Who says holiday cheer has to stop at January 1st??? Thanks to the kind and generous hearts at Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, myself, my fellow PCVs, and Rwandese friends got a mid January surprise that warmed our hearts. The holiday season can be a tough one when away from your family and friends, but it's thoughtful people like these who take the time to remind you that you're not alone and that they appreciate the work you do.
Thank you so much for these beautiful Christmas and New Year cards! I can't speak for everyone else, but I will certainly be keeping mine forever. I might even add a hook to the top and make it an ornament for the tree every year :P
Merry (late) Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!!! Thanks again for your love and support!
Love and Peace Corps,
Dametreea
I have TONS of movies saved on my laptop, and
every week I scroll through the list to see what the movie of the week (or day)
will be. I've passed by the movie Out of Africa on many occasions, never
giving it so much of a second thought, but for some reason, this time I stopped
when I read the title, hovered my mouse over the icon, and double-clicked. I had never seen this movie nor did I have
any idea what it was about, but once the movie ended, I couldn't have been more
pleased at my choice. It's a fantastic
movie and more or less captures the gist of what Africa is really like. Notice how I said "more or
less," there are some inaccuracies,
seeing how the movie was set in the early 1900's, however I think a vast amount
of what was shown is exceptionally reflective of what I've experienced in my
short time here. And that is this: Africa
changes you.
For those of you who have never seen the
movie (or heard of it for that matter), it's about a woman who lives in
Africa for several years, running a coffee farm with her estranged
husband. When she first traveled to Kenya,
she was afraid, as she didn't quite know what to expect. She was mistrusting of the people and when
they came too close, she would tell them "Shew! Shew!" while
swatting her hands as if they were more flies and dogs than they were people. By the end of the movie, though, this same
woman had grown compassionate for the people of Kenya. Her best friends became the people who
worked on the coffee farm and her favorite companions became those
who initially helped her adjust to life abroad. Her new friends looked out for her, as the
people of Africa tend to do, and she in return, looked out for them. By the end of the movie, the coffee farm
had been destroyed and the inhabitants of the land, including the woman,
would have to move elsewhere; she to her original home in Denmark, and the
Kenyans to--well, nowhere. At this
point, the baroness, as they called her, made a great fuss and made sure the Kenyans
who lived on the land and depended on its yearly harvest would still have a
place there once the land was replenished.
This last part of the movie really moved me. The baroness went from shewing these people
away to fighting for their land and their rights at her own expense. In her mind, they shifted from savage,
untamable animals to a kind-hearted and genuine people. And this is what triggered my thoughts that
Africa changes you--really, it does.
When I think back on the reasons I came to
Rwanda, they are vaguely similar to my reasons for staying. I came to
