I arrived to Namibia on March 12th 2014 and here I am one year later! I can't believe it. I actually made it. I am proud. Only 14 months until I complete my service. Now that may seem silly to say as I have actually more time left than I have completed, but I feel like it is just tomorrow that I will be going home. When I first applied for Peace Corps I thought 27 months was such a long time and wondered why it couldn’t be one year, “Isn't that long enough?”, I thought. I want to try and paint a picture for you. Most jobs in America have a defined job description, duties and colleagues to work with to reach your goals. As a health volunteer in Peace Corps, you are given an organization to work with but you are responsible for assessing the needs of the community, identifying projects to work on that are culturally and economically sustainable and find colleagues to collaborate on the project with. This is a big task to take on in a familiar community – now picture trying this in a country a hemisphere and season different than your own. It takes just a year to build trust with people – for them to be comfortable with you and you to know who has an honest commitment and desire to better the community.
I have heard it time and time again from other volunteers, the second year is easier and when you really get in the routine of your work projects. I am into that second year, and for me it is true! After many failed projects and heartfelt attempts and ideas, I have a few projects that are consistent. I co-advise three school clubs that meet four times a week. I lead an exercise class three times a week for ladies in the community. I am assisting with a garden and chicken project that are to benefit the hospital patients and disadvantaged in the community. I also help organize any projects within the Khorixas Hospital Social Services Department. These are my main community projects and in Peace Corps I am a leader in the HIV Working Group and Volunteer Support Network. This work keeps me busy and I pray my efforts are as beneficial to others.
With just a year left, I had to plan out my vacation days so that I can visit as much of Namibia as possible before I go home. This makes the time go by even faster! The most exciting news is my mom will be visiting in just a few months (your summer & my winter)!!!!
Thanks for sharing Taylor. I have no doubt you are making a tremendous impact on the community there. Hope this next year bring many blessings to you and the people of Namibia. Glad that your mom gets to visit!
ReplyDeleteGood morning, how are you?
ReplyDeleteMy name is Emilio, I am a Spanish boy and I live in a town near to Madrid. I am a very interested person in knowing things so different as the culture, the way of life of the inhabitants of our planet, the fauna, the flora, and the landscapes of all the countries of the world etc. in summary, I am a person that enjoys travelling, learning and respecting people's diversity from all over the world.
I would love to travel and meet in person all the aspects above mentioned, but unfortunately as this is very expensive and my purchasing power is quite small, so I devised a way to travel with the imagination in every corner of our planet. A few years ago I started a collection of used stamps because trough them, you can see pictures about fauna, flora, monuments, landscapes etc. from all the countries. As every day is more and more difficult to get stamps, some years ago I started a new collection in order to get traditional letters addressed to me in which my goal was to get at least 1 letter from each country in the world. This modest goal is feasible to reach in the most part of countries, but unfortunately, it is impossible to achieve in other various territories for several reasons, either because they are very small countries with very few population, either because they are countries at war, either because they are countries with extreme poverty or because for whatever reason the postal system is not functioning properly.
For all this, I would ask you one small favour:
Would you be so kind as to send me a letter by traditional mail from Namibia? I understand perfectly that you think that your blog is not the appropriate place to ask this, and even, is very probably that you ignore my letter, but I would call your attention to the difficulty involved in getting a letter from that country, and also I don’t know anyone neither where to write in Namibia in order to increase my collection. a letter for me is like a little souvenir, like if I have had visited that territory with my imagination and at same time, the arrival of the letters from a country is a sign of peace and normality and an original way to promote a country in the world. My postal address is the following one:
Emilio Fernandez Esteban
Avenida Juan de la Cierva, 44
28902 Getafe (Madrid)
Spain
If you wish, you can visit my blog www.cartasenmibuzon.blogspot.com where you can see the pictures of all the letters that I have received from whole World.
Finally, I would like to thank the attention given to this letter, and whether you can help me or not, I send my best wishes for peace, health and happiness for you, your family and all your dear beings.
Yours Sincerely
Emilio Fernandez