Words of Advice to New Peace Corps Volunteers

It might be because I've been bin watching too many episodes of Scrubs in the past month, but the motto that I've been living by is I can't do this all on my own, no I know, I'm no superman.

This motto has been keeping me sane for the past 481 days. For starters, the best part about joining Peace Corps, is that the group you swear in with is your windows to sanity. You can call home to talk to your parents, siblings, or friends, or talk to host country nationals, but no one quite understands your situation as another Peace Corps Volunteer. They understand how much you miss your family, they are the ones who knows how frustrating it is when a project doesn't go as planned, and they don't judge you when you meet in your shopping town and all you want to do is drink a glass of wine (or two) at two in the afternoon. 

 Pictured: SA29 celebrating one year in country!

 Pictured: Vacation in Cape Town with PCVs. 

Take this advice to heart, your cohort will become your best friends. They will be there to help out with any project, celebrate with you when you complete a grant form, and will take multiple different taxis, travel for more than six hours, and cross over two difference provinces, just to be there for your birthday. Do not alienate yourself from your cohort.

Pictured: PCVs after running a 10k/half marathon to raise money. 

The second part of the motto, is I know, I'm no superman. This you MUST take to heart. I think many people think that by joining Peace Corps, that they will change the world, and if not the world than at least their village. If you come with that perspective, you will not make it. We are not superheros. We are human. We are not going to save the whole world. If I can get 80% if my students to turn in their assignments on time it's a good day.

I stress myself out every day wondering if I'm being a good enough teacher to my students. I wonder if they are learning English quickly enough, and if the English they are learning is good enough for them to go on to University with. I worry that I am not teaching them enough about writing essays and comprehension. I worry that I'm not providing them with enough time to access the library. I worry that I'm not instilling them with ideals of compassion, working hard, and dreaming big. Mostly, I worry that I'm not giving them enough love that they need.

I get frustrated that my girl students are dropping out because they are getting pregnant, and I wonder if it's because I didn't teach them how to properly use a condom last year. I want to pull my hair out when a student drops out and my learners tell me it's because he's been huffing glue, and I wonder if I should have spoke to him more one on one. I want to cry when I learn that a top learner has dropped out because they decided they needed to be the bread winner of their family, and I cannot help but think that I should have noticed the signs and should have done a home visit.

There's only so much we can do as Peace Corp Volunteers. There's only so many hours in a day. As a teacher, I only have ten hours a day to reach my students. And I have to split that time between teaching English, Life Orientation and Computer Class, coaching Grassroot Soccer and Running Club, facilitating Zazi and Brothers for Life, and finally running the library. Between those are snippets of time and there's only so many students you can talk to one on one, and so many home visits you can make. It's tough, and sometimes you can't even see any progress.

I'm not trying to say that Peace Corps doesn't accomplish anything. It does, but not the big things. You won't get every student to be a straight “a” student, you might not even get one straight “a” student. But you will get a student who realizes their potential, and go from being the class clown to working hard. You'll get a student who will come to you and ask how to become a doctor, and you might find a better path for him at a school in the city. You'll maybe get some students who will tell you about the pact they made with each other and how they've promised each other to not have sex until they matriculate. You'll get another student who tells you how proud they were and their family was when you gave them a medal for being a top learner.

If I were to give you any advice as a new Peace Corps Volunteer, it would be; be sure to become close to your cohort, and to not expect to save the world.

Teaching My Students about HIV

 Pictured: Grade 7 signing up to participate in Grassroot Soccer with my counterpart Brenda. 

Out of all of the activities I've done with my students, Grassroot Soccer is my (and my students') absolute favourite. Grassroot Soccer is an HIV prevention organization that uses the power of soccer to educate, inspire, and mobilize communities to stop the spread of HIV and AIDs in countries all over the world. 

As many people might already know, South Africa has one of the highest rates of HIV in the world, with 1 in 3 people infected. Many people in South Africa contract HIV due to being miseducated as well as not being informed. When HIV first became a crisis many people in South Africa believed it was a lie by the government to discourage sex, and in many places around South Africa, this is still the belief. Grassroot Soccer is trying to combat this and other misconceptions about HIV, by teaching students about HIV and how it spreads, as well as having discussions about life, achieving goals, and how to protect themselves and others. 

Grassroot Soccer is a 12 session course, with each session lasting for about an hour. Each session focuses on a different issue. I have taught GRS to the grades 7-9 in the school where I work. To make sure to reach all the students in my school, I use the Life Orientation period. I break each class up into two sections, and while one half of the class is participating in GRS, the other half of the class is working on Life Orientation homework, and then they switch. 

 Pictured: Grade 8 playing "fact vs. nonsense" which helps uncover myths about HIV.

Grassroot Soccer focuses on many different aspects of HIV. It teaches students that you cannot tell if someone has HIV or not by looking at them. This is important since a person could be outcasted by their community because they might look unhealthy. I've also stressed this to my students because I want them to know that they only true way they can know their status is if they go to the clinic and get tested.

Pictured: My students lining up as goalies, to show how condoms (the goalies) help protect you from HIV (the soccer ball).

We also discuss about what can put you at risk for getting HIV. The major risks that GRS try to discourage are; unprotected sex (sex without a condom), multiple partners at one time, older partners (5 years or more), and mixing sex with alcohol. 

 Pictured: The two soccer balls represent two sexual partners, this represents how much harder it is to reach matric (graduation) without getting HIV when you have more than one sexual partner.

Another important aspect of Grassroot Soccer is teaching the students what HIV is and how it attacks the body. Many students do not understand how HIV kills you, and why most people with HIV usually die from TB. We also discuss ARVs, and how ARVs puts HIV to sleep and that it doesn't cure it. 

 Pictured: My students playing a game that shows how HIV attacks the immune system, and how ARV puts HIV to sleep. The soccer ball represents germs, the girl in the back represents the human, the boy in the yellow shirt represents the immune system (who tries to deflect the ball), the girl in the skirt represents HIV (who is trying to distract the immune system), and the boy in the green vest represents the ARVs which is holding the HIV back from the immune system. It's less complicated when you play it.

Finally my favourite and the most important aspect of Grassroot Soccer is breaking down gender discrimination. Throughout GRS we discuss gender discrimination in their community, and what they can do to change what is happening. Many of my male students have opened up about rape in their community, and have had open discussions about it with the female students, and together have created solutions on how to make the community a safer place for both gender. GRS also teaches my male and female students that they are able to play sports together. When I begin GRS with a new class, the students are very segregated by gender, but about six sessions in, they are cheering each other on, and encourage each other to join in with playing netball and soccer. 

Pictured: One of my female students playing soccer, which is typically a male dominated sport. Since playing GRS, both genders play soccer and netball.

I have loved coaching Grassroot Soccer. It has not only taught my students about HIV but also about making good life choices, and to work hard towards their goals. It has helped my students open up to me, and ask questions that desperately needed answers. I don't think I would have had the same relationship with my students without this program.