TIME FLIES
WOW!!! I'm scared I might sound old saying this, but TIME FLIES!!! I've officially been here for a month now, and it's still so hard for me to believe!!! The past month has been filled with so many emotions and new experiences! I've been presented with so many new challenges... there are new obstacles to overcome every single day, but somehow, someway, Im still making it... And it even seems that in spite of the heat, and the mosquitos, and the latrines, and the fact that I'm living in a world without Daiquiris and ice cream, I'm really starting to enjoy myself here these days!!! Last week, after interviewing and much anticipation, we all found out where we'll be living once training is over. My village is DATCHA, it's a small village of about 4500 people. It's a new post, meaning that I'm going to be the first volunteer to have ever worked with this community, so all the programs will have to be thought of, created, and implemented by me and my local counterpart. I'll be living in a compound with another host family, but I'll have my own "house" that they will not have access to, it has 3 rooms: a bedroom, kitchen, and living room. I'll have electricity but no running water. There's supposed to be a well in my compound though, so it shouldn't be too different than what I'm experiencing now. It was actually my first request, so I'm happy about that and I'm getting excited about meeting people and making myself known in the community. I'll be going to visit my post in 3 weeks, so I'm sure I'll have much more to say about my new village then. The closest volunteers to me are at least 10km away, which is within biking distance for me these days, and they've already contacted me to let me know they are anxiously awaiting my arrival and how great my village is! They really seem like a great group of people!
This week, I realized that being a Peace Corps volunteer is definitely going to be a lot hard work, and I had no idea how stressful and demanding the job really is until just a few days ago. On Wednesday afternoon we went to visit a local school to talk to this committee of concerned parents and students (similar to the PTA at home). We, the new Peace Corps trainees, were told that we were having this session with these parents in order to ask them questions and gain insight regarding the organization and structure of a committee like this, since we're going to have to form these committees once we arrive at our respective posts in December. Well, everyone was shocked at the reception we received... There was music, dancing, all kinds of fruits, and the whole community seemed to be there... It seemed a little odd since this was only supposed to be a session with the volunteers and about 4 parents on the committee, but we were all having a great time so nobody really thought too much about it. When the music stopped, and we got into our discussion though, we realized what was really going on. The people on this committee began telling us about the history of the school itself and why the school is so important to them. We learned that it is a community run school, meaning that it gets no support from the Togolese government; it was organized by the community alone and most of the teachers if they are paid at all, earn their salary from the donations of other parents in the village. Needless to say, neither the school nor the parents have any money. Last year they were having classes in mud huts but when rainy season came, the mud huts all collapsed and washed away. When that happened, some Catholic missionaries allowed them to use one of their buildings to hold classes temporarily, but the missionaries have recently written them a letter telling them that they will need to find another venue for their school within the next two months. Apparently, this community somehow got the impression that we, as Peace Corps volunteers, were there to somehow magically eradicate all their problems. The whole experience was bewildering because nobody was prepared to walk in on a situation like this, and there was no way we could respond to the issues that this community is facing. There were many things we all learned from the experience, and it has definitely opened my eyes to some of the difficulties I will undoubtedly encounter here. The people here are so used to American and European organizations coming in and handing money out, it seems they almost expect it whenever they see a 'yovo' (their local word for foreigner) working in their community. Other volunteers have warned us that this is a problem we will encounter on a regular, ongoing basis, and that we can expect it to make life very stressful. Peace Corps' philosophy is to assist the communities not by giving donations and writing checks, but by empowering them through increased access to information and the skills necessary in order for the people themselves to create their own on-going, sustainable income generating activities long after a Peace Corps volunteer has worked there. I'm just realizing how much truth the Peace Corps slogan "The toughest job you'll ever love" really holds...
I will certainly learn so much more from my community than I will ever be able to leave behind, but hopefully I'll be able to have a positive lasting impact in the life of just while I'm here...
I'll write more soon!!!
Once again, I miss you all!!!
Peace and Love,
Erica
This week, I realized that being a Peace Corps volunteer is definitely going to be a lot hard work, and I had no idea how stressful and demanding the job really is until just a few days ago. On Wednesday afternoon we went to visit a local school to talk to this committee of concerned parents and students (similar to the PTA at home). We, the new Peace Corps trainees, were told that we were having this session with these parents in order to ask them questions and gain insight regarding the organization and structure of a committee like this, since we're going to have to form these committees once we arrive at our respective posts in December. Well, everyone was shocked at the reception we received... There was music, dancing, all kinds of fruits, and the whole community seemed to be there... It seemed a little odd since this was only supposed to be a session with the volunteers and about 4 parents on the committee, but we were all having a great time so nobody really thought too much about it. When the music stopped, and we got into our discussion though, we realized what was really going on. The people on this committee began telling us about the history of the school itself and why the school is so important to them. We learned that it is a community run school, meaning that it gets no support from the Togolese government; it was organized by the community alone and most of the teachers if they are paid at all, earn their salary from the donations of other parents in the village. Needless to say, neither the school nor the parents have any money. Last year they were having classes in mud huts but when rainy season came, the mud huts all collapsed and washed away. When that happened, some Catholic missionaries allowed them to use one of their buildings to hold classes temporarily, but the missionaries have recently written them a letter telling them that they will need to find another venue for their school within the next two months. Apparently, this community somehow got the impression that we, as Peace Corps volunteers, were there to somehow magically eradicate all their problems. The whole experience was bewildering because nobody was prepared to walk in on a situation like this, and there was no way we could respond to the issues that this community is facing. There were many things we all learned from the experience, and it has definitely opened my eyes to some of the difficulties I will undoubtedly encounter here. The people here are so used to American and European organizations coming in and handing money out, it seems they almost expect it whenever they see a 'yovo' (their local word for foreigner) working in their community. Other volunteers have warned us that this is a problem we will encounter on a regular, ongoing basis, and that we can expect it to make life very stressful. Peace Corps' philosophy is to assist the communities not by giving donations and writing checks, but by empowering them through increased access to information and the skills necessary in order for the people themselves to create their own on-going, sustainable income generating activities long after a Peace Corps volunteer has worked there. I'm just realizing how much truth the Peace Corps slogan "The toughest job you'll ever love" really holds...
I will certainly learn so much more from my community than I will ever be able to leave behind, but hopefully I'll be able to have a positive lasting impact in the life of just while I'm here...
I'll write more soon!!!
Once again, I miss you all!!!
Peace and Love,
Erica
posted by peacecorpsjourneywoman @ 10:51 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home