Hey Kids,
I woke up this morning to the sound of rain (good for the machambas, not so good for my clothes) and also the sound of my stomach grumbling. After a talented bout of acrobatic skill trying to remain upright while straddling the wet chimney latrine, holding on to my toilet paper and an umbrella, I got dressed and waited with the other people in my village for PC to take us to Maputo. The ceremony was at the Ambassador's residence (Despite Moz not currently having a formal ambassador). To our surprise, the former head of the Peace Corps Washington was in town, as he is the American Ambassador to the UN Programs in Rome (complicated, I know), and decided to join the ceremony. We gorged our self on food and Lychee juice and got a nice goodbye from our outgoing Country Director, Dave, who is leaving at the end of January. So as of this morning, I am officially done with training and am a Peace Corps Volunteer. We only had 5 people leave the program early, for a variety of reasons, out of nearly 70 trainees which is pretty darn good.
Tomorrow we are delivered to site and I will begin setting up my home and meeting my community. We had Supervisors conference this past week and I got the opportunity to meet a woman who works in my organization. From what she said, the group sounds great and does some fantastic work with children. I will wait until I observe everything for myself to delve into what exactly they do, and what I will be helping them with. I meet my supervisor on Sunday since he is going out of town Monday, and I am excited for it. Plus, I am inheriting a cat from another volunteer after the holidays, so will let you know how that turns out.
ALERT: I have a new Mailing address that will come straight Xai Xai, were I can pick it up. You can still send things to the PC office in Maputo, but I won't be able to get it until a driver happens to be passing by Xai Xai, which is about once every month or two. The address is:
Zachery Scott, PCV
C.P. 85
Xai Xai, Gaza, Mozambique
Airmail (Always best to put this)
Some of you might know that Gaza has been ranked as one of the highest areas of infection for HIV/AIDS in Mozambique, for a variety of reasons, with many areas hitting close to a 20% infection rate. I and the other volunteers have a great deal of work ahead of us and I look forward to having a couple weeks to set up my site and enjoy the holidays before really digging in.
Thanks for everything and enjoy the holidays. I will try and get an update out as soon as I have my bearings. Keep the letters coming. I love hearing about how everyone is doing back in the states.
Much Love,
ZS
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2 comments:
Hey Pro-Zac! All of us SC folks are so proud of you!!! I thoroughly enjoy reading the blog posts as soon as they come out. Keep up the great work. I envy the sense of fulfillment you must be feeling right now, and the experiences you will surely have over the next two years in Moz. Suzanne and I are considering a trip to South Africa in the summer, and if we do we will definitely come over for a visit.
Great blog Zac. I'm hooked. But PC sure has changed since my day with blogs and all- and that was just a little over 10 years ago. But glad to see you have the same alarm clock I did in Guatemala- the 4 am rooster! Ok good luck and don't forget to put up the pics on connexion. Cheers!
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