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mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or the
Peace Corps.
Hey Guys!
I wasn’t sure anyone was reading
this so my apologies that I haven’t written in a while. I received an email
asking where a new blog was! J
Well, its winter here now and so
far we’ve been lucky that it has been a mild winter. A cold front moved in
yesterday so I have a feeling the rest of July will be quite chilly. (Yes, it
really does get cold in Africa! Here in the South sometimes goats and sheep
freeze to death out in the fields.)
So…as for what’s new…I did start
the community garden project a couple of months ago. So far I’ve trained 4
different groups of women how to perm garden. Some of the women were from the
craft center I work at and the others are cleaning ladies that are part of a
support group at the hospital. They were so great to train! Super hard working
and full of laughter and song (the one picture I’ll include is of them at the
end of their training standing over their plot singing a traditional song).
It’s been great to spend two days of the week in the garden. Being able to have
complete strangers trust this crazy American woman to teach them how to grow
vegetables has been an amazing thing. Maybe in a past life I was a farmer
because I find I much enjoy being outside and doing physical work as apposed to
inside behind a desk and stuck in a chair. Hmmmm……
Right now there is no training
going on at the garden. I fear we might get a freeze and then the seeds won’t
grow and the participants from the community will get discouraged and won’t
come back. Right now I’m spending my training days cleaning up the piles of
brush and trash that were left when the garden was cleaned up while I was gone
at training. I’m excited to really clean it up and keep it looking nice.
The garden training is about 4
hours of intense digging so as to loosen the soil and add manure, leftover coal
from fires as well as green leaves from trees. The three work together in the
soil to make a natural fertilizer and bug repellent. Once the plots are done
and planted, it is then up to the planters to come back and water their plots.
The women that work at the hospital have the advantage of working near the
garden. The women from the craft center have missed several days of watering
which is discouraging. That is the one problem with the garden, it’s close to
the hospital which is pretty far from the location, the settlement where the
poorest people live. It’s quite a hike for them to come and water which is why
I train about six people to a plot, so they can all take turns and hopefully
have success.
I’ll try to include some
pictures from the garden as well as some pictures of animals again. I’m really
hoping I can download them for you as it was so amazing to see them up close
and personal last December.
I’m planning to travel to
Tanzania in November and will take lots of pictures. I hear it looks like “real
Africa” as opposed to Namibia, which does look like Africa but not like what
you see in TV and magazines so I’m excited to see Tanzania…and take a vacation
too! I’m ready for a break. This has been such a great adventure yet at times I
become aware of just how far away I am….like in May when my Mom suffered a
stroke. Fortunately she is doing better so my sister shared that there wasn’t a
need to come home. It is really hard to be supportive of friends and family
that I’m so used to being there for from so far away. There have been many
weeks of feeling helpless and hopeless when I get emails or phone calls from
friends and family in a bad place and I can’t reach out more than to send an
email. I’m definitely learning a lot about life and our human connections and
even more about myself during this great journey. I’m sure I’ll be changed
forever.
I must give a shout out to my
great group 33-ers, the folks I came here with. I never imagined getting so
close to a group of random strangers in such a short time. Although we started
with 23 and are down to 15, we are all still very close and their support has
made all the difference in being here. As well as support from friends and
family back home too! Please don’t think I’m forgetting you guys! I can’t thank
you enough for the emails, letters and cards and even care packages that have
come my way via family, friends and even clients! You guys are all the best!
Know that I do miss you and think about ALL of you more often then you can
imagine.
Okay…this is getting very long.
The best to all of you! Enjoy summer in America and know you are in my thoughts.