Thursday, September 6, 2012
Buh Bye Swaziland
Hey Everyone!
Yes, I am still alive. No posts since March... wow. Shame on me.
This extension year has been... many things: hard, rewarding, impossible, fantastic, educational, soul crushing, exhausting, and many more contradictory feelings. I finished at Baylor last Friday and my roommates left today. I get to go see my host family, BoDlamini, tomorrow and stay in my community over the weekend. I'm really looking forward to going down there.
Then next week I wrap up everything at the Peace Corps office and get on a plane for Thailand on Saturday September 15th!! I will try my best to keep the updates more frequent and more interesting during the travels.
To make up for the lost updates over the past months, I will copy and paste the final third of my DOS. A DOS is your "Description of Service", which will be the only piece of paper the PC keeps on me. I had to write a description, in third person, of every work related thing I accomplished in the past 3 years and 3 months. This paper doesn't capture the relationships, learning experiences, and hardships. It misses the growth and the breaking down. It can't begin to show the smiles of my Teen Club kiddos as they sing the "World's Greatest" or the ridiculous sexist, racist, and ageist bull-s%*t received from superiors. It will tell you my job, but not my experience. You'll have to wait until December 21st, when I land in TC, for all of that. :-)
Third Year Extension Placement
Ms. Crocker chose to extend her service for an additional 13 months in the Kingdom of Swaziland. During this period, she worked at the Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative clinic in the capitol city of Mbabane as the Adolescent Psychosocial Support (PSS) Officer.
Teen Club Coordinator:
Ms. Crocker’s main role in the psychosocial support department of the clinic was to run the entire Teen Club Program. As stated previously, this is a support group for adolescents living with HIV. She coordinated all four support group sites: Hlathikhulu, Manzini, Mbabane, and Siphofaneni – one in each region of the country. The program runs on a yearly budget of $141,480 and provides support and lifeskills/health teachings to over 800 active youth.
Curriculum Development:
Every month a new health or lifeskill topic is taught to the Teen Club youth. Ms. Crocker created original, age and culturally appropriate lesson plans for basic savings and banking, child abuse prevention and reporting, safe romantic relationships, respect for people and the environment, medication adherence, gender equity and equality, coping with stress, as well as exercise and nutrition.
Reporting:
Ms. Crocker was charged with the duty to write professional program reports quarterly for monitoring and evaluation within Baylor and for donor partner organizations.
Partner Organization Meeting:
To better coordinate the PSS services for the adolescent population in Swaziland, to share resources and ideas, and to best plan the location of possible Teen Club expansion, Ms. Crocker coordinated and led a meeting with eight prominent organizations actively implementing programs with this age group. She then combined the information and contacts collected at this gathering and distributed it amongst all of the stakeholders.
Evaluation and Internal Program Research Review:
The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) financially supported an internal study of the Teen Club program to identify programming successes and gaps. Ms. Crocker worked with the Baylor Monitoring and Evaluation Officer and the research consultant to orchestrate the hiring of data collectors, see to their training of the interview form, organize the interview logistics, account for the correct representative sample size, and help review and edit the analysis report.
International AIDS Conference:
Six Teen Club youth and a Swazi Teen Club Coordinator attended the International AIDS Conference in Washington, DC, July 19th – 30th, 2012. Ms. Crocker initiated this program and oversaw every aspect of the planning process. This included, the teen selection process, fundraising $12,436, teen preparation workshops, editing and submitting scholarship applications, passport and US visa processing, a successful proposal for a Teen Club booth at the conference, creation and preparation of booth display materials, logistical planning of all transport, accommodation, travel healthcare, and per diem distribution for all participants, and managed all financial payments while working within the fundraised budget. This was the first time any BIPAI patient or youth represented the clinic or the Kingdom of Swaziland at this kind of event. It is being considered a successful pilot project in which Ms. Crocker’s report will provide the groundwork for similar initiatives at future International AIDS Conferences world-wide.
End of the Year Event:
The final Teen Club session of 2011 brought nearly 500 youth from all regions of Swaziland and 150 adult volunteers together for a large health education, Christmas celebration, and Teen Club member graduation event. Ms. Crocker planned, organized, and managed the implementation of this undertaking.
Teen Leadership Training:
Ms. Crocker planned and implemented a three-day workshop to train 27 youth to become teen leaders and peer educators at their Teen Club sites and in their communities. Topics covered were: problem solving, active listening, leadership styles, public speaking, expectations of Teen Leaders, and a plethora of health topics.
Camper Recruitment and Preparations:
For both the April and August 2012 camps, Ms. Crocker was solely responsible to orchestrate camper recruitment, plan caregiver information sessions, and ensure that all campers’ parental consent and medical forms were completed. A combined total of 172 youth attended these two camps from Baylor.
Managing International Volunteers:
Four different groups of three to five, young volunteers from the United Kingdom spent three months working at Baylor Clinic. Each group was Ms. Crocker’s responsibility to manage and supervise. She delegated tasks, organized work-loads, oversaw productivity, and provided learning opportunities for these young adults. Under her management, these volunteers worked on Teen Club tasks as well as accomplishing multiple secondary activities and projects. These included the development of a clinic library used to encourage good medication adherence in the youth. Another multi-group project completed personal story pamphlets, written by Teen Club youth, and anti-stigma lesson plans to accompany this tool for local schools. They were reviewed by the Ministry of Education. Daily Sunshine Club sessions, group activities for very young kids waiting to be seen by medical staff to dispel negative associations with healthcare seeking behaviors, were implemented, and this program was decentralized and expanded to Baylor’s two satellite clinics. Weekly, these volunteers would also be scheduled to help in the pharmacy, data room, and tidy the Teen Club supplies.
Grant Proposals:
During Ms. Crocker’s leadership of the Teen Club program, she worked on multiple successful grant proposals to sustain the adolescent PSS activities. Claypotts Trust, a local faith-based organization granted $20,625 (E165,000). ICAP, Columbia University’s international public health organization, awarded $24,025 (E192,200) for Teen Leadership Trainings and to hire a local, full-time Teen Club Coordinator to replace Ms. Crocker. UNICEF bestowed $19,194 (E153,550). President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) gave the flight, registration, and visa for the Swazi chaperone to attend the International AIDS Conference, at an estimated value of $3,385. Friends of Swaziland (FOS) returned Peace Corps Volunteer group approved a proposal for $511 to cover the remaining costs of the conference chaperone. Lastly, Ms. Crocker worked with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to secure a grant for $12,287 (E98,378) for the End of the Year Teen Club Event, which took place December 2011.
Professional Presentations:
During her time at Baylor, Ms. Crocker was requested to give a presentation on adolescent psychosocial support for youth living with HIV and another promoting volunteerism and community development to multiple groups of students at Waterford Kamhlaba – United World College of Southern Africa. She presented ways in which the Baylor clinic staff could utilize a newly developed, national HIV Prevention Toolkit on which she had been trained. Finally, Ms. Crocker was requested to present to Baylor’s organizational partners and stakeholders to describe and promote the program and alignment of similar initiatives.
Teen Club Prospectus:
Ms. Crocker wrote and formatted an updated program prospectus for Teen Club and other adolescent psychosocial support activities offered at the clinic.
Organization of Network Drive:
Six years worth of electronic Teen Club resources, documents, photographs, lesson plans, and tools were present on the clinic’s network drive. Ms. Crocker organized these items for easy access and use.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
4 Day Conference
Tuesday March 13, 2012
7:00pm
Piggs Peak Hotel (Formally known as the Orion Hotel)
It might be hard to believe, but I’m typing this entry from the bar of one of the nicest hotels in Swaziland. I was able to come to this beautiful place as a participant in a Behavior Change Toolkit Training. This packet of implementation modules will hopefully help all of the NGOs (non-government organizations), faith based groups, and government branches educate effectively on topics of leading HIV prevention methods relevant to Swaziland. If you are interested, the drivers of the epidemic in this country have been identified as: early sexual debut (consensual or coercive), lack of condom use, lower numbers of males circumcised, and multiple concurrent partners (aka. multiple sexual partners during the same period of time). Only a few of these topics are specifically relevant to my kiddos who are already living HIV+, but the methodology and behavior change concepts have been pretty useful. Plus, they have a pool. :-)
This break from the office has really been needed. The last few weeks have really tested my resolve to stay in this position. Many days that add on overtime hours, a ridiculous amount of work, and a illogical hierarchical totem pole where I, as a young woman who is not getting paid, is on the very bottom rung. I thought living and working in a rural community with no running water and a non-existent timetable was difficult, but this is a whole different world of struggles. Please don’t get me wrong. I LOVE my kiddos. I LOVE what I get to do with/for them. I wouldn’t give this learning opportunity up for anything. But my stress levels have been showing a bit more, recently. A few more days in this bar and in the pool outside, and I should be set straight again.
I would fill you in on all the different aspects of my work life right now, but I don’t want to think anymore about that topic at the moment. Go to www.swazilandteenclub .com to see the most recent lesson plans that have been GREAT at Teen Club. Soooooo…. yeah, that is about it for the time being. Hope everyone is doing wonderfully!
7:00pm
Piggs Peak Hotel (Formally known as the Orion Hotel)
It might be hard to believe, but I’m typing this entry from the bar of one of the nicest hotels in Swaziland. I was able to come to this beautiful place as a participant in a Behavior Change Toolkit Training. This packet of implementation modules will hopefully help all of the NGOs (non-government organizations), faith based groups, and government branches educate effectively on topics of leading HIV prevention methods relevant to Swaziland. If you are interested, the drivers of the epidemic in this country have been identified as: early sexual debut (consensual or coercive), lack of condom use, lower numbers of males circumcised, and multiple concurrent partners (aka. multiple sexual partners during the same period of time). Only a few of these topics are specifically relevant to my kiddos who are already living HIV+, but the methodology and behavior change concepts have been pretty useful. Plus, they have a pool. :-)
This break from the office has really been needed. The last few weeks have really tested my resolve to stay in this position. Many days that add on overtime hours, a ridiculous amount of work, and a illogical hierarchical totem pole where I, as a young woman who is not getting paid, is on the very bottom rung. I thought living and working in a rural community with no running water and a non-existent timetable was difficult, but this is a whole different world of struggles. Please don’t get me wrong. I LOVE my kiddos. I LOVE what I get to do with/for them. I wouldn’t give this learning opportunity up for anything. But my stress levels have been showing a bit more, recently. A few more days in this bar and in the pool outside, and I should be set straight again.
I would fill you in on all the different aspects of my work life right now, but I don’t want to think anymore about that topic at the moment. Go to www.swazilandteenclub .com to see the most recent lesson plans that have been GREAT at Teen Club. Soooooo…. yeah, that is about it for the time being. Hope everyone is doing wonderfully!
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
2 Months Late - Holiday Stories
Wow. Every part of my Type A personality is screaming right now. I wrote the following blog at my house within the first couple weeks of January. I wanted to get some pictures from Cameron to go with it. Next thing I know, it is the end of FEBRUARY!! What happened!? I'm staying busy, that's for sure. :-) Hope you enjoy.
Vic Falls Vacation
I really want the beautiful pictures, which Cameron took, to show how much fun we had on our pre-Christmas vacation to Victoria Falls. The falls are between Zambia and Zimbabwe on the great Zambezi River. I had the pleasure of visiting these breathtaking waterfalls with my mother in March 2011, but just like the differing water levels over the falls this trip was also quite different and just as perfect… perfectly adrenaline saturated that is.
Within a few hours of arriving we both jumped off the Unity Bridge which connects the two countries. The following day we made our way down the rapids of the Zambezi River on individual inflatable kayaks. I can say that I probably swam more rapids than successfully kayaked, but it was a great day nonetheless. Our guide called it the triathlon: you hiked down and then back out of the steep gorge, you kayaked some rapids, and you ended up swimming even more of them!
On our last full day in Zambia we decided to go out to Livingstone Island situated right at the top of the falls. At the backpackers we were given two options for this adventure. We could boat out there or walk for a little less. As PCVs, we are certainly not adverse to walking or saving money, so we opted for the walk. Little did we know “walking” to the island means gingerly stepping from slippery rock to slippery rock, with strong currents up to your knees, holding on to nothing but the local guide and an equally terrified Cameron. Earlier in the year the water levels are so much lower that the way is dry and much less dangerous. What takes 30minutes to traverse then took us 1 ½ hours to safely cross. They were going to close down this activity all together within two weeks due to the rising waters. We got some great pictures at the precipice of the falls, but we chose the boat ride on the way back.
While on the island, though, you can swim up and across a current to jump into Devil’s Pool. This is a small catchment of water, held in by a small rock ledge, before tumbling over the edge. Cameron and I both sat on that ledge knowing that if we moved back more than a foot we’d be heading over as well.
With all of that unexpected excitement we decided to relax that afternoon and go out for drinks and then dinner at the Royal Livingstone Hotel, on the river, that night. We bopped over to Zimbabwe for our final morning to see the falls from that side of the bridge. It was certainly a spectacular view from both sides. From that point, though, we could see the places we were walking and swimming just the day before from a completely different vantage point. Great pictures were taken.
We hurried back across the border and bridge to grab our bags and make our flight back to Jo’Burg, South Africa. I guess I carried an unwanted souvenir back with me: a stomach bug. Our night at the Jo’Burg backpackers and 4 hour shuttle ride to Swaziland the following day was not so much fun. Luckily it didn’t last for more than a couple days.
Conference Money Update & Thank Yous!
This past week we received an update on how our fund raising efforts are going for sending our Teen Club members to the International AIDS Conference. Thanks to everyone who has already contributed to this amazing effort we are currently able to send two teens to the US! We are still working to get our numbers within our goal range of 3-6 awesome representatives, but this is such an overwhelmingly positive response. For those of you who donated for me or are planning on donating: thank you so very very very much!!! I couldn’t feel more supported and loved.
We also narrowed our selection of these stellar teens from 70 to 11, based on their age (must be 16years old or older to attend this conference), their attendance and participation in teen club, adherence to their medication and clinical staff recommendations. These 11 came into the clinic this past Wednesday for our first meeting and workshop. We discussed timelines, final selection process, conference requirements, conference programs, and then had a mini-workshop on scholarship/application writing and public speaking. These truly amazing teens will come back in this Thursday to hand in their scholarship applications and give a small presentation based on a question we gave them at the end of our previous meeting. Choosing the final six to register and submit, I already know, will be very difficult.
Christmas/New Year’s Eve
I hope everyone enjoyed this holiday season as much as I did. Even carrying back the stomach bug souvenir from the Zambezi River, I had a terrific Christmas day with my PCV family. We ate good food, went to the Christmas vigil service (complete with Swazi-fied manger scene ), ate more good food, opened gifts from each other and Santa, listened to Christmas music the entire time, and watched one of my favorite Christmas movies: Love Actually.
Come to think of it, my New Year’s Eve was very similar. Same friends, same location, and the same caliber of amazing food and drinks! The only differences were that I was sans a stomach bug, we lit off fire crackers (per Swazi tradition) at midnight, and danced in our living room… ‘til 3am. It was a perfect way to welcome in 2012.
Visiting Site
The first weekend of January I took a trip to visit my host family, the Broodryks, and friends in Ekuphumleni. It is hard to believe that 5 months have come and gone since I have last slept in my thatched roof hut and dined on Make’s excellent emahewu (soured maize meal drink). To be honest, I was a bit anxious to get on my deathtraps, I mean public transport buses, and make the journey across the country. Luckily, the bus broke down only a little and I was to the Dlamini homestead by 12:30 on the Saturday afternoon. I’m also very grateful that the rare set of clouds had decided to follow me down from the mountains, cooling the blistering hot summer days I have not missed in the lowveld. It was probably only in the 80s. :-)
My family is doing great! I got to give everyone massive hugs, which they still laugh hysterically at, and twirl every child. Babe was home and even one of my sisis and her baby, who live off the homestead now. We played cards, talked, watched Cameron’s and my bungee videos (they were shocked), and made/ate every maize dish that I had not had since living there. They even kicked my bhuti, Lindo, out of “Zodwa’s house”, so I was able to sleep in my thatched hut yet again. The spiders and lizards missed me. :-P Lindo have even written “Welcome Back” in the house. It was good to be home.
Sunday I was able to walk up to A1 and visit my counterpart, Vusi, the Group 9 volunteer that was stationed in my community after I left, and the Broodryk family. This was also a wonderful afternoon spent relaxing, catching up, and even watching Extreme Home Makeover on TLC! Ha! I left to come back up to Mbabane on Monday with Johanne, who quite conveniently had to do some errands in the capital! No bumpy rattle boxes on wheels for me on the way back! Yay!
Data Collection/Grant Writing
The first Teen Club of 2012 was certainly a busy one! We are currently applying for grants to keep Teen Club going, and to do that we need to show that Teen Club works. To prove that these support groups are as awesome as I know they are, we are performing an evaluation of the program that includes 184 youth interviews, 4 volunteer interviews, 8 participant focus group sessions, and an interview with the coordinator: me.
Vic Falls Vacation
I really want the beautiful pictures, which Cameron took, to show how much fun we had on our pre-Christmas vacation to Victoria Falls. The falls are between Zambia and Zimbabwe on the great Zambezi River. I had the pleasure of visiting these breathtaking waterfalls with my mother in March 2011, but just like the differing water levels over the falls this trip was also quite different and just as perfect… perfectly adrenaline saturated that is.
Within a few hours of arriving we both jumped off the Unity Bridge which connects the two countries. The following day we made our way down the rapids of the Zambezi River on individual inflatable kayaks. I can say that I probably swam more rapids than successfully kayaked, but it was a great day nonetheless. Our guide called it the triathlon: you hiked down and then back out of the steep gorge, you kayaked some rapids, and you ended up swimming even more of them!
On our last full day in Zambia we decided to go out to Livingstone Island situated right at the top of the falls. At the backpackers we were given two options for this adventure. We could boat out there or walk for a little less. As PCVs, we are certainly not adverse to walking or saving money, so we opted for the walk. Little did we know “walking” to the island means gingerly stepping from slippery rock to slippery rock, with strong currents up to your knees, holding on to nothing but the local guide and an equally terrified Cameron. Earlier in the year the water levels are so much lower that the way is dry and much less dangerous. What takes 30minutes to traverse then took us 1 ½ hours to safely cross. They were going to close down this activity all together within two weeks due to the rising waters. We got some great pictures at the precipice of the falls, but we chose the boat ride on the way back.
While on the island, though, you can swim up and across a current to jump into Devil’s Pool. This is a small catchment of water, held in by a small rock ledge, before tumbling over the edge. Cameron and I both sat on that ledge knowing that if we moved back more than a foot we’d be heading over as well.
With all of that unexpected excitement we decided to relax that afternoon and go out for drinks and then dinner at the Royal Livingstone Hotel, on the river, that night. We bopped over to Zimbabwe for our final morning to see the falls from that side of the bridge. It was certainly a spectacular view from both sides. From that point, though, we could see the places we were walking and swimming just the day before from a completely different vantage point. Great pictures were taken.
We hurried back across the border and bridge to grab our bags and make our flight back to Jo’Burg, South Africa. I guess I carried an unwanted souvenir back with me: a stomach bug. Our night at the Jo’Burg backpackers and 4 hour shuttle ride to Swaziland the following day was not so much fun. Luckily it didn’t last for more than a couple days.
Conference Money Update & Thank Yous!
This past week we received an update on how our fund raising efforts are going for sending our Teen Club members to the International AIDS Conference. Thanks to everyone who has already contributed to this amazing effort we are currently able to send two teens to the US! We are still working to get our numbers within our goal range of 3-6 awesome representatives, but this is such an overwhelmingly positive response. For those of you who donated for me or are planning on donating: thank you so very very very much!!! I couldn’t feel more supported and loved.
We also narrowed our selection of these stellar teens from 70 to 11, based on their age (must be 16years old or older to attend this conference), their attendance and participation in teen club, adherence to their medication and clinical staff recommendations. These 11 came into the clinic this past Wednesday for our first meeting and workshop. We discussed timelines, final selection process, conference requirements, conference programs, and then had a mini-workshop on scholarship/application writing and public speaking. These truly amazing teens will come back in this Thursday to hand in their scholarship applications and give a small presentation based on a question we gave them at the end of our previous meeting. Choosing the final six to register and submit, I already know, will be very difficult.
Christmas/New Year’s Eve
I hope everyone enjoyed this holiday season as much as I did. Even carrying back the stomach bug souvenir from the Zambezi River, I had a terrific Christmas day with my PCV family. We ate good food, went to the Christmas vigil service (complete with Swazi-fied manger scene ), ate more good food, opened gifts from each other and Santa, listened to Christmas music the entire time, and watched one of my favorite Christmas movies: Love Actually.
Come to think of it, my New Year’s Eve was very similar. Same friends, same location, and the same caliber of amazing food and drinks! The only differences were that I was sans a stomach bug, we lit off fire crackers (per Swazi tradition) at midnight, and danced in our living room… ‘til 3am. It was a perfect way to welcome in 2012.
Visiting Site
The first weekend of January I took a trip to visit my host family, the Broodryks, and friends in Ekuphumleni. It is hard to believe that 5 months have come and gone since I have last slept in my thatched roof hut and dined on Make’s excellent emahewu (soured maize meal drink). To be honest, I was a bit anxious to get on my deathtraps, I mean public transport buses, and make the journey across the country. Luckily, the bus broke down only a little and I was to the Dlamini homestead by 12:30 on the Saturday afternoon. I’m also very grateful that the rare set of clouds had decided to follow me down from the mountains, cooling the blistering hot summer days I have not missed in the lowveld. It was probably only in the 80s. :-)
My family is doing great! I got to give everyone massive hugs, which they still laugh hysterically at, and twirl every child. Babe was home and even one of my sisis and her baby, who live off the homestead now. We played cards, talked, watched Cameron’s and my bungee videos (they were shocked), and made/ate every maize dish that I had not had since living there. They even kicked my bhuti, Lindo, out of “Zodwa’s house”, so I was able to sleep in my thatched hut yet again. The spiders and lizards missed me. :-P Lindo have even written “Welcome Back” in the house. It was good to be home.
Sunday I was able to walk up to A1 and visit my counterpart, Vusi, the Group 9 volunteer that was stationed in my community after I left, and the Broodryk family. This was also a wonderful afternoon spent relaxing, catching up, and even watching Extreme Home Makeover on TLC! Ha! I left to come back up to Mbabane on Monday with Johanne, who quite conveniently had to do some errands in the capital! No bumpy rattle boxes on wheels for me on the way back! Yay!
Data Collection/Grant Writing
The first Teen Club of 2012 was certainly a busy one! We are currently applying for grants to keep Teen Club going, and to do that we need to show that Teen Club works. To prove that these support groups are as awesome as I know they are, we are performing an evaluation of the program that includes 184 youth interviews, 4 volunteer interviews, 8 participant focus group sessions, and an interview with the coordinator: me.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Most Important Post Ever -- MUST READ
This blog post is probably the most dear to me, and I will not have written much of it. Instead of writing my own blog account of this amazing opportunity for the youth I serve and how you can help, I have copied Cameron's very moving and personal description and posted it below. Remember as you read it that my feelings about this program are the same, my desires and hopes are the same, and that all of the volunteers listed below are working together (completely outside of normal working hours) to make this happen. Thank you for all of your help, love, and support! Merry Christmas. - Darryn / Auntie Zodwa
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Many of you have heard me rant about Teen Club. If you haven’t, then I have failed you: either as a friend or as a frenemy. Teen Club is a support group for HIV positive kids and teens; a support group that I have had the luck to be able to work with for the last two years here in Swaziland.
In my two and a half years in Peace Corps service, I have had nadirs and peaks in dealing with this world; I have had traumas and blessings. Working with Teen Club has been the richest and most satisfying work that I have ever done... that I probably will ever do... and it is with that in mind that I write to you today.
Nothing has changed either me or the content of my character as Teen Club has. I am forever indebted to them, all 1000 or more of them, for the way in which they have affected my life. They took a ragged, broken part of me and made it whole. They showed me that it doesn’t matter than I am goofy or weird, or that I like science too much; they showed me that as long as I act like an idiot, that I can make someone smile. They made me remember that as we walk through our bland adult lives, that the colours and the tastes and the loves and the hopes of the days jejune that we had once still exist around us. They showed me more about myself and the world than I ever thought I would know. They made me see the brilliance of the human condition, the spirit that embodies hope, and the reasons I really have to live and love and learn and lose and long and every other thing that makes life great. They have done for me more than any other.
These kids have changed my life. Now it is my turn to change theirs.
On July 22nd, 2012 the 19th annual International AIDS Conference will take place in the District of Columbia, in the good old United Stated of America. For the last five months, I have had the pleasure of working with Darryn Crocker, Allie Bailey Hughey, Kimberly Johnson, and Rachel Piper to pave the way for some of our teens to take part in this conference.
These teens are the future of Swaziland. I owe it to them to help give them what I can; to help build a brighter future for them.
As of last week, Baylor Texas Children’s Hospital [the organization that Baylor Clinic gets its funding through] put up a comment tab on their donation site. It was then that we began raising money to bring some of our bright, smart, outspoken teens to Washington D.C. to contribute in an international dialogue on what the future of HIV treatment, care and support will and should look like. As of last week we started making our dream a reality.
I stayed for them. I stayed because I believe in them. I stayed because I will make sure that they get to tell their stories at the XIX International AIDS Conference.
I want you to do two things right now: Step one, look at the picture above. I owe the kids, at least enough to ask you for five bucks to help them get to this conference. Step two, tell two people about this. It isn’t crazy to dream of being able to bring our kids to America. Even if it was, I would think it otherwise. This is doable. With your help – with the help of your families and co-workers and nephews and former room-mates – I can show some of these kids the Washington monument on my birthday, July 22nd, 2012, and know that I can die happy.
How to donate:
1. Go to this page (or swazilandteenclub.wordpress.com, which will link you there)
2. Click on “donate now”
3. Enter your donation information.
4. Click on the drop-down bar and select SWAZILAND TEEN CLUB. In the comments section you MUST write “AIDS CONFERENCE”. If you do not write that, your donation will go to other Teen Club activities. That is still nice, but it won’t help us get our kids to D.C.
5. Feel absurdly satisfied with your life as a whole. You are amazing. People love you. Hell, I think you are the coolest person I know. Go outside. You feel that sun on your face? Bet it feels pretty good. That’s good-karma sun right there. Need some coffee? No worries, hit that Starbuck’s down the street. When you roll into that drive-thru and throw 8 bucks at a cashier for two kinds of chocolaty drink, you are going to feel like a boss.
If you are a visual learner... then here you go!
From here you make it look like this.
Then like this. Do it like the pretty pictures say to.
This is all I want for Christmas. This is all I want for Hanukkah. This is all I want for my birthday next year (he said, begrudgingly, knowing he wouldn’t have a job in 2012 when he returns to America) and for Valentine’s Day and for Labour Day and for Secretary’s Day (that one seems a bit dated to me... is it still called Secretary's Day?) Don’t send me more packages. Don’t send me sweets. Just take that money and put it into this fund.
Do this for me and I promise that when I welcome these kids at the causeway next summer, that you will feel better than you have ever felt in your entire life.
Thank you kindly and happy holidays,
Cameron Price
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Many of you have heard me rant about Teen Club. If you haven’t, then I have failed you: either as a friend or as a frenemy. Teen Club is a support group for HIV positive kids and teens; a support group that I have had the luck to be able to work with for the last two years here in Swaziland.
In my two and a half years in Peace Corps service, I have had nadirs and peaks in dealing with this world; I have had traumas and blessings. Working with Teen Club has been the richest and most satisfying work that I have ever done... that I probably will ever do... and it is with that in mind that I write to you today.
Nothing has changed either me or the content of my character as Teen Club has. I am forever indebted to them, all 1000 or more of them, for the way in which they have affected my life. They took a ragged, broken part of me and made it whole. They showed me that it doesn’t matter than I am goofy or weird, or that I like science too much; they showed me that as long as I act like an idiot, that I can make someone smile. They made me remember that as we walk through our bland adult lives, that the colours and the tastes and the loves and the hopes of the days jejune that we had once still exist around us. They showed me more about myself and the world than I ever thought I would know. They made me see the brilliance of the human condition, the spirit that embodies hope, and the reasons I really have to live and love and learn and lose and long and every other thing that makes life great. They have done for me more than any other.
These kids have changed my life. Now it is my turn to change theirs.
On July 22nd, 2012 the 19th annual International AIDS Conference will take place in the District of Columbia, in the good old United Stated of America. For the last five months, I have had the pleasure of working with Darryn Crocker, Allie Bailey Hughey, Kimberly Johnson, and Rachel Piper to pave the way for some of our teens to take part in this conference.
These teens are the future of Swaziland. I owe it to them to help give them what I can; to help build a brighter future for them.
As of last week, Baylor Texas Children’s Hospital [the organization that Baylor Clinic gets its funding through] put up a comment tab on their donation site. It was then that we began raising money to bring some of our bright, smart, outspoken teens to Washington D.C. to contribute in an international dialogue on what the future of HIV treatment, care and support will and should look like. As of last week we started making our dream a reality.
I stayed for them. I stayed because I believe in them. I stayed because I will make sure that they get to tell their stories at the XIX International AIDS Conference.
I want you to do two things right now: Step one, look at the picture above. I owe the kids, at least enough to ask you for five bucks to help them get to this conference. Step two, tell two people about this. It isn’t crazy to dream of being able to bring our kids to America. Even if it was, I would think it otherwise. This is doable. With your help – with the help of your families and co-workers and nephews and former room-mates – I can show some of these kids the Washington monument on my birthday, July 22nd, 2012, and know that I can die happy.
How to donate:
1. Go to this page (or swazilandteenclub.wordpress.com, which will link you there)
2. Click on “donate now”
3. Enter your donation information.
4. Click on the drop-down bar and select SWAZILAND TEEN CLUB. In the comments section you MUST write “AIDS CONFERENCE”. If you do not write that, your donation will go to other Teen Club activities. That is still nice, but it won’t help us get our kids to D.C.
5. Feel absurdly satisfied with your life as a whole. You are amazing. People love you. Hell, I think you are the coolest person I know. Go outside. You feel that sun on your face? Bet it feels pretty good. That’s good-karma sun right there. Need some coffee? No worries, hit that Starbuck’s down the street. When you roll into that drive-thru and throw 8 bucks at a cashier for two kinds of chocolaty drink, you are going to feel like a boss.
If you are a visual learner... then here you go!
From here you make it look like this.
Then like this. Do it like the pretty pictures say to.
This is all I want for Christmas. This is all I want for Hanukkah. This is all I want for my birthday next year (he said, begrudgingly, knowing he wouldn’t have a job in 2012 when he returns to America) and for Valentine’s Day and for Labour Day and for Secretary’s Day (that one seems a bit dated to me... is it still called Secretary's Day?) Don’t send me more packages. Don’t send me sweets. Just take that money and put it into this fund.
Do this for me and I promise that when I welcome these kids at the causeway next summer, that you will feel better than you have ever felt in your entire life.
Thank you kindly and happy holidays,
Cameron Price
Surviving Christmas
December 14th, 2011
8:36pm
I barely survived Christmas and it is only December 14th.
You had Black Friday with crazed mobs going for the last (insert whatever was popular this year – ibook thing - I don’t know. I’m in Africa). Well, I had almost 500 people descend upon one school yard and me looking for festive frolics and frivolity. Did you ever stop to think how that ibook felt? Something along the lines of, “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH”.
This last weekend we had the Teen Club Christmas/Party. It was epic, and most certainly the biggest event that I have ever put together. All of the teens from the 5 different sites (1 new site is being run by MSF/Doctors Without Borders) got together at the Nazarene High School in Manzini for an end of the year bash. Planning for this massive shin dig has been in the works for a couple of months already. I was feeling pretty cocky about my mad organizational skills about two weeks out from the big day. Food had been ordered. Buses were hired. Donations were secured. Right on schedule. Then I was called into the Executive Director’s office…
We had been given an opportunity of a lifetime: the entire Christmas party would be paid for and then some by UNFPA!! All I would have to do is change almost everything that had been finalized and start from scratch by writing an entirely new budget (9 days til X-mas). Then losing all control of the decisions and especially the speed at which those decisions were made (5 days ‘til X-mas). Then having to create more educational activities around specific health topics required by our funding source (3 days til X-mas). Receiving supplies to do all of the above mentioned items (15 hours ‘til X-mas). Losing my mind, if you are under the assumption I had one to begin with, (28 minutes to X-mas). Then we just smiled and jumped in! T - ZERO minutes to X-mas happened at 7am this past Saturday when we arrived at the site … kids started arriving shortly after.
I ran around like a mad woman wearing green and red. I could tell you all about the snafus and obstacles that cropped up every few minutes, like the power outlet not working for the inflatable bouncy castle (that showed up 3 hours late) or the two classrooms that didn’t seem to have corresponding keys on the ring. I could tell you about the Santa that couldn’t make it or the transport money that was in E200 notes instead of E5 coins, but that is just seeing the yucky admin side of the day. Instead, I’d like to show you what my kids saw.
They got to the Nazarene High School and found a large tent in the parking lot blasting Christmas tunes. Inside were registration tables and a morning snack. Games were being played in a grassy area behind the new makeshift parking lot. At 10am everyone was gathered to listen to Auntie Zodwa (me) and my awesome friend and translator, Wandile, for beginning announcements. The teens couldn’t go to the carnival array of activities yet. They first had to pick up their new drawstring backpacks and ruler/pencil sets that said, “I’m the World’s Greatest”. Which, of course, they are.
Then it was off to the games! They had to make very tough decisions…”Should I get my face painted first or take a picture with Santa?” or “Would it be best to make this awesome Christmas craft or go play medication adherence jump rope?”. Yes, the educational games were still fun AND gave out candy! We had old favorites like Delaying Sexual Debut Limbo, HIV Knowledge Memory Game, Med Adherence Jump Rope, and Finding Support Fall Circle. When the kids had a moment in between the fun learning games they got to put on a fashion show, dance, play soccer, get a glass of juice, make a Christmas card, pose with Santa, jump on a colorful castle of air, get a candy cane painted on a cheek (flags and soccer teams came out later), or relax and talk with friends from camp that have been attending a different Teen Club site. At 12pm-ish everyone finished up gluing the last bulb on the construction paper Christmas tree or remembering where the correct answer card was to that HIV question and filed into the lecture hall. The MSF/Doctors Without Borders expert client drama group performed a skit about preventing mother to child transmission (PMTCT in acronym speak). Then Auntie Zodwa gave out the graduation certificates to our >19 year olds, new policy announcements for 2012, and appreciation to the Teen Leaders, adult volunteers, and everyone that made 2011 Teen Club possible. The Teen Club anthem, “World’s Greatest”, being performed by ~400 kids and ~60 volunteers was the most moving experience of my extension year so far. Amazing.
Everyone got hot food, cold drink, and a cookie before grabbing a baggy with exactly double the amount of transport money needed for them to make the return trip to their homestead which could have been located in anyone of the four regions of Swaziland. Armed with a neon colored backpack declaring their awesomeness, fun memories, health information, and holiday joy, they got back on the bus or public transport vehicle that brought them to the site just 5 hours before.
Sadly, I am still not allowed to post pictures on this blog of our Teen Club shenanigans. Thus you MUST go to swazilandteenclub.wordpress.com to see all of the wonders I described above. Below is the best representation of how I was feeling during the day, and why I need the vacation Cam and I are planning to Victory Falls for next week!
Taken at around 9am Saturday morning.
8:36pm
I barely survived Christmas and it is only December 14th.
You had Black Friday with crazed mobs going for the last (insert whatever was popular this year – ibook thing - I don’t know. I’m in Africa). Well, I had almost 500 people descend upon one school yard and me looking for festive frolics and frivolity. Did you ever stop to think how that ibook felt? Something along the lines of, “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH”.
This last weekend we had the Teen Club Christmas/Party. It was epic, and most certainly the biggest event that I have ever put together. All of the teens from the 5 different sites (1 new site is being run by MSF/Doctors Without Borders) got together at the Nazarene High School in Manzini for an end of the year bash. Planning for this massive shin dig has been in the works for a couple of months already. I was feeling pretty cocky about my mad organizational skills about two weeks out from the big day. Food had been ordered. Buses were hired. Donations were secured. Right on schedule. Then I was called into the Executive Director’s office…
We had been given an opportunity of a lifetime: the entire Christmas party would be paid for and then some by UNFPA!! All I would have to do is change almost everything that had been finalized and start from scratch by writing an entirely new budget (9 days til X-mas). Then losing all control of the decisions and especially the speed at which those decisions were made (5 days ‘til X-mas). Then having to create more educational activities around specific health topics required by our funding source (3 days til X-mas). Receiving supplies to do all of the above mentioned items (15 hours ‘til X-mas). Losing my mind, if you are under the assumption I had one to begin with, (28 minutes to X-mas). Then we just smiled and jumped in! T - ZERO minutes to X-mas happened at 7am this past Saturday when we arrived at the site … kids started arriving shortly after.
I ran around like a mad woman wearing green and red. I could tell you all about the snafus and obstacles that cropped up every few minutes, like the power outlet not working for the inflatable bouncy castle (that showed up 3 hours late) or the two classrooms that didn’t seem to have corresponding keys on the ring. I could tell you about the Santa that couldn’t make it or the transport money that was in E200 notes instead of E5 coins, but that is just seeing the yucky admin side of the day. Instead, I’d like to show you what my kids saw.
They got to the Nazarene High School and found a large tent in the parking lot blasting Christmas tunes. Inside were registration tables and a morning snack. Games were being played in a grassy area behind the new makeshift parking lot. At 10am everyone was gathered to listen to Auntie Zodwa (me) and my awesome friend and translator, Wandile, for beginning announcements. The teens couldn’t go to the carnival array of activities yet. They first had to pick up their new drawstring backpacks and ruler/pencil sets that said, “I’m the World’s Greatest”. Which, of course, they are.
Then it was off to the games! They had to make very tough decisions…”Should I get my face painted first or take a picture with Santa?” or “Would it be best to make this awesome Christmas craft or go play medication adherence jump rope?”. Yes, the educational games were still fun AND gave out candy! We had old favorites like Delaying Sexual Debut Limbo, HIV Knowledge Memory Game, Med Adherence Jump Rope, and Finding Support Fall Circle. When the kids had a moment in between the fun learning games they got to put on a fashion show, dance, play soccer, get a glass of juice, make a Christmas card, pose with Santa, jump on a colorful castle of air, get a candy cane painted on a cheek (flags and soccer teams came out later), or relax and talk with friends from camp that have been attending a different Teen Club site. At 12pm-ish everyone finished up gluing the last bulb on the construction paper Christmas tree or remembering where the correct answer card was to that HIV question and filed into the lecture hall. The MSF/Doctors Without Borders expert client drama group performed a skit about preventing mother to child transmission (PMTCT in acronym speak). Then Auntie Zodwa gave out the graduation certificates to our >19 year olds, new policy announcements for 2012, and appreciation to the Teen Leaders, adult volunteers, and everyone that made 2011 Teen Club possible. The Teen Club anthem, “World’s Greatest”, being performed by ~400 kids and ~60 volunteers was the most moving experience of my extension year so far. Amazing.
Everyone got hot food, cold drink, and a cookie before grabbing a baggy with exactly double the amount of transport money needed for them to make the return trip to their homestead which could have been located in anyone of the four regions of Swaziland. Armed with a neon colored backpack declaring their awesomeness, fun memories, health information, and holiday joy, they got back on the bus or public transport vehicle that brought them to the site just 5 hours before.
Sadly, I am still not allowed to post pictures on this blog of our Teen Club shenanigans. Thus you MUST go to swazilandteenclub.wordpress.com to see all of the wonders I described above. Below is the best representation of how I was feeling during the day, and why I need the vacation Cam and I are planning to Victory Falls for next week!
Taken at around 9am Saturday morning.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Where Did October Go?
November 7, 2011
1:22pm
I feel that many of my blogs this coming year are going to start with the same apologies for not getting an entry posted sooner. This blog is no exception. I’m quite shocked to type the date in at the top of the page! Where has the time gone? Why have I been so darn busy? Doesn’t October come after September? Hopefully this blog entry will shed some light on those questions, for my benefit and yours.
I blame work. Although my position at Baylor probably should not have to carry the full brunt of culpability when auditing my time, it sure took up a large part of it! The last month I have been flying solo after my September orientation. The five Skillshare volunteers working in my “team” have really been flexible with my learning curve, and have actually attended their mid-term meeting last week. Four out of the five of them are only here for 3 months, so all of their training will have to be repeated come January! Managing others is a skill that I have certainly had the opportunity to develop, and I would like to think that they have learned new skills from this experience as well.
October’s Teen Club lesson plan included the life skill topic of “basic finances”. We discussed the concepts of wants vs needs, and how saving your money, instead of the immediate gratification of a sweet or a cold drink, can accumulate quite quickly. This is a concept that is not well adopted in this culture, and can really help these youth plant the seed that it is better to look and plan for the future. The younger youth (10-14) had the opportunity to perform dramas/skits about how to keep money safe (ie putting in a bank, not showing it off, keeping bags zipped on transport, hiding it someplace secret, etc). FNB (First National Bank), a large bank in Swaziland, sent representatives to discuss banking basics with our 15-19 year old teens. It was a wonderful collaboration, and really gave the youth a chance to learn something that they would probably never have had exposure to otherwise.
Sadly, I would love to post all of the amazing pictures that we take at our Teen Club sessions, but I cannot. Many of our teens have not disclosed their status to family or friends in their own community. Stigma is so bad in this country, that they feel they have to keep their status a secret for their own protection and wellbeing. Thus, it would be wrong of me to post their pictures on a public site for the entire world to see. We do have all of our youths’ guardians sign consent forms, and one of the questions on this sheet is consenting to photography to be used by Baylor. Some of our youth are at a place where they feel comfortable with this, and some of those photos can be viewed on the Teen Club webpage: swazilandteenclub.wordpress.com. Even if I am not in the photos, I am running around at each of those sessions organizing the volunteers, discussing the lesson plan with the Teen Leaders (who have been trained and empowered to lead some of the lesson material), juggling the food and transport money, keeping time, and a laundry list of other expected and unexpected tasks (during the last month some of these “surprises” have included: a child’s sprained wrist with first aid, power outage, stolen yogurt, neighbor’s complaint of a night guard jumping a fence to take avocados, and sudden lack of adult volunteers, among others). I really recommend you visit this site to see the Teen Club aspect of my work!
**
With the Christmas season coming up and many of us looking for a charitable organization to bestow a holiday gift to, I would like to put Teen Club and our other psychosocial support programs on your radar. There is a donation page on the Teen Club website, which can be accessed all year round. There will also be a unique opportunity for 3-6 of our older Teen Club youth to attend the International AIDS Conference in Washington DC next July! I and two other volunteers are working through all the logistical planning right now, and will be getting back to you regarding how to best support this amazing, once in a lifetime experience for these teens. For family and friends – please know that all Christmas gifts to me will be going to this program. Thank you in advance for your generosity!
The final weekend in October happened to hold a treasured 5th Saturday, which meant no Teen Club. Being Halloween weekend, this worked really well. My Mbabane “family”, which includes the PCVs that live in my apartment and the one just downstairs, went on a ~10k hike up a mountain called Sheba’s Breast. It was a beautiful overcast day, and the trail was perfectly challenging. We treated ourselves to a delicious meal in the Ezulwini valley and went straight home to take a much needed nap. Transforming our apartment into an obvious place of Halloween frivolity did not take much time with our printed out witches, bats, haunted houses, and signs. Transforming ourselves into amazing Star Wars characters took a bit more effort. With the help of Laura, Nancy, and a couple bottles of hairspray, I became Princess Leia. Laura was my honey bunny, Han Solo, and Brandon was my bro, Luke Skywalker. Quite fitting relationships if you ask me. Our guest list included Dexter and his victim, Frankenstein’s Monster, two zebras, Waldo, two khumbi conductors, Pinky from Pac Man, mysterious masked fairy, and MTN airtime sellers, among others. It was a really fun shindig. On the actual Halloween night, Cameron (my boyfriend and additional October time consumer :-P) and I watched “Hocus Pocus”! My favorite Halloween movie, and probably the scariest one I could handle. :-)
** Although living in the capital and it being a beautifully sunny day, our power went out. I am just finishing this blog at 8:42pm. Oh Africa.
Birthday picture, as promised. An amazing spread plus amazing friends!
All of the extending Group 7 volunteers were asked into the PC office for a meeting. This is how we chose to spend the time directly after.
Taking a break at about 2/3 the way up Sheba's Breast.
Han, Leia, and Dexter, plus their doppelgangers. :-P
Yay Star War Roomies!
1:22pm
I feel that many of my blogs this coming year are going to start with the same apologies for not getting an entry posted sooner. This blog is no exception. I’m quite shocked to type the date in at the top of the page! Where has the time gone? Why have I been so darn busy? Doesn’t October come after September? Hopefully this blog entry will shed some light on those questions, for my benefit and yours.
I blame work. Although my position at Baylor probably should not have to carry the full brunt of culpability when auditing my time, it sure took up a large part of it! The last month I have been flying solo after my September orientation. The five Skillshare volunteers working in my “team” have really been flexible with my learning curve, and have actually attended their mid-term meeting last week. Four out of the five of them are only here for 3 months, so all of their training will have to be repeated come January! Managing others is a skill that I have certainly had the opportunity to develop, and I would like to think that they have learned new skills from this experience as well.
October’s Teen Club lesson plan included the life skill topic of “basic finances”. We discussed the concepts of wants vs needs, and how saving your money, instead of the immediate gratification of a sweet or a cold drink, can accumulate quite quickly. This is a concept that is not well adopted in this culture, and can really help these youth plant the seed that it is better to look and plan for the future. The younger youth (10-14) had the opportunity to perform dramas/skits about how to keep money safe (ie putting in a bank, not showing it off, keeping bags zipped on transport, hiding it someplace secret, etc). FNB (First National Bank), a large bank in Swaziland, sent representatives to discuss banking basics with our 15-19 year old teens. It was a wonderful collaboration, and really gave the youth a chance to learn something that they would probably never have had exposure to otherwise.
Sadly, I would love to post all of the amazing pictures that we take at our Teen Club sessions, but I cannot. Many of our teens have not disclosed their status to family or friends in their own community. Stigma is so bad in this country, that they feel they have to keep their status a secret for their own protection and wellbeing. Thus, it would be wrong of me to post their pictures on a public site for the entire world to see. We do have all of our youths’ guardians sign consent forms, and one of the questions on this sheet is consenting to photography to be used by Baylor. Some of our youth are at a place where they feel comfortable with this, and some of those photos can be viewed on the Teen Club webpage: swazilandteenclub.wordpress.com. Even if I am not in the photos, I am running around at each of those sessions organizing the volunteers, discussing the lesson plan with the Teen Leaders (who have been trained and empowered to lead some of the lesson material), juggling the food and transport money, keeping time, and a laundry list of other expected and unexpected tasks (during the last month some of these “surprises” have included: a child’s sprained wrist with first aid, power outage, stolen yogurt, neighbor’s complaint of a night guard jumping a fence to take avocados, and sudden lack of adult volunteers, among others). I really recommend you visit this site to see the Teen Club aspect of my work!
**
With the Christmas season coming up and many of us looking for a charitable organization to bestow a holiday gift to, I would like to put Teen Club and our other psychosocial support programs on your radar. There is a donation page on the Teen Club website, which can be accessed all year round. There will also be a unique opportunity for 3-6 of our older Teen Club youth to attend the International AIDS Conference in Washington DC next July! I and two other volunteers are working through all the logistical planning right now, and will be getting back to you regarding how to best support this amazing, once in a lifetime experience for these teens. For family and friends – please know that all Christmas gifts to me will be going to this program. Thank you in advance for your generosity!
The final weekend in October happened to hold a treasured 5th Saturday, which meant no Teen Club. Being Halloween weekend, this worked really well. My Mbabane “family”, which includes the PCVs that live in my apartment and the one just downstairs, went on a ~10k hike up a mountain called Sheba’s Breast. It was a beautiful overcast day, and the trail was perfectly challenging. We treated ourselves to a delicious meal in the Ezulwini valley and went straight home to take a much needed nap. Transforming our apartment into an obvious place of Halloween frivolity did not take much time with our printed out witches, bats, haunted houses, and signs. Transforming ourselves into amazing Star Wars characters took a bit more effort. With the help of Laura, Nancy, and a couple bottles of hairspray, I became Princess Leia. Laura was my honey bunny, Han Solo, and Brandon was my bro, Luke Skywalker. Quite fitting relationships if you ask me. Our guest list included Dexter and his victim, Frankenstein’s Monster, two zebras, Waldo, two khumbi conductors, Pinky from Pac Man, mysterious masked fairy, and MTN airtime sellers, among others. It was a really fun shindig. On the actual Halloween night, Cameron (my boyfriend and additional October time consumer :-P) and I watched “Hocus Pocus”! My favorite Halloween movie, and probably the scariest one I could handle. :-)
** Although living in the capital and it being a beautifully sunny day, our power went out. I am just finishing this blog at 8:42pm. Oh Africa.
Birthday picture, as promised. An amazing spread plus amazing friends!
All of the extending Group 7 volunteers were asked into the PC office for a meeting. This is how we chose to spend the time directly after.
Taking a break at about 2/3 the way up Sheba's Breast.
Han, Leia, and Dexter, plus their doppelgangers. :-P
Yay Star War Roomies!
Monday, September 26, 2011
Wine Tasting Birthday & Exhausting Week
Monday September 26th, 2011
11:26am
Firstly, I must thank everyone that made my birthday (over a week ago) super super special!! The cards, emails, facebook messages, gifts, and surprise shindig made me feel amazingly loved. I can’t express the gratitude to all of you for making my 25 years on this beautiful planet so fantastic. Cheers to a quarter of a century of knowing me or 5 days; either way, you make my life better! Thank you.
Now for the details: For all intents and purposes, my birthday celebrations started Friday night. There was supposed to be a highly revered DJ Cleo show at a unique performance venue, House on Fire. At the last minute, he cancelled and was replaced by two local DJs. We went anyway and joined the very large representation of Peace Corps Volunteers. Dancing to the very techno sounds of “house music” is sometimes challenging for us westerners, but we had a blast nonetheless. Some friends and I were even photographed and made appearances in both Monday’s and Tuesday’s newspapers. Under a picture of some of my PC friends dancing they wrote, “Fun lovers doing a popular Duran dance style”! I can tell you none of them had spent more than 48 hours in Durban in their life. Good reporting Swaziland Times.
Saturday’s Teen Club went well in Mbabane. Our “Stress” lesson plan has been well accepted by the youth. They especially like the session were they discuss physical stress relievers and get up and dance. These kids school me in sweet dance moves. :-P The other two sections of the lesson plan cover relaxation coping methods (ie breathing, tension/relaxation exercises, and guided imagery) and a game which looks at what helps and what does not help with stress (ie talking to a friend vs ignoring stressor or taking drugs).
I went to church on Sunday morning. I figured if there was anything I needed to do on my actual birthday, it was to go thank God for my life. Although I was told there was an 8am mass in English, I arrived to find out that it was a special day for the church and all services were going to be combined at 9am. It was a very long mass with the multiple translations and special music, but it was still a great way to start my birthday. I got home in the early afternoon and planned on having a relaxing day with the roomies. Unbeknownst to me, other plans were brewing. Under the pretext of work and gift giving my friends lured me downstairs into Kramessa’s place (apartment in our complex that houses PCV friends Kris, Cameron, and Vanessa :-P). When we returned to my apartment, I was greeted with a boisterous, “SURPRISE” from many of my closest Swaziland friends, decorations, and a table spread with wines, cheeses, and veggies of every type! They had planned a wine tasting party where we tasted an assortment of different types and vintages as Laura read about them out of a Wine Lover’s Guidebook! It was so much fun! They even made me a yummy pasta dinner and a cake in the shape of a popcorn kernel!! Hahaha. Do they know me or what?! :-) It was a perfect birthday.
Everyday since then has been an absolute whirlwind!! My 7:30a-4:30p days at Baylor turned into 7-dusk (~5:40pm) with working lunch breaks! This is Kim’s (my predecessor) last week, so I was trying to extract every bit of information from her that was humanly possible and didn’t verge on torture. On Tuesday the 5 volunteers from the UK that make up my Teen Club team arrived. Orientating them, getting my work done, giving a presentation with my Country Director and Brandon at an international High School for Peace Day (Wednesday), and attempting to learn more from Kim kept me hopping. Multiple nights I came home so mentally exhausted that I couldn’t decide between food, sleep, and a hot shower/bath.
Thus, this has my first opportunity to write a blog entry on my blissfully wonderful day off. I apologize for not responding to emails or facebook messages, and will certainly be more prompt with responses after my team is adequately trained and flying solo. Thank you again for all of your support, love, and happy birthday wishes!
Sorry - Photos to come
11:26am
Firstly, I must thank everyone that made my birthday (over a week ago) super super special!! The cards, emails, facebook messages, gifts, and surprise shindig made me feel amazingly loved. I can’t express the gratitude to all of you for making my 25 years on this beautiful planet so fantastic. Cheers to a quarter of a century of knowing me or 5 days; either way, you make my life better! Thank you.
Now for the details: For all intents and purposes, my birthday celebrations started Friday night. There was supposed to be a highly revered DJ Cleo show at a unique performance venue, House on Fire. At the last minute, he cancelled and was replaced by two local DJs. We went anyway and joined the very large representation of Peace Corps Volunteers. Dancing to the very techno sounds of “house music” is sometimes challenging for us westerners, but we had a blast nonetheless. Some friends and I were even photographed and made appearances in both Monday’s and Tuesday’s newspapers. Under a picture of some of my PC friends dancing they wrote, “Fun lovers doing a popular Duran dance style”! I can tell you none of them had spent more than 48 hours in Durban in their life. Good reporting Swaziland Times.
Saturday’s Teen Club went well in Mbabane. Our “Stress” lesson plan has been well accepted by the youth. They especially like the session were they discuss physical stress relievers and get up and dance. These kids school me in sweet dance moves. :-P The other two sections of the lesson plan cover relaxation coping methods (ie breathing, tension/relaxation exercises, and guided imagery) and a game which looks at what helps and what does not help with stress (ie talking to a friend vs ignoring stressor or taking drugs).
I went to church on Sunday morning. I figured if there was anything I needed to do on my actual birthday, it was to go thank God for my life. Although I was told there was an 8am mass in English, I arrived to find out that it was a special day for the church and all services were going to be combined at 9am. It was a very long mass with the multiple translations and special music, but it was still a great way to start my birthday. I got home in the early afternoon and planned on having a relaxing day with the roomies. Unbeknownst to me, other plans were brewing. Under the pretext of work and gift giving my friends lured me downstairs into Kramessa’s place (apartment in our complex that houses PCV friends Kris, Cameron, and Vanessa :-P). When we returned to my apartment, I was greeted with a boisterous, “SURPRISE” from many of my closest Swaziland friends, decorations, and a table spread with wines, cheeses, and veggies of every type! They had planned a wine tasting party where we tasted an assortment of different types and vintages as Laura read about them out of a Wine Lover’s Guidebook! It was so much fun! They even made me a yummy pasta dinner and a cake in the shape of a popcorn kernel!! Hahaha. Do they know me or what?! :-) It was a perfect birthday.
Everyday since then has been an absolute whirlwind!! My 7:30a-4:30p days at Baylor turned into 7-dusk (~5:40pm) with working lunch breaks! This is Kim’s (my predecessor) last week, so I was trying to extract every bit of information from her that was humanly possible and didn’t verge on torture. On Tuesday the 5 volunteers from the UK that make up my Teen Club team arrived. Orientating them, getting my work done, giving a presentation with my Country Director and Brandon at an international High School for Peace Day (Wednesday), and attempting to learn more from Kim kept me hopping. Multiple nights I came home so mentally exhausted that I couldn’t decide between food, sleep, and a hot shower/bath.
Thus, this has my first opportunity to write a blog entry on my blissfully wonderful day off. I apologize for not responding to emails or facebook messages, and will certainly be more prompt with responses after my team is adequately trained and flying solo. Thank you again for all of your support, love, and happy birthday wishes!
Sorry - Photos to come
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