Getting to Zero

World AIDS day takes place each year on December 1st. I was pretty bummed out when I discovered my org already had two fundraisers planned on December 1st. So, I was not able to plan an event with them to help get the word out about HIV/AIDS. The theme for 2012 was: Getting to Zero: Zero new HIV infections. Zero deaths from AIDS-related illness. Zero discrimination. Currently, 33.4 million people are living with HIV/AIDS; 5.6 million live in South Africa. More than 25 million people have died of AIDS worldwide since the first cases were reported in 1981.

Since, my org was not able to do anything, I was invited to go with Natalie and some individuals from her work to a step down care facility about 30 minutes outside of Empangeni. Almost all of the patients had HIV, AIDS, or TB. We took each patient a care pack with lotions and other toiletries, fruit, and juices. After we handed out all of the packs, most of the individuals left but Natalie, a few of her co-workers and myself. We stayed for about another hour and a half just talking with the female patients. We took extra lotion and we’re able to rub lotion on their hands and feet and just let them be pampered for a bit. It was really nice to get to chitchat with some of these ladies and I really enjoyed myself. I wont lie some of it was very hard to see and to be surround by so much suffering was not easy, but it was also very rewarding. I hope that we were able to give these ladies a little bit of peace during our visit. Nats and I plan to go back this weekend and visit with them again.

Grassroots Soccer- Take One

I have mentioned a few times the Grassroots Soccer Program. I never imagined that this program would have such a positive impact on my service and I have only done part of an intervention. To catch you all up this program is an "HIV prevention program that uses the power of soccer to educate, inspire, and mobilize communities to stop the spread of HIV and AIDS." "GRS delivers an interactive HIV prevention and life skills curriculum to youth, providing them with the knowledge, skills and support needed to live healthier lives." I have been completely blown away by the development of this program. It is unbelievable and being a part of it has been incredible. Now I will admit, there have been several up and downs. I wanted to write the post about my first intervention when I was finished with it. But, due to several factors I wont finish until January when school starts again. We had planned our first intervention (11 practices) to finish by November 30th. With the rain and the learners writing (taking) exams, practices kept getting pushed back and here we are. I plan to finish the first intervention when school starts back up but I will loose several kids who moved into secondary school. One might wonder why the rain would affect us teaching a practice. Well, unfortunately, it not only impacts my program, but also everyday school. Approximately 40% of the students who attend Nkosazana Primary School live on the other side of the uMhlatuze River. If it rains too much, the river becomes too full and the students cannot safely cross. Everyday these students undress to cross the river. If the child is too young often times their mothers or Gogos will carry them across. There is not walking bridge. I am currently working with the Department of Education to see if we can make a plan to get them a sustainable walking bridge. Keep your fingers crossed.

Here is an example of some of the students and Gogos crossing the river. It gets higher than this depending on the amount of rain.

Anyhow, lets take a look at the good things about this intervention. Jules and Hlengiwe helped run the interventions with me since it is in their community. We successfully finished 7 of the 11 practices. For it being our first time, we had a lot of alterations to make but overall I was very excited about it. We had 25 learners age 9-15. The practice structure normally consists of an ice breaker/energizer, recap of the last practice, MicroMove (small homework assignment) review, Take a Stand (controversial statements used to get the students debating), main activity, coaches story, and finally a cool down (MicroMove, review key messages, and a Skillz Cheer). The highlight of my service came from one of our MicroMove assignments. We had been discussing risky behaviors that could potentially lead to HIV and for their MicroMove we wanted each child to draw a map of their community that included risky and safe places. To be honest, I didn't have a lot of faith that it would get done and if it did, not many students would do it. So when the next practice came, I was blown away. When we asked to see their MicroMoves the kids went running to get them, about 75% of them came back with detailed, colored, nicely drawn pictures. Most even included a description of why the place was safe or risky. Also the older learners assisted the young ones with their descriptions. It was a great moment for us "coaches;" to see that they did listen and that they are gaining some knowledge from our efforts.

I have really enjoyed this program and the thought behind it. I think it is a brilliant way to teach HIV/AIDS education to youth. I have contacted a local youth centre and a secondary school to start more programs in the New Year. I can't wait to get them started!

Here the students are avoiding 4 risks that can lead to HIV: sex and alcohol, older partners, sex without a condom, and multiple partners. The first round they were to dribble the ball around all 4 risks trying not to get “HIV”, if they touched a risk they had to do 5 jumping jacks. We discussed the individual consequences of getting HIV. The second round if they touched a risk their whole team had to do 5 jumping jacks. Then we discussed in life who are their “teammates” who will be affected by them getting HIV. The third round if they touched a risk the whole classroom did 5 jumping jacks. It was great to see them cheering each other on and see them becoming more careful when more people would be affected. It shows that HIV does not just affect an individual but a community.

In this activity, the limbo pole represents HIV. The lower the pole got the riskier behavior they were taking. When we started the pole was as tall as they were, this represented abstinence. Towards the end the pole got lower with sex without a condom, older partners, and multiple partners.

Mother Bear Project

A few months ago I contacted a non-profit organization in the states called The Mother Bear Project. I requested 100 hand-knitted bears and not 3 weeks later I received them in the post. It is amazing that the only cost to me was the duty cost; which was practically nothing. The bears came with a few regulations: recipients had to be OVC's (orphan and vulnerable children) or affected by HIV/AIDS, each child had to have their picture taken with their bear, and the photos sent back to Mother Bear Project. The majority of children we work with easily qualified for a bear.

The bears are hand-knitted by individuals all over the states and donated to the organization. This is such an amazing project and I was so excited to be the one to pass out the bears and represent Mother Bear Project. I passed out bears at Treasure Hunters Crèche in Nkosazana, Nkosazana Primary School Grade R, Mgube Crèche in Umhlatuze Village, and Ngwelezane Hospital. I won’t lie; the hospital was a very bittersweet experience because some of the children were very sick and that was hard to see. But, it was great to witness them get a smile on their face while they’re facing so much at such a young age. I hope these bears will bring all of the children some comfort and joy. Make sure to check out their website and maybe you can become a knitter for Mother Bear Project! http://www.motherbearproject.org/

Children at Treasure Hunters Creche. (This is the creche I visit pretty often to help the founders).

Me on my way to Nkosazana Primary School to hand out to the Grade R's (its like Kindergarten).

Nkosazana Primary School Grade R.

Mgube Creche in Umhlatuze Village

Whenever I head to Nkosazana Primary to teach my Grassroots Soccer HIV Program, I always stop to see this little man in his class. I don't know what it is about him but boy does he make me smile!

Chickens...food and fun!

Several months ago Dan and I joined an Alpha Course at the Empangeni Methodist Church. Alpha was a 12-week course and some of my friends were facilitators so I decided to go. Well for the last session, our table decided to have a Thanksgiving potluck. Everyone was excited for their first “Faux Thanksgiving”. Everyone was assigned one dish; the only problem was…there would be no turkey. We had to settle for 3 small chickens instead (I don’t think you can get it now and if you could it would be pretty pricy). The most anticipated dish was Dan’s pumpkin pie; the only problem was he couldn’t find pumpkin so he used butternut squash. It was surprisingly very similar and tasted very yummy. We also had mash (mashed potatoes), green beans, green salad, beetroots (substituted for cranberries), stuffing, coleslaw, and pies. I thought it was really fun to bring our Thanksgiving tradition to SA. We even went around the table and shared what we were most thankful for. It turned out to be a great evening and I would say a successful cultural exchange.

I started the Grassroots Soccer program that I had mentioned a few posts ago and I just love love love it! The learners and their eagerness to learn about HIV has really had a HUGE positive impact on my service. I am out in a small rural area about 20K from my org. We are doing the program at a primary school and I have two counterparts, Jules and Hlengiwe. They are the couple that started a crèche on their property. They have been really great to work with and the learners really seem to like them. I will touch more on Grassroots when this intervention (11 practices make one intervention) is complete. I can’t wait to finish this intervention and get some more started. Since I am doing Grassroots twice a week I have been able to spend some time out at Jules and Hlengiwe’s house and in the village. I love being out there and I am learning so much about livestock and gardens. Jules has done some really amazing things at his place and is coming up with a lot of income generating projects. Spending time out in the rural areas is so peaceful and I really enjoy going out there. Here are a few pictures of me playing with his ducks and chickens! They thought it was funny how intrigued I was with all of the animals. I wonder if he gets sick of my numerous questions about everything!

Rugby is going really well and we have finals this weekend! I am really sad to see the season come to an end already. I have made a lot of great friends from the team and I am sure I will continue to hangout with them when the season is finished. I know I have been a bit behind on posting but there will be more to come shortly when some things get finished up! Miss and love you all!

I am one lucky girl!

Well the time came to experience my birthday for the first time not only without Kimbo, but also my family. I have been wondering how I would handle this and I did better then I expected. I honestly can say that I would not have been able to do it without the support of family and friends near and far. I really have learned how much of a support system I have stateside. It is amazing how many birthday wishes I got and how much all around support I have received over the last 7 months. All I can say is I am truly one lucky girl. Not only am I realizing the support from home, but also, I am beginning to see how strong of a support system I also have here in South Africa. The support from fellow PCV's has been wonderful, but I am also seeing how lucky I am for the strong group of friends I have made here.

For my birthday Grandpere picked me up from the bus stop and when I got back all the lights were off. Grandmere, Grandpere and Dan surprised me with a candle light dinner. I had my favorite, samp and beans and spinach quiche as a side. Nats even stopped by to give me a gift. It was a lovely evening and a great birthday. This Friday night, Nats and Derrick planned a big braai(South African BBQ) for me at their house. We had a great time and I have been lucky to have these friends here.

Important meetings and revolting drinks!

Every year all non-profit organizations in South Africa have to host an Annual General Meeting (AGM). These meetings allow the committee members, staff, stakeholders, and community members to come together and elect the board of directors and discuss previous and future projects. We just hosted our AGM and it was really neat to see what the welfare had done over the last year. It was also great to see a room full of people with the same desire…to improve the welfare of children and families throughout their community. We had a great turn out this year and I hope for an even better one in the years to come. Although I was not involved in any of last year’s events, I was still able to pitch in and help prepare for the meeting and I think we all did a great job!

As you are all aware, I like to keep busy and active so I joined a local women’s touch rugby team. I absolutely love it! I am not very good at it and have some habits from hockey that I need to break but all in all, its great fun. The team is awesome and reminds me a lot of my Thunder ladies. It is great to have a sense of belonging to a team and learn something new at the same time. A local company sponsors the team I play for and they are all actually really good. I look forward to the rest of the season and pictures are to come soon! I also joined some of my teammates in a local Fear Factor game.

We had so much fun but I don’t even want to know what I ate. I know at first we had to drink what was supposedly chunky yogurt with moss and black spaghetti noodles (which we thought were worms). It was a bit too chunky and nasty for me. Look at our faces in the picture below! The second thing I did was to drink some strange red stuff that I think had hot sauce in it. My lips were on fire for like 20 minutes! As soon as I finished that, I had to pick an egg out of one of three birds nests and crack it on my forehead. I was able to win my challenge but I was not really sure what the point of it was. My last challenge I was disqualified because my captain told me to go when I was not suppose to. I ended up eating another girls “frog eggs in oyster shells." I ate it so fast though because I thought I was behind that I didn’t even get a chance to taste it. Some of my teammates had to eat tripe (cows stomach) and dig for things in a trash bin full of cow manure. It was a super fun night and we ended up taking 3rd place.

A few weeks ago I headed back to the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Park. It is always so fun to go to and it’s only about an hour drive from site. I was lucky to see 3 of the big 5 (an elephant, rhinos, and buffalos). We were able to see about 25 rhinos and that was incredible. There is a huge rhino poaching problem in South Africa right now and it is incredibly sad. I read that since 2007 there has been a 3000% increase in illegal rhino slaughtering. Just on Monday, 9 rhinos were found dead at the same Game Park I just went to. The rhinos are being poached for their horns. The horns are supposedly used for aphrodisiacs, traditional medicines, and beauty treatments, although the horns have scientifically been proven to have no positive effect. I hope people will put an end to this horrendous crime and cruelty to rhinos.

Life Skills, Gardens and indestructible soccer balls!

Wow it has been along time since my last post! Things up until last week have been pretty mellow and I don’t want to bore you all too bad! This last week the Peace Corps gave us some awesome training. Training was held in my host town for all of the SA25 KwaZulu Natal volunteers. The first part of the training was for the Life Skills program. This program is right up my alley and is something that I really want to do with a small girls group. The program is a behavior change approach that focuses on the development of skills needed throughout life. Some of the skills are communication, decision-making, self-esteem building, resisting peer pressure, and relationship skills. It also addresses the important issue related to empowering young girls and guiding boys towards new values. My counterpart Hlengiwe, Rachel, Mdemiseni, and I were able to practice facilitating a lesson on the facts and myths of HIV and AIDS. It was a great opportunity to practice and receive feedback from our peers and facilitators. It was a really great program and I look forward to using it within my community.

The second part of training was held at a rural school about 25 minutes outside of Empangeni. This training was focused on permagardening. This is an amazing way to garden and is a great way to help with alleviating poverty and resiliency for people living with HIV/AIDS. This gardening technique is an easy way to really increase the quality of food and is easy to teach, learn, and do. There are multiple steps to digging and building the garden, but once it is done with proper management, planting and care, weed growth and water loss is reduced by 80%. Digging about 30 cm into the topsoil starts the permagarden, and then you dig into the subsoil. Once your hole is about one meter you fill the bottom with smashed tin cans and sticks, after that you layer will subsoil, newspaper, subsoil, leaves, subsoil, grass and then topsoil. After all of that you can finally start planting your seeds or seedlings. We were broken into groups and we all made 4 permagardens that we put into various designs.

The designs are aimed at keeping the children at the school interested in the gardens. I am glad that we were able to do the training at the school we did because the assistance with food will really benefit them. On top of the permagarden training we were taught about building a compost pile, crop rotation, intercropping, mulching, fertilizing, and all kinds of other cool stuff. I never thought I would know this much about gardening!

Jules and I plan to start a permagarden at the primary school in his village and teach them how to sustain it. Jules had already started an agricultural project in his area so he knew a lot about gardening prior to training with me. I still think it was beneficial for him to come along and I look forward to learning and gardening more with him. The other cool part of this training is the youth from the school were dancing daily and also had a special performance for us at the end.

I loved playing with all of the young learners and they loved having their picture taken! After training we all walked to the local beach about 20 minutes away, it was so beautiful! It was an awesome few days in the village and it had an amazing purpose.

The last part of training was also with Jules and we were taught about a program called Grassroots Soccer. Grassroots Soccer is in the works of implementing a Peace Corps Skillz program to the Peace Corps Volunteers. This program is an amazing way to reach out to youth and teach them about HIV and AIDS while incorporating something they love, soccer. The program consists of 11 “practices”. Practices include icebreakers, small hands on games, and questions and answer time. If the youth attend all of the practices they each get to “graduate” from the program and get a certificate at the end. During training we went through all 11 practices and I feel it is really a great program. Each volunteer was given manuals on how to run all of the practices and an indestructible self-inflating soccer ball. Although soccer is not played during any of these “practices” most volunteers will allow soccer games to be played after practice to encourage youth to continue coming. This training came at a really good time for me. I have been in a little slump from all of this tooth stuff and also the overwhelming sense of a lack of accomplishment. Good news is that according to the PCV mental timeline worksheet I appear to be right on track! These programs are a great way to give me a little kick in the rear and get started on some new projects along with some of the stuff that I am doing at the welfare. I look forward to what lies ahead!

Halala ngosuku lokuzalwa Nelson Mandela!

Today South Africa celebrates Nelson Mandela’s 94th birthday. Mandela’s birthday has now become the Madiba (or Mandela) Day. Madiba Day encourages people to take 67 minutes of their day to improve the lives of their fellow citizens. 67 is a significant number because Mandela spent 67 years of his life serving the people of his country and the world. Mandela inspired his people to take action to change the world for the better. He promotes people to “Take Action; Inspire Change: Make Every Day a Mandela Day”. I think that Nelson Mandela is an inspirational person; not only because of the amazing things he did to help put an end to the Apartheid, but for his will and drive to never back down from the things he believed in. I believe he has lessons we can all learn and grow from.

“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”. Nelson Mandela

I have been excited for Madiba Day; excited to get out into the community to help people in need, but also excited to see people working together towards a better South Africa. To start Madiba Day off, Ron and I went to one of the local schools to collect warm clothes and food that some of the children have collected.

We combined our blankets, food, and warm clothes with that of the school and off we went. We (Ron, Mandla, and I) headed out to the rural areas and a crèche. 37 people received a blanket and a food parcel. After the blankets were gone, we handed out warm clothes that we have been collecting for a few months. Most of the people had no idea that we were coming and that made it really special. They just kept saying “siyabonga uNkulunkulu” (thank you God) and “uNkulunkulu akubusise” God Bless you). I was really happy to be a part of this great day and I look forward to partaking in it next year!

Training, Lion cubs, and Skulls

I can’t believe that in-service training (IST) has come and gone. I can remember sitting in pre-service training (PST) thinking that IST was so far away and wondering if I would make it this far! Well here I am and I am as ready as ever to get some projects started and work with some of the youth. A few days before IST I headed back to Pretoria for some more dental appointments. It is a long story but after several more dental appointments, antibiotics/medicine, and tears, my tooth is still not fixed. I am headed back in a few more weeks to have the rest of it fixed and I am optimistic that it will be the last appointment. IST started the 23rd and my counterpart Jules arrived the night before. Since he arrived early we walked with Dan to the Union Buildings in Pretoria. The Union Buildings form the official seat of the South African Government and is home to the President's offices. Below the buildings are beautiful gardens and multiple statues.

During IST each volunteer brings one supervisor and one counterpart. I was excited to have Jules with me and to work closely with him during IST. Some of the information that we learned is rather repetitive for the PCV’s, but several of the counterparts/supervisors have never had proper educational training in program planning, monitoring, and evaluation. Jules seemed really excited about all of the information he was given and looks forward to using it in his community. I feel that this training will really aid in a projects self-sustainment.

We were staying at a very nice conference hotel outside of Pretoria with a river, pool, sauna, wifi, and amazing food (thank you US tax payers). We ate meat like Kudu and Ostrich, and lots of other interesting food. I had to stop going to teatime because there were always samosas and deserts and it was just too tempting! IST is not only great for the awesome accommodations, but also to see my fellow PCV’s that I have not seen since PST. It is great to hear from them and see what they are currently working on at their own site.

We have a lot of great people in our group and I think some amazing things are to come. During IST we were invited to attend a 4th of July barbeque at the US Embassy America Club. It was awesome! The Marines that also attended did an amazing job at killing the PCV’s in the volleyball tournament. I was able to sit down and talk with several other Americans who were living in SA for all kinds of reasons. It was really neat to be able to spend the day with Americans.

As PCVs we also had our own 4th of July braai at the backpackers. We had all of the traditional 4th of July food and we finished the night off with an American Trivia game that the backpacker hosted for us. It turned out to be a great American holiday in South Africa. After the first 3 months in service (lockdown phase) PCV’s are finally allowed to use their vacation time. I took this as an opportunity to go to a few places with some of the other PCV’s. We first went to the Lion Park outside of Pretoria. It was AWESOME! The first part of the tour that we did allowed us to play with some lion cubs for about 5 minutes. I expected little cubs but these were about a year old and they are removed when they are about 18 months. I learned real quick that you have to pet them firmly or they will swat at you. I ended up with several scabs on my hand and was even bitten. The lady had to come over and flick the little bugger in the nose to get him to let go of my finger. I was not the only one who left with a little wound; Flat Mommy suffered a minor puncture wound to her lower leg. I think she will recover quickly!

After we saw the lion cubs we were able to go and feed giraffes. I am still completely amazed by how long and slimy their tongues are. It was really cool to be able to pet and feed them as well.

Next we moved on to the ostrich. Those things freak me out; I kept thinking it was going to peck me in the face. I was too afraid to try and feed it out of my hand but I would totally ride one if I were given the opportunity.

We then got in the van and drove through the park. This part was my least favorite because I felt like I was in a really big zoo. I liked the first safari that I went on awhile back because you have to go searching for the animals. Here they were everywhere and were not hard to spot. However it was cool to see all of the different types of lions and the leopards. The next day Dan, Cindy, Susan and I decided to rent a car and drive to the Sterkfontein Caves. I was nervous to drive that far but once I started going it was fine. It is just hard to get use to shifting with my left hand. The Sterkfontein Caves are a World Heritage Site located about 70k outside of Pretoria in an area known as the Cradle of Humankind.

Sterkfontein is one of the most productive palaeo-anthropological sites in the world. In the early 1800’s some limestone miners noticed several fossils located in these caves. One of the major fossils was one called Mrs Ples, a 2.1 million year old Australopithecus Africanus skull. There was also an almost complete skeleton that is more than 3 million years old that is called Little Foot. I didn’t know if I would enjoy the caves, but I was totally into it and was really glad that I went. After the caves we drove about 10k to a place called Maropeng. To me it seemed more like a children’s museum and I was not so into this part. They solicited this “boat tour” and I could not figure out where it would be because there was no water. We went it and it was like a Disneyland boat ride. We had to just laugh about it and take lots of pictures. On the way back to site we stopped in Durban and stayed with my host sister Sophia and her family. The next morning we headed to the beach and it was awesome! I can’t believe that it is winter and there were people surfing and laying on the beach. I definitely think that a long weekend trip to Durban is going to be necessary. Well after a long few weeks I am finally back to site and back to ECFC. It feels good to be back and I am ready to get back into my routine.

Teeth, Music, and Food!

I knew the time would come when I would have to travel to the main Peace Corps office in Pretoria for medical reasons. Unfortunately that time came only 4 months into service. Luckily though it was only for a silly root canal! I tried to have it taken care of in Empangeni but after two dentist appointments and worse pain then I started, the Peace Corps made me go to their dentist. So I took a 10-hour bus ride to Pretoria. Luckily this dentist was pretty legit and there is even a picture of him and Bono in his office because he did Bono’s root canal. It turned out my tooth was pretty infected and a root canal was definitely needed. After 3 appointments and 6 days I was finally able to go back to site. I have two more appointments at the end of the month but luckily I am going to Pretoria anyways for In Service Training (IST) so I wont have to go that far just for my tooth. While I was in Pretoria I wanted to use the time to try and site see a little bit, the only thing is there is not a lot to see there! I walked to the Pretoria Art Museum, hung out with some other volunteers, and went to a few movies. There are always other volunteers there because Pretoria is the Med-evac center for all of Africa’s PCVs. It was cool to meet PCV’s from all over Africa and get to know their stories and what they are working on. Friday was the day that our community needs assessments were due. It felt so good to be done with it and I was actually pretty happy with mine. I am excited to get to IST next week and learn about implementing these project ideas that we have come up with. When I get back I have lots of work to do! Ladysmith Black Mambazo came to Empangeni on Friday and Dan and his housemates were going so they invited me to join them. I invited an acquaintance Bennie and we all had a blast! It was an amazing concert and the music was fantabulous! I really enjoyed the music but I enjoyed the dancing even more. I guess Ladysmith Black Mambazo has played in America several times. If you ever get a chance to go and see them I highly recommend it! Saturday the local Rotary and one of the banks planned a food collection for the welfare at one of the local shopping markets. We paired up with them and just asked people to help support the local families who are struggling during the winter. I was amazed by the amount of food that was donated! We were there from 7:30 to 3:30 and filled the back of two bakkies (trucks) with food. It is amazing to see a community pull together to help families in need. The Rotary and Nedbank also donated R15,000 to the welfare and they want us to use it to buy blankets and food. I don’t think we will need food anytime soon so we can help keep people warm with some blankets! Today is Fathers day and it was a pretty good day. I would have loved to be at home with my Daddy though. Luckily he is enjoying the company of good friends and the sun in Lake Powell! I sure do miss him! Dan and I decided that we would make Grandpere and Grandmere breakfast for Fathers Day. So we made French toast and bacon. It turned out great and they seemed to like it. After breakfast we went to visit another family that Dan met at church. We had a big cooked lunch and enjoyed the lovely company. After that we came back to my place and had another home cooked meal that Grandpere cooked. It’s easy to see why I am packing on the pounds! All in all it turned out to be a great weekend!

May...A Little bit of this and a little bit of that!

Well my computer charger has been broken and I have not been able to blog in quite some time. I am working on getting caught up but a lot has happened in the last month! So here it goes! Dan and I went to visit another volunteer in her village. She lives only about 20 minutes (walk) from the beach. We were in heaven and we were the only ones there. We had some local boys walk us there and it was great to get to meet them as well. Dan and I ended up staying the night and tried to fetch a taxi the next day. We waited for an hour for a taxi and one never came. Kelley’s host uBaba (father) took us to the taxi rank and we were able to get back from there. I swear you can wait all day for a taxi and it is not like ours where you just pick up the phone and call one. Things to get use to! I have been working on my community needs assessment and I wanted to do some community surveys. I had Julius pick some families for me to go out and survey. I asked them questions about their community involvement, youth, nutrition/health, education, and recreation. I learned that there is an extremely high stigma about HIV/AIDS within their village and I hope to get some education out there. There is also not a clinic in their village so they have to travel rather far to get tested or treatment. Throughout this survey, I was able to meet some community members and get their personal interpretations about their community. I was really glad that I was able to go and I can’t wait to work with this village more often. I was also asked to go and meet with the iNkosi again. I met this guy and had a pretty good conversation with him. I did my best to use my very broken isiZulu and he used his broken English, between that it seemed to work. I had Julius translate what Flat Mommy was and he thought it was hilarious! So the PC will allow us bike allowance if they feel we need a bike. I did not originally apply for a bike, but my APCD told the PC that I should get one because I live so far from work. I finally decided to get one and Dan got one the same day. I am pretty sure we look awesome rockin the Huffy’s! We had quite the experience assembling them and would have returned them if it had not been for Grandmere and Grandpere. It shows that us Americans automatically assume that it was packaged wrong when really we just put the handlebars on backwards! Woops, after taking it back apart, it works like a champ! Sugar cane here is a huge industry. Cane fields surround Empangeni and I have wanted to try to eat it. I asked for someone to bring me a piece to try and Mandla finally did. It is pretty much impossible to eat! He made it look so easy and I could not figure out how to do it. Here he peeled a giant piece and I have a sliver! So you bite the side of it and pull with your teeth. This takes the hard side of it off. Underneath it is like fibrous plant like crap (hard to explain) but it is just saturated with sugar juice. You bite it and get all the juice out and then spit out the fibrous stuff. Very interesting, I thought it was just far too much work but I am glad I tried it. Well here you have a few minor tidbits from May. I hope to get started on my Trip to Pretoria this last weekend! We will see how that goes. Sorry this format is so funky today! I miss and love you all!