Sunday, December 25, 2011
Christmas Eve dinner = Taco's and Margaritas
Friday, December 23, 2011
Pretoria pre-vacacciones...
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
La vista Africana
Gearrring up to head for the Indian Ocean...! And some fun PCV bonding time (like we all haven't had enough)!
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Happy Hanukkah = חנוכה שמח
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Enjoying the time off from training
Monday, December 12, 2011
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Hoy hago las cartas de la Navidad :)
I'll be curious to see if these even arrive...sent a several birthday cards and post cards but haven't heard that all arrived. The mail here to no guarantee especially when it comes into the country. I know several people to get pairs of prescription glasses and valuable snatched coming through. But apparently anything sent it a tampon box or with "religious" content (preferably Christian) it gets through no problem.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
The 1st ever World AIDS Day at Robanyane Toto II Primary School
World AIDS Day went fabulously at my elementary school here in South Africa on December 1st, 2011. It was the first "programme" ever run at this school to raise HIV/AIDS awareness on the global celebration date that marks the day of remembrance of lives take by this disease.
Just 9 year ago 2,000,000 people were dying of AIDS, while another 3,000,000 were being newly infected and or living with HIV/AIDS. Meanwhile less than 50,000 people here in Sub-Saharan had access to proper medication.
My girl group with whom I helped write a song based off the Black Eyed Peas' "Where is the love." I sang with them and it went very well.
Institutional and social change is needed to empower this population and reduce the stigma and exploitation that exists, which continues to put women and children at risk of HIV infection.
They all decided to wear red and white for their performance. Here they are singing a song in Setswana about AIDS. There were other groups that sang too and recited poetry to the group of close to 700 students at my elementary school.
I arranged for a member of our School Governing Body to come in to speak to the kids in Setswana about HIV/AIDS. Her name is Mineh and she is also a member of one of the community home-based care groups that exists in my village, thus the perfect speaker. Here, she speaks to the kids on PROTECTION by using body language to symbolize this.
Here, Mineh gets the kids to understand stand the idea of REDUCE by motioning with the hands down to the ground.
Here, my boy Blessed who comes up to my daily and whisper the sweetest things in my ear like: "Mma Suzana you look very nice today!" or "Mma Fifi, don't you have 1 Rand for me to buy sweets?"
Here, one of the students reads one of the fact cards I prepared for the event. We did "Why are the ribbons we where on World AIDS Day RED??" and announcing this year's World AIDS Day theme: Getting to Zero. That is getting, as Hillary Clinton stated, to an AIDS FREE Generation with zero cases of infection.
Here, my neighbor (left) who comes over daily to pester me by saying "eeh wena Refilwe!" (literally, hey you Refilwe). He learned some English the other day which was "DON'T TOUCH!" in reference to my laptop.
These little ones are all getting excited for the upcoming ceremony, which of course started with a Christian prayer and then moved onto a candle lighting to remember their parents and friends and family whose lives had been lost to AIDS.
There are close to 2 million orphans living here in South Africa, who have all lost parents due to this disease, and this number continues to grow and that number is way too high.
"With so many people suffering from the consequences of HIV/AIDS, you have an obligation to do what you can to educate yourself on how to protect yourself. Think of ways to help and educate your community on how to overcome this sickness that way you are investing in your future and that is The SMARTEST investment you can make. Love and support those who you know have HIV/AIDS. Love and support your fellow classmates who are orphans, who have been left behind as the battle wounds of this disease. PROTECT and RESPECT yourself and stay clear of the risks leading to infection. So, TODAY here with me, make the commitment to create an AIDS FREE GENERATION!"
Those were the ending few words of advise I passed to the kids in the longer speech I delivered to them on Thursday.
Here stand the teachers, Mma Leabile and Mma Chabaemang, under 2 of the several signs I made for the event, which will be re-used next year for another event, which I hope to open up to the community. More like a festival with trainings and food and a full programme again.
I am so proud of myself for (basically) single-handedly organizing this event and having the ability to raise awareness to almost 700 learners that day about HIV/AIDS. It hurts that I am absent for this holiday season and miss everyone dreadfully at home in the USA and Peru but it is moments like this that I can relish in the fact that I have dedicated 2 years of my life to serve abroad in the field of international development and provide motivation and empowerment to this community here in South Africa.
MUCHO AMOR to y'all back home! I am so happy to be here and keep on spreading the word on how to prevent and raise awareness on HIV/AIDS and most importantly: LOVE and SUPPORT every day those you know who live with this disease.
If I could have anyone's life I think it might be...SHAKIRA
What would I do without Shakira? I've seen her once in concert BUT that will definitely NOT be the last. I could listen to her music all day and dance secretly in my room to her music here (all day) in South Africa.
I was introduced to her music playing one morning on the radio in the Costa Rican rainforest.
...el cielo está cansado ya de ver
la lluvia caer
y cada día que pasa es uno más
parecido a ayer...
I was snuggled up in my sleeping bag on the waxed (yes, waxed) smooth wooden floor of the house I was staying in and I heard this on the radio. I spent that summer after 9th grade with Chelsea hiking from the side of the Pan American Highway through the different levels of cloud and rain forest all the way to the beach on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica. Part way in the middle of all of our 6 weeks in country we stopped for a 2 week homestay with a family living in the rainforest. I was coerced up out of my sleeping bag slumber every morning to the smell of cooking tortillas and huevos fritos and sometimes panqueques. We'd stuff our faces and then roll up our make shift bed (our sleeping bags and foam mats) which were placed every night in the wall-less living room on the 1st floor of the house. Then we'd play with the kids practicing our Español and help the family with any chores they may have for us. But this one morning it was the sounds of this melodic voice to which I awoke and from then on I heard it everywhere that summer...that's when I bought the album and took it home with me to the States, SHAKIRA (before she had stepped on the American pop stage and called the girl whose "hips don't lie").
"Inevitable"
Como me encanta esta letra, es preciosa. It always always always brings back that summer I spent with Chel and all our other Outward Bound team mates hiking through the humidity (you could take a knife out and cut a piece out from) of the Costa Rican rainforest and fears of facing the NATURALEZA of the outdoors.
Probably better than I could say it. All about her foundation EL COLEGIO DE SHAKIRA:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304252704575156063289919070.html
She is the founder and director of educational NGO the Barefoot Foundation: http://www.barefootfoundation.com/
Then this past October she became a member of the Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, President Obama's committee to improve Hispanic education levels. WOW. Hispanics are the largest and fastest growing minority group in the U.S, but they are also the group with the lowest education attainment levels in the country. Thus, probably a good area for her, yet I wonder how she insight into a Latino's experience in the American schooling system is?
In my debate with my own thought on what-the-hell-am-I-going-to-do-with-my-future when I get out of the Peace Corps, this is an area that I am seriously waging getting involved with when I return home. I know public health has always been at my core, but this is something highly imperative for the U.S. at this moment to concentrate on. We are the LARGEST growing minority group and without our community having a strong educational base, we will hit serious consequence I believe for the entire development of the U.S. I think this is something I am passionate about already and have a lot of skills to that I could use to give back to our
community in the U.S.
This was a great report I read last year revealing the rising challenges in education and employment opportunities facing the Latino community in New York City: http://www.cssny.org/userimages/downloads/Press%20Release%2011.1.10%20LatinoYouthPopulationFaceSignifican%20EducationandEmploymentChallenges.pdf
Almost in response to this study which points out that one of the most vulnerable sub-populations of the Latino community in New York City are its males. The response is the creation of the Young Man's Initiative to tackle the education and job disparities in black and Latino male population.
Announcement by Mayor Bloomberg:
http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.c0935b9a57bb4ef3daf2f1c701c789a0/index.jsp?pageID=mayor_press_release&catID=1194&doc_name=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyc.gov%2Fhtml%2Fom%2Fhtml%2F2011b%2Fpr282-11.html&cc=unused1978&rc=1194&ndi=1
The thing about Shakira is that despite her artistic talents and ability to contort her body like a snake....
...is that she gets the need to invest in EDUCATION, something I think that being dazzled by the field of public health had lost focus of. I admire that she has gone home and given back to her community and then began to spread that love even farther, globally. Her newest project is in Haiti (http://www.barefootfoundation.com/7-home/6-haiti-school-initiative-to-aid-recovery) creating a sustainable education project there and creating schools, let's just hope that the teachers are good since that's a huge part of schooling. It's one thing for there to be a school in the community, it's another if the school is filled with loving teachers who are motivated, organized and effective teachers.
More on SHAKIRA on NPR:
On abolishing school fee (they exist here too at my "public" school): http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89844556
Everything she's learned about life comes from growing up in Baranquilla, Colombia:
The thing about Shakira is that despite her artistic talents and ability to contort her body like a snake....
...is that she gets the need to invest in EDUCATION, something I think that being dazzled by the field of public health had lost focus of. I admire that she has gone home and given back to her community and then began to spread that love even farther, globally. Her newest project is in Haiti (http://www.barefootfoundation.com/7-home/6-haiti-school-initiative-to-aid-recovery) creating a sustainable education project there and creating schools, let's just hope that the teachers are good since that's a huge part of schooling. It's one thing for there to be a school in the community, it's another if the school is filled with loving teachers who are motivated, organized and effective teachers.
More on SHAKIRA on NPR:
On abolishing school fee (they exist here too at my "public" school): http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89844556
Everything she's learned about life comes from growing up in Baranquilla, Colombia:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11173182
But I love that she's been able to really do it ALL. Music, singing, belly dancing, and performing career AND development work. On top of all that she speaks: English, Español, Français,العربية (Arabic), and who knows what else. She's made herself into an inspiring character.
The ONE BAD thing I think I could say on her is that I think she's slightly TOO BLONDE. But then again, what woman hasn't been TOO blonde at some point in her life?
But I love that she's been able to really do it ALL. Music, singing, belly dancing, and performing career AND development work. On top of all that she speaks: English, Español, Français,العربية (Arabic), and who knows what else. She's made herself into an inspiring character.
The ONE BAD thing I think I could say on her is that I think she's slightly TOO BLONDE. But then again, what woman hasn't been TOO blonde at some point in her life?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)