3 Months

Yesterday was the 3 month mark since I left Ohio. Today I have officially been at my site for 1 month. I can see now what they mean when the Peace Corps staff told us that the days will drag on but the months will fly by. I can't believe I have been out of country now for 3 months, but in other ways it seems like I have been here forever! Maybe the two years will go by quicker than I imagined? I am becoming more and more known within my village. The other day someone yelled "Refilwe" at me as I was walking home. I was very excited about this because normally people yell "Boitumelo" (the old volunteer's name) or "Lakgoa" (means foreigner). One of my struggles of being in this village is the fact that I am replacing a volunteer. This means I get compared to her and many people think I am her. They think I will be doing exactly the same things she did during her time in Machaneng. I may do some of the same things she did, but I am a different person with different interests and skills. Therefore, when I heard someone call my name instead of hers you can see how happy that made me. I think people are starting to see that I am different and not Boitumelo. I thought this would take a lot longer for people to realize this. Granted I still get asked where the old volunteer is and I still get called here name, but it's a start.

The other day I got to go to Matlhako (a nearby village) to see their library and community center. A family from America donated money to Matlhako to build it. It is very nice but unfortunately no one in the community uses it. The librarian in Matlhako wanted me to come see it and help her come up with ways to get more people to come to the library. Reading is something I love to do, so I am pretty excited to help with this project. I think reading is something everyone should have the opportunity to do. Hopefully we will be able to come up with ways to get people in the area interested in reading and using the resources the center has to offer (there's 4 computers, an adult and children's section, a playground, and some encyclopedias). Matlhako library also is starting up a chess club that meets on Saturday mornings, the only problem is the ladies who are starting it up don't know how to play. I never considered myself an expert at chess or anything but I do know how to play, so I told them I would teach them how to play and also help the children who come learn. I was supposed to go do that yesterday, but the library driver was unable to come get me. I was a little disappointed but there will always be another Saturday.


A couple days ago I got the meet the lady who works at the Social and Child Development Office here in Machaneng. This is the department that helps support families who are struggling and they also support all orphans in the community. Talking with her I was able to get a little bit of a better understanding of the demographics of Machaneng. There are many destitute (chronically injured or ill, or unemployed) individuals, orphans, and needy children in Machaneng. I am not really sure yet how I will work with this department in my village, but the officer told me about a bunch of community committees and what they do within the community. This is a good start because it gives me an idea of what projects are already going on within the community. It gave me a little bit of a better understanding of how these committees work and what sort of things they do. Many of them are income generating organizations. Much of Machaneng is unemployed and there are no opportunities for work. Many able bodied people try to rely on the government to help support them, but there are committees in the community that host workshops to help people to start generating their own income (ex. Bead making, sewing, backyard gardening etc.). These committees are good resources that I will probably work with at some point.