This is dedicated to all of my friends and family who promised to visit but never did. SOUTH AFRICA IS AMAZING. You missed out. :D All jokes aside, my month long journey across SA was incredible and was the perfect way to transition from being a volunteer with a purpose in life to unemployed and homeless.
As many of you are probably aware, I haven't had any visitors for the whole 2 years. No one to share my joys and pains, no one to fetch water for me and get sick with me, and no one who could relate and understand what I went through in my everyday hut life.I still don't have that BUT what I do have is someone who gets SA, the culture, and the rural life and that's close enough for me! My friend from home came out and we spent 3.5 weeks exploring the coast, starting in Durban and ending in Cape Town.We rented a car which was the biggest luxury I've had for quite some time! For anyone who's lived in Africa or has spent time here using public transportation, you can understand my joy. For those of you who don't know let me paint a picture for you. A 15 person khumbi (minivan), on average, will usually have somewhere between 17-25 people packed full with animals,babies, food, and materials such as buckets. It's not a comfortable ride. With a car I could just throw my bags in and spread out, though not too much as our little car- the Spark Lite- was as tiny as it sounds. But even then, that beat hauling your life into a khumbi and having to hold everything on your lap. No waiting for hours; you can go when and where you please. Obviously it's been a while since I've had a car.
Joey and I started our trip in Durban. We stayed in The Bluff which had some fun surf! Unfortunately it's been so long that I spent more time paddling than catching waves but it was fun nonetheless. From Durban we went to Umkomaas to dive on the Aliwal Shoal. Joey got certified and I did 2 dives, a reef dive and a shark dive. There were only black tips and Dungies in the water but they often see great whites, zambezis (bull sharks) and tiger sharks. It was pure adrenalin rush, diving in great white territory without a cage, and having the water chummed before you enter. I've never done a shark dive quite like this!
From Umkomaas we went to Port St. Johns where the shark attacks in this region were unbelievable. This year alone they have had 5 fatal attacks in one beach. Two surfers, two lifeguards, and one swimmer in waist deep water were all attacked by Zambezis (bull sharks) and unfortunately, all died. We did some amazing hikes to a couple of waterfalls and to a blowhole where you had to climb down a cliff. It was incredible! The hostel we were staying at had live music. A girl who was on South African Idol (top 20) performed for us. There were talented people from the villages who came out and Joey even got up there jamming on the uke! It was a great time.
We then went to Coffee Bay for a day, and did a small hike to the river. From Coffee Bay we made a few stops along the way in Buttersworth, East London, Grahamstown, Addo Elephant National Park, and then finally to Jbay. We stayed for a little under a week in Jbay taking in the sun, surf, and food! We lucked out and the swells hit when we were there! Joey surfed Supertubes everyday and I stuck to the baby waves of Kitchen Windows. Ha. I can only hope that when I return to Hawaii, my surfing skills also return...
From Jbay we stopped in Plettenburg Bay, Buffalo Bay, Victoria Bay, and Mossel Bay. Joey once again was able to hit the waves while Eric and I found solitude on the beach drinking beers and eating fish and chips! We then went to Cape Agulhas to see where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet and eventually made our way to Cape Town. Joey left SA on Sunday, August 26 returning back to America, and I continued lazing around SA until Tuesday when I headed out to Namibia.
This month of attempted surfing, eating fish (FINALLY!), not having to worry about public transportation or being stranded, hanging out with good friends, and being in and near the ocean was more than I could ever have asked for. It was an amazing trip largely in part to Joey coming out, so thanks!
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Pretoria and NGOs
The main objective of going to Pretoria, South Africa was to obtain visas and eat good food. Little did I know how amazing the city actually is! AnnaMae and I spent our days exploring and our nights watching the Olympics, cheering on Pretoria's own Olympic gold medalist, Cameron Van der Burgh!
One day as I applied for a Tanzanian visa I met this kind South African man. After talking for a bit I found out that him and his wife do amazing work for gassroot organizations. As I have said in previous posts, the BEST kinds of organizations are ones like these where the money donated go straight to the people and projects instead of NGOs and churches who tend to just build something without teaching them how to do it on their own or give free things away and then leave. This specific NGO is called Fathers in Africa and could use some donations. If you have any free time to check them out, please do! http://fathers.co.za/ Any donations will be appreciated and will help the children and their projects greatly.
One day as I applied for a Tanzanian visa I met this kind South African man. After talking for a bit I found out that him and his wife do amazing work for gassroot organizations. As I have said in previous posts, the BEST kinds of organizations are ones like these where the money donated go straight to the people and projects instead of NGOs and churches who tend to just build something without teaching them how to do it on their own or give free things away and then leave. This specific NGO is called Fathers in Africa and could use some donations. If you have any free time to check them out, please do! http://fathers.co.za/ Any donations will be appreciated and will help the children and their projects greatly.
Goodbyes Are The Hardest Part
The sound of a vehicle was approaching my homestead.I took a deep breathe, closed my eyes, and smiled at all the memories of the past 2 years- both good and bad. Happy to be moving on, sad to be saying goodbye.The car came to a stop outside my hut. It was time to leave. My host mother and sister were sitting inside their house watching from their window as I packed the last 2 years of my life in the back of a car, and they refused to come out. I had just spent the last hour saying thank you and goodbye, exchanging gifts, shedding tears, and laying hugs and kisses on them. I entered the car, gave one last look at my hut, my homestead, and waved goodbye to no one. And to everyone.
My days as a Peace Corps Volunteer in rural Swaziland were now officially over.
It was just Bongani (the PC driver) and I. We drove through my village, shopping town, and major cities for the last time. I mentally said my goodbyes and tried to hide my excitement for my future and what the next 5 months would bring. After being picked up from site, the following three days were spent "exiting" PC: closing out my bank account, getting signatures, having interviews, shipping boxes home, and saying a goodbye.
On Friday, July 27, 2012, Katie, AnnaMae, Joe and I rang out. Ringing out is a ceremony to celebrate our service and a chance to say goodbye to the staff and PCVs who we have served with. I had been given a heartwarming and thoughtful card by my amazing friends Mia and Kelly, and as we left on Saturday, all of our friends came outside, formed a line and started doing "the wave". Tears formed in my eyes and AnnaMae and I were deeply moved by the kindness and love shown on behalf of all of our friends. We've been through so much together- changed, grown, loved, laughed, cried, vented, fought, shared the highest of highs and the lowest of lows with one another. We have shared this unique, once in a lifetime experience with each other and there will always be this to bond us no matter how different we may be. So saying goodbye to the closest friendships formed was that much more difficult. But the RPCV world is small and I know our paths will cross again one day soon.
And so begins the adventures of a nomad.
My days as a Peace Corps Volunteer in rural Swaziland were now officially over.
It was just Bongani (the PC driver) and I. We drove through my village, shopping town, and major cities for the last time. I mentally said my goodbyes and tried to hide my excitement for my future and what the next 5 months would bring. After being picked up from site, the following three days were spent "exiting" PC: closing out my bank account, getting signatures, having interviews, shipping boxes home, and saying a goodbye.
On Friday, July 27, 2012, Katie, AnnaMae, Joe and I rang out. Ringing out is a ceremony to celebrate our service and a chance to say goodbye to the staff and PCVs who we have served with. I had been given a heartwarming and thoughtful card by my amazing friends Mia and Kelly, and as we left on Saturday, all of our friends came outside, formed a line and started doing "the wave". Tears formed in my eyes and AnnaMae and I were deeply moved by the kindness and love shown on behalf of all of our friends. We've been through so much together- changed, grown, loved, laughed, cried, vented, fought, shared the highest of highs and the lowest of lows with one another. We have shared this unique, once in a lifetime experience with each other and there will always be this to bond us no matter how different we may be. So saying goodbye to the closest friendships formed was that much more difficult. But the RPCV world is small and I know our paths will cross again one day soon.
And so begins the adventures of a nomad.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
My Peace Corps Journey: Most Memorable Moments in Swaziland
1. Meeting the 39 volunteers I was to spend the next 27 months with in Atlanta, Georgia.
2. Stuffing my face with sushi as my last meal in America.
3. Throwing my phone away.
4. Arguing with the airport workers that Swaziland and Switzerland are NOT the same place. It is crucial that our bags end up in the correct country.
5. Waiting to board the plane to South Africa and watching the World Cup game: U.S. vs. Ghana. Me being the only person in the airport cheering on Ghana.
6. Spending the night in JNB (Joburg Airport), while a World Cup game was going on just outside.
7. Arriving in Matsapha, Swaziland- an airport smaller than the Kona airport.
8. Our first night in country having our Medical Officer show us videos of RPCVs living with HIV. Being terrified and scared shitless.
9. Moving in with my AMAZING and WONDERFUL training host family.
10. The U.S. Ambassador, Earl Irving, coming to our small July 4th party.
11. Fighting for cookies and turning ALL topics to Las Vegas during our Language Training Sessions. Sophia, Rob and I were definitely the best and most productive group.
12. Having sessions in broken down buildings, under trees, and in rodevals (huts).
13. Our Medical Officer forgetting to mix fluids for our vaccination shots. Having to take it twice.
14. Alcohol Day, Cooking Day, and Mental Health Day were the BEST sessions. Yes, we got to taste local alcoholic beverages, a day set aside to learn how to cook, and a day devoted to learning how to stay sane. Informative, fun and looking back on it- very much needed.
15. Going on a field trip to Sondzela’s Game Park. Seeing wild zebras, wilderbeasts, crocodiles, and hippos for the first time.
16. On the Job Training (OJT) from hell. In the 3 days spent at my future site: someone stole airtime/money from me, I learned that I was going to be stuck with the worst project in PC history-building a dam, my counterpart had intimidated and tried to persuade me to write proposals for more water projects, walked about 15 miles in one day, slept on the floor with rats and bats, not having enough water to bathe, getting attacked by mosquitos, learning that a man had recently raped 2 young girls in a homestead not too far away, and finding out how terrible my transportation was. On the upside, I met my nearest PCV (about a 3 hour walk) and despite EVERYTHING, I knew if I could stick it out, it’d be the BEST experience of my life.
17. Being Sworn In as Peace Corps Volunteers in an old gym. We were required to set up and strike our own party. They ran out of food. Most of us left hungry and tired. Despite it being absolutely terrible, we were stoked because we were FINALLY free and moving into our permanent homes.
18. Moving in, and having PC assist me in getting my water barrels filled (along with the 10 extra water containers from my host family). Took 3 hours for 3 PCVs and 2 PC staff to fill ALL water containers from the borehole. WELCOME HOME SHAUNA!
19. Walking, relaxing, swimming, having picnics near/in the dam. 3 months later- finding out there are CROCODILES in there. Thank you community members who despite my questions about wild animals- laughed at me and said it was ok to swim in.
20. Cows knocking over my bucket full of collected rainwater. It was devastating.
21. Celebrating my 22nd birthday in my hut with good friends!
22. Dealing with rats the size of cats, bats, scorpions, tarantulas, frogs, centipedes, and some crazy weird bugs in my hut for 2 years.
23. Running away from snakes- mainly black and green Mambas on my homestead.
24. Attending my first Traditional wedding.
25. Walking for my water in a broken wheelbarrow, uphill and in sand. (Refer to blog post 2010)
26. Having my trucks and khumbis get stuck in sand, then having to push the vehicle out of the sand, while running away from black mambas. This happened more times than I can possibly count.
27. Getting struck by lightning. During an intense lightning storm, my hut was hit. There was a loud boom on my roof, sparks flew out of my socket, and my body went into convulsions. I called my friend to verify that I was indeed alive.
28. My mode of transportation are trucks -which they fill to the absolute limit. Trucks are not certified so when the police are out- I have no transportation. One day we had been waiting for 4 hours to get back. Finally we ended up going but through a different route and through the bushes. In turn we ended up losing our gas cap, people’s belongings, the side mirror, and scarily, the tailgate which I was partially leaning on. Every time something flew off we’d have to run after the item and retrieve it. As the police were still out, we had to send someone to check the roads ahead and make sure it was clear. One of the craziest transport experiences to date.
29. Celebrating Thanksgiving at the U.S. Ambassador’s house. BEST THANKSGIVINGS EVER. Thank you Earl Irving! (Refer to past blog posts about it.)
30. My youth clubs <3
31. MOZAMBIQUE. African vibe, Latin Influence, Salsa dancing, Island living= AMAZING time. Minor Precaution: Beware of corrupt cops in Maputo.
32. Hostel Takeover= the first of MANY PC parties and events.
33. Marula Festivals! 2011 and 2012. Refer to blog posts.
34. Attending PC trainings: In-Service Training, Mid-Service Training, Grief and Loss, Medical Mid-Service, All Volunteer Conference, and Soka Uncobe trainings.
35. SOKA UNCOBE (Male Circumcision)- fun trainings, great times, and awesome project to be a part of. Brought about many important conversations on health and HIV.
36. Changing of Country Directors. Changing of Assistant Peace Corps Director and Programming Director. For all intents and purposes, let’s just say it was ROUGH and made for a challenging service.
37. BUSHFIRE! Southern Africa’s largest music festival (2011 and 2012)
38. J-Bay Surf Trip (see blog post July 2011).
39. Being sick for 6 months. The lowest point- fainting in the latrine at night and unsure how long I was passed out with one arm out the door and hugging the “toilet”. (See blog post )
40. Germany, Italy, and France. Seeing my parents after a year living in Africa. (See blog post September 2011)
41. Medical Mid Service- pooping in cups. Enough said.
42. Camping Trips at NGWEMPISI GORGE! By far my favorite place in Swaziland. (See blog posts October 2011/December 2011)
43. Halloween spent at a PCV homestead. Dressing up, creating costumes, and teaching the children how to knock and ask for candy. Cultural Exchange at its finest!
44. HhoHho Shenanigans! All my Hhos coming together monthly for some fun and adventure within our communities.
45. 2 best friends’ weddings. Though I’ve missed a lot back home, I’ve been blessed to make such wonderful and loving friends in Swaziland. Most importantly, I’ve been able to share their special day with them.
46. Christmas and New Years Craziness! Included but not limited to camping, hiking, falling, dancing, music, and injuries.
47. Hlane National Game Park Camping- lying awake at 10pm listening to the lions roar then waking up in the morning and watching hippos, giraffes, elephants, rhinos, crocodiles, and many other animals gather at the watering hole.
48. Teaching Swim Lessons to 100+ adorable children for 2 years. Some of my happiest memories.
49. Tuesday/Thursday Prayer Meetings on my homestead. They consist of yelling, screaming, shouting, and lots of singing.
50. Painting murals and community buildings with friends, family, neighbors, and community members. (see blog post March 2011)
51. Teaching in the schools. The joy your receive watching your students flourish and grow with excitement from learning.
52. Learning that I quite enjoy corporal punishment- then realizing I could never become a teacher in the States.
53. Bringing home a puppy for my family only to have it vomit, poop, and pee ALL over me multiple times in the first 30 minutes of travelling. It took 4 hours to get home and 3 different modes of transportation. The puppy also had worms so I was covered in them as well. Ranks as a top contender for the worst transportation rides EVER.
54. Being able to watch my GLOW clubs grow and strengthen and see the girls gaining valuable knowledge from it. (see blog post on Camp GLOW April 2012)
55. Falling asleep to the soothing drums of the traditional healer in the homestead next door.
56. Being sick and stuck in the Peace Corps Office for over 2 weeks and eating the same meal every day. The upside: free internet all day, being able to eat meat, a bathroom, running water and getting to shower daily.
57. Building 2 libraries in my community. Helping the schools sort, label, and shelve 1,000 new books per school. A constant joy to see how excited teachers, parents, and children get at the site of books available for them to read.
58. Receiving gifts from friends, members of the community and from the ambassador. :D
59. 4th of July 2012- meeting G10 Volunteers at the Country Directors house, eating hot dogs, hamburgers, lighting fireworks, singing the national anthem and being chosen by the U.S. Ambassador to read the Declaration of Independence- while slightly tipsy off of 1 beer. How the times have changed!
60. Telling my Make (host mother) the date that Peace Corps is picking me up and her breaking down crying and telling me the best compliments.
61. Finish painting the pre-school and NCP. Spending my last few weeks in my community with friends, music, laughing, and painting HIV awareness advertisements.
62. Waiting for the Peace Corps vehicle to pick me up, waving goodbye to my family, and driving away.
2. Stuffing my face with sushi as my last meal in America.
3. Throwing my phone away.
4. Arguing with the airport workers that Swaziland and Switzerland are NOT the same place. It is crucial that our bags end up in the correct country.
5. Waiting to board the plane to South Africa and watching the World Cup game: U.S. vs. Ghana. Me being the only person in the airport cheering on Ghana.
6. Spending the night in JNB (Joburg Airport), while a World Cup game was going on just outside.
7. Arriving in Matsapha, Swaziland- an airport smaller than the Kona airport.
8. Our first night in country having our Medical Officer show us videos of RPCVs living with HIV. Being terrified and scared shitless.
9. Moving in with my AMAZING and WONDERFUL training host family.
10. The U.S. Ambassador, Earl Irving, coming to our small July 4th party.
11. Fighting for cookies and turning ALL topics to Las Vegas during our Language Training Sessions. Sophia, Rob and I were definitely the best and most productive group.
12. Having sessions in broken down buildings, under trees, and in rodevals (huts).
13. Our Medical Officer forgetting to mix fluids for our vaccination shots. Having to take it twice.
14. Alcohol Day, Cooking Day, and Mental Health Day were the BEST sessions. Yes, we got to taste local alcoholic beverages, a day set aside to learn how to cook, and a day devoted to learning how to stay sane. Informative, fun and looking back on it- very much needed.
15. Going on a field trip to Sondzela’s Game Park. Seeing wild zebras, wilderbeasts, crocodiles, and hippos for the first time.
16. On the Job Training (OJT) from hell. In the 3 days spent at my future site: someone stole airtime/money from me, I learned that I was going to be stuck with the worst project in PC history-building a dam, my counterpart had intimidated and tried to persuade me to write proposals for more water projects, walked about 15 miles in one day, slept on the floor with rats and bats, not having enough water to bathe, getting attacked by mosquitos, learning that a man had recently raped 2 young girls in a homestead not too far away, and finding out how terrible my transportation was. On the upside, I met my nearest PCV (about a 3 hour walk) and despite EVERYTHING, I knew if I could stick it out, it’d be the BEST experience of my life.
17. Being Sworn In as Peace Corps Volunteers in an old gym. We were required to set up and strike our own party. They ran out of food. Most of us left hungry and tired. Despite it being absolutely terrible, we were stoked because we were FINALLY free and moving into our permanent homes.
18. Moving in, and having PC assist me in getting my water barrels filled (along with the 10 extra water containers from my host family). Took 3 hours for 3 PCVs and 2 PC staff to fill ALL water containers from the borehole. WELCOME HOME SHAUNA!
19. Walking, relaxing, swimming, having picnics near/in the dam. 3 months later- finding out there are CROCODILES in there. Thank you community members who despite my questions about wild animals- laughed at me and said it was ok to swim in.
20. Cows knocking over my bucket full of collected rainwater. It was devastating.
21. Celebrating my 22nd birthday in my hut with good friends!
22. Dealing with rats the size of cats, bats, scorpions, tarantulas, frogs, centipedes, and some crazy weird bugs in my hut for 2 years.
23. Running away from snakes- mainly black and green Mambas on my homestead.
24. Attending my first Traditional wedding.
25. Walking for my water in a broken wheelbarrow, uphill and in sand. (Refer to blog post 2010)
26. Having my trucks and khumbis get stuck in sand, then having to push the vehicle out of the sand, while running away from black mambas. This happened more times than I can possibly count.
27. Getting struck by lightning. During an intense lightning storm, my hut was hit. There was a loud boom on my roof, sparks flew out of my socket, and my body went into convulsions. I called my friend to verify that I was indeed alive.
28. My mode of transportation are trucks -which they fill to the absolute limit. Trucks are not certified so when the police are out- I have no transportation. One day we had been waiting for 4 hours to get back. Finally we ended up going but through a different route and through the bushes. In turn we ended up losing our gas cap, people’s belongings, the side mirror, and scarily, the tailgate which I was partially leaning on. Every time something flew off we’d have to run after the item and retrieve it. As the police were still out, we had to send someone to check the roads ahead and make sure it was clear. One of the craziest transport experiences to date.
29. Celebrating Thanksgiving at the U.S. Ambassador’s house. BEST THANKSGIVINGS EVER. Thank you Earl Irving! (Refer to past blog posts about it.)
30. My youth clubs <3
31. MOZAMBIQUE. African vibe, Latin Influence, Salsa dancing, Island living= AMAZING time. Minor Precaution: Beware of corrupt cops in Maputo.
32. Hostel Takeover= the first of MANY PC parties and events.
33. Marula Festivals! 2011 and 2012. Refer to blog posts.
34. Attending PC trainings: In-Service Training, Mid-Service Training, Grief and Loss, Medical Mid-Service, All Volunteer Conference, and Soka Uncobe trainings.
35. SOKA UNCOBE (Male Circumcision)- fun trainings, great times, and awesome project to be a part of. Brought about many important conversations on health and HIV.
36. Changing of Country Directors. Changing of Assistant Peace Corps Director and Programming Director. For all intents and purposes, let’s just say it was ROUGH and made for a challenging service.
37. BUSHFIRE! Southern Africa’s largest music festival (2011 and 2012)
38. J-Bay Surf Trip (see blog post July 2011).
39. Being sick for 6 months. The lowest point- fainting in the latrine at night and unsure how long I was passed out with one arm out the door and hugging the “toilet”. (See blog post )
40. Germany, Italy, and France. Seeing my parents after a year living in Africa. (See blog post September 2011)
41. Medical Mid Service- pooping in cups. Enough said.
42. Camping Trips at NGWEMPISI GORGE! By far my favorite place in Swaziland. (See blog posts October 2011/December 2011)
43. Halloween spent at a PCV homestead. Dressing up, creating costumes, and teaching the children how to knock and ask for candy. Cultural Exchange at its finest!
44. HhoHho Shenanigans! All my Hhos coming together monthly for some fun and adventure within our communities.
45. 2 best friends’ weddings. Though I’ve missed a lot back home, I’ve been blessed to make such wonderful and loving friends in Swaziland. Most importantly, I’ve been able to share their special day with them.
46. Christmas and New Years Craziness! Included but not limited to camping, hiking, falling, dancing, music, and injuries.
47. Hlane National Game Park Camping- lying awake at 10pm listening to the lions roar then waking up in the morning and watching hippos, giraffes, elephants, rhinos, crocodiles, and many other animals gather at the watering hole.
48. Teaching Swim Lessons to 100+ adorable children for 2 years. Some of my happiest memories.
49. Tuesday/Thursday Prayer Meetings on my homestead. They consist of yelling, screaming, shouting, and lots of singing.
50. Painting murals and community buildings with friends, family, neighbors, and community members. (see blog post March 2011)
51. Teaching in the schools. The joy your receive watching your students flourish and grow with excitement from learning.
52. Learning that I quite enjoy corporal punishment- then realizing I could never become a teacher in the States.
53. Bringing home a puppy for my family only to have it vomit, poop, and pee ALL over me multiple times in the first 30 minutes of travelling. It took 4 hours to get home and 3 different modes of transportation. The puppy also had worms so I was covered in them as well. Ranks as a top contender for the worst transportation rides EVER.
54. Being able to watch my GLOW clubs grow and strengthen and see the girls gaining valuable knowledge from it. (see blog post on Camp GLOW April 2012)
55. Falling asleep to the soothing drums of the traditional healer in the homestead next door.
56. Being sick and stuck in the Peace Corps Office for over 2 weeks and eating the same meal every day. The upside: free internet all day, being able to eat meat, a bathroom, running water and getting to shower daily.
57. Building 2 libraries in my community. Helping the schools sort, label, and shelve 1,000 new books per school. A constant joy to see how excited teachers, parents, and children get at the site of books available for them to read.
58. Receiving gifts from friends, members of the community and from the ambassador. :D
59. 4th of July 2012- meeting G10 Volunteers at the Country Directors house, eating hot dogs, hamburgers, lighting fireworks, singing the national anthem and being chosen by the U.S. Ambassador to read the Declaration of Independence- while slightly tipsy off of 1 beer. How the times have changed!
60. Telling my Make (host mother) the date that Peace Corps is picking me up and her breaking down crying and telling me the best compliments.
61. Finish painting the pre-school and NCP. Spending my last few weeks in my community with friends, music, laughing, and painting HIV awareness advertisements.
62. Waiting for the Peace Corps vehicle to pick me up, waving goodbye to my family, and driving away.
The Strength of a Swazi Woman
As time races against the clock, I find myself reminiscing on these past 2 years.
I’ve learned A LOT. From the countless hours spent alone in my hut I’ve gotten to know myself- both the best and worst qualities. I’ve grown more assertive, passionate, and articulate. No longer am I that timid young girl, cautious of stepping on people’s toes and afraid to speak my mind. This has mostly been in part to being surrounded by 60 other insanely crazy, motivational driven, and natural born leaders or also known as Peace Corps Volunteers. During my Pre-Service Training we often would go late into the evenings past the sessions- asking questions, arguing and debating. The loud and persistent took the forefront of the conversations and the quiet were left stringing along. In a room full of leaders you quickly learn to find your voice or have it spoken on your behalf.
My eyes have been opened to development work and from first-hand experience I have learned the Do’s and Don’ts of “helping” others (see the previous blog post).
I have physically and mentally grown as well. I have learned to appreciate water and` look forward to the day where I will not be having to walk a couple kms for it or have to rely on the rain. I have learned to deal with creatures of all kinds including black mambas (snakes with venom so poisonous it’d kill you within 15 minutes), scorpions, tarantulas, bats, rats, centipedes, frogs, roaches, and spiders of all kinds. I have learned to say no to people.
But the hardest trial and biggest obstacle of living in Swaziland has been one of gender inequality and sexual harassment. In training we were told the best way to deal with sexual harassment was to let it happen and don’t make a scene or the perpetrators will continue and make it worse. And that is what I did. For the first couple of months I would let the comments slide. I would reason with myself, “This is their culture.”
One day as I left my shopping town heading back to site, I was stuck in the back of a pick-up truck with 20 other people. Packed full, the men used this to their advantage getting as close as they could to me. Besides the touching, and the “accidental kiss” when the truck turned, one young man used this as a way to sing Celine Dion in my ear. As hilarious as this was, it bothered me that they thought it was OK to do so. I told them to back off I did try to take this lightheartedly convincing myself it was OK because this was their culture.
In my community I noticed the gender differences all around me. The way men treated women, the way women were to serve men in their own homes, how boys were clearly superior to girls in every aspect of life. These things annoyed me relentlessly but still I did nothing because it was not my place nor my culture to do things differently. Then one day a guy in my community who I had become friends with, said something that pushed me over the edge. On a facebook message he said that this was a man’s world and it was understandable that women should not be heard. I broke down and in turn lost all faith in this country. This was my turning point. I directed all my energy into having girls empowerment clubs- GLOW. If men didn’t believe in the women, and their society is constantly putting these young women down, how do they expect to succeed?
Throughout the 2 years I have experienced a lot of sexual and gender harassment, but sadly this is NOTHING to what Swazi women experience daily. I have said it before and I will say it again, Swazi women are the strongest people on earth. They are raised in a male dominated society, and those in the rural areas are beaten, sometimes raped, and they are raised with the notion that they are made to get married and have lots of children regardless if they finish school.
If it wasn’t for the love, generosity, and strength of the Swazi women, I would have left this country a long time ago. They are a beacon of all that is good in the world. They are a light and shining example that things can be beautiful despite all the bad and harm that comes your way. The Swazi woman is strong, loving, loyal, caring, respectful, generous, cares for everyone regardless if it’s their child or not, and despite any physical or emotional abuse they receive- the Swazi woman remains the solid rock of faith. For all the bad that I have experienced on behalf of the male gender, I have gained more perspective and love from the women. So this is to you- My Swazi friends, family and confidants. You are amazing, you have kept me here, you have taught me what it means to be strong. I will forever respect, love and admire you. Keep your heads up. A new day is approaching.
I’ve learned A LOT. From the countless hours spent alone in my hut I’ve gotten to know myself- both the best and worst qualities. I’ve grown more assertive, passionate, and articulate. No longer am I that timid young girl, cautious of stepping on people’s toes and afraid to speak my mind. This has mostly been in part to being surrounded by 60 other insanely crazy, motivational driven, and natural born leaders or also known as Peace Corps Volunteers. During my Pre-Service Training we often would go late into the evenings past the sessions- asking questions, arguing and debating. The loud and persistent took the forefront of the conversations and the quiet were left stringing along. In a room full of leaders you quickly learn to find your voice or have it spoken on your behalf.
My eyes have been opened to development work and from first-hand experience I have learned the Do’s and Don’ts of “helping” others (see the previous blog post).
I have physically and mentally grown as well. I have learned to appreciate water and` look forward to the day where I will not be having to walk a couple kms for it or have to rely on the rain. I have learned to deal with creatures of all kinds including black mambas (snakes with venom so poisonous it’d kill you within 15 minutes), scorpions, tarantulas, bats, rats, centipedes, frogs, roaches, and spiders of all kinds. I have learned to say no to people.
But the hardest trial and biggest obstacle of living in Swaziland has been one of gender inequality and sexual harassment. In training we were told the best way to deal with sexual harassment was to let it happen and don’t make a scene or the perpetrators will continue and make it worse. And that is what I did. For the first couple of months I would let the comments slide. I would reason with myself, “This is their culture.”
One day as I left my shopping town heading back to site, I was stuck in the back of a pick-up truck with 20 other people. Packed full, the men used this to their advantage getting as close as they could to me. Besides the touching, and the “accidental kiss” when the truck turned, one young man used this as a way to sing Celine Dion in my ear. As hilarious as this was, it bothered me that they thought it was OK to do so. I told them to back off I did try to take this lightheartedly convincing myself it was OK because this was their culture.
In my community I noticed the gender differences all around me. The way men treated women, the way women were to serve men in their own homes, how boys were clearly superior to girls in every aspect of life. These things annoyed me relentlessly but still I did nothing because it was not my place nor my culture to do things differently. Then one day a guy in my community who I had become friends with, said something that pushed me over the edge. On a facebook message he said that this was a man’s world and it was understandable that women should not be heard. I broke down and in turn lost all faith in this country. This was my turning point. I directed all my energy into having girls empowerment clubs- GLOW. If men didn’t believe in the women, and their society is constantly putting these young women down, how do they expect to succeed?
Throughout the 2 years I have experienced a lot of sexual and gender harassment, but sadly this is NOTHING to what Swazi women experience daily. I have said it before and I will say it again, Swazi women are the strongest people on earth. They are raised in a male dominated society, and those in the rural areas are beaten, sometimes raped, and they are raised with the notion that they are made to get married and have lots of children regardless if they finish school.
If it wasn’t for the love, generosity, and strength of the Swazi women, I would have left this country a long time ago. They are a beacon of all that is good in the world. They are a light and shining example that things can be beautiful despite all the bad and harm that comes your way. The Swazi woman is strong, loving, loyal, caring, respectful, generous, cares for everyone regardless if it’s their child or not, and despite any physical or emotional abuse they receive- the Swazi woman remains the solid rock of faith. For all the bad that I have experienced on behalf of the male gender, I have gained more perspective and love from the women. So this is to you- My Swazi friends, family and confidants. You are amazing, you have kept me here, you have taught me what it means to be strong. I will forever respect, love and admire you. Keep your heads up. A new day is approaching.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Bored? Read some books!
Peace Corps is a time for development projects, helping others, building relationships, and learning about yourself. It is also the perfect time to catch up on reading books you've never had time to read and watch television shows and movies you've always avoided in the States! The following is a list of books I have read in the past 2 years. Obviously I've had A LOT of time on my hands. If you want some time to catch up on life- join Peace Corps!
July 2010- YEAR 1:
1. Kingdom of Roses and Thorns- Deborah Daly
2. The Other Boleyn Girl- Philippa Gregory
3. Under the Banner of Heaven- Jon Krakauer
4. The Cider House Rules- Jon Irving
5. Running With Scissors- Augustin Burroughs
6. The Sea- John Banville
7. How We Are Hungry- Dave Eggers
8. Life Expectancy- Dean Koontz
9. The Heaven Shop- Deborah Ellis
10. Velocity- Dean Koontz
11. More 5 minute Mysteries- Ken Weber
12. By the Light of the Moon- Dean Koontz
13. The Good Husband of Zebra Drive- Alexander McCall Smith
14. Seduce Me at Sunrise- Lisa Kleypas
15. In the Company of Cheerful Ladies- Alexander McCall Smith
16. Love and Houses- Marti Leimbach
17. Savannah Heat- Kat Martin
January 2011
18. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo- Stieg Larsson
19. The Girl Who Played With Fire- Stieg Larsson
20. Bachelor Duke- Mary Nicholas
21. Playing For Pizza- John Grisham
22. A Kiss Before Dying- Ira Levin
23. The Appeal- John Grisham
24. Love Lies Bleeding- Susan Wittig Albert
25. Written On The Body- Jeanette Winterson
26. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan- Lisa See
27. Midnight Treasure- Katharine Kincaid
28. Forever Odd- Dean Koontz
29. The Quickie- James Patterson
30. To Kill a Mockingbird- Harper Lee
31. Mere Christianity- C.S. Lewis
32. The Contrary Blues- John Billheimer
33. Icy Sparks- Gwyn Hyman Rubio
34. Stranger Than Fiction- Chuck Palahniuk
35. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nets- Stieg Larsson
36. Shanghai Girls- Lisa See
37. War Child: A Child Soldier’s Story- Emmanuel Jal
38. The Darkest Evening of the Year- Dean Koontz
39. Love Walked In- Marisa de los Santos
40. London Bridges- James Patterson
41. Little Bee- Chris Cleave
42. 44 Scotland Street- Alexander McCall Smith
43. Fresh Air Fiend- Paul Theroux
44. Not Quite A Gentleman- Jacquie D’Alessandro
45. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas- John Boyne
46. You’re the One That I Want: A Gossip Girl Novel- Cecily Von Ziegesar
47. Lifeguard- James Patterson and Andrew Gross
48. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets- J.K. Rowling
49. Sail- James Patterson and Howard Roughan
50. Life of Pi- Yann Martel
July 2011- YEAR 2
51. Eclipse- Stephenie Meyer
52. Breaking Dawn- Stephenie Meyer
53. The Tao of Pooh- Benjamin Hoff
54. The Catcher in the Rye- J.D. Salinger
55. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince- J.K. Rowling
56. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows- J.K. Rowling
57. The Sun Also Rises- Ernest Hemingway
58. The Dharma Bums- Jack Kerovac
59. The Bell Jar- Sylvia Plath
60. The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories- Hemingway
61. Middlesex- Jeffrey Eugenides
62. Making Money- Terry Pratchett
63. In Persuasion Nation- George Saunders
January 2012
64. Burning Bright- John Steinbeck
65. Siddhartha- Hermann Hesse
66. Midnight- Dean Koontz
67. Hard Eight: A Stephanie Plum Novel- Janet Evanovich
68. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference- Malcolm Gladwell
69. Desert Rain- Elizabeth Lowell
70. Edge of Danger- Jack Higgins
71. Three to Get Deadly: A Stephanie Plum Novel- Janet Evanovich
72. Fearless Fourteen: A Stephanie Plum Novel- Janet Evanovich
73. Seven Up: A Stephanie Plum Novel- Janet Evanovich
74. The Hour I First Believed- Wally Lamb
75. Teaching the Dead Bird To Sing- W. Paul Jones
76. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West- Gregory Maguire
77. The Hunger Games- Suzanne Collins
78. Is There Democracy In Swaziland? A Personal Perspective- Rebone Tau
79. Long Walk To Freedom- Nelson Mandela
80. Game of Thrones- George R.R. Martin
81. Catching Fire- Suzanne Collins
82. MockingJay- Suzanne Collins
83. A Clash of Kings- George R.R. Martin
84. Anthem- Ayn Rand
85. The Da Vinci Code- Dan Brown
86. Pathologies of Power- Paul Farmer
87. River Town- Peter Hessler
88. The Screwtape Letters- C.S. Lewis
89. Smiles: Stories, Essays, and Little White Lies- Gary Schwartz
90. Great Short Stories of the World: Volume One- Reader’s Digest
July 2010- YEAR 1:
1. Kingdom of Roses and Thorns- Deborah Daly
2. The Other Boleyn Girl- Philippa Gregory
3. Under the Banner of Heaven- Jon Krakauer
4. The Cider House Rules- Jon Irving
5. Running With Scissors- Augustin Burroughs
6. The Sea- John Banville
7. How We Are Hungry- Dave Eggers
8. Life Expectancy- Dean Koontz
9. The Heaven Shop- Deborah Ellis
10. Velocity- Dean Koontz
11. More 5 minute Mysteries- Ken Weber
12. By the Light of the Moon- Dean Koontz
13. The Good Husband of Zebra Drive- Alexander McCall Smith
14. Seduce Me at Sunrise- Lisa Kleypas
15. In the Company of Cheerful Ladies- Alexander McCall Smith
16. Love and Houses- Marti Leimbach
17. Savannah Heat- Kat Martin
January 2011
18. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo- Stieg Larsson
19. The Girl Who Played With Fire- Stieg Larsson
20. Bachelor Duke- Mary Nicholas
21. Playing For Pizza- John Grisham
22. A Kiss Before Dying- Ira Levin
23. The Appeal- John Grisham
24. Love Lies Bleeding- Susan Wittig Albert
25. Written On The Body- Jeanette Winterson
26. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan- Lisa See
27. Midnight Treasure- Katharine Kincaid
28. Forever Odd- Dean Koontz
29. The Quickie- James Patterson
30. To Kill a Mockingbird- Harper Lee
31. Mere Christianity- C.S. Lewis
32. The Contrary Blues- John Billheimer
33. Icy Sparks- Gwyn Hyman Rubio
34. Stranger Than Fiction- Chuck Palahniuk
35. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nets- Stieg Larsson
36. Shanghai Girls- Lisa See
37. War Child: A Child Soldier’s Story- Emmanuel Jal
38. The Darkest Evening of the Year- Dean Koontz
39. Love Walked In- Marisa de los Santos
40. London Bridges- James Patterson
41. Little Bee- Chris Cleave
42. 44 Scotland Street- Alexander McCall Smith
43. Fresh Air Fiend- Paul Theroux
44. Not Quite A Gentleman- Jacquie D’Alessandro
45. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas- John Boyne
46. You’re the One That I Want: A Gossip Girl Novel- Cecily Von Ziegesar
47. Lifeguard- James Patterson and Andrew Gross
48. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets- J.K. Rowling
49. Sail- James Patterson and Howard Roughan
50. Life of Pi- Yann Martel
July 2011- YEAR 2
51. Eclipse- Stephenie Meyer
52. Breaking Dawn- Stephenie Meyer
53. The Tao of Pooh- Benjamin Hoff
54. The Catcher in the Rye- J.D. Salinger
55. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince- J.K. Rowling
56. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows- J.K. Rowling
57. The Sun Also Rises- Ernest Hemingway
58. The Dharma Bums- Jack Kerovac
59. The Bell Jar- Sylvia Plath
60. The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories- Hemingway
61. Middlesex- Jeffrey Eugenides
62. Making Money- Terry Pratchett
63. In Persuasion Nation- George Saunders
January 2012
64. Burning Bright- John Steinbeck
65. Siddhartha- Hermann Hesse
66. Midnight- Dean Koontz
67. Hard Eight: A Stephanie Plum Novel- Janet Evanovich
68. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference- Malcolm Gladwell
69. Desert Rain- Elizabeth Lowell
70. Edge of Danger- Jack Higgins
71. Three to Get Deadly: A Stephanie Plum Novel- Janet Evanovich
72. Fearless Fourteen: A Stephanie Plum Novel- Janet Evanovich
73. Seven Up: A Stephanie Plum Novel- Janet Evanovich
74. The Hour I First Believed- Wally Lamb
75. Teaching the Dead Bird To Sing- W. Paul Jones
76. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West- Gregory Maguire
77. The Hunger Games- Suzanne Collins
78. Is There Democracy In Swaziland? A Personal Perspective- Rebone Tau
79. Long Walk To Freedom- Nelson Mandela
80. Game of Thrones- George R.R. Martin
81. Catching Fire- Suzanne Collins
82. MockingJay- Suzanne Collins
83. A Clash of Kings- George R.R. Martin
84. Anthem- Ayn Rand
85. The Da Vinci Code- Dan Brown
86. Pathologies of Power- Paul Farmer
87. River Town- Peter Hessler
88. The Screwtape Letters- C.S. Lewis
89. Smiles: Stories, Essays, and Little White Lies- Gary Schwartz
90. Great Short Stories of the World: Volume One- Reader’s Digest
Monday, June 25, 2012
The White Man's Burden
Living in Swaziland the past 2 years has opened my eyes in ways I never would have expected. For instance I never thought I'd be so offended from strangers calling me an "Mlungu" (White person) then followed by some sort of Asian country, most often China and India. Strangers shout out, "HEY MLUNGU! Mlungu China, Marry me?" When I say no repeatedly, they then ask, "Where is your shop? Give me a job. Give me sweeties." Or the fact that I would come to love and appreciate water SO VERY MUCH, that I would become an activist for women's rights, and that I would come to a new found knowledge on how religion does not mix well with cultural practices when the cultural values and norms contradict their religious beliefs. But the biggest eye opener has been the issue of international aid or what I like to refer to as "The White Man's Burden".
Before living in Africa I was a huge supporter of donating money to various funds, supporting children in developing countries, and finding ways to help the "poor, starving, helpless children in Africa". I wanted to do anything I could to help. But from living here my eyes have been opened: they don't need our help, our donations to charity organizations, or what we deem as our "valuable and insightful knowledge on the correct ways to solve their problems". What they really need is for us to back off, let them deal with their issues solving them with their own voices, in their own ways and through their own resources. Yes, international aid is needed but not through our big and lofty ideas of what would be great to give to Africans. This unfortunately has only created a dependency on foreign aid, free hand outs and has limited them to thinking that everything will be given to them; that there is no need to work for something when someone will come along to hand it over freely. Many people donate without researching the political and cultural details of the place and organization they're trying to "help", which can be a HUGE mistake. Sadly, there are so many well known organizations and missions that do more harm than good. Organizations and missions often come into villages with big projects, building schools, dams, boreholes, giving out clothes and food etc, without involving the local people. As a result, the people in those areas will often refrain from doing work because they're waiting for those same organizations/missions to come back and do the work for them.
So that begs the questions, what are good organizations to donate to and should I donate money? YES! There are plenty of wonderful NGOs that the money donated will go directly to the people and the projects. Partners In Health, Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, Global Giving and Peace Corps are just a few great organizations where real changes can be accomplished and significant progress can be made. The best organizations are grass root organizations where they are building capacity instead of making a footprint, giving out free material possessions and then leaving immediately. African countries do need help and support but not in the ways that we think. Buying a stop Kony bracelet does nothing, but by donating to grass root organizations like Vusumnotfo (one I support and work closely with in Swaziland) at globalgiving.org, you could help build preschools, train teachers, further develop permaculture in rural communities, and hold grant writing workshops for community leaders. There are endless opportunities to donate, but all it requires is a little background research.
The following article was posted on Matador Change at http://matadornetwork.com/change/7-worst-international-aid-ideas/. It's a great read and so true. Hopefully you'll gain something out of it, as I did.
7 Worst International Aid Ideas
Maybe their hearts were in the right place. Maybe not. Either way, these are solid contenders for the title of “worst attempts at helping others since colonialism.”
Left is delicious. Right will kill you. You try tell the difference if you can't read English and live out in the steppes.
Before living in Africa I was a huge supporter of donating money to various funds, supporting children in developing countries, and finding ways to help the "poor, starving, helpless children in Africa". I wanted to do anything I could to help. But from living here my eyes have been opened: they don't need our help, our donations to charity organizations, or what we deem as our "valuable and insightful knowledge on the correct ways to solve their problems". What they really need is for us to back off, let them deal with their issues solving them with their own voices, in their own ways and through their own resources. Yes, international aid is needed but not through our big and lofty ideas of what would be great to give to Africans. This unfortunately has only created a dependency on foreign aid, free hand outs and has limited them to thinking that everything will be given to them; that there is no need to work for something when someone will come along to hand it over freely. Many people donate without researching the political and cultural details of the place and organization they're trying to "help", which can be a HUGE mistake. Sadly, there are so many well known organizations and missions that do more harm than good. Organizations and missions often come into villages with big projects, building schools, dams, boreholes, giving out clothes and food etc, without involving the local people. As a result, the people in those areas will often refrain from doing work because they're waiting for those same organizations/missions to come back and do the work for them.
So that begs the questions, what are good organizations to donate to and should I donate money? YES! There are plenty of wonderful NGOs that the money donated will go directly to the people and the projects. Partners In Health, Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, Global Giving and Peace Corps are just a few great organizations where real changes can be accomplished and significant progress can be made. The best organizations are grass root organizations where they are building capacity instead of making a footprint, giving out free material possessions and then leaving immediately. African countries do need help and support but not in the ways that we think. Buying a stop Kony bracelet does nothing, but by donating to grass root organizations like Vusumnotfo (one I support and work closely with in Swaziland) at globalgiving.org, you could help build preschools, train teachers, further develop permaculture in rural communities, and hold grant writing workshops for community leaders. There are endless opportunities to donate, but all it requires is a little background research.
The following article was posted on Matador Change at http://matadornetwork.com/change/7-worst-international-aid-ideas/. It's a great read and so true. Hopefully you'll gain something out of it, as I did.
7 Worst International Aid Ideas
Maybe their hearts were in the right place. Maybe not. Either way, these are solid contenders for the title of “worst attempts at helping others since colonialism.”
1. One million t-shirts for Africa
Aid circles employ the cynical acronym SWEDOW (stuff we don’t want) to describe initiatives like Jason Sadler’s 1 Million T-Shirts project. Sadler had admittedly never been to Africa, and had never worked in an aid or development environment before. But he cared a great deal, and came up with the idea to send a million free shirts to Africa in order to help the people there.
Like some sort of lightning rod for the combined venom of the humanitarian aid world, Jason found himself pilloried across the web in a matter of weeks. Everyone from armchair bloggers to senior economists spat fire on his dream until it eventually ground to a halt. In July 2010, Jason threw in the towel and abandoned his scheme. And somewhere in Africa, an economy sighed in relief.
Why was the idea so bad?
Firstly, it’s debatable whether there is actually a need for T-shirts in Africa. There is practically nowhere that people who want shirts are unable to afford them. Wanting to donate them is a classic case of having something you want to donate and assuming it is needed. Just because you have a really large hammer does not mean that everything in the world is a nail.
Secondly, dumping a million free shirts is inefficient. What it would cost to pack them, ship them, and transport them overland to wherever it is that they are meant to go would cost close to the manufacturing cost of the shirts in the first place. That’s just incredibly wasteful. If you wanted to get people shirts, it would be far more cost effective to simply commission their manufacture locally, creating a stimulus to the local textile economy in the process.
Which brings us to the third critique of free stuff. When people in the target community already have an economy functioning in part on the sale and repair of the stuff you want to donate (shirts in this instance), then dumping a million of them free is the economic equivalent of an atom bomb. Why buy a shirt anymore when you can get a five-year supply for free? Why get yours repaired when you can simply toss it and get another? And in the process everyone who once sold shirts or practiced tailoring finds themselves unemployed and unable to provide money for themselves or their families to buy anything.
Except shirts. Because those are now free.
And before you think dumping free shirts is the sin of an uneducated maverick, Jason’s poor logic was subsequently repeated by World Vision , in accepting 100,000 NFL shirts to dump on some poor, shirtless village in Africa.
2. TOMS Buy-One-Give-One
Bearing in mind all of the criticisms above, TOMS shoe brand has built a brand on the premise that buying one pair of their shoes automatically includes the provision of another pair of shoes to an underprivileged child in a developing nation somewhere. Three months after Jason abandoned sending a million shirts to Africa, TOMS celebrated sending a million pairs of shoes to the underprivileged. It continues to do so.
While there are possibly more people in the world who need shoes than might need shirts (though this is debatable), TOMS can be (and has been) broadly criticised for the same kinds of unintended consequences of dumping shoes in places where people might otherwise be employed to make them.
while donating a pair of shoes helps shoelessness, it does not help poverty.
Further, though, the TOMS campaign — like the million shirts — misses the fundamental point that not having a pair of shoes (or a shirt, christmas toy, etc.) is not a problem about not having shoes. It’s a problem of poverty. Shoelessness, such as it is, is a symptom of a much bigger and more complex problem. And while donating a pair of shoes helps shoelessness, it does not help poverty.
Things like jobs help poverty. Jobs making things like shoes, for example. But TOMS doesn’t make its shoes in Africa, it makes them in China where it’s presumably cheaper to make two pairs of shoes and give one away than it is to get people in a needier community to make one pair of shoes.
The result of this setup, as Zizek explains most succinctly, is that on a big-picture level, TOMS (and other buy-my-product-and-donate companies) are busy building the exploitative global structure that produces economic inequality, while on the other hand pretending that supporting them actually does something to fix it.
It doesn’t. It just gives people shoes.
3. Machine gun preacher
The criticisms of TOMS, Jason, and other purveyors of SWEDOW tend to be intellectual, economic concerns. Problems with Sam Childers, the machine gun preacher, are so much more straightforward.
It’s dangerous and insane.
After a misspent youth in the United States and a few years spent behind bars, Childers headed to Sudan on a missionary project to repair huts devastated in the war. There he would be commanded by God to build an orphanage for local children and, incidentally, take up arms against the Lord’s Resistance Army, who was terrorizing the region. With an AK-47 and a bible, Sam would spread the wrath of the Lord and rescue abducted children for the next few years.
Imagine John Rambo with a biker’s beard hunting rebels in the savannah and you pretty much get the idea.
No matter how much you care to help the women/children/villages/gorillas in a particular warzone, trying to solve what is in effect a problem of armed insecurity through establishing another minor armed militia is never a good idea. However entertaining the film turns out to be, it’s the security studies equivalent of pouring gasoline on a forest fire. Peace — and a long-term future for those affected by violence in what is now South Sudan — can only be guaranteed through a diplomatic agreement between the groups that command the thousands of men with guns. Playing Rambo in the bush would not be tolerated back home, and it shouldn’t be here in Africa.
Childers is not the first person to get the crazy idea of solving violent situations by running in with guns. Hussein Mohammed Farah Aidid is an ex-Marine, and the son of Gen. Mohammed Farah Aidid (of Black Hawk Down fame), who returned to Somalia in 1996 to lead the powerful Habr Gedir clan in the country’s civil war. That hasn’t worked out so well either.
4. 50 Cent ransoming children in Somalia
Just this month, rapper 50 Cent visited Dolow in Somalia at the request of the World Food Programme. The trip was presumably intended to raise awareness of the issues in the way that Angelina Jolie and George Clooney did for Sudan and Oprah did for South Africa. There are quite a few examples of celebrities connecting with Africa actually. There is even a map to keep track of who has “dibs” on what region.
If the trip was nothing more than Fifty touring hard-hit areas in order to bring the world’s lazy media along, then it would have been useful at best, and benign at worst. But there is more.
If you Like the Facebook page for his Street King energy drink, he will provide a meal for a child in need. If the page received a million Likes before Sunday, he would donate an additional million meals.
So let’s break that down.
- If you Like Fifty’s Facebook page — without even buying the drink — a child, presumably in Somalia, gets fed.
- We can infer that there is a pot of dollars somewhere earmarked for feeding needy children. Two million meals worth of feeding if you count the million Like-meals plus the potential million bonus.
- Those meals, while they could be donated, and have presumably been budgeted for, willnot be, except to the extent that you give Street King props online.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is called extortion. Dramatically photographed, concealed-as-humanitarian-activism, extortion. I can feed so very many meals to these starving children, but I won’t unless you give me something.
The benefit of involving celebrities in aid work is often that it works to focus the attention of their fans and the media machine more generally on understanding, for however brief a moment, something that is happening somewhere in the world. Out of that can come the kind of empathy and activism that makes things like the Save Darfur campaign possible.
The celebrity’s contribution, though, hinges on whether they can successfully translate attention on them into attention to the issues. When a humanitarian issue becomes a platform for pushing an energy drink on the back of people’s suffering, we should be ashamed.
5. Donor fund restrictions
Not so much an organisation or a specific event, this a policy constraint that isn’t as widely known as it should be. When many governments donate aid money to countries that have been wracked by disasters, or which require long-term assistance, it often comes with a giant asterisk in the fine print:
A significant portion of the cash provided for such assistance must be spent on goods and services provided by suppliers from the donating country.
Not only inefficient, this policy prescription can lead to outright ridiculous results. In the case of the Mozambique floods in 2000, I met a medical volunteer who explained how the only US-made bikes that they could find to get around the country on short notice were Harley Davidsons. And so three of them ended up running between medical stations like some breed of medical Hell’s Angel. Fascinating to behold, but utterly wasteful.
Far more troublesome, as is often the case, are the economics of this sort of donate-and-bill-back activity. Where the donor aid money is tied to spending on donor-country products and services, far less of the amount spent in aid actually ends up benefitting the recipient country. Few local people are employed, and few local organisations see any new opportunities to bid for and provide aid-goods.
This has two effects: firstly, what could have been a large financial boost arriving with the aid is effectively neutered — shunted into a much smaller economy-within-the-economy; secondly, without the opportunity for competitive pricing on local goods, the money is spent on buying comparatively expensive imported products and staff. Harley Davidsons, rather than dirtbikes, for a tenth of the price.
6. Making food aid the same colour as cluster munitions.
Probably the most devastating screw-up in the history of helping was the decisions that lead to cluster munitions and daily food ration packets both being coloured canary yellow.
Left is delicious. Right will kill you. You try tell the difference if you can't read English and live out in the steppes.
Each yellow BLU-97 bomblet is the size of a soda can and is capable of killing anyone within a 50 meter radius and severely injuring anyone within 100 meters from the detonation. A Humanitarian Daily Rations (HDR) package contains a 2,000 calorie meal.
It was inevitable that Afghans coming across the yellow packages in the field would confuse the two. Children in particular — with no English and little idea of what a BLU-97 is even if they did — would investigate the yellow containers and try to pick them up, with devastating consequences that an Air Force general described as “unfortunate.”
7. Making USAID a foreign policy tool
In 1990, on the eve of the first Gulf War, Yemeni Ambassador Abdullah Saleh al-Ashtal voted no to using force against Iraq in a security council session. US Ambassador Thomas Pickering walked to the Yemeni Ambassador’s seat and retorted, “That was the most expensive No vote you ever cast.” Immediately afterwards, USAID ceased operations and funding in Yemen.
USAID, despite its appearances as a benign, well-intentioned member of the humanitarian aid community, is deeply compromised in being beholden to the whims of US foreign policy. Unlike organisations like Médecins Sans Frontières which strictly guard their neutrality, USAID’s ability to hand out food aid and other assistance is subject to the political agenda of groups like Congress and the US Military.
In the case of the army, USAID in Afghanistan has repeatedly had to participate in administering humanitarian relief in cooperation with army elements engaged in the “hearts and minds” strategy of manipulating assistance in order to win over civilian populations. The unfortunate side effect of this relationship is that USAID’s operations come to be seen by opposing forces as complicit in the enemy war effort and thus legitimate targets. An even more unfortunate side effect is that other humanitarian groups with far more benevolent agendas may find themselves tarred with the same political brush and unwittingly targeted for attacks and abductions too.
Sometimes bad aid is just the consequence of someone caring too much, but knowing too little. Other times it’s people who should have known better not being diligent in considering the consequences of their actions. And sometimes politicians and unscrupulous businessmen are simply manipulating the suffering of others for their own ends. When it’s benign or thwarted, it’s easy enough to laugh it off. But when a bad idea is carried through, the results can be diabolical. 
"Look the other way"
The following is a very insightful article about what is happening in the Kingdom of Swaziland and how it's just not quite terrible enough for anyone to care, or pay attention. Printed in The Economist on June 9, 2012.
Swaziland and its king
Look the other way
With no hint of democracy in the offing, the kingdom quietly plods along
THIS time last year Africa’s last absolute monarchy was in a mess. Swaziland’s government had run out of cash and, without economic and democratic reforms, no one seemed prepared to lend it any. Civil servants faced with a 10% cut in wages were going on strike, schools and universities were closing, hospitals running out of drugs. Pro-democracy protesters took to the streets. The budget deficit had soared well into double figures. King Mswati III’s corrupt and nepotistic regime wobbled.
A year later the little landlocked kingdom, almost totally surrounded by South Africa, is expecting a budget surplus. Government services are almost back to normal, the pro-democracy movement has grown weak and divided, and the protests, suppressed by the police, have almost fizzled out. The 44-year-old king, ranked by Forbes as the 15th-richest reigning monarch in the world, flanked by his dozen-odd wives (three have gone) and at least 23 children, is having a ball.
But the country is still in a mess, and it is likely to get worse. Two-thirds of its 1.2m people still live on less than $2 a day. One in four adults is HIV positive, the world’s highest rate. Life expectancy has fallen to 49. A state of emergency declared in 1973 is still in force. Any hint of dissent is crushed. The king’s spies are everywhere.
The economy, which has trundled along for the past decade at a rate of barely 2%, less than half that for Africa as a whole, is propped up by handouts from South Africa. But receipts from a regional customs’ union last year plummeted to 2.9 billion rand ($343m), less than half their normal total, plunging the country into crisis. This year, they have bounced back to 7.1 billion rand. But the relief is likely to be only temporary, with customs-union revenue forecast to fall again sharply next year, throwing the country into renewed crisis.
Meanwhile, the profligate but widely revered king continues to act as if nothing is amiss, splashing out millions on an unnecessary new international airport and refusing to carry out the fiscal and democratic reforms required to qualify for international loans or development aid from Western donors. South Africa, which at the height of last year’s cash crisis had offered Swaziland a 2.4 billion rand loan, has now put the deal on ice, and the African Development Bank has decided to quash planned budget aid of $100m a year for three years because the government has failed to keep its promises.
A former royal adviser has described the king as “unbalanced”, influenced by witchcraft, and “not intellectually well-developed”, according to an American diplomatic cable recently released by WikiLeaks. Another leaked cable quoted a half-brother of the king claiming he was surrounded by “dishonest, uneducated people” giving him bad advice.
But nothing truly horrific is going on. There may be the odd suspicious death in custody, but no mass killings or other grave atrocities. Little Swaziland has no big deposits of gold, diamonds or oil to covet. No civil war is threatening the region. So it is left to its own devices, while the world looks the other way.
http://www.economist.com/node/21556626
Friday, June 22, 2012
Dreaming of being on the road again!
“Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travelers don’t know where they’re going.” – Paul Theroux
It's been 9 days since I've been admitted into the medical hut for observation; waiting on my immune system to win the battle against infections. In this lengthy period of solitude I have accomplished many things. First off, I have finally closed out all grants, turned in all completion reports, and wrote out my Description of Service (DOS) document. As the Peace Corps office has been waiting on these reports for a while, I'm sure they are jumping for joy (or at least can stop crying inside) that I'm finally finished! Secondly, I have successfully taught my parents how to use Skye. It's only taken 2 years to do this. Thirdly, all office personal has gotten to know me- whether they wanted to or not. I have imposed myself in everyones office for longer than I was welcome since, apparently, I no longer understand non-verbal cues. Fourth, I've had a week long date with the Internet, giving me time to catch up on the world. What I learned was that a girl named Carly Rae Jepsen is blowing up in the states for an absolutely terrible song "Call Me Maybe"- can someone explain this phenomenon to me?, that John Mayer has come out with a new album, that the Maui Film Festival was a hit, that Miley Cyrus is getting married, the 3rd season of Glee has finished, and that American politicians have no control when it comes to mudslinging. And lastly, I have prepared myself for life after Peace Corps- specifically in regards to travelling.
Since I moved to Swaziland two years ago, I've had a general idea of where I wanted to travel after my service. I knew I wanted to surf along the coast of South Africa, make my way up Africa, then fly out of Spain but the details were unclear. Throughout the past two years my remedy for especially depressing days in Swaziland were watching movies related to Hawaii, surfing, or the ocean, AND bringing out my travel books and mapping out my assault on Africa. As you can probably guess I had a fairly solid plan.
Then COS Conference happened. The flight PC found for me to return home was unbelievably and disturbingly cheap. A flight to Sacramento was more expensive than a flight to Maui, which made no sense considering they would've had me fly through Canada to California to Oahu to reach Maui. But I digress. The cash in lieu amount given, forced me to rethink my plans. A flight from Spain to Maui would cost about $500 more dollars than I received and that did not include the flight from Africa to Spain. In a rut and unsure of what to do, a friend recommended I research flights through Asia. Turns out Asia to Hawaii is quite affordable! So that was it. Plans changed in a heartbeat. My travel throughout Africa would be truncated as my desire to explore Asia grew with every passing minute.
Within the past 9 days I have done an extraordinary amount of research. I know a general outline of where I want to go, what would be awesome to see or do, and most importantly the places I must avoid for safety's sake. And though I know a general idea of what I'd like to, I have no set plans. That's the beauty of travelling. You meet people along the way, locals take you off the tourist beaten paths, you learn about secret treasures and you go where the road takes you. In planning my next adventure I was reminded of something Paul Theroux said, "Tourists don't know where they've been, travelers don't know where they're going." I'm excited and more than that, I'm ready for the next chapter in my life.To fully appreciate a place is to take everything in, including the good and the bad, being adaptable to all sorts of situations, and being able and free to change your plans if and when something comes up.
For me that starts on July 27th on a surf expedition in South Africa leading me to Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, and hopefully through Ethiopia then to Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Japan bringing me home on December 17th. But this is just an outline and it's bound to change when I'm on the road. Oh to be healthy and on the road again!
It's been 9 days since I've been admitted into the medical hut for observation; waiting on my immune system to win the battle against infections. In this lengthy period of solitude I have accomplished many things. First off, I have finally closed out all grants, turned in all completion reports, and wrote out my Description of Service (DOS) document. As the Peace Corps office has been waiting on these reports for a while, I'm sure they are jumping for joy (or at least can stop crying inside) that I'm finally finished! Secondly, I have successfully taught my parents how to use Skye. It's only taken 2 years to do this. Thirdly, all office personal has gotten to know me- whether they wanted to or not. I have imposed myself in everyones office for longer than I was welcome since, apparently, I no longer understand non-verbal cues. Fourth, I've had a week long date with the Internet, giving me time to catch up on the world. What I learned was that a girl named Carly Rae Jepsen is blowing up in the states for an absolutely terrible song "Call Me Maybe"- can someone explain this phenomenon to me?, that John Mayer has come out with a new album, that the Maui Film Festival was a hit, that Miley Cyrus is getting married, the 3rd season of Glee has finished, and that American politicians have no control when it comes to mudslinging. And lastly, I have prepared myself for life after Peace Corps- specifically in regards to travelling.
Since I moved to Swaziland two years ago, I've had a general idea of where I wanted to travel after my service. I knew I wanted to surf along the coast of South Africa, make my way up Africa, then fly out of Spain but the details were unclear. Throughout the past two years my remedy for especially depressing days in Swaziland were watching movies related to Hawaii, surfing, or the ocean, AND bringing out my travel books and mapping out my assault on Africa. As you can probably guess I had a fairly solid plan.
Then COS Conference happened. The flight PC found for me to return home was unbelievably and disturbingly cheap. A flight to Sacramento was more expensive than a flight to Maui, which made no sense considering they would've had me fly through Canada to California to Oahu to reach Maui. But I digress. The cash in lieu amount given, forced me to rethink my plans. A flight from Spain to Maui would cost about $500 more dollars than I received and that did not include the flight from Africa to Spain. In a rut and unsure of what to do, a friend recommended I research flights through Asia. Turns out Asia to Hawaii is quite affordable! So that was it. Plans changed in a heartbeat. My travel throughout Africa would be truncated as my desire to explore Asia grew with every passing minute.
Within the past 9 days I have done an extraordinary amount of research. I know a general outline of where I want to go, what would be awesome to see or do, and most importantly the places I must avoid for safety's sake. And though I know a general idea of what I'd like to, I have no set plans. That's the beauty of travelling. You meet people along the way, locals take you off the tourist beaten paths, you learn about secret treasures and you go where the road takes you. In planning my next adventure I was reminded of something Paul Theroux said, "Tourists don't know where they've been, travelers don't know where they're going." I'm excited and more than that, I'm ready for the next chapter in my life.To fully appreciate a place is to take everything in, including the good and the bad, being adaptable to all sorts of situations, and being able and free to change your plans if and when something comes up.
For me that starts on July 27th on a surf expedition in South Africa leading me to Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, and hopefully through Ethiopia then to Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Japan bringing me home on December 17th. But this is just an outline and it's bound to change when I'm on the road. Oh to be healthy and on the road again!
Monday, June 18, 2012
"I am the master of my fate and the captain of my destiny"
I've always loved, respected, and admired Nelson Mandela for his strength, courage, unfathomable determination, ability to forgive, persevere, and despite all odds he overcame what was deemed to be impossible. He united a nation, fought against both white and black denomination, and gave everything for a greater cause-for something he believed to be worth fighting for. I have been reading his book, Long Walk To Freedom, and my admiration only grows with each passing page. He is everything I want to be-fearless, audacious, passionate, dedicated, humble, and patient just to name a few admirable qualities.
I have compiled a list of my favorite Nelson Mandela quotes:
I have compiled a list of my favorite Nelson Mandela quotes:
- “There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.”
- “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
- “I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one’s head pointed toward the sun, one’s feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.”
- “For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”
- “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”
- “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
- “As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison.”
- “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”
- “A leader. . .is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind.”
- “I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.”
- “There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”
- “Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice. Like Slavery and Apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. Sometimes it falls on a generation to be great. YOU can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom.”
- “We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?”
- “Quitting is leading too.”
- “During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”
- “There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires”
- “We must use time creatively, and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.”
- “I AM THE MASTER OF MY FATE AND THE CAPTAIN OF MY DESTINY.”
- “Tread softly, Brathe peacefully, Laugh hysterically.”
- “Success in politics demands that you must take your people into confidence about your views and state them very clearly, very politely, very calmly, but nevertheless, state them openly.”
- “I shall stick to our vow: never, never under any circumstances, to say anything unbecoming of the other...The trouble, of course, is that most successful men are prone to some form of vanity. There comes a stage in their lives when they consider it permissible to be egotistic and to brag to the public at large about their unique achievements.”
- “I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended.”
Perhaps one day I will be as strong, bold, gentle, caring, and wise as Madiba. He is a great man. The world cannot forget what he has done and how far South Africa has come because of his determination and willingness to compromise. This is to you Nelson Mandela. In one month you'll celebrate your 94th birthday and I can only say thank you for everything you have done. May you have many happy returns!
Friday, June 15, 2012
Hypochondriac you say?
As I had mentioned in the previous post, I had my COS medical exams this week. Little did I know, I was in for a RUDE AWAKENING: I'm not as healthy as I thought.
Every test seemed to bring about more tests. And those results brought more doctors appointments and further examinations, which eventually has led me to here and now, where I'm sitting in the Peace Corps office waiting for the latest results and resting up so I can travel back to my hut sweet hut! How I miss my small little room with my spider and scorpion friends!
For two years I have said that "I am allergic to Swaziland". At first this started out as a joke, that I was ready to leave, but slowly and surely I realized that this was not only metaphorically true, but realistic as well. The first time I left the country in December 2010, I realized my constant allergies, the sneezing and crying came to a halt in Mozambique and I could breathe with ease. Since then, every vacation I've taken whether it be to South Africa, Mozambique, or Europe has been a wonderful break from the constant irritation that seems to only happen in Swaziland. I have found that it takes about a day to clear my system, but I'll be perfectly healthy for the duration of my trip. I am truly allergic to Swaziland.
So for two whole years, I've been taking Zyrtec daily, and when the allergies get extremely terrible I'll take up to 3 Benedryls a night, along with a nose spray and eye drops. Although I have allergies everywhere in Swaziland, some parts of the country are worse than others. There was one memorable night where it was extremely terrible and I had taken 3 benedryls just to stop crying and go to sleep. I woke up around 10pm with something touching my right hand. Annoyed, because it wouldn't leave, I turned over and quickly fell back into my self induced coma. A few minutes later I awoke to a scream and my hard-drive flying across the room. Trying to piece together what just happened, my friend sleeping on the bunk below me informed me that something fell off of my bed onto her. She grabbed it thinking it was my phone. It turned out to be a bat. She flung the bat across the room and my computer and hard drive went with it. We spent about 20 minutes hunting the bat down and trapping it, then I went back into my cocoon and fell fast asleep. As it turns out, I was petting the bat in my sleep. Good thing we've got our rabies shots.
Most of my nights in Swaziland end in a similar fashion; I end up going to bed extremely early due to allergies. So when one of my friends said to me, "Shauna, I heard you wheezing last night. Were you OK? I think you have asthma, you need to get checked out" and she had heard me quite clearly from a tent far away, I realized it must be pretty severe. The thought of developing asthma had never crossed my mind previously and I hoped this was not the case. I immediately talked with my medical officer and she gave me a breath tester. Turns out I was way below where I should be. She put me on an inhaler immediately.
About 2-3 weeks later, I came in for my COS (Close Of Service) Medical Examination. The inhaler was helping a lot and I had thought my breathing had improved, so when my medical officer said she was sending me to get a chest x-ray, I was shocked. If I was healthy, why would I need an x-ray?! Results came back and in it held another surprise- I have bronchitis and possibly pneumonia. WHAT?! How on earth did I not know and more importantly, how long have I had this? I've been feeling slightly ill since January but blamed it mostly on the allergies, so have I been sick all along?
Then I have found out that I have an iron deficiency. I figured as much since I rarely have access to meat, and my diet consists of ramen, rice and beans, and spaghetti. But it was still nice to hear that my "laziness", tiredness, and inability to walk up hills was more than just being physically out of shape. I have a legitimate medical excuse!
Among these issues, I also became aware of that my vision has significantly worsened, the click in my jaw is terrible- I now clench and grind my teeth at night, I may have developed asthma, I have tested for anemia and there is inflammation in my system with which they are testing for a variety of things. So, basically, I'm on all sorts of medication right now. I've been put on a few different antibiotics, antihistamines, inhalers, antimalarial pills, and other random stuff. I definitely feel like a hypochondriac with all my meds right about now. Like they said, discomfort courtesy of U.S. Peace Corps.
Every test seemed to bring about more tests. And those results brought more doctors appointments and further examinations, which eventually has led me to here and now, where I'm sitting in the Peace Corps office waiting for the latest results and resting up so I can travel back to my hut sweet hut! How I miss my small little room with my spider and scorpion friends!
For two years I have said that "I am allergic to Swaziland". At first this started out as a joke, that I was ready to leave, but slowly and surely I realized that this was not only metaphorically true, but realistic as well. The first time I left the country in December 2010, I realized my constant allergies, the sneezing and crying came to a halt in Mozambique and I could breathe with ease. Since then, every vacation I've taken whether it be to South Africa, Mozambique, or Europe has been a wonderful break from the constant irritation that seems to only happen in Swaziland. I have found that it takes about a day to clear my system, but I'll be perfectly healthy for the duration of my trip. I am truly allergic to Swaziland.
So for two whole years, I've been taking Zyrtec daily, and when the allergies get extremely terrible I'll take up to 3 Benedryls a night, along with a nose spray and eye drops. Although I have allergies everywhere in Swaziland, some parts of the country are worse than others. There was one memorable night where it was extremely terrible and I had taken 3 benedryls just to stop crying and go to sleep. I woke up around 10pm with something touching my right hand. Annoyed, because it wouldn't leave, I turned over and quickly fell back into my self induced coma. A few minutes later I awoke to a scream and my hard-drive flying across the room. Trying to piece together what just happened, my friend sleeping on the bunk below me informed me that something fell off of my bed onto her. She grabbed it thinking it was my phone. It turned out to be a bat. She flung the bat across the room and my computer and hard drive went with it. We spent about 20 minutes hunting the bat down and trapping it, then I went back into my cocoon and fell fast asleep. As it turns out, I was petting the bat in my sleep. Good thing we've got our rabies shots.
Most of my nights in Swaziland end in a similar fashion; I end up going to bed extremely early due to allergies. So when one of my friends said to me, "Shauna, I heard you wheezing last night. Were you OK? I think you have asthma, you need to get checked out" and she had heard me quite clearly from a tent far away, I realized it must be pretty severe. The thought of developing asthma had never crossed my mind previously and I hoped this was not the case. I immediately talked with my medical officer and she gave me a breath tester. Turns out I was way below where I should be. She put me on an inhaler immediately.
About 2-3 weeks later, I came in for my COS (Close Of Service) Medical Examination. The inhaler was helping a lot and I had thought my breathing had improved, so when my medical officer said she was sending me to get a chest x-ray, I was shocked. If I was healthy, why would I need an x-ray?! Results came back and in it held another surprise- I have bronchitis and possibly pneumonia. WHAT?! How on earth did I not know and more importantly, how long have I had this? I've been feeling slightly ill since January but blamed it mostly on the allergies, so have I been sick all along?
Then I have found out that I have an iron deficiency. I figured as much since I rarely have access to meat, and my diet consists of ramen, rice and beans, and spaghetti. But it was still nice to hear that my "laziness", tiredness, and inability to walk up hills was more than just being physically out of shape. I have a legitimate medical excuse!
Among these issues, I also became aware of that my vision has significantly worsened, the click in my jaw is terrible- I now clench and grind my teeth at night, I may have developed asthma, I have tested for anemia and there is inflammation in my system with which they are testing for a variety of things. So, basically, I'm on all sorts of medication right now. I've been put on a few different antibiotics, antihistamines, inhalers, antimalarial pills, and other random stuff. I definitely feel like a hypochondriac with all my meds right about now. Like they said, discomfort courtesy of U.S. Peace Corps.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Life Lately
The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of events.
Swaziland is home to one of Southern Africa's best international festivals: BUSHFIRE. The music festival took place on May 25-27 at House of Fire. My friends and I got there early, set up our tents, and prepared for a weekend of music, food, and fun! Though the music line up wasn't as spectacular as last years, it was definitely a better time.
Following Bushfire, I had my Close Of Service (COS) Conference. It was 3 days of learning what needs to happen before I leave Swaziland, how hard the transition will be back to America, choosing my "official" departure date, researching my ticket home, reminiscing over the past 2 years and saying goodbye. It was exactly what we needed.
Then on June 6th a friend and I went to Johannesburg to take the GRE. Let's just say we may have gone overboard on our excitement to see a mall, McDonalds, a food court, and a movie theatre. We may have gone straight to McDonalds upon entering Jozi and watched a double feature of Hunger Games and The Avengers in 3D, which Swaziland has been promising to show for the past month but hasn't. When booking our stay at the hostel through hostelworld.com, it said that the dorms were taken so we decided to camp. Unfortunately it's winter now and Joburg was freezing! We ended up wraped in all of our clothing, shivering all night, and getting little-no sleep.
Upon returning to Swaziland we went on a shopping spree to pick up gifts for family (and mainly for myself) to send home. Then following this, I have my COS Medical examinations, where I spent 3 days getting poked, prodded, chest x-rays and pooping in a cup. YAY for Peace Corps and yay for being healthy!
Swaziland is home to one of Southern Africa's best international festivals: BUSHFIRE. The music festival took place on May 25-27 at House of Fire. My friends and I got there early, set up our tents, and prepared for a weekend of music, food, and fun! Though the music line up wasn't as spectacular as last years, it was definitely a better time.
Following Bushfire, I had my Close Of Service (COS) Conference. It was 3 days of learning what needs to happen before I leave Swaziland, how hard the transition will be back to America, choosing my "official" departure date, researching my ticket home, reminiscing over the past 2 years and saying goodbye. It was exactly what we needed.
Then on June 6th a friend and I went to Johannesburg to take the GRE. Let's just say we may have gone overboard on our excitement to see a mall, McDonalds, a food court, and a movie theatre. We may have gone straight to McDonalds upon entering Jozi and watched a double feature of Hunger Games and The Avengers in 3D, which Swaziland has been promising to show for the past month but hasn't. When booking our stay at the hostel through hostelworld.com, it said that the dorms were taken so we decided to camp. Unfortunately it's winter now and Joburg was freezing! We ended up wraped in all of our clothing, shivering all night, and getting little-no sleep.
Upon returning to Swaziland we went on a shopping spree to pick up gifts for family (and mainly for myself) to send home. Then following this, I have my COS Medical examinations, where I spent 3 days getting poked, prodded, chest x-rays and pooping in a cup. YAY for Peace Corps and yay for being healthy!
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Vacation!
Following Camp GLOW and the debacle of the Manzini Transportation Strikes (the bus rank stopped all East bound transport and there was nothing going in or out), my friends and I were ready for a break and most importantly- for our Mozambique vacation!
The Manzini Transport Strikes have been going on for the past few weeks. They started when the city council decided to move all east bound transport to another location. The operators were furious and they stopped all transport in and out of the city. I got caught in the craziness on my way back from Camp GLOW. A bus which I had just missed had turned around and let everyone out. Apparently the operators called the bus driver and threatened him that if he didn’t return to the bus rank, they would burn his bus down. Following this we’ve been put on travel stand-fasts for transportation strikes, teacher strikes, and various other stints occurring through the country. Needless to say, my friends and I were excited to get out of Swaziland and relax by the ocean!
We stayed at a hostel in Vilanculos. Vilanculos is an 8 hour bus ride from Maputo and absolutely amazing. Crystal clear blue waters, a pool and bar overlooking the ocean, and wonderful seafood. Everything I could ask for and more! I had the pleasure of doing two dives in the archipelagos and was able to relax on neighboring beautiful islands. The best surprise: seeing a 1.5 meter long turtle! Much taller and larger than me. It was amazing.
We met a Moz PCV who lived 15km from Vilanculos. He lives on the beach. Incredibly frustrated with the situation, I had to leave the conversation, cool down, and convince myself that these past 2 years in Swaziland were lessons learned, a great opportunity and a time of growth. This is all true, and I would never take back my experience from the past 2 years, but I do sometimes think about how much happier and content and full of life and energy I’d be if I had the ocean? If I was a Moz volunteer who lived on the coast and who had easy access to the water, how different my experience would have been.
The Manzini Transport Strikes have been going on for the past few weeks. They started when the city council decided to move all east bound transport to another location. The operators were furious and they stopped all transport in and out of the city. I got caught in the craziness on my way back from Camp GLOW. A bus which I had just missed had turned around and let everyone out. Apparently the operators called the bus driver and threatened him that if he didn’t return to the bus rank, they would burn his bus down. Following this we’ve been put on travel stand-fasts for transportation strikes, teacher strikes, and various other stints occurring through the country. Needless to say, my friends and I were excited to get out of Swaziland and relax by the ocean!
We stayed at a hostel in Vilanculos. Vilanculos is an 8 hour bus ride from Maputo and absolutely amazing. Crystal clear blue waters, a pool and bar overlooking the ocean, and wonderful seafood. Everything I could ask for and more! I had the pleasure of doing two dives in the archipelagos and was able to relax on neighboring beautiful islands. The best surprise: seeing a 1.5 meter long turtle! Much taller and larger than me. It was amazing.
We met a Moz PCV who lived 15km from Vilanculos. He lives on the beach. Incredibly frustrated with the situation, I had to leave the conversation, cool down, and convince myself that these past 2 years in Swaziland were lessons learned, a great opportunity and a time of growth. This is all true, and I would never take back my experience from the past 2 years, but I do sometimes think about how much happier and content and full of life and energy I’d be if I had the ocean? If I was a Moz volunteer who lived on the coast and who had easy access to the water, how different my experience would have been.
GLOW'n! Let your light shine!
Girls Leading Our World (GLOW) is a program run by Peace Corps Volunteers around the world. It is a weeklong camp that focus’ on gender equality, imparting health and guidance, and sharing knowledge and ideas in a safe and secure environment. Each Camp GLOW around the world focuses on issues pertinent to their specific countries’ needs and desires.
Swaziland has never held a Camp GLOW before and so 2 years ago, upon first coming into Swaziland and bearing witness to this heavily male dominated society where to be an outspoken, smart, and confident woman is discouraged and very rare to find, my friends and I decided to bring Camp GLOW here! Being that Swaziland has the world’s highest HIV prevalence rate, we focused our camp on educating young women to make healthy decisions, to take control of their body and mind, and to empower them so they might become a leader in their communities. It took 2 years of planning and coordinating for this camp to happen but on April 23, 2012- it came together and we did it!
Our camp consisted of 11 PCVs (8 people in my group-G8, and 3 leaders selected from the new group-G9). Each PCV brought 1 Counterpart (a leader in their communities) and 3 girls from each community. Though there were a lot of hitches and room for much improvement in the future, I cannot be happier with the outcome. It went better than expected, and went smoothly for a first ever Camp GLOW!
Each day held a specific theme. On April 23rd, our girls arrived to camp, settled in, got to know each other, and we went over basic rules and expectations.
The 24th was Art Day where we had some wonderful guests assist us. Yebo! Art Gallery was the highlight of the day (and even perhaps of the week)! Yebo! brought in 3 artists from Swaziland and South Africa who showed the girls creative outlets in which they can express themselves through painting, drawing and collage making. They also taught them how to screen print t-shirts. It took some time for the girls to hone in their creative side, but once they got going, it was hard to stop! We had creative writing sessions and TUSEME, a drama group, work with the girls in expressing themselves and opening up.
The 25th was our Health Day. Our Peace Corps Medical Officer (PCMO) came in and led our session on Grief and Loss. This is where the girls opened up about their lives, experiences, and the pain, loss, and heartache they’ve been through in their short lives. Some girls have HIV, most have family members who have died from AIDS, and all have experienced death of some sort- from a friend, family member or someone in their community. Following this we had guests talk about Substance Abuse addressing drug and alcohol abuse here in Swaziland. We took a break and hiked at Mabuda Farms giving the girls some fresh air and time to contemplate. Closing off the day we held our sexual reproductive health sessions talking about everything from the body, to using tampons and pads, to learning how to use male and female condoms.
On the 26th we had our Conservation Day! We had a conservationist come in and talk about volunteering, what it means to volunteer in the communities and in our daily lives, and how we can protect and conserve our surroundings. We then left for Hlane Game Park where the girls went on a nature walk. 5 of us PCVs parted ways and went on a game drive. :D
The 27th was Futures Day- going through everything regarding their future. We had a lawyer come in and talk to the girls about women’s rights in Swaziland. Most people are unaware that women legally have rights and this was a very important session for them. We had SWAGGA come in and talk about abuse (physical and sexual abuse) and what the girls can do about it, who they can talk to and what their options are. Later in the day we had a career fair as well as a female and male panel. The female panel consisted of 5 powerful women in Swaziland who hold jobs otherwise deemed as “male leadership positions”. They talked to the girls about their struggles, the obstacles they overcame, and how they made it that far. The male panel was just as inspirational and possibly even more needed as the female panel. It consisted of 4 men varying in jobs, who told the girls that they believe in women, they value women’s education and health, they admire and respect the strong and independent women in their lives and they hold to the understanding that Swaziland will not succeed until girls learn to respect themselves and are respected and valued by others. The girls were touched and highly moved by all presentation panelists.
The 28th was our departure day. We talked about setting personal goals, goals for their communities, and what they want to teach to their GLOW clubs in the communities.
All in all it was a fun filled, information packed week. Despite the exhaustion (going from 6am-11pm daily) and terrible nights of sleep (our Swazi counterparts were incredibly excited keeping us up until 2-3 am and waking up around 4-5am), the outcome was worth it. My girls had never left the community before and they soaked everything in like a dry sponge. Just seeing them smile made it all worth it.
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