NDI MURUGO - I'm Home

I know the saying "home is where your heart is" is a little cheesy...but I've always loved all things cheesy. This past week I really felt the truth in this statement. You're probably thinking that it's been a year, this should feel like my home no problem but simply moving from one place to another back in America is a completely different experience than moving into a completely new country with a completely different culture. But like I said, this week i really felt this sense of home more than I have in a while.

It's very common towards the middle of your service to have a sort of "mid service slump" and mine came in the form of a bit of homesickness mixed in with a not so positive view on my work here so far. Projects move slow, they don't go as planned, and sometimes I question the value of me being here. So after mid service conference about 2 weeks ago I was ready to be rid of this feeling and ready to tackle year 2 and that's exactly what I did last week.

We have recently gotten nutrition services at my health center, something most health centers already have so I've been working with my counterpart to get those up and running smoothly. The program is meant to bring malnurouished children to the health center, measure their weight, height, and middle upper arm circumference (MUAC) track their progress over time, educate their parents on how to help their children to grow and finally distribute milk to help supplement some nutrients, fat, and protein into their diets that they may not get at home. 

This past week my counterpart and I went to a nearby school to educate about HIV prevention and male circumcision, as we are in the midst of our Prepex campaign.This was then followed by us celebrating that he got paid that day with brochettes and cold beverages and me teaching him the term "pay day". 

And finally the big wrap up to my crazy busy yet surprisingly energizing week was attending the baptism of my best friend's umukozi (person who works in their house, cleaning, cooking, helping with the baby but is basically a part of the family). Her name is Valentine and she is so sweet and I think we bond well over the fact that neither of talk that much. So, after planning the after party all week with my friend Emiliene, on Saturday we went to the nearby town for the big church service.It started with the baptism of about 30 people followed by a four hour service of singing and preaching.After we headed back for the after party where we are great food, drank fanta and banana juice, and sang and danced until the sun went down. 

I just wanted to share with you all the great week I had and share the fact that not too long ago the craziness and the busy-ness was exhausting and felt like work but now its something I thrive in and look forward to. Not that there aren't daily challenges, they just seem a lot less noticeable on a daily basis.

Thanks for reading my ramblings, it's the only way for you to get the closest glimpse into this crazy amazing life of mine!

<3

Cheers to Year 2!

So today, I'm sitting on my back steps reminiscing about the fact that exactly one year ago I moved into this house and began my adventure here at my site (Muyongwe).  It's been a crazy year and has gone by faster than I ever thought possible, and looking at the calendar, I already know that this year will go by even quicker! 

As usual I'm a bit inconsistent with the posts here...or maybe 2 months in inconsistent but let me just say, these probably have been the busiest 2 months so far! So let the details commence!

First, in late June/early July I was visited by my amazing boyfriend Will! It was a great visit getting to show off this amazing country and my amazing village.
We hung out with my counterpart, who absolutely loved having a guy to hangout with for a change.

We made smores, I let him spoil me by doing the chores, and we hiked a volcano.
It was amazing!

Next, our next health group has arrived!! Health 8 started their training just like my group and I did a year ago. So since I'm such and experienced and knowledgeable volunteer (read: I know a few more words in kinyarwanda...) I got to help out for a week during their training. This group of now volunteers is incredible and I greatly appreciated them at least pretending like they needed my advice on volunteer life. I'm so excited to keep getting to know them and work with them over this next year!

Directly after I finished having a deja vu week with Health 8, my cousin Caitlin came to visit me!! It was really fun talking about this with fellow volunteers as the conversation always included the fact that we hadn't seen eachother in 10 years followed by their very confused look and comment on how this was an odd reunion. But it was the most perfect reunionI showed her all the glories of Peace Corps living, we bonded over our hate for cooking, our love of Friends and soooo much more. It definitely didn't feel like it had been 10 years since we saw eachother and we vowed that it would never be that long again! Oh, and we helped build a house! 

Directly after I reluctantly dropped her off at the airport I headed to GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) Camp! Our Northern region hosted this camp for secondary school aged girls. In summary it was a week spent with about 60 teenage girls. Exhausting, yes, but rewarding, incredible, inspiring, and eye-opening are the words that more completely describe this week. We taught a mixture of lessons more self confidence, goal setting, HIV prevention, and so many more. These lessons were then followed by fun activities like crafts, zumba, and making banana bread. I have to say my favorite part had to have been the self doubt bonfire where everyone wrote down something that someone or themselves had told them they weren't able to do for any reason and then we burned them in the fire. Many girls even shared their most vulnerable stories. It was an evening I will carry with me each day. I loved seeing the girls grow as the week went on, it truly was a magical week.

Since then I've been back at my site and back to work. We're working on our male circumcision campaign right now, our hygiene clubs are up and running so I'm visiting 1 or 2 or sometimes 3 each week, and we are getting our nutrition program up and running! Yes, its been as busy as it sounds, but no matter how tired (and cranky at times) I get, I never stop loving it here and loving my community. 

Well, now you're all caught up with me! I'll keep trying to post more often. But you know how it is life gets a little crazy now and then... Love and miss you all!

~Erika <3