Week 2: Not So Smooth Sailing

Once again THANK YOU for all of the wonderful comments! ALso, thank you to people that message me on Facebook but for some reason I can not respond, SORRY about that.

This week has been really difficult for me and there have been so many moments I have wanted to come home. Luckily after a lot of praying last night I felt a nice sense of calm today and dealt with everything very nicely. Earlier in the week I caught one of the local employees stealing from me. I was so devastated because he was by far my FAVORITE employee. He was truly an asset to African Impact. He was phenomenal with the children and the best translator we could ask for. I was shocked and sick to my stomach after what I saw. I can be a rather passive person at times so I did not say ANYTHING at first. I had noticed some money missing prior to this incident but the last person I thought would ever steal from me was this employee. I understand that many of the local people think of Americans, and any volunteers for that matter, as very wealthy. He was a paid employee but I am sure he did not make very much. It just hurt me so much to know that I put so much money, time, and energy into a project like this to be stolen from by someone that is supposed to be on my team. I of course was so upset that I told just a few of the volunteers why I was choked up and shaky. While we were working on the HIV garden later that day I confronted him about what I saw. He admitted to being in my bag and taking out my money but he promised he was only looking. I am not naive so I told Michelle later that night. It is her job to protect the volunteers so I felt it was my duty to let her know. His employment was terminated because apparently he has had some previous problems. I did not expect it to go over smoothly with the other volunteers but I also did not expect them to be devastated over his termination.

The next day when he did not come to the daycare with us a few people were complaining as if it was the most terrible thing that could have happened. Of course we NEED translators so badly but why on earth would we need a translator that steals from us? I forgive him for stealing, honestly I do, but his termination was a fair consequence for his actions so I do not feel he was treated unjustly like many others do. A few people just handled the situation very poorly and made me feel very guilty about telling Michelle what had happened. A couple of the volunteers even went to meet up with him last night to talk although I am not quite sure why. I did not ask.

Today I woke up and went for one of my morning jogs to clear my head and told myself I would not let it bother me any more and today was much better. Plus I had a phone call bright and early this morning from my mom which was very appreciated. I can't let the negative attitudes of other volunteers ruin my experience. They can complain all day long and I will try not to hear it.

Katie and I taught the final class to the 6 part HIV education series today. The women brought us each flowers for Valentines Day and we brought them chocolate, cookies and juice which they just gobbled right up! They were such a sweet group and I am excited to meet the next group of students. They spoke more english than I realized so by the end of the sessions we were able to talk and laugh a lot more.

I feel like I am not doing much at this point and I am worried that I will leave and not feel like I have left an impression on anyone...but another very experienced volunteer explained to me that usually that sense of accomplishment comes when you are done and you have returned home. She told me she has felt like that on all of her projects but once she is home and away from the work she realizes the impact she made. I hope I feel that way.

The volunteer I am speaking of is new. She arrived Monday. Her name is Sarah and she is from Australia. Sarah has had tons of experience on community projects like this and she just came from Mozambique. She has given us some brilliant ideas that will help us get the daycare center more organized and become far more productive. I can not wait until next week when we start to make some serious changes.

Katie and I had a very nice lunch today and a little deli in town. I had some amazing coffee and a fresh sandwich filled with tomatoes and cucumbers...and believe it or not something that simple can really make me happy on a week like this. :-)

This week has also been difficult because we have had very little time to ourselves, which is something I absolutely need to stay sane. We have had meetings every evening (and another one tonight) which are always unplanned and unexpected so the plans I make for after supper are always cancelled. I just really need my work day to end at some point, that way I can regroup and refresh myself so I am full of energy and ready for the next day. Hopefully next week is a bit less packed.

The traveling clinic came to Khula this week. It comes once a month and it provides medicine and treatment to sick people. You would not believe how many people come out to see a doctor or a nurse. The line was terribly long and there were crowds of people waiting outside. It just made me realize how many sick people there really are in Khula and what a big deal it is to actually see a doctor and receive some medicine. One of the men from the HIV support group died this week. His name was Lukus and he was very ill. I never actually met him because he did not come last week. The week before I arrived a child from the daycare center had died as well. We don't really know the reason. There is just so much illness and so little treatment.

This weekend we are going to Kosi Bay which is a few hours away. We will be driving all the way there in the good old pick-up truck... We will spend the night there on Saturday in some little cottage. We will go horseback riding and see turtles so it should be loads of fun!
I can't believe I only have 2 weekends left! It is just not enough. The weekends have been so fantastic so far.

I will write again after my weekend away. We of course have yet another meeting planned for Sunday so hopefully I can make it to the internet. I apologize for the amount I wrote about the stealing incident, it is not that important, but writing about it was a good way to vent I suppose.

Missing you all...
:-)