Volunteers Carly and Jake created a local partnership between the health system and education department to allow health workers and teachers to test for malaria and provide the necessary treatment free of charge.
“My friends and family have collected and sent many books for our school library. With school out, kids don’t have access to them, so I have set up a small library in my house, which I open up for the kids in my village to come and use.”
“My porch became ‘The Little Porch Library.’
I loan books to whomever wants to borrow one. From one little girl (Prayer is 12 and in the first grade) to her 4-year-old brother, teenagers, even her mother!”
“This photo was taken in a Berber village during a sports day at the local high school. During the event, another volunteer and myself were put in charge of activities for all the youth under the age of 10. The five youth in this photograph were among the most timid of the group and chose to watch the activities and soccer matches instead of participate. Their bodies and giggles show their true age, but the look in their eyes reveals a maturity only known to those who have seen a challenging life. These youth changed my service by redefining why I became a volunteer. It is in their eyes that I realized service is about the little moments; the ones where I can make kids feel like kids in the simple of act of playing and laughing.”
“I took this photo just down the road from my house in Cambodia on October 25th, 2013. I met this group of kids while riding bike and they were immediately intrigued to know who I was. They were so excited to have their photo taken and giggled with excitement. Their exuberance was a breath of fresh air and it made me realize that these kids were living their lives the only way they knew it. They might be growing up in a very different situation than I did, but they were appreciating the simple things in life, like having a photo taken and enjoying each other’s company. They didn’t carry the worries of the world on their shoulders. Their liveliness and friendly smiles captured the essence of the many Khmer people I meet on a daily basis. They may have their struggles, but their genuine appreciation for the more simple things in life has made me more aware and grateful of my own.”
More pictures from our GLOW/BRO mini-camp on Sunday! Now you can see how awesome the permagarden, nutrition, and hip-hop sessions were. These kids had so much fun; they stampeded toward me on Monday asking when we were going to do it again.
We spent our SHAPE Club meeting on Tuesday going over the information that the campers had learned so that they could teach those who didn’t attend. I sat back and watched my pupils teach each other about gender roles, communication, permagardens, and nutrition.
I listened as they said “boys and girls are equal,” and “leaders have to be just as good at listening as they are at talking.” They described what a “berm” and a “swale” are probably better than I even could.
This really showed how much they absorbed from the camp and even moreso, so incredible our facilitators were!
A couple of weeks ago, I got the opportunity to go to another volunteers’ site and help out with her summer camp. She had been holding a series of summer camps. I helped out with the younger kids camp. I had a BLAST! It was fun interacting with the children. We taught them some english and also played different games with them. A puppeteer group came in and did a little puppet show and showed them how make their own puppets which was cool.
Being able to go to Dzevri allowed me to experience another volunteers’ perspective on being a Peace Corps volunteer. She lives in a village where I live in a town. It made me appreciate my site more but also experience the beauty of Georgia and living in a village. I will say that if I was placed in a village, I would have a very different experience than I have had so far. It was a lot of fun and an eye opening experience…In a good way :)
Here are some pictures from the camp and Dzevri:
Hanging by the river
Watermelon by the river
Sunset from guesthouse in Dzevri
Morning exercises
Funny faces
Funny walking
Take a picture with an english teacher = photo scavenger hunt
