I have been frustrated with blogger's glitches while working with a dial-up cell modem connection here in South Africa for quite a while now, therefore we have decided to move our blog to another free blogging service. Sorry for the inconvenience. The entire blog has been moved and can be found at:

http://barrwilson.wordpress.com

Thanks for following our adventures; we truly appreciate your support.

The B-Dubs

Thobela! (Hello!)

No, we have not been eaten by lions or melted by the African sun. We are, in fact, still alive and all is well! Our original goal was to post a weekly blog update, but somehow time has gotten away from us, again. (This is partially due to the fact that we are becoming more involved in our community and its surrounding villages, including those of our fellow Peace Corps Volunteers!) Know that your patience, support, and continued interest in our adventures are greatly appreciated. Although updates may not be weekly, we will continue to use this blog as a journal of our time in South Africa, and hope that it provides insight into this unique lifestyle and culture that we have the amazing opportunity to experience.

Pomp & Circumstance, Dance Parties, and Photo Shoots

Last Friday, Ben and I attended a graduation ceremony for the creche' (preschool) in Abbotspoort. We had been asked by one of the mothers to "take a photo" of her daughter in her graduation outfit, so we arrived before the ceremony, prepared to do just that. Attempting to keep the focus off of us and on the graduates as much as possible, we sat in two chairs in the back row. I leaned over to Ben and said with a small sigh of relief, "This will be the first community event that we haven't been asked to sit up front as special guests!" No sooner had the words left my mouth than a woman from the creche' approached us and indicated that there were two seats for us at the front table. (Dough! So close!) We obligingly moved to the "VIP section," sitting alongside school teachers, principals, and pastors.

Special events in South Africa seem to all follow a similar pattern: The designated speakers and prominent community members sit at front tables, facing the audience. The tables are always covered in white linens, usually with artificial flowers as center pieces. VIPs are served water, "cold drink" (pop/soda), and communal snack plates (chips, biscuits, trail mix, etc). It is impolite to not accept food in this culture, but we cannot help but feel a bit awkward about eating/drinking with the other VIPs up front, while the entire audience watches and waits for the end of the event, when a larger meal is commonly prepared for everyone present. The program, itself, typically consists of various speeches, songs, prayers, and dancing. The creche' graduation was no exception…

The ceremony was scheduled to begin at 10am, so when the MC kicked things off at 10:45, we were impressed! There were 21 items on the program, including five speeches and four choirs. Around noon (item number 15), I got a text message from our nearby Peace Corps friends, Rachel & Brandon, who had just arrived in Abbotspoort and were coming to stay with us that evening. Since Ben and I hadn't expected to be at the creche' so long, let alone sit up front as special guests, we hadn't forewarned Rachel & Brandon that they might be included in the event, too. I politely excused myself to meet them and when we returned, we were all ushered to the front tables as VIPs; Brandon actually had to squeeze behind the speaker giving the presentation to take his designated seat. Ha! Fortunately, both Rachel & Brandon are used to this constant public recognition, by now, after being in South Africa for a year, so it didn't even really seem to phase them.

The best part of the ceremony was the presentation of the graduates. The kids were shuffled in, one-by-one, wearing black gowns and given black caps. I was asked to help hand out certificates, so Ben took over the camera. Just like at the Abbotspoort Primary assembly, parents raced to the front when their children's names were called, whooping, hollering, and dancing up a storm! Many of the parents were so proud and excited, they swooped up their son/daughter in their arms before they could even receive their cap or certificate. I actually had to chase down a few crazed moms to stick the certificate somewhere between the child, parent, cap, gown, and huge embrace that was taking place. It was a riot!

Before the ceremony began, I found the mother who had asked us to take a picture of her graduating daughter, Tebogo. As you might have guessed, this one picture turned into over 100 over the course of the event. I took nearly every combination possible with Tebogo, her mother, Tebogo's friends, and her mother's friends. We are happy to help take photos for people, but also hope to establish an understanding that we are not here to be the official village photographers. Nevertheless, it was a fun community event to be a part of and the children were absolutely precious…

Tebogo's Graduation Day

Meetse, Meetse! (Water, Water!)

After the ceremony and enjoying a traditional South African meal of pap, chicken, goat, beats, cabbage, and squash ("pumpkin"), we showed Rachel & Brandon our home and took them on a brief tour of Abbotspoort, the major highlight being the river. We had made the walk to the river many times before and were simply looking forward to seeing the dry, but beautiful, ravine created by the river that once flowed here. Imagine our surprise when the "river" came into view and we actually saw water rushing down it! Not just a little bit of water, either; the river was nearly full and flowing at a decent pace! Since less than a week prior, it had been bone-dry, Ben and I were absolutely floored. It's hard to believe that rain could have filled it so high, so quickly, so our speculation is that a damn must have been opened somewhere and released the floodgates. Regardless of the cause, it was still a sight for sore eyes in this immensely dry area and the rest of the village thought so, too. Kids were swimming and jumping off of rocks into the new water, below, people were fishing on the opposite bank, and the four of us (not dressed for full-on swimming) enjoyed a bit of river-walking in our sandals and relaxing on the shore, sharing stories and taking in the beauty of the actual Palala River.

This water was truly a sight for sore eyes. We have so been missing larger bodies of water!

It was so much fun watching the kids line up to jump and flip into the river, below!

Lephalale Connections: The Other Side of South Africa

After a nice evening catching up with Rachel & Brandon, the four of us went to town the next morning to meet Jess & Paul (the other nearby Peace Corps couple) for lunch and to do our biweekly grocery shopping. Lephalale is an interesting place--it's very safe and clean, but there are definite areas where primarily white South Africans (Africaners) congregate and shop, and places where more black South Africans can be found. Ben and I are most often the only white people in our village, so it's a different sort of experience going to town and making connections with this "other side of South Africa." Generally speaking, everywhere we go in South Africa, we are treated with nothing but kindness and respect, for which we are immensely grateful. Now that we've shared a bit about life in the village, let us introduce you to a few of the people (Africaners) we've met in town:

Denise and Peter: An older couple who own and manage an artistic metalwork shop in Lephalale, but hope to retire soon. A couple weeks ago, Denise kindly drove the six of us (three Peace Corps couples) around town, allowing us to move more freely without carting around everything. They have a pre-teen grandaughter, Veronica, who is full of energy and enjoys attention from the three guys, Ben, Paul, and Brandon.Jacobus and Shanda: Jacobus along with his brother own "Build It," a hardware store in town and his wife, Shanda, is from the U.S.! She grew up in Minnesota (close to where Paul & Jess are from, actually) and she and Jacobus both lived in the U.S. for a few years. They invited the six of us into the store office, one day, for coffee, and would like to have us over for a "brie" (barbeque), sometime. Such nice people!Francois: A young guy, early-mid twenties, who owns the only tourist-type shop in town, "Ancient Africa." Extremely helpful, genuine, friendly, and a world-traveler!Steven and Jolene: Another young couple, introduced to us by Brandon and Rachel. Steven has a supervisory role at the mine and Jolene works at a store in town. They're newly pregnant, so we'll get to see the baby while we're here!Anna & Hanz and Anita: Anna and Hanz, an older couple in town, own and operate a fabric store. Their twenty-something granddaughter, Anita, currently lives and works with them. Another wonderful family that had kindly offered to have us over to their house!Erica & Dowald and Tonya: Rachel recently introduced us to Erica and Dowald, owners of a bead/craft store, and their daughter, Tonya. We've only talked with them that once, but Erica is one of those special people that makes you feel welcomed and appreciated, right away. I can see myself forming a neat friendship with her and I look forward to getting to chat with them more!Alma & Louisa: Last but, by far, not least, we've developed a neat friendship with two terrific women who own/manage Wimpy's, one of the popular restaurant chains in South Africa. They're a riot! We go into Wimpy's every time we're in town to greet them and use their restroom. The last two times, we've been met with huge smiles and hugs. Louisa has insisted that if she's busy or not available, we can just walk behind the counter and take the restroom key. Ha! I know if we every have any questions or need to find something in town, Alma & Louisa would be great resources.

Youth Day in Ga-Seleka

Hey everybody, Ben here. Just wanted to write a bit about a fun and inspiring event that took place a few weekends ago in Ga Seleka (where Paul and Jess live).

HIV/AIDS has ravaged much of Africa and South Africa is truly no exception. In our village we commonly bare witness to 1-3 funerals a week (sometimes more). While some of this hardship has been brought on by other causes (e.g. car accidents, old age, etc. ) many deaths have been attributed to "sickness". This "sickness" is either not fully examined or is just not truly explained to the public. We suspect many are actually suffering and dying from the affects of the virus here in Abbot's Poort.

Taken from a South African governmental website one finds that "more than 5 million South Africans are living with HIV, more than in any other country in the world. Studies project that by the year 2010, this toll could reach 10 million, and South Africa’s GDP could be reduced by more than 17 percent as a result of the disease."

It is also true that many patients who the Abbotspoort Home Based Care Group serves have been diagnosed with TB. TB is often linked with HIV/AIDS but must be treated before ARV drugs can be administered (if they are needed.)

With this being said, there is a organization that has been formed here in South Africa called Love Life. Love Life is South Africa’s National HIV prevention programme for young people. Love Life has truly taken on a life of its own working positively in youth around the country. We have heard of it promoting healthy lifestyles through presentations in the schools, as well as through larger events like the Love Life Games in Ga Seleka.

Paul and Jess invited Rachel, Brandon, Suz and me up to their place to "help where needed" during the games. These took place on a Saturday so we ventured north on Friday after school to enjoy the company of the Vig's and Johnson's a night a head of time. (Always an enjoyable experience. Who knew curried potatoes and home baked bread could taste so good.)

In the morning we headed over to the local high school. Here we encountered so many wonderful people. It felt as though the whole village was getting involved. Many woman spent the whole of the morning and much of the afternoon preparing the food which was served after the indoor program. Children and youth began arriving by the police-van-full. (The police had volunteered to tour the surrounding villages and to provide transport to those in need.)

The program itself lasted from around 11 am to 3 in the afternoon. The girls (Suz, Jess, and Rachel) were asked to manage the sign-in lists to make sure that all who attended were recorded, Paul was the "official" photographer and Brandon and I were placed by the front door to act as the "bouncers". We where told to point the hoards of people who crowded around the door to see the program to the windows along the sides of the hall. The room was packed and the sound system pumped dance music at unbelievable volumes between speeches, dances, songs and empowered testimonials. After the program was finished and food was consumed we headed out to the sports fields.

Brandon and Ben, the official Love Life Games "bouncers"

Netball, volleyball, and soccer were the games of choice and teams had arrived from many different villages ready to play (uniforms and all). Ga Seleka has a small, but nice sports complex with paved netball and volleyball courts.

The Americans took a few minutes before the games began to toss around a Frisbee in an open field next to the complex. On our way out to the field I was stopped and asked if we played volleyball and would be willing to play as a fifth team in the tournament. I love volleyball and so does Brandon, both of us playing on intramural teams throughout college and were itching to get back on the court. Considering that the whole group of us enjoy athletic activities we agreed, even though we are a bit rusty and haven't actually played together before.

We watched the volleyball games unfold and quickly realized that we had our work cut out for us. Eventually we were called out. We offered the option to mix up the teams and to just play a match with integrated teams (American and SA together) but they didn't go for that. So the game was on.

My favorite comment for the days was Brandon's, "We're not really a team ,we're just a bunch of Americans," as he tried to explain that we were in it for the joy of playing, not for the competition. (It might be interesting to note, we did look a bit like team given the set of free t-shirts we all were wearing.)

"We're not really a team, we're just a bunch of Americans."

Our games went fast as the score was quickly adjusted giving us a considerable handy-cap. (Not by our choice, but what can you do?) I nicely jammed my thumb early on in the game so it was painful bumps and spikes for the rest of the game. In the end, we "won" after just starting to get warmed up. Oh well at least we got to play a bit.

As we headed back to Paul and Jess's from the games, Susie became captivated by a litter of energetic puppies behind a fence at the shop next to the taxi rank. She was so captivated in fact that she didn't pay attention to the older and rather more aggressive dog who was hanging out with the pups. Suz walked away with a nice little nip on her hand, mainly a tug on the skin but it did draw some blood.

The Barr-Wilsons left the day a little beat up, but as a whole the day was tremendous. Go Love Life, a job well done!

FYI: The thumb and nip are both healing well, so no worries there.

Two girls jump for the ball in the netball tournament.

(Netball is a basically a blend of basketball and ultimate frisbee--you're trying to make baskets, but you can't move with the ball and must pass it up and down the court).

Home Improvement

Our little home is a blessing we did not expect to receive. It came equipped with mini-oven two plate stove combo, refrigerator, table and chairs, wooden cabinet for food storage, dresser with mirror and one without, queen-sized bed, and wardrobe. Really this was much more than we ever expected. This being said there were a few improvements we wanted to make here and there.

Creating the Door of Champions

Ok, so it's pink, I guess we'll live with it . The door on the other hand has left something to be desired. Apparently over the years is has seen it's share of hardship. Constructed of vertical slats it was anything but square. At first we had quite a time closing the darn thing and then we had to get it open again. This took one swift kick or a some good shoulder action. (If felt a little like tying to put a square peg into a round hole.) After a little discussion with the Faddermon back in Kent I choose to put in a few nails and to connect a wire diagonally across to attempt to bring it back to square. While this worked to square up the door it left a considerable gap on the bottom. This, I have learned, is a clear invitation to all the bugs of SA to the party we have every night in the Barr-Wilson bungalow.

Door from the outside. This is after it has been fixed on the inside. Notice it's hanging straight, but still a little munched.

So on our next trip into town we stopped at Build-It (our Home Depot of sorts) to see if I could get a rubber mud flap like material to block the space. Hearing of our door situation the owner produced a sheet of masonite just the size of a door. (Apparently it was damaged and couldn't be sold.) His idea was to take the door off the hinges, square it up and then nail the masonite to the door, "just nail the heck out of it," he said. This would replace the wire. Considering the original door was nicely munched by termites at the bottom I gladly agreed. Only one problem. We travel home from the village using public taxis. We have mentioned before that Khombi rides can become pretty hairy (15-19 people in a small mini-bus) even without a door-sized piece of masonite to cart along with you. Thank goodness the Build-It guys offered to have it sent up with their next delivery guy who was heading though Abbot's Poort in a week or so.

It arrived just as he has said, awesome! Now we just had to hang it. It was a bit too large for the door, luckily for me I have my trusty Swiss Army knife equipped with a handsaw. The installation was fairly easy once the door was actually made square. So now we have what appears to be a brand new door (from the inside at least), considering the fact that it swings freely and closes without gaps along the side and top this is a big step forward.

The finished product! Including the rubber stripping from home.

The final touch arrived yesterday, graciously donated by the family back home. Who knew getting rubber strips would be that difficult? Thank you again. I think we now have the best PCV door in SA!

Mosquito Nets (It never hurts to steel a good idea.)

Upon arrival in SA Peace Corps supplied us with a mosquito net to hang over our bed. Nobody from our volunteer group was placed in malaria country, but the bugs can get pretty bad even if you aren’t fearing for your life with every high pitched squeal in your ear.

Brandon and Rachel had a fabulous idea for a use of their bug nets so we borrowed it. In fact, the whole Palahla crew now has the same contraption. (PCVs along the Palahla river, Jess, Paul, Suz, Brandon and Rachel.) In town we purchased some Velcro stripping with adhesive backs, enough so that we could outline the perimeter of each window. We then cut up our bug net to make rectangles large enough to cover all of the windows. So now we have window screens to protect us from all of the little creepy crawlies. To open and close our windows all we need do is to pull away the netting and reach underneath to the handle.

Suz, demonstrating the joys of mosquito netting.

A couple nights ago I was reading a book by headlamp, so that Suz could go to sleep without the overhead light on. I had done this once before, when we did not have the netting over the windows. On that occasion my face was constantly attacked by all sorts of winged creatures, but not this time. The netting was doing its job! What an excellent innovation.

So with one step at a time our little place gets better and better!

Crazy Critters (Chris Lee this one's for you.)

A Bushveld Rain Frog. He was found under one of our washing basin after a night of hard rain. You can't get perspective on him here but he was a little larger than the size of my palm.

A centipede, and yes he was in our house. Just one more example of a creature that was heard before seen. To get perspective, he is about a thick as your index finger and about 6 inches long.

I think I saw this cute little guy in a storybook once.

Dan Key once told me that if you were to line up every species on the planet that every 6th one would be a beetle. I'm really beginning to believe him. (I think this is how this goes. Please correct me if I'm remembering this wrong.)

Locals call this one a "Fire Bug".

We have no idea what this "little" guy is called but I'm thinking Charging Horny Grasshopper.

The Dung Beetle or "The Tank" as Suz prefers.

We have more stories to share, but will sign-off for now, so this blog can be posted. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Joyfully yours,

Mokgadi le Tiro Majadibodu

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Mead

Another two weeks have come and gone.

At times, one is made aware of the fact that the passing of time itself is much a matter of perspective. It feels as though we just arrived in our nearly-quaint South African village, while at the same moment that we have been here for many, many moons.

This evening as I walked out of our entirely too warm two room house, I looked up into the sky to see beautiful clouds drifting lazily by suspended in the deepening blue sky of dusk. In the opposite direction the reddish orange globe sank quickly toward the horizon calling an end to another "Sun"day.

Yesterday the air was cool, almost cold as a storm passed in the distance. Yet today the heat was back. One knows that it is truly moving towards summer when the locals greet you by saying, "today is too hot." Of course this warming of the land is more conducive to cold bucket baths. There are times when it is nice to not have to boil water before putting it to good use.

When in doubt… make certificates.

Three weeks ago my principle mentioned that the school would like to have an awards days where learners receive certificates for sports, attendance, and academic accolades. At their staff meeting a committee was formed (of which I was one of 3 members) to work on the planning for the big day. I was not sure of my purpose other than I was to head up the designing and creation of the certificates. (Ah yes, I do love graphic design work.)

Here's the final product on one of the certificates, lamination, school crest, digital signature and all.

Mr. Moruane (principal) brought me into his office and brought forth a laminator (one sheet at a time.) This machine apparently had never been used. It was purchased by the former principal and then upon its arrival he promptly resigned. (I don't think it was because of the machine, but one can never tell with such things.) Anyway, so the laminator sat on a shelf unused for who knows how long, but now the time had come to bring it into action. Only one problem, no plastic. Apparently one may be able to purchase such things in Town, but not just anywhere in town, in Onverwacht. (I still can't pronounce the darn name even though I took German in high school. It's Afrikaans you see.) Onverwacht is a section of town that one must take a second takisi (Taxi) to. As to where to catch that taxi and in what direction to go was still a mystery, but we are up for an adventure.

I had been also been asked by my other supervisor if I could get a price quote for power cables from the one computer store in the area (also in Onverwacht) so we were set. Now I just had to find out where one could acquire laminator supplies. Luckily I have an internet connection and was able to find the phone number for the computer store and from there they pointed me in the direction of the business supply store. (and yes, they had laminator supplies a plenty.) So we were set, now we just had to find the place.

The great taxi adventure.

Onverwacht…

It has been consistently talking one and a half hours to make the trip into Lepalale from Abbot's Poort. By private car this trip takes only 45 minutes.

You see, once you finally flag down a taxi along the tar road the driver will then ramble around the village (usually heading first in the opposite direction from town) until his rig is filled to capacity (15 or more passengers). At this point we head out for the taxi rank in Shongone 1. (There are three Shongoanes.) Now when I mentioned taxi rank to my father he said, "like a transportation station?" My response was, "no, more like a big tree." At the rank you may or may not switch taxis. (I'm not quite sure what mechanism triggers the switch, but this is just one more little mystery to unravel.) So off we go after fueling up at the petrol station across the way.

We have been attempting to get up early on days that we head into town but sometimes this is more difficult than others.

One morning it was pouring down rain (well more like it was blowing in sideways) as we waited on the side of the tar road. Moricho, our host brother came jogging out to the road holding two umbrellas, one for him and one for us. We held them horizontally to block the torrential rains but we were fully soaked before the taxi ever came.

On the morning of the Onverwacht adventure we knew that we needed to get into town as early as possible in order to find the "hidden taxi rank" on the far side of town. This at least is what our PCV friends up north had said. Upon arriving at the main rank in town, (a much bigger and livelier spot than our tree in Shongoane 1) we hoofed it over to Pick N Pay, a nice little 15 minute walk across town. We knew that we were close to the "hidden rank" but, were at a loss for which direction to proceed.

We stopped a young man to ask for help. He not only pointed out the rank but he walked us straight there (this was down a few blocks from where we were originally looking.) As we walked we thanked him for his kindness. His response was that it was nice that a pair of white people were even talking to a black South African in a situation like this. He said that most of the time they just try to figure it out for themselves before asking a black man.

These are the times that the presence of racism stands up and glares directly at you refusing to be ignored. Morgan, the nice young man, even talked to the driver to help us get to where we wanted to go (or at least we thought he had.) We traded phone numbers and he said that he may call us sometime to check in to make sure we are doing ok. This sort of thing just doesn't seem to happen very often in the states. Thinking about myself, I probably would have just pointed out where to go. There is something to be said for going the extra mile.

After we introduced ourselves to the members of the Taxi who were already onboard (in our best Sepedi of course) the taxi quickly filled and off we went. Now our only problem was that we didn't know where we were off to. We believed that Morgan had told the driver where we were headed and so trusted that when the time was right we would be pointed in the right direction, or that we would recognize the name of the shopping center and be able to call for a drop-off. Neither of these things came to pass, however. Slowly but surely the taxi became less and less crowded as passenger after passenger exited from the sliding door. The taxi now had 3 passengers plus Susie and myself. The driver pulled off to the side of the road and turned around. His question was simple. "Where are you going, " he said. We attempted to explain that we were looking for a place with shops, a computer store named Elcom and a grocery store complex. As realization dawned on his face and the others who were present he quickly picked up his cell phone. As the driver was talking we chatted with those who were left on board. It turns out that we should have gotten off a few miles back and that we were now on our way to Moropong, the next town over. The funny part was that after we told the group who we were all was well. They were more interested in our lives than getting where they needed to go. It turns out that the woman sitting in front of us was actually our host mother's sister. What a small world.

So here we were sitting and chatting with a fairly jovial crew when all of a sudden another taxi pulls up. The driver had called another taxi. The crew from our taxi exited and got into the new vehicle. We shook our heads as our mistake had caused 3 people to switch taxis and for an entirely new taxi to be called for the occasion. The crazy part to me was that everybody seemed OK with the situation. Thank goodness for being crazy Americans who are still finding our way around. I'm not sure how long we are should use this excuse, but for now it's sure coming in handy.

By the way we did make it back to town ok. We were actually picked up by the only two people we really know in Lepalale. They are an awesome couple who befriended Brandon and Rachel, the two other PCVs who have been living here for a year now. These places don't seem that small but when events like this take place it makes one wonder.

Chicken worms, gumboots and super proud moms.

Laminator supplies in hand I set forth to craft the over 200 certificates. This only took the better part of two days. They were printed on beautiful paper in a range of colors and then were laminated as a finishing touch. Suz helped me assemble them one of the two days and the help was much appreciated.

But on Friday, the 26th of October, was when the action really took place. The learners had been practicing all week long after school for some special presentations to be made on the day of celebration. These ranged from choirs to traditional dance to poetry. I also saw a number of boys walking around in some old rubber boots. Well most of them only had one boot. I had heard rumor of the gumboot dance and had nearly seen one at the road show (Suz will elaborate soon) but I was excited to see it first hand.

The cooking preparations began the day before and may have lasted throughout the night. (This was not my job so I'm not sure.) I however, was asked the day before the awards ceremony to join the staff for some pap and chicken worms. This meal actually consisted of chicken feet, chicken liver, chicken intestines, pap and cabbage, mmm lovely. But when in Rome… so, I went for it all.

We arrived early on the day of the event, which was supposed to begin at 9am but since none of the community arrived until 10 we started at 10. Suz and I had been given seats at the VIP table and received a very special introduction by Mr. Moruane to all the parents and community members who were present. We were truly honored. The celebration quickly turned to the learners who exhibited their talent between every speech and were by far the most fun and exciting part of the show, well almost…

Gumboots in action. It really is like South Africa's version of stomp. Learners share boots so that everyone has at least one.

More gumboots. Note the learners peeking in the windows to watch.

The ladies had their say with amazing traditional dances. There was also an amazing school choir (my favorite) and poetry resuscitation.

Later in the program Suz and I, as well as three educators, went to the front to hand out the coveted certificates. (We were told during training that South Africans really, really enjoy receiving certificates.) As each learner's name was called that name was relayed to the outside of the "hall", the size of two classrooms combined. Here you could find all of the learners crowded around peeking through the windows. These learners then came inside and shook hands with the presenters, turned and grinned at the assembly. It was what happened next that was totally unexpected.

Now I know that parents are proud of their children when they do well, but I was reminded me of scene from the musical the Music Man where Harold Hill directed his boys band before a group of parents and community members. As the band began to play one by one each parent stood up and praised their child. "That's my Barney!" In our case the parents weren't so subdued. When a learner was called an overjoyed mother, grandmother, or community member would hustle to the front of the room and begin to dance by bending their knees and leaning over at the waist (kind of like one might do if they were imitating a bull in a bull fight, but without using their fingers for horns) and swaying back and forth all the while calling out in much the same voice one might hear in energetic Mexican music. The mother, grandmother, or community member danced all the way up to their children, picked them up, and spun them around in pure elation. It was brilliant! The kids were truly mortified, but I believe this should be counted as a job well done for the parents. All children need a little humiliation here an their and I haven't seen nearly enough argyle sox and high-water pants around here.

Ups and Downs

Hey, everybody! (Susie, here). Since we're over two weeks late on our blog update, Ben and I decided to tag-team this one. And…hand-off!

Life at Abbotspoort Home Based Care, these past two weeks, has been a real mix of highs and lows (which, any Peace Corps Volunteer will tell you, is just par for the course; part of the "toughest job you'll ever love" byline). Let's start with the lows, just to get them out of the way...Several of my weekdays have been spent in the office, lately, assisting the management team with formatting, typing, and composing their "Financial Plan," a comprehensive budget prescribed by the European Union. (Not sure if I already mentioned this, but the NGO receives funding from three different sources: Department of Health, Department of Social Development, and the European Union. They are still lacking in funds for their actual program development & implementation, but these three sources at least provide their stipends, office supplies, and part of their transport costs). I do want to help wherever I am needed, but I am also naturally more passionate about some areas of service than others, and budgeting/office work is not exactly among my favorites or what I envisioned myself doing when I first dreamed of volunteering in Africa. This being said, I am happy to report that after nearly a week and a half, the Financial Plan is finally done. The big next office-related task will be developing administrative policies. (I know, I know, try to contain your excitement, please!) Oh, well; I figure if we can get most of these technical office projects done during my first few months, here, the next two years will be a breeze!

Although it may feel like it, occasionally, it really isn't office work, all day, everyday; a few times, now, I've thoroughly enjoyed the more physical work of helping the drop-in center cooks serve food to the orphans, wash dishes, stack chairs, and sweep the floor. (Who knew these jobs could be so much fun? I guess when you're learning new Sepede words, laughing about your horrible mispronunciations, and hanging out with fascinating African women, it isn't all that unbelievable, after all).

Exactly a week after getting to visit the homes of the orphans, I had the opportunity to shadow a carer (Helen) in her daily routine of visiting terminally-ill adults. Once again, it was humbling and eye-opening to see some of the poorest of the poor in this area. It also provided a nice insight into what the actual home-based carers do. At the first house, Helen bathed an elderly woman who was partially paralyzed from the waste down--cause unknown. I assumed hospice care was difficult work, but I was still surprised at how strenuous and time-consuming bathing another person could be. (Abiding by Peace Corps protocols, I couldn't assist with the actual washing, but I did help moisturize the patient's legs and feet, afterwards). The care provided to the other four households we visited was not nearly has tactile; Helen verbally checked-in with the patients to see how their "treatment" (medication) was going, asked if they had any new health problems or concerns, and completed her report forms.

Recreation Dreamin'

My most exciting news, by far, is that the Project Manager for the OVC (Orphans & Vulnerable Children) drop-in center recently asked for my assistance in developing their activity programs! I was ecstatic. Currently, the drop-in center feeds the children three meals a day and they (the children) usually facilitate their own games and singing. Maria, the (new) Project Manager, would like to provide more substantial activities for the kids in the afternoons, so last Thursday, we sat down together to begin brainstorming a weekly schedule, including crafts, drama, health promotion (primarily HIV/AIDS Education), life-skills, and homework assistance, plus expanded games and music . Maria would like help in the planning of these activities, as well as in their actual execution--which means I'll get to put my recreation program provider hat on and play more with kids--yippee! I've told the rest of the management team that the drop-in center seems to be the major area of their organization I feel I can best assist with, and although communication is still rather tricky, I think they're generally supportive of this idea. Things take a while to get off the ground in these parts, but at least Maria and I have developed an initial plan to start from. We'll see where things go from here! Hopefully, we can begin some of the activities, fairly soon, but many of the crafts, life-skills, and sports/games require funding to purchase supplies…All in good time, I trust; for now, I am simply grateful for the dream that has been set in motion.

Another fun picture from the drop-in center. (Maria is in the back on the left, light blue zip-up sweater). If only they weren't so camera-shy.

Joining the "Road Show!"

Onto another exciting update: About two weeks ago, the NGO received a letter from the Office of the Premier in Pretoria, inviting them to participate in a "Community Development Road Show" on October 23rd in the Nicara ground (playing field), right next to our house. All non-governmental and/or non-profit organizations in the Lephalale area were encouraged to provide an exhibition and presentation of their services. Motivated to break away from the office hum-drum and allow my creativity to flow, I jumped at the chance to help prepare for this event. My immediate western-mindset interpretation of providing an "exhibition" was to set up a display table with handouts and pictures. Wanting to verify this interpretation, I called the Office of the Premier for clarification, and they encouraged us to go ahead with the idea. Still slightly unsure of the context for the event, but eager to take on the project, I plunged ahead. I first worked with Tseneke, the Home Based Care Project Manager, to make a sign to hang from the table. Then I helped Raisebe, the Administrator, put together a small photo album of staff, carers, and orphans, with captions and background information about the NGO. Finally, I made a nice tri-fold brochure (with Tiro's help on graphics) for the display table that describes the NGO's history, mission/vision, and services offered. Feeling good about what we had accomplished, but still slightly concerned that I had "westernized" our preparations too much, we set out for the ground on the morning of the 23rd…

The Road Show was scheduled to begin at 10am, but knowing how time runs differently around here, I was not at all surprised to see that preparations were still well-underway when we arrived at 10:15 to set-up our display table.

Two large white tents were being put up in the far right corner of the dirt field, and a truck with port-o-potties was parked behind them.

In the far left corner of the ground, this intriguing brick wall was being built. Upon asking about its purpose, I learned that it was a temporary visual representation,designed specifically for the Road Show, to demonstrate that successful outcomes result from communities working together. (Very impressive!)

No other groups seemed to have set up display tables, yet, but the event photographer directed us to a tree near the tents--the one partially shaded area on the ground. Without any hesitation, we situated ourselves near the tree, arranging our table, sign, brochures, and photo album as professionally as possible. 10:30 rolled around and still no other groups had set up tables…11:00 came and more people were arriving, but the program had not officially began...11:30 (still no other tables)…Finally, at 11:40, the Road Show coordinators from Pretoria kicked things off. By this time, about 300 people were seated under and around the white tents.

As you and can see, most of the people outside the tents were holding umbrellas to help shield the blazing sun.

A row of tables were placed in the front stage area for the designated speakers from different organizations. Large entities from the Waterberg District were represented, such as the Department of Health and the Department of Social Development, as well as human services organizations from the larger town of Lephalale and the even larger city of Pretoria. Locally-speaking, social workers from the Abbotspoort Clinic were present, Abbotspoort Home Based Care was obviously represented, and one other non-profit organization participated. It was like pulling teeth to get someone from our NGO to speak about their services (stage fright, I guess), but one of the carers came through and I joined Joanna in sitting at the "VIP Tables" up front. After several motivational speeches (mostly in Sepede), the different organizations began their presentations. I had agreed to walk up with Joanna and introduce myself after her speech, so I amped-up my standard Sepede introduction to include a few new sentences. It wasn't anything too elaborate, but I was decently pleased with how it came out. I'll give the English translation, for your convenience:

Hello! (instant cheers from the crowd; I don't think they had any idea I was going to speak their native language) How are you? (crowd responds, "fine") My name is Mokgadi Majadibodu (more cheers). I am from America. I came with my husband, Tiro (wave to Ben in the back, followed by more cheers). We are going to live in Abbotspoort for two years. We are going to help Abbotspoort Home Based Care, Jacob Langa Primary and Abbotspoort Primary schools, and the whole Abbotspoort community. We are happy to be here and to work with you. Thank you! (roar of applause and more cheers--a very kind audience)A few more speeches were given, followed by an extensive time of questions and answers. By about 2:30, the event had wrapped-up, and Tiro and I were greeted by a number of new, friendly faces. They were ecstatic that I had spoken in Sepede, but there was just one problem: I failed to mention in my speech that Ben and I were trying to learn to speak Sepede and that we really only knew a little, as yet, so we received numerous questions and comments in the local language that we had absolutely no hope of responding to! Oh, well; it didn't take long to explain this to those who approached us, and some of them quickly changed to English for our benefit. It was actually fine, in the end, because even the people who could not speak English, just smiled, excitedly, and said, "Yes! You must learn to speak Sepede!" It turned out to be a great way for us to introduce ourselves to the larger community of Abbotspoort and its surrounding areas.

Anyone still wondering about our display table? Well, as you might have guessed, Abbotspoort Home Based Care ended up being the only organization to not only have brochures to hand out, pictures to share, and a sign, but we were also the only group that set up a table, at all! Ha! At least the 10+ staff members that dutifully sat at our table throughout the day (in uniforms) seemed to be pretty good sports about the whole thing. They didn't quite get the idea that it would be good to invite people over to their table, but a few people came, none the less, and we were able to distribute about half (15) of the brochures--Tiro had the brilliant idea to give the other half to the Department of Social Development so they could hand them out from their office.

Ta-dah! Presenting the official Abbotspoort Home Based Care display table and staff, equipped with local rocks to hold down the brochures and photo album, due to the nice breeze, that day.

One last snippet about the Road Show, as Tiro referenced, earlier: As people started to leave the ground, many of the younger attendees (high school/college age) moved back underneath the tents for an impromptu dance party! The Office of the Premier had hired a DJ for the event who played music between the speeches, but was now playing the latest South African pop music for the crowd to enjoy; it was a riot. On the opposite side of the field, a different dance party was starting to take place, but this one simply involved clapping, stomping, and slapping rubber boots, a.k.a. the "Gumboot Dance!" As aforementioned, however, we did not get to see much of this dance, because we were called over to help an older boy who had apparently passed out from heat exhaustion and was just starting to come to. He was conscious, but extremely disoriented when I reached him and unable to respond to his name. I allowed one of the people who had found him, first, to use my phone to call for an ambulance, then proceeded to try to help him drink water and keep him comfortable. After a few more minutes, he became much more aware of the present situation, could hold eye-contact with people talking to him, and verbally respond to his name. I was relieved to see that his condition was quickly improving, and after Tiro and I had a chance to ask further questions, we learned that this apparently happens to this particular boy "when it's really cold or really hot" and that he'll "just wake up after a while." (Hmm, sounds like something more than heat exhaustion; possibly a form of epilepsy?) Since he was coming around and two other boys offered to take him home to his parents, the ambulance was called off. Phew! A rather distressing end to the day, but, thankfully, he would be alright.

Gotta' love Geckos!

This update has gone on long enough, so just for fun, here are a couple photos of some of our lizard friends, around here…Are they cute, or what?

This one's my favorite…I think I'll call him, "Thabo!" (It's a popular name around here that means, "Happy").

This little guy hung out on our kitchen/dining/washing room, one night. Nearly blended right in with our wall!

Re a go rata le re go gopotse kudu kudu! (We love and miss you, very much!

Lerato,

Mokgadi and Tiro Majadibodu

The BIG three-zero!

Our most exciting update for last week is that Tiro (Ben) entered a new decade! That's right, on Tuesday he turned the big three-zero. (I think I was more shocked than he was!) We wanted to do something special to commemorate the occasion, but in an unfamiliar area where public transportation only runs at certain times (and we are on travel restriction until the end of December, anyway), our options were pretty limited. None the less, we did make the most of his special day with what was available: On Saturday we took a taxi (which is, remember, just a big van) into the closest town, Lephalale, and enjoyed a delicious lunch and ice cream sundaes at one of the little restaurants! Then on Tuesday evening, we made some tasty BBQ chicken pizza and chocolate muffins in our little oven. (Yum!)

Happy 30th Birthday, Tiro!

Finally, the grand finale…On Friday afternoon, I told Tiro to pack his bag for a night and that we'd be back the next day. We took a 45-minute taxi from Abbot's Poort to Ga-Seleka, the home village of two of our fellow Peace Corps Volunteers, Paul & Jess (also a couple). Tiro quickly realized where we were going, but he did not know that two of our other Peace Corps friends, Rachel & Brandon (another couple who have already been here for a year), would also be in Ga-Seleka to surprise him! It was fabulous. I brought taco fixings, Jess made beans and rice, and Rachel made a delicious chocolate chip & sour cream pound cake. After dinner, we played a great card game, "What's Wild?" (which I will humbly not mention who won) :-), and watched "The Butterfly Effect" on Brandon's laptop--Ben had been saying, lately, how much he missed watching movies and having game nights, back home, so this was absolutely perfect. On Saturday, the six of us enjoyed a nice pancake breakfast (thanks, again, to Rachel for a fabulous recipe, and Paul's handy work in grilling), then went on a delightful hike up a nearby "mountain" to see Seleka, below, its surrounding fields, and the hills of Botswana in the distance. It was beautiful! After returning to Paul & Jess's and having round two of tacos, we took further advantage of Brandon's laptop and watched "50 First Dates." It was after dark by the time Tiro and I made it home, but it was so worth it be able to celebrate his big day with such fantabulous people. Paul and Ben were in the same language training group and Jess and I were in another, so we've been blessed with their friendships since we arrived in South Africa. We even shared a terrific little traveling adventure with them after our site visit, when we spent a night in the cute town of Thaba Zimbe ("Iron Mountain")! We met Rachel & Brandon later on in training and connected with them right away--Brandon is a computer tech expert and Rachel's passion for girls empowerment led them to develop a highly successful after-school girls club at their site! (Sound familiar?) It's wonderful to be so close to such outstanding people and fun couples with so many similar interests!

Tiro's surprise birthday party with Peace Corps friends, Brandon & Rachel (center) and Jess & Paul (right), at Jess & Paul's house in Ga-Seleka.

A beautiful "mountain-top" view of Ga-Seleka with the Botswana hills in the distance. (Note the distinct border between the village and bushveld; this is true for most rural villages in our area and really gives us the feel of being "way out there!")

Spanish Arm-Wrestling

If you would have asked, two weeks ago, what I might see myself doing at Abbot's Poort Home-Based Care, two things I would not have mentioned are teaching Spanish and arm-wrestling. Well, it just goes to show that you really can't have any expectations when it comes to Peace Corps! I haven't made either oddity my primary project, or anything, but last week I did find myself teaching the NGO women a few Spanish words, since they were curious about other languages spoken in America, and on the same day I helped settle a light-hearted argument by teaching three of them how to arm-wrestle! It was a riot; we laughed hard together, giving each other high "5's" after each match--truly a bonding experience.

In terms of actual work-related topics, I spent two days, last week, guiding the women in organizing their "files" (binders), filing "cabinets"(metal closets), and labeling shelves. I've also been teaching three of the four women how to type, using a free typing program Ben found online. They really seem to be enjoying it! Filing and typing might not be the most exciting areas to assist with, but they are needs of the organization and it is encouraging to know that their goals are being met.

Mokgadi with the women from Abbot's Poort Home Based Care. (Left to right: Tseneke, Matlodi, Sari, Tebello, and Reisebe)

Naturally, my most fulfilling part of working with the NGO is getting to interact with children. About 43 orphans, ages 5-20, stop by the drop-in center throughout the day for free meals, games, and songs. I love getting to talk with them in the afternoons, often times teaching them fun camp songs and learning their favorite songs, as well. I helped Maggie, one of the youngest girls who has a beautiful smile, re-lace and tie her shoes, one day, and although she hardly spoke any English, we had a wonderful time smiling and giggling, together, and counting in Sepedi; such a simple moment, but definitely one of my favorites, thus far.

Mokgadi, smothered in love, by the orphans at the drop-in center.

My most heart-wrenching experience, so far in South Africa, was getting to visit several of the orphans' homes, last Tuesday, along with a couple crèches (nurseries) and schools. I saw some of the poorest of the poor: families stricken by disease and unemployment, wives deserted by their husbands, grandmothers raising the children of their own deceased children, and a 19 year-old girl caring for her own two children, plus her three younger brothers. I came close to tears, numerous times, but found myself simply trying to interpret the complexity of my own emotions. The love shared by these families was so beautiful and their devotion to one another in the midst of such strife was so powerful, I couldn't help but stand in humble admiration, overwhelmed with the incongruity of my own immense sadness and the authentic joy these people had for simply being alive and having each other.

This picture was actually taken at a crèche in Gopane, during our training. I did not take photos of the orphans we visited, last Tuesday, but the crèches were very similar and the children just as precious.

This Week In Tech (TWIT)

I knew I called Tiro, "Tech Boy," for a reason! Ben continued working on the computers at Jacob Langa Primary, last week, and on Wednesday, I joined him at school to help clean and reorganize the computer lab/staff lounge to make it more usable. After we had carefully rearranged all of the tables and chairs, alongside the windows, placing the computers neatly on top of the tables, the principle informed us that we would have to move everything to a different wall, because having the computers so close to the windows would "make people jealous." Slightly disappointed, but recognizing the significance of his comment, we then proceeded to move everything to the back wall. First, however, we had to remove the 20 stacks of books that were already on the back wall, so the principle sent in "reinforcements" (students) to help with the task. While we were moving books, Tiro found a rather decrepit old box that, in his words, seemed, "more alive than dead." No sooner had the Deputy (Vice) Principal warned us to watch out for black scorpions, than we saw the very critter she described scurry out from under the box, about 3 cm in length. Principal Mongwe calmly terminated its life and we continued moving the rest of the books, cleaned the floor (again, with the help of our reinforcements), and repositioned all of the tables/chairs and computers so that they were in the appropriate location. We were exhausted by the time we had finished, but the room looks 10 times better and two of the computers are now completely usable, plus a third Ben fixed up for the office! (Five more computers will be ready to go, as soon as the school purchases power cords, and possibly an additional two if the hardware can be repaired). Way to go, Tech Boy!

Tiro with the faculty and staff at Jacob Langa Lower Primary School.

At Abbot's Poort Primary, Tiro was hoping to observe classes, last week, but neither of us expected the teachers to feel so caught off-guard by this request. Only one educator felt comfortable with him visiting her class and the rest said, "next week would be better." So, Tiro continued taking photos of the teachers during breaks and designed a complete classroom observation schedule for next week, allowing him to visit every teacher and every class of students. After mastering the schedule puzzle, he was given the task of "fixing the TV." We had plugged-in the TV, VCR, and satellite decoder, the week prior, but not all of the channels were working, so Tiro spent a fair bit of time studying the manual and calling the service provider to get things sorted out. End outcome? Abbot's Poort Primary now has a fully-functional television; Tech Boy reigns, again!

One cute school-related story from our friend, Paul, in Ga-Seleka: Paul asked one of the teachers at his school if he could observe a Grade R (Kindergarten) class, next week, knowing that it might be a bit chaotic, since there is only one educator for over 100 learners. Only about 2/3 of the students seem to be in class at any given time; the other third can be found in the playing area, outside, or running around somewhere between the classroom and the playing area. To Paul's request to visit the class, the teacher responded, "Yes, but one day, next week, I will be marking papers, and not teaching." This raised the question of what the Grade R students would be doing on that day, and the teacher replied that it was their "reflection time."

"Hlogo, Magetla…Mongwele, Mengwana"("Head, Shoulders...Knees, Toes")

One of our favorite parts of day-to-day life in Abbot's Poort is the interaction with the neighborhood children. Nearly every day, lately, a group of 2-4 children will stop by our house in the late-afternoon to ask us questions and see what we're doing. We've invited them inside to look at pictures and our maps of the world and Washington State, and a couple times, now, we've enjoyed singing a few songs with them. One of our favorites, since it helps expand our vocabulary, is their version of, "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes!" We had a blast learning it in Sepede and they were eager to learn it in English. I will say, though, that the Sepedi version is much more complicated. Instead of just the four body parts we sing about, they identify the head, shoulders, chest, hips, knees, toes, and they have a whole second verse that describes a "father from the mountain" going to the hospital because he has problems with his head, shoulders, etc. Quite intriguing!

Although some children at the schools still refer to us as, "Ben" and "Susie," most of them are using our African names, "Tiro" and "Mokgadi." Some even formalize them to "Mr. Tiro" and "Mrs. Mokgadi." Names are a funny thing around here; everyone seems to know everyone else and many people share the same last time, either as a close or distant family relation. Adults always get a good chuckle when we introduce ourselves as "Tiro and Mokgadi Majadibodu (our host family's surname)" because the Majadibodu family is well-known in Abbot's Poort. The original Tiro Majadibodu was the former headman of our neighborhood, so some people call Ben, "Chief Tiro!" Humor is always a great way to connect with people from the get-go, so we are enjoying our family connections.

Manana and Magugudi, two of the adorable children who stop by, frequently, to watch and giggle, play chase, and do cartwheels and handstands with us.

Thinking of you and wishing you all a fabulous week! Sepela gabotse!

Lerato (Love),Mokgadi and Tiro Majadibodu

Back to School

Around the end of August I began to realize that I wasn't going back to Auburn High. In my mind's eye I could see the staff returning for the annual, "I guess summer's over" meetings, indoctrinating us back into the institutional environment that we so lovingly call, "school". I will truly miss AHS, the faculty and its students. I will, however, not miss grading lab books over these coming two years.

South Africa's schools reopened this week to begin their fourth term. In this term it is the countdown to the fated "Matric" Exam taken by grade 12 learners. This exam makes the anxiety that students feel for the WASL (Washington Assessment of Student Learning) look down right silly. Learners must pass the exam, which most are unprepared for, in order to graduate or "matric," as they call it here. Many learners do not pass and therefore must return to grade 12, time and time again, until they either pass or drop out. Ah yes, this does sound like a possible WASL scenario after all.

Alright enough Ed-speak. For primary schools in SA, where I have been placed, from grade R (kindergarten) up to grade 7, the learners all sit for internal exams at the end of the term. Therefore much of term 4, if not all, is spent focusing on review and testing.

My goals in the schools start quite simple: (1) Get to know the educators at both of my schools (13 at Abbot's Poort Upper Primary and 24 at Jacob Langa Lower Primary), build a relationship and gain trust; (2) Scope out areas where I can use my skills to provide help in real ways for both the educators and learners. After the first three months I should have a sufficient plan of action and be able to move forward (or at least that is Peace Corps's hope.)

Last week I had the opportunity to spend most of the week with Mokgadi (Susie) at Abbot's Poort Home Based Care, meeting and greeting the wilily women that comprise its staff. This week Mokgadi joined me at the schools on Wednesday and Friday. It was fabulous. I didn't know that it would be this way, but I have found for myself that I get fairly quiet when I am in a new place with new people who primarily speak a language in which I have only limited experience. (Who knew?) Mokgadi, however, has quite a knack for striking up meaningful conversations that she and others enjoy. This made finding connections with the barutisi (teachers) much easier. Thanks, Suz. We are also taking pictures of all of the staff and attaching them to a "Getting to Know You" questionnaire for later reference.

This week I am finding my way into classrooms to observe the goings-on. I also am taking on a personal project to get some computers up and running that have been in the staff room at Jacob Langa for the past three years. You see, a company donated them to the school but didn't do any software clean-up inside. They were still loaded with Windows 2000 NT and all were password protected. The company did not want to give the school the passwords, for then the teachers would be privy to all their corporate documents stored within. Hmm… one final not-so-nice donation hic-up: They didn't donate power cords for the monitors or CPUs. I did manage to find two sets of power cables, but no more. The software problem was solved when I asked if the Department of Education ever gave out software for school use. The answer to this question came in the form of a bundle of installation CDs from Microsoft about 3 inches thick. There were no product keys, but the paperwork that accompanied the disks had a phone number for a Microsoft Call Centre. I called and Microsoft has an agreement with Rural Schools in SA, so the product codes were emailed to me as we spoke on the phone. So now, one by one, I am installing Windows XP Pro and Office XP Pro on all of the machines. Eventually with sets of power cords, these machines that have sat idle for 3 years as mammoth paperweights will be used for their intended purpose - education.

A view of Abbot's Poort Upper Primary School over break. (Notice the absence of children.)

And Jacob Langa with children after the break.

DRIP, DRIP, DROP, LITTLE OCTOBER SHOWERS

I think there are a few two many syllables in that title; oh well, I'm sure you can make it work. October has come and with it, more rain! We have been told, many a time, that the rain has come early this year and that it has come in greater quantities than it did last year, entirely. We don't mind this one bit. In fact, it sprinkled, again, today, off-and-on. When it rains it is definitely cooler, however, I am still here typing away in my shorts and sandals with the door to our little place wide open. We bought a fan in town last weekend (a large oscillating one) and yesterday, when it didn't rain, I was stripped down, laying on the bed with the fan blowing on me as I finished up my Robert Ludlum Novel. Oh, did I mention that all of the South Africans that we meet here in Limpopo look at us and shake their head, saying, "It gets too hot around here." You know if they are saying it gets too hot… We are enjoying the rain while it lasts. Last week we were out-and-about with our host brother, Moricho, contacting people with automobiles for emergency get-away purposes, when it began to rain. (When I say, "rain," I should really say a "downpour" - buckets from heaven). We rain for it… well, at least Moricho did and I followed his lead. Mokgadi, on the other hand, looked up into the dark clouds with both arms outstretched and let the rain rinse all of her cares away. We Washingtonians do love the rain! While Moricho dove for cover, I came back to join Mokgadi and we chose to meander our way home through the gigantic drops of liquid sunshine. By the time we reached our house, after walking around the soccer field a bit, we were, shall we say, a bit wet. We put our coats and bags into the storeroom next to our two-room humble abode, and walked back out into the cascade. The roof provided a true waterfall, so Suz jumped inside to get her shampoo and we took advantage of the natural shower … beats a bucket bath any day. Addendum - Suz would like me to mention that at no points in the above stories was I alluding to nudity, public or otherwise.

I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS, BUT IT JUST WENT UNDER THE BED

One evening, last week, I was in the bedroom, minding my own business and typing away on the laptop, when I heard the pitter patter of little feet skittering across the floor. I didn't remember having a pet, so I turned around to see what was the matter. I must have made a noise, because Suz came into the room while brushing her teeth and spotted something - much larger than it should have been - run under the bed. Its body was the size of a field mouse and its legs spanned maybe 9 cm. Suz left to spit out her toothpaste, so I decided to get my headlamp from the desk drawer to try to see where our newly acquired roommate had gone. Upon getting down on the floor and peering under the bed, I saw the darn thing charge out with its two front legs raised in a rather threatening manor. Somehow I blinked and found myself miraculously on top of the bed (I think it was magic), shining the headlamp down on the roving ottoman on the floor. It didn't seem all that friendly, really, so I didn't try to catch it, but rather used the closest blunt object, my shoe, to squash the not-so-little bugger. (I hoped that it wouldn't grab the shoe and fight back.) It had moved across the room, making its way to the door to the kitchen/dining room, when I moved off the bed, working my way forward with my shoe raised for the kill. Sensing my presence, it turned and charged, front legs once again raised like miniature horns of a stampeding bull. It took 5 hits for the thing to go down. That was, by far, the largest wolf spider I have ever encountered. (We looked up the spider in our South Africa wildlife book, even though the mangled remains were a bit hard to identify appropriately.)

DEATH IS A PART OF LIFE

Yesterday, Mokgadi and I got up early to attend a funeral for a gentleman who lived just across the soccer field from us. He was a police officer and was well known and liked, so the funeral was highly attended, maybe 500 or so. In SA it is my understanding that preparation for the funeral and events take place the entire week leading up to the day of the burial. The night before the funeral, people stay up until 4am, preparing food (the family serves everybody a full meal after the service.) The cooks get 2 hours sleep and then are up, again, at 6am. We joined the funeral gathering at 6:30 for the service at a large army-style tent. Many spoke and much singing was done by all. The coffin was taken to the hearse and then the masses headed out for the cemetery. Some fit into automobiles, inside or crammed into the back of pick-up trucks, while the majority walked the half mile down the main tar road. Once there, more spoke and choirs sang. The police force was there to honor their fellow man and a trumpeter played what sounded like the SA version of taps. Eventually the coffin was lowered into the ground and the men lined up to take the shovel, each one throwing a shovel-full of dirt to cover their comrade. This proceeded until the mound of dirt that had been taken from the earth had once again been replaced in its rightful space. Words were said, songs were sung, and tears were shed, then the masses returned down the tar road to the tents to begin the feast. We headed for home, at this point, but would have been welcome to stay and eat. Death is truly a present part of life around here, and the whole community joins in to support. On the night before the funeral, there was a terrible car accident that killed four and put four others in the hospital in critical condition. This means that next weekend there will be another procession down the tar road to the far too often used burial ground.

The sunset as seen on our walk to the river. There are many sunsets in our lives and each can be a beautiful event.

ALL THE PARTY PEOPLE SAY… HA LA LA… HA LA LA

Back at the NGO… The home-based care-givers, known as "carers," had recently completed a year-long training, so their "transport man" (a local taxi driver) suggested that the NGO throw them a party. So, that's exactly what they did! The day before the party, Mokgadi and I loaded up their refrigerator with cold drink (soda pop), beer, and hard cider that the admin staff had purchased. Mokgadi and the women borrowed the brie-stand (BBQ Grill) from our Majadibodu family and the party was ready to go. It was scheduled to start at 1pm, but in true SA style, it didn't get going until around 3:30pm. I had a staff meeting to attend at Abbot's Poort Primary at 2pm, so Mokgadi and I headed down to the school. By the time we returned at 4 o'clock, the party was in full swing. A table had been set under a nearby tree and the carers, a few board members, and admin staff were gathered 'round, singing and dancing. Many speeches were given, to which the croud replied, "Ha La La, Ha La La." Mokgadi and I made a speech, sang one song with guitar accompaniment and many without. After the speeches came the meal. The sky turned dark and lightning began to give us quite a show. After helping to clean up, we headed home, but the rest of the group partied until 9pm. We had stalked the fridge with an enormous amount of drinks, but by the next day, it was gone. I'm thinking a good time was had by all.

Ha La La Abbot's Poort Home Based Care, Ha La La

On request, one more picture of the inside of our place. On the left is a neighbor who asked for a little help with her school project over break, and on the right is our host sister's daughter, Happy.

Sending much love out to all of our family and friends (lapa le bagwera),

Tiro le Modgadi

ADVENTURES IN EATING

Our first full week at site has been full of new experiences...In particular, new FOOD experiences! Tuesday, the women at Abbot's Poort Home Based Care (my NGO) served us "menatlana" (chicken feet) for lunch--bones, tendons, toe nails, and all! I couldn't bring myself to eat the tendons and toe nails, but Ben braved every bit, later saying that it was a strange sensation having tendons stuck in his teeth. (Ewe!) I really thought I'd be okay with eating chicken feet, but when the time came, I happened to notice how hand-like they were and that was the end of it...

Friday was another first-time experience for our taste buds when the home based care served us fried "hlogo ka hlapi" (fish heads)! The empty eye-socket wasn't very enticing, but the meat had been cooked with so much "fish spice," it actually tasted pretty good. Greasy, like a lot of the food here, but good. Chicken feet, fish heads, what will be next, worms? (Actually, we've heard that people DO eat worms here, so we have something else to look forward to).

NEW NAMES

I forgot to mention in our last post that our new host family gave us African names! Ben has been dubbed, "Tiro," (Tee-row) which literally means, "work," and refers to the good works he will do in Abbot's Poort over the next two years (Also the name they give to the books of Acts in the Bible.) I was given the name, "Mokgadi," (Mo-kaw-dee, the kaw is in the back of the throat like hawking a loogie) relating to water and "bringing new life" to this community. Our host mother named us after her grandparents, so it was quite an honor!

WEEK ONE AT SITE

Monday was Heritage Day, a national holiday, which made for a nice long weekend to get settled into our new house. We put maps on the walls and bordered the Washington one with a big picture collage of our family and friends. Now we can see all of your smiling faces, everyday! Monday, we also walked to a nearby dirt field to throw the Frisbee, and ended up having a little informal "day camp" as we led a number of games with the neighborhood children. It was a perfect start to the week!

Ben's schools are between terms and were closed, this week, so he joined me at the NGO (non-governmental organization), Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. We've been learning a great deal about the efforts these women are putting into their community to care for OVCs (orphans and vulnerable children) and terminally-ill patients (most with HIV/AIDS and TB). We also had the opportunity to spend time at the orphan drop-in center, since it's right next to the NGO office. We sang, danced, and talked with the kids for about an hour each day, thoroughly loving every minute of it...

Kids at the drop-in center with the home based care staff.

Saturday featured a fun outing in Lephalale, our closest town, with a few nearby Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs). By private vehicle, it takes 30-40 minutes to get there, but by public transport (taxi or "kombi," similar to a 15-passenger van), it can take anywhere from 1-2 hours. It took us exactly 1-1/2 hours, this time; not too bad! We purchased a few settling-in items, enjoyed lunch with our fellow PCVs, bought groceries for the week, and made the journey home.

We managed to wash a few clothes, this week, as well; a task worth noting...

Tiro surprised Mokgadi by taking picture of the "hlatswa" (washing clothes) process. We use similar buckets for "hlapa" (washing ourselves). Ever tried bathing in just a few inches of water? It's quite the experience; just make sure you have a mop, handy!

COMMUNITY EXPLORATION

We dedicated Thursday to exploring Abbot's Poort and creating a physical map of the community. There are some beautiful things to see here!

A view of the natural landscape, near the Palala River. (River? Where?)

Artistic ravine sculpted by the river. (Yes, but where is the water? Hmm...)

Mokgadi in the "river," trying to use her African name to "bring new water" back to this dry bushveld. The river, apparently, hasn't been full since 1992, but people hope for it, each year, during the rainy season. Speaking of which, we got our first big RAIN, Thursday night--not just a sprinkle, either; an all-out lightening storm! It was tremendously exciting, to say the least, especially listening to the rain poor down on our little tin roof house. It hasn't rained like that since last March, and the storms are supposed to be even bigger as we get further into summer. Wahoo!

Tiro inspects a South African cactus!

Houses in Abbot's Poort are tightly clustered; narrow walking paths throughout the village provide access to shared water taps, community resources, and main roads.

Tiro with his two school principals in front of Abbot's Poort Primary School.

OTHER MOMENTS IN TIME

Just a couple more fun pics you might enjoy...

Neighborhood meeting in Necar (our section of Abbot's Poort), a weekly gathering of community leaders held underneath this tree.

Tiro and Mokgadi as official Peace Corps Volunteers! (Picture taken at the U.S. Ambassador's house in Pretoria, the location of our Swearing-In Ceremony).

Well, that about covers things up until now! We'll try to post a new entry every week. Please let us know if you have any questions and we'll do our best to answer them!

With much love and enormous hugs,

Susie and Benjamin (Mokgadi le Tiro)

Dumelang borra le bomma!

(Good day, ladies and gentleman!)

Well, it’s September and we are finally getting the chance to update our blog. Yesterday, we “swore in” as official Peace Corps Volunteers! “Swearing in” consisted of a trip to Pretoria (the capital city of South Africa), leaving our training villages for the last time (unless we come back to visit), and enjoying a short celebration of Peace Corps’s 10 years in South Africa. Wednesday night, we stayed at the beautiful Farm Inn Hotel, just outside of Pretoria, and pampered ourselves with hot showers and air-conditioning (not exactly the typical Peace Corps experience, but a nice treat). Thursday morning featured a special ceremony with several of Africa's Peace Corps Country Directors and the U.S. Ambassador to South Africa. We enjoyed a delicious lunch, wished our new fellow volunteers, "Good luck," and took off for our sites!

I guess we are getting ahead of ourselves, though, because a lot has happened since we last wrote! I’ll turn it over to Suz, now, for the real update…

Hey, much-loved family and friends! First of all, thank you, SO much, for all of your letters and postcards! They have been major boosts of support and encouragement, not to mention fun reminders of our beautiful Pacific Northwest. As a volunteer stated, before we even left, mail really is like “gold,” here!

Since so much has happened over the past month and a half, this blog might be pretty jam-packed. I’ll separate it by sub-headings, so you can read different parts of it at your leisure.

PERMANENT SITE PLACEMENT

Our most exciting news is that we are now living at our permanent site! We arrived, last night, and have been busy settling-in and spending time with our new host family. We live in a rural village called Abbot’s Port, in the northwest corner of the Limpopo province. They are currently finishing the paved road that runs through the village, and hope to have it completed by the end of October. We have a two-room building (one bedroom, one kitchen/dining room/etc), separate from the family’s house. Only the father lives there on a regular basis, but his wife and children visit on weekends. We have electricity, but no running water, so we use an outdoor “pit toilet” (outhouse) and fill water containers from the nearby tap. Ben will be working at two primary schools, less than 3 minutes from our house, and I will be working at Abbot’s Poort home-based care, less than 5 minutes from our house. Rather than start new projects, right away, Peace Corps encourages volunteers to dedicate their first three months at site to learning about their organizations and building relationships within their communities. We do know that Ben’s supervisors are interested in him coaching the teachers in instructional techniques and assisting with their math/science curricula, and that my home-based care unit works with OVCs, health promotion in schools, and adults with life-threatening illnesses. The rest will unfold with time...

The new Barr-Wilson dwelling!

Our host family, neighbors, and a couple of Ben’s teachers, gave us a beautiful, warm welcome when we visited our site, two weeks ago, to check things out. They sang, danced, and thanked God in prayer for our arrival. What a blessing! This was definitely another favorite, “Wow, we’re really in Africa!” moment.

NEW MAILING ADDRESS

We now have a permanent post office box! If all goes well (knock on wood), we should be able to receive packages. Please send all future mailings to:

Benjamin and Susie Barr-Wilson, PCV

PO Box 637

Abbot’s Poort

0608

South Africa

OPTIONAL PACKAGE ITEMS

Some people have generously asked if they could send us anything. First, please know that your letters are, by far, the best gift you could provide! We can pretty much acquire everything that we need here, but should you happen to feel motivated to send something along with your letter, any one of the following non-essential items would be thoroughly appreciated:

Quart and Gallon Ziplock BagsSmall bottles of hand sanitizer (or a large refill bottle, since we have our original small bottles)Burt’s Bees ChapstickAvalon/other organic body lotion (or Aveeno body lotion)Alba Organics body cream (or other body butter/cream; it’s so dry, here!)Emergency-C fizzy drink packets (tangerine) Organic herbal tea (echinacea would be great, but we love trying new tea, too) Dried fruitGranola Bars/Energy BarsBeef jerky (teriyaki)Wheat Thins (sun-dried tomato and basil)Trail mix (not necessary, but if possible, something different than peanuts, raisins, and M&M’s, because we can usually find these here)

Thank you!!! Please remember that when mailing a package, it helps to write “Education Materials” or “Religious Supplies” on the outside, to assure that it passes through customs. Apparently, "Used Supplies" works nicely, as well. Also, the higher the value of enclosed materials, the greater charge we’ll pay upon receiving the package, so if don’t mind writing as low of an estimated value as possible, that would be tremendous.

WRAPPING-UP PHASE ONE

Our last few days in Borakalalo were full, but thoroughly enjoyable. Last Saturday, we joined most of our Peace Corps trainees on a venture to the town of Rustenberg (about two hours away) to shop for housing supplies for our new sites. It’s so strange to go from small, dusty, rural villages to large towns with department stores and restaurants in just a few hours, but that’s the intriguing dichotomy of South Africa! Just as we were leaving Rustenberg and not really feeling like we were in Peace Corps, anymore, after spending the day at the “mall,” our bus broke down, and all 80 of us had to walk uphill to a half-way shaded area to wait for the bus to be fixed. Ha! Made the day all the more memorable…

On Sunday, all of the Peace Corps trainees and host families came together for a Home Stay Celebration. Ben helped emcee part of the program and led our trainees in singing, “Sweet Home, South Africa.” I attempted to lead an ice-breaker with the large group of non-English speakers (fairly successful, given the circumstances) and recruited a number of trainees to fill different roles that were needed at the last-minute. After several songs, poems, and speeches, we served our host families the traditional South African cuisine: pap (corn-based, potato-like staple), meat (beef and chicken), and vegetables (cabbage, carrots, etc). The food highlight for the event was that a “whole cow” had been butchered for the occasion!

As Ben and I begin settling into our new home and community in Abbot’s Poort, we pause to reflect on the fond memories of our host family in Borakalalo. They openly and gently extended their hospitality to us for two months, teaching us about South African life, while kindly respecting our need for independence. We learned how to make African beer, pap, and bread (over the fire), and met several friends and co-workers of the family. One of the major blessings was having Ben’s language instructor, Lillian, live with our family as well.

Ben watches closely as a friend of our host family teaches us how to prepare bread over the fire. It was delicious!

Our Peace Corps Training host family. Thank you, Monemetsis!

CULTURAL EXPERIENCES

Monday was our last official day of training. In many ways, it seems like we’ve just arrived, and in others, it feels as if training was much longer than two months, because things have been so jam-packed. Some of our most memorable experiences have been those in which we’ve had a chance to observe the local culture and interact with the people in our villages. In August, we attended a National Women’s Day celebration, featuring traditional African dancing. One of the female dancers called out to her sisters in her native language, “Love yourselves! Women, protect your bodies! Don’t sell yourselves for money!” It was a powerful testimony to the efforts South Africa is making in the fight against gender inequality and HIV/AIDS.

Other special training events included a visit to a Traditional Healer and an insightful Diversity Panel on the status of women in South Africa’s diverse ethnic groups. Traditional Healers (or “Sangomas”) use herbs and natural remedies to treat illnesses. Many of them, including the ones we met, claim to communicate with the ancestors by “throwing the bones” (bones, rocks, dice, and other small objects) to detect ailments in their patients. Ben and I each observed a Traditional Healer do a “reading of the bones” for one of our trainees. It was a fascinating look into a deeply-rooted and highly-esteemed tradition in African culture.

We were the first group of trainees to have a South African Diversity Panel with an Indian-African woman (whose family has lived here for hundreds of years), an Afrikaans woman (of Dutch/British descent), and a Colored (biracial) woman. All three had amazing stories to share about their challenges and successes of living in South Africa. Speaking of South African culture, I have to say that the most intriguing aspect is the blend of traditional practices and beliefs with the influence of modern technology and ways of living. It’s like none we’ve ever seen, literally history in the making! The term “developing nation” has a whole new meaning to us and it is absolutely fascinating to be able to experience the development, first-hand…

Some of the Women’s Day dancers promoting their upcoming event. Notice the tribal clothing with blue jeans! A perfect example of the blend of traditional and modern cultures that is so prevalent here.

Sangomas wearing distinct African capes, but not without their cell phones. One would actually be hard-pressed to find someone, here, who does not own a cell phone; rich or poor, this modern day device is the standard form of communication.

A Traditional Healer in action, “reading the bones” for David, a fellow trainee. See how their capes are complimented by slacks and dress shoes?

A few people have asked if we’ve seen any “wildlife,” yet. The most common animals we see are the random donkeys (ditoniki), chickens (dikogo), and cows (dikomo), that freely roam our rural villages. Other than that, we have seen some beautiful birds, one deadly scorpion, and several baboons and warthogs along the main roads. Not exactly Africa’s “Big Five,” but we are living near a few game reserves for the next two years, so I’m sure our wildlife sightings will expand.

TRAINING

Although some of our training has been together, Ben and I have mostly had separate daily schedules. Ben spent two weeks in Borakalalo Primary School, first observing classroom instruction, then teaching 4th and 5th graders about science and technology. After spending his first full day at school, some of the children walked Ben home to "make sure he found his way." (They just loved being in his presence!) He facilitated a hands-on experiment, measuring temperature, and guided the students in creating a product advertisement to demonstrate the Design Process. Utilizing his camp experience, he also led the “Alive, Alert, Awake, Enthusiastic” song and a number of rhythm games. Needless to say, the students adored him! After Ben visited the school, we would walk around our neighborhood and frequently hear, “Benjamin!” or renditions of, “Alive, Alert, Awake, Enthusiastic,” a true testimony that he had made a lasting impact in the lives of those children.

In addition to several presentations about non-governmental organizations and HIV/AIDS relief in South Africa, I’ve had the opportunity to talk with community members about the assets and challenges in their villages, visit a non-governmental organization (“Hands and Hope”) that provides outreach programs for OVCs (Orphans and Vulnerable Children) & adults with terminal illnesses, and tour a variety of income-generating projects for children and women. Such projects included paper-making, gardening, jewelry-making, shoe-building, and hat-weaving. It’s all been quite an insightful look into rural community life, but I have to admit that my personal highlight of training has had nothing to do with our organized schedule. NGO sessions take place at Lefoko Primary School in Gopane, so once or twice a week, I’ve been using my lunch break to lead tag games and silly songs with the children. (Once again, out comes the camp influence!) The best part is that nearly every day, whether I’m just walking around the school or throughout other parts of Gopane, I’ll hear kids shout, “I said a Boom Chicka Boom!” and I joyfully pause to sing a few lines with them.

Susie with some of the children at Lefoko Primary School in Gopane.

WALK TO BOTSWANA

Shortly after our last entry, we joined at least 50 of our fellow Peace Corps trainees on a casual Sunday morning stroll…to Botswana! We’re not allowed to actually leave the country until the end of December, but that didn’t diminish our ambition to at least walk to the border. The walk was about 12 miles, round trip, and we had a blast! Just imagine, if you will, the spectacle of 50+ Americans walking along the one major (paved) road through the desert hills and dry flatlands of Africa. We got more questions and funny looks than I could count! People don’t exactly “walk for fun,” here, so our reason of going to Botswana to simply to see the boarder was unfathomable.

Ben and Susie with fellow trainees at the Botswana border crossing.

Susie and yoga buddy, Maria, doing “tree pose” at the entrance to South Africa’s Northwest Province.

“MR. AND MRS. PEACE CORPS”

Early-on, someone kindly referred to us as, “Mr. and Mrs. Peace Corps.” I’m not sure if we’re deserving of such a title, but we have tried to do our part to contribute to our fellow SA 16 Peace Corps crew. Ben was a transportation team leader at the very beginning, he composed our group song, “Sweet Home, South Africa,” and he recently designed the front logo of our t-shirts (see below)! Further utilizing my camp background, I fulfilled a request for “teambuilding” by facilitating a session of Challenge Course games and initiatives for the NGO trainees. I also provided a song, here and there, when energy-levels were down, the most memorable being the “crazy Banana Song!”

Ben’s winning t-shirt design! An African baobab tree will decorate the back of our t-shirts.

GOODBYE

Phew! This blog has definitely been a doozy, hasn’t it? If you managed to make it to the end, thank you for your persistence! Now that we have more frequent internet access (we just purchased a cell phone that allows us to connect through our laptop!), we’ll be able to update our blog more frequently, so entries won’t be quite so long. Know that we miss you, dearly, think of you often, and that we take your love and encouragement with us, each and every day. Thank you and, “Sala Gabotse!” (“Goodbye” or “Stay well!”)

Re a go rata le re go gopotse!

(We love you and miss you!)

Susie and Ben

Thobela ka moka!

(Toe-Bay-Lah kah moh-kah)

Hello everybody!

We are just wrapping up week 3 here in South Africa of our 8 week training. I think most of the 90 Peace Corps Trainees (PCTs), myself included, feel that we have been here for much longer than three weeks. So much has happened already, you see.

We began our adventure in Seattle on the 16th of July, flying first to Philadelphia for our 3-day orientation event (Staging). In Philly we met the other 92 PCTs destined for SA, processed paperwork and participated in a number of introductory sessions to Peace Corps service and South Africa in general.

Travels through Frankfurt. Ahh, the three hour ticket counter.

Our second flight took us to Frankfurt, Germany, where we had a 12-hour layover. (Yes, all 90 of us were on the same plane.) PC graciously provided day rooms for the lot of us, so we could rest and stretch out in preparation for our final flight to Johannesburg.

We arrived at the airport near Jo-berg, took a two hour bus-ride west to an educational center and moved our gear into our rooms, our new digs for the coming week. Susie and I were placed in the same dorm (small buildings with 8 single rooms) each in our own room. Our dorm was one of two “married-couple” dorms. There are 10 married couples out of our crew of 90 or so. We chose to keep our stuff in one room and to sleep in the other. One of our major questions upon arrival here in SA was whether or not Susie and I would be placed together for the next 2 months of training. The response that we got was from the Africans working with PC was, “what God has joined together let no man put asunder.” So that answered that question. We are currently living together with a host family and Susie is being bused to an adjacent village for technical training every day. (More on that later.)

Back to the educational center… Life at the center consisted of orientation sessions (i.e. safety and security, language, medical, culture), tea, shots… rinse and repeat in no particular order. (We had shots and Philly too, for those who were wondering… joy.) Here we also were introduced to SA cuisine. The food is much more flavorful than anticipated, which is a bonus. So, we are eating well. (…and yes we do have quite a bit of pap and chicken or bogobe le nama ya kgoko to be more specific, but it is supplemented with a variety of vegetables.)

From the center we headed out for our villages. This consisted of a 3 hour bus ride further west. The NGO volunteers are all placed in one village while the Education Volunteers are placed in two different villages that share a common border. (In all honesty, you wouldn’t know where one village stops and the other one begins.) As stated earlier, Susie and I are both placed in the same village. We are in one of the Education villages. Susie takes a Kumbi (small bus) to the NGO village every morning and I take a Kumbi to the other Education village. (This saves me a 45 minute walk.)

We have had nearly two weeks here in our village and are focusing on learning Sepedi (our target language) and on learning technical skills necessary to do our work for the remaining two years, following swearing in on September 20th. Susie and I are one of four couples that are split between NGO and Education (we call ourselves the x-factor, or cross couples). These four couples are all slated to live in Limpopo, two near Kruger National Park and two further west, near the Botswana border. We won’t know where our exact sites will be for a few weeks.

Susie and I are living with a wonderful host family here during our initial training. We have a host father (Ntate) and mother (Mama) and a 3-year-old host sister named Naladi (meaning “star”). They have even given us African names, after Ntate’s parents. Susie is Masego (blessings/lucky) and I am Letsolo (spear/many men go away to hunt… fitting huh?)

Masago stirs the traditional African beer.

(Susie's first, "I'm in Africa!" moment!)It’s getting late and we better go, but know that we are well and doing our best at adapting to this new culture. Training is keeping us incredibly busy, but we are glad we got the chance to travel into “town” to post an update. We may not be able to post, again, until after September, but we deeply appreciate your love and support.

Re a go rata le re go gopotse!

(We love you and miss you!)

Ben and Susie

Just a quick unexpected update. (We have internet access from our hotel room, who knew?)

We left this morning from SeaTac at 11:15a and took a quick four hour flight to Philly. After moving into our room together, (yep, they let the married folks room together... at least for Staging,) Susie and I headed out for dinner. We will officially start out training tomorrow at 1pm. Peace Corps here we come!

The time is drawing near! On Monday, we'll hop on a plane to Philadelphia for a 3-day Peace Corps Staging event, then it's on to South Africa for Pre-Service Training! We'll have no internet access, during training, so I'm afraid our blog won't be updated, again, until the end of September. Please do feel free to send snail-mail, though! (See mailing address on right).

As far as training details go, all volunteers will stay in Northern South Africa for the first week. For the following seven weeks, volunteers will live with host families in nearby homestay villages. Our hands-on, full-immersion training will include language acquisition, technical skills, cross-cultural awareness, health and safety, and security. Ben and I may be separated for these seven weeks, since we're in different programs, but we'll reunite on September 20th, when we're officially sworn-in as Peace Corps Volunteers! After September 20th, we'll be able to live together at our permanent site.

We're naturally both nervous and excited, anxiously awaiting our upcoming adventure...We still have much to do between now and Monday, and it will be here before we know it!" Since this is not "goodbye," we'll just say, "Ke tla go bona kgantele!" ("See you later!" in Setswana, one of the languages we'll be learning during training. It looks like we'll learn Africaans, too!)

South Africa, here we come!!!

We've finally got a country... South Africa! We are slated to leave the 16th of July, which is right around the corner. We will spend two or three days on the East Coast (possibly in DC or Philadelphia) for a brief orientation, then we will be off on our journey. Once we reach South Africa, we will complete 8-10 weeks of Pre-Service Training (PST) with the rest of our Peace Corps class. Following this in-country training, we will be placed at our program site, where we will spend the next 24 months or so. We will not know our site location until after PST, but have reasonable indication that we will be in one of these three provinces: Northwest, Mpumalanga, or Limpopo.

We will learn more about our exact projects as we go along, but here's what we know, at this point: Ben will be placed as an Instructional Coach for primary schools. Susie will be working with a non-governmental organization (NGO) to further develop HIV/AIDS services.

Exciting times await, but for now we must do much work in preparation for the adventure that is to come! Stay tuned...