Senioritis

 It’s been over a month since I’ve blogged, so here’s a much delayed post!

A snippet of South Africa

I visited South Africa for 10 days for a dental procedure. Although my med evac fell at an inconvenient time for me to leave site, I definitely won’t complain that I got a free trip to South Africa! Because I had a few appointments spread out over a 10 day span, I had a lot of free time. I spent the week seeing some of Pretoria, eating delicious food, taking hot showers, hanging out with some South Africa PCVs, enjoying a comfortable bed with multiple pillows!!!, visiting a family friend, eating grapes, and just enjoying my fakecation. I was hoping to be able to visit Johannesburg as well, but because of a last minute change in plans I wasn’t able to make it there this time around, but am planning to stop in South Africa as part of my COS (Close of Service) trip so I’m not too disappointed.

Ndi Umunyamerika

When I returned to Rwanda I was hit with a sudden case of Senioritis. Yes, this term is not only for seniors in high school or university, I claim that it also occurs to Peace Corps volunteers  starting in the last 6-8 months of their service. I was able to adjust to going back to site by having the weekend in Kigali for the Ndi Umunyamerika  (I am American) meeting. This is the Peace Corps Rwanda Racial and Ethnic Diversity Committee. This committee, which serves as a support group for volunteers of color, was created to start discussions and raise awareness both in and outside of the Peace Corps community in Rwanda about racial and ethnic diversity in America, and to spread knowledge and awareness about how we can educate all people to promote equality and diversity in their everyday lives.  It’s always great to get together with the other members and reflect on both personal and organizational experiences and concerns, and discuss ways we can address them. As volunteers of color, we are often questioned about whether we are actually American, and black volunteers are often questioned about their African roots, so that’s just one of the many reasons why it’s important to have this committee to spread awareness about how diverse America really is.

Despite my chronic senioritis I was excited to get back to my home, village, and health center. Upon returning to site I learned that there had been problems with the electricity in my village, which caused my kettle and electric stove to no longer be able to work! So it’s been a wonderful 3 weeks cooking with a charcoal stove, but luckily my power still works for everything else. Power (literally) to all the PCVs without electricity!

Project Updates

As I’ve hit the 1.5 year mark of service (yeah I can’t believe it’s been that long either… what’ve I been actually doing this whole time you may ask?) my projects and activities in my community are more or less running smoothly, minus a few inevitable hiccups of course.  Most of the villages have finished the WASH lessons, with the remaining finishing up before the New Year! Two weeks ago the finance group had their graduation ceremony for completing the first part of the program, and just started the next part of the program last week.  With the help of some coworkers we were able to hold 2 Health Center Kids Club Meetings in November, focusing on HIV in honor of World AIDS Day on December 1^st.  As part of the Peace Corps Rwanda STOMP Out Malaria Committee, I helped launch the 1000 Nets by New Year campaign, to encourage volunteers to do bed net checks and repairs and share photos, to raise awareness in their communities about using nets effectively. 1000 nets is definitely a stretch, but we’re hoping that we can get close to 100% volunteer participation.  Unfortunately the library project has been at a standstill since we’ve had a lot of trouble getting the books cleared from Kenya, but hopefully that will be solved soon! On the brightside, the library is stocked with children’s English and Kinyarwanda books, which has attracted a lot of primary aged children to the library!

The Little Things

Believe it or not, this cliché phrase has actually been the epitome of helping alleviate my senioritis and the hard times throughout my service. So here’s a list of some of the little things that bring a smile to my face on the regular.

• Having carrots,green beans and now corn!!! consistently at my village market. Otherwise, it’s tomatoes and onions everyday.
• Whenever I make it home in time just before the rain: when cars are no longer an option, avoiding being caught in the rain during rainy season is a daily concern. 
• My neighbors, Glorietta and Denise: My neighbor and her cousin have been such a great help to me since I moved into my own home. From keeping an eye on my house when I travel, to helping me light my charcoal stove, to making my clothes, I would be helpless without them.
• Butare (Huye), my market town: This is where I go  once every 6-8 weeks to access more food/home  items,  meet the other volunteers in my region, and eat a delicious Chinese food meal.
• My community counterparts (Venuste- Health Center/WASH, Maximilien- Library/Finance Group): Their dedication to the projects and continued work when I am away is truly amazing. It makes me confident that these programs will be sustainable past my departure
• Tea: It makes a long, tiring, or frustrating Kinyarwanda speaking day a lot more bearable, when I can enjoy a cup of tea at the beginning and end of the day (hint Parents I’m out of Earl Grey…) Yes, I’m an old woman.
•  Fellow PCVs: having the support of my fellow PCVs, especially in my cohort to talk to everyday whether it’s asking for advice, complaining, or joking, always makes a stressful day a lot easier.
• Family and Friends back home: knowing that I have a support system back in the states makes this journey a whole lot easier than it would be without them.

What’s Next?

In 2 weeks I’ll be leaving for a weeklong Christmas and New Year vacation, this time to country number 13, Tanzania!  I’ve officially finished applying to graduate school, so I figured a relaxing vacation was needed before admissions decisions  (here’s to hoping I get into at least 1 of the 5 schools I applied to…) sneak up on me in the New Year.

Until Next Time,

Vanessa

Mamas and their babies at the health center

Unlimited Sushi in South Africa!

Community Finance Group Graduation

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Murambi WASH club performance

HIV Jeopardy with the Kids Club

Shoutout to my favorite South Africa PCVs

Rocking the natural hair for the next few months/ shameless selfie