Tingley's Travels : 2014

The Rainy Season has Begun

Rain. I didn’t think I could ever appreciate such a simple thing so much. The rainy season in Limpopo runs from October to April. Last week I sat on my porch and watched a massive thunderstorm roll in over the mountains and inundate my village. We needed it. It hasn’t rained significantly since April and the wonderful respite it brought from the early summer heat was a relief, not to mention the extra water it brought to our strategically placed 50 gal. drums and JoJo.

The moment brought me back to a time about 2 years ago when I took a trip back to Johnson School to meet with Mr. Wood, a 4^th grade RPCV and teacher, who instilled the idea of the Peace Corps in me with just one simple slideshow back in the year 2000. I went to see Mr. Wood because I was still unsure if the Peace Corps was for me, or whether I could handle being sent overseas to serve for 27 months. I wanted to hear about his experiences as a PCV in Thailand in the early 90s. As he was walking me out of the building (me still very unsure) he said, “Look, if the idea of watching a thunderstorm roll in over endless rice paddies after a long hot day appeals to you at all, I think you should apply.” Well, I did and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

Finally, my garden, which I’ve been working on since I got to site has finally begin paying off! I have TONS of broccoli and my carrots, red onions, beets and tomatoes should be just about ready in the coming weeks. I am currently at a training to get more in-depth knowledge of some of our partnering programs, including GRS and BFL and also attend a perma-gardening workshop that I can use to help establish a easy-to-maintain garden at my Drop In Center.

Ukhlamba Drakensberg

I took my first holiday to the Drakensberg Mountains at the end of September. The mountains form the border between South Africa and Lesotho and are a major attraction for adventure seekers. We decided to do the Bell Traverse Hike in the northern area, which many guide books and websites said was one of the most beautiful and rewarding hikes in the “Draks.” It most certainly was, but it didn’t come without its challenges. Our first day was only 8km but in about 9 hours we climbed a vertical mile. Around 4pm, we began ascending a gully, almost certain we would find the Bell Cave, our fist overnight stop, when we reached the top. We didn’t. It lay another hour and a half beyond, up and over a steep rock fall each of us overlooked when we reached the top of the gully; no one would ever make a trail up such a pass. Well, after a few minutes of searching around, I dropped my pack and scrambled up the fall and saw the faintest sign of a cave on the trail around a bend. Back down I went to fetch my pack and onwards we traveled. Finally, after night fell, the last of us came into camp after one of the most exhausting but absolutely stunning days of hiking I’ve ever had. Two days later we emerged, having traversed the high peaks at over 3000m our entire second day. Smiles painted the faces of 6 very dirty, very tired but very happy Peace Corps Volunteers as we limped into the grocery store to find some rewards.

We had some fun too

Our cave, way down there!

Sunsets in the Drakensbergs

Tingley Takes a Tumble

The view from the end. Looking back on everything we conquered.

Pretty sweet lunch spot

Enjoying some amazing homemade jam at Karma Backpackers

Grassroot Soccer Camp

The first week of October is a holiday for South African schools. Mo Afrika Borwa (Here in South Africa) the academic year is broken up into 4 terms that follow the calendar year and the break acts as the transition from term 3 to term 4. For education volunteers, it is a welcome break from school but typically CHOP volunteers like myself aren’t tied to schools and don’t necessarily plan according to their schedules. However, I had been wanting to implement a Grassroot Soccer program for a while but just hadn’t been able to find a 10 week period where both myself, my counterparts in the community, and students would be able to meet once a week. Instead, I partnered up with another PCV and each of us held a two-day GRS camp in our communities. It took quite a bit of planning but eventually we made it work and I’m happy to say both camps were a success…sort of. The biggest problem I faced was that I ran the camp on the tribal offices soccer field right in the middle of the community. The American in me felt like it would be a great way to advertise to other kids who hadn’t signed up and then get those kids to participate next time. Well, in reality, it turned out a lot of them just flocked to the camp and participated anyway. In one way this is great: more participants learning about HIV through fun games. Yet the dynamics of the camp change greatly when 5-10 year olds joined the group of 13-15 year olds and ended up getting distracted and messing around when we are having a serious discussion about sex with older partners or domestic violence).

In the end it worked out well and I was happy I had the chance to run the camp. I learned a lot about facilitating with younger audiences and it helped make Steven’s an even bigger success after mine wrapped up!