An entirely positive blog! (I plan on writing many more of these!)

As we get deeper into the new South African school year we are seeing some significant differences in our relationships with the educators, learners and members of the community. We were away from site for a month, due to our vacation, illness and IST, and upon our return it seems things have changed immensely! (Perhaps it could be we returned with a refreshed perspective? :) That seems more likely!) But, be that as it may, this village has never felt more like home.

Sure there are many things that are still a bit different, but I've grown accustomed to the difference and have grown to expect it...thus making it somehow common. Even being chased by crazy people has less of an effect on me! :)

What is, perhaps, most important is that I am making friends with the educators I oversee. It was FANTASTIC to walk back into my key school and have educators RUN from their classrooms to give me hugs and kisses of welcome! Not to mention the learners lining up by the tens to give me high fives. It was pretty fantastic. I still struggle with my relationship with the educators at the big school, but I can definitely see a familiarity building between them and myself. It's progress.

We are also getting along quite well with our immediate neighbors (the ones we share our little "L" shaped building with). We all leave our doors open when we're home to keep the temperature in our shared mini-bake oven down. It seems every hour or so one of them will shout to the other, or at us, to tell us something or show us something. It's fun and a fantastic improvement. Today, for example, one of our neighbors (nameless for anonymity's sake) taught me how to make Morogo ka Ditlhako which literally translates to "the bread of shoes" but what it really is is the sun dried leaves of a bean sprout crushed and baked with onions and tomatoes. (Setswana is a difficult language to understand the colloquialisms of, for example "the father is holding the cow" means something to the effect of "useful ideas" -- what the?!)

We are full swing into our computer classes. I'm thoroughly enjoying the two classes that I teach. They are both beginning classes and one is for the educators and another for a group of 20 somethings who are unemployed. Both groups are a RIOT! This society tends to mirror Russia's in the fact that they are DEAD PAN in any formal setting - making them seem completely unapproachable. But, boy, make the setting less formal and ... well it gets really fun :). That's been my biggest goal in these two classes - to get them used to my, how shall I put it, excessive energy? :) They seem to be enjoying it now...or at least they enjoy laughing at me!

We have also started a group for these 20 something unemployed villagers. It is focusing on job skills and motivation. But, we are throwing in some of our passions like human rights education and advocacy work. South Africa is now the most stable economy in Africa and as such its people could serve as leaders for the rest of the continent. Especially when you take into account SA's history of nonviolence in the face of oppression (I love you Gandhi and Mandela!). We are setting up a chapter of Amnesty International to give them a sustainable outlet to be advocates for their people and their less fortunate neighbors to the North. I'm extremely excited about this project and am excited to have a positive effect on the lives of my peers.

At two of my schools I am starting a Remedial Education program that will run after school and will assist the learners who are struggling with language comprehension. I have set up one committee at my big school and am in the process of setting up another committee at the third school who will oversee the implementation of my ideas (namely tutoring programs with the local high school, book clubs, and fun English through immersion workshops). The good thing about this project is this was the educator's idea...the problem is they are struggling with motivation. The only way for this to be sustainable is for them to take ownership of it from the beginning. I can't just set it all up for them and say "Viola! There you go!" It will crumble at my feet (teach a man to fish/give him a fish). So, I submitted several proposals to the first committee and am still waiting for a call to have a meeting to decide which ones will work. Let's hope it happens soon.

I am starting a Female Fitness Group at our little "gym" in our village. Most of the women who come to the gym are too shy to use the machines because the men are rather domineering and if and when they do use the machines I cringe to see them using them improperly etc. Furthermore, many of the women/people in the village are malnourished (this doesn't have to mean they're too thin...instead just eating the wrong amounts of the wrong foods - a sign of poverty in more developed regions). I figure as the society is more "traditional" if I teach the women to eat properly they'll likely start feeding their families that way! So we're going to meet one night/week and I'm going to act as personal trainer/personal hygiene coach/HIV/AIDS educator/ and healthy lifestyles teacher! Yay! The guys who run the gym thought the idea was hilarious but they completely support me in it which is nice.

We have FINALLY started our workshop series with the educators this week. We began by teaching a workshop on personality differences and team building among the educators and staff at the schools. The idea was to recognize our differences, define where people's motivation to act comes from, and see how we can better work together as a team. But, due to significant language barriers and again...that DEAD PAN crowd I'm not sure how well the workshop went.

Finally, I am getting the Girl's Club up and running at my key school. I so adore the educator's there. I'm EXTREMELY excited about this project. The mini-girl's club I did last year was quite a hit. The girls I did it with (grade 7) have now moved on to high school, but when they see me on the pathways around town they get excited and want to tell me about their experiences! I love it.

Well, there you have it. A positive update! Yay!!!