, we just sought out a family member to marry one”.  It is mind blowing to me that dental care isn’t more important through out the world. It is also very interesting the amount of debate there is on how to take care of your teeth. (Sister-in-law, you would have a hay day!!)

My lesson included the best demonstration ever, of how to brush your teeth, displaying good teeth verse bad teeth, a song I made up with another volunteer, and the best dental games ever! When we split them up into groups. Group 1, was sorting out foods that were good for your teeth and foods that were bad for them. Group 2, played Simon Says with cut outs of Tooth Paste, Toothbrushes and Teeth. Group 3, had laminated mouths and had to match good teeth to one mouth and bad teeth to the other. Group 4, sang our song with actions. “Brush your teeth brush your teeth (chorus), up and down up and down. Chorus, round and round, round and round. Chorus, front and back front and back. Chorus, morning and night!” And, last but not least, group 5, got toothbrushes and tooth paste and had a lesson on how to brush your teeth. Hopefully they will make good use of their dental knowledge and toothbrushes, but regardless we all had a fun day!

Wednesday afternoon is regularly free so we scheduled a sunset dhow trip. This afternoon was particularly windy but since it is my last Wednesday we decided not to cancel. Some of our mates enjoyed a white-knuckle ride. I thought it added a bit more adventure to our day than just pretty scenery. It was a bit cloudy so we didn’t get the spectacular sunset that was anticipated. It all worked out for the best, we wouldn’t have been able to capture the moment with a camera anyway with the size of the waves and the amount of water sloshing into the boat. Not everyone on the boat was completely comfortable with the water and had some panicky moments when watching the skipper bail water out of the boat with a small tin can. Others shrieked at the shock of being splashed. I just reveled in the moment and giggled inside as I thought, “you did know the Sunset dhow tour was on the water… didn’t you???”

Discussion of a life time

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

As many days, my Edson’s class made my day today. Although my time here is winding down and I am looking forward to being home again, it is bitter sweet. I would have never thought in such a short amount of time I would grow such a liking to my students and them to me. Before my class started today one of my students handed me a gift, it was a woven African bracelet with my name on it. It melted my heart and reminded me for the first time that this was my last week here. I can’t stay forever (although I’ve thought about it), I just hope the torch is passed onto someone who sees as much in them as I do so they can continue to learn, grow and achieve all the things they want. And, I would feel even better about leaving them if I had a little peephole to watch them from afar.

Today’s class was dynamite exploding in the best way possible. We had a discussion day just to work on thinking quickly, speaking accurately and vocabulary. Thank God I recorded some of the discussion but I would kill to have the whole thing on tape. The topic was if you were the president of Mozambique what would you do. We hit every subject from HIV, taxes, over population, law enforcement and crime to education and values. We discussed what a poor country this is and that with money comes problems. Then debated whether life was better poor or wealthy, simple or elaborate. Last I had to approach the subject and feelings on wealthy countries helping out poor countries. The answer… 90% said they needed the knowledge to know how to do it themselves but did not need handouts. I was so impressed! I could have let them go on for hours. I couldn’t soak up enough information. My peers were so curious as they were teaching their own classes, heads were popping in left and right as they got an earful in the distance.

I hope that it has only been my misconception in the past, but I would have never thought that these people were so intelligent. I’m embarrassed to say that for anyone to see but I have to tell it like it is. The only thing they don’t have that many of the rest of us have are opportunities. Not to mention they have to work harder than I could ever imagine, just to get what little they do have. English is everyone’s third language, first being Shitswa and second is Portagees. They have to be more creative to find resources to learn from and work harder to make enough money to get an education. Once again they remind me how unbelievably privileged I am.

Time to celebrate

Monday November 8^th, 2010

Kids will be kids no matter where they are. Today was one of the hottest days yet, and it was like a full moon on Friday the 13^th. I’m not sure if it was the heat or for them, the end of school is coming and they’ve all gone buck wild. Preschool was a challenge today to say the least. My guess is that it is hard to keep the attention focus when it is so hot, but maybe that’s just me. I can’t really blame them.

The second half of our day was fun. It is Kaitlyn’s 24^th birthday. It was a fun challenge to surprise her with the resources we had. We decorated the table with a card and balloons and of coarse sang Happy Birthday and a few other fun songs just to laugh and be goofy.

After dinner we resorted to game night in the bar of Agua Negra (our resort). While most everyone enjoyed a round or two of drinks I stuck to my tea, remaining just as vibrant as most people do when they have a buzz going on. The bar tender asked me tonight “Where does all your happiness come from?” I was a bit taken back by the question but my only response was that I wake up everyday with a lot of energy and you can’t use that energy being down and fussy all the time. I make them laugh constantly but they make me laugh just as much. 

I will be returning home with a few less brain cells than I started with. After what I believe to be my third round of spider bites, coming from my bed, I sprayed my sheets with Baygon (an equal to Deat). I have almost no mosquito bites as I bath nightly in repellent but when I wake up in the morning, I have about 30 large red bites only in one small area. They itch like hell. Hopefully my sacrifice will pay off.

A day off

Sunday November 7^th, 2010

The only real complaint that I have had of my trip so far is the lack of communication, today that was conquered. After three weeks of very brief e-mails and postings to my blog, I was able to Skype my parents. Oh… it was so good to see them and even better to tell them how great my trip has been and get an update on life back home.

After starting my day off perfect, it made it that much better to relax on my day off. I spent most of my day alone, which was quite nice and peaceful. The new volunteers were on excursions that I have already done and the three of us left, branched off to enjoy the day. Of coarse I wanted to enjoy the sunshine and the water. Only the water is getting harder and harder to enjoy. When walking along the ocean the waves truly feel like water splashing out of a hot tub and the pools are just as warm by the middle to the end of the day. It may sound nice to those who are preparing for winter in Colorado at the moment, but not when you’re looking forward to a refreshing cool down.

In the late afternoon my girlfriends joined me for drinks at Beach Lodge. We enjoyed our evening giggling like schoolgirls and socializing with the locals. Learning about the common challenges of life and politics here. It seems to be a common theme from those that are educated and work hard that they disapprove of the westerners turning Africa into a handout dependent continent. It’s hard to understand at first and accept when you are taking part in what they think is creating a problem. But we came to the understanding that we are doing our best to give the tools to those that want to help themselves.

The people here have lived a lifestyle for generation after generation not needing much and getting by with what they have. It is us that believe that they couldn’t possibly live the way they do. Most of the people here are very content with what they have. This is a mind battle that I have not yet resolved. When we think we are helping we are actually doing them an injustice. But how could we live such glamorous lives and not want to give them just a small piece of that, even if it is just knowledge and health care. Where does it stop though? We live in the world that nothing is ever enough.

The amount of money and time that is donated every year to help prevent HIV here is unfathomable. The educated locals know it is a problem but find us silly to think that we could even consider making a dent in the situation. To the majority of people here, it is no big deal. Many of the people they know have AIDs or are HIV positive and live a perfectly normal life. There is no chance in changing the outrageous promiscuity of the culture. Even if we educate them on the consequences of what is being spread sexually, until we are blue in the face, we could never provide enough protection to even touch the majority of the population and they would never consider spending the very little money they have on condoms instead essentials.

Nothing is a loss cause, but it is important that we remember we are in a whole different domain. Is it even our right to try to change it?

Sweet Orphans

Saturday November 5^th, 2010

Going to the orphanage has to be the most rewarding thing we have done so far. Today was my second time out there. It is about an hour away so we go every Saturday if the weather permits.

Although you think life couldn’t get much worse as you look at some of the kids in preschool that are filthy, most likely hungry, dehydrated, and many are sick but never treated; it is possible. Yet it never seems to faze the kids. As they see our truck coming up the drive we can hear their songs and the sounds of chanting for us as they eagerly await the crafts, games and reading to begin. The communication at the orphanage is even harder than the rest of our projects because they only speak shitswa but there is one universal thing that we can give them. Love. That is all they need and want, is some attention and love. As we jump down from the truck, there is no other word to explain, we are absolutely mobbed by kids all ranging in age from 18 months to 18 years old.

The orphanage looks so desolate with only a couple huts on the land and very few trees for shade. I can’t even imagine where everyone sleeps or how all these kids are fed, I can only be glad that we came to help make one day a little bit better for them. We set up crafts in one area. Some of the volunteers put together a pinwheel type project that they could decorate with glitter and colors and watch it spin in the wind or tie on a string and run with it. The children were thrilled with the outcome. We watched them run and run with all the spinning bright colors behind them. Sports were set up on the opposite side of the land. Mostly boys wanted to play football (soccer), but there were also some games like duck duck goose mixed in as well. A mat was laid out for story time. Although they couldn’t possibly know what story was being read to them they marveled in the opportunity to cuddle up on and around and receive a little more attention than average.

I would have been in bliss to do any of the activities today and I thoroughly enjoyed watching all of them from time to time but I volunteered to give private English lessons to the head boy. Mottaish, 18.  He takes such good care of all the kids and is really our only source of translation. Knowing that he will continue to pay it forward is half the reward; the other is knowing I’m giving him a much-deserved lifeline.

Teaching

Friday November 5^th, 2010

Today was my day to teach pre-school. It just so happened that Fridays we do a letter and we were in the middle section of the alphabet. So I taught the letter “K”. I gave a brief lesson and then split the kids up into three groups; writing, recognition and creativity. Group 1 drew K on dry erase boards, which in turn lead to coloring their fingernails with the markers. Group two had wooden blocks with 90% of them having the letter K on them on a side. We shook the box of blocks up and threw them on the table for them to find the blocks with K on them. Group three had pre drawn K’s to decorate with colors, glitters and stickers. Of coarse the kids all loved the creative station best, so did I. So many of the kids ended up with glitter all over their faces, they found it so amusing, and… so did I.

The other half of my class was song and dance. Of coarse I wished I could get crazy with them but I’ve learned that the key to success with them is keeping it simple. I taught them “Head, shoulders, knees and toes” and “the hokey pokey”. Once again they were harder to teach because every country seems to know the gist of the same song but everyone does a different version. It worked out though. We did them both many of times until we got the hang of it. It was a successful day of being teacher. 

The newbe's

Thursday November 4^th

It is a beautiful warm rainy day here in Vilanculos. Our new volunteers are settling in nicely. An older British woman replaced my bunkmate. She is nice but she is not the second Twinkie in the package. 

I have already become close with the other two girls that arrived this week. Megan, 33, is from New York and Kaitlin, 24, is from Canada. The three of us went on a horse riding adventure along the beach to a fishing village yesterday. I don’t think I have ever hurt so bad from riding a horse in my life. My horse, Eavet, was a bit frisky though. She was antsy near the end and gave me a few opportunities to be bucked off but I was tough and hung on for dear life. I really didn’t know which to do, let go or hang on, but the thought of being tossed scared me more.

A couple of the new girls are a bit finicky about life here. I’m not sure if they read the waver. They jump at most bug sightings, have a hard time with the local food, and just like me, are taking some time adjusting to being quite dirty.  At the end of every day our feet are completely black, covered in dirt. When reapplying sunscreen it feels like exfoliating your skin, I just figure its good for me, in America people pay money for things like that. Above all else, it is a place where you eat what is put before you. (Along with the five pound bag of Skittles I brought ;)) There is something that feels very ungrateful about not eating what you don’t want to when so many people around you don’t have anything to eat at all.

Differences

Wednesday November 3^rd, 2010

Almost everyone has adjusted to the early morning sunrise. However, I am not one of them. I wake up by 5am most days bright eyed and bushy tailed. I have gotten so I really enjoy it. I have a couple hours to myself before breakfast at 7ish. My time usually consists of a beach walk and laying in the sand reading or I go out to our little restaurant area and journal while I enjoy the view and a cup of tea. It really is the most peaceful time of day before the temperature starts to climb to high.

I really don’t ever know what the temperature is, how far I’m walking or how much something weighs. Americans seem to be the only people who use Fahrenheit, miles or pounds. Not that any of those concern me very often, but when having a conversation about any of them it becomes hard to make the comparison for both parties. It is most difficult when teaching. Trying to give a description and what your saying can’t be related to anything familiar to the students.

The time change is hard. Its 9 hours ahead of Colorado and 10 hours ahead of California. The time on my computer is still set to mountain-time and as I type before bed, I wonder what everyone is has going for the day ahead of them as I have already finished my day.

If I could change one thing here it would be the communication. I am used to not seeing my friends or family for a long period of time but have remained in close contact with my family through phone, pictures, skyping or e-mail. As everyone has probably gotten the gist by now, there is not much contact available. Tuesday November 2^nd was the first time I had Internet in 11 days. It is quite the trek to get to town to use the Internet, and often it doesn’t even work. There are two top notch 5 start hotels here that have Wi-Fi that have always allowed the volunteers to use it but for some reason it has been down for the past 6 weeks and still counting. Can you imagine our modern world living with out Internet for 6 weeks when there is a problem??? People would go mad, they wouldn’t know what to do with themselves and act as though the world wouldn’t continue to turn. I must say that it is nice not to have the outside world in your face all the time but a short conversation or just being able to respond to e-mails would be comforting. 

Life

Time has passed so quickly as it always does whether on vacation, at work or just simply on alladays. My trip is half over already and most days it feels like it has only just begun. I fear that before I know it I will be on that disgustingly long travel home again. Although I still have no idea what I want to do when I get back I know this trip has already given me the rejuvenation and change of heart, mind and spirit to put the puzzle back together again. I don’t feel as though my life planning is looming over my head but I do think about it constantly.

I’ve liked the routine here and the feeling of being so useful. At times, yes, I’ve thought I may never want to go back to western civilization but there are pros and cons to everything everywhere. At the end of the day home is home. I am grateful for the opportunities that are at arms reach.

There are many similarities between my mom and myself but I never would have thought that teaching would be one of them. I am told daily that I should go home and become a high school teacher or college professor. They don’t know me very well, do they? But they are right about one thing; I absolutely delight in educating my older students and adults. I enjoy the innocents and playfulness of the children but it feels as though there is always a limit to what you can teach them and how much you can communicate. For my Edson’s class the possibilities are endless. The passion to give them a better future is there for both them and me. After this experience, I finally understand the love for teaching. But don’t get any ideas, I’m still not convinced that I’m teacher material, I’ve just been given the gift of awesome students. 

Change

Monday November 1, 2010

Today was my hardest day here yet. Over the past two weeks I have become very close with this group of volunteers. As always people connect and bond with some more than others. Today I had to send off my closest friend here, Haseena. Right before she left to come here for a month she qualified to be a pharmacist in London. She truly has to one of the kindest, most genuine, and charismatic people I have ever met. I am bummed she is gone but far more grateful that I had the chance to meet her. She constantly makes this world a better place everyday with everything she does.

Today we gained three new volunteers to replace the ones that left. It’s hard to accept the change but at the same time I want every person to feel as welcome and comfortable as I did when I first arrived. Although I wanted this time away from friends and family to sort out my mind and achieve things for myself, it is an intimidating feeling knowing your going into this by yourself. So far out of 12 volunteers we only had one married couple that came together. At dinner tonight we all expressed that we had the same concerns prior to our arrival and that within no time at all they will feel just as much apart of this little family we have created.

It’s hard to believe in two weeks time I am the one leading the ropes for others. I am taking our new group into town tomorrow. We will go to the market; I’m excited to see what they think. It is such cultural experience. I also get to pick up my dress that I had made, I’m so excited to see it! And, I have set up a horse riding adventure for Wednesday with my some new family members.

My adventure continues with each week a bit different. 

Halloween

Sunday, October 31, 2010

As most of you know, I absolutely love my holidays. I was just a bit bummed before I left knowing that I would miss Halloween, but to my pleasant surprise we were invited to a Halloween party here. A Zimbabwen couple that own and run a large horse ranch here hosted the party. They are good friends with our group leader Poppy. We were all so excited. Some of our group had never celebrated Halloween before so it was a fun introduction.

Of coarse we needed costumes, so we set off into the market full of madness. I went for the gypsy theme. It by no means was a solid American Halloween costume, but the challenge of the imagination was half the fun. Every ones costume turned out great.

When we got to the party I was most definitely impressed with the decorations. They had carved pumpkins and hung fake spider webs (remember those are both things you would never find in market, shops or grow anywhere near). There were lots of kids who looked like they were having a blast, dressed up, bobbing for apples and high on sugar. Poker tables and roulette were set up for the adults. And of coarse, of all times to rock the roulette table I had fake chips. Regardless it was a great time.

I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween.

Look beyond the stars

Friday October 29, 2010

I had the most rewarding Edson’s class today. We read a scrip on commits and meteorites. It was a bit advanced for the class but as I explained it paragraph by paragraph, I had never seen eyes so engaged. Only a few of them knew what the solar system was, but even they didn’t know the planets or how they all orbited around the sun. I have a thirty year old in my class that remembered when there was an eclipse, he was so curious how it happened and why. I explained to them that most of the stars were bigger than the sun, but they were so far away that they look tiny. With the language barrier it’s hard to give the full effect of the lesson, but I figure that if they are learning even small bits and enjoying it then I have made a difference. At the end of our lesson I had them all draw a picture of the image they saw in their head after our discussion. Every picture was different but well thought out and interesting what got across through broken communication. The only thing that would be better is to have the resources to give them the full effect.

Tonight we went out to dinner at a near resort, Beach Lodge. It is a beautiful 5 star hotel and restaurant. Even there you will see geckos climbing the wall in the midst of your meal. A girlfriend and I split a brick oven pizza for dinner. There were a few choices but we agreed it had to be something familiar from home. There was nothing traditional about it, but it was delicious.

After dinner we went out as a bon voyage party for my nearest and dearest roommates. Who would have thought that there would be clubs in a small Mozambique village? Well there are, and many of them. It is very important to stay together and like any other place you have the good the bad and the drunk. We had a blast and danced to a live African band out on a large cement patio that opened up to the beach. The air was hot but it was fairly windy.

We finally made it back home around 2am. As I just finished getting ready for bed I had a mental flash from home. It should be about 6pm in San Francisco. My brother should have just finished his P.E. test and having one of the most relieving drinks at the bar he ever had, then on to enjoy a well-deserved sight seeing weekend in the city. I have never seen anyone with so much determination and dedication for what they want to achieve. I’m sure you did well. It’s finally over, ahhhhh…. ;)

My overnight adventure

Thursday, I have no idea what day of the month it is. 10/28/10… maybe.

If you keep your level of expectation open you are bound to be blown away. From moment one on this trip I expected there to be growling times and poor conditions with the reward coming from within. However the conditions have been far from poor and I will leave with more reward, knowledge, experiences and friends than I could ever have imagined.

Myself and two other girls from camp left yesterday morning (Wednesday) on another dhow trip, around the islands and camping this time. Yes, I’m sure this trip sounds more like an unbelievable vacation than a volunteer program. It is the perfect mixture of both.

This trip was spent mostly on the boat only getting out to snorkel the two mile reef and tour some of the islands. We were with another amazing group of people, some French, Italian, British and South African. It feels like everyone is here in good spirit, traveling, exploring and vacationing. (There’s no reason not to be right?)

The boat we adventured off on was wooden with hand sewn and re-patched sails, all looking old and a bit rickety. Knowing that I could swim and would not possibly die of hypothermia in the water if the opportunity arose I was thrilled just to be out on the water on such a beautiful Mozambican day. I did find it quite odd that within the first few minutes we pushed off shore our captains started a small fire (in a pit of coarse) on the back end of this wooden boat. After kicking back and enjoying the sunshine and wind in my hair our guides started handing out coffee, tea and biscuits (breakfast cookies). Most places we wouldn’t bat an eye at complementary services, but here we were shocked and felt very indulged. Our afternoon snack was popcorn, which once again I never in my wildest dreams would have guessed such a thing, not only on our boat, but in a third world country in Africa.

Before long my friend, Haseena, and I made good friends with our captain, Dumo; our cook, Alfredo; and our skipper, Chico. Not speaking much of the same language makes for very funny interpretations and lots of pantomiming. Once again we made it a point to treat them as our friends and not as three people that were giving us a service. Making them laugh, sharing our food and making jokes with them was 75% of the fun. The other 25% was a bonus of sun, the beautiful Indian Ocean, great food, and spectacular scenery.

We camped out Wednesday night. Then snuggled into our cozy mosquito nets early (before 8pm I think), and woke up just in time to get up and watch the sunrise and repeat our sensational day all over again.

Good people

Tuesday 10/26/10

All of the volunteers have come here to do a service. We want to improve this world one person at a time, giving opportunities these people may otherwise never get. Coming from a modern world we all believe that every man is equal although that is not the case here. We live in a hut and just a short walk away there is a house where we do all of our planning, eat all of our meals and regroup with our project managers. In this house we have people who do our laundry daily, cook our food, do our dishes right from the table, and all outside maintenance. While we eat breakfast, some days we see a black man cut the grass with a machete, and no the yard is not small.

Although we all understand that they do not have the technology that we may have and that is what the people here are used to, it is a hard thing to watch and accept. We know that the jobs they have here are opportunities for them but we do not feel as though we should treat them inferior to us. You cannot possibly judge or belittle someone who was never given the tools or placed in an environment to excel beyond what they know.

We do feel in our house that it is encouraged that there be a large separation between us and the staff. We all try to be as warm and grateful as possible for everything they do, but when we offer to help they are insistent that we don’t. As we all discussed our feelings on this I found out that they get in trouble by our sponsors if we participate. There is a young 17 year old boy from the Netherlands here that has been here for two months already during his gap year; he likes to dry the dishes for our cook Samuelli, and every time he does he gets asked not to by our project manager.

Tonight our leaders all went out to dinner to have a meeting. We were told to behave as though we were all children and going to have a party, and so we did exactly that! We filled our plates and sat around our huge dining table and then we went and got our staff and asked them to come and join us. They were very resistant but obliged. They were worried that they would not get enough work done and so we told them to come fill their plates and we would help them when we all finished. We asked them what they normally had for dinner and it was nothing compared to what we were having, a beef stew over rice with veggies. We shared cookies and tea with them after dinner. Then we all had a blast singing and joking while we did our chores.  

It does not seem to me that making a difference one person at a time includes reminding everyone where there place in life is. We are here to give as many experiences as we get. Not everyone will get an English lesson, but knowing someone is going home at night with a full belly and a smile is just as rewarding to both them and us. 

A new week

Monday, October 25, 2010

I can say, “wow”, time is already passing fast. But I can also say, time well spent. I don’t miss actually being at home and the daily grind or as my past 2 months have been “alladays”.  However I do miss my daily communication. I just wish I could pick up the phone and share about my day and vise versa.

Things are starting to change around here already. I knew that volunteers would come and go, but I never knew I that I would like everyone here so much. They are absolutely some of the best-spirited people I have ever met. Unfortunately we shipped our Australian off today. I know I will have another amazing week and am looking forward to it but dreading next weekend, as I have to give up two of my roomies on Saturday and another on Monday. I couldn’t have been luckier to be housing (or hutting) with 5 people who mesh so well. Being American I am the butt of many jokes, I take them kindly mostly because they’re fairly true, you can’t help but laugh. Today during our planning time the joke was American’s make everything more complicated. Everyone else says horse riding, we have to say horseback riding because we’re too dumb to know where to sit if we don’t. (Not true that we are all stupid, but we certainly make it appear so). It really is fun banter all the time. 

There are most defiantly different social classes here like there are everywhere. The majority are very poor and the wealthy are not from here. The ones that moved here are people that saw opportunity, and have done well. Lots of the people we have met have been from South Africa and are just as modern as you and me. Others live what we would call a middle class life. They usually have a good appearance and are educated but are just making it. They still live in a little hut no bigger than some of our bathrooms, with no running water. Bathing and cooking with water pumped out of the community well that are placed every few miles. Probably not a penny to their name but happy just to feel like their making it. 

My first weekend

The weekend Sunday Oct 24^th

The weekend is when we have time to ourselves but our project manager also has activities set up. Saturday we had culture day, which I participated in. It started with a scavenger hunt through the market for certain items that we would use to make an authentic meal called mutapa at a friendly local's hut, who we work with at the preschool. We shaved coconut by hand and ground little beans on a bowl-shaped rock with a baseball bat shaped tool. The family we were with spoke very little English but enjoyed many good laughs at our expense. The food wasn’t something that I’m going to come home and make for you all, but the experience was invaluable.

The afternoon was spent playing at the beach and lying by the pool. The evening was even more spectacular. We were invited to a new hotel’s opening party. This place was the most beautiful piece of paradise I have ever seen. The food was an elegant three course meal, along with a picturesque view of an infinity pool overlooking the huge teal blue ocean. What did I wear, you might ask, as I only brought enough clothes for 5 days that consist of outdoorsy shorts, Old Navy tanks and Carter's promo tee shirts. I borrowed a dress from my British camp leader that she had worn in a wedding here. Who would ever have thought you could feel like Cinderella going to the ball in the middle of Africa.

On Sunday I took a dhow trip to one of the islands. There was a camp set up on the island for our lunch and also a very little bit of shade. The sun felt very intense and even though I applied sunscreen SPF 50 multiple times, it felt like my skin was constantly burning. So I only had one choice and that was to stay in the water. I loved every minute of if. When I was tired of swimming and playing in the water, I would sit or lie in the sand just where the tide would come up… until I was sitting on a jellyfish. My booty stung for a bit, but I survived. After lunch a few of my girlfriends from camp and I went for a ride on a speedboat around the island. We went tubing in the ocean and enjoyed an outstanding tour of the island and the mainland.

A simply spectacular week-end!

Edson's

Friday October 22, 2010

We made our way to town today on our extended lunch break. Our first stop was the internet shop. Ohhhhh it was so good to see there was life out there, tell everyone hello and that I’m doing fine. Our next stop was the market.  What a fun experience! It's like a maze of dealers; wherever you turn there is another person offering goods--fish lined out on boards, chickens hanging upside down, clothes strung from lines, and bags of rice and food on display in booths. The market is not only huge but finding your way out is half the challenge.

At the market I purchased a large piece of cloth, called capilana, to have a dress made. My roommate did that last week and it looks spectacular. The cloth was 100 mets and she paid 250 mets to have it made. The conversion is 37 mets to a US dollar. To say the least, things here are very inexpensive so when I can, I  enjoy supporting them. I’ll tell you how my dress turns out next week.

In the late afternoons on Tuesdays and Fridays we teach different levels of older students in a playground area. I may refer to this group as Edson's (the title of the original text that was used). We have 4 different levels of students. I have the highest level, which I love. I love that they know enough English to communicate with me. My group is made up of about 15 boys from the ages of 18 to 30. We have good discussions and are currently working on reading comprehension. I will read them a children's story and then they have to answer questions about it. We go over unfamiliar vocabulary and then correct their sentence structure. I love working with this group also because they want to learn so badly. They know that it will improve their life, so they try so hard. There are only two females in Edsons, and they are not in my group. We encourage females to come and learn, but there doesn’t seem to be any demand for it. They are very much expected to stay home and be the caretakers of the family.

My students love that I’m from America. After class I let them ask me any questions that they want. They are so curious. Today they asked about JayZ and Emenim. They wanted to know what a gangster was. Then they asked me to teach them some slang terms. On the spot I couldn’t really think of any… I still can’t. Good thing I have the weekend. 

Beach day!

Thursday 10/21/2010

Today was another absolutely fantastic day, one of the best days I can even imagine! It was beach day for the kids, so after we served them Epap, we packed them all up and took them to the beach. The beach is only about a 5 minute walk from the preschool, but it seemed as though some of the kids rarely saw the sea. Swimming suits are clearly not common here. I’ve never seen so many cute little black bums running all over the beach. It was truly a priceless moment. I wish I had more pictures, but when I was in the moment I just had to take the time to enjoy it and dive on into the water with them. They were so much fun to take in the water, to splash back and forth with, and to toss like cannon balls. We saw lots of large crabs and the kids just snatched them up and played with them like toys; some even brought them home… and might even have had them for dinner.  Who knows!

So far all the children have been really well-behaved. Whenever we ask the children to do something, they follow our directions without protest.  I was amazed that we never even had to worry about them going beyond where they were capable in the water. They stayed close to an adult all the time. When it was time to go, they got out of the water and got dressed again (no whining). In my past, arguing and whining are normal kid misbehaviors. If I figure out why or how they avoid the basic limit pushing actions, I will be sure to write a book about it and make a fortune.

The weather was beautiful, but the heat was intense today. After applying my third layer of sunscreen (MOM), we continued our day outside. We planted an orchard of lemon, lime and mango trees. Then we continued building a hut for an older woman. I’m not going to lie, this afternoon was hard work, but so rewarding in the end.

I haven’t made my mind up about the food here yet. It is definitely tolerable, better than expected, and not always bad. Some of the volunteers actually really like it.  I’m not ready to admit that yet, but it does fill the hole. Most of what we eat is very repetitive. Whatever was made for dinner is bound to be eaten for the next few meals until it is all gone. That is very understandable; nothing is wasted in a place like this. But it does remind me, once again, how much we have and unfortunately how much we waste. 

If nothing else, be thankful every day for your health, your home, and your education. No matter how bad you think you have it, there is far worse here. If you are poor, you are in a country that can afford to give you support. If you’re hungry, you probably have a stove and can cook a meal. If it rains, you have a roof over your head. You have the opportunity for public education. And if you are reading this, you have access to a computer and internet, which is far more than can be said for most people here. So next time you wish you had more, just be grateful that you have the resources to know what more is.

New friends

Wednesday 10/20/2010

I started my day once again at the preschool. It was my day to water the garden. Mind you, I had to pump the water from a well. It was a fantastic workout and when I began to tire, all the children helped out. It felt a bit like child labor, but they enjoyed it.

This afternoon was charity hand-out day for all the donations that African Impact has been given. It was like “What Not to Wear” (show), watching the kids get new clothes that fit. We also put together vitamin packets, and bags of beans and rice for their families. The kids appreciate it so, but the parents are quite subdued. Some parents didn’t even bother to show up to receive their family donations, which is quite sad. The women amazed me though; as they left, they would put their 25-kilo (which is equal to 55 lbs) of rice, maybe two depending on the family size, on their heads, and walk the trek home whereever it may be.

The crew here is unbelievable. I couldn’t have asked for a better group. I am the only American with a Portuguese married couple, an Australian, two Norwegians, a Dutch, a Canadian, and a Brit along with our two British leaders. Everyone has a great sense of humor, is easy going and hard working. We all really enjoy learning about the others' cultures and get good laughs and good ideas from one another. We compare everything from the food we eat, things we have, hobbies we do to things we say (which we rapidly pick up). The best example of the day is Americans say “period (.)” Everyone else says “full stop” at the end of a sentence.

Our accommodations are better than I could ever have expected. Our living area is very clean and tidy (thank god). We have running water in our hut (hot and cold), and the opportunity to shower daily if we want. For those that know me well, I don’t really need to or choose to shower daily anywhere, and I had been practicing up for days before I left. ;) But it is nice to know that it is there.

So far the only thing I can say that I don’t like about Africa is that I hate sand in my shoes--I always have. The sand is never going away, so I think it’s time I get used to it! Then chalk up way more goods than bads at the end of the day.

New experiences

Tuesday 10/19/2010

I arrived safely at my final destination. Wow, words cannot describe where I am, but I will do my best. Tuesday 10/19, was my first full day here in Vicanculos, Mozambique. The days start with the sun rising at 4:45 a.m. We try to push off getting up a bit, but there isn’t much point so it’s early to rise… hopefully early to bed.

We start every day with preschool in the mornings. As we drive down the road the children are scattered about on their way to school.  They have great fun  chasing the truck we are in, trying to beat us, like in a race. We park when we can no longer drive on the  deep sandy paths. It takes only seconds to be mobbed by children.  They take no time to warm up to us; they are just so excited to have someone to play with. I am amazed with their clothing, though rugged and mismatched, there are lots of name brands and some are even fashionable. I’m guessing these were donated from other countries, maybe.

The first thing I wanted to do to them was clean up their little faces and wipe their noses. I had to get over that quickly because it isn’t going to happen. It’s the way they live, and an endless battle that would not be productive. I can honestly say that these kids are the happiest kids I have ever seen, and in some ways they have more than so many other wealthy cultures. They are all satisfied with what they have and appreciate everything that you give them. There is absolutely no status difference between any of them. These kids are tough; they do things that we would cringe at if we saw our little ones do. If they fall, they get right back up and do the same thing again.

We start first thing by serving them a vitamin porridge (called EPap), which looks like slop to me, but they seem to like it. There is a mango tree in the play yard. The kids eat unripe mangos like they are candy. They will shake the tree, throw things to make the mangos fall or beg you to lift them up high enough to get one. They bite off a chunk or two and then lick them to the end like a lolly pop ("how many licks does it take";)). We play for a bit before school starts. I found very quickly they love to play with hair. The girls must learn to braid each other's hair at a very young age. All of a sudden I had 5 little girls pulling strands in all different directions, thinking it was no big deal until it really hurt. I yelped “Ouch, ouch!” Since they only speak Portuguese, they just mocked me and laughed (not having a clue what I meant). I still had to laugh until I went to put my hair back in a ponytail and I had nappy weaves in so tight that they weren’t coming out anytime soon!!!

Overall I had a great first  morning with the kids singing songs and working on the number 12, writing it, counting out 12 beads, and drawing 12 circles. Then we served them a small bowl of rice for lunch before we go for the day. When they are done, they are free to toddle off to whereever they may go….

Then we got lunch! A 3 hour lunch break… by the beach! Our little hut is right on the beach and everyone has free time to do as they like. You all know how much I hate to lie at the beach, but I will cope somehow. ;) The teal blue, 80 degree water, and soft white sand help a bit. I think life is going to be OK here.

Enjoy the simple things in life

Life is still a mystery, but I realize beautiful things about life everyday and new things about myself at the same time.
As I am playing nanny for my (12 week old) niece for a short period of time, I look at her and can't imagine missing out on these special moments. Only knowing her for a  month I have seen her develop so much, holding her head up, engaging in eye contact, trying to communicate with coos and screams of excitement, vibrant smiles, and her interest in music. She is a miracle of life and who she becomes will be due to the miracle of love, and that, she is spoiled rotten with!
Many days I have no idea what to do with free time, since in my past life I never left time for that.... Then I remember that's partially what i was looking for. My newest hobby is cooking and baking. I always enjoyed it moderately but never really stepped outside of the box. Now I find myself searching the Internet and magazines for highly rated recipes. When I'm finished I always get the two best rewards, the accomplishment of successfully trying something new, and sharing it with others. Once and a while... there is a bonus of lots of laughs about how I totally screwed something up. Last but not least, don't let me down play my love for the dishwasher that I have never had.
I'm still living and loving learning. Over the next couple of months my life and experiences will change drastically and I can hardly wait to tell you all about them!

Settling down

After getting to enjoy all the things I was looking for in Colorado, family, friends and adventurous outdoor activities, the idea of this being some sort of vacation is starting to wear off and the reality of "my adventure" is setting in. For two weeks now, this soul searching adventure that I have started has not felt real. I still had an image of my house the way it was when I lived there, a job to return to and good friends awaiting my return for a long walk on the beach or a happy hour drink at the cliffs.
I know I made the right choice to break away from a place that I could no longer grow and develop or fulfill my curiosity of this world that has so much to offer, but the feelings of comfort and familiarity pull on my heart strings everyday. Although I will always say Colorado is my home, it is full of my childhood memories, it is where so many of my life long friends and family are, and nothing can replace the crisp mountain air and the beautiful seasons, but the coast is where I blossomed and created the person I wanted to be. I am still learning everyday who I am and what I want out of life, and I am so excited to continue as I travel. But the one thing I know is true, is that home is where ever you are at complete peace at the end of the day. It is not a specific location, it is not a job and it is not chasing a daydream, nor is it just the people your surrounded by. It is all four sides of your puzzle piece fitting together with the world around you. And that.... I know, does not happen easily.

The first of many...

I have made it to my home town of Craig CO safely.  The plan was to meet my dad in Vegas and travel the long trip home together. After long delays in his flight schedule, I continued my adventure alone. Although I adore him and would have enjoyed his company, it was a great opportunity for me to feel free. I contemplated many aspects of my life, rocked out to my favorite tunes and absorbed as much of the amazing scenery as I could through CA,  the desert in NV, amazing red rocks of AZ, canyons, mountains and trees in UT and finally Colorful Colorado! I settled into an absolute dive hotel "The Ecolodge" halfway, and let go of my germaphobia (it has to start somewhere).
If you haven't already, everyone must add "roadtrip" to your list of todo's. Keep an open mind and appreciate all the differences life has to offer, they are simply spectacular.