Home Sweet Home!

I’m in the USA…and its glorious! I’m about to go back to Africa, in a few hours actually but being home was so great! I took so many showers and felt clean afterwards which is a pure miracle. I got to spend time with my friends and family which I loved and drove to anywhere at any time…whenever I felt like it. It was surreal! I watched TV, which I actually broke temporarily because I got too excited about it and then apparently have forgotten how to use it since I’m a bit out of practice. I got to watch the Olympics with my Grandma, go shopping and answer lists of questions with my grandpa, watched Grey’s Anatomy with my mom, raged about life with my sister, and see some of my best friends!! It was amazing to come back and be in exactly the same place and home that I’ve spent my whole life in but thinking of things so differently and looking at life so differently. Things have changed so much at home but yet are exactly the same. It was a really good experience to come home and get to really step back and look at my life and everything going on in Africa and remove myself from it all to get the chance to realize that what I’m doing is exactly what I want to be doing. I’ve realized how lucky I am to be so fortunate to know what I want to do in my life and actually be doing it. As hard as things can be in Bots at times and the struggles and emotional craziness I go through, I’m doing what I love and really feel like I’m living life exactly how I should be. It has a been a great trip and I’m a little sad to leave and do have a few hesitations about the adjustment back into live in Metsi might be but it’ll be ok.
I have a lot of work ahead of me I think when I get back next week. A few days before I left I met with the Principle Education Secretary, who is the main guy that has been helping me and supporting the Second Meal Proposal, he told me that they had a management meeting with all the District officials and they agreed that the proposal is important enough to pass on to the District Committees, which is a good start. I was told that the District Committees which are a few different groups comprised of all the District Councilmen, Schools heads of the district, education officials, and any other district officials, will meet in the last week or so. So, in theory, there should be a final decision, approval or decline of if the Second Meal Program will take place. I’m nervous. This is such an important proposal to me. I turned it in back in October and its finally coming to a conclusion. I so hope that the children get another meal and the committees approve it! The Principal Education Secretary told me that he really believes it will be approved and that I should worry about it…yeah, like that will ever happen, but he was nice to try. He also informed me that when I get back to Bots he wants me to give a few different presentations to the committees and members of the ministry and possibly parliament about my village and the proposal to “help gap the distance between the official and villagers and to secure my position as being a partner with the District Officials,” as he phrased it. Yeah, that made me even more nervous! I think its great the the District wants to try to really use me and other volunteers hopefully to get a better idea of what is really going on in the villages. The typically don’t have much of any idea cause mostly they don’t see it or visit and certainly don’t live there, so it would be great if they took the opinions of people that live in the villages and really tried to make a difference. I don’t know when those presentations will be or even if they are officially happening but the Principal Ed Sec is going to make a visit out to the village the day after I get back from the US to come tell me what’s going on and if the committees met and what the verdict is….right back to work!
I spent a day at West Mercer Elementary School, where I went to elementary school and gave 3 presentations to 5 classes that are going to be Pen pals with my pupils back in Metsi. I told the kids all about Africa, the kids there, the village, the school and showed them pictures of everything. The 5 classes are a kindergarten class, 2 4th grade classes and 2 5th grade classes. The kids were so excited and asked so many questions. Even the little kindergarteners asked all about the kids in Metsi and what toys they played with and everything. I didn’t talk much at all about depressing topics obviously with the litter ones but I said they didn’t have toys and had to make up their own fun. One little boy in kindergarten raised his hand and all on his own accord asked if he could give me some of this old toys to take back to Metsi with me. Then all the other kids started asking what they give too. It was the sweetest thing. That was one thing that surprised me the most…all 3 presentations of kids asked me on their own entirely if they could send toys and school supplies or anything to help the kids in Metsi. The kids here were so generous and so incredibly excited to start talking to all their friends and start planning what they would send. I showed the older kids video of some of the kids in Metsi doing Traditional Dancing and immediately some girls asked if they could take video of them dancing and send that to the kids so they could see how children danced in America. The kids stayed in for their recess just to keep asking questions and they knew so much….I was amazed. I think it will be a great thing for all the kids to learn about the different culture and how to give back. One of the 5th grade girls asked me at the end privately if she would ever meet her pen pal. I explained that it probably couldn’t happen and she then said, “well, ok, that’s ok. Then, I’m now making it my life goal to go to Africa and meet my pen pal and then help other people there.” I was so proud…I converted one! Yay!!! She was sweet though and I was impressed that she had life goals in 5th grade…I didn’t! I just wanted out of 5th grade…that was really my only main goal!!
So, I had another, what I thought would be a good idea, idea….and not so much! I really want the kids to learn volunteerism. I want them to learn that even though they don’t have much, they can still give back. I found out about an orphanage in Gabs that has about 245 kids in it and I emailed them to find out more info and to see if my kids could try to come sometime and peer educate or help in anyway. They emailed me back giving me the impression they didn’t need much help, but that sure, we could figure something out. I was excited. I started doing some more research about the Orphanage and being back in America where the internet worked, I could finally see the photo gallery of this Orphanage, which I could see back in Bots cause the internet connection was bad…well, wish I had seen the photos before I emailed! Needless to say, I was shocked at what I saw and realized…this isn’t gonna work. I stare at this photo gallery of this Orphanage in gabs and see very happy children which is wonderful…but very happy children sitting in beautiful homes, watching TV, playing ping pong, basketball, soccer under the glowing lights from electricity and running water everywhere. I can’t take my kids there! My kids live WAY worse then the children in the Orphanage….which yes, made me stop an think a bit, “WHY?” Still haven’t figured it out! BUT the idea that I take my kids that have NOTHING and tell them that they need to go to the Orphanage and watch TV with them cause they need help….not gonna happen. I think if I took my kids there, they would never leave….hell, I would never leave!!! I don’t even have any of that! I mean, I’m so glad that those children are being taken care of….absolutely…but no. I can’t take the kids there. hahaha
Right before I left, the first 4B meeting took place. We officially registered with the District to start 4B and the Standard 6 teacher went to the first meeting. I felt weird about it but I put my foot down and said I wouldn’t go to the meeting and the actual leaders, 2 of the teachers need to be taking point on 6 months before I leave after 2 years, try to get teachers to take it over. It won’t work. They wouldn’t care and I don’t blame them…if I were to start it all and do it all and then ask them to take it over, not knowing anything, I wouldn’t want to do it either if I were them. So, I’m making it clear now that I will help with anything I can, but if the school wants it…they do it! One of the teachers went to the first meeting and got all the info we needed from it and found out that we had 5 days to come up with 50 pula for the registration fee or else we would be kicked out. Not really very fair, but the way it works. The teachers started to work it out and tried to plan a movie day were the kids help give funds to the school so that we could come up with the 50 pula…I had a flight to catch and still don’t know how it turned out. I’ll find out when I get back if the teachers could pull it off. BUT no matter what happens I will say that the teachers problem solved and tried to figure it all out themselves, without me and try to make it all happen…so even if they didn’t get the money…I still feel like it’s a little success cause they stepped up and that’s big.
So, when I get back in a few days I will try to figure out whats going on with the Second meal program, 4B, get the last of the pen pal letters done with the kids and sent back to America, I need to take my kids to Gabs, still need to find a volunteerism something for the kids, and continue formulating new projects that I’m thinking of but haven’t figured out totally yet. Still working on getting interest and help from the village and gov to start a community garden…we’ll see.
Also, I put up some of the pen pal letters that some of the kids wrote from Metsi on Picasa…pretty cute!!