The Start of School

Sept 16
Some of you have asked me about helping to sponsor school
fees for students here. ($24) per year. This is very possible, so
please contact either myself via email or call my mom because she will
be the one who will probably transfer the money here. I hope to get
something arranged in the next few weeks, so let me know if you are
interested.

The first week of school has been interesting, as the students are
only slowly trickling in. There are only about 40 of 150 right now,
but I am praying that they will be there next year. Besides from me
not knowing what I would be teaching until yesterday, I really enjoy
the time at my school. The walk is beautiful and the girls are eager
and ready to learn. I am inspired by them every morning because they
come ready to sing, dance, and say prayers, despite all the problems
they are facing. I am teaching both English and Science, and helping
with the sports and computer classes, and hope to have some
basketball poles up by this weekend. I am excited for what the school
year brings because already the kids are having fun in my classes. I
took them outside to classify and pick plants and they really enjoyed
the activity because it got them outside of the classroom. They did
not even want me to leave when the period ended.

At the same time, I know I will face many challenges, with students
and family members getting ill, or not being able to attend because
they have to help make money for their families. I only hope that I
can inspire them to succeed and go on to senior secondary school and
university. Everything else here is well. It is getting very hot and
it drains a lot of energy from me, but it will be ok! Ginobli is
getting bigger by the day and enjoying the package that was sent to
him by Mrs. Rivera. He is a good guard dog and can growl and bark
pretty loud for being so small!

Sept 20th
So this is it, what I signed up for. Many more of the students game
this week and the school is slowly starting to fill up with smiling
faces. The girls are happy to have me as their teacher, but there is
still a good deal of work to be done. I have to speak very slowly and
pronounce every syllable and even them they still have fun making fun
of my American accent. Instead of Bunson Burner, they would say
Brunser Bruner and Chest Tube for Test Tube. Needless to say, I always
have a reason to smile and laugh. I have been given many duties
because I am the first American they have seen in a long time. THey
seem to think I am super woman and can do anything, but I have to slow
them down and remind them that I face the same challenges of getting
things done, with the limited resources available.

This is has been a wonderful experience so far, but I have to
constantly remind myself why I am here so that I can get over the
rough patches. We had a good weekend in Mckenny at a swimming pool for
a friend’s birthday and it was nice to see of our fellow Peace Corps
Volunteers. Moments like those and emails help me get through those
hurdles. Also if you are ever at the store and think of something you
couldn't live with out, send it for me! haha Or if you come across a
battery operated fan....its starting to get really hot here and
without electricity. I would appreciate anything, if you can! Well I
will update you at the end of the school week and let you know how
things are coming. Keep the emails and letters coming

Deep Breaths

I hope all is well back in Texas or wherever you happen to be in the
world. Things here are well...hot! For being rainy season, it has only
been raining a little in the morning and sometimes during the night.
Today it felt especially hot and there is really no where that is cool
enough to cool down, so I just try to drink a lot of cold water and
look forward to the ice cold bucket bath at the end of the day. It's
been a odd few days...we have kind of been in a waiting limbo for
multiple things. The rest of our furniture is somewhere on its way,
school still doesn't have an official start date, and a journalist
that was supposed to interview us for the global post still has not
showed up. School has not started because children are not coming up
with the 24 dollars needed to pay their school fees for the year.
Times are hard and it is really hitting home where and I why I am
here. I think I am having a rough day or I am exhausted, but then I
look around me and remember that I have a really tough job ahead of
me. Of course I am always welcome to ideas or suggestions for projects
or ways I can make the best of my service here, so keep the replies
coming.

There is another stark reality here and that is the situation of
healthcare. Death is not uncommon and there are almost daily funeral
processions from what probably could have been very preventable
viruses or infection. A young girl from my school who used to come by
our house to help us out lost her mother the other day due to an
infection in her foot. This was very hard to take in, but at the same
time know it is something I must learn to face and cope with in the
next few years because I know it will not be the first or last time
for this experience. I am going to try my hardest in my field of
education, but I also hope that I can help empower locals to teach
about simple healthcare steps that could prevent things like this from
happening. Then again it is all dependent on prayer and support from
this and the international community.

On a more positive note, our house is finally coming together and
Ginobili is growing up a little every day. He eats bowl after bowl of
food and gets into everything. This morning, I saw the biggest spider
yet, about 5 inches in diameter with big black googley eyes! When I
can, I will post pictures of our (now dead) friend. Other than that,
we are trying to rest a bit before school starts because that is when
it will be very busy. I am still waiting on the science syllabus and
then I can start making all my lesson plans. Again, I appreciate all
the emails that everyone is sending back to me! I hope to hear from
you all again very soon!