What will my job be like?

I'm glad you asked! Here is just a very brief overview of what I'll be doing. This is what was discussed during the conference call last week.


*CONFERENCE CALL TO BOTS 13 PEACE CORPS BOTSWANA INVITEES

FRIDAY, August 24, 2012


All Bots 13 invitees will be placed within a school, in the Guidance and Counseling Department.
Your job will be to continue the roll-out phase of the Life Skills Curriculum. The curriculum
includes, but is not limited to, subjects such as Puberty, HIV/AIDS, Stress Management, Goal
Setting, Teenage Pregnancy, Study Skills, etc. Basically, you’ll be in a position to work with teachers
(especially Guidance and Counseling teachers) to teach students the necessary life skills they need
to grow and make healthy choices. However, you are NOT assigned as a teacher-but a co-teacher
and should keep in mind that you should be working with teachers in your school during lessons
and after school clubs, etc. Of course, this is not always the case due to lack of teachers or your
preference, so you may teach a class without another teacher present, though it’s not recommended
for sustainability reasons.

You will be placed in one of three types of schools- Primary Schools, Junior Secondary Schools and
Senior Secondary Schools. Primary Schools have children aged from 5-13 on average and their
levels are called Standard 1-7. Junior Schools have children aged from 13-18 on average and their
levels are called Form 1-3. Senior Schools have students aged 18-20 on average and their levels are
called Form 4-5. Most of you will be placed in Primary and Junior Schools. *

I am so eager to meet everyone and start teaching!! Yeee!

I found a short article about me on a website. Preeeeetttyyyy cool!

Click here if you want to read a little bit about what I'll be doing while in Botswana! :)

It's hit me.

For a while everyone would ask me if I was scared, nervous, or excited to leave, every time I saw them. I'd always reply with, "no, not really" or "It really hasn't hit me yet." Well, these past few days...it hit me.

Trenton's sweet parents hosted a Going Away/Birthday get-together with friends and family yesterday. I've been really excited and looking forward to it all month and it turned out really great. Trenton's sister, Taryn, did a lot of the decorating and did such a good job with the decorations - globes, maps, etc. Not to mention she was in charge of all the games. (Thanks Tare! =D )The nerd in me loved the trivia games and all the other games that were played like "Pin Botswana." Also, Kelle, Trenton's brother's girlfriend made these awesome little cupcakes that were pretty damn cute, too. (Thank you!) The house looked beautiful, the weather was beautiful, and the love I felt all in one day could only be described as... beautiful.

So after a fun day of eating, sharing, dancing, and enjoying the company of people I love, it's hit me. I won't be seeing all of these lovely faces for a very long time. I will miss Trenton and miss all my family and friends so much. This is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do and will probably be the hardest thing I'll ever do in my life. Each and every person who was there last night has made an impact in my life, every single person, and some others who were not there as well. I couldn't help but get choked up when people were wishing me well and saying their goodbyes. When my two best friends (in the world) made the sweetest toasts, I just couldn't hold it in anymore. Just having my mom, my sister, my cousin, and my aunt there at the same time made me feel like a young child at "home" again. Tonight I talked to Trenton and I couldn't help but get emotional. We talked about us, about people, about life, and about the future and he assured me that everything will be okay. Because it WILL.

And while thinking of that it hit me...I have the very best friends and family a girl can ask for.

Cheesesteaks!

So I just found out that my staging event will be taking place in Philadelphia, Penn. It is safe to say that I will probably book a flight earlier than the actual event so I can roam around Philly and fill my stomach until there is no more to fill with my favorite hot sandwiches - cheesesteaks!

When I got the email today and found out that I was going to be in Philadelphia for two days, I immediately called to book my ticket and of course, to my luck, they were closed. =[ Oh well, tomorrow morning will have to do. This just makes me that much more excited for my departure. You don't know how much I've wanted to visit Pennsylvania solely for those sandwiches. I'm serious.

Cheesesteak heaven!

I'm really blogging. Weird.

A lot of people have been asking me about Peace Corps and what I'll be doing and how I'll communicate and if I'll have internet access and yada, yada, yada...   

For those of you who don't know, I've been invited to go to Botswana, Southern Africa as part of a Peace Corps assignment. I'll be working with the communities there and interacting with youth, teachers, community leaders, parents, etc. My official title is School & Community Liaison for Life Skills. My main focus is to address HIV/AIDS at the community level educating and using constructive partnerships to bring about change.  I will also focus on youth development, specifically, and try to implement behavior change programs for the prevention of new infections.

Since I'll be gone for 27 months, if I am successful at learning the language and culture in the first 2 1/2, I've decided to share my experience here, as much as I can. A lot of my friends (hey guys!) and family have asked me to keep in touch and communicate as much as possible and although I don't know how often I'll have access to the internet just yet, I intend to update all of you on my experiences and daily life. For my friends who know me, this is really weird because I think blogging can get really personal and I don't like to put myself out there that much. I don't like sharing so much of myself for all the world to see but I figure I can share it with my friends and limit what I put out there so that my friends and family will know I'm okay and doing fine. I'll mainly be using this blog to capture my Peace Corps experience and travels for now but who knows, maybe I'll keep using it thereafter.

So here goes to actually keeping up on posting pictures and experiences, rants and raves, and just learning as I go. Hope to at least keep some of you entertained. I can't believe I'm blogging...