Yaebo, South Afrika!

Dumela, ba chomi wa ka! ( hello my friends)

I know, I've been incredibly awful about writing blogs as, well, i haven't written even one since being here. But hey, I'm starting ( maybe) now, so better late than never?

Soooooo soooo much has happened since I've been here, so rather than trying to go back and recall everything, Ill just give you a general idea of where I am, what ive been doing, and just take er' from here...

So I've been an official peace corps volunteer (PCV) almost 2 months now. Im living in a rural village in the Northwest province about 2 hours by taxi NW of pretoria. My village is great and I feel safe here. There are three other PCVs staying in my village ( two education volunteers and one home-based care volunteer) that have been living here for almost two years already, so they leave in September while Ill be staying on until April 3, 2011. ( God, its weird to say that I'll be coming home in 2011!) I think having the other PCVs softened my entrance into the village because the people here have become somewhat familiar to having white people around.... white South Africans NEVER live in villages here and rarely, if ever visit them, so there is still not a lot of contact between white South Africans and rural Black South Africans. In fact, when white South Africans drive through the village and see me on my daily 40 minute walk to and from work, they usually screech their tires, reverse, and frantically yell at me in Afrikaans to jump in the car so they can save me! I find it more fun to respond in setswana that I dont speak Afrikaans and that Im sharp ( im good) and dont need help : Ga ke Bue Afrikaans, Ke bua Setswana le English fela. Go sharp, Ga ke batle thuso. Aparteid ended only 14 years ago, so there is still a lot of tension and misunderstanding between the two groups, understandably.

Anyways, i live in a lovely home, and one thats probably the biggest house I'll ever live in any time soon. Its a lot nicer than what the typical PCV lives in, so lucky me! It has two bed rooms, a living and dining room, a kitchen, and a bathroom with a flush toilet. Water and electricity are a problem in the village and one or both is always running out, so i take bucket baths and keep the tub filled with water for flushing the toilet when the water goes out. Sometimes its out for a few hours or a day, sometimes for several days... so far the longest its been out was 14 days.. eish, man!

I live by myself with Nala, my wonderful puppy, but on the same property as my host family. I love them so much and they have been absoltuely wonderful to me. I have an older host sister who lives in Pretoria, an older brother, a younger brother in high school, and my host sister's 1 1/2 yr old son lives with us as well. i am usually exhausted by the end of the day so usually retire to my humble abode, but my mma and i talk outside for a few minutes almost everyday, and on the weekends we may sit outside under a tree and do our laundry and just talk.
In South Africa, it is supposedly a compliment to be told that you are fat. Not only that you are fat, but how fat you are and where on your body is particularly fat. It is suppose to indicate that you love South Africa and that your family is treating you and feeding you well, so its like, a sign of love or something. So this topic of conversation comes up every week on laundry day. She tells me how fat i am and points and pinches me where I am supposedly the fattest, and tells me how all her colleagues at work also notice how fat i am. It can sometimes be a little frusterating after a long week, since in the US this is something you would only say to someone you absolutely hated and wanted to make cry, but I accept it since, well, I dont really have a choice and i know she means no harm by it. I usually just go along and agree that yes, Im very fat, and yes, look at my hips, they are so big. So when you come and visit me, just be forewarned that no matter what your actual size, people will insist on your fatness.
I am working at a youth centre in my village... it is the only youth centre in the entire municipality. There are some great volunteers there, who have so good ideas, they just arent sure where to begin or how to get them into action. So thats sorta where I come in; to help get the ball rolling and get programs more organized at the youth centre. it is currently not being used nearly as much as it should, so along with some of the current volunteers, i will be trying to recruit more volunteers to the youth centre and better organize some programs to go on at the centre. Im wanting to focus specifically on high school and out-of-school youth, as there are many in the village and not many services or programs devoted to them. Im not sure what kind of programs we will do because we must first get their input and see what kind of programs they are interested in, plus find the dedicated volunteers interested in running the programs. Finding volunteers is a challenge, especially younger volunteers, bc the positions go unpaid and most out-of-school youth want paying jobs after matric(grade 12), but they dont know where to look or what opportunities are available to them, so many of them end up doing nothing for a period of time.

I have also found a group of about 6 very dedicated volunteers interested in starting a lay counseling group for issues such as child abuse, etc., or any kind of counseling children and youth may need. They have been trying to start a program for a couple of years but did not know how to express themselves or get started, and were coming across many road blocks. I was so happy when someone put them in contact with me because although Ive only been in the village about 2 months, i can see there are many problems among the youth , but no one for them to talk to. So we are in the very, very beginning stages of forming a lay counseling group and looking into training. i think we are off to a great start, though.

Ok, wow, I feel like Ive written a lot but theres so much to say, and i will never be able to fully sum up my experiences here. So you should all come visit me! Until tha day, maybe Ill try writing more blogs. I love you all and miss you terribly. I have a new address here in the village, but for safety reasons ( and as ordained by Peace Corps) i cannot post it here. Please email me at heather.n.brand@gmail.com and Ill send it to you so you can send me letters and lots of vegan goodies- Im in constant need of nuts, good coffee, and nutritional yeast.

kisskiss!
Heather/ Bontle( my setswana name, which means Beauty)