yahoo!!

finally some pics on the blog!
1. sunset!!
2. beautiful sky and tree on the walk to the river
3. hippos in the river...the five dots you see!
4. old fashioned donkey car
5. me outside the heatlh facility dining hall in nkurenkuru
6. my first batch of handwash laundry!
7. my bebe's first smile:)
8. my bebe
9. these are my favorite kids....e v e r. the one in the red dress is my bebe and i took some other pics of her above from my cell phone...i still dont know their names, i cant understand what they are saying, probably because they are 2 and speaking 2 year old rukwangali but i'll know them soon:)

nkurenkuru

oh mercy. i've just spent five days on my permanent site visit in Nkurenkuru. check it out on the map, it's west of Rundu right on the boarder of Angola and Namibia and the Kavango river. the other night i met up with my neighbors scott and lindsey (two pcv teachers in my village....well i guess im in their village now;)) and ben who lives 10k east to walk to the river and watch the hippos. i have some amazing pictures that i hope to load soon.

i love my village. it is soon to be a town- which means the road will be paved and huts will be moved to the outskirts and cement houses will be built- oh development. we'll see tho, it's a long process i suppose. i do have everything i need there- a few food stores, an open market, wholesale store with appliances, furniture etc. i live right near the health facility compound in a small two bedroom place which is a bit dodgy at the moment but once i get a hold of it will be awesome:) im allowed to paint it so i'm looking forward to that. i have running water and a sink outside for laundry- chickens are running around my yard and im hoping to plant a little garden- there are so many new things im going to try while being here- im sure my garden will fail at first but i'll persist:)

i've got some favorite kids already, no, jadyn deven delany- they havent taken your place- :) i love them though, they dont speak any english and get really annoyed with me when i just repeat what they say in rukwangali but whenever i leave them they are shouting mbaa!!!! (bye) and when i show up in the morning they are waving profusely and running to greet me. the little ring leader finally smiled the other day:) it makes me a little sad because i wont be back there for good until January so i had to have someone explain to them that i'll see them in a month. but even more sad is that they are patients at the TB ward and i guess it's not guaranteed that they will be around when i return anyway.....it's a small town, im sure i can find them if i try hard enough.

i celebrated thanksgiving with scott and lindsey and a zambian family on thursday. and now i am in rundu with 12 other pcvs for a t-day bash. we even have turkeys!!!! a guy who did peace corps with the 12th namibian group has a hostel/bar/gym/pool here and hosts thanksgiving almost every year for pcvs in the area. so we are all crashing at maggies place and enjoying company and good food tonight.

im walking miles each day but eating the most ridiculous food so we'll see if i get nice and plump by the end of the month. when im in my regular routine im sure things will settle down. :) i hope to come back to the internet soon and load some pictures- my eyes cannot open wide enough for all there is to see.

i had a pretty hard day last monday but everyday since has gotten progressively better which is overwhelming. but positive.

i love namibia.

HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!

Disclaimer: Everything posted on this blog is solely the opinion of the author. None of the content is representative of the Peace Corps organization.

J= smiley face that didnt copy and paste from my comp:)

Official address

Sarah Buffie
Peace Corps Office
POBOX 6862
20 Nachtigal St.
Ausspannplatz
Windhoek
Namibia

HELLO WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Below are some entries I have had on a word document but have been unable to send because this is the first time I made it to the internetJ enjoy!! And bare with me….

11/6/07

And so, I am here now. Here with my computer- in Okahandja. Sitting on my bed with my roommates, listening to some music while I write. It has been 8 days since I have been gone- 8 days since I used this computer- 8 days since I have used a cell phone- 8 days I have been in one of the most beautiful countries in the world. 8 days I have been here and it feels like a lifetime. A lifetime that I never want to end. Namibia- I am conscious of the fact that I will have hard times ahead, but already I know that Namibia is a place that will be home forever. My heart swells with happiness in this place…IT IS OFTEN HARD TO CONTAIN MY JOY!!!!!!!! J J J

We are in Okahandja which is about an hour north of the capital Windhoek. We are here with 69 of us, Peace Corps trainees and 15 Namibian trainers. Namibians are beautiful people. They are so warm and everyone is always saying ‘hallo” and shaking hands and generally caring for one another. Right now we are kind of in a bubble because we are at training and everything is new and we are walking around in small groups sometimes but my friend Amanda and I have gotten a good deal out into the town and the Location that we’re able to get a little slice of ‘the real world.’

It is hard to write sometimes- I’ve been trying to keep a journal but, I’m telling you- so many things are happening, big and small, that it is hard to wrap my head around or possibly have you feel the same things through my writings. But I promise to try and stay connected. I wish so many of you could be here. Not for me, but for yourselves, and the world. For so long Africa has been shapes on a map, stories in a book, smells and sights in a store, pictures in a magazine or displayed for me by Hollywood. But now, now I am living here. Not visiting, but living, and loving Africa as a place, not a destination.

So, how about some stories?! We are all learning Afrikaans at the moment. Amanda and I are learning a bit of Herero and Khoe Khoe- in a few months I should have at least greetings and simple phrases in a few of the languages. There are 13 Namibian tribes each with a different language.

Today we went on a walk and in the brush there were hundreds of woodchips surrounding 3 carvings. Big carvings from the trees- a giraffe, rhino, and an elephant. - no one is around, no shop, no woodworking place near by- just these carvings. We don’t know who did them or where they came from but it is quite an amazing site.

Another amazing thing: the sky at sundown. You are surrounded on all sides of the sky with bright orange and pink!

Amanda and I have hung out at the trainers’ house a few times- the ladies are hilarious and are so great with answering our questions- whether they are ignorant, profound, about historical Namibia or cultural norms- they are so kind and funny with us.

11/09/07
My English is already a bit silly- you might have noticed in reading this, maybe not, but we are all having a hard time with words and sentence structure and basic speaking skills and thinking and well, everything that requires brain capacity because we are being exposed to SO MUCH and our brains/hearts/minds/souls are a bit on overload. Amanda and I are blaming the malaria pills for some of our ailments….such as the sudden (small yet notable) loss of hearing and the “inexplicable fits of weeping” as mentioned in the medical handbook under the heading of cultural shock. ha! “It fails to mention increased sensitivity to fast typing noises” –bear (my other roomie made a note of that the other night). But you see this entire sentence doesn’t make any sense….what’s to blame? The malaria, the meningitis shot, yellow fever, rabies? Africa? Small children putting old juice boxes on their feet as shoes….resourceful, eh. Shit. I love them. I love this.

Kids writing their names in my little red language book…..ah it seems like this is the only reason we are here. You open to the page they wrote in, each of their names side by side and accompanying their penmanship are dirt smudges from their little fingers. Kennedy is the oldest of the crowd that usually hangs out with us and we’ve appointed him ‘tour guide.’ He’s always showing us where things are and telling stories about Namibia- or just giggling. There are 13 peoples of Namibia- one group is called the San People, Kennedy is a San boy-

BIG NEWS TODAY!!!!!!!!!!

I just found out what region I’ll be going to- Kavango Region!! It boarders Angola and is very close to Botswana and Zambia- well ‘very close’ compared to Ohio or IndianaJ Check it out on a map….Northeast corner of Namibia. I still don’t know what my site will be but I’ll be leaving in a week for Community Based Training and my home stay. We all leave our training site and travel to our different regions- so now we are learning our different languages and I’m learning- officially now, RUKWANGALI!!!!!!!!! So, I’ll have a bit of Afrikaans under my belt but will now dive into Rukwangali.

11/11/07

I’ve been adding to a word document to keep track of some thoughts so when I get to the internet café I can just copy and paste my blog. The café is only open during the day until 5:00 and we are in training between 8-5ish each day. And it is conveniently closed on the weekendsJ and sometimes it just doesn’t have access to the internetJ sooooo if you’re finally reading this it means I skipped lunch to connect with the world!

Time is so crazy here. I feel like I’ve been gone forever and when I think about things going on at home I realize it’s only been 2 weeks.

Yesterday we had a GREAT cultural day. Our trainers come from all over the country to they each have their own traditional customs, ways of preparing food, dress etc. After a discussion about gender roles in Namibia we all met outside in a small field where we started cooking and sampling food from every region. My first food was similar to a bag of potato chips: except it was a plastic bag of 100 tiny dead fish. But they just felt like crisps! Eyes and all…I tried a few and then we actually cooked them up like we were supposed toJ over an open fire we put them in a pot of a little water, oil, salt and stirred ‘em up until they were ready to be put into a pot of spinach. I also ate cow stomach, sheep cheek, cow liver, antelope, beans, porridge (that you can chew because it has sand in it from the way it’s prepared so the enamel of your teeth will erode of you eat a lot, and porridge is a staple around here so you just have to mush it against the roof of your mouth), a drink with fermented somethings- I have no ideaJ we dug a hole in the ground and put the bucket of the drink in there to keep it cool- more sand in the mouthJ what else, I pounded maize, ate fresh bread, and we had some dumplings. Let me make a note about the sheep cheek: A delicacy here is called a “smiley.” That’s because when you cook a goat or sheep head the skin is pulled back tight and the animal appears to be smiling in the pot! So when it is nice and cooked Stanley put it on a plate and took a fork and started digging into all of the meat. By the time I got over to smiley he was digging at the cheek so that’s what I got to taste- delicious. OOOOOhhhhhh and there were two chickens…that we watched someone kill, then we put them in hot water and plucked off their feathers. I was holding the chicken’s legs while plucking and the way I kept moving it around the toes of the chickey eventually wrapped around my arm and startled me! Pwetty punny….so then the chickens were cut up, insides were taken out and washed and yes, everything was eaten.

This is just the very beginning of the foods I’ll be trying, loving, and eventually cooking myself one dayJ And yes, I have had loose bowls since I arrived but no sickness or anything to that extreme…hahaahahaJ

The Location- I mentioned the Location up in the second paragraph- let me explain that: Because of Apartheid racism is extremely rampant around here and separation is no joke. During Apartheid people were separated by ethnic group: Whites live in town, Coloureds live a little bit outside of the town, Bastars live further outside and Blacks live further, in the Location. In 1990 Apartheid ended and Namibia became an independent country. So we are living and working in a country that is essentially 17 years old. After Apartheid folks have started to integrate a little bit more but still every town has a “Location.” The idea is divide and conquer- if the different ethnic groups were separated they would not be able to integrate and learn from each other. I’ll try to write about it in more detail at a later time- it is still hard to wrap my head around everything.


That’s all for now. Feel free to call anytime or email or send lettersJ Saturday we leave for our site visits and I might be out of internet or phone access for a few weeks.

Love and peace to you all.

Sb

and off we go!

now to continue on the road i embarked on 6 months ago. i'm in the passenger seat now - not driving just yet- along for the ride- the only thing i can control is my attitude.

yesterday we met at 1:00 and started the registration process. up until my time through the line i thought i wasn't actually going to leave. i thought they would tell me my paperwork wasn't complete or my medical clearance hadn't come through. but i passed through the line easily and that night i finally slept solidly for the first time in three weeks.

before i arrived in DC i felt "prepared" for this experience. after meeting everyone and sitting in training sessions i, thankfully, still feel this way. my time with public allies solidified how i was raised and i'm confident that i'll survive: by the way we're talking about safety and health, survival is what im looking to accomplish. they kept congratulating us for coming back after breaks, or showing up in the morning! our trainers wanted to reiterate the fact that sometimes opening the door and leaving your place will be a huge task and you need to be proud of all success not just things the outside world might deem successful.

today i was up and in the fitness center at 7:30- my dad and naomi were little birds on my shoulder telling me to actually get out of bed and get some physical activity! After a small workout :) i showered and headed downstairs for breakfast and day two of training. we discussed more safety issues, threats and risks, how to manage our health and safety, watched a video of current volunteers and how their service is, and then went over some logistics.

tomorrow we checkout at 5:00am, there are 70 of us in this training class so it will take about 2hrs to load buses and head to the clinic. our shots begin at 7:30am and we then head to the airport where we'll board and then finally, 12hrs later leave at 5:00pm for Jo-berg South Africa. We've been advised to not leave the hotel once we arrive in south africa because we're not in a safe area- so no worries mom and crew, i'll be getting in a bed as soon as i can because a 12hr day on top of a 15hr flight will surely wear me out!!

On nov 2nd we go to Windhoek, Namibia and then take a bus ride to our training center in Okahandja. For two weeks we'll do language training and interviews in order to place us in appropriate sites. health volunteers (we have health and education volunteers in our group) will be placed all over namibia where education folks will be in the south. week 3 we are all dispersed to our potential permanent sites where we'll stay with a host family and continue training. we land in our permanent sites on Jan 9th and are official peace corps volunteers beginning jan 10 (right now we're still trainees).

sooooooo enough logistics. how am i feeling?!?!?! GREAT!!!!!!!! this is a perfect fit. i feel happy, confident, humble for this experience, and anxious. the missing of friends and family hasn't COMPLETELY set in, of course i miss all of you but im still on a high for this entire journey.

our directors want us to let everyone know that we will not be able to communicate via internet or phone until EARLIEST Sunday nov 4 so dont look for a new post until after that date...im sure i'll have A MILLION THINGS TO SHARE!!

one final thought: i got a pair of earth shoes before i left and they are AMAZING. fashionable, and functional:) hehehe, i rarely am able to combine the two- usually i head for function and i look like a weiner.

and here is a quote i'll leave you all with:

"if you want to go far, go alone,
if you want to accomplish something, go together."

peace,
sb

wrap-up

this is for joyce, since i slacked soooooooooo much on wrapping up my new orleans trip!! ;)

well that chapter was closed in the middle of september. my time there ran out as i headed back to indy/cincinnati to settle in before i shipped out for the peace corps.

living in new orleans and being surround with such beauty and devastation landed me on a constant roller coaster. one that i would have gotten on if given the chance again. i cant imagine a better preparation for the peace corps than time spent at EC. i learned so much about myself, organizations, grassroots efforts, leadership, integrity, racism, classism, courageous conversations, and choices by being at EC. i'll leave my reflections aside, those are better for one-on-ones, if you are curious feel free to send me an email: buffiesh@gmail.com

the past two months have been a whirlwind of goodbyes, packing, prepping for two years away, coffee and lots of dinners from friends. IF YOU BOUGHT OR COOKED ME FOOD OVER THE PAST 2 MONTHS THIS LAST MESSAGE IS FOR YOU:

1) thank you soooooo much, your generosity will never be forgotten
2) i gained 10 pounds since being back from nola:)

summer camp

this video was done by a volunteer showcasing the kids from our summer camp. they are amazing:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=o4Lr-1VMqGI

check it

wednesday the 22nd the city council and mayor came to have a little volunteer appreciation lunch with us. i say 'with' because it meant that we worked longer, bought and cooked more food, and had 10x's more dishes:) below are some photos of us making 9 trays of pudding at 10pm:

now that we made all that puddin' it was time to retire for the night and get ready for the celebration. folks from other volunteer organizations came to enjoy a band, a speech from several city council members and the mayor, and TONS OF FOOD...

the video posted below is of one of our city councilwomen thanking us for our work as volunteers. the video cuts off as she is about to mention the opening of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr elementary school. the city wanted to demolish MLK elementary after the storm but common ground (another volunteer group) broke into the buliding in the evenings and gutted it and restored it back to life- im not sure how public that story is but it should be shared more often.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2g7Sgwh4O8

bam

im sitting in a dust storm at the moment. today we were closed and did an all day clean and inventory. we're still working!!! folks are sweeping the entrance of the center and i'll be moving stuff back into the double wide once the carpet dries. this morning i cooked breakfast for the volunteers did 8 economy size loads of laundry from EC and then assisted with dinner. one of the funniest people i've ever met taught me how to make polentas....kinda:) a polenta is usually made out of boiled cornmeal but all we had were leftover grits. so we fried up some grit patties and added kates mushroom, fennel, and tomatoe sauce and fed people one by one...it was so good!! it's been a long freakin day though.

my paitence just about ran out in the early evening for a number of reasons and then two things happened. 1) peace corps people tell you that patience is the number one skill you need and will acquire during your time so i did a little bit of self-talk to snap out of it and 2) cara sat me in a corner with colored pencils and a mandala and i slowly got to come back to center. i'm definitly going to buy a mandala book and pencils before i head overseas:)


last night was one of the scariest times i've had in a long time. a few of us went to sixflags about 20 mins away from site. the park has been closed since the storm... it was dark, quiet, and like being in the middle of a really creepy video game. the park hasnt been touched...there is a GIANT clown head smashed on the ground, stuffed animals and tshirts moldy but still on display as prizes, weeds growing up into the rides, and signs into the entrances of rides tilted or broken from katrina. we walked around wispering and taking in all of the sites, of course i was getting a bit scared-ok, im a giant baby. i was freaking out when we decided to walk through mardi gras madness in the pitch black....we ended up turning around. we did walk to the top of a roller coaster though and saw the whole park and the city in the distance- that was amazing. my writing is not doing the evening justice but it was pretty amazing. here's a shout out to two amazing people who left today: kate and emily, you guys are awesome and thanks for taking me on that adventure!



friday night we went to see a brass band play at the balcony bar and cafe. i met the owner last week and after asking what i was doing here gave me his buisness card as a coupon for 8 free drinks for me and some other volunteers. it was cool to be there with a ton of the ec people and reconnect with Massumi, the owner. he's persian and the crowd was a nice mix of people, persian, black, white- new orleans is a truely diverse place. anyway, we ended heading down the road eventually and taking over the entire street. it seemed like every bar there you saw someone from ec- at one point we had 12 of us in a little alcove- im realizing this is a stupid story to share cause you cant really get the feel for the night so here are some pics:)

point: this weekend was nice, we worked hard, and had a freakin blast in the eve:)

this wednesday the new orleans city council is coming to do a volunteer appreciation event at our place. that'll be exciting- when we have visitors we usually get a band so im looking forward to that:)

welp, tomorrow is a big day again so im outta here.

xo,
sb

Aspiration Statement

Sarah H. Buffie

Namibia

November 1, 2007

A. The professional attributes that you plan to use, and what aspirations you hope to fulfill during your Peace Corps service.

One of my greatest aspirations for my Peace Corps service is to become an engaged and connected community member. I thrive on relationship building and believe in the power of a group to build community first and accomplish a task second. Starting here, I hope to match my skills and passions with those of my community to tackle the existing issues surrounding HIV/AIDS. I am a student of Asset Based Community Development and hope to use this professional skill in conducting “needs assessments” at the community, organizational, and individual level. I plan to use my communication skills to listen and learn the needs of people affected by HIV/AIDS and administration and research skills to enhance/create educational and training materials on topics deemed necessary for the community in which I live and work. I also plan to use my professional networking skills to be a connector of people and organizations.

B. Your strategies for working effectively with host country partners to meet expressed needs.

It’s difficult for me to express a “strategy” per se because I know I have so much to learn from my host country and organization. I believe my biggest strength is an open mind and an adaptable work style. That being said, my goal in working effectively with host country partners to meet their needs is to always stay focused on these needs. If we can keep our eyes on the end goal without letting personal or cultural interest steer us away, I believe we will achieve a positive end result. Personal or cultural interests should only enhance a team’s goal rather than hinder. My “strategy” will be to find a good balance between listening openly and asserting my ideas.

C. Your strategies for adapting to a new culture with respect to your own cultural background.

From a young age I’ve been exposed to and raised in different cultural backgrounds. I have respect, admiration, and a yearning for understanding other cultures and believe strongly that the way others live does not have to conflict with how I live. In many cases I will adapt by adopting certain practices and customs because I am a life-long learner. I know and am prepared for new experiences, local cuisine, and cultural practices that will be unfamiliar and perhaps uncomfortable for me, but which can be found anywhere in life not just isolated to this experience. I plan to keep an open mind and ask questions, when appropriate, to help with my understanding and thus adapting to Namibian culture.

D. The skills and knowledge you hope to gain during pre-service training to best serve your future community and project.

I hope to gain not only language skills but also cultural cues that will help me communicate to the fullest. I also hope to learn more about HIV/AIDS specific to Africa and Namibia. I am very interested in learning about the structures of NGO’s in Namibia and then outlining how they differ from similar organizations in the U.S. I would love to learn more about the history of Namibia and the current political and social issues locally and countrywide. I want to become conscious of cultural norms when meeting people, building relationships, setting boundaries, and the roles of men and women in the workplace, in the community and in the family unit.

E. How you think Peace Corps service will influence your personal and professional aspirations after your service ends.

My personal and professional aspirations are closely connected: to be an active citizen of the world, create and build community wherever I am, do service and share experiences with people different from myself, and work hard at whatever task is in front of me. I can’t think of a better “career move” than joining the Peace Corps! I believe that this Volunteer service experience is going to build on the path of self-awareness and understanding I embarked on two years ago with AmeriCorps and will give me more professional skills that will be applicable anywhere upon my completion of my Peace Corps tour.

out-of-towners..and some big news!

last week two of my favorite people cam eto visit. jori and patrice arrived at noon on thursday right in time to welcome ben poor to town- the guy who walked here from indiana! The two of them got roped into holding some of his welcome banners so im sure they were on the even news! thre were a few media sources, all of the volunteers, a brass band, and residents- it was a pretty hapenin' time. ben's website is pretty cool: benswalk.com

after the excitement we walked to the corner store to get a drink- pennington was DYING from the heat:) at 3:30 we started on dinner prep, then the girls left for their hotel and i joined them later for a nap before we hit the town. they already had pretty important observations to share so we did a good ole fashion PA debrief which got me thinking....would you two care to add your thoughts to the blog!? I'd love for folks to see it through your eyes too...

Our first stop that night was a really great hooka bar then we went to see Soul Rebels play- an amazing brass band that play at the same spot every thur night. The night ended by us being pulled over by the cops for a missing headlight (the wiring is mesed up dad!) THe cop made all of us put our hands out of the window before she approached the car then asked if we had any weapons- very strange...she then proceeded to check all three ID's and finally came back to the car with: "you know the saying 'it's not what you say it's how you say it?' 'well, you were very polite so i'm letting you off with a warning" ...i wasnt too sure where she was going with that at first. was a broken light worth all that!??!?! Oh well, it made for some extra excitement i suppose...

it was amazing to have some members of my extended family in town... we balanced our time between site and relaxing time- well more vacation time which was nice for all of us. it was sad to see them go.

after dropping them off at the airport it was back to work- sunday barbque was a hit and the week got off to a great start because I FOUND OUT MY PEACE CORPS ASSIGNMENT!!!

October 29th I head off to (unknown city) for the staging event (predeparture training) then November 1st I leave with my training class to NAMIBIA, AFRICA!!

i can't wait...i cried when my parents told me, the mail was sent to their place, and i've been smiling ever since. i'll be a health extension volunteer helping to build the capacity of local NGO's for HIV/AIDS. i'll be doing program development, liasion between community, organizations, gov't etc, assisting with development and dissemenation of educational materials and much more im sure. the packet i read was HUGE and i have a lot to do in the next ten days: update my resume, write a motivatin statement (5 part bulletted essay that i'll probably post for ya'll), apply for my visa and peace corps passport, and then much more before my actual departure.

besides YAY!!!!! the most common response when i tell people is "isn't that where angelina's baby is from?" maybe we'll be at the same coffeeshop one day... :)

speaking of coffeeshops: today i took the day off to take care of some of the paperwork and to read all of the information sent to me about pc. i went to two different places and both times people started conversations with me. they asked why i was down here and i told them a bit about EC and then they asked what i'll be doing when i went home and i told them about the peace corps. both of their responses were similar to a question jori asked me while she was here: are you punishing yourself for something?

i've been sitting with that question ever since jori popped it and i had to think about it differently when it was posed today. i'd never thought of what i do as a punishment- most people i've worked with, whether here or in public allies, are all doing it for similar reasons- there is a need, we have a passion to be involved, and we're having amazing experiences and meeting amazing people along the way. being down here and heading to africa are just as selfish as anything else- the words "selfish" and "selfless" have such concrete negative or positive connotations that makes it difficult for me to express exactly what i'm trying to say but i hope you follow me. i decided a few years ago that when i travel i want to work my way through countries- not just visit. peace corps is a perfect way to do that. im excited about the challenges, looking forward to how i'm going to continue to mold and be awoken to my true self and impact others just as they will impact me along the way...i need to give this more thought but generally- no, the decision to head overseas is not a punishment, it's truely a gift!!

i'll be sleeping on this quote tonight from the one and only browniest sanders of all the browns:

"courage is the capacity to confront what can be imagined"

...let's all be a little more courageous.

peace,

sb

hmmm

well today i was on my food for friends route for a few hours. it should go much smoother thursday because i'll know where the hell im going! i have 6 houses on my route all in New Orleans East. It's pretty close to my neighborhood but i dont deliver to anyone here. i dropped off to people in two different FEMA trailer parks. those places are pretty much a disaster. it's just trailer after trailer lined up on black rock gravel. two security guards sit out front all day long in the crazy heat checking id's as people come in. can you imagine living there for 2 years?

this isn't a picture of one of mine but you get the idea:

one of my stops was to a woman and her 12 year old daughter- they are both living with AIDS. on my way out of their park traffic was backed up because of a big arrest going on. i saw a woman get handcuffed and thrown to the ground a guy get punched in the chest by the cop right before they searched him. it was awful. ms. williams told me her grandmothers name was sarah and then asked me to stay for a while- she was my first stop so i could't today but maybe i will sometime. i'm living in pretty extreme poverty at the moment but i got to see it in other parts of NOLA just as bad...

after my route i tried to figure my way home and luckily got lost by a great coffeeshop. i took some me time and had some good coffee, read, wrote a few letters- just hung out. it took me about an hour to find my way back and once i did it was back to work. we are feeding 30 visa'd workers who are here in a shelter tonight and it's family night so we've got some extra kids around:)

in other news: i've talked to unjin krantz about helping with some fundraising for EC. she's been contacted by mike agresta our director of development and he sent the following email. i thought i'd share it with you all because he's a bit more eloquent than me:)

Hi,Kate Fogle at our Lower Ninth Ward site gave me your contact information. She said you were interested in helping to raise funds forour work on the Gulf Coast. As you might be aware, Katrina-related funding is increasingly hard to come by these days. Most foundations (and the American public) are inclined to view the Lower Ninth Ward as a"permanent disaster zone," a sort of worst-case scenario of everyday urban poverty, rather than an emergency situation. As such, we've concluded that we'll have the best luck with private donors.

If you're interested in helping us raise funds for our current project, I strongly suggest you first talk to your friends, family and personal contacts. We have to turn the tide of apathy one person at a time. On the other hand, if you think you can help us find further foundation support, I'm happy to share with you our grant research and some of our past grants.

I'm attaching our annual support from last year and a page of testimonials from our friends on the Gulf Coast to give you an introduction to who we are and what we do. If there's anything you know you need to get started, don't hesitate to ask me. Thanks so much foryour interest in helping out.

Best, Mike Agresta Director of Development Emergency

lots of stuff

so tonight keith came in white as hell cause he was sanding a house....lookin pretty foxy. we had stevie wonder blastin and he FREAKED OUT!! looooooves him some stevie!! he was singing quite a bit but finally i got a video of him...check it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLbRmd7_JV8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJNRSXqYJZ8

also, here's a little clip from our sunday barbque...enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OqgWv-vjD0

aaaaaaaaaaaaand check out this link!! http://www.wbko.com/news/headlines/8403272.html

20-year old Ben Poor (from ball state university...and new palestine, indiana!!) is walking from New Palestine to New Orleans and raising money for Emergency Communities on the way! it's pretty amazing. he should arrive thursday around 2:00 so things are going to be pretty awesome around here. updates to come...

tomorrow night is "national night out against crime" we're having a cookout in front of the center and then sitting in the grass until midnight. a bunch of the organizations here are planning events to show drug dealers and crime committers (ha, what is the name for that?) that this is our neighborhood and we won't be run out!

and last but not least listen to the Steve Harvey morning show this week!! the 5th annual Hoodie Awards are being nominated and voted on this week- "the Hoodie Awards recognize our everyday figures and buisness owners for their beliefs, courage and commitment." i'm nominating "Dirty Darin- mechanic and handyman" Darin McKinney is a long time resident of the Lower Ninth Ward and has been doing work on homes since before Katrina. Once the center opened up here Darin has been our righthand man- taking crews out to houses all over town, fixing things around site, grilling burgers for the barbque etc. so listen to the show or check back here so you know when to vote for Darin!! http://steveharvey.com/hoodie_awards/

the weekend!

this weekend was great. friday i hung out with some friends at tulane university which was nice. i didn't have breakfast duty so i got to sleep in which was WONDERFUL!! I got ready for lunch prep at 10 but there wasn't anyone for the front desk so i sat up there, caught up on some emails, did some research and then took a bike ride to the french quarter. the ride was awesome. about 4 miles up st. claude i reach the outskirts of the quarter. i explored a bit and found a coffee house that i'll definitely be heading back to when i get time off. the part i was riding through was the predominantly gay area so that was pretty cool. i passed one of the offices of the NO/AIDS taskforce and got more familiar with that area since my route will be somewhere close.

i headed back for dinner prep but we had had such a slow day that we were just serving leftovers. a few of played euchre and drank some cokes. after a shower i joined the crew in eating some crawfish...chris from buras is the fish guy around here and hooked us up with several pounds of crawfish and corn:






right are kate and garret- garret did NCCC (AmeriCorps) last year and he's our site director. kate did EarthCorps a while ago and she's the on site volunteer coordinator


a few of us headed out last night to lehrmans- a bar in st. bernard parish (next to new orleans parish where we stay) this place is a serious dive but they love the volunteers in the lower ninth. they actually save our karaoke requests and give them out whenever the gang comes in. kate and kate are pretty great singers, i mostly played pool and then ate some peel shrimp towards the end of the night.

sunday the schedule is a bit different. we have a brunch at 11 and then a barbque at 4. the rest of the pictures below are from the day. i've also added some pictures of my new home- i moved from the house to the doublewide- much nicer and cooler!

NO/AIDS Taskforce

So before I head to the PeaceCorps I need a few months of volutneer service in an HIV/AIDS organization. I've connected with the NO/AIDS Taskforce here in nola and will be delivering food every Tuesday and Thursday morning to persons with AIDS who are homebound and cannot prepare their own meals. check the link below for more info:

http://www.noaidstaskforce.org/article.php?story=vol.fff



I'm really looking forward to this because I haven't had much experience with this area of work. I'll be able to assist in some testing and possibly help out on some of their fundraising events.

I'm also excited about getting to know the city better. I'll have the same route both days (wish me luck I'm terrible with directions:) hehe, didn't tell them that when they were screening me!) so hopefully I'll get familiar with the east side of new orleans.



The only drawback to this volunteer position is I have to use my own car and pay for gas $$. With no income this is going to be a little taxing but with some support from my family I'm sure I'll be ok. If you've been reading and are wondering about a way to help out with things down here feel free to donate to the Food for Friends sarah buffie driving fund! holler at me.

i'll put on some more pics soon.

a few pics

here are a few photos from the past week. (top) that's the dining area and the serving line. the door right next to the aligator on the wall leads outside to the kitchen. during the day the kids summer camp goes on in there. today the kids made dresses and suits out of cardboard and had a prom on the stage :) the one on the bottom is of us hangin after dinner...i was writin' a letter...

then jeremy and i decided to do some gymnastics:)

this is the wish fish. if you click on the picture and zoom in you can see the wishes of some of the children down here:

"i wish for life improvement"

"i wish for a bike"

"life before katrina"

"that everyone's house can be fixed up by now!"

"a better and prayful louisana"

"a bag of money"

"for everybody to be happy"

"i wish for inner peace"

"i need some reliable transportation"

don't be white, be good

tonight was quite the adventure. shannon was gone so pete (a new volunteer from London!!) and i were in charge. we made mashed potatoes and chicken etouffee. it as the most inefficient yet successful cooking experience of my life. i started to boil 2 pots of water, one for the etouffe, one for the potatoes. after pealing and cutting the potatoes we started dumping them in but there was too much water- so i laddeled some out. an hour later nothing was boiling so we ended up taking huge buckets of water out of the pot. in the meantime im taking 7 trips to and from the dry storage (your normal kitchen pantry x's 100) getting cup fulls of the etouffe mix- all i was told was to make it thicker than the spaghetti sauce at lunch...soooo pete stirred while i poured in the mix one cup at a time, an hour after that we put the chicken in and had a taste and it was terrible:) soooo what fixes nasty etouffee?? more etouffee mix!!! so i kept pourin, he kept stirring, we kept watching the unboiling potatoes and time quickly ran out. finally the taters were soft so i spooned them out into one pan but there was too much water so we had to then spoon them into another where we could do the mashing. that was done in several stages, then we added frozen milk and butter got the etouffee tasting GOOD and got it on the line right at 5:30! i took a break to go eat and as i walked through the line a guy came up for seconds and said "where's the cook, this is good!"
now the only reason i share that is because it was the EASIEST meal shannon could have left for us to cook but we slightly resembled the three stooges, minus a stooge of course:)

during dinner i sat with a guy named keith. when i was here in april he had introduced himself to me as "keith, keith the laughing guy" he said he was the guy in charge of keeping smiles on peoples faces.

A lot of the folks i've talked to down here are either a little deranged, drinking too much alcohol, keep to themselves, or just generally uneducated. when you think of people in poverty many folks who come to the cafe fit the stereotypical description. well, originally i wrote keith off as, well a nice guy, but a little bit loony. tonight he shattered some of those first impressions i had.

he and i talked about race, life before katrina, class vs. race, double standards, both clintons, jesus christ, and a lot about the bible. the difference between this convo and a few others ive had is 1) keith wasn't ranting, we were actually connecting, and 2) he wasn't pushy on the religion topic. he talked about jesus a lot but not in a way that i felt preached to.

one of the first topics he brought up was the cleanliness of the volunteers here . this place is full of hippies, dreadlocks, dirt, etc. we wear gloves and aprons in the kitchen but it's not uncommon to be fed food by someone who hasn't showered that day...or week. i didnt think about it too much before but one of keith's observations was that this dirty living had to be a white thing... something to think about. then he mentioned the fact that there has been a decline in the number of residents coming to eat here- he thinks it is because of the body odor (halle, any thoughts on that?) and the lack of cleanliness here and that it's white people serving black people, if it were the other way around there would be way more of a problem. keith wasn't making a point about pro black anti white- he was talking about everyday racism or racial issues that exist and how it's hard to bring it up or talk about it because it makes everyone uneasy. eventually he looked at me and said "you be you and i'll be me. dont be white, be good." i guess that would go for anyone. dont be black or brown or white or red be good, be genuine, be true. i wonder if he was the one who wrote the quote pictured above on the bathroom wall...

im getting frustrated because i want to share everything that keith and i talked about but i cant describe it all. he just asked me to help him record a public speech to the community...perhaps i'll get that manuscript and post it since im sure he'll be talking about some of the same things.
i know his dot was speaking to me tho...
what are my thoughts about keith? im a little skeptical about some of his theories or statements but im looking forward to getting to know him better.

i had a pretty lonely day yesterday. leaving cincinnati, coming here, going to florida...it was all so much- i'm thankful and happy for every part but i think being gone finally caught up to me. it was a bit of a roller coaster thinking about being gone in africa for two years. im glad i have this experience to warm me up to being 'gone.' what im realizing tho is that i have the opportunity now to learn a lot about myself.

it's crazy to be out of public allies. i had no idea how it was going to hit me until a few days ago. because i had two years with PA right after college i really knew nothing else. i'd heard about when the time is over how it's difficult to reenter the "real world" but I didn't get it...now i do. it's borderline awful;) you have to be intentional about who you spend time with or you'll be consumed with loneliness. let me change that statement. i have to be intentional with people i surround myself with or i'll go crazy. it's easy to shut down and develop a thick skin towards people and things just to cope with the loneliness- im glad im taking steps in the right direction to be intentional, live out my values, learn more about myself, and mostly listen. i think i've spent a lot of time the past years talking, speaking out, being in the front and now i'm in a space where taking a backseat is important. hopefully i'll find some balance in that.

१२ dozen eggs

I rose at 5:15am this morning to be greeted by 12 dozen eggs in need of cracking. It's pretty difficult to whisk that many eggs so when they were in the largest skillet ever i had to keep trying to pop the slippery little yokes that had yet to be squished. I'm easily entertained... :)

that kept me busy as the sun came up and other folks slowly woke from a night out at a bonfire. im sleeping in a trailer now with 15 other ppl and most everyone came in around 1:30ish- I enjoy all of the hustle and bustle but i think im going to invest in some ear plugs.

it's nice to be back. again i was greeted by my friends and we hung out with a new volunteer in the little trailer. we talked about a lot of the systemic issues here in nola which i'll elaborate on later. it's nice to sit back and and listen to folks who have been here for several months- it takes time to learn what has happened/not happened down here. apparently the lower ninth ward (LNW, where we are) was the last place people were allowed to come back to after the storm- they almost bulldozed the entire place but finally folks were allowed to come back and claim their land and wait for their Road Home money (a sizeable chunk from the gov't)...most people have yet to receive that $$.

last night I got into town around 9:30, I was going to make it in time for circle but there was a detour on I-10 that sent me way out of the way. I got lost on all of the one way streets when I finally got into the LNW and was pretty shaken up about it. I was overwhelmed by what i thought was an irrational fear of this blighted area. there was a car jacking a few weeks ago and so i was a little on edge. once i got on site it took a bit for me to calm down but i kept telling myself that it was a fear of the unknown rather an actual reason to be scared. im not writing this to freak anyone out but just to acknowledge my feelings now and wondering how they will change the longer I am here. i do know to not drive around at night by myself tho...

time to go prep lunch...

vacation

holler- here i am, adding a new post to my blog.....with a shaved head!!!! i love it:) it was just time, i've been talking about buzzing my head for a few months now and i was going to do it right before i left for africa but now seemed like the right time. im in miami, fl right now. it's a pretty big contrast from nola. i've got a lot of thoughts about what it means to be here instead of there but im not sure they are appropriate to share at this moment. im thankful for friendships i have and relationships built here as well as Cincinnati and back at 'site'. it's crazy to feel like im in a different world only to return to nola and feel like im in a place of peace- surrounded by so much unrest.

more to come...

peace.

8million degrees

this morning at 5am halle and i moved to the car because we were dying from the heat!! we dont have a fan so it was pretty bad . we put on the ac for about 5 minutes then shut off the car and slept till 8- probably the best/worst idea ever. tonights mission is to steal the fan from the children's area for the night.

when i first came here in april i was pretty depressed by the conditions of the ninth ward and the folks here. for the first time in my life i was left completely hopeless. this time around im experiencing a lot of peace and inner hope. we are doing what we can to get by and i think that's all that one can do. my mind is constantly running tho on how to do more. i was thinking about what i would do if i had a lot of money to give to this place- where would i put it? it costs $10,000 a month for security... $10,000?!??!?!! That's just to have a giant light in the back and a security guard 24hrs which is very much needed. We are also serving 500 meals a day- thats a hell of a lot of money too- so basic security and meals and we have surges of volunteers to organize as well. there are so many steps to go through before we can gut a house or clean up a lawn but then the equipment is dodgy so we have to worry about that too. so would i spend money on vol recruitment and management? hire a grant writer? purchase food? buy equipment? pay utilities- the fans/window ac/refrigerator/lights/water etc all drain us. and then their are homeless people that could use housing, clothing, reading and writing skills taught etc. there is so much but fortunately i'm not bogged down by it all. just excited about all of the possibilities.

our friend lauren left today. it's crazy to meet people for 2-3 days and feel so connected. we talked last night about how this place changes ones outlook on what service is, what it means to be resourceful/asset based, how our work in other cities is affected by what we see and do here. also we shared stories about when we've been knocked back down to reality and realized our "cart before the horse" ambition.

everyone has a story man, it's nice to tap into peoples lens and check out the world through so many different folks.

a few pics

6030 st claude ave, new orleans, la 70117- im in need of a flashlight:)

this is the goin' home community cafe where we work, eat, play, hang, do laundry, live- a gem in the lower ninth

this pic is right outside my bedroom- check out that sweet ride!




this is my room with my tent and the pic on the left is the hall way where other folks live. there are 8 of us in there. we finally got a door to the house so we could have a little privacy. it's a bit dirty but overall im happy to have a place to crash at the end of the day

ob tampons and communication- and a lot of my blahblahblah

so my inner hippie is now in full effect- i tried and fell in love with o.b. tampons yesterday:) (too much information? what else do you expect). well they are great and i'd like to say jim inspired me with his earth saving ways but actually i have no money and they are the cheapest! ...and the earth is cool too.

yesterday it poured in the morning. lawn crew was quickly cancelled and we ended up gutting a house instead. it's actually a bar that the owner lived in. ec has been working on this place for a while and apparantly everyone went to her family reunion this last weekend...1000ppl attended! it's the largest family reunion in new orleans. im sad i missed it- pigs feet were the delicacy. she stopped in a few times to see our progress and was able to see the potential in a place that i just see a mess. i dont have a construction worker's eyes- i dont have a cooks tongue either but my fave place is the kitchen:) in two weeks i'll be taken under shannons wing and after i get the hang of kitchen manager duties she'll get a vacation and i'll be working with folks...lets hope you dont hear about the mass starvation of the lower ninth in the month of august:)

last night at huddle (it's called huddle when we just sign up for jobs and circle when we talk about issues/concerns etc) there was quite a bit of drama.

the basic arguement was about if the site managers were running this place as efficient as possible. at ec the community center is the main priority- cooking and serving three meals a day, washing all the disches, filling the back with gravel so when it rains we dont flood, providing laundry and internet for free etc. we are a community center, for the community. if we have the extra people and resources crews are sent out to gut houses, do lawns, work on rebuilding projects etc. the residents purchase the rebuilding materials and we provide the service for free. other volunteer sites charge for service sometimes and the volunteers have to pay to stay there and to eat. so- we've got some folks from out east here for a week and they are upset because they arent gutting houses everyday because that's what they came to do. they are devaluing the work that needs to get done (feeding people) and not showing up for those shifts because they feel underutilized. the whole debate was bad because no one was listening to one another and everyone was definisive so that was an obvious problem but the bigger issue is whether volunteering is about the volunteer or the volunteeree.

my biggest observation last time i was here was that this place does not make it about the volunteer. they are happy you are hear but shit needs to be done so pick up a hammer/rag/knife and do it. yes there are 100s of houses that need to be gutted but you cant just come down here, walk into a house and start knocking down walls- and essentially thats what this group wants to do.

i feel the frustration when there is down time or when you're given little direction but i also get that people are doing the best with what we've got: very little money and crappy tools. ec isnt an organization that has the funds to support 50+ gutting crews even if we have 50+ people. we went out on a lawn yesterday and the lawn mower broke, the weedwacker ran out of fuel and the head of the rake kept coming off- thats what our resources are so we pretty much cut an entire lot with our hands. according to some of the tense volunteers this work is inefficient and perhaps just a bandaid but we are attacking basic needs, food and lawns: if you dont keep your lawn up you are fined 100 dollars a day until the fine surpasses the value of the house, then the city takes your property. awesome, thanks katrina.

anyway, i just got called to the kitchen cause some of those volunteers didnt show up... i have a lot more thoughts about this but im a south which means i cant just spit it out so i'll try to think about that over cutting the veggies!!

coming home

yesterday i left a city that i've grown quite attached to. it was sad to drive those streets and think about the last two years- how i laid a foundation and developed roots and now i was saying one of many goodbyes.

on the road for 12 hours and i drove down st claude ave in the ninth ward- i felt like i was coming home. it was the right decision to pack my entire life into my car and head south. if you're reading this i miss you and i've probably thought about you 100 times in the past 24 hours but know that im safe, and happy.

this place is crazy. www.emergencycommunities.org new orleans site. you probably cant get a great feel for it over the internet but that will have to suffice unless you wanna come visit:)

a lot has changed since i was last down here- a little more paint, only grits this morning instead of eggs, a little more organization, a lot more people. when we got here at 9:30 last night they were doing circle. every sunday anyone who is here gathers together and we talk about our community and what we can do to make it better for everyone. all suggestions are heard, little dramas play out, shit gets done. we walked in in the middle of it and three familiar faces jumped up to greet us with hugs. it was awesome to see the friends i made here and to hang in the beater trailer till morning.

last time i was staying in the church but now i'm in the abondoned house behind the site, i feel like im finally in the life of luxury! there are two mattresses on the ground so we set up the tent and passed out for the night. everything is humid down here so a constant state of dampness surrounds us.

today im heading out on a lawn crew which means we'll be going from house to house cleaning up from katrina aftermath- two years later and it looks like it all happened yesterday.

pictures to come....

peace,
sb