Sunday, April 4, 2010

New life new beginnings



Hello all! It's been two months since I have last written. Let me just
give you a brief synopsis of these past two months.
We (40 volunteers) arrived in Jo'burg on the evening of january 29th
after 26 hours of traveling. When we arrived it was raining. We were
later told that rain on a wedding day symbolizes the washing away of
the brides footprint from her home to her new home. This is a sign of
faith and commitment to her new family and future. We decided that the
rain upon our arrival showed our commitment to our life and work here
in South Africa.

We had two months of training. The first week we spent at a college
and then we moved in with local families. We learned to live a South
African lifestyle. This meant washing cloths by hand, using a pit
latrin, and cooking and eating pap. We also learned how to survive
with very little water. The water to the village was off about 80
percent of the time.

On march 25th we officially swore in as Peace Corps volunteers with
our supervisors in attendance. Shortly after the swearing in ceremony,
we all piled into our respective vehicles with all our luggage and
headed off to our perminate sits. As with most things in Africa, it's
always an adventure. Fifteen people (volunteers & supervisors)
squeezed into a fourteen passenger cumby (taxi) with a eight hour
journey ahead of us. Just pictures this: 15 adults & 30 pieces of
large luggage in van that is a little bigger than a mini van. So with
luggage straped to the roof and in every inch of space available in
the van up to our necks, we pulled out of the hotel parking lot. Not
even five minutes down the road, we were pulled over... Gotta love
life in Africa!

Now here I sit in my spacious rondival (hut). I live and work in a
small village in the province of Kwazulu Natal. I am 12 km from the
Indian ocean. Life in Africa is not always easy, with each day comes
a new adventure and a new challenge but it is all worth it when the
kids run up to me with excitement yelling 'Nokuthula Nokuthula!'
Nokuthula (Nok-tula ) is my Zulu name meaning quiet and peace.

My new address is:
PO BOX 800
Mtunzini 3867
South Africa


Love & Peace, Nokuthula

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow.. you were pulled over by Ermelo's finest? Heheh. Glad you are enjoying site and I'm jealous that you are 12 km from the ocean and I'm almost 2 hours!

Ash said...

Erin I miss you!! But I am glad to hear life is such an adventure!

Post a Comment

 
Copyright © 2009 Nokuthula All rights reserved. Powered by Blogger
Blogger Template by Anshul