Thanks
This past September during my Peace Corps Mid-Service
Conference, my fellow volunteers and I had a chance to read a letter that we
had each written to ourselves one year prior at the end of our Pre-Service
Training as we were about to head out to our permanent sites. One line that I had written was to remind myself
to “give thanks to everyone and everything that has kept you here.” Over this past Thanksgiving weekend, this
little reminder continued to run through my head as I reflected on the things
that I am thankful for.
I am eternally grateful for my amazing network of family and
friends back home. I feel so blessed to have
parents and a sister and brother who love me and support me through every crazy
moment of life here in Ethiopia. I
appreciate that they care enough to ask questions and take an interest in my
life and work. And I am super-thankful
to have two parents who are just crazy enough to want to come to Ethiopia! (See
you in 20 days, Mom & Dad!!) I am also grateful for aunts and uncles and
cousins and friends who email me, write letters, send cards and care
packages. I cannot overstate just how
much that all means to me. Peace Corps
service is challenging, and life in Ethiopia can be difficult. It is easy to feel alone and depressed, so
something as little as getting a card in the mail from a loved one or a simple
Skype call can really brighten my day.
So I’d like to give a huge thank you to everyone who has ever written me
a letter, sent a card, answered my phone call, emailed me, or sent a care package. Your thoughtfulness has made a difference in
my life, and you have made my time in Ethiopia just a little bit easier!
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| Celebrating Thanksgiving with friends. |
It is a rare thing to walk into a room full of 70 strangers
and instantly feel a connection to those people, but that’s what happened to me
in June 2012. Those 70 strangers were my
fellow Peace Corps Volunteers, and the connection I felt was that clearly we
all had a couple screws loose because we had all agreed to move to Ethiopia for
the next 27 months. 70 of us started
this journey, and 60 of us are still here a year and a half later. I feel so grateful for the amazing friends
that I have made among my fellow volunteers.
I know that I can call them up crying when I’ve had a bad day, or
excited when a project has been successful, or frustrated when something hasn’t
gone according to plan. I know that they
will instantly understand me because they have had the same experiences. We can cry together, laugh together, share
horror stories and gossip, and give advice, all without judgment. I know that these friends will be friends for
life, and I can’t wait to hang out in America when we’ve all showered and our
clothes aren’t dirty and falling apart at the seams.
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| Grade 8 English Club students |
I am thankful for the students at my school who attend my
clubs and programs. I really love these
kids. It has been an incredible
experience to watch them learn, and to be a part of their lives. I don’t know how I would manage in Ethiopia
if my job was only to work with adults.
Having the kids at my school be excited to see me and interested to
learn feels validating, and makes me believe that maybe I am having some small
impact here, at least for these kids. I
am also thankful for the teachers at my school who care about me. There are a handful of teachers who I know
support my work in the school and who I can go to for help when I need it.
One teacher at my school said to me a few weeks ago, “I
think that you are very brave.” “No,” I
told him “I am not brave. Most of the time I am afraid, but I am alone and I
have to take care of myself.” Thinking
about it now, I realize that in a way, yes, I am alone here, and I have been
afraid plenty of times, and I’ve had to figure out a lot of things on my
own. But the truth is I’m not really
alone and there are kind and generous people here who have helped me and taken
care of me. I know that God will never
give me more than I can handle, and I guess I’ve learned that I can handle a
lot. It’s easy to lose sight of the good
things I’ve experienced here, the things that keep me here. This Thanksgiving I am truly thankful to
everyone and everything that has kept me here.
Giving
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| My mini-library, stocked with donated books |
‘Tis the season for giving.
This is just a little reminder for anyone who would like to contribute
to my book project. I am collecting
donated books to improve the library at my school. If enough books are donated, I am also hoping
to start a library at a new school here in Ambo. English fluency is extremely important for
students in Ethiopia because starting in grade 9 through university level, all
subjects are taught in English. That
means that students cannot learn science or math or any other subject unless
they have a solid foundation in English.
Very few homes in Ethiopia contain any books at all. Students in primary school have very few
resources to improve their English skills.
I believe that reading is essential for these kids. I let the students in my English clubs borrow
one book at a time, and there is usually a line for books. They absolutely love reading these books!
If you would like to contribute to the improvement of 2
school libraries here in Ambo, you can purchase used books from the
website betterworldbooks.com You can also reference my blog
post from April 3, 2013 for instructions. I’m looking
for any books beginning with children’s picture books through simple chapter
books, up to about a 4th or 5th grade reading level would
be best. Many thanks to those who have
already sent books, and it’s not too late for anyone who would like to participate
in this worthwhile project. Books from
this particular website are inexpensive, in good condition, and ship for
free. So far, all the books have arrived
quickly and without any problems. Feel
free to email me if you have any questions.
Thanks in advance!
