I apologize for the lack of blog updates recently, the past
month has been such a blur and internet, as usual, has been questionable. It’s hard to imagine that two months ago
today, I was making my final goodbye phone calls in the JFK airport before
boarding the plane to Johannesburg with 41 other volunteers, who were complete
strangers at the time. Fast forward two
months and here I am today, sitting in my hut at my permanent site, wondering
to myself what the heck integration into a new community even looks like. This past Thursday, the entire group of 41
volunteers who arrived in Swaziland were sworn in as official volunteers. The fact that all of us made it through
training is apparently quite an accomplishment as many groups lose volunteers
during these first few months as they realize that Peace Corps is not for
them.
While I am still completely
confident that I am exactly where I need to be, I must admit that it has not
been an easy journey thus far. The last
few weeks of training were a struggle trying to balance spending time with my
host family, studying siSwati, not to mention trying to process everything that
I was experiencing. Additionally, I was
overcome with an eagerness to leave the classroom and finally begin what I had
come here to do. As training came to an
end, I experienced additional anxiety as I anticipated the changes that were to
come as we moved to our permanent sites.
About halfway through training, we were given an opportunity to visit
our permanent sites, for what Peace Corps calls “On the Job Training.” During my visit, I was struck by the poverty
of the community where I will be spending the remainder of my service. Located in the low veld of Swaziland’s
Lubombo region, my community is barren.
This place brings a new meaning to the word dry and the only visible
signs of life are the thorny acacia trees that litter the landscape. Water is in short supply and during my three-day
visit, I was approached by multiple community members who tugged on my
heartstrings, telling me, “I’m sick, I’m hungry, and I’m thirsty. There is no water. Can you help me?” Many of the homes are constructed from stick
and mud and parentless children wander the dirt roads in search of
companionship. While I was comforted by
the fact that my new host family was so welcoming and kind, I struggled to
manage the emotions that overcame me as I reflected on this initial impression
of my future environment. My experience
in this new community was such a contrast to the safe world of our training
village, where I was somewhat able to hide my whiteness among the other 40
volunteers who also stayed in the area, where I enjoyed runs in the valley,
surrounded by lush, green mountains, and where I came home to a family who knew
and understood American culture, thus making me feel slightly less like an
outsider. However, I came to Swaziland
to experience what life is like for Swazis and while it will be overwhelming at
times, I am thrilled to finally be living in a rural Swazi community.
Although my initial impression of
my future home haunted me for several weeks after returning to training, my
first week here has been wonderful. Last
Friday, after celebrating our swearing in as official volunteers, we loaded all
of our belongings onto a series of truck beds, piled ourselves into Peace Corps
vehicles, and drove away from everything we have known since arriving in
Swaziland; our friends, our village, our host families, and the Peace Corps
staff. It kind of felt like the scene in
Parent Trap, where Hallie and Annie are hugging goodbye at the end of summer
camp, plotting their plans to meet again while freaking out about the
ridiculous plan they had schemed. We all
hugged goodbye, saying “What the heck are we doing?” We travelled in groups of about 6, dropping
off each volunteer on their respective homestead and then driving away, leaving
us to fend for ourselves with a hut, our belongings, and our thoughts. For the next three months, we enter a period
called “Integration,” during which we are simply expected to develop
relationships with the members of our community, get to know our host families,
achieve some level of understanding of how the community works, and assess the
needs to the community. During
integration, we are only allowed to leave site for one night per month and we
are not allowed to begin any project-related work. This policy is based on the fact that our work
will be much more effective once we have gained the trust of the
community. What does this even look
like, you might ask? Great question, as
I’m trying to figure this out myself. I
have a greeting card posted to my wall that reads, “Life begins at the end of
your comfort zone.” Well, if this is
true, then Peace Corps life has certainly begun for me. As a somewhat reserved and introverted person
who shys from being the center of attention, adjusting to being a new face in a
community with little exposure to foreigners has taken some getting used
to. On the flip side, it does have its
advantages, and people have quickly learned who I am. As I run along the main road near my house, I
hear shouts from the distance screaming my name, “Nosipho!” The community has quickly learned that I am
the crazy umlungu (white person) who
likes to run and walk far distances for no reason at all. They ask me, “Where did you learn to walk?
Who taught you? Did you learn in
Swaziland?” Umm…no…
The following activities have
occupied my initial few days at site: taking long walks through the African
bush, trying to figure out the way around my community, hanging out with the
store owners near my house, following my counterpart around (more on this in
future blog posts), decorating my hut (hello princess canopy/mosquito net),
watching Generations with my host family, baking cookies and muffins in my new
mini oven with my sisis, sitting on the stoop outside my hut watching the goats
fart and spit (very entertaining, I must say), warding off marriage proposals
from teenage boys, attempting to speak siSwati, making lists of all the names
of the people I’ve met in an attempt to remember their names, reading, running,
doing yoga, sitting in a basin full of cold water to keep cool, etc, etc. While the lack of structure is at times
difficult to cope with, I recognize that my integration in my community will be
a process and that simply a smile and exchanging greetings in siSwati goes a
long way. I am relieved to finally have
some time to relax and process everything that I am experiencing thus far. From now on, I promise to update more
frequently. I miss all of you at home
terribly and want to thank you all for your letters, prayers, support, and
encouragement, it really means the world to me!
