i should start by apologizing for my last post. slightly dramatic one might say. but the computer was the only thing i had to entertain myself with for five days. it made me a little crazy. i'm better now. for the most part. still some headaches and dizziness but i'm told thats just post malaria stuff.

so here are some new pictures of my life. the first is of my brand new ginormous bed. but its my firt piece of furniture. the bed i was sleeping on before was borrowed from another villager. i was able to return that and now i have my own! then there is a picuture of walter. he's getting really big. but as he gets older he becomes a better cuddler. this works for me. especially in my new huge bed. the picture also includes my hoe. that i actually use to garden and tend my compost pile. be impressed. then there is a picture of me and walter before we set off on a biking adventure to take him to the vet two hours away to get a rabies shot. he lasted in the basket for about 2 minutes. the next pic is of Iniki, my best tanzanian friend (yes she's 13... so what?) and walter. her smile is really that big. the next picture is of a drawing i made on my court yard walls. if you can't tell its a turtle with the words "pole pole, kidogo kidogo, ndio mwendo." this roughly translates into slow and stead wins the race. i put this up to remind the villagers that my work with them will be slow but we will get there. they forget sometimes that i am only one person and can't do everything today. then there is a pic of me actually working with my hoe and turning my compost pile. yes i have a compost pile that is actually turning into workable compost. its a miracle. the next picture is my very first (however handwritten) public health poster to put up in the health center that promotes good nutrition and speaks of its benefits. it took a long time and i'm proud of it regardless of juveline it may look. people like colors right?

anyhow i'm in the city for two days for a water saftey and sanitation training. as you can imagine it enthralling. but its good and absolutley necessary. everything else is good. getting healthier so don't worry. i'll make it just fine. i miss everyone and i love hearing from you in posts or letters. keep sending them. it does get lonely here and i'm always interested in knowing whats going on in everyone's life.

Lalalalala. i'm sick.

so i'm on the floor of my courtyard tears washing clean canyons of dust on my face, writhing in the fetal position with pain, one hand holding walter for comfort the other holding the phone to my ear as a plead with peace corps to send a car to my site to pick me up. i don't feel good. i really don't feel good. this isn't like in third grade when i "wouldn't feel good" every tuesday when dad was off work and we had to do multiplication tables.

i was finally able to succesfully communicate this and within an hour a white land cruiser appears in front of my house with Salome, our saftey and security officer, floating out drapped in white like angel. seriously, i'm not making this up. she scooped me up and took me to Iringa, the nearest biggish city with a peace corps approved hospital. turns out i have malaria. that sucks. two days later i go back, malaria is gone but i have giardia which is an intestinal parasite that gives you diarreah and REALLY bad gas pains. two days later i still don't feel better. Peace corps says come to Dar es Salaam, the capital where their medical staff is. we're gonna figure this out. an eight hour bus ride later i arrive in Dar. Tired and sick. oh, peace corps medical staff says, we're not at the office we can't see you until tomorrow. Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhh. the next morning: probably a kidney infection, i've been peeing brown (i know you want all these details). fine. but kim, you'll have to come back on monday so we can do the blood tests to make sure its not something else. monday? what i am supposed to do here for the next two and half days. nothing. which is exactly what i've been doing. watching movies, sleeping, thats pretty much it. this morning i came back, monday, thank God. i get blood tests, medication for a kidney infection and told to wait two more days here until all the tests come back. what the eff am i supposed to do here for yet another two more days. Dar can be a really fun city if you're with friends and feel good. but it sucks when you're alone and feel like crap. i'm in the second category. so this post is me whinning. i wanna feel better but i want to go back to my village. i've got stuff to do there and i miss my friends there. and mostly i miss walter. he needs me.

one more thing

if anyone is wondering how they can help. the schools and health center desperatley need:
1. condoms
2. toothbrushes
3. toothpaste
4. books in swahili.....this has been a certain challenge for myself and past volunteers.
5. disposable cameras. we are working on a project for children living with parents with HIV/AIDS to make memory books since many of their parents will soon be gone and along with them any understanding of their past.
6. crayons, paper, and other coloring supplies (they have no creative outlet)
i'm working on all of these things also but if you have any connections let me know. i would be eternally greatful.


thanks everyone!!

just a little update

well i'm back in town again because of possible strep throat or misc. virus. just a heads up, if anyone has the compulsion to send me or my village mail or anything else it is best, if at all possible to put in a padded envelope. it come about twice as fast.
KIMBERLY HELLER PCV
S.L.P. 469
MAKAMBAKO, IRINGA
TANZANIA

just in case someone doesn't have it :) also i got a new phone number the last one was stolen...cool. here's the new number :+255787404897. just a funny little story: i have my own number saved in my phone as "me" because i can never remember it. i met a tanzanian from and NGO who asked for my number, i found it in my phone and handed it over. he took it and put my number in his phone. he now calls me "me". obviously something was lost in translation.

everything else is good. walter chewed through my sandal and my speaker wires this week but i fixed the sandals with duck tape. and my 15 year old neighbor repaired my speakers with matches and duck tape. very McGyver.

also some of my old mail that was sent to my previous address is slowly being forwarded to me. so if i still haven't replied its because i haven't gotten it yet.

volunteerism?

so try explaining volunteerism to tanzanians. its a luxury i never realized i had. its a completely non-senscical idea. they ask why would i leave america to live with no water or electricty. its a hard concept to wrap your head around...... here are some more pics from life here. a few of my dog. who is getting bigger everyday and that i have dubbed "walter the wonder dog" for the way his ears flap in the wind when he gets a good running start. also included is me getting my hair braided at my house. i asked if she knew how to braid white people hair and she said "its not the different." which meant no she didn't so those braids lasted about 1.3 hours. oh well it was fun anyways. also pics of my favorite neghbors, the secondary school, me and the head of the health center, then my friend mary and the head of the health center, a sunset in my village, my house, kids at the primary school that i love to hang out with. village life is good. not a whole lot to report except that i've been working at the health center taking over the aids clinic....they call me the "computer" because i work so fast. which i don't really....its relative. there is a lot of room for improvement as far as efficinecy is concerned. but i really like it there. i feel like i'm doing something. i'm also working on a water saftey and sanitation training to give to my village since diarreah is the number one cause of death in my area due to unsafe water.

i've been having lots of fun playing with walter and making my compost pile and meeting new people. when i come in to the city i meet lots of white people from different NGO's who are great connections. and i can get pizza and use the internet so i come into town about 1 time a month to enjoy these luxuries and see motorized vehicles.