the place that United Planet and its volunteers have in Putubiw is hard to understand. the oddity that is our presence here is certainly a door for cultural exchange but is also extremely brief. We're caught in a paradox: we're here to use our own knowledge and skills towards projects we can accomplish but are also tethered to PUSU. And any indigenous development project must demand that their volunteers work with its own vision. It's hard to balance enacting PUSU projects and filling in idle time.
It's easy to notice how far I've ventured into unfamiliar territory during the down time in week 1. Afternoons have been saturated withreading and apathy. Helping PUSU figure out what to do with us is mostly a trial in patience.
But there's hope yet. Rebecca and I will begin teaching at the Junior Secondary School (JSS) on thursday. In the evenings there will be a session for primary students. Yesterday we accompanied the students to a day of athletics (a track meet) in a nearby village Acrofo. It was fun, even as an unaffiliated spectator, to experience the unabashed joy of a hundred students whose years don't outnumber their fingers cheering for one of their classmates. The women, on reprieve from selling snacks, often yelled the loudest and jumped the highest. I guess some aspects of motherhood are universal.
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