Thoughts - On goals/anxieties/what seems meaningless...

Just some thoughts before I head off to site tomorrow - Goals, anxieties, and why PC is important

Goals for the first two to three months

-->Dance parties every Friday with my host family

--> Eat meals with as many families as possible

-->Study Bambara every day with my host family

--> Tutoring

--> Promote education in any way I can - reading, studying, etc

--> Be social with my family, especially if I feel like I want to hole myself up in my house

--> Learn at least one Malian dance very well

--> Learn to make tea

--> Go to as many ceremonies as I can

Challenges I am anticipating during the first two to three months

--> Exhaustion from greeting and chatting

--> Boredom

--> Loneliness 

--> Frustration because I am not working

--> Frustration with kids or adults who call me a Toubab

--> Frustration with not being able to understand the language fully 

--> What we like to call the emotional roller coaster of culture shock and homesickness

--> Missing touch and hugs 

Why it's all worth it

I heard a story the other day about one of the Peace Corps staffers, who, as a child, had a Peace Corps volunteer live in his house as the volunteer's host family. He was just a kid when the volunteer lived there, but the impact that volunteer had changed his life forever. 

The volunteer used to always push the importance of education and was always, always seen reading. All the time. What would seem as a pointless act of entertainment for the volunteer had an effect so strong that the host dad so strongly encouraged education to his son. As a result, he (The PC staffer) now has his master's degree and a full time, reliable job with the Peace Corps. He is probably in the top 0.5 percent of Malians. 

This is phenomenal and inspirational. And yet it defines the change Peace Corps makes every day. To us, stuff like washing our hands with soap, talking about gender equality in America, befriending Malians and thus showing them a gentle, peaceful side to Americans, learning the local language that other NGOs don't, participating in ceremonies, and discussing the importance of education at dinner...it's so hard to see the results of these seemingly unimportant daily activities. But it has an impact. 

Having a master's degree in Mali is phenomenal. Seventy five percent of this country cannot read or write. SEVENTY FIVE PERCENT. That's three out of every four people who can neither read nor write. And oftentimes, it's women. It's 50 year old Malians, 15 year old Malians, full grown adults who did not have adequate access to a quality education. We take our education so forgranted in the US. Mali has one of worst literacy rates in the world, no doubt that it highly affects the problem with poverty here. SEVENTY FIVE PERCENT. That blows my mind. 

The fact that a former PCV was seen reading, and informally discussed education with his host family, and it thus pushed a family to send its son to school, broke a generation of poverty in Mali. 

Anyway, that's why I am here. That story is the most inspirational story I've heard here. We may not be affecting millions of Malians every day, but little by little, dooni dooni, as we say in Bambara, little by little, we can make an impact. 

Here goes two months! 

Laura