Peaceful Pathway☮

I have no desire to move mountains, construct monuments, or leave behind in my wake material evidence of my existence. But in the final recollection, if the essence of my being has caused a smile to have appeared upon your face or a touch of joy within your heart…then in living–I have made my mark. ~ Thomas L. Odem, Jr. ------------------------------------------------------------- I know it has been a while since my last post, but I have so much to tell you! First of all, let me explain that I’ve been trying to save my pula and pennies to buy a ticket home for Tasha’s wedding in September.   For this reason, I’ve tried more than anything to stay in my village as much as possible. Though there isn’t too much to do in Gobojango during the lazy afternoons, I’ve been spending my time taking evening walks around the village.   To my surprise, I’ve discovered a whole new appreciation for the people in Botswana.   One afternoon, as I meandered through a dr...

Ready or not, someday it will all come to an end. There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days. All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else. Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed. Your grudges, resentments, frustrations, and jealousies will finally disappear. So, too, your hopes, ambitions, plans, and to-do lists will expire. The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away. It won't matter where you came from, or on what side of the tracks you lived, at the end. It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant -- even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.       So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured? What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built; not what you got, but what you gave. What will matter is not your success, but y...

Oh God, why?   I have to bury my puppy today.   My confidante. My best friend.   Guard dog, cuddle buddy, walking partner….my best friend Ceasar.   Yesterday I spend the majority of the day clearing the weeds out of my garden.   As my 13 year-old neighbor Kesa made valentine’s cards in my doorway, the sun started setting and we decided it was time to clean up and head over to Lorato’s for dinner.    As I approached the house, I heard a scratching noise.     “Ceasar, stop it”. I yelled in the house.   It didn’t stop.   When I went inside, I found him convulsing on the floor behind my couch in a pool of foam and feces.   I didn’t know what to do.   I screamed for Kesa to go get Lorato. I tried to hold him still. I didn’t know what else to do.   Lorato came. She brought him outside and poured some milk in his mouth with hopes that the jolting would stop. ...

It’s so humorous to me how here I find myself sweating miserably throughout the entirety of Monday, and then on Tuesday I wear my winter jacket to work. I think the weather is a reflection of the mood changes I experience quite often in Botswana.   Never is it simply comfortable: it’s either truly extremely hot or drastically, freezing cold…and the two happen within days of one another.   Last week I spent the majority of my time with the new intake of volunteers.   I gave a presentation with the King’s Foundation on Friday afternoon; and let me tell you: it was much needed.   When we arrived to the academy where they were training, morale was extremely low.   People had been walking out of meetings and begrudgingly conversing about the Ministry of Education.   Since I had not yet met many of the new volunteers, I felt like it would be a great time to give off a good impression.   We arranged for the group to assemble underneath a grass hut (t...

SHADE GRANT POSTED ON THE PEACE CORPS WEBSITE!!! This news is so unbelievably exciting! The hard work I've been putting into the past 9 months have finally paid off with a legit posting on the United States Peace Corps website! Please, if you have even a dollar to donate to this project, the children in Gobojango would be so grateful. Just click the link above, and donate on the page if you are able.  Really and truly each penny counts From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU! (^-^)

It’s so easy to get swept up into the murkiness of cloudy days.   At first they’re comfy and enticing…but after a number of cloudy, rainy days in a row where one is stuck under the same roof, it’s easy to get swallowed into the unhappiness of the moment.   Enough. I was forced outside of the house today and made myself tend to the garden.   In reality, Lorato was really the one who gave me the extra push out. She came with her sister to check on me and make sure everything was okay.   Begrudgingly I answered the door and walked with them outside.   Be it the sunshine or the company, I felt a swarm of positive energy overwhelm me and I forgot the reason why I’ve felt so upset recently.   We spent time admiring the garden and chit chatting about nothing in particular.   Recently, the amount of butterflies in Gobojango has increased to unimaginable amounts.   The best part is that they love to flutter around the cornstalks and wate...

“Growth means change and change involves risk, stepping from the known to the unknown” This whole journey has been an exploration from the cosseted, comfortable life I used to know to the overwhelmingly daunting indefinite.   I know this may seem pretty obvious, but when small situations happen back home, and I realize that they mean more to me than they should, then I remember the fear and nerves I should be feeling by living so far away.   Everyone is okay, thank goodness, I have just had to re-evaluate what I know to be sure from my solid foundation of home. Fact #1 : my family is uprooting yet again to an unknown house in a few months.   Fact #2 : the person I used to love, care for, and share every part of myself with has found someone else to fill the empty spaces in my absence Fact #3 : life goes on back home.   Whether I’m there or not (and whether I like it or not) Fact #4 : I really have no reason to be upset about it, (and...