"The Big Switch" or The French is Useless

I am going to rural South Africa. South Africa is about the last place I had expected to end up because it is the most developed country in South Africa, i.e. they didnt film survivor there, they filmed episodes of Americas Next Top Model. So, needless to say (or perhaps only I find this to be hardly a revelation) I am a bit disappointed that I did not end up in West Africa. I really want to learn French and I feel like those countries need more help. Alas, as a result of the mildest case of Asthma (thanks go out to the San Diego fires for that one) I am not medically qualified to serve in West Africa because they dont have asthma care available and apparently there are a lot of asthma triggers there. I dont carry an inhaler, even to the gym. So I am disappointed that I am not going to West Africa where I had already been assigned and was supposed to leave next month for that assignment. I do however get to see you all a little longer because my new assignment in South Africa does not leave until July 17^th. Apart from my disappointment at not learning French, I am happy that I am going, I am excited, and needless to say, I am a bit nervous. Below is some of the information I was given by the Peace Corps when I received my invitation to serve.

The particulars, as far as I have them:

Country: Republic of South Africa

Program: School and Community Resource Project

Job Title: Primary Teacher Training and Resource Volunteer

Dates of Service: September 14, 2006 September 14, 2008

Orientation Dates: July 17-July 19, 2006 (Orientation takes place either in San Francisco or Washington D.C. as I have heard and I am guessing it will be Washington D.C. because I am thinking we will be flying east. So yeah! I get to see the Berkeley peeps who will be in DC this summer!)

Pre-Service Training in South Africa: July 20, 2006- September 14, 2006

My job:

I will be working in rural impoverished villages in South Africa where I will live with a family in my community. I will be working in a cluster of primary school where I will be:

1. Assisting educators in improving their teaching and classroom practices.
2. Complementing the Department of Educations training of teachers, schools, school management teams and principals on The Revised National Curriculum, Integrated Quality Management System and other initiatives.
3. Support initiatives by the government and NGOs to promote HIV/AIDS awareness and education both in schools and communities as well as developing strategies for handling the subject in schools; and
4. Working with educators, parents and community members to strengthen overall school management and foster a greater partnership between schools and the community.

My secondary projects (especially when school is not in session) may include; English and Literacy classes after school hours and assisting communities and schools in establishing ..libraries, working with out-of-school youth and secondary school students and supporting HIV/AIDS projects and life skill related activates like Camp GLOW, conducting computer literacy classes in schools with a computer, or trying to get computer technology to schools that do not have a computer. I may also build resource centers or anything else that needs to be done and that the community wants.

Brief History of the Program:

Peace Corps South Africa began implementing the School and Community Resource project in 1997, following South Africas first democratic, multi-party election and the subsequent inauguration of Nelson Mandela as President. The dismantling of Bantu education was identified as among the new governments top priorities. The legacy of Bantu education for black South Africans was specific and intentional: the severe underresourcing of schools, a high percentage of insufficiently or poorly trained teachers, segregation by location designed to reinforce ethnic and racial difference sand a curriculum designed to reinforce negative self-image and to limit the aspirations of black school children. There was also the need to replace it with a system that would foster critical thinking and creativity and that would nurture long-dormant parental involvement in schools.

I will not be speaking English. I will be in rural black South Africa working with what were previously (as discussed above) Bantu education districts, those districts that were segregated according to location. As far as languages go, there are a couple options, and I am not entirely sure what it is that I will be learning, but my guess is that it will be either IsiZulu or IsiXhosa. They do teach English at the schools I will be working with. The most substantial thing I have come across as I have started to research South Africa is the complete differentiation between rural South Africa and the more wealth cities. According to the World Fact Book, which does not separate statistics based on geographical location within the country, South Africa has a 25.2% unemployment rate, 21.5% HIV/AIDS rate (this only counts adults) with 5.3 million people living with HIV, and 50% of the people in South Africa live below the poverty line. This distribution of wealth is pretty bad with the Household income or consumption by percentage share at the lowest 10% consuming only 1f the wealth, and the highest 10% consuming 46% of the wealth. The infant mortality rate is 10 times that of the US, and that does not distinguish between the infant mortality rate of those in the cities, vs. those in rural South Africa.

The things I am most worried about are dealing with the deaths of babies, kids and adults as a result of malnutrition, lack of health care and of course AIDS. I am worried about being able to actually make a difference, even a small one that will last after I have left. I am worried about learning the language and feeling totally and completely isolated. I am also worried about missing my family and my friends. I am worried about seeing children unable to escape the cycle of poverty. I am worried that I will most likely be getting malaria, and the only thing that keeps me from minding too much is that Aiden Hartley, the author of the book The Zanzibar Chest which I just finished and would recommend to everyone, says that he looks back on his time in Africa, and his bouts with Malaria with a sort of offhanded fondness.

Enough of the sad stuff. I am looking forward to a lot more things than those that worry me. I am really excited about learning a new language, especially one that not very many people know. How many of you can say you speak Zulu? Hmmm? I am super excited that I will be learning so many new things and traveling to a completely new place. I am going to get to go somewhere and meet people that if not for this experience I am positive I would never have met otherwise. I will meet fellow volunteers and people in my communities and I am really excited to see how I am going to change them, and how they are going to change me. Also, as I have already communicated to many of you, I am very excited about being so sexy when I get back. I mean, seriously, between the bouts of sickness and the inevitable tape worm, I will be so skinny when I get back. Really, emaciated sheik, the starving look is totally in right now, and I dont even have to get a personal trainer! I will also have a totally awesome tan, though not as much as I would have had if I had lived in West Africa, which is another really great thing about the fact that I am going to South Africa instead. I hate the heat, so South Africa with its hot summers, but nice fall and spring and cool winters will definitely make me much happier than the 85-140 degrees year round that I was expecting in West Africa. Finally, what I am super excited about is that my sister Amanda was already planning to be in South Africa in March, so I can go see her, and I will also be making a trip to India and Thailand where Nikki and Brittany have said they will travel with me, and we can go meet Karen when she is there for worlds with Loyola (congrats on your scholarship by the way!!!)

So, this is long enough. If you made it all the way down here and have read the whole entire message, then I can only say I love you, because you must be someone very special to me if you bothered to read the entire message. So, the bottom line, I am nervous and sad to be leaving people, but I am so excited that I am about to embark on this journey.

All my love,

Nicolette