The Beautiful Ponta De Milibangalala

Several of my friends were headed to Mozambique for the Easter Holiday and I was lucky enough to tag along. Oh my…what a beautiful place and definitely a trip that I will never forget.

Bright and early the Landrover was packed and we set off for the small coastal hideaway of Ponta De Milibangalala in southern Mozambique. Our trip started out smokin…literally. An hour into our long drive our spirits were high and our excitement to get there was overwhelming, when the next thing we know the Landrover is smoking! We pulled over and waited for a Landrover mechanic to come and take a look. We received bad news and had to get towed back to Empangeni. After several repairs, it was determined that the Landrover had a blown head gasket. We were all pretty bummed out and thought that we were not going to get to go. Luckily, our crossed fingers worked and a bakkie (truck) was lent to us. We repacked and off we went…again. However, we left too late to be able to cross the boarder so we found a place to camp in Kosi Bay. Kosi Bay was where I discovered something so odd…pineapples do not grow on trees! I feel a bit better knowing that this is a pretty common misconception but my friends sure thought I was crazy!

We packed up camp at the crack of dawn and headed to the Mozambique boarder. Well like us, a gazillion other eager travelers were anxiously waiting at the boarder. Finally, after a few hours of lines and waiting we were on our way to Ponta De Milibangalala. Once we were into Mozambique, we drove on a freeway that will make you never complain about Utah road conditions again!

It was pretty muddy and wet! With the sand, we had to drive pretty slowly and it took us almost three and a half hours to drive approximately 70 km (43 miles). Our camping spot was located in the Maputu Elephant Reserve and once we got to the reserve I asked Janien to fetch me a monkey apple that I kept seeing. They were everywhere and I was interested in them. I was in the process of spitting the bitter and disgusting piece out of my mouth when Chris informed me not to eat it because it was not going to be good. Just a bit too slow! While passing Lake Xingutu, there were a few hippos and I made them stop to take some pictures. I still get excited about these things! We stopped at a small shop to get some drinks and see the ever so intriguing pineapple plant up close. I was so fascinated when I saw one that I had to get a picture with it. I am a dork and now I even want to grow one!

After setting up camp, we eagerly took off to the beautiful blue ocean. Our first day was pretty chill swimming and hanging around camp.

The next morning us girls decided to take a hefty walk on the beach to meet the boys and kiddos at a point on the beach where they were fishing. Upon our arrival, we were quickly informed that we should have gone with them because they saw the only herd of elephants that was seen all weekend! I had been anxiously waiting to go proper snorkeling and the time finally came! Chris took me and it was so amazing! To be able to swim amongst several schools of fish was an incredible feeling!

We saw so many different types of fish and even a stingray. The only problem with the stingray was it startled me a bit and I was so excited that I saw it, that I quickly scared it away with my underwater screaming. Earlier that morning, the boys had been searching in the rocks for some crayfish. It was really cool to watch them and to see them catch some. They were able to catch a few along with muscles and clams. We were able to eat them for dinner and boy was it yummy!

After dinner, we set off to go night fishing. Several of my friends are big into fishing and I was so excited to go and see shoreline fishing. Not only was I excited to see it but also to fish in the dark. We fished for a few hours under the moonlight and we were all able to catch some. I caught two fish; a very pretty fish called a speckled snapper and a grey grunter.

There is so much that goes into fishing and I don’t think I could ever learn it all. That’s why I will just go with these guys; let them do the hard work and I will reap the benefits!

We spent our last day in Mozambique soaking up the sun on beach. I went for a nice long walk on the beach and met the crew at the point again. Since it was low tide, we spent some time searching in rock pools for seashells.

After collecting numerous seashells, Janien and I set out to snorkel again.

Look close and you can see all of the flag tails!

Like the day before, we were able to swim in schools of fish (flag tails) and see so many amazing tropical fish. I saw another stingray and managed not to have a little freak-out! The colors were amazing and it was really cool to see it try and hide itself by flapping sand over it. Next thing we knew, we were both getting a bit dizzy from being in the water for so long. We snorkeled for almost two hours! After lying on the beach for a bit we all set off for the water again. We swam for a few hours and I still can’t get over how warm the water was.

That night, I had to share my American camping tradition of making smores. Most of my friends have never had them, let alone even heard of them. I was excited for the kids to see what they were and to take apart of something that is such a camping tradition in my family.

Even with the replacement of graham crackers for Marie biscuits, they were still a big hit and everyone seemed to enjoy them. Since we had spent the whole day at the beach, we figured we might as well go back to watch the moon come up and the stars. We had such a great time at the beach and shared many laughs.

We were all pretty sad to pack up the next day and begin our trip home. It had started pouring rain so it really was not very fun. I am so lucky that I was able to go on this trip and to have such great group friends! This will be a trip and experience that I will never forget.

HIV Prevention, Mid-Service Training, and PCV Seder Dinner

After teaching high school age learners all about sex and HIV, I have a new found respect for teachers and their patience! Besides a few moments of frustration while teaching, I had a blast and am looking forward to substance abuse and prevention next term. I have finished my first term in which I taught about HIV/AIDS. I spoke with the learners about HIV transmission, affects on your body, HIV/AIDS prevention, and support. By far my favorite lesson was female and male condom demonstrations. Boy was that a kick and I really felt like they learned from it. I drilled into their heads that abstinence was the best thing for them, but if they were going to have sex they needed to know how to properly use protection. It was a fun hands on lesson and a lot of great questions were asked. I loved asking the boys who thought condoms were too small and when someone said they did, I would stretch it up my forearm. The look on their faces was priceless!

I remember sitting in PST (pre-service training) thinking about the PCV’s who were going to MST (mid-service training) and thinking that it was so far away. I wondered how I would ever make it there! Well, last week I finished my mid-service training with the rest of SA25. MST is a time where all of the PCV’s from SA25 gather together for training, medical, and dental appointments.

I was really excited to see the rest of SA25 and see what they were up to and how life was going for them. We were broken up into two groups where we took turns in training sessions or medical/dental appointments. It was nice to have some new training and also have time to spend with the other PCV’s. I can’t believe it is only 9 months away until we meet for our COS (close of service). They say time flies when you’re having fun!

A few of our PCV’s are Jewish and wanted to celebrate the Passover with SA25. Since we were all together for MST we had a perfect chance to have a Passover Seder dinner. We even had the pleasure of having our CD (country director) join us.

Niki and Lilly did an AMAZING job hosting this dinner and teaching us all about the Passover and the purpose of the Seder dinner. We each brought something to share and Niki and Lilly provided the traditional Seder dinner items.

I thought that it was really neat that they allowed all of us to participate in the dinner. Lilly’s grandmother used to hide the matzah (thin, crisp, yeast free bread)and whoever found it was given $20. So to pass on the tradition, Lilly hid the matzah and offered R50 (about $5.71 but a big deal to PCV’s!) to whoever found it. Well you all probably know I hate when things are missing and I went mad until I found it. Lilly gave us the clue that “it’s where I would be” and I figured out that it was in the bookshelf!I was very excited to have been the one to find it!

It turned out to be an incredible evening and I am so lucky to have the chance to be exposed to all of these wonderful traditions!

To finish off MST, our VSN (volunteer support network) (yes PC loves acronyms!!!) put together a PC Prom. The theme was “Party in The USA” and you had to dress like your date.

It was a night full of laughing and dancing. Vivian, our eldest SA25 PCV (79 and a rock star) really showed us kids how to dance! It was so fun to dance with her.

Each of us were also given an advent calendar that was made by our “mama bear” Susan. Susan was our PCVL (Peace Corps Volunteer Leader) and she is getting ready to head home after her 3rd year of service. We took a picture for her as a group to really thank her for taking the time to make this for each one of SA25.

Love and miss you all!

Izinto zihamba kahle

The welfare has wanted to plan a golf day fundraiser for sometime now and I thought it was a great idea. So, I was the thorn in their side and went with Ron to book a day at our local golf club. Once it was booked, there was no turning back! After a month of hard work, planning, and dedication we hosted our first golf day. It was such a fun day and we had a great turnout. In total, we had 97 golfers and 30 sponsors. We were able to raise a little over R17, 000! Not only did we raise a lot of money, but we also had so many awesome prizes for the golfers. My main push for this golf day was not just for the fundraising, but also to show the welfare that with a little hard work from everyone, we can plan successful events. It was my first time planning something this big so I was a bit nervous about it, but with the help of the golf club and some other folks, all of our questions everything went smoothly. The few hiccups that we did have were minor and were great to learn from. All in all our golf day was a big success!

I did however make myself look like a complete dork though! Early in the golf day the newspaper wanted to come and get a picture of the ECFC staff. Well, they told us to put on hats and make a funny face, so like my mommy taught me, I followed directions! Well I hope you laugh at this picture as much as I did!

I have started teaching and I LOVE it. I have only done it the last two weeks but I have had so much fun. My first week, I taught 12 classes in two days and I never thought teaching could be so exhausting! All of the classes were different classes but two. I have been impressed with how well I have been able to keep a straight face during all most :) of the stuff I have talked about and the funny comments some of the learners make. My goal for teaching is not only to teach these learners, but also create a place where they feel comfortable asking whatever they want and getting the right answers.

Oh I went shoreline angling "fishing" for the first time. Well actually I just watched but it was so cool. I never realized that there was so much that went into fishing. I got to hold a baby shark and thought it wanted a kiss before he went back to the sea!

Life is good and things are looking up :)

Bafana Bafana Unites

Africa Cups of Nations (AFCON) was held here in South Africa this year. The winner of this cup is not only the best team in Africa, but will also represent Africa in The FIFA Confederation Cup in Brazil 2014. To be in the host country for this tournament and not go to a game would have been silly, so several PCV’s got tickets for the quarterfinal game. Several weeks after buying tickets, South Africa qualified for the quarterfinal game. We were stoked! I have never been to a professional soccer game before so this was a perfect way to experience one!

The game was in Durban at the 54,000 people Moses Mabhida Stadium. This game was definitely a nail biter; it was so fun to watch! After full regulation time and 30 minutes over time, South Africa lost to Mali 3-1 in a shoot out. I have never seen and heard so many vuvuzela's! For those of you who are unsure of what a vuvuzela is, it's a long horn that is really loud, annoying, and extremely popular here at the soccer games.

Oh and the wave was so fun to be a part of and I have never seen one work so well! I found it odd that most South Africans call a wave a Mexican wave. To be honest, as much fun as the game was to watch, it was not my favorite part of the night. Being part of the crowd and the excitement was the best part for me. I have never felt such a united feeling in South Africa as I did that night in the stadium. Everyone came together supporting and cheering on their country. We sang the national anthem with the crowd and it was such a cool feeling. It’s hard for me to explain why this was such a cool thing to experience, its like regardless of being a post conflict country it didn’t matter. Everyone was one, altogether, singing their anthem.

Besides of all the fun I am having, I have nothing but good thoughts about 2013. I feel strongly that it is my year here and I can’t wait to really dig in. I have been helping the welfare plan a Golf Day that is finally coming up this weekend. Tomorrow I start teaching Life Orientation at a secondary school by my house. I will be teaching twice a week; 8 classes, grades 8-10. My main focus will be on HIV/AIDS, teen pregnancy, and substance abuse. I am also still helping Jules and his wife with some stuff at the crèche and teaching Grassroots Soccer at the primary school by their house. I hope all is well at home and miss you all like crazy!

An Epic Christmas Vacation

Happy New Years friends! May you all have a prosperous and happy 2013.

For the holidays this year, I decided to take advantage of the time off of work and I went on a lengthy, adventurous, and enlightening 17-day holiday. I joined several other PCV’s and it was a trip that I will never forget. We are so lucky to have the chance to travel such a beautiful country and meet so many amazing people along the way.

We started in Durban, which is the largest city in Kwa-Zulu Natal and has the busiest (sea) port in South Africa.

It is known for its delicious bunny chows and boy they’re yummy! Bunny Chows are a part of a hollowed out loaf of bread filled with curry; and for those of you wondering, no its not real bunny! Like a lot of South African food, you eat it without silverware. Some of the main things places we visited in Durban were- The KwaMuhle Museum, The Bat an art gallery, the Victoria Market (huge tourist market), saw The Port of Durban and the botanical gardens. The botanical gardens were beautiful and by far the most memorable thing we saw in Durban. Maybe we are a bit immature, but we found a nativity scene at the gardens to be absolutely hilarious. When looking closely, we discovered that all wise men were actually wise women. To make them look male, fake weave hair was used to make facial hair. We couldn’t take it seriously to begin with and then it got better…we saw the angle had a fro and a vuvuzela that was painted gold. Check out the eye shadow on one of the wise (wo)men. Hope you get as much of a kick out of it as we did!

After Durban we headed down the Wild Coast and spent a few days in Coffee Bay. We stayed at backpackers called the Coffee Shack and it was by far as the neatest and chillest backpacker I have ever been to. From our dorm, we had a beautiful view of the ocean. We hired a local tour guide to take us to Hole in the Wall about 9k away from the backpackers. Eric (our tour guide) knew a lot about the land and he was really good at spotting dolphins and a even a whale along our hike. The hike was along the coastline and it was an incredible view. When we got there Dan and I swam to the hole and I jumped into the side of it.

Later that night we got back to the backpacker and they had prepared an amazing Christmas Eve dinner. It was not easy to be away from home for the holidays, but I am glad I was able to at least spend Christmas Eve with fellow PCV’s and people from all over the world. Coffee Bay ended up being my favorite part of the overall trip.

As hard as it was to say goodbye to Coffee Bay, off we went to Chinsta. Once again, we had another amazing view of the ocean from the deck outside our dorm room. Chinsta had a lot of cool things to offer- such as cannoning in a lagoon, a beautiful beach to chill on, a pizza shop, and a pool. What I thought was the coolest thing was cheap surfboard rentals! How hard can surfing be right? Wrong! I decided that I would give it a whirl. Well after about 45 minutes of unsuccessful attempts of "riding a wave" and literally getting the snot beaten out of me, I considered my surfing an epic fail. I did the walk of shame back to the beach and offered my friends the board, after watching my attempts they politely declined!

At last, after 17 long and dreaded hours on the bus, we arrived ready to see one of the most beautiful cities in the world, Cape Town. We started the trip off by taking a boat out to Robben Island. Robben Island was originally a training and defense station in WWII and a hospital for people with leprosy, mental and chronic illness. From 1961-1991 Robben Island was a maximum-security prison for political prisoners. Nelson Mandela served 18 of his 27 years behind bars at Robben Island. A former political prisoner at Robben Island conducted part of our tour.

Hearing stories of his first hand experience was very touching and interesting. He took us around the prison and showed us numerous cells, including Mandel's cell. To date, approximately 150 individuals live on the island, most being former political prisoners and their families.

Table Mountain was next on our list. We decided that we would hike up and ride the cable car down. It was an amazing hike with the most gorgeous views of Cape Town. Table Mountain is a flat-topped mountain and is the oldest mountain in the world. A cloud called “the table cloth” often covers the flattop; this makes it difficult to have a nice view. We were lucky to have perfectly clear skies and it could not have been a nicer day to do our hike.

We did an incredible Cape Peninsula Tour with the hop-on hop-off bus we used to get to Cape Town. The bus picked us up directly from our backpackers and we headed towards Hout Bay Harbor to check out the Twelve Apostles Mountains.

When we arrived in Hout Bay we took a small boat ride to the Cape Fur Seal colony on Duiker Island to see some seals. They were everywhere and it was a beautiful boat ride. After seeing all of the seals we jumped back in the bus and drove along Chapman’s Peak. We made a stop at Boulders Beach in Simons Town to see some Jackass Penguins. They are called Jackass because of their donkey-like loud call. An interesting fact I learned is the black and white coloring of a penguin is an important form of camouflage-white for underwater predators that are looking upward and black for predators looking down into the water. I could have sat and watched the penguins all day but it was time for us to head to the Cape Point Nature Reserve. Prior to getting all the way into the nature reserve, we were able to get on bikes and ride into the park. It was a great way to get out some energy from the bus ride and an incredible view. We then traveled to the Cape of Good Hope. This is the most southwestern point of Africa. It ended up being a phenomenal day!

The last big thing we did in Cape Town was the Cape Town Minstrels Festival, aka Kaapse klopse. This event takes place every 2nd of January. Over ten thousand costumed musicians, singers, and dancers march through the streets. Most participants are carrying a musical instrument or an umbrella and are covered in sparkling face paint. This festival started in Cape Town during the times of slavery when the original citizens of District Six were allowed their one-day off on January 1st. It marks the “celebration of life and new year” rather then a reflection on the days of slavery. We saw the first klopse (group) come through around noon and we heard the last klopse around midnight. Luckily we could see the festival from the rooftop of our backpacker so we didn’t have to be in the crowd the whole time.

Besides all of these awesome adventures in Cape Town, we also went to the District Six Museum, V&A Waterfront, Company Gardens, and Cape Medical Museum, hung with other PCV’s, ate Subway and half decent wanna-be Mexican food.

All in all, I consider this vacation a GIANT success.

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.