Hang on... Half way through?!

Hello!

 So this will be a bit of a reflective blog, seeing as we’re over half way through now! It was half time on Friday 27^th.

It’s crazy that we’re half way through; it really doesn’t feel like we’ve been here for 6 weeks.  I feel completely settled now (as expected), after an up and down first 3 or 4 weeks!  We’ve all agreed that life in England will be the odd experience, whereas our African life will feel normal. It’ll be so strange to see pavements and cars with only 2 people in and traffic lights and coffee shops… But that’s not for another 6 weeks.

We had our supervisions with our P.S.’s on Monday, so we’ve all been reflecting on our progress so far, as well as setting new objectives and goals to work towards over the next 6 weeks. Personally, I feel like I’ve really got a lot more self-conviction and that I’ve become a lot more open with feelings and opinions. It’d be impossible to do this programme, I think, without being able to share with other people what’s going through your head, whether it’s coping with home sickness, frustration with your placement or just simply missing cheese. Equally, the best thing ever is sharing an awesome session you’ve had, a beautiful view you’ve found or the location of a shop that sells cheese with your team. I apologise in advance to my family and friends in the UK; when I get home you’ll never hear the end of my emotions. Soz!

Jackie (my counterpart) and me after 6 weeks. I've gone blue and J's really tired. (Philly - a UK volunteer - painted faces at the Christmas party)

I kind of wish I’d done a ‘Me Before’ profile, so I could compare it with a ‘Me After’ profile and see how I’ve changed over the programme. I’ve certainly got a bigger bum from the mountains of carbohydrate-heavy food, slightly browner forearms and blonder hair, but I think I have changed in ways that aren’t visible, too. I definitely feel like I’ve matured in some ways (some might disagree!), but it’s difficult to pinpoint specifically how.

So, what do the next 6 weeks hold? Nyakahanga Secondary School is going back to school next week, so they’ll be a new placement for us, which is exciting! We’ve also managed to buy a volleyball, so we’re going to set up a volleyball club in Omurushaka for young people. Volleyball was chosen because it’s a pretty unisex sport – it’s easy to find a group of boys playing football in any town, but girls are hardly ever seen participating in sport for leisure. Also, we can play it and we’re a bit bored of football. We’ve found that most of our sessions with community members are very male-heavy, so our aim is to try and get lots of girls involved, so they benefit from the sexual reproductive health information we’re providing as much as boys. By using sport, we can engage young people in our sessions more easily so they can receive the information we want to pass on without feeling like they’re being taught/preached at. It also, obviously, encourages team work, keeps people fit and is fun fun fun!  We’re hoping to run weekly sessions in the evening, which will make the club easy to be continued by the next cycle of volunteers and easy to be run by some youth from the community.

The next 6 weeks also includes my 19^th (ew) birthday, for which my baba is planning a huge celebration. Woohoo! He likes a good dance, so it should be a good shindig. I can’t wait!

Kayanga and Omurushaka Football Teams

On Sunday we had another Community Action Day (CAD), which was great. It was the Karagwe region football final between Kayanga and Omurushaka and Kayanga’s coach asked us to run some games about HIV and AIDS with the teams before the match. We all turned up in our VSO ICS t-shirts and ran simple sessions with small groups of players as a little warm up. They addressed issues like the effects of HIV and how it progresses to AIDS[1] and the fact that you can’t tell if someone is HIV positive without asking them, or without them getting tested[2]. Once the game had started we handed out information leaflets about HIV and AIDS and about the work we’re doing with VSO ICS. There was a really positive reaction and it’s always good to show our faces and our t-shirts as a team!

Fox!

In other news, we have a new PUPPY at our house! I came home from Kayanga on Saturday night to find a big eared, long-legged little heap of sweetness in our courtyard. He’s called Fox, he’s about 4 months old and I LOVE HIM. It’s so exciting. He’s still in the howling at night phase, though, which hopefully won’t last too long. My family have named me Mama Fox now, because I cuddle him, which is apparently quite unusual for pets in TNZ! I’m more than happy with that name.

Sorry this has been a bit rambling. I’m listening to Dire Straits – Ride Across The River and it’s distracting my thoughts. Hope you’re all well; will update soon!

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[1] A penalty shoot-out, where there are 3 or 4 goal keepers at the beginning. The ball represents opportunistic infections (O.I.s), the goal represents the body and the keepers represent the immune system. As the game continues, a keeper is removed every so often, so more O.I.s enter the body, until there are no keepers left, which represents the immune system depleting because of HIV and the progression to AIDS.

[2] A really simple game involving two lines of players facing each other and two balls. The lines of players close their eyes, while the person running the game places a ball in one of the player’s from each line’s hands. Each team has 3 guesses to work out who’s holding the ball. It’s surprisingly difficult, so reinforces how important it is to discuss HIV and other STIs with sexual partners.

A lovely sunrise above the banana plantation.

When a tomato fits perfectly inside a tomato, it's the best thing ever.