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September 30, 2005
The Sun is shining through the Clouds..(sort of)
So things are much better now. I keep myself busy and might be moving as soon as 20 October. Same community different homestead. I have weekly calls with the medical officer to deal with the depression. The calls are more often if I desire. I don't trust her because this is the woman that told me that when I spilled battery acid on me, it was just water.
This experience really forces you to reflect and get to know yourself, something I needed much more than I knew until now. It has taken me until this past week to get used to the slower way of life. I live in a rural, 3rd world country, that is being destroyed by HIV/AIDS at an alarming rate, 4 out of 10 gave HIV. Everything shuts down at 5 when the shops close and at sunset everyone is inside. Powerlines barely block my views of amazing scenery past the poverty that is my community. There is one dirt road into and out of my community. It takes me a two hour bus ride to buy anything more than eggs bread and candles. The other thing that is difficult for me is I have never lived alone, not like this. Sophomore year of college my roommate ilved with his girlfriend. Everything in the dorm room was mine. I was very unsure of myself early in college and mostly kept to myself. I was the one in the corner of the dining hall with his face buring in a book. Probably some obscure Black Flag or Sex Pistols biography or US/Middle Eastern Policy by Chomsky. 1st two years of college I made acquaintances not friends. No one I really opened up to. No one I really got to know or got to know me. I physically live alone now in a 3 room tin roof building. There is one man who lives on my homestead. And he works until the sunsets.
No, but things are looking up I work or teach at the Neighborhood Care Point (NCP), a school for orphan children. It has 89 students and three teachers and one cook who volunteer. They get food from WFP (world food program) and cook two meals for the kids each day. Some orphans are lucky and live with relatives others live alone or in child-headed households. I teach informal, very informal English and Math. The ages are 5-15 and they are learning at first grade levels. I am working on bring more NCPs to help get the close to 800 orphans schooling. I am looking into finding funding for the students so they can go to the primary school next year or sometime soon. I taught the kids dodgeball the other day, and they loved it. So whenever I can get those dodgeballs from Jimmy, the kids will go insane. They are picking up the game fast.
The other day i went to Siteki, the closest real town, and visited another volunteer for the day. She lives at a deaf school, doesn't teach there, just lives there. And while waiting for her, I played volleyball with some of the deaf kids. That was fun.
So I talked to my mom about getting her schools kids to donate things, pencils, crayons, markers, paper. She's going to do it but money is a problem to send the things. Those that are teachers, I have a way around this, the US Embassy!! They can get away with not paying for postage or paying very little postage!
Jimmy I thought of some ideas for you. You could come here and do some video taping. Some things are: talking to NADA and seeing if they would give you money to video tape international dodgeballing. Another thing is I can talk to NGOs over here, mainly NERCHA, who paid for the NCP, and see if they could come up with anything for you to come here and video tape the NCP, you could shack up with me.
Another option, is we talk to PC Washington and do a day in the life video for their website and come and tape me and I could take you around to some other volunteers and tape them. Just rough brainstorm ideas.
Erica J, I saw your package left the states in late August and went all the way to Switzerland and I got it on my actual birthday.
other note, I was mistaken and still have not received any other packages, i'm looking at mom, dad and ann, sorry. I hear that after it goes through the mail, it gets hung up at the Embassy for some reason.
I can eat happy, I found Lemon Pepper. I gotta go now but I'll update soon again.
I miss you all. xoxoxo -colin
Brad sorry to say that I am beating you in the beard growing contest, non contest. And Feb. sounds great. I will have vacation time by then.
Posted by colin at September 30, 2005 09:48 AM