Hello All
Well it’s been a while since I have last wrote. Last time it
was the count down to the USA! Well I am back at site and trying to keep myself
busy.
August
In August, I had a lot of meetings to attend. I went to the
warden meeting which trained us on the safety protocols if anything should
happen. However when I was gone in the US there was a mock consolidation
exercise to get us prepared should we have to do this in the future. The consolidation
is something that occurs if the Peace Corps Staff believe there is threat to
the volunteers in country and they need to get them all to safe place. This is
becoming more important because of the upcoming election and last election the
Peace Corps volunteer were evacuated because of the violence that occurred.
Don’t worry folks there is a lot of procedures that have been put into place to
minimize the violence with this upcoming election. So we hope that this will
not occur again, but we do need to be prepared. There probably will be a
consolidation prior to the election just for precaution should anything arise.
We all will be in safe place and it will be easier for us to get out if we have
to. But I am thinking positive and I predict that everything will go smoothly.
Last time I had mentioned my MI presentation and I can say that it was a
success and I now have my Masters in Public Health!!! Now I am going to work on
publishing my work. Wish me luck. Finally in August I went to cross sector
which is a training that emphasis HIV/AIDS. We got to bring counterparts from
our organizations and it was good to see my counterparts interacting and
participating. In addition I got to see some volunteers that I had not seen for
quite some time.
September
Then it was off to the USA! I was so excited to be coming
home. Unfortunately the flight from Ethiopia to Canada was delayed by 2 hours,
which made me miss my connecting flight from Canada to the US. So I was stuck
in the Toronto airport for 8 hours L
well I finally made it to the US and into Bryan’s arms! It felt so good to be
home. Then the next day was Libby Kiser and Cory Scott’s wedding. It was
amazing. So simple but elegant. It was so Libby and so perfect! The wedding was
a little overwhelming because there was so many people that I had not seen for
so long, good food, wine and dancing! I had a great time and loved seeing
everybody again. Then the next day was a family get together at my brothers.
Again a little overwhelming with all the people but so great to feel loved and
appreciated. Then the next week was just spending time with the family and
friends. It felt so good to be around my family again. My brother’s kids had
grown so much and I got to see my newest nephew for the first time… what a
cutie! At the end of the trip to Princeton my brother’s family, dad, Bryan and
I went to Jellystone Park to camp. It was a nice little get away from the
hustle and bustle of Princeton (I know you might disagree but we were on the go
since I set foot in Princeton…lol). I had such a great time in Princeton seeing
many friends, eating so much delicious home cooked meals, attending my 10 year
reunion, and just catching up on the much needed love and support of all the
people around me. Then Bryan and I finished my vacation with a trip to the Lake
of the Ozarks. We went horseback riding, hiking, visited the beach and most importantly
just got to spend time with each other. Having a long distance relationship an
ocean and continent away has not been easy but we are managing and this trip
just solidified the feelings I have for him (sorry getting cheesy…lol). Then it
was back to Chicago to fly out. It was so hard to leave again and this time I
knew what I was going back to, not that I do not enjoy Kenya but having been
around family and friends it was very hard to board the plane again knowing
that it would be a years time until I would be back on US soil. All in all my
trip was exactly what I needed- a rejuvenation to get me through the next year
of service!
Now I am back at site and trying to stay busy. My funding
for my jiggers project came through (Thanks to all that donated!) so this is
what I have been doing since I came back from the states. I am planning on
having the outreach on Nov. 24th and treating 100 people. I am so
excited to be doing this and I look forward to the end results of hopefully
giving people in my village a better quality of life! Well I think that is the
update I have for you all and I will update you on the jiggers project. Thanks
for reading.
Sending Love from Kenya,
Joy Kay
PS- sorry no pics my memory is full and my hard drive is not
working. Maybe next time
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