Update

Alright, so what has Jayce really been up to. I’ve been at site now for over 2 months, still trying to find my place.

The way Peace Corps works is that you spend the first 3 to 4 months at site specifically focusing on integration. Its really important for you to learn the language and become a part of the community so that way you aren’t just some white person who plops down and tells them how to live their lives. This gives you a chance to establish a rapport, and figure out what exactly the village needs and expects from you.

So I have been to the various churches on Sunday, been to the hospital, the village council, the bar, the market, the school and just around town to try and get my face out there.

Thankfully the hospital doesn’t expect that much out of me as they do out of some people. I won’t be birthing babies or giving vaccinations like some volunteers have to do. What they expect is once a week to come in and teach the pregnant women about HIV prevention, family planning and general health/nutrition information. Totally doable.

The village council really wants me to start a group for the youth of the community. Mainly teenage boys. To talk about STI prevention, making smart decisions and general life skills. Again, totally doable.

So I also met with the school. The school here is completely understaffed and in desperate need of teachers so, of course, they asked me to teach. They want me to teach biology. The question is can I do it? Knowledge-wise, I think I can since I looked at the national exam and pretty much had a good grasp. But the real question is can I really do it?

The way it works here is that students do not have an English class. Once students reach high school, the teachers just begin teaching strictly in English, and the board expects them to just learn it from osmosis. Not a fan of that approach.

So I am thinking that if I did start teaching it would only be the juniors and seniors because hopefully they will have learned enough English for me to be able to get my point across. That and I don’t think I could handle any more than that. If I could teach in only Swahili I could do it, but its not allowed, that’s what makes it difficult. Not so doable.

So my tentative weekly schedule is going to consist of working at the hospital one day teaching mothers, a day working with my youth group, and possibly two days at the school teaching biology.

So that’s where I’m at right now. Of course things are going to change over time. There are still things that I would like to do and programs I would like to start including income generating activities for the PLWHA groups, as well as working with the orphans and vulnerable children on health issues and getting into school.

So who knows. We’ll see how it all works out.

Sorry so long.

Cheers,

Jayce