After 2 months of Peace Corps training, I'm finally an official volunteer! I recently moved into my new home in Mochudi, Botswana, a large village northeast of Gaborone, the capital. It's been quite an adjustment going from living with a host family in a small village to living alone in a big house in a bustling town! I've managed to make some good friends already- Manda, another Peace Corps volunteer, and her fiancee Dereje live nearby and have been extremely helpful with the adjustment process; Tinny, a Motswana woman from my work is very nice and has been introducing me to the community (and inviting me over to watch her favorite tv show, WWE wrestling!).
I'm currently working for a non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO) called Stepping Stones International. This organization serves adolescents who are orphans or vulnerable children (living in poverty and often have family members who are suffering from HIV/AIDS or other illnesses). Currently there are a large number of orphans in Botswana, mostly due to HIV/AIDS. Many children have lost their parents and thus become the caregivers for their younger siblings, or live with grandparents or other relatives, often being subjected to difficult living conditions, neglect, and abuse. Mochudi has an astounding number of kids in need, so I'm very happy to be working for such a great organization.
Starting this Wednesday, our center will be open for after-school programs for the kids- ranging from leadership, study skills, and job skill training, to sports, volunteer events, and other activities to help these kids thrive.
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Two months in India to learn about public health in rural communities.
Why we're here...
The Masters in Public Health program at the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis is offering a course on transdisciplinary problem solving and implementing public health interventions in developing countries. This course takes place in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India over 8 weeks and involves outreach to 3 rural areas- Andipatti, Allakkudi, and Karambayam. Throughout the course we will learn about prevalent public health concerns and develop research-based proposals for future programming, including evaluation plans, to be presented to stakeholders in India. We are partnering with the IKP Center for Technologies in Public Health.
About Me
- Leslie
- I'm a public health and social work graduate student from Washington University in St. Louis. I'm originally from Oregon and enjoy traveling a great deal.
All views and opinions shown on this site are strictly those of Leslie Duling and do not represent the U.S. Peace Corps
1 comment:
hey i am in love with Movhuvas so i reall appreciate your efforts buddy as a peace cop there,i support you and plis say something bout the spirituallity in the village ,yes i guess you will agree with me that also young people are making every effort to turn to christ Jesus eh??????/yess thats true.
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