Greetings all! It has been some three months since my last entry. I have written quite a bit but haven't had the time or effort to put thought to computer screen. I must be at that point in service where just 'being' sounds much more appealing than dealing with the technical woes of attempting posting anything on a computer with shaky internet and unreliable electricity. Where 'being' means reading a book or catching up with fellow volunteers or Gambian friends etc. I'm finding that the more time away from the internet I have, the more I want to be away from it.
That being said, I will try to catch up by Dec at the very least. Because I do appreciate that it allows me to communicate my experience and reach out to friends and family and perhaps random but welcome viewers back home or wherever.
But all is well. It is a few days before Thanksgiving and Hanukkah. Volunteers have done a lovely job organizing events for those of us in country wanting to celebrate such events so far from home. It's always a bit harder to be away from home on the holidays but I'm really looking forward to enjoying my last ones with my new-found "Gambian volunteer" family.
Facing my last quarter of service seems unreal, exciting, terrifying, happy, and sad, and everything else all at once. I still have several things running that I hope I can focus on til the end as, granted people continue to show interest in them... as:
+Erosion control
+tree nursery establishment and outplanting
+village tree outplanting celebration
+Village health Care Group
+HIV/AIDS sensitization lessons and dramas
and last but not least,
+continuing to build on and strengthen existing relationships, exchanging culture, ideas, and friendship
All to come in following blogs that will for sure be backdated and untimely.
In the meantime, I wish everyone the merryist and happiest of the holiday season. I ask anyone to think twice or more times about if they really need "this thing" or "that thing" on Black Friday, a day that supports consumerism, a behavior that destabilizes ecosystem services and thus threatens our quality of life by threatening to destroy the basic elements that keep us alive, namely, water, which it all comes back down to.
Anyway, happy thoughts from The Gambia. Where we are all just trying.
(This posting took about an hour of unsuccessful attempts before properly uploading)
That being said, I will try to catch up by Dec at the very least. Because I do appreciate that it allows me to communicate my experience and reach out to friends and family and perhaps random but welcome viewers back home or wherever.
But all is well. It is a few days before Thanksgiving and Hanukkah. Volunteers have done a lovely job organizing events for those of us in country wanting to celebrate such events so far from home. It's always a bit harder to be away from home on the holidays but I'm really looking forward to enjoying my last ones with my new-found "Gambian volunteer" family.
Facing my last quarter of service seems unreal, exciting, terrifying, happy, and sad, and everything else all at once. I still have several things running that I hope I can focus on til the end as, granted people continue to show interest in them... as:
+Erosion control
+tree nursery establishment and outplanting
+village tree outplanting celebration
+Village health Care Group
+HIV/AIDS sensitization lessons and dramas
and last but not least,
+continuing to build on and strengthen existing relationships, exchanging culture, ideas, and friendship
All to come in following blogs that will for sure be backdated and untimely.
In the meantime, I wish everyone the merryist and happiest of the holiday season. I ask anyone to think twice or more times about if they really need "this thing" or "that thing" on Black Friday, a day that supports consumerism, a behavior that destabilizes ecosystem services and thus threatens our quality of life by threatening to destroy the basic elements that keep us alive, namely, water, which it all comes back down to.
Anyway, happy thoughts from The Gambia. Where we are all just trying.
(This posting took about an hour of unsuccessful attempts before properly uploading)
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