World AIDS Day, REDES trip, Malaria TOT & White Elephant

World AIDS Day:
12/1/14 We had a march around town, entertainment with local singers and then a health fair in Salaue where the community members can get their blood pressure measured, tested for HIV and/or malaria, get condoms, and talk about family planning.

REDES:
12/2/14 & 12/9/14 The girls practiced dancing to the song Balada Boa and Ai Se Eu Te Pego to perform for New Year day but we decided afterward that they won't be performing anymore since some of the girls might be going out of town for the holiday.

12/12/14 Sleepover party! Since we have to catch the 4am chapa to go to the city, I told the girls they can sleepover at my house since some of them lives further away. We bought food to cook dinner but since the girls came late, it was too late to cook so we decided to cook on Sunday evening instead. We ate dinner with the food Belinda cooked earlier and then hung out for a bit before sleeping early.

12/13/14 Pemba trip with 4 of my girls! 2 of them couldn't make it so I gave them 200mts from our fund afterward to make up for missing out since they all worked hard to earn the money for the trip.

On the mini bus at 4am heading to the city!

Eating breakfast while waiting for stores to open up

Resting after a long morning of walking around

Chinese food for lunch!

Ended the day hanging out at the beach

12/14/14 An evening of cooking dinner and hanging out

Malaria TOT:
12/15/14 - 12/16/14

All ready for the TOT

Facilitating the training

The participants demonstrating how to properly hang a mosquito net

An activity to demonstrate the importance of sleeping under a net

Wrapping things up

Each participants received a Tatu book

They also receive oil, sugar, and soap as incentives for coming to the training

Everyone got certificates!

Hora Das Criancas:

12/11/14 Letter N and Christmas tree

12/18/14 Letter O and Santa Claus

White Elephant:
12/19/14 I made gifts for my coworkers, neighbors and REDES girls :) I also prepared gifts from things that I have but don't use to play White Elephant with my coworkers. I explained to them the rules but no one wanted to steal! Hahah they all wanted to open new gifts to see what it is. 

Other updates:
-I learned how to knit!! Bucket list item :) 

-GUESS WHO'S GETTING ANOTHER BABY NAMED AFTER THEM?! :) My coworker told me she's pregnant and wants to name her baby after me!! She's due sometime in May/June so a few months before I leave Mozambique. I'm so excited and honored to have another namesaked child!!

Rite of Passage Ceremony, Malaria Competition, Thanksgiving, &other updates

Rite of Passage Ceremony:
11/2/14 I went to an initiation/rite of passage ceremony for Belinda. Girls go through the rite of passage ceremony after their first menstruation to officially become women. After the ceremony, they are considered adults. I learned that only women who are considered adults can attend and men, boys, and girls who haven't been through their own ceremonies weren't allowed to participate. Although I didn't understand most of what people were saying because they were mostly speaking in Macua, I really enjoyed this opportunity to see a traditional ceremony in Mozambique and learn more about the culture. During the ceremony, they were a lot of dancing, singing, and story telling about how to be an adult woman in the community and how to be a good woman. I went with one of my coworker/neighbor so she explained to me what was going on. One of the traditional song she explained to me was how woman are not allowed to steal food and hide food when they see that other people are approaching.

Malaria Competition:
Malaria is preventable yet it's still the #1 killer. Since the competition in April for World Malaria Month went really well, we decided to make November a Malaria Awareness Month in Mozambique! It's also before our rainy season so it's perfect timing. We're doing a competition from Nov 1 to Dec 1 to see who can earn the most points from doing malaria related activities between the 3 regions: South, Central, and North. The region with the most points will win 1 extra vacation day for all participating PCVs so I'm hoping North will win since I could use an extra vacation day! :) It's been going great so far! There has been a LOT of great projects PCVs are doing to stomp out malaria.

Work:
It finally picked back up!!!! After months of postponing and cancelling, I finally met with the Director of Education and school director to talk to them about the Youth and Health program that we want to start up in 2015 when the kids are back from school break. So a general overview of the program is creating a group of students, train them on health topics, and then supervise them and give them materials and supports as they go out in the community on their own and give palestras [lessons] and do activities with other youths.

Another great new is.. I'm finally doing my malaria training of trainer next week for my org! I wanted to do it in November for the malaria competition but the schedule didn't work out so it's set for Dec 4-5. I'm so excited and nervous at the same time! I spent a lot of time this month prepping for it since it's going to be for a group of 40 people so I had to make more game sets and get all the materials ready. One of my coworker is going to help run the training with me and translate Portuguese to Macua since most of the participants [if not all..] speaks only Macua. Wish me luck!

My coworkers watching a Positivo music video about malaria

A health commitee member demonstrating the bicycle ambulance

REDES:

11/4/14 Held an informational malaria session

The girls are still trying to sell all their crafts but it's been going very very slowww.. We decided to change our plan from an overnight Montepuez trip to a one day Pemba trip since it's cheaper to go to Pemba and we still wouldn't have enough money for an overnight stay in Montepuez after they finish selling all the crafts and would have to make more headbands and bracelets

We also started practicing 2 new songs to do a dance performance on New Year day but school's been busy for them because of exams and half the girls are missing each time we have dance practice so I'm not sure if they'll be ready by then.. but vamos ver!

Hora Das Crianças:

11/20/14 Malaria art contest

11/27/14 Letter M and hand turkey

Thanksgiving Dinner:
I went to Macomia for Thanksgiving dinner with a few PCVs. It was an awesome weekend with great company and food. I haven't had a feast for a long time! We spent hours to cook and prepare dinner. We had fried chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, brown sugared carrots, salad, apple pie, pumpkin pie, and chocolate with white chocolate chips cookie cake. Everything was so yummy!!

Grace's REALLY delicious pumpkin pie!

Other updates:

-Tuxedo got really sick and wouldn't eat anything for 2 days before passing away on 11/1/14. It was so hard to watch him suffer! He was really weak. I tried to feed him but he wouldn't eat or drink anything. He kept going into corners to lie down but he wasn't sleeping. Every time I checked up on him, he was just lying there with his eyes opened and he looked so tired and weak. I tried googling to see if I can find anything helpful but all the websites said to take him to the vet >.< I had a bad feeling he wasn't going to make it through the night but was hoping for the best. I kept him inside and put him on a towel on my bed that night. I was still up playing on my phone when I saw him moving and then he threw up some clear liquid. He started having seizures soon after and I was freaking out because I didn't know what I can do to help him. It was so heartbreaking to watch him in pain! He then suddenly stopped moving and breathing ): The moment I was most afraid of came. I carried him in my arm to go outside and luckily my landlord hasn't gone to bed yet. He helped me bury him in the backyard while I cried my eyes out ):

RIP Tuxedo

-It still haven't started raining in Ancuabe yet. I can't wait for the rain though! We had a few water shortage days this month and it was tough trying to get water to cook and bathe.

Waiting for water to come out of the spigot

-My capulanan Christmas tree is back up! I also downloaded songs and made a Christmas songs playlist. It doesn't look like Christmas is coming in my town at all but at least I can make my house feel more like Christmas with this :)

Add caption

-Peace Corps staff came to my site to visit this this month. It went well, we just chatted at my house before going to my org to visit. My APCD bought me my passport with a renewed visa.. I'm on page 20 now!! 4 more pages before I can cross 'fill up a passport before it expires' off my bucket list :)

-Out of curiosity, I kept track of how much I spent this month... and I spent $82!! That includes electricity, internet, grocery, 2 weekend trips to Pemba and Macomia, and phone credits. It's crazy how different life here vs America is! hahah

October 2014 updates

Work:

I attended two 2-days trainings with my coworkers for Community Involvement and GAACs groups at the beginning and end of the month. I was getting frustrated with work this month because all I mostly did was sit around at the office 40 hours a week with not much to do while all my coworkers are really busy with their work and there's not much I can do to help with their work either. I just help out with computer questions like usual and small stuff here and there. I spent a lot of the time at work just watching tv shows (thank goodness for the new cheap unlimited internet data plan!), making bracelets to help out my REDES girls, and anything else I needed to do. After several attempts to find time to talk, I successfully bugged my coordinator to get going with the Juventude e Saude program! We're FINALLY meeting up with 3 school directors in Ancuabe, Metoro and Mesa to introduce the program to them next Wednesday. Just an introduction to present what we want to do since we can't form any groups until next year because the students have school break soon but it's a start! I also got to meet my new counterpart for the program. Oh one exciting new is that I got my org to agree to fund a malaria TOT I want to do next month at my site!! I'm just waiting on confirmation for the budget and a time to sit down and discuss the details of the TOT.

Helping my coworker learn how to type!

REDES:

10/3/14- 10/5/14 Dance practices
10/7/14 We made matching bracelets for fun as we talk more about income generation projects we could do to raise fund for our Montepuez trip. We came up with a plan to make more bracelets and sell 5 for 10mts (about 33 cents) and headbands. 

Then we bought capulanas (with the money raised from selling hair clips.. thanks again to my friends who helped supported by buying one!) and went to the tailor to get it made into shorts for the dance performance.

10/10/14- 10/11/14 Final dance practices!
10/12/14 Dia dos Professores aka performance day! The girls came over to my house in the morning for breakfast and to get ready. They got to try pancakes for the first time! :) We went to the praça where they do all the ceremony and met up with the school director. We participated in the flower ceremony and then we were told we weren't performing until 6pm so we all went home and met up again later in the evening. It was also day of campaigning so there was a huge parade going around town which I tried to avoid.

Me and the dancing girls! Missing Sonia in the picture.

Disclaimer: Not meant to show support nor am I on any political party. They wanted matching tshirts and these are the free ones we can get haha

We met up at Quinta Tropical at 6pm and of course it didn't start until almost 8:30pm. The girls did an awesome job and everyone seemed to enjoy their performance :) It was dark so I couldn't get a good video of them so here's a video from their final dance practice:
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10102686526401384&l=8785206129734428334

10/14/14, 10/21/14 & 10/28/14 We agreed on a date for our Montepuez trip! We need about 550mts more to make the one day trip happen. We made a bunch of bangle bracelets, beads bracelets, and headbands so far. We still have to make a lot more before trying to set a booth at the school and the market to sell our products :)

We decided to sell the headband for 15 mts, bangle bracelet for 10 mts, colorful bead bracelet for 2.5 mts and pink bead bracelet for 2 mts.

Hora das Crianças:

10/9/14 Letter J and Cinderella coloring pages

10/23/14 Letter K and Wonder Woman coloring pages

10/31/14 Letter L and Halloween coloring pages

Other updates:

- We were on stand fast from Oct 8-20, meaning we're not allowed to leave our site since Oct 15 was election day. After stand fast, I finally was able to make a trip to Pemba for a much needed break from site to do banking and shopping. It was also a despideda weekend for Moz 19ers so I had a fun relaxing weekend hanging out with other volunteers. 

-Rainy season is coming soon! There was a couple days of rain this month. I love it when it rains! Free water + temperature is a bit cooler. The only downside is that there are more bugs and mosquitoes =/ 

-I gave away 4 kittens this month, 1 goodbye left to go before Zambie's back to being an only child hahah and she's definitely pregnant.. Again.. For the 3rd time in a row

-I'm planning to start my Vovinam classes again in Nov! This month I was busy with the dance practices and income generation project with the REDES girls so I haven't taught a Vovinam class since I got back from the states.

-My coworkers been wanting to do English lessons again and I told them sure, anytime!.. but they're been really busy with work so that hasn't happened yet

-Spent a lot of time this month decorating my house more and reorganizing things. I also started working on Christmas presents for my coworkers, REDES girls, and neighbors :)

Starting Year #2

I'm done with my 1st year of service! I started my 2nd year of service by going home to California to visit first :) Here's a quick summary of my trip and I've been up to since I got back.

Visiting Home
8/31/14- 9/19/14 I flew home to visit right after I had my mid service conference. I had an awesome 3 weeks of seeing my family, friends and vovinam family again. Some highlights of my trip are: eating mom's bitter melon soup and home cooked meal, camping trip and performing with vovinam, super date with the boyfriend and crossing off jet skiing off my bucket list, hanging out and playing board games with friends, attending 2 aerial silk classes, drinking starbucks almost everyday, and eating.. a LOT of eating. After being away for 15 months and coming back to America, I realized how good we have it here. A lot of things we have available in America would be considered as privileges or luxury in many other countries. I definitely took a lot of things for granted that I wasn't even aware of until my Peace Corps service. For that, I'm grateful for my experience making me more appreciative of everything, even the smallest things. The first couple of days were definitely hard to readjust! I went to walmart the second day I was back and left empty handed because I was too overwhelmed with the many choices and variety of things haha Here's a list of the top things that I've miss about America and got to 'rediscover' during my visit:

1. free wifi practically everywhere!
2. hot running water
3. FOOD! fast food, restaurants, drinks, desserts, everything!
4. driving
5. toilet that flushes.. and toilet paper
6. diversity of people
7. speaking English
8. walking around in public with my iphone and not having to be on guard 24/7
9. walmart and grocery stores
10. laundry machines, microwave, gas stove, oven, pretty much all basic appliances

Work
9/23/14 First day back and it was back to the grind. We went out to the Miriangone community to do malaria outreach. There's been an increase in the number of malaria cases so we talked to the community leaders about prevention methods and the importance of seeking for care at the first sign of malaria symptoms.

REDES group
9/24/14 & 9/25/14 Back to dance practice! They're getting better and better! :) more in unison and less bumping into each other and doing opposite things hahah

Hora Das Criancas
9/27/14 When my friend Caroline came to visit in April, she brought over a bunch of crayons for me. I finally got around to distributing it to the kids. I gave out 63 boxes of crayons and they loved it! I gave out Winnie the Pooh coloring pages for them to try out their new crayons right away.

9/28/14 Bryan's awesome dad bought a bunch of snack like Hello Panda, crackers, and granola bars for me to bring over. The kids went crazyyy! Trying to get them in line was impossible so I had dozens of kids surrounding me. They ate it right away so I couldn't snap a photo ):

Other updates
-The kittens are so big now! They're soo cute!! I'm giving them all away soon though ): Oh and I think Zambie might be pregnant again...
-Starting English and Vovinam classes again next week! I was jetlagged the first week I was back and then I got sick with a cold ):
-All my tv shows are back!! I've been spending a lot more money to buy internet credits but it's totally worth it! I'm just going to spoil myself this way hahah
-I reorganized my closet as well as made other changes to the house.. will post pictures next blog! :)

Mid-Service Mark

1 year of service done, 1 more year to go!! This past year has gone by fast! I just finished my mid service conference and I'm heading back to the states tomorrow to visit!!! I'm excited to see friends and family and to EAT EVERYTHING before heading back to Moz for another year. This past year, I definitely received (experience, personal growth, knowledge, list goes on) way more from my community than I've given. I'm looking forward to making year 2 count and finishing service strong! :)

This past month has a lot of ups and downs (see previous 2 posts from this month), here is a quick update of the rest of August:

Cabo Cookoff
8/9/14 I went to Montepuez for the day for the Annual Cabo Cookoff and got 2nd place for my sluttier slutty brownie (layers of brownie, peanut butter, oreo cookies, and cookie dough) =D It was really fun! We spent all morning cooking and preparing our dish and then vote and eat in the afternoon.

Mid-Service Conference 
8/25/14 - 8/29/14 I was reunited with the whole Moz 20 group! It was good to see everyone, specially those from the South, together again. We had sessions all morning from Monday to Friday and afternoon were for medical check ups. I had my dental appointment on Monday (no cavities, yay!) and medical appointment on Tuesday so the rest of the week was free time for me.

REDES
8/6/14 The girls sew a bunch of capulana flowers so I can bring it back to the states to sell to help raise quick money for our trip to the city. We're planning to make and sell peanut butter (a more sustainable project) in the community next.

8/22/14 I wanted to do something fun before I leave site for a month so we had a dancing day! We followed along with youtube tutorial video and danced to Shakira- Waka Waka! The girls told me they want to practice the dance more when I come back and then perform it for the community at the next holiday celebration! They want to practice 3 times a week when I get back on Sept 22 to get ready for either Oct 4th or Oct 12th holiday. I'm really excited to make this dance performance happen!! :)

Hora das Criancas

8/1/14 Bean bags toss game- Hit the mosquitoes!

8/7/14 Practice writing letter I and colored Batman

Vovinam
My class is growing! The girls told their friends so I had 9 students this session including 2 boys! We're still working on the basic stuff- punches, kicks, blocks, and chops. They're learning how to roll and I also taught them attack forms #1-3.

English
I only did 5 sessions of English class this month since I was away from site for half of the month. It's been going really well! They come with questions or topic that they want to learn so we didn't waste any time at all. Two of my coworkers are improving a lot so I'll probably group them together next time.

Zambie

She finally gave births on August 4th! I guessed 4-5 kittens and I was right! I came home from work to find one side of my mosquito net down because Zambie tried to get onto my bed. She kept trying to get back onto my bed after I carried her outside to the living room multiple times. Finally she [unhappily] gave up and had the babies on the table. Saved my bed this time! :) The babies are so cute! All different color- white with black spots, black, calico, black with white underneath, and grey.

I miss them already! 1 week down, 3 more weeks til I get to see them again

RIP Nunes Mucucula

When I accepted my invitation to serve in the Peace Corps, I received a Mozambique Welcome Book in the mail. I remember reading this part in the book:

"It is important to be aware of the high emotional toll that disease, death, and violence can have on Volunteers. As you strive to integrate into your community, you will develop relationships with local people who might die during your service."

Yesterday and today are the saddest days of my service so far. I went back to work on Tuesday 8/19 after traveling out of town for a week. My coworkers told me that Nunes was in a motorcycle accident on Sunday and is currently in a coma in the Nampula Hospital. Yesterday evening I received a call from one of my coworker with devastating news: Eu quero informar que Nunes já morreu. (I want to inform you that Nunes already died) Between the loud background noises and my poor Portuguese skills, she had to repeat it a few times before I screamed O QUE?! into the phone. I attended his funeral today and I didn't think I was going to cry but it was really hard to hold in the tears. A ton of neighbors, coworkers, and even community leaders whom he worked with came. Nunes is one of the facilitators for the Metoro post. The facilitators stay and live in the field majority of the time but I've gotten to know and worked with him in the field many times this past year. He always greeted me in Macua and laugh when I can't keep up with talking in Macua. He wear reading glasses with the +1.25 sticker still on them. I never got around to telling him he can take them off :(

RIP Nunes, you will be missed!