Monday, July 16, 2012
FECA and AfterCorps and PC-127C, Oh My!
Monday, June 4, 2012
Med Evac Blues
Though every med evac is different I feel like there is a common sense of “well now what?” and bit of hanging on by your finger tips. We experience all the feelings and trouble adjusting that a regular RPCV has but we didn’t get to mentally prep at all.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
To cat or not to cat?
Get the cat:
Monday, May 7, 2012
Goodbye Africa!
I'm going to have my emo moment and post the lyrics to a Frank Turner song:
I have wept until I've slept
Into the lap of the lady that I love
And though she begged and she cajoled
I couldn't tell her what I was thinking of
I didn't chose, no I was chosen
By a life that must be lived in passing through
And though she changed so much for me
Changing this is the one thing I cannot do
Darling, I'm leaving
The distance keeps calling me on
Darling, come morning
I'll be gone
She is beauty, she is graceful
In a poison she is gentle in her care
She is the calm in the center of my storm
She has her fingers through my hair
She has my heart but it is breaking
Cause it knows that deep inside she still believes
That there will ever come a morning that I'll stay
And not gathering to leave
Darling, I'm leaving
The distance keeps calling me on
Darling, come morning
I'll be gone
Baby let's get out of the city
We need to breathe some cleaner air
That creeping feeling starting like I miss you
And we're both of us still here
There's a sadness in your smiles now
And an edge of desperation in your voice
We have all this independence
But it still feels like we never had a choice
Darling, I'm leaving
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Day 21 of Medical Separation (Q&A)
Friday, April 27, 2012
Guess Who is Getting Medically Separated?
This injury really illustrated the difference between African medical care and American health care. I was on Zanzibar so it took 8 hours for me to get an ambulance and to get to a hospital. They took X-rays but because of the machine quality only could see the dislocation; the doctor there relocated the foot and wrapped it up and said I’d be fine in 2 weeks (which was very wrong). Thankfully the PCMO for Tanzania came the next day and flew me to Dar Salam to get real X-rays. Where they saw 2 of the fractures and decided I needed surgery. So then I was flown to South Africa. I ended spending a week in the hospital; during surgery number 1 they found a 3rd fracture which required a second surgery. 2 weeks since the break, I now have an ankle made of screws and plates, and am at the Rose Guest House in South Africa waiting until I am well enough for a trans-Atlantic flight.
The estimated healing time is sounding like 6 months until I walk normally and longer before I can rejoin Peace Corps. I’ve been hearing longer and longer times from other people with similar injuries. Peace Corps has decided to send me back to America for good. I’m bummed that my service is ending because of a volleyball game. I didn’t get to say goodbye to anyone, finish my projects, or even pack my stuff. I don’t really know what I’m going to do from this point on.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Helping Zambian Girls GLOW (You can help too!)
Man this past week has been all GLOW related. Myself and another volunteer thought it would be a good idea to have our girls clubs celebrate women’s day together. After a lot of planning and a few minor heart attacks later it actually happened. The event consisted of my girls club (120+ girls), her club (15+ girls), a group of interested girls from another of my schools (9 girls + mentor), 4 Peace Corps volunteers and whoever else wanted to show up. The girls were fantastic; they sang, danced, said poems, and had a debate. I was lucky and managed to wrangle up 3 guest speakers and enough nshima and beans to feed everyone.
Our GLOW 2012 camp is now officially booked for November. We start official planning soon. Which means I’m going to be asking for… DONATIONS! I’ll post more about our needs and the official link to donate to the project after my grant gets approved. GLOW is a fantastic project; it has been the single most rewarding aspect of my Peace Corps service. Girls in Zambia face so many challenges and GLOW helps the rise above it, so they can have a fighting chance to improve their own lives. While we work out the details, have your hearts (and maybe your wallets) open to helping us this year. In the mean time enjoy my video about the fantastic women/girls in my village Lumpampa.