Ngifuna Imali

So much has been happening lately that it will be hard to catch you up without writing a novel. Recently one of our laptops became infested with viruses, while the other simultaneously lost its ability to type the letters K and H, leaving us writing cryptic emails to folks at home whenever the internet/cell signal was strong enough to connect (which is not a lot, on this side). As I type our macbook has an external keyboard tied around it with rope, which we find delightfully absurd. Anyway...

"Ngifuna imali" means "I need money," in Zulu. I feel bad asking for money, because at this time I am owing some family back home some thank-yous for birthday gifts. (My birthday is Sunday, and we are celebrating tomorrow by staying overnight at the fancy lodge in town, which boasts running water (no longer to be taken for granted!), a pool overlooking the lake, and beautiful buffets and sunset cruises.) I also feel bad asking for money, because this is not the last request you will receive from me! Indeed, I will want even more of your money this festive season if our grant goes through.

All the same...Ngifuna imali.

Longtom Marathon and the KLM Foundation

This March Tim and I will participate in a race for a cause: Longtom Marathon. Though I had originally hoped to run the brutal ultra marathon at 56k, what I can say with certainty today is that Tim and I are running most mornings at 5 am, and are planning to both do the downhill half-marathon portion of the race.

We are trying to raise $100 each for the race, which goes toward the KLM Foundation. KLM gives scholarships to poor, rural youth to attend a leading high school here. They recruit young people who want to change their world, and involve them in mentorships and community projects to empower them to do so. If you helped us out by donating some $5 or $20, you can know that you helped us with a worthy cause.

The website for KLM (click here!) gives more information, and makes it easy for you to donate. Simply click on the "Donate" tab on the left, and a secure window will open. Please enter my name or Tim's full name, so that your donation can be counted toward our totals.

Thanks so much!

Life Lately

As I said before, so much has been happening lately that I'm not sure where to begin. Last month we celebrated Thanksgiving with our host family in front of our house: our parents, our father's sister, a temporary lodger here, and 7 children. It was a special occasion. Since we are disadvantaged for cooking, with only a bar fridge, a microwave, and 2-plate stove top, we bought buckets of KFC and sides, made some rice, and bought some cake and some fruits for desert. We also explained to our host family what Thanksgiving was about, and how we were doing it wrong! (Of course, KFC is pretty well-loved here, so they probably preferred KFC to more traditional fixings!) As we nibbled on deserts we shared wedding photos both from our wedding and from our host parents' renewal of their vows last year. Though I am not a great Zulu wife, I was aided by the eldest daughter in serving the men, women, and children in turn, and the girls also helped me clean up afterward. It was a great impromptu event!

Last week we got to do something different, which was also very cool for us. Our local health volunteer informed us that an international service organization called OneSight was coming to the area to give out recycled eye ware to folks in rural villages, and could use some helping hands. In the week they were here they saw thousands of men, women, and children. We helped with eye screenings while they did eye exams and gave out recycled designer glasses and shades. It was very different for us to do this kind of work, but it was enjoyable working along South African clinic volunteers in order to do eye screenings for people who had never had an eye screening before, old and young. It was also wonderful to see people emerge with their new glasses and shades. Most of them had never seen an eye chart before, and now they are seriously styling in the deep rural villages around here! We also enjoyed visiting with other participating Peace Corps volunteers and with our international guests from OneSight, who stay in the country for 2 weeks only to give out as many eyeglasses as possible. We even got some free meals at the aforementioned fancy lodge in town for our help. It was wonderful.

We met the parents at our school at the annual parents meeting last week, and we have also made our plans for next year. Tim will be helping 11th grade educators in math, math literacy, and physics, while I will be helping in 6, 7, and 9th grade English, in addition to other extracurricular and workshop activities. We remain very happy to be in a friendly staff room each day, and to work alongside motivated, open-minded educators. We are here to build capacity, not simply replace educators, so things are working out for us. Today was the last day of school, and we exchanged mobile numbers with about half the staff in case we can get together over the holidays.

What else? My dad and step-mom are coming next April! We are so excited! More to look forward to! And, as usual, we are off on another adventure next week. This Christmas we will be doing a guided hike along the Wild Coast, which is supposed to be stunning and serene, with some other volunteers, and then we will be entering the mountain kingdom of Lesotho for the first time via some guided tours, climbing up into the clouds.

As I mentioned before, we're planning to ask you for money again in the near future. If you were thinking of doing something special for us for Christmas or my birthday, we are hopeful you will save your dough and plan to contribute instead to a grant we are in the final stages of preparing at this time. We have been working with an exceptional local radio station in the area (exceptional=the manager has met Obama, and they were just in America last month to win an award for best international children's programming from UNICEF) to try and help them build capacity, in particular by getting new station equipment. They are working with very old equipment, but have the ability to get trained on new equipment, which will help with their broadcasting quality and also help them in turn to get donations in the future, which is crucial as they are totally independent and serving an extremely rural, mostly illiterate, community. As our grant is a Peace Corps Partnership Program grant, we will be raising funds primarily in the states, so please put aside a few dollars this Christmas to help us help this incredible community organization.

As I type the rooster are calling, baby goats are crying, and small children are running around outside my open door, skipping by and waving. And it's time for dinner. Stay well until we meet again.