Several milestones have passed since I last updated. September 11th marked one year since I left home. September 13th marked one year in Botswana. October 14th (ish) is my official halfway point through my time here, and in a few days, I'll have one year left in Country (November 14th, 2014 is my last day as a volunteer).
Generally, volunteers have a slump around the one-year mark. I've sort of been going in and out of a slump the last month or so, but nothing like June. I think mostly I've been happy, as in, I've made it this far! I've made it more than halfway! Woo! I can also look back on the past year and sometimes that's helpful. While I really don't feel like I've done much, when you total it up, it's not nothing.
- 2 GLOW camps
- 2 Teacher workshops
- Teaching some Form 2 and 3 classes
- Making friends with teachers at school
- Attempting clubs, and having an end of the year party for my PACT club this past week
- Working with a young woman in my village trying to help her start a small business
- Helping at a health fair in another volunteer's village
- Helped count out a lot of pills at my clinic
I've also got a lot planned for the rest of this year and next year:
- More teaching
- Compiling lesson plans to make curriculum more easily accessible for teachers and volunteers
- Coaching volleyball again
- More camps
- More workshops
- Trying a different approach to a club
- Working on some gender-based-violence (GBV) initiatives
- Possibly a safe male circumcision campaign in my village
- Collaborating with other volunteers whenever possible
I've also just been able to do a lot of cool things personally this year:
- I've learned some Setswana
- I've learned how to cook more things
- I've read 91 books (and am in the middle of another 3)
- I've watched a bunch of movies and TV
- I've done a fair amount of writing- blogging, fiction, and nonfiction
- I've traveled to 4 African countries- Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa
- I've traveled lots of different places within Botswana, including the Okavango Delta and Tsodilo Hills
- I've seen a lion, a leopard, giraffes, elephants, impala, hippos, crocodiles, amazing birds, buffalo, and tons of other things in the wild
- I've made new friends
- I've learned a lot about development and behavior change
- I've learned a lot about myself
In the next 12-14 months, I'm planning on more writing, reading, traveling in and out of Bots, backpacking after my service is over, and whatever else I can fit in.
Most of all, thank you to my friends and family back home. Without your love, support, e-mails, phone calls, letters, packages, prayers and visits, there's no way I would have made it this far. <3 div="">
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