I don't know what I was thinking in February 2013 when I decided to extend. I guess I didn't feel like I had explored this area enough. I didn't know enough about development. I really liked eating large amounts of fruit on a daily basis. Not sure what did it, but I agreed to extend for another year at the University of Venda and am pretty pleased with this decision.
I came in not knowing what I would do. There was an assumption that I would work with a group of secondary schools in a rural community. My impatience quickly changed this. I am now developing a program to gain a better understanding of first year students. We are developing an extracurricular program for 60 first year students and will be tracking them throughout their University of Venda career. Hopefully there is more to come.
Not sure where this will lead to. I am sitting in an A/C room and purchased lunch at a grocery store this morning. When I want to take a mental break from work and am not posting blog posts, I am checking my fantasy football team. I am sure in January, when the season is over, I will start job hunting. Yet, I am going to be much more productive in the traditional sense than I was in the village.
I wake up at 5, go workout, get to the office by 8, work til 430, play basketball with the university team, get home around 730, cook, eat, sleep and repeat. Way different than my former life but interesting being normal in an unfamiliar setting.
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Goodbye?
Sometime in September, I packed my stuff, got in a Peace Corps vehicle and traveled 70km south from Pfukoni to Sibasa, my new home. The driver came 2 hours early and I was six hours ahead of schedule with my packing. No emotional departure, just a wave and a promise to return.
After traveling through Lesotho (need to make that a separate blog post), putting in two weeks at my new assignment and unpacking half of my junk, I was back in Pfukoni.
Oh, you had to go back and monitor your assignments, right Sean? Right...
I went back and observed a Scouts meeting and talked to the new volunteers, especially the one running the library. Yet, I really just needed to eat a real meal again, so I crashed with my old host family. It was great and plus I could cross of the promise to return off my list. Jk?
After serving two years, I always wanted to sneak out of Pfukoni quietly. Looking back, I think I accomplished that. My school had a going away celebration with the chief showing up, great gifts made by local folks, speeches and delicious food, but I think this was more for the village. For me, I just wanted my work to not have an end mark to it.
How does it not have an end mark?
Quiet you. My projects, in their weak existence, will continue on (non enthusiastic cheering). I will continue to talk with my host family, guide my host brother and visit. I extended for a year at the University of Venda to work with an office that focuses on getting resources into communities like my village. I am in constant conversation with the new batch of volunteers in the Venda region who just started working in similar schools and my former schools this past September.
A lot of romanticism with the Peace Corps is this sweep into a village, make a change and then sweep out. This exit is usually marked with a clear note whether that is a celebration (like my own), a public demonstration (funny stories I could share) or something else with symbolism. To me, this symbolic event always felt like saying, "Time to wash my hands."
I was recently talking to a fellow volunteer who finished their service and was reflecting on development. We talked about the need for people to work in the field. So much of our lives are spent theorizing, which is good and helpful. Yet I can't help but think about all the positive things that non-native people are doing in the corners of the world in countries with poor performing governments. The simple connection to the outside world these people provide is immeasurable. By outside world, I don't just mean foreign countries working with impoverished communities. I mean non-native people connecting impoverished communities with wealthy communities that already exist in their country.
Many Peace Corps Volunteers end up being these non-native people. They fall in love with a country and rock it out. I love coming across these people. They are deeply integrated, fully committed to their work and making a difference.
Stay or go, Peace Corps people are great. After two years, I leave my village not knowing much more than any other Returning Peace Corps Volunteer. We all leave with faces on our minds when people bat back and forth concepts about how to improve the state of countries. We all cringe when we see resources being misused, especially water. We all have a deep respect for circulation. We've all left. I don't feel like I've said goodbye, but I don't think I'll ever live in a hut again.
After traveling through Lesotho (need to make that a separate blog post), putting in two weeks at my new assignment and unpacking half of my junk, I was back in Pfukoni.
Oh, you had to go back and monitor your assignments, right Sean? Right...
I went back and observed a Scouts meeting and talked to the new volunteers, especially the one running the library. Yet, I really just needed to eat a real meal again, so I crashed with my old host family. It was great and plus I could cross of the promise to return off my list. Jk?
After serving two years, I always wanted to sneak out of Pfukoni quietly. Looking back, I think I accomplished that. My school had a going away celebration with the chief showing up, great gifts made by local folks, speeches and delicious food, but I think this was more for the village. For me, I just wanted my work to not have an end mark to it.
How does it not have an end mark?
Quiet you. My projects, in their weak existence, will continue on (non enthusiastic cheering). I will continue to talk with my host family, guide my host brother and visit. I extended for a year at the University of Venda to work with an office that focuses on getting resources into communities like my village. I am in constant conversation with the new batch of volunteers in the Venda region who just started working in similar schools and my former schools this past September.
A lot of romanticism with the Peace Corps is this sweep into a village, make a change and then sweep out. This exit is usually marked with a clear note whether that is a celebration (like my own), a public demonstration (funny stories I could share) or something else with symbolism. To me, this symbolic event always felt like saying, "Time to wash my hands."
I was recently talking to a fellow volunteer who finished their service and was reflecting on development. We talked about the need for people to work in the field. So much of our lives are spent theorizing, which is good and helpful. Yet I can't help but think about all the positive things that non-native people are doing in the corners of the world in countries with poor performing governments. The simple connection to the outside world these people provide is immeasurable. By outside world, I don't just mean foreign countries working with impoverished communities. I mean non-native people connecting impoverished communities with wealthy communities that already exist in their country.
Many Peace Corps Volunteers end up being these non-native people. They fall in love with a country and rock it out. I love coming across these people. They are deeply integrated, fully committed to their work and making a difference.
Stay or go, Peace Corps people are great. After two years, I leave my village not knowing much more than any other Returning Peace Corps Volunteer. We all leave with faces on our minds when people bat back and forth concepts about how to improve the state of countries. We all cringe when we see resources being misused, especially water. We all have a deep respect for circulation. We've all left. I don't feel like I've said goodbye, but I don't think I'll ever live in a hut again.
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Ha-Lambani Science Camp
I'm going to pat my back a little bit here. In development work, there are a lot of buzz words thrown around. Sustainability. Investment. Stakeholders. Counterpart. I have held firm to most of these words and feel that my work has been sustainable and filled with community investment. Good job, Sean. Now I want to do something that no one in my community has talked to me about. I want to do a science camp.
Growing up, I was always bad in science. I lacked patience and wasn't curious in that way. I owe my high school success in biology and chemistry to Jon Oram and Matt Boron's paper placement. I don't believe a knack for any subject comes naturally, there is a catalyst in every case. From this catalyst, the individual's motivation is what turns a great moment into consistent practice and eventually the work becomes second nature. I want to be that catalyst in a joy for science with my Grade 5 English class.
So I marked July 5-12 for the camp. To keep costs down and make things real and relevant, I decided to have the camp at school. I asked 4 of my fellow, more intellectually inclined Peace Corps Volunteers (PCV) to assist in leading experiments. I contacted the University of Limpopo, Tshilidzini Hospital and Gym4You to come and speak at the camp. I went to the two local secondary schools to send out applications for Scientists in Training (SITs). The result is a fun-filled week.
The first two days, the PCVs will teach the SITs how to do the experiment, explain the science behind it and allow them to do a practice presentation. After these first two days, 60 grade 5 children will be broken into 4 groups. Each day they will learn a new experiment but the first day they will learn how to do an experiment by learning the scientific method. With the scientific method at their disposal they will tackle density, mass, volume and states of matter, in a fun-filled, hands-on way. In the afternoons, after lunch, local businesses and institutions will come and share their practical application of science. Children will learn about nutrition and exercise, electricity, impact of local diseases, bird identification and receive career guidance.
It's a great chance. A great chance for these kids to learn the sciences in a way that is usually only seen by the wealthy city dwelling people of South Africa. A great chance for local businesses to uplift their community intellectually and instill in them a sense of hope for future employment. A great chance for the PCVs to share in the common bond of curiosity. It is also a great chance for you to get involved with my work in South Africa. Check out http://halambanisciencecamp.blogspot.com/ to see how.
Growing up, I was always bad in science. I lacked patience and wasn't curious in that way. I owe my high school success in biology and chemistry to Jon Oram and Matt Boron's paper placement. I don't believe a knack for any subject comes naturally, there is a catalyst in every case. From this catalyst, the individual's motivation is what turns a great moment into consistent practice and eventually the work becomes second nature. I want to be that catalyst in a joy for science with my Grade 5 English class.
So I marked July 5-12 for the camp. To keep costs down and make things real and relevant, I decided to have the camp at school. I asked 4 of my fellow, more intellectually inclined Peace Corps Volunteers (PCV) to assist in leading experiments. I contacted the University of Limpopo, Tshilidzini Hospital and Gym4You to come and speak at the camp. I went to the two local secondary schools to send out applications for Scientists in Training (SITs). The result is a fun-filled week.
The first two days, the PCVs will teach the SITs how to do the experiment, explain the science behind it and allow them to do a practice presentation. After these first two days, 60 grade 5 children will be broken into 4 groups. Each day they will learn a new experiment but the first day they will learn how to do an experiment by learning the scientific method. With the scientific method at their disposal they will tackle density, mass, volume and states of matter, in a fun-filled, hands-on way. In the afternoons, after lunch, local businesses and institutions will come and share their practical application of science. Children will learn about nutrition and exercise, electricity, impact of local diseases, bird identification and receive career guidance.
It's a great chance. A great chance for these kids to learn the sciences in a way that is usually only seen by the wealthy city dwelling people of South Africa. A great chance for local businesses to uplift their community intellectually and instill in them a sense of hope for future employment. A great chance for the PCVs to share in the common bond of curiosity. It is also a great chance for you to get involved with my work in South Africa. Check out http://halambanisciencecamp.blogspot.com/ to see how.
Friday, April 26, 2013
October 2013 to October 2014
Distance is nothing. I am a firm believer in keeping your spirits high no matter what the situation is. As I look at the last few months in my village and the massive amount of work that is left to do, I'm alright. Though I've decided to extend for a year in South Africa, I will be okay with walking away from the work I've done. Just like the efforts I've undertook in the past and the ones that lie in front of me, I gave it my all and loved every moment for what it was.
South Africa has not been this mind expanding experience or anything supernatural. It has been fun, relaxing and conducive to productive, healthy work. My thoughts on my career and life path have certainly altered, though. There is a real inner push to explore the question of how to increase the effectiveness of teaching outside of the United States. For me, I'll continue to answer this question for at least another year in South Africa.
Peace Corps South Africa has developed a position with the School of Education at the University of Venda. The faculty in the School of Education has requested assistance with a grant that works with a cluster of secondary schools. I decided to apply for the third year extension position and was fortunate enough to be accepted.
I will be on a university campus, which means more internet and hopefully more, better blog updates. Also, I will be back in the Land of the Free from Thanksgiving 2013 to New Years 2014. Cleveland is where I'll be, but I need to get to Nashville and see my students. I also need to visit Zack and Marion in North Carolina and properly congratulate them on their marriage!!!!!
May 4th is the big day. Send your congratulations to zackoliver423@gmail.com. No need to know who they are, it's a wedding - send your congrats. Zack and Marion did Teach for America with me in Nashville. I knew this was going to happen since their first date at Georgia Tech during Institute. A simple break from the hellacious workload of lesson planning led to two awesome years in Nashville and a fruitful future. I can't wait to see you two again and wish you congratulations. Though, sorry Marion, I'll have to take Zack from you to go play basketball and eat burritos. Haha!
Got to Save it Somewhere
Hey loved ones,
I've been doing pretty solid. Scouts troop is nearing what I would classify as functioning. I need to make a separate post from our camp. Maybe I'll copy and paste the article I wrote for the Peace Corps newsletter? I've been teaching English and, after a year of more observation than teaching, I am realizing how much of a difference a committed teacher makes in the classroom. Thank you teachers! Keep smiling. Keep working your butt off. Tomorrow I am heading to my shopping town to pick up around 500 books to put them in the abandon building and get the ball rolling on the library. Entering the unknown. I've decided to stay in South Africa for another year with Peace Corps, working with the School of Education at the University of Venda. That should be a separate post too. Oh, but the reason I started this!
In July, we are doing a science camp in my village. The idea is to have my really smart Peace Corps friends come to my village for a week, spend two days training some secondary students (mostly the Scouts) in experiments, then run a 5 day camp with primary school kids. This way the secondary kids are learning and leading while the little ones are learning and experiencing and it all is under the supervision of solid people. I may even get one of the teachers to volunteer some of their vacation time! Don't worry, I'm making a separate site for this whole effort. Ah, the actual reason for this post!
So I needed to save some images somewhere of shirts that I have designed for the camp. There really isn't much funding that I have found for science stuff at the primary level. Learning science in a fun, hands on approach could make a world of difference for my learners. There is no Great Lakes Science Center like there is in Cleveland and most of the teachers lack the equivalence of anything beyond a high school degree, so there is no real exploration of science. Students exposure to science is copying notes from the board after a teacher copied the notes from a book.
Enough babbling. I'll save that for a more formal site. The shirts are below. Do you like red, grass, slate or navy? Let me know your vote. Ask your co-workers. Ask you granny. Yell at someone from your house, have them come in, give them some tea and let them choose one.
The quote on the back is, "Science does not know its debt to imagination. Emerson."
The plan is to charge a price for the shirts that matches the cost of a shirt for a learner and some of the camp's expenses. Super excited!
Enjoy
I've been doing pretty solid. Scouts troop is nearing what I would classify as functioning. I need to make a separate post from our camp. Maybe I'll copy and paste the article I wrote for the Peace Corps newsletter? I've been teaching English and, after a year of more observation than teaching, I am realizing how much of a difference a committed teacher makes in the classroom. Thank you teachers! Keep smiling. Keep working your butt off. Tomorrow I am heading to my shopping town to pick up around 500 books to put them in the abandon building and get the ball rolling on the library. Entering the unknown. I've decided to stay in South Africa for another year with Peace Corps, working with the School of Education at the University of Venda. That should be a separate post too. Oh, but the reason I started this!
In July, we are doing a science camp in my village. The idea is to have my really smart Peace Corps friends come to my village for a week, spend two days training some secondary students (mostly the Scouts) in experiments, then run a 5 day camp with primary school kids. This way the secondary kids are learning and leading while the little ones are learning and experiencing and it all is under the supervision of solid people. I may even get one of the teachers to volunteer some of their vacation time! Don't worry, I'm making a separate site for this whole effort. Ah, the actual reason for this post!
So I needed to save some images somewhere of shirts that I have designed for the camp. There really isn't much funding that I have found for science stuff at the primary level. Learning science in a fun, hands on approach could make a world of difference for my learners. There is no Great Lakes Science Center like there is in Cleveland and most of the teachers lack the equivalence of anything beyond a high school degree, so there is no real exploration of science. Students exposure to science is copying notes from the board after a teacher copied the notes from a book.
Enough babbling. I'll save that for a more formal site. The shirts are below. Do you like red, grass, slate or navy? Let me know your vote. Ask your co-workers. Ask you granny. Yell at someone from your house, have them come in, give them some tea and let them choose one.
The quote on the back is, "Science does not know its debt to imagination. Emerson."
The plan is to charge a price for the shirts that matches the cost of a shirt for a learner and some of the camp's expenses. Super excited!
Enjoy
Friday, February 22, 2013
Building a Bridge
I take a lot for granted. I take for granted running water, regular electricity, buildings being built, personal vehicles and a plethora of more things. One of the main things I take for granted is infrastructure. Ok, taking a rickety bus for 30 minutes on a dirt road, then transferring, waiting for another bus and then driving another hour and a half is a pain to get groceries but at least there is a road to it on. Walking 10km, jumping over massive ruts formed in the road and wading through the water, just to catch a taxi because your road has washed away is a brutal way to leave.
Just after the first of the year, a massive storm hit the Ha-Lambani area. For a week straight, heavy rains poured down and flooding ensued. While the rain pelted my village, I was away visiting my friend Mardy, a fellow PCV, in his village where the rain was much more subtle. While I was returning, my host mom called and said, "Sean, don't come back. The bridge is broke. A child has died."
I traveled over my village's dirt road for about 18 months at that point. I loved the beautiful picturesque landscape, the dust blowing everywhere and the welcoming silence of nature with the rare birds abundant. I had waged in on debates about the pros and cons of a tar road, often loathing the idea of regular traffic throughout the village, destroying the peacefulness. The flood made me think twice about where I stood.
I never got the full story, but it basically sounded like a young child was going to fetch something during a flood, jumped onto a termite hill which is usually very stable, slipped and fell in the rushing current. I don't know if a road would have saved this child's life, but it certainly would have made life easier before this tragedy. Goods would have flowed easier into the village. Services such as maintenance to consistently broken water pipes could have been more easily completed. Emergency vehicles would be able to travel in times of crisis such as flooding.
I arrived back in the village, the day after the last rain carrying 5kg of apples and 4 loaves of bread because my host mom said there is not even bread in the local shop. I know the rain meant fresh greens would be on the menu for the coming month and most likely insects, so we were okay on that end. As I walked through the village, it looked like a war zone. No vehicles could pass and people were aimlessly walking, looking at the raging river and ravaged landscape. I couldn't sense when all this would get fixed. I wasn't sure how it could be fixed.
Apparently, the road needed to be fixed first. Duh, Sean! A construction of a road seems simple to me, but then again, I've never had to build or pressure my government to build one. Up until this past February, I'm not sure if I had ever seen one built. Ha-Lambani, being sweet, built their own bridge and I gave my pathetic effort. I may live in a village, but I don't have village strength.
Just after the first of the year, a massive storm hit the Ha-Lambani area. For a week straight, heavy rains poured down and flooding ensued. While the rain pelted my village, I was away visiting my friend Mardy, a fellow PCV, in his village where the rain was much more subtle. While I was returning, my host mom called and said, "Sean, don't come back. The bridge is broke. A child has died."
Main bridge into Ha-Lambani. A dirt road used to be level to the concrete block.
I traveled over my village's dirt road for about 18 months at that point. I loved the beautiful picturesque landscape, the dust blowing everywhere and the welcoming silence of nature with the rare birds abundant. I had waged in on debates about the pros and cons of a tar road, often loathing the idea of regular traffic throughout the village, destroying the peacefulness. The flood made me think twice about where I stood.
I never got the full story, but it basically sounded like a young child was going to fetch something during a flood, jumped onto a termite hill which is usually very stable, slipped and fell in the rushing current. I don't know if a road would have saved this child's life, but it certainly would have made life easier before this tragedy. Goods would have flowed easier into the village. Services such as maintenance to consistently broken water pipes could have been more easily completed. Emergency vehicles would be able to travel in times of crisis such as flooding.
I arrived back in the village, the day after the last rain carrying 5kg of apples and 4 loaves of bread because my host mom said there is not even bread in the local shop. I know the rain meant fresh greens would be on the menu for the coming month and most likely insects, so we were okay on that end. As I walked through the village, it looked like a war zone. No vehicles could pass and people were aimlessly walking, looking at the raging river and ravaged landscape. I couldn't sense when all this would get fixed. I wasn't sure how it could be fixed.
Apparently, the road needed to be fixed first. Duh, Sean! A construction of a road seems simple to me, but then again, I've never had to build or pressure my government to build one. Up until this past February, I'm not sure if I had ever seen one built. Ha-Lambani, being sweet, built their own bridge and I gave my pathetic effort. I may live in a village, but I don't have village strength.
For 3 days, villagers moved earth and stone to create a temporary bridge to connect to the concrete block. In the picture to the left, people are laying down stones for traction. Villagers from over 8km away came to pitch in. In the picture to the right, you can see where the bridge washed away the new one was formed.
Even the children pitched in! School ended a few hours early one day so the teachers and children could help repair one of the nearby, smaller bridges in order for small vehicles to pass.
I'm not sure where this blogpost is going. This is the second place I have gone to where a major flood has happened during my two year commitment (Nashville 2010). It was a wild site. Hearing and seeing mud huts wash away and hearing about death and injury was heart wrenching. After the village gets rocked, to see them not wait for the inadequate government services was invigorating. I felt like I was watching that scene from Black Hawk Down where some European town was bombed and the people started clearing the rubble the next day. I think that was the movie.
This Peace Corps experience has taught me a lot. Be good to your neighbor.
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