Avuxeni from South Africa! I can’t believe I’ve been here a month already and I apologize it’s taken me so long to post. My days are packed from sunrise to sundown, but I’ve loved every minute so far. Taking in our first African sunrise with some fellow trainees Our first days in country were spent at a beautiful game reserve in Mpumalanga Province. We lived in huts and the first morning I had to chase a monkey out of mine. As we took in our first sights of South Africa, we quickly began our cultural expedition. South Africa has 11 official languages and we were taught how to how to greet in 4 of them. I have now been grouped with seven other volunteers to learn the Xitsonga language. This means that my final site will be in the northern region of Mpumalanga, amongst the Tsonga tribe. I am currently writing from my village; Dihekeng in Mpumalanga Province. For the first 3 months of service, my entire cohort and I are living with host families scattered throughout 4 villages. My small, rural village is surrounded by grassland and farm fields. My loving family consists of my host mother, father, “Go-Go” (Grandma), 1 sister- Thobile, 2 brothers- Christof and Jabulane, and my sister’s two year old son- Sinethemba. My family speaks Isindenbele, which unfortunately is quite different from Xitsonga. Communication is challenging at times, but my siblings speak very good English, and luckily smiles & hand gestures are the same in every language. My family has given me a Isindenbele name; Thandeka, meaning lovable. The view down my street, my house is on the right We live in a beautiful, tin-roof home that lies off the dirt road in Dihekeng. We have 3 main rooms; kitchen, living room and dining room. Our kitchen has a table, refrigerator and non-functioning stove. With don’t have running water, so we fetch water from a tap outside and we cook outside over an open fire. Our dining room has cabinets filled with old photos, tea sets and books. My mom is a seamstress, and she is always busy in here sewing clothing from others in our village. Our living room has a small TV and couches. My father works as a mechanic and priest, but in the evening, he always enjoys watching soccer or soap operas here. A ‘typical’ day of mine begins around 5 or 5:30, either being woken up by my alarm, or the roosters. I’ll go for a run, which includes watching the breathtaking sunrise, greeting kids on their way to school with my broken Isindenbele and jumping over cow poop that scatters the ground. I then bucket bath, eat breakfast (Weet-Bix cereal & instant coffee) and by 7:30, I am off to language class. We have an open air classroom and are learning ‘emergency’ Xitsonga, which focuses on speaking. It’s overwhelming at times to try to process so much in a short period of time, but I am thankful to have incredible teachers to work with. Our teachers are native speakers, who are also our cultural liaisons. They answer all our questions and guide us to successful integration in South Africa. In the afternoon, we gather with the entire cohort for technical classes. We have session ranging from South Africa’s history and politics to HIV education. We’ve also began working with local school to teach their Life Orientation class. This includes talks on health, HIV awareness and planning their future. Talking with some 12th graders at a local school My evenings are spent with my host family. I help prepare dinner which always includes 'pap'; a dish made from cornmeal and water. We typically eat using only our hands and our conversations often include cultural discussions. My mom has never traveled further then 3 hours from our home, and therefore she is curious about the United States. She has many misconceptions, often coming from movies, so it is always nice to talk about my family and experiences growing up there.
Before bed, I take a second bucket bath. My baths are probably the only point in the day that I'm not sweating (it's the middle of summer right now here), so I enjoy them a lot. I am also proud to announce that I can now 'shower' using less then 1 gallon of water. Before I crawl into bed, I always do quick scan for miscellaneous insects. Then, I'm prepared to do it all over again the next day. It still feels surreal to be here and have began this journey. It's humbling to realize that it is my 'new job' to have the opportunity to come into this families home, receive an education and cultural experience of a lifetime. I am grateful for every interaction and challenge I am faced with and wouldn't change it for the world. -Josie/ Thandecka
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AuthorJosie Petersson Archives
October 2018
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