The second term is long over now, but it was actually
productive; I started teaching English at school and to the nuns in my village,
painted a 6 ft x 12 ft world map, taught all 350 students how to use the
library, finally established an organized Girl’s Club, and construction began
on 2 huge, underground rain harvesting tanks.
I plan to devote a blog post about my projects in the future once they
are finished.
Now we’re in the middle of our 6 week break, which is twice
as long as usually because Rwanda is doing a national census. Why that means we get double the time off, I
don’t know, but I’ll gladly take it!
After the term ended, I promptly headed to beautiful Kibuye for a final
Peace Corps conference, COS, or Close of Service. Those of us who came to Rwanda together back
in October 2010, gathered one last time, this time to discuss the end of our
service. We spent a lot of time talking
about highs and lows of our service, the things we’ll never forget and the
things we can’t wait to forget (many of these had to do with rodents or
bacterial diarrhea). But much of the
time was spent discussing the upcoming challenges we all face.
Joining the Peace
Corps was not an easy decision, but once I made that decision I had a plan and
knew what I would be doing for 2 years. And,
of course, leaving home was difficult for obvious reasons; leaving friends,
family, my job, the comforts of the western world, and all that was familiar
and known to me, to join a world that was completely unknown. I was terrified.
However, change and transition is never easy and my life
here in Rwanda is what I know now and my old life in America seems
foreign. I have changed, have had new
experiences and gained new perspectives and it’s going to take time to see how
they fit, and how I fit back into America.
Life back home has continued too in my absence and there are a lot of
things I’ve missed; people have moved, gotten married, had babies, and
died. I can’t expect, as much as I want
to, to pick right up where I left off.
When I left for Peace Corps I completely detached myself
from my life in America; I quit my job, sold my car, moved out of my apartment,
discontinued my health insurance, deferred my school loans, got rid of my cell
phone, and so on. I haven’t had to think
about any of that for 2 years, now I have to go back and start from scratch. Life
in America is expensive too, I’m used to living off just $250 a month and I’m
definitely not looking forward to having bills again. I’ve lived a pretty simple life here and the
culture of consumerism in America can be overwhelming.
Just like there were
so many unknowns when I left for Peace Corps, there are just as many now. I had a friend who always said that we do
kids in America a disservice by telling them they can do anything they want. All those options can be paralyzing. An interesting theory, but I’m beginning to
understand it now. I have no commitments
to anything, I can live anywhere, change my career path, go back to school,
etc. How can I possibly choose and what
if I make the wrong decision? It’s
exciting and terrifying at the same time.
I also feel extra pressure because I’m getting older now and I don’t
want to do something just to do, I want to make my decisions wisely and with
purpose.
The frustrating reality is that most of my questions and
decisions can’t be made right now. I
just have to wait and see how it all works out and deal with it as it
comes.
I don’t write about all this to complain or draw sympathy,
instead hopefully a little patience and understanding. So when I have a break down in the grocery
store and start crying because I can’t choose, from the 28 different kinds,
which toothpaste to buy, you can pat me on the back and explain to the
onlookers that “It’s ok, she just got back from the Peace Corps.” J
Our COS conference wasn’t all serious talk, it was also a
great time for us all to get together as a group one last time, to reminisce
and talk about the future. I have felt
so honored to serve with such an amazing group of people. I’ve never felt more
challenged to work harder and push myself as I have by my fellow volunteers. I’ve made many friends that I probably
wouldn’t have under normal circumstances, but because we were all thrust into
this, crazy, challenging experience together, we will always be connected.
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| Boat ride on Lake Kivu |
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| Relaxing at the Bethannie |
Immediately after COS I went straight to GLOW Camp. Last year we held camp in late November, but
this year we decided to do it in August to then hold a similar camp for boys in
November (and no, it’s not called BLOW, but more appropriately BE, Boys Excelling,
to avoid snickers from the Americans).
GLOW this year was an outstanding success! (If you’re not familiar with GLOW see my
previous post GLOWing Bight) Again, I
worked with a great group of Peace Corps and Rwandan volunteers. I was able to bring 5 girls from my school as
well as my friend and colleague, Aurore, who came as a facilitator. Last year we invited 50 girls and this year
we doubled it and had 100. Miraculously,
even with so many, everything went beautifully.
There were a few hiccups here and there, but the girls had no idea and
they had the time of their life! This
year, same as last, I acted as the camp “mama”
making sure the girls were up in the morning, asleep at night, and
helped them if they were sick or had any other problems. The job was a good fit for me and I really
enjoyed it, but was thoroughly exhausted by the end. I will always look back on GLOW Camp as one
of the best things I did as a Peace Corps Volunteer. It’s so amazing to see my students, who
barely speak in class and are so shy around me, and by day two of camp, they are
laughing, having fun, making new friends and feel completely free to be
themselves in a safe and encouraging environment. Rarely can you actually witness the changes
you’ve helped to make, but GLOW Camp is one of those unique opportunities where
you can see the transformation right in front of you. It’s an awesome program that I’m honored to
have been a part of.
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| The Junior Facilitators (girls who attended camp last year and were asked to come back as leaders) |
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| Playing games and having fun! |
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| Modeling their face painting |
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| Listening attentively to a class about Gender Equality |
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| Yvette, Benie, Veronique, Genereuse, Aurore, Me, and Rachel - Everyone from my school |
So I got the two biggest parts of break over with in the
first 2 weeks. Since then I’ve been
hanging out at home, trying to stay busy by reading, cooking, watching movies, planning
for next term and visiting friends. I’m
trying to enjoy the time, because I know once school begins again it will
quickly get busy again and the time will really fly by.
Hope everyone is enjoying the last weeks of summer!
All my love,
Annie
