New Year 2012--Still in Mozambique!

January 12, 2012

Wow. 2012. Pretty crazy, huh? I realized on New Year's Eve that I spent the entire calendar year of 2011 in Mozambique. I didn't leave once. I traveled around to many different parts of Mozambique (I have now visited 8 of the 10 provinces) but never actually left the country. I'm hoping in the next year I can make it to the last two provinces I've not yet been to as well as my upcoming trip to Cape Town with a couple friends that should be really fun.

Hopefully most of you read my email from right before the Holidays but if not I have copied the more relevant portions below this one (and thank you to any of you who were so generous as to donate to our project). So what have I been up to the last couple months? Well I traveled up north to the province of Niassa for a big Thanksgiving celebration with some fellow PCVs and the Medicos Sem Fronteiras (Doctors without Borders) office up there. It was so much fun. We also went to Lake Niassa for a couple days. Then I came back to my site and had planned to host Christmas for any remaining volunteers from my group (most were home in the States for the Holidays) and all the new volunteers who just arrived in Mozambique in September.

However, on December 20, a heartbreaking tragedy befell some of our fellow volunteers down in the Southern region of Mozambique (for more information you can look here) and so all the Northern volunteers from the new group, some of whom had been at my site, traveled to Mozambique Island for a memorial service for their two fallen friends. All the other volunteers were invited to the memorial service as well and so all 15 of us who had been in Angoche left on December 24 to head to Moz Island. We spent Christmas there but then the new volunteers wanted to spend more time together to get through this difficult time and so 16 people came back to Angoche on December 28 to spend the New Year together as well. I had all those guests in my house for about a week, and while it was certainly a bit hectic, everyone helped out and it was really quite a heartwarming week. So many of them thanked me as they were leaving, saying the week of beach going and friends was exactly what they had needed. And I'll never forget, as one of them was leaving she told me, “It's like you healed us.” Needless to say the days of cleaning and getting the house back in shape after they left were completely worth it.

Now that the New Year is here I've been trying to get prepared for school to start up again. However, despite the opening ceremony being on Monday I still don't know what I'll be teaching this year. I can't say I'm all that surprised to be honest. Last year school didn't really start until about a month after the opening ceremony. And the class schedule changed completely at least four times during the first trimester. So we'll see. I've told my supervisors I can teach math, biology, or chemistry (and would prefer to teach those since they are what I studied in university) but it's difficult to argue when they say the English teachers they have aren't fluent and they want a native speaker to teach the upper level students. Either way, once I know what I'll be teaching this year I'll let you all know.

Well I'm off to enjoy my last few days of freedom before school starts back up. I hope you are all doing well back in the States, and please let me know how everything is going for you. I feel so out of the loop over here. And for those of you who don't know I will be home for about three weeks in mid to late April for my sister's wedding. I should be splitting my time between Ohio and DC (where the wedding will be). I would to see all of you while I'm there so make a note on your calendars. :)

Love,

Alissa

Short version of my pre-holiday message:

One thing my sitemates and I are hoping to accomplish in the next year is to help solidify our Youth Center as a place where kids of all ages in our town can come to learn, read, and explore. We would like to start a youth literacy program to help the youngest kids learn to read. The problem is finding children's books in Portuguese is extremely difficult and all printed books here in Mozambique are very expensive.

So in the past few months my sitemate, Margaret (who has since finished her service and returned to the States) and I have written grant to try and raise money for this new project. And in the spirit of the holidays I would like to invite any and all of you to check out or website where you can choose to donate to our youth center and aide us in buying the books and supplies we need to help the kids of Angoche. Information on our grant can be found here as well as a more detailed description of our project.

Thanks in advance for any donation you might make and I sincerely hope you all had a wonderful holiday season!!

December 20, 2011

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Sorry it has been so long since I sent an email update. I wish I had a better excuse, but I've just really been enjoying my summer break from school. I've traveled, read, started running almost every day, gone to the beach, played with my dog, and generally just enjoyed myself. I love my Peace Corps work in the village of Angoche here in Mozambique, and it has come to be home this past year.

I have officially been living at my assigned site for over a year now. Sometimes I can't believe my service is already halfway over. At this time in December 2012, I will have just come back to the States as a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer. Wow. I can't help but look back at this past year and think about what I've accomplished--and what I have yet to accomplish in my final 12 months here in Mozambique.

One thing my sitemates and I are hoping to accomplish in the next year is to help solidify our Youth Center as a place where kids of all ages in our village can come to learn, read, and explore. We would like to start a youth literacy program to help the youngest kids learn to read. The problem is that finding children's books in Portuguese is extremely difficult, and all printed books here in Mozambique are very expensive.

So over the past few months, my sitemate Margaret (who has since finished her Peace Corps service and returned to the States) and I have written a grant to try to raise money for this new project. And in the spirit of the holidays, I would like to invite all of you to check out or website where you can choose to donate to our Youth Center and aide us in buying the books and supplies we need to help the kids in our village. Information on our grant can be found here as well as a more detailed description of our project.

Thanks in advance for any donation you might be able to make. I know things are tough economically in the States, but as my mom could tell you after she visited me here in August, most Americans, no matter what their financial situation, are incredibly blessed when compared to the people of Mozambique.

If you have time to send me an email, I'd love to hear what's going on in your lives back in the US. And I sincerely hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!

Love,

Alissa

If the link above does not work for you for whatever reason, copy and paste this URL: https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=640-028

Alissa's Science Fair Students Go To Regional Competition in Nampula

After competing in their school's local science fair, Alissa and her students at Escola de Secundaria de Angoche took a trip last weekend to the regional science fair in Nampula, the province capital located several hours' away via bus. One of her students also won at the regional competition in Nampula -- he created a kind of universal cell phone charger that can be used with batteries in places where no electricity is available. Alissa and her students stayed in a modern hotel in Nampula, where she had internet access and was able to skype with us back in states. :-)

July 6, 2011 - A Day In My Life As A PCV

July 6, 2011

A belated Happy Independence Day to all of you Stateside. My sitemate, roommate and I celebrated together by making pizza and singing ridiculously loudly to all the cliched America songs you typically hear around the 4th. It was quite a night. Then both of them got sick to their stomachs from eating so much cheese (we rarely have dairy here). I was fine but they both missed a day of work. Oops. It was quite the experience overall.

A few of you have requested a kind of 'day in the life' type of update, and I think that's a great idea, so here is a 'typical' day for me in Mozambique (although I've found no day is really typical --haha).

5:15: Wake up with the sun

5:20: Take the puppy outside and then cook breakfast for him and myself

5:30: Eat breakfast, usually an egg and some vegetables

5:40: Heat up water to take my morning bucket bath

5:45: Take my bucket bath and do my hair/brush my teeth

6:00 Decide what to wear for the day and get ready for school

6:30 Make sure I have everything together and ready or school

6:40: Leave for school

6:45: Arrive at school in time for concentração (singing of the national anthem, announcements, etc).

12:10: Finish teaching for the day and head home

12:30: Cook lunch, usually something simple like some sauteed vegetables or a veggie sandwich or maybe a peanut butter and honey sandwich, it depends how much time I have

12:50: Eat lunch

1:00: Gather everything needed to teach at the Youth Center

1:30: Head down to the Youth Center with my roommate to set up for class

2:30-4: Intense English Class for 12th grade students at the Youth Center (Tuesday-Friday)

4:00-5:00: Answer any lingering questions from students and 'office hours' for students from school to come use books from the library or ask questions

5:00: Head home

5:15: Relax! Read & watch the sunset, write letters, type an email update, or play with the puppy. ☺

6:00 Cook dinner for myself and the puppy. This also varies quite a bit, but is often pasta and rarely includes meat. The only time I usually eat meat here is when we go to the restaurant in town and get chicken. (This happens once a week or less).

6:45: Eat dinner

7:25: Heat water for my second bucket bath

7:30: Take my second bucket bath

7:45: Prepare lessons, grade papers, etc.

8:45: Check that everything is ready for school the next day.

9:00: BEDTIME

So while they do vary, that's a general outline of my days here. On the weekends I have REDES and JOMA meetings as well as meetings with my computer club at school. Those usually take all of Saturday morning. Sunday is day to relax, go to the beach, and lesson plan for school. Monday I don't have school (lucky!) so the morning is spent cleaning the house and doing laundry and the afternoon is spent with my sitemate and roommate planning the youth center lessons for the week. We usually go out to dinner on Monday evenings to celebrate finishing our planning for the week and also because we usually finish kind of late and it takes awhile to cook things here.

Well that should give you a good idea of a typical day/week in my life in the Peace Corps in Mozambique. I am really excited for this coming weekend because my counterpart and I are taking four students to the regional science fair which should be really exciting. I organized (with my counterpart) a science fair for my town that happened last week, and the students with the best scores are going to represent Angoche this weekend in Nampula. It should be a lot of fun. We had 14 kids participate this year and I hope next year I can up that to closer to 25.

Well I'm off to cook dinner. I hope all is well with you and hope to hear from all of you about how your life is going!

So much love,
Alissa

Internet Is Back On -- June 15, 2011

June 15, 2011

Well, so much for the internet coming back on quickly. Finally, over a month and a half later it has started to work again (sporadically). However, as frustrating as it was to be without internet for so long, in some ways it was also kind of nice. Sometimes I feel that when the internet is working, I spend too much time in my room instead of experiencing everything around me. I'm only going to be here in Mozambique for two years and I feel like I need to experience everything I can while I have the time.

Not that I have all that much time. I've already been in Angoche for six months, in Mozambique for almost nine -- that means I have 18 months left, which really isn't that many. Every weekend between now and the end of the second trimester, I have something big happening. This coming weekend we have an experienced artist coming to teach our art group some new techniques and help them paint another part of the wall they painted earlier in the year. The topic this time is gender equality. The pictures the boys drew are really amazing, so I'll be sure to take pictures so you can all see their great work.

The next weekend is Mozambican Independence Day, June 25th. This is a huge holiday and there will be tons of partying and celebrating here in Angoche. A bunch of volunteers from all over the country are coming to experience one of Angoche's famous beach parties. It should be a lot of fun. Again I will try to remember to take lots of pictures so you can all see how people party it up here in Mozambique.

The weekend after that, the first weekend in July, is the Angoche Science Fair, which I am organizing. We have had three meetings already and I've spoken with a few other professors who will help, as well as local scientists who will help judge the projects. The students all seem really excited. I think I will probably end up with about 30 participants. Four will be chosen as winners, two girls and two boys, one each from 8-10th grade and 11-12th grade. Those four winners, a fellow professor, and I will then travel the following weekend to Nampula for a regional science fair. This science fair will include winners from the four northern provinces of Mozambique and will also have regional winners. Maybe some of my kids will be among them. We'll see!

Following the science fairs, the next weekend is the weekend of training for our REDES conference. REDES stands for Raparigas em Desemvolvimento, Educação, e Saude (Girls in Development, Education, and Health). Every year each region in Mozambique (North, South, and Central) have a conference for each REDES group in the region. We will have guest speakers and five full days of activities for the girls to participate in. This year the conference is being held in a place called Naoela in Zambezia province. Each of the 15 REDES groups in the North will bring two girls, one counterpart (a Mozambican woman who helps with the group), and a volunteer to the conference. Our group will actually have two volunteers, my sitemate Margaret and I.

After the weekend of preparation and training for the conference, it is our last week of school for the trimester which means I will be giving a final and finishing up grades. After I turn in my grades, I will be traveling again to Nampula for the weekend. This time I will be attending PDM (project design and management) training from the Peace Corps. This is where we learn how to write all different kinds of grants to fund our secondary projects like our youth center, girl's group, etc. We are taking our counterpart for the youth center, Mussa, who is quite possibly my favorite Mozambican. He is so nice, speaks wonderful English, works very hard, and never tries to hit on or sleep with any of us volunteers which makes him unique of all the Mozambicans I've met so far.

After the PDM conference, I have a week off where I think I will be traveling somewhere (the destination is still TBD). After that week of traveling I will head back to site to pick up the two girls from our REDES group to head to the conference which is the first week of August. After the conference I will head back to site for a few days to wait impatiently for my mom to arrive in Mozambique on the 11th! She will be staying for 11 days and I am SO excited for her to visit. We will visit Mozambique Island, Ribaue, Nampula, and my site of Angoche. Hopefully she will return to the States with plenty of interesting stories and pictures to share with you all.

And now I have to teach at the youth center so that is all I can write today. I hope you are all well. I miss you all so much!

Amo-vos,

Alissa

Happy Friday, May 13th from Mozambique!

May 13, 2011

I can't believe it's already mid-May. This time last year I was graduating from Smith (CONGRATS to all the ladies graduating this weekend!) and other than a 3-month summer internship in DC, my future was more or less a mystery. I don't think I would have ever guessed I would be in sub-Saharan Africa a year after graduating, to be honest. If I were going into Peace Corps, which was my first choice, I thought I would be going to Central or South America (as that was the region from my Peace Corps nomination). However, I could not be happier with how everything turned out

I absolutely love it here in Mozambique, especially in my town of Angoche. Of course things aren't easy, but that makes each little success even sweeter. Between classes at school and the youth center, our girl's empowerment group, our youth art group, and the computer club I started, I am keeping pretty busy. This is definitely my preferred method of operating (if any of you knew my schedule during college, you have an idea). If I have free time now, I usually spend it playing with and training my new puppy, reading a book, or cooking something new.

My roommate and I got a puppy a couple of weeks ago and are currently trying to house break him which is proving rather difficult in our apartment. We named him Pequininho (tiny one in Portuguese) or Nino for short. He was so small when we got him we had to bottle feed him for the first week or so, but he is doing wonderfully now and growing fast.

I'm in the middle of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, which I am enjoying a lot, but I don't have nearly as much time to read it as I'd like. I took a break from Zen and sped through a quick read called Do Fish Drink Water? which was really interesting. It's a book of random questions and answers, and I recommend it as a highly entertaining collection of fun facts. For example, if you took all the pennies the U.S. Mint has ever produced and lined them up edge-to-edge they would circle the globe 137 times. Or the reason we say 'god bless you' (or the German version, gesundheit) when someone sneezes is that during the Middle Ages when people were suffering from the last stages of the plague, they would have sneezing fits. So if if you heard someone near you sneeze, you knew they were about to die so you asked god to bless their soul. The children's song 'Ring around the Rosey' is about the plague also.

I've had some baking successes recently too, including some great banana bread and delicious peanut butter cookies. The next challenge will be baking a pizza in my dutch oven (aka a large covered pot with rocks and dirt in the bottom to insulate and then the baking dish inside. It's all done over charcoal). My site-mate is heading down South for a couple weeks and on the way back she's going to pick up some mozzarella cheese in the provincial capitol as that is really the one pizza ingredient we can't get here.

Well as I explained I'm really busy lately and I am about to head off to school, but hopefully the internet will come back on long enough for me to send this sometime this weekend. It keeps going on and off and we don't really know what the problem is. It hasn't worked well in over a month. Oh well. So it goes in Mozambique

Love, Alissa

New Puppy - May 4, 2011

May 4, 2011

A few things:
1- Yay for the internet being back on for the first time in two weeks.
2- It's 75 degrees and I am FREEZING. I dug my sweater out of storage this morning.
3- Living in an area that is mostly Muslim made receiving the whole Osama news really interesting.
4- Alex Breedlove (PCV sitemate) and I got a new puppy. Be jealous. Pictures to come.
:-)

[Alissa and her PCV roommate adopt an abandoned puppy, which they had to take turns feeding with infant formula every four hours, as it was not yet weaned. They named him Nino - "little boy"].