Reconnecting

I have just got back to site from our reconnect IST. We are told to stay at our site for three months and integrate into our communities. During this time we don’t do much at all. Lots of reading lots of sitting lots of thinking. We are supposed to get an idea of what we want to do with our communities, projects that they will be invested in or at least have a slight persistent interest. I have it slightly better than some because of the fact that I am working with an NGO that is already set up and running pretty smoothly. This puts me in a good position because they are already doing things without my push or money. But this also means that I am having trouble starting my own projects because they already have an agenda which I might say is very good I just need to get in it somehow.

The first couple days back at site were a mixture of good feelings about the coming months with lots of ideas, the realization that it will all come slowly, and the fact that once again I am the only blafono around and I don’t have that buffer of all my NRM (now Agriculture, we’ll get into that later) peeps around me to hang out with. Luckily I am rather busy this month and am at site only for the weeks but busy on the weekends. First its Easter adventures then its AllVol then its GLOW camp. I'm so excited to be participating in PC things but it seems like things with the farmers are picking up as well. Next week is going to be crazy because I will have people over to look at beads Tuesday, Wednesday we will train farmers interested in bee keeping I will miss the Thursday section because of Warden training for the Eastern Region I will also be missing the bead market where we had planned to get matching beads for the two yard tribe! I know I won’t miss much it’s just I want to show my support and interest because I want the beekeeping project to succeed.

The new training/office site that my supervisor is so busy working on is coming slowly but has had a push for completion because the beads office rent contract will expire soon. I really hope that it will be finished soon because it is effecting our project in that there is no more room for chickens in the current house, literally they now have to be kept in Emmanuel’s house… his wife is not so happy about that. There are so many little things that I want to do with the new office like plant Vetiver grass, connect with the school that’s near, garden around the building, compost, and I’m sure there’s lots more!

On a more personal note I think this month will be good for me because I need a little boost in the motivation department. I have started to feel a bit lazy and just been rolling with things which has been working for me but I think it’s time to kick into gear.  I promise not to go crazy I just want to put some real effort into something. I think this is stemming from the IST where we actually had to think for the first time in three months! So once I started thinking I realized I wasn’t thinking and needed to start thinking. A big trigger word for PC is sustainable, we need to do sustainable projects that the communities want and will keep going long after we leave. I am trying to understand what that means for my future as a PC volunteer and as a volunteer for Krobodan specifically. I don’t want to bite off more than I can chew but I want to push myself to do something creative and worthwhile. It cant be something too crazy that the community rejects the project but just crazy enough to get attention.

So to sum up, there are a lot of things going on in my head, mostly good. I am definitely becoming more comfortable with my living situation and my “job” and learning how to deal with people. I am still working to put my ideas in motion but with only 4 months at site I think I'm in a good place.

Until next time

Live in Love