Losing Yourself to Find Yourself: Challenges, Successes and Strategies
By Daniel Serwon
The other members of the second educa-tion group and I attended our in-service train-ing (IST) in mid-March.. On the first day of IST we sat in a large room where there were some profound quotations on the wall by Benja-min Franklin and some other famous teachers. One sign read: "To truly find yourself you need to loose yourself in the service of others. – Ghandi." Whoever wrote this one made a few errors that throughout the week were corrected by someone who cared enough to go and mark the change on it. But to me the greatest error is giving credit of this quote to Ghandi (I‘m sorry I mean Gandhi) rather than to Jesus. Jesus said, "Die to yourself and live for others, only then can you truly live." Gandhi was an amazing man and he deserves a lot of credit, but when he is quoting Jesus, then this fact needs to be ac-knowledged. I realize that the wording is a little different, but they spoke different languages (neither one of those being English), and I think we all know how things can get lost in translation. Yet for all I know, someone else said this before Jesus and therefore there is no reason not to credit Gandhi with his philosophy.
On that first day of IST we had three sessions on releasing our frustrations. We talked all day about successes and strategies that we had experienced in our daily lives as volunteers. PCV Allister Stanton described his fear of being attacked by wild animals (I feel for him because nature is scary, but I couldn‘t help but laugh at this idea). A considerable amount of us are worried that we will be poisoned. I especially liked something that A.J. Rikli said about how Rwandans are people and we need to treat them as equals. At the end of the day Andrew Udelsman jokingly said that his challenge was having to sit inside all day discussing challenges when the weather is so beautiful outside.
I absolutely sympathize with all of the challenges that we are facing living in a completely different culture. At the same time, however, I think that it is very important to recall how difficult our lives were in America. I find that we often develop the same mentality as many Rwandans: the belief that life in America is extremely easy. A lot of us are coming here straight out of university. College is of course a lot of fun for many people, but I don‘t know many who also consider it easy. After pre-service training a lot of us were saying how we wouldn‘t want to go through that again, but I don‘t think that attitude is any different for most graduating college students. All of the long nights cramming for finals or starting papers the night before they were due (or maybe the hour before they were due); the anxiety that test taking brings and the constant fear of failure; the competition that is waged to get the higher grade point average so that your resume can show that you are a little better than someone else. We also forget how difficult it was when we started college to make friends and to adjust to being away from home let alone the pressures that we put on ourselves to perform in our social lives. We are more willing to accept all of these problems as part of life than not being able to communicate with a stranger who is carrying a 100 pound bag of potatoes on her head on a dirt road and is staring at you as you walk by. And that is why this session was necessary.
If we are not coming right out of school, then we are coming from the "real world." If you had a job, I am sure that you had problems there. You may have hated your boss or what you were doing and Peace Corps was a valid reason to escape the corporate grind and do something that you always wanted to do. Out of all of the jobs that I have held in America, the only one that I enjoyed working for is the U.S. Census. I loved going around to people‘s houses telling them they needed to fill out that form. For me Peace Corps sounded like such an excit-ing adventure and every other career choice sounded boring.
The story I am about to tell is one I have been telling recently to people to justify why my life in Rwanda has been easier than when I was in America. I‘m definitely not saying that my life has been hard or bad because it has been good. I have had every opportunity available to me to succeed living in the upper middle class in an affluent neighborhood. Last year I got my taste of the ―real world‖ and honestly I am not in a rush to get back to it.
If you know me then you might be surprised when I tell you that I have been shy for most of my life and telling a story like this one has never been one of my strengths. Another thing is that this is my account and even though you may see things differently, I trust that you can respect who I am enough not to argue with me over things that I did experience, but to you may seem impossible. I have similar problems to the rest of the second education group that I complain about. My spirituality is how I am able not only to cope with them but also to understand them.
Before coming to Peace Corps, I was an American. I was lucky that my mother took it upon herself to continue to feed me even though I wasn‘t living at home, but other than that I had a very hard time. This started when I returned home from a vacation to Hawaii and found 90% of what I had in my apartment had been stolen. I had just gone from a lavish family vacation where we were blowing all of the mile-age and hotel points my dad had built up to be-ing as upset and pissed off as I have ever been.
The next week I was scammed into buying a sound system that was supposed to cost $1800 for $250 but was really worth about $100. So right after I lost most of the things that I had spent my money on I wasted more with the idea that I could get them back (I was hoping to sell the sound system on the internet to make some kind of profit). I soon after applied to the Peace Corps when I realized how selfish I was and how prideful I was of the things I had. But I was by no means done learning this lesson.
After graduating from college that May, I could not find a job as an engineer. I did, however, get a job working as an independent con-tractor for a man named Dan. Though I hated roofing, I liked working for Dan. This streak of good luck lasted for three weeks until Dan dropped a downspout that sliced into my thumb. This is when I found out for real that my health insurance was gone—and how much I use my thumb. When I returned to work three weeks later, I told Dan that I no longer had insurance so he fired me. The money that I made working for Dan held me off from July till September when I found a job working for another contractor, Rich who didn‘t care that I didn‘t have in-surance. I worked on and off for him for about six weeks. At the same time I had met Cara at a training to do volunteer mentoring who told me that they would hire me to tutor math at a high school not too far from my apartment. All that I had to do was receive child abuse clearance—which took three months—before starting to work. Lacking my own transportation, I was at the mercy of the Pittsburgh bus system (which even though you have more room on these bus-ses, they are surprisingly less reliable and a lot harder to catch than Rwandan buses. I haven‘t had to wait in the freezing cold for three hours to catch a bus out of my village, although I have never felt like I was going to die on a Pittsburgh bus like I have here, but I have been afraid that I would be mugged or pick pocketed even though it never happened) and the kindness of friends and roommates.
I felt like such a loser when I couldn‘t pay the rent because my tutoring job didn‘t pay me for two and a half months. I remember when my bank account hit zero was when I was paying for my vaccinations to get medically cleared to join the Peace Corps. I went into the bathroom of the clinic and cried. Then I walked to the office of my friend Greg and prayed and cried some more. My life was so filled with un-certainty. I was counting on the Peace Corps to accept me, but everything they sent me just made me more uncertain that I would ever get my invitation.
The following Sunday I went to the church where I attended Bible study. I was sit-ting in the pew with about $27 in my pocket and negative two on my credit card and $25,000 in loan debt and no income to speak about. And I felt God speak to me. He told me to put the money in my pocket into the offer-ing. I then convinced myself that I shouldn‘t do that. So God told me to go home to my par-ents‘ house and break my piggy bank that I had completely forgotten about. I finally got over my pride and counted the coins inside. There was nearly 600 dollars in it that I had been col-lecting since I was in elementary school, so I could settle at least most of my debt with my friends all in quarters, nickels and dimes. Once I was finally paid by the tutoring organization, I didn‘t just sit on it like I had done for all of the other jobs I have ever had. I tithed immediately because I felt bad that I hadn‘t given when God told me to. I also called up friends that I hadn‘t seen in a while to get lunch with them and tell them I had gotten my Peace Corps invitation. The next thing I knew I had gotten that job working for the census, which paid well. I only worked for them for seven weeks but that was enough for me to ride on until I left for Rwanda.
I was living in fear and I hated it. I imagine that this is a lot like what many Rwandans go through. I had a lot of people who bailed me out of my misery by either taking my word that I would pay them back or by giving me handouts out of the goodness of their hearts. These handouts include the time given by amazing friends and of course my family, who continued to buy me food.
I remember a conversation that I had with Matt, who was my roommate through all of this, right before leaving for Rwanda. He said to me that he knew how hard this time was for me, but he hoped that I would remember all of the fun we had together, and while I was unemployed he could always count on me to be home to hang out or talk to. He more than anyone had noticed a change in my behavior and maturity. It was then that I realized what Jesus meant when he said that you cannot serve two masters and to not worry about tomorrow. This is why I think that I like it when Rwandans say be patient to each other. I know that God put me through this period of suffering so that I could become more of the person he wants me to be. Difficult periods are parts of life, and all we can do is be patient because for everything there is a season. Life is good, but it is also hard wherever you are.
I have found what Gandhi said and Jesus before him to be very true. If you can lose yourself, then you will find yourself. I don‘t know what else Gandhi may have said about this, but Jesus goes on to say that that we need to "die to ourselves daily," and to "bear your cross daily." I know that for much of my audience I am getting too spiritual, but Jesus‘ words serve as an important reminder to me: no matter how much of a better person I think I am, I still need to con-stantly be serving others. Serving others will always have its challenges and successes. I really hope that I am not coming off as I think I am better because I have suffered, because I really don‘t consider myself to be better than anyone. If any-thing, I consider myself extremely lucky to be able to experience Peace Corps with so many other amazing people. Again, I really liked A.J.‘s strategy of treating everyone as equals, but I would like to take that idea a step further. I would like to challenge you to treat those you are serving as superiors. I know how difficult and even ridiculous that may sound, and I am always failing to do so myself, but that is exactly what Gandhi and Jesus are telling us to do. That is how we truly live.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
V6 - BOOKS, By Jen Ambrose
Right of Thirst
By Frank Huyler
Review by Jen Ambrose
"I wanted to go home, and I didn’t want to go home. I wanted the idea of home. I wanted an end to my loneliness, and I wanted to be left alone." – Frank Huyler, Right of Thirst
When I came across Frank Huyler‘s novel Right of Thirst, I immediately wanted to read it – the description calls it a "tour de force about one man‘s desire to live a moral life," which explores "the tensions between poverty and wealth and the ethics of inter-vention."
About an American doctor who volunteers at a refugee camp in an unnamed country based on Paki-stan following his wife‘s death, this book is perhaps the opposite of Three Cups of Tea. In this story, the humanitarian operation ultimately fails and may even cause more harm than good. Right of Thirst is an in-teresting read, full of characters, situations, and themes that will resonate strongly among Peace Corps Volun-teers.
Charles, the protagonist, encounters ex-treme poverty, harsh physical conditions, cor-rupt government officials, and local hierarchies. At various times, he grows impatient, loses sym-pathy, wonders whether he can trust locals, real-izes he may not follow through on his promises, and fails to create sustainable impact. I think that PCVs will identify with both his experi-ences and his reactions to them.
PCVs will also recognize the character of Scott, the founder of the organization that set up the camp. He exudes superiority and self-righteousness from the beginning, and he makes a point to differentiate himself and his work from all those "other relief organizations." We later find out that he has been dishonest about many things and begin to see him as unreliable. Essentially, he thinks his work will make him a savior, but, in reality, he has little un-derstanding of the situation and fails to provide much actual help.
One of the things that really resonated for me was the recurring discussion of Charles‘ motivations for going to the camp and his expecta-tions for his experience there. He wanted to get away from his life, his problems, and, ultimately, himself. He is particularly drawn to Scott‘s description of life at the camp as "a reduction to the essentials," which, when it comes down to it, is probably what many PCVs are looking for. Charles realizes, however, that travel and new experiences do not allow people to escape themselves. There is also a discussion of looking for meaning, significance, and something larger than oneself. At one point, Charles says flat out, "This trip needs to mean something. Otherwise I can‘t go home," which, I think, is a sentiment that motivates us as PCVs to stay here and keep trying.
Charles‘ motivations reveal Westerners‘ tendency to see events and circumstances, par
ticularly catastrophic ones, through the lens of their effect on themselves. The book‘s Western characters see situations that cause suffering for others as an opportunity to achieve what they want for themselves. This phenomenon comes out multiple times through Charles‘ internal dialogue, but perhaps the most poignant example is when Scott calls a devastating earthquake the "best thing that ever happened" to him.
Other scenes that particularly hit home for me involved the behavior of local children and the feeling of being a circus attraction. "When they stepped up close, pulling at my clothes, with their flowing noses and red-black hair and grubby fingers, the desire to shove them off with inappropriate force was difficult to resist." What PCV can‘t relate to that? Later, when he falls ill and is forced to go to the bathroom in the middle of a field, the children follow and watch him. "With all those eyes upon me as I crouched there, caught up in the indignity of the act "I felt entirely like an animal, revealed before everyone and everything." While I certainly hope nothing of this magnitude has happened to any PCVs, I think that we can all relate to the feeling of being exposed and of seemingly being treated like an animal.
PCVs will also recognize Charles‘ en-counters with the dilemma of giving people things. He faces the problems of creating expec-tation, causing people to continually ask for more, and inciting conflict when only some peo-ple get things or some get more than others.
Finally, upon returning to the city, Charles realizes that his close bond to Rai, a local colleague, existed only out of necessity in an ex-treme situation. "In the valley, we‘d been close enough to one another, but now, in just an in-stant, the gulf between us had revealed itself again." PCVs become close to people at site, out of proximity, out of loneliness, out of the obligation to "integrate," but, removed from that isolated situation, the gap between us and our Rwandan friends may become more obvious.
Right of Thirst also briefly touches on several basic ideas about aid that many PCVs may have discovered to be true: some relief or-ganizations are useless; short-term volunteers accomplish little; unskilled volunteers cannot offer much to a developing country; aid work-ers and volunteers must be serious about their work; fundraising is an essential (if fairly mun-dane) part of development work; and, lastly, "It is always better to earn things than to be given them."
Though not exactly uplifting, Right of Thirst is honest, and it offers an interesting and entertaining look at aid and humanitarian in-tervention. I would definitely recommend it, especially to Peace Corps Volunteers.
"I had expected to lose myself in my work, in a foreign land, freed from the burden of the familiar. Instead I felt as if I was gazing into a clear pool, bottomless, searching for signs in the depths, and all I found was the ghost of my own face, and the faces of all the others, in imperfect reflections."
– Frank Huyler, Right of Thirst
By Frank Huyler
Review by Jen Ambrose
When I came across Frank Huyler‘s novel Right of Thirst, I immediately wanted to read it – the description calls it a "tour de force about one man‘s desire to live a moral life," which explores "the tensions between poverty and wealth and the ethics of inter-vention."
About an American doctor who volunteers at a refugee camp in an unnamed country based on Paki-stan following his wife‘s death, this book is perhaps the opposite of Three Cups of Tea. In this story, the humanitarian operation ultimately fails and may even cause more harm than good. Right of Thirst is an in-teresting read, full of characters, situations, and themes that will resonate strongly among Peace Corps Volun-teers.
Charles, the protagonist, encounters ex-treme poverty, harsh physical conditions, cor-rupt government officials, and local hierarchies. At various times, he grows impatient, loses sym-pathy, wonders whether he can trust locals, real-izes he may not follow through on his promises, and fails to create sustainable impact. I think that PCVs will identify with both his experi-ences and his reactions to them.
PCVs will also recognize the character of Scott, the founder of the organization that set up the camp. He exudes superiority and self-righteousness from the beginning, and he makes a point to differentiate himself and his work from all those "other relief organizations." We later find out that he has been dishonest about many things and begin to see him as unreliable. Essentially, he thinks his work will make him a savior, but, in reality, he has little un-derstanding of the situation and fails to provide much actual help.
One of the things that really resonated for me was the recurring discussion of Charles‘ motivations for going to the camp and his expecta-tions for his experience there. He wanted to get away from his life, his problems, and, ultimately, himself. He is particularly drawn to Scott‘s description of life at the camp as "a reduction to the essentials," which, when it comes down to it, is probably what many PCVs are looking for. Charles realizes, however, that travel and new experiences do not allow people to escape themselves. There is also a discussion of looking for meaning, significance, and something larger than oneself. At one point, Charles says flat out, "This trip needs to mean something. Otherwise I can‘t go home," which, I think, is a sentiment that motivates us as PCVs to stay here and keep trying.
Charles‘ motivations reveal Westerners‘ tendency to see events and circumstances, par
ticularly catastrophic ones, through the lens of their effect on themselves. The book‘s Western characters see situations that cause suffering for others as an opportunity to achieve what they want for themselves. This phenomenon comes out multiple times through Charles‘ internal dialogue, but perhaps the most poignant example is when Scott calls a devastating earthquake the "best thing that ever happened" to him.
Other scenes that particularly hit home for me involved the behavior of local children and the feeling of being a circus attraction. "When they stepped up close, pulling at my clothes, with their flowing noses and red-black hair and grubby fingers, the desire to shove them off with inappropriate force was difficult to resist." What PCV can‘t relate to that? Later, when he falls ill and is forced to go to the bathroom in the middle of a field, the children follow and watch him. "With all those eyes upon me as I crouched there, caught up in the indignity of the act "I felt entirely like an animal, revealed before everyone and everything." While I certainly hope nothing of this magnitude has happened to any PCVs, I think that we can all relate to the feeling of being exposed and of seemingly being treated like an animal.
PCVs will also recognize Charles‘ en-counters with the dilemma of giving people things. He faces the problems of creating expec-tation, causing people to continually ask for more, and inciting conflict when only some peo-ple get things or some get more than others.
Finally, upon returning to the city, Charles realizes that his close bond to Rai, a local colleague, existed only out of necessity in an ex-treme situation. "In the valley, we‘d been close enough to one another, but now, in just an in-stant, the gulf between us had revealed itself again." PCVs become close to people at site, out of proximity, out of loneliness, out of the obligation to "integrate," but, removed from that isolated situation, the gap between us and our Rwandan friends may become more obvious.
Right of Thirst also briefly touches on several basic ideas about aid that many PCVs may have discovered to be true: some relief or-ganizations are useless; short-term volunteers accomplish little; unskilled volunteers cannot offer much to a developing country; aid work-ers and volunteers must be serious about their work; fundraising is an essential (if fairly mun-dane) part of development work; and, lastly, "It is always better to earn things than to be given them."
Though not exactly uplifting, Right of Thirst is honest, and it offers an interesting and entertaining look at aid and humanitarian in-tervention. I would definitely recommend it, especially to Peace Corps Volunteers.
"I had expected to lose myself in my work, in a foreign land, freed from the burden of the familiar. Instead I felt as if I was gazing into a clear pool, bottomless, searching for signs in the depths, and all I found was the ghost of my own face, and the faces of all the others, in imperfect reflections."
– Frank Huyler, Right of Thirst
V6 - TRAVEL, By Trude Raizen
Conquering Sabinyo
By Trude Raizen
Because its third and highest peak is situ-ated at the point where Rwanda, Uganda and Congo come together, Sabinyo has long been alluring to me. Its appeal grew when I learned it could be sumitted only from the Ugandan side, with a system of crude ladders that sometimes stand completely upright. In Kinyarwanda, Sa-binyo means bad/old teeth, an apt name for the volcano with the jagged tops of three or four peaks, depending on the viewer's angle. I finally conquered the beast on Easter weekend. It's quite simple to get to Uganda's Mgahinga Gorilla National Park from Rwanda. It's best to cross the day before you climb the volcano, especially because Uganda keeps time one hour ahead of Rwanda (albeit with the same tendency for tardiness). Look up the Ugandan Shilling (ush) exchange rate ahead of time if you are planning to change money at the border, or be prepared to get ripped off. To get to the bor-der, take a Virunga local bus from Musanze to Cyanika (400RWF). Once you've paid the $50 Uganda visa fee, you may bask in your ability to use English, but ignore the men who insist they have a "special car." Instead seek out a taxi to Kisoro, the nearest town. On the Uganda side of the border, a taxi is generally a normal 5-seater car which you may share with up to 7 other passengers (you will need local currency to pay the 4000ush fare). During the taxi ride, note what a difference a border crossing makes. There are still hills, but they are less compact. Less dense also are the people, their dwellings and their fields. More wood is used in construction because the cutting of trees is less tightly regulated north of the border.
Get up bright and early (an hour earlier, remember!) the next morning, because if you are going to catch the overnight bus that night you really should start hiking by 7:30 AM. The guy taking the payments moves like a sloth, but gives Rwanda PCVs the PC discount (from $50 to $40) if you present both your PC ID and passport. Bring two liters of water and plenty of food (Cliff bars you keep telling your family to stop sending come in handy here). Note that if any other hikers are joining you, you should stress that you have a 7pm bus to catch and you need to be able to ascend and descend at your own pace; the park should provide an armed guard and guide for your party as well as the other. Otherwise, if the other hikers are slow, you may have a close call catching your bus. While this can lead to memorably frantic mo-ments, it is not entirely advisable, nor is it com-fortable to spend the night on the bus still wear-ing wet and muddy clothing. But I am getting ahead of myself. Climb-ing Sabinyo is an unforgettable experience, re-warding particularly for masochists and those who get thrills from climbing precarious ladders with no safety equipment and severe drops on either side.
Before you get to the ladders, you pass through grassland, bamboo, and several differ-ent altitude zones featuring unique types of for-est vegetation. There will be evidence of buffalo and elephants in the form of giant footprints and droppings; with luck you might see these ani-mals, or gorillas and other monkeys. Along the way up, the Ugandan countryside regularly peaks through the trees. These splendid vistas provide convenient points to stop- allegedly for a photo op but really to catch your breath and to vow to redouble your workout efforts when you return to Rwanda. The guides will inevitably alarm you by claiming you have two hours to go until you reach the first peak when really you have an hour and change. This tactic is used by guides on Rwanda's volcanoes as well; it's a neat psy-chological trick. As you near the first and lowest summit, you'll begin to encounter ladders. Don't be disappointed: angling at most 45 degrees from level ground, these are just the warm-up. They are made from tree branches nailed to each other and laid across steep parts of the trail; fur-ther up they will be secured to the rock-face with dubious means.
Reaching the first peak brings with it a fleeting feeling of accomplishment. Fleeting, be-cause you realize that you have two more peaks to reach. Still, you can leave some of your gear and water here if you'd like. As you set off for the second peak, any relief in heading down-hill for once is tempered by the knowledge that for every meter you go down, you must later go back up, and then some. This is why Sabinyo is a volcano particularly well suited for the maso-chistic. It will take forty minutes to reach the second peak and still longer to get to the third. It is on the ascent to the second peak that the ladders begin to take prominence in your climb. The guide thrusts his walking stick into the mud at the side of a ladder: from here on out, you'll need both hands. Utilizing different muscle groups, ladders represent welcome respite for your tired legs and a chance to shift some of the burden to your arms. No rest for the weary at the second peak; the guides push you onwards, towards the third.
You begin to descend again, and it's here that you encounter steeper ladders. Until this point, you've been lamenting the fog. All this work, four hours of climbing, and no view! But now, the fog comes in handy. To either side of the ladders, there appears to be a pretty severe drop-off, but all you can see are scrubby tree tops and the inside of a cloud. And the ladders! Why is there no safety equip-ment? This would never be allowed in the developed world! Watch out for the rotted out portions of this ladder and keep three limbs in contact with its rungs at all times. They wouldn't let tourists on these things if it were actually dangerous, would they? You cautiously climb upwards, grateful for the slight warmth and protection of your muddy gloves. You notice the grass growing from the cliffside behind the ladders, inches from your nose. Little dewdrops cling to the end of each blade. A little colder and the dew would be frost. You're wearing a sweatshirt, a fleece and a raincoat; bringing a hat was a good call. Stop to rest, perched in the crook of a rung of a ladder, and the cold drives you back into motion. At last, after perhaps a half hour of ladder-climbing, you reach the collection of rocks that represents the third summit. There, on one rock, is a distinct mark: the point where the three countries come together. Don't tell Peace Corps, but you just may have set foot in Congo for the photo op. The guide tells you that on a clear day, you can see not just Kinigi and Musanze in Rwanda, but the outskirts of Gisenyi, as well as Congo and Uganda. Still, on a clear day, your latent fear of heights and precarious edges may have prevented you from reaching this third peak; the views down would have been a curse on the completely vertical, completely terrify-ing ladders.
Upon reaching the bottom, on gelatinous legs and with shoes oozing muddy water with every step, you might look back and see that the fog has cleared. You might imagine that the toothy, bottom-jaw grin this vista presents is the face of Sabinyo, taunting you: now there would be views. But no matter, you got the best of the volcano and all three of its peaks, and when you next pass it on a bus in Rwanda, you can look at it and think, "I was up there!"
V6 - MURYOHERWE
Chocolate Zucchini Rum Cake From The Sunset Cookbook
Peace Corps Rwanda D.M.O. Brooke Hopper kindly shared her recipe for the tantalizing, sumptuous dessert served at the pre-marathon Peace & Pasta dinner. A great chance to test out your Peace Corps oven!
Chocolate Zucchini Rum Cake
This boozy, tender, and very chocolaty cake from reader Andee Zetterbaum, of Modesto, California, gets some its moistness from the zucchini, but oth-erwise the vegetable is undetectable. Health food it isn‘t, but it sure is delicious.
Rum glaze (optional)
1 & 2/3 cups powdered sugar
3 tbsp. rum
1. Preheat oven to 350˚. Generously butter and flour a nonstick 10-cup plain or fluted tube pan (angel food cake pan). In a large bowl, with a mixer on medium speed, beat butter and granu-lated sugar until smoothly blended. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until fluffy. With a wooden spoon, stir in zucchini and rum. 2. In a medium bowl, mix flour with chocolate chips, walnuts, cocoa, baking powder and soda, salt, and cinnamon. Stir flour mixture and milk into egg mixture until well blended. Pour batter into tube pan and spread evenly.
3. Bake until cake begins to pull from pan sides and springs back when firmly pressed in center, 55 to 60 minutes. Invert cake onto rack and cool.
Make glaze if using: In a medium bowl, mix powdered sugar and rum together until smooth. Drizzle glaze over cake.
Make ahead: Up to 2 days, at room temperature: up to 1 week, chilled.
Peace Corps Rwanda D.M.O. Brooke Hopper kindly shared her recipe for the tantalizing, sumptuous dessert served at the pre-marathon Peace & Pasta dinner. A great chance to test out your Peace Corps oven!
This boozy, tender, and very chocolaty cake from reader Andee Zetterbaum, of Modesto, California, gets some its moistness from the zucchini, but oth-erwise the vegetable is undetectable. Health food it isn‘t, but it sure is delicious.
Makes 1 tube cake; 16 to 20 servings * Time 1 ½ hours
¾ cup butter, at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 cups loosely packed shredded zucchini
1/3 cup rum, brandy, or water
2 ½ cups flour
1 cup each semisweet chocolate chips and chopped walnuts
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch processed)
2 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 ½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
¾ tsp. cinnamon
¼ cup milk
1 & 2/3 cups powdered sugar
3 tbsp. rum
1. Preheat oven to 350˚. Generously butter and flour a nonstick 10-cup plain or fluted tube pan (angel food cake pan). In a large bowl, with a mixer on medium speed, beat butter and granu-lated sugar until smoothly blended. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until fluffy. With a wooden spoon, stir in zucchini and rum. 2. In a medium bowl, mix flour with chocolate chips, walnuts, cocoa, baking powder and soda, salt, and cinnamon. Stir flour mixture and milk into egg mixture until well blended. Pour batter into tube pan and spread evenly.
3. Bake until cake begins to pull from pan sides and springs back when firmly pressed in center, 55 to 60 minutes. Invert cake onto rack and cool.
Make glaze if using: In a medium bowl, mix powdered sugar and rum together until smooth. Drizzle glaze over cake.
Photo courtesy of chocolate-chips-cookies.blogspot.com
V6 - DIY, By Andrew Udelsman
DIY - Koga
Build Your Own Bucket Shower
By Andrew Udelsman
There‘s an art to taking bucket baths, and I never learned it. I tried! But I couldn‘t get clean, and I spent the first three months at my site stinkin‘. Students held their breath when I came near their desks. Cows and goats fled before me. Neighbors stopped visiting. No doubt about it--- my stench was interfering with my successful integration in the Rwandan community.
Then one day a friend came to visit. I told him my woes, and he gave me a brilliant sugges-tion: "Dude, why don't you just like build a shower or something?" Blessed be you, wise friend, for you have changed my life! Yes, friends, I introduce to you: The Bucket Shower.
… Ok, it may not look like much, but it works. Especially good for washing hair and the back area.
How to build a bucket shower:
1. Buy an ibase (i.e., basin or bathing bucket). 2. Heat up a knife in a fire and drill a little hole in the bottom
3. Find a way to keep the ibase suspended in the air. This is the only difficult part--- I drilled four little holes in the top and then used rope to tie it to the roof of my "bathroom‖
That's it! When you want to shower, just pour as much water as you need into that bucket, and voilá, you have a nice 5-minute shower. For an extra-luxurious bathing experience, use warm water.
Build Your Own Bucket Shower
By Andrew Udelsman
There‘s an art to taking bucket baths, and I never learned it. I tried! But I couldn‘t get clean, and I spent the first three months at my site stinkin‘. Students held their breath when I came near their desks. Cows and goats fled before me. Neighbors stopped visiting. No doubt about it--- my stench was interfering with my successful integration in the Rwandan community.
Then one day a friend came to visit. I told him my woes, and he gave me a brilliant sugges-tion: "Dude, why don't you just like build a shower or something?" Blessed be you, wise friend, for you have changed my life! Yes, friends, I introduce to you: The Bucket Shower.
… Ok, it may not look like much, but it works. Especially good for washing hair and the back area.
How to build a bucket shower:
1. Buy an ibase (i.e., basin or bathing bucket). 2. Heat up a knife in a fire and drill a little hole in the bottom
3. Find a way to keep the ibase suspended in the air. This is the only difficult part--- I drilled four little holes in the top and then used rope to tie it to the roof of my "bathroom‖
That's it! When you want to shower, just pour as much water as you need into that bucket, and voilá, you have a nice 5-minute shower. For an extra-luxurious bathing experience, use warm water.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
V6 - GUHAHA 101, By Sonya Alexander
Guhaha 101
By Sonya Alexander
1. Top: Banana Republic 3,000 Frw (Kimironko)
2. Shorts: H&M 1,500 Frw (Musanze)
3. Boots: brown leather 1,000 Frw (Buhanda)
4. Top: Forever 21 500 Frw (Cyangugu)
5. Dress: 300 Frw (Buhanda)
6. Scarves: 1500 Frw (Kimironko)
7. Earrings: 500 Frw (Kimironko)
8. Purse: Coach 2500 Frw (Musanze)
9. Under Armor Fleece Jacket: 2000 Frw (Gitarama)
10. Dress: 3,000 Frw (Kimironko)
By Sonya Alexander
1. Top: Banana Republic 3,000 Frw (Kimironko)2. Shorts: H&M 1,500 Frw (Musanze)
3. Boots: brown leather 1,000 Frw (Buhanda)
4. Top: Forever 21 500 Frw (Cyangugu)
5. Dress: 300 Frw (Buhanda)
6. Scarves: 1500 Frw (Kimironko)
7. Earrings: 500 Frw (Kimironko)
8. Purse: Coach 2500 Frw (Musanze)
9. Under Armor Fleece Jacket: 2000 Frw (Gitarama)
10. Dress: 3,000 Frw (Kimironko)
V6 - ARTS AND CRAFTS, By Sally Dunst
Igitenge Elephants
By Sally Dunst
Steps1. Trace all of the pieces on igitenge and cut them out. Quantities are in parentheses on the pattern sheet next to the piece names. You should have 8 pieces.
2. Take 2 Ear pieces and match them up, one on top of another. Sew from point A to point B in the direction the arrow indi-cates. Turn this inside out. Cut out the ear shape from an index card, but make it slightly smaller so it will fit inside the ear you have just sewn. This paper will make the ear stiff! Repeat to make the other ear.
3. Take an Elephant Side and sew on an Ear at the ear edge line. Sew on an eye on the X. I used a row of tiny beads but you can use different material. Repeat on the other Elephant Side, but put the Ear and eye on the opposite side of the fabric.
4. Place one Elephant Side so the Ear and eye are face down. Take the Under Belly piece, fold it where the dotted line is on the pattern, and place it on one Elephant Side. Make sure you match up the Front Leg and Back Leg on the Elephant Side and on the Under Belly. Sew from *1 to *2 following the direction of the arrow on the Under Belly pattern. Repeat with the other Elephant Side.
5. Continue sewing together the 2 Elephant Sides by sewing from *2 to *3.
6. Match up *3 on an Elephant Side with *3 on the Top of Head piece. As you did with the Under Belly, place the Top of Head so it is in between the 2 Elephant Sides. Sew from *3 to *4 to join the Top of Head piece with an Elephant Side. Repeat with the other Elephant Side.
7. Exciting part! Turn what you have com-pleted inside out. You should have an ele-phant that is sewn together except for his butt. Up until this point the only stitching you should be able to see is on the Ear along the ear edge line. All the other stitch-ing disappeared when you turned the ele-phant inside out. To finish the butt, you will have to sew so the stitching is visible on the outside. Just fold the fabric so you‘re sewing the edges inside. Before you close up the elephant completely, fill it with rice. Don‘t forget to give your elephant a tail—simply place a scrap piece of fabric between the fabric of the butt while you‘re sewing it up.
8. You can give you elephant some personality by sewing accessories for it. My little sister is graduating from high school this year so I made her an elephant with a graduation cap!
By Sally Dunst
Steps1. Trace all of the pieces on igitenge and cut them out. Quantities are in parentheses on the pattern sheet next to the piece names. You should have 8 pieces. 2. Take 2 Ear pieces and match them up, one on top of another. Sew from point A to point B in the direction the arrow indi-cates. Turn this inside out. Cut out the ear shape from an index card, but make it slightly smaller so it will fit inside the ear you have just sewn. This paper will make the ear stiff! Repeat to make the other ear.
3. Take an Elephant Side and sew on an Ear at the ear edge line. Sew on an eye on the X. I used a row of tiny beads but you can use different material. Repeat on the other Elephant Side, but put the Ear and eye on the opposite side of the fabric.
4. Place one Elephant Side so the Ear and eye are face down. Take the Under Belly piece, fold it where the dotted line is on the pattern, and place it on one Elephant Side. Make sure you match up the Front Leg and Back Leg on the Elephant Side and on the Under Belly. Sew from *1 to *2 following the direction of the arrow on the Under Belly pattern. Repeat with the other Elephant Side.
5. Continue sewing together the 2 Elephant Sides by sewing from *2 to *3.
6. Match up *3 on an Elephant Side with *3 on the Top of Head piece. As you did with the Under Belly, place the Top of Head so it is in between the 2 Elephant Sides. Sew from *3 to *4 to join the Top of Head piece with an Elephant Side. Repeat with the other Elephant Side.
7. Exciting part! Turn what you have com-pleted inside out. You should have an ele-phant that is sewn together except for his butt. Up until this point the only stitching you should be able to see is on the Ear along the ear edge line. All the other stitch-ing disappeared when you turned the ele-phant inside out. To finish the butt, you will have to sew so the stitching is visible on the outside. Just fold the fabric so you‘re sewing the edges inside. Before you close up the elephant completely, fill it with rice. Don‘t forget to give your elephant a tail—simply place a scrap piece of fabric between the fabric of the butt while you‘re sewing it up.
8. You can give you elephant some personality by sewing accessories for it. My little sister is graduating from high school this year so I made her an elephant with a graduation cap!
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
V6 - HOROSCOPES, By The Great Mentok
Horoscopes
BY THE GREAT MENTOK
Gemini - May 22 - June 21: You know that thing that you've always wanted to do, but never had the time to do it? Make time. It will be worth it...trust me.
Cancer - June 22 - July 22: Unless I am read-ing this wrong, which I NEVER do, things are REALLY heating up for you. (Stay away from open flames for a while, though...just in case).
Leo - July 23 -August 21: I see money in your future...whether you are making this money or losing it is still unclear. However, considering that you bought large shares of stock in a com-pany that manufactures a product called 'kitten mittens,' I wouldn't get my hopes up.
Virgo - August 22 - September 23: You have a lot of emotional strength to share with oth-ers. Don't be afraid of holding anything back, but don't take on too many projects either. Your friends do not need a 'Superman,' just a brave one.
Libra - September 24 - Oc-tober 23: The opposite sex is really responding to you this month. These responses will be mostly negative unless you phrase your questions just right. Remember, 'Interest-ed is Interest-ing.'
Scorpio - October 24 - No-vember 22: Rome wasn't built in a day, right? Well, neither will your new la-trine. Be patient and invest in some buckets for the time being
Sagittarius - November 23-December 22: Pride gener-ally comes before the fall. In order to stay on cloud nine you are going to have to eat some humble pie. Chew well.
Capricorn - December 23 - January 20: You will have a rash… sorry. I'd go into more de-tail, but you'll find out about it soon enough
Aquarius - January 21 - February 19: Fear is holding you back from achieving your true po-tential. Fear has always held you back. It is time to punch fear in its stupid, smirking face.
Pisces - February 20- March 20: It is impor-tant to note...*text missing*...with peanut butter and jelly, but don't...*text missing*...turns pur-ple, then call the hospital...*text missing*...of this and you will do just fine. If you don't...well...don't say I didn't warn you
BY THE GREAT MENTOK
Image courtesy of Spiritandflesh.com
Aries - March 21 - April 20: MICHAEL leaving 'The Office' was the first of a series of emotional lows for you. Chin up. Stay strong. Where there's a WILL, there's a way.
Taurus - April 21 - May 21 : Counting the days only makes them seem longer. Count the sec-onds. There are more of them, but they pass quicker.
Gemini - May 22 - June 21: You know that thing that you've always wanted to do, but never had the time to do it? Make time. It will be worth it...trust me.
Cancer - June 22 - July 22: Unless I am read-ing this wrong, which I NEVER do, things are REALLY heating up for you. (Stay away from open flames for a while, though...just in case).
Leo - July 23 -August 21: I see money in your future...whether you are making this money or losing it is still unclear. However, considering that you bought large shares of stock in a com-pany that manufactures a product called 'kitten mittens,' I wouldn't get my hopes up.
Virgo - August 22 - September 23: You have a lot of emotional strength to share with oth-ers. Don't be afraid of holding anything back, but don't take on too many projects either. Your friends do not need a 'Superman,' just a brave one.
Libra - September 24 - Oc-tober 23: The opposite sex is really responding to you this month. These responses will be mostly negative unless you phrase your questions just right. Remember, 'Interest-ed is Interest-ing.'
Scorpio - October 24 - No-vember 22: Rome wasn't built in a day, right? Well, neither will your new la-trine. Be patient and invest in some buckets for the time being
Sagittarius - November 23-December 22: Pride gener-ally comes before the fall. In order to stay on cloud nine you are going to have to eat some humble pie. Chew well.
Capricorn - December 23 - January 20: You will have a rash… sorry. I'd go into more de-tail, but you'll find out about it soon enough
Aquarius - January 21 - February 19: Fear is holding you back from achieving your true po-tential. Fear has always held you back. It is time to punch fear in its stupid, smirking face.
Pisces - February 20- March 20: It is impor-tant to note...*text missing*...with peanut butter and jelly, but don't...*text missing*...turns pur-ple, then call the hospital...*text missing*...of this and you will do just fine. If you don't...well...don't say I didn't warn you
Monday, February 20, 2012
Volume 5 - March 2011
SOMA Stories, Opinions, Messages, Art
A quarterly journal publication by Peace Corps Rwanda Volunteers
CONTRIBUTORS
Anna Montgomery
Anna is a health PCV and a certified Child Life Specialist. She enjoys gardening, running the Kigali half marathon (twice), climbing to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, and teaching English through foursquare games. She lives in Kibungo in the eastern province, where you will most likely find her in the hospital pediatric ward or out with a co-operative of PLWHA cultivating pineapples.
Jed Augustine
Jed is an education PCV in Kinazi in the southern Province. He is from Atlanta, Georgia and graduated from the University of Chicago, where he studied comparative human development. Jed misses M&Ms painfully.
A.J. Bisesi
AJ "Mahoro" Bisesi is a health PCV who hails from the coolest place ever—Cleveland, Ohio. A.J. went to Grace College in Indiana where she earned a degree in social work. She currently works at a health center in Mushaka in the western province. Her current project: brainstorming innovative ideas on how to justifiably create a job out of road tripping upon her return to America in 2012.
Malcolm Cunningham
Malcolm, a health PCV, was born in the post-industrial town of Toledo, Ohio. He studied psychology at Ohio State and works in a health center near Kigali. He likes to take pictures with his Pentax camera. While he didn‘t think much of Jonathan Franzen‘s new novel, Freedom, he did appreciate its predecessor, The Corrections.
Janelle Fann
Janelle, an education PCV, is a writer aspiring to live with the kind of honesty she writes with. Originally from Michigan, she attended university in Tennessee. She will live in the great city of New York after her stint as a Peace Corps Volunteer primarily because she has a free place to live there.
Kerianne Hendrickson
Kerianne is a health PCV who currently lives in Rulindo District in the northern province of Rwanda. Originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan, she attended Michigan State University where she received a Masters Degree in Social Work focusing on older adult and mental health studies. She loves people, especially the old and the wise.
Malea Hoepf
Malea is a health PCV serving in Ngoma District. She went to Kenyon College and received her Master's in Public Health from UNC Chapel Hill. She's originally from Tiffin, Ohio and has the pie-making skills to prove it. Even in a Peace Corps oven.
Avery Miles
Avery is an education PCV who lives in the mountain village of Muramba in Ngororero district where she works at a secondary school. She comes from Morris Plains, New Jersey and went to American University where she graduated in 2008 with a degree in International Relations. Avery likes dancing, reading, hiking, and writing.
Kelly Miller
Kelly is a health PCV from Ocean City, New Jersey. She lives in Bugesera district in the eastern Province. Her primary assignment is working on the USAID/Higa Ubeho project, and her secondary activities include: working with a youth performing-arts group, gardening projects, and helping a mothers‘ group with IGAs. In her spare time, she likes hanging out with her neighbors' kids, trying to convince them that you shouldn't rub mint candy on your teeth like toothpaste, and flying paper airplanes.
Nora Nunn
Nora, a health PCV, lives in Kigali where she works with Akazi Kanoze, a youth livelihoods project. She grew up in Atlanta, Georgia and went to the University of Virginia, where she studied English and French and learned everything she did (or didn‘t) want to know about its founder, Thomas Jefferson. In her free time she savors short stories and good Rwandan coffee.
Camille Simpson
Camille, a health PCV, was raised in Johnsonville, South Carolina and later relocated to Dover, Delaware. She attended Delaware State University, a HBCU (Historically Black College/University), earning a B.S. in Community Health. Camille lives in Nyamagabe district in the southern province where she works for Caritas Rwanda. On weekends, she enjoys trying new recipes.
A quarterly journal publication by Peace Corps Rwanda Volunteers
CONTRIBUTORS
Anna Montgomery
Anna is a health PCV and a certified Child Life Specialist. She enjoys gardening, running the Kigali half marathon (twice), climbing to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, and teaching English through foursquare games. She lives in Kibungo in the eastern province, where you will most likely find her in the hospital pediatric ward or out with a co-operative of PLWHA cultivating pineapples.
Jed Augustine
Jed is an education PCV in Kinazi in the southern Province. He is from Atlanta, Georgia and graduated from the University of Chicago, where he studied comparative human development. Jed misses M&Ms painfully.
A.J. Bisesi
AJ "Mahoro" Bisesi is a health PCV who hails from the coolest place ever—Cleveland, Ohio. A.J. went to Grace College in Indiana where she earned a degree in social work. She currently works at a health center in Mushaka in the western province. Her current project: brainstorming innovative ideas on how to justifiably create a job out of road tripping upon her return to America in 2012.
Malcolm Cunningham
Malcolm, a health PCV, was born in the post-industrial town of Toledo, Ohio. He studied psychology at Ohio State and works in a health center near Kigali. He likes to take pictures with his Pentax camera. While he didn‘t think much of Jonathan Franzen‘s new novel, Freedom, he did appreciate its predecessor, The Corrections.
Janelle Fann
Janelle, an education PCV, is a writer aspiring to live with the kind of honesty she writes with. Originally from Michigan, she attended university in Tennessee. She will live in the great city of New York after her stint as a Peace Corps Volunteer primarily because she has a free place to live there.
Kerianne Hendrickson
Kerianne is a health PCV who currently lives in Rulindo District in the northern province of Rwanda. Originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan, she attended Michigan State University where she received a Masters Degree in Social Work focusing on older adult and mental health studies. She loves people, especially the old and the wise.
Malea Hoepf
Malea is a health PCV serving in Ngoma District. She went to Kenyon College and received her Master's in Public Health from UNC Chapel Hill. She's originally from Tiffin, Ohio and has the pie-making skills to prove it. Even in a Peace Corps oven.
Avery Miles
Avery is an education PCV who lives in the mountain village of Muramba in Ngororero district where she works at a secondary school. She comes from Morris Plains, New Jersey and went to American University where she graduated in 2008 with a degree in International Relations. Avery likes dancing, reading, hiking, and writing.
Kelly Miller
Kelly is a health PCV from Ocean City, New Jersey. She lives in Bugesera district in the eastern Province. Her primary assignment is working on the USAID/Higa Ubeho project, and her secondary activities include: working with a youth performing-arts group, gardening projects, and helping a mothers‘ group with IGAs. In her spare time, she likes hanging out with her neighbors' kids, trying to convince them that you shouldn't rub mint candy on your teeth like toothpaste, and flying paper airplanes.
Nora Nunn
Nora, a health PCV, lives in Kigali where she works with Akazi Kanoze, a youth livelihoods project. She grew up in Atlanta, Georgia and went to the University of Virginia, where she studied English and French and learned everything she did (or didn‘t) want to know about its founder, Thomas Jefferson. In her free time she savors short stories and good Rwandan coffee.
Camille Simpson
Camille, a health PCV, was raised in Johnsonville, South Carolina and later relocated to Dover, Delaware. She attended Delaware State University, a HBCU (Historically Black College/University), earning a B.S. in Community Health. Camille lives in Nyamagabe district in the southern province where she works for Caritas Rwanda. On weekends, she enjoys trying new recipes.
V5 - So Long, Fare Well, By Anna Montgomery
So Long, Fare Well
Reflections from a Departing Health PCV
By Anna Montgomery
Group 1 Health PCVs at their Close of Service Conference in Gisenyi, January 2011.
Photo courtesy of Ahmed Naguib
Farewell. Have you ever really thought about that word? Usually, we simply use it as a synonym for goodbye. Recently, however, I‘ve been thinking that its meaning goes beyond the obvious. This is especially true as, we, the first group of PCVs back to Rwanda, prepare to leave. I‘ve changed the word a bit though, from farewell, to fare well.
To my fellow group 1s: You will very soon be Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, RPCVs! May you fare well under your new title. May the lessons you learned and the experiences you had as PCVs be more than just memories. I hope they become a springboard of sorts, sending you off with a flying start to a wonderful future. Close of Service time is here. But as Mara said during our conference, COS also means continuation of service. Don‘t give it up when you return to the States! Lots of things are about to change; reverse culture shock is in store for us. You‘ll have hot water (any time you want), avocados will seem ridiculously expensive, it will be ok to smell your food, and please remember that it will no longer be ok to pick your nose. However, I hope one thing stays the same. Service. Keep reaching out to others, invest in your communities wherever you are, change the world, and fare well.
And to all you PCVs still in service: I say the same to you, farewell, fare well. Your service won‘t always be easy, nor will it always be enjoyable, but it will be worth it. During our COS conference a Ralph Waldo Emerson quotation was shared with us. It‘s a definition of success that lined up so perfectly with Peace Corps service that I wanted to share it with you guys as well. "To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, a redeemed social condition, to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded." So I say farewell, fare well, I know you are going to succeed!
Reflections from a Departing Health PCV
By Anna Montgomery
Photo courtesy of Ahmed Naguib
Farewell. Have you ever really thought about that word? Usually, we simply use it as a synonym for goodbye. Recently, however, I‘ve been thinking that its meaning goes beyond the obvious. This is especially true as, we, the first group of PCVs back to Rwanda, prepare to leave. I‘ve changed the word a bit though, from farewell, to fare well.
To my fellow group 1s: You will very soon be Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, RPCVs! May you fare well under your new title. May the lessons you learned and the experiences you had as PCVs be more than just memories. I hope they become a springboard of sorts, sending you off with a flying start to a wonderful future. Close of Service time is here. But as Mara said during our conference, COS also means continuation of service. Don‘t give it up when you return to the States! Lots of things are about to change; reverse culture shock is in store for us. You‘ll have hot water (any time you want), avocados will seem ridiculously expensive, it will be ok to smell your food, and please remember that it will no longer be ok to pick your nose. However, I hope one thing stays the same. Service. Keep reaching out to others, invest in your communities wherever you are, change the world, and fare well.
And to all you PCVs still in service: I say the same to you, farewell, fare well. Your service won‘t always be easy, nor will it always be enjoyable, but it will be worth it. During our COS conference a Ralph Waldo Emerson quotation was shared with us. It‘s a definition of success that lined up so perfectly with Peace Corps service that I wanted to share it with you guys as well. "To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, a redeemed social condition, to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded." So I say farewell, fare well, I know you are going to succeed!
V5 - The New Normal, By Jed Augustine
The New Normal
Thoughts from a New Education PCV
By Jed Augustine
On January 3, 2011 sixty-five trainees became the newest Peace Corps Volunteers in Rwanda after eleven weeks of training in Nyanza. We are the second group of Education Volunteers since the reestablishment of the Peace Corps Rwanda program in early 2009. To introduce the group, allow me to share a Swear-In story that captures our spirit.
Ten minutes into the ceremony, United States Ambassador W. Stuart Symington stood to speak. He complimented the musical acts and ordered an impromptu performance from the trainees, explaining, ―The only thing more important to me today than your becoming Volunteers is the health of the Rwandan people. So, in the words of the old television shows, "We‘ll be back after the break!" As he turned and walked into his home to take a call from the Minister of Health, the unexpectedly offered responsibility hung over us. This sensation, unfamiliar when we first arrived in Rwanda, now no longer surprised us.
Soon, Genevieve Williams and Gelsey Hughes, who had already given an excellent ukulele-enlivened mash-up of The Beatles "In My Life" and Todo‘s "Africa," honored Ambassador Symington‘s request. They once again took the lawn to perform a reprise of their talent show number, Ingrid Michaelson‘s "You and I." With the Ambassador still occupied, Jeff Monsma, having already performed "Rock Me Momma" with LCF Valens Hasubinzimana and the stunning dance talents of Dan Serwon, Patrick Malone, and Thais Fournier, took up the musical mantle and began strumming the opening chords of The Flight of the Concords song, "The Most Beautiful Girl (In the Room)." Though the reason still escapes me, Jeff insisted that I sing with him.
Rather flustered and panicked, I replied, "Not that song, Jeff." If you know the song, you know it isn‘t one for regaling dignitaries. (You‘re so beautiful, you could be a waitress…/an air hostess in the 60s…/a part time model. / You‘re so beautiful, like a tree, or a high-class prostitute). But Jeff played on in spite of my increasing anxiety. "NOT THAT SONG, JEFF!"
Jeff kept playing, but he mercifully switched to a different song. That is, he switched after I sang the song‘s opening lyrics. But we learn from failure. Unaware of the averted comedic crisis, the crowd enjoyed Jeff‘s serenade, the ceremony went on, and we were soon Volunteers.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, this situation sums up the disposition of our group fairly well: flexibility and good humor are the tools to manage frequent and unexpected challenges. A few more examples illustrate this attitude:
During our field trip to Nyungwe National Park in mid-December we discovered that most of our Rwandan IDs were invalid. We would be considered foreigners and pay accordingly. Grumbling, we paid and split into groups to enjoy walks which differed in scenery yet shared torrential rain and grape-sized hail. The hail was the first frozen thing we had seen in two months, so we greeted it with excitement. Who expects ice to fall from the sky so close to the equator? Back at the park headquarters, we pooled our communal calories (bread, peanut butter, and Nutella) and laid our soaked clothes and selves in the tropical sun.
Arriving in Butare for our second banking day, we were greeted by the news that the government body in charge of transferring funds to the Peace Corps had, in fact, failed to do so. We took the little money we had and left, our accounts empty but our stomachs full of Butare burgers and bowls of ice cream.
In addition to communal conundrums, we have each had our own personal problems: illnesses, bike accidents, hacked accounts, identities and money stolen. We have all faced a myriad of resource family challenges, such as the "Are You My Mother" problem of an ever-changing cast of characters every visit. We‘ve also confronted the chronic question of "What am I eating and how do I politely stop eating it, right now?"
More than anything, Peace Corps Volunteers share a dream, and our group is no exception. Firstly, of course, we all dream of transforming our communities. A very close second is more a nightmare than a dream, namely the kaleidoscope of diseases that movies and hearsay have taught us to fear deeply. Fortunately for all of us, we had the pleasure throughout PST of listening to the gloriously French Dr. Laurent Clerc assuage our ailment anxieties. After his excellent health and wellness sessions, we are all happy to be in his and Dr. Elite・s capable hands. After Dr. Laurent・s stories of Niger, we are also very happy to be in Rwanda and not in Niger. Favorite hyperbolic examples of his tales include:
Group 2 Education PCVs at their Swear-in ceremony in Kigali, January 2011 Photo courtesy of Jerome Ndayambaje
The pleasures and pains of PST are now fading into the background. As we come to the end of our first month at site, many of us are realizing that PST is not the same as Service, and Service remains a nebulous, ever-changing concept. At the dawn of our two years in Rwanda, our goals seem as attainable as the horizon.
For many of us, this slow, uncertain time offers a chance to reflect on the questions that the fast pace of training suppressed: What is the value of education? What is our role here in Rwanda? How can we help? What is needed? How will we know that we are actually helping or addressing needs?
I feel I speak for many when I say that those of you have faced the same difficulties we face now and persisted through them provide us with great comfort. We have begun the first chapter of a story lived by 50 years of Volunteers who have found order in the chaos and found a route through the briar patch.
Our doubts are ensconced in the daunting promise of two years; the promise that two years from now we will look at Rwanda—and life—with very different eyes.
Indeed, our perspective transformed the moment we landed in Rwanda back in October 2010. As our plane descended through the wood smoke and trash haze of Kigali, the constellations in the sky faded and the city‘s white fluorescent lights rose from the horizon to replace them. Thirty minutes later we rested in the airport parking lot, bags in hand, trying to make sense of having awoken in Philadelphia, having eaten lunch in New York, breakfast in Brussels, and now standing dazzled under the full African moon. As the day‘s heat dissipated into the night, all around us the artificial lights shimmered on the city‘s hills like mounds of stars, as if fallen from the broken, once familiar sky.
Only when we returned to Kigali in January 2011 for Swear-In did we realize just how much we had already changed. The overwhelming experience of the new, the strangeness of being strange, the sensory onslaught of burning sun, smoldering trash, roaring radios, beeping motos, vast poverty, burns and blisters from the charcoal stove—the whole Rwandan arabesque—had become our new normal. The foreign had become familiar.
As we once again search for and unexpectedly discover new routines and habits, we will live as and for the Rwandans we serve, and who, whatever our experience, give us purpose as Volunteers.
Thoughts from a New Education PCV
By Jed Augustine
On January 3, 2011 sixty-five trainees became the newest Peace Corps Volunteers in Rwanda after eleven weeks of training in Nyanza. We are the second group of Education Volunteers since the reestablishment of the Peace Corps Rwanda program in early 2009. To introduce the group, allow me to share a Swear-In story that captures our spirit.
Ten minutes into the ceremony, United States Ambassador W. Stuart Symington stood to speak. He complimented the musical acts and ordered an impromptu performance from the trainees, explaining, ―The only thing more important to me today than your becoming Volunteers is the health of the Rwandan people. So, in the words of the old television shows, "We‘ll be back after the break!" As he turned and walked into his home to take a call from the Minister of Health, the unexpectedly offered responsibility hung over us. This sensation, unfamiliar when we first arrived in Rwanda, now no longer surprised us.
Soon, Genevieve Williams and Gelsey Hughes, who had already given an excellent ukulele-enlivened mash-up of The Beatles "In My Life" and Todo‘s "Africa," honored Ambassador Symington‘s request. They once again took the lawn to perform a reprise of their talent show number, Ingrid Michaelson‘s "You and I." With the Ambassador still occupied, Jeff Monsma, having already performed "Rock Me Momma" with LCF Valens Hasubinzimana and the stunning dance talents of Dan Serwon, Patrick Malone, and Thais Fournier, took up the musical mantle and began strumming the opening chords of The Flight of the Concords song, "The Most Beautiful Girl (In the Room)." Though the reason still escapes me, Jeff insisted that I sing with him.
Rather flustered and panicked, I replied, "Not that song, Jeff." If you know the song, you know it isn‘t one for regaling dignitaries. (You‘re so beautiful, you could be a waitress…/an air hostess in the 60s…/a part time model. / You‘re so beautiful, like a tree, or a high-class prostitute). But Jeff played on in spite of my increasing anxiety. "NOT THAT SONG, JEFF!"
Jeff kept playing, but he mercifully switched to a different song. That is, he switched after I sang the song‘s opening lyrics. But we learn from failure. Unaware of the averted comedic crisis, the crowd enjoyed Jeff‘s serenade, the ceremony went on, and we were soon Volunteers.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, this situation sums up the disposition of our group fairly well: flexibility and good humor are the tools to manage frequent and unexpected challenges. A few more examples illustrate this attitude:
During our field trip to Nyungwe National Park in mid-December we discovered that most of our Rwandan IDs were invalid. We would be considered foreigners and pay accordingly. Grumbling, we paid and split into groups to enjoy walks which differed in scenery yet shared torrential rain and grape-sized hail. The hail was the first frozen thing we had seen in two months, so we greeted it with excitement. Who expects ice to fall from the sky so close to the equator? Back at the park headquarters, we pooled our communal calories (bread, peanut butter, and Nutella) and laid our soaked clothes and selves in the tropical sun.
Arriving in Butare for our second banking day, we were greeted by the news that the government body in charge of transferring funds to the Peace Corps had, in fact, failed to do so. We took the little money we had and left, our accounts empty but our stomachs full of Butare burgers and bowls of ice cream.
In addition to communal conundrums, we have each had our own personal problems: illnesses, bike accidents, hacked accounts, identities and money stolen. We have all faced a myriad of resource family challenges, such as the "Are You My Mother" problem of an ever-changing cast of characters every visit. We‘ve also confronted the chronic question of "What am I eating and how do I politely stop eating it, right now?"
More than anything, Peace Corps Volunteers share a dream, and our group is no exception. Firstly, of course, we all dream of transforming our communities. A very close second is more a nightmare than a dream, namely the kaleidoscope of diseases that movies and hearsay have taught us to fear deeply. Fortunately for all of us, we had the pleasure throughout PST of listening to the gloriously French Dr. Laurent Clerc assuage our ailment anxieties. After his excellent health and wellness sessions, we are all happy to be in his and Dr. Elite・s capable hands. After Dr. Laurent・s stories of Niger, we are also very happy to be in Rwanda and not in Niger. Favorite hyperbolic examples of his tales include:
- "How many of you do I expect to get amoebic dysentery? In Niger, you would already have had amoebic dysentery, if the Ebola didn't get you first."
- "In Niger, the sun is black."
- "In Niger, all the plants are carnivorous."
- On the Peace Corps' Mental Health and Wellness Scale, 1 is healthy and happy and 10 is crippling Depression. "In Niger we had to add 30 more points."
- "Niger is where all of your missing socks go. In one giant, filthy pile."
- "In Niger water sanitation is simplified because there is no water."
- "In Niger, they've weaponized children・s affection. That's not snot they're wiping on you."
The pleasures and pains of PST are now fading into the background. As we come to the end of our first month at site, many of us are realizing that PST is not the same as Service, and Service remains a nebulous, ever-changing concept. At the dawn of our two years in Rwanda, our goals seem as attainable as the horizon.
For many of us, this slow, uncertain time offers a chance to reflect on the questions that the fast pace of training suppressed: What is the value of education? What is our role here in Rwanda? How can we help? What is needed? How will we know that we are actually helping or addressing needs?
I feel I speak for many when I say that those of you have faced the same difficulties we face now and persisted through them provide us with great comfort. We have begun the first chapter of a story lived by 50 years of Volunteers who have found order in the chaos and found a route through the briar patch.
Our doubts are ensconced in the daunting promise of two years; the promise that two years from now we will look at Rwanda—and life—with very different eyes.
Indeed, our perspective transformed the moment we landed in Rwanda back in October 2010. As our plane descended through the wood smoke and trash haze of Kigali, the constellations in the sky faded and the city‘s white fluorescent lights rose from the horizon to replace them. Thirty minutes later we rested in the airport parking lot, bags in hand, trying to make sense of having awoken in Philadelphia, having eaten lunch in New York, breakfast in Brussels, and now standing dazzled under the full African moon. As the day‘s heat dissipated into the night, all around us the artificial lights shimmered on the city‘s hills like mounds of stars, as if fallen from the broken, once familiar sky.
Only when we returned to Kigali in January 2011 for Swear-In did we realize just how much we had already changed. The overwhelming experience of the new, the strangeness of being strange, the sensory onslaught of burning sun, smoldering trash, roaring radios, beeping motos, vast poverty, burns and blisters from the charcoal stove—the whole Rwandan arabesque—had become our new normal. The foreign had become familiar.
As we once again search for and unexpectedly discover new routines and habits, we will live as and for the Rwandans we serve, and who, whatever our experience, give us purpose as Volunteers.
V5 - Camps: GLOW & BE, By Nora Nunn and Malcolm Cunningham
Camps: GLOW & BE
Photo essay by Malcolm Cunningham
Text by Nora Nunn
GLOW camper Beatrice Mahoro leads PCV facilitator Camille Simpson during a ropes course.
GLOW
Rwanda's Parliament ranks first in the world in terms of the representation of women (56.3%). Given this extraordinary statistic, it seems a natural place to host Camp GLOW, which stands for Girls Leading Our World. The purpose of Camp GLOW is to encourage young women to become active citizens by building their self-esteem and confidence, increasing their self-awareness, and developing their skills in goal setting, assertiveness, health, and career and life planning. When the first group of Peace Corps health volunteers arrived in Rwanda in 2009, they hosted Camp GLOW at the Red Cross in Kigali in December of that year. Encouraged by the first camp‘s success, Peace Corps welcomed 98 girls to its second Camp GLOW in collaboration with the Institut Catholic de Kabgayi from December 8-13, 2010 in Gitarama, located in Rwanda‘s southern province.
Camp GLOW began in Romania in 1995. While various Peace Corps countries use a similar GLOW curriculum, the lessons are presented in a culturally sensitive and specific way. Each PCV facilitator is paired with a host-country national facilitator to instruct a group of 12-13 campers. "This pairing creates an amazing bond . . . that helps us learn as PCVs and also passes on the information in sustainable ways," said PCV Emily Dubois Hollander, one of the directors of Camp GLOW. Facilitator Jeanne Mukangenzi echoed this sentiment, also noting the importance of the junior counselors, girls who participated as campers in 2009 and were selected based on their outstanding leadership. "It was a strong team. We all worked together," she said.
Left: GLOW campers participate in an icebreaker exercise called "Chief."
The 98 campers, aged from 15 to 20 years old, were selected from a pool of 1,000 applicants and chosen based on the strength of their essays, which were written in English—the language of instruction at Camp GLOW. Camp GLOW, which was funded by PEPFAR, was free of charge to its participants. The regional diversity of the campers enriches the experience, said Shaida Kamali, a junior counselor from Kigali whose goal is to help others by being a doctor. "My favorite experience was knowing new people and learning how things are perceived by others," she said.
Learning at Camp GLOW took place both inside and outside of the classroom. Girls and their facilitators explored topics such as goal setting, the immune system, HIV transmission and prevention, gender roles, and self-esteem. Each group of campers was named after and learned about a strong female leader such as Mother Teresa, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, and Rosa Parks. Career panels, belly dancing, creative writing, team-building activities, and a talent show were among the myriad of other activities in which the girls participated. During most any tea break, many campers could be found in the "affirmation room," where girls could write affirmations, or positive messages, about anyone at Camp GLOW and then place the encouraging note in the person・s individualized envelope. One facilitator compared the wall of envelopes stuffed with handwritten messages to a type of non-virtual "facebook."
Above: PCV Ashley Williamson advises a GLOW camper about interview skills. Below: Camp BE facilitators and campers
"We hosted Camp BE because boys are an equally important part of female empowerment," said PCV Meredith Lu, one of the Camp BE directors. "You can open as many doors for girls as possible, but their male peers help bring female development into something tangible."
Certain BE participants seemed to echo Lu‘s philosophy. "Our own country wants men and women to be equal," said camper Julius Mwesige. "Gender balance is needed in Rwanda," he said. The BE curriculum included lessons that discussed traditional and modern gender roles in Rwanda. Its themes, which included leadership skills, career counseling, HIV prevention, and life skills, were similar to those of Camp GLOW.
Camper Jimmy Gaston Ndagijimana considered his most valuable lesson to be a health-related one. "I learned how to use a condom and also the difference between HIV and AIDS," he said. Jimmy, who plans to be a computer engineer, also realized the value of setting goals. "What you think, you can do, and you can be. What you dream, you can do, and you can be."
As in Camp GLOW, PCVs and Rwandans worked in tandem as facilitators. PCV Avery Karlowich attested to the powerful combination of cross-cultural teamwork. "Working together was a way to connect with someone who grew up in this culture who was trying to instill confidence in these boys that they are future leaders," she said. Likewise, Rwandan facilitator Remy Dusange appreciated the chance to work with Americans. "PCVs care about their campers . . . they use jokes and humor to show them that they are close to them," he said.
Domicien Ndayizeye, a camper who wants to be a doctor, plans to share what he learned at Camp BE with his village. "I live in the countryside, and I want to teach my community how to use condoms in our English club," he said. "Then, they can teach the skills to their own families." Similarly, Julius is determined to impart his knowledge to friends back home. "I want to keep on advising people, as there are so many people who don‘t know where they are going, they don‘t dream; they just live. It‘s better to continue to teach others."
BE Campers participate in an HIV-prevention activity
Note: in 2011 Camps BE & GLOW will be held on a regional instead of a national level. If you would like to be involved, please contact campglowrwanda@gmail.com.
Photo essay by Malcolm Cunningham
Text by Nora Nunn
GLOW
Rwanda's Parliament ranks first in the world in terms of the representation of women (56.3%). Given this extraordinary statistic, it seems a natural place to host Camp GLOW, which stands for Girls Leading Our World. The purpose of Camp GLOW is to encourage young women to become active citizens by building their self-esteem and confidence, increasing their self-awareness, and developing their skills in goal setting, assertiveness, health, and career and life planning. When the first group of Peace Corps health volunteers arrived in Rwanda in 2009, they hosted Camp GLOW at the Red Cross in Kigali in December of that year. Encouraged by the first camp‘s success, Peace Corps welcomed 98 girls to its second Camp GLOW in collaboration with the Institut Catholic de Kabgayi from December 8-13, 2010 in Gitarama, located in Rwanda‘s southern province.
Camp GLOW began in Romania in 1995. While various Peace Corps countries use a similar GLOW curriculum, the lessons are presented in a culturally sensitive and specific way. Each PCV facilitator is paired with a host-country national facilitator to instruct a group of 12-13 campers. "This pairing creates an amazing bond . . . that helps us learn as PCVs and also passes on the information in sustainable ways," said PCV Emily Dubois Hollander, one of the directors of Camp GLOW. Facilitator Jeanne Mukangenzi echoed this sentiment, also noting the importance of the junior counselors, girls who participated as campers in 2009 and were selected based on their outstanding leadership. "It was a strong team. We all worked together," she said.
Left: GLOW campers participate in an icebreaker exercise called "Chief."The 98 campers, aged from 15 to 20 years old, were selected from a pool of 1,000 applicants and chosen based on the strength of their essays, which were written in English—the language of instruction at Camp GLOW. Camp GLOW, which was funded by PEPFAR, was free of charge to its participants. The regional diversity of the campers enriches the experience, said Shaida Kamali, a junior counselor from Kigali whose goal is to help others by being a doctor. "My favorite experience was knowing new people and learning how things are perceived by others," she said.
Learning at Camp GLOW took place both inside and outside of the classroom. Girls and their facilitators explored topics such as goal setting, the immune system, HIV transmission and prevention, gender roles, and self-esteem. Each group of campers was named after and learned about a strong female leader such as Mother Teresa, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, and Rosa Parks. Career panels, belly dancing, creative writing, team-building activities, and a talent show were among the myriad of other activities in which the girls participated. During most any tea break, many campers could be found in the "affirmation room," where girls could write affirmations, or positive messages, about anyone at Camp GLOW and then place the encouraging note in the person・s individualized envelope. One facilitator compared the wall of envelopes stuffed with handwritten messages to a type of non-virtual "facebook."
We as PCVs hope that the knowledge, skills, and attitudes imparted from Camp GLOW will travel beyond the walls of the campgrounds; based on campers‘ testimonies, they will. Camper Grace Uwamahoro, who dreams of being a neurosurgeon, plans to teach her class at school what she learned at GLOW. "The condom demonstration opened my eyes,‖she said. Camper Beatrice Mahoro, whose goal is to become a tailor, also intends to share new ideas with her friends at home. ―I learned how to protect myself from pressure from boys,"she said. "We have changed . . . and we will plant the seeds of change," attested junior counselor Grace Mushimiyimana.
During Camp GLOW‘s closing ceremony, the campers listened to the sagacious words of Rwandan Honorable Member of Parliament Euthalie Nyirabega, who encouraged the girls to use their time efficiently in order to achieve their personal goals. "I am sure that we will be hearing from ladies who are Rwanda‘s future leaders that have participated in Camp GLOW," said Shaida Kamali. While Camp GLOW exhorts its campers to set ambitious personal and professional goals, one the camp‘s strongest themes is that true leadership starts within. "We would love if someone becomes the leader of Rwanda," said Emily Dubois Hollander. "But the most important thing is that girls become the leaders of their own lives."
During Camp GLOW‘s closing ceremony, the campers listened to the sagacious words of Rwandan Honorable Member of Parliament Euthalie Nyirabega, who encouraged the girls to use their time efficiently in order to achieve their personal goals. "I am sure that we will be hearing from ladies who are Rwanda‘s future leaders that have participated in Camp GLOW," said Shaida Kamali. While Camp GLOW exhorts its campers to set ambitious personal and professional goals, one the camp‘s strongest themes is that true leadership starts within. "We would love if someone becomes the leader of Rwanda," said Emily Dubois Hollander. "But the most important thing is that girls become the leaders of their own lives."
BE
If Rwandan girls are leading our world, Rwandan boys will be beside them, working as a team. BE, Peace Corps Rwanda‘s leadership camp for boys, stands for Boys Excelling. Camp BE was held for the first time in Rwanda in the week following Camp GLOW from December 15-20, 2010 and it hosted 64 boys whose ages ranged from 15 to 20.
If Rwandan girls are leading our world, Rwandan boys will be beside them, working as a team. BE, Peace Corps Rwanda‘s leadership camp for boys, stands for Boys Excelling. Camp BE was held for the first time in Rwanda in the week following Camp GLOW from December 15-20, 2010 and it hosted 64 boys whose ages ranged from 15 to 20.
"We hosted Camp BE because boys are an equally important part of female empowerment," said PCV Meredith Lu, one of the Camp BE directors. "You can open as many doors for girls as possible, but their male peers help bring female development into something tangible."
Certain BE participants seemed to echo Lu‘s philosophy. "Our own country wants men and women to be equal," said camper Julius Mwesige. "Gender balance is needed in Rwanda," he said. The BE curriculum included lessons that discussed traditional and modern gender roles in Rwanda. Its themes, which included leadership skills, career counseling, HIV prevention, and life skills, were similar to those of Camp GLOW.
One lesson involved learning how to say delay or say no to sex. "This lesson was especially important for boys," Lu said. "Often, it‘s the girl who needs to learn to say "no," but it‘s just as important for a boy to learn how to respect her opinion. Sometimes, the boy says "no." It‘s not just the girl‘s role. Boys and girls can be partners in delaying sex," she added.
As in Camp GLOW, PCVs and Rwandans worked in tandem as facilitators. PCV Avery Karlowich attested to the powerful combination of cross-cultural teamwork. "Working together was a way to connect with someone who grew up in this culture who was trying to instill confidence in these boys that they are future leaders," she said. Likewise, Rwandan facilitator Remy Dusange appreciated the chance to work with Americans. "PCVs care about their campers . . . they use jokes and humor to show them that they are close to them," he said.
Domicien Ndayizeye, a camper who wants to be a doctor, plans to share what he learned at Camp BE with his village. "I live in the countryside, and I want to teach my community how to use condoms in our English club," he said. "Then, they can teach the skills to their own families." Similarly, Julius is determined to impart his knowledge to friends back home. "I want to keep on advising people, as there are so many people who don‘t know where they are going, they don‘t dream; they just live. It‘s better to continue to teach others."
BE Campers participate in an HIV-prevention activity
Note: in 2011 Camps BE & GLOW will be held on a regional instead of a national level. If you would like to be involved, please contact campglowrwanda@gmail.com.
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