So I have been here more than two weeks and time has flown
by! There has been almost no power whilst I’ve been here so it has been
impossible for me to write any blog posts… I will attempt to write about these
past two weeks as concisely as possible and hopefully my posts will come more
regularly in the future!
I have found it emotionally difficult returning to Kumbo,
mainly because my last visit here I was accompanied by many other volunteers
where as this time I am here alone. I have been trying to not compare my
experience with the last time I was here because the NGO and all the projects I
am working on are amazing and there is so much to be done here. After accepting
the way things are I have been busy 24/7 without a single day off!
Because I am the only volunteer I am doing the work of maybe
three people. I feel like there is a lot expected of me and I never get all my
work done. However, this is definitely a good things as I would hate to not
have anything to do. Also, everything I am doing is helping someone in some
way.
I am learning even more than last time! (maybe because I am
the only volunteer I am immersing myself and noticing things much more) I have
already learn so much about gender, politics, sexuality and many many more
development orientated things. When ever it comes to writing my reports I
always have so much so write.
I am teaching English in the school the NGO runs for
orphaned and vulnerable children. It isn’t something I had planned to do but I
am enjoying it all the same as I love children and (most of them) are a pleasure to teach! I am trying to
teach them about Africa and problems they face
in their own country as it seems a lot of their texts books and classes in the
past have been based around western things rather than learning about important
things in their own context like famine, draught etc.
Working with the women’s groups has been hard work! There are
5 groups and all of them want me to help them with so many different things.
But it is going successfully. With the money I raised before coming here I have
been able get the Palm Oil project moving and the women are so happy that they
are able to buy and sell palm oil again instead of buying in on credit or not
at all.
The HIV project is definitely going to be something I am
focusing on. I have already begun planning a training session for 3rd
March where I will teach a few members of each group about HIV/AIDS in order
for them to run drop in sessions where people can come and get advice or counseling
about HIV. The whole point is to reduce the stigma and the women will give
knowledge in a way that makes people know there is treatment and it’s NOT the
end.
Not knowing the local dialect is proving to be a real
problem. I find myself sitting for hours on end not having a clue what people
are saying. It is especially frustrating during meetings with women’s groups
when I really want to know what they are discussing. When ever I ask what they
are talking about I often get given a very short response to what has been an
hour long discussion!!!
I am trying to learn Lamso but it is really hard as there
are no books etc to help me learn and it is so different to any of the European
languages.
