Care Package Wish List

Carepackage Ideas

So here are so ideas for things to send! By no means do I need ALL of this. But just some ideas for the general idea and also surprises are always fun! ALWAYS!

Q tips
tissue packs
ear wax candles * * *
blow up beach balls
map of US/world
milk duds
gum, mints
checkers game
printed pictures of seasons/holidays
mouth wash ***
crest tooth paste
games (to teach host family kids or play on own)
sourpatch watermelon candy
books
magazines
scented candle (vanilla or sugar cookie, pumpkin or cinnamon
cashews
granola bars
instant coffee/starbucks
flavored powder (vanilla/caramel)
single sample creamers (vanilla) (liquid)
instant cappuccino mix
flash drive with movies/tv shows/music (esp new music-no idea what I am missing)
bag/pouch tuna
romen noodles
stridex face pads/face wash (my face is breaking out uncontrollably and I cant stop it!)
crystal light packs
anything light that will mail easy! Non perishable foods/candy
AA batteries
pantiene proV shampoo/conditioner (cant find “white girl” stuff here! blah)

if you need my mailing address please email me at murph619@aol.com

Also you might ask why feeling discouraged? Well so i've been here for 6months in july. I think my feelings are normal I just hope they start taking a turn for the better...but I cannot lie nor help what I feel. So I have been here 5 months and done/helped no one! Which is very discouraging to leave behind a life and family thousands of miles away for nothing? Especially, when I came from a job where I did help people. On a daily basis and I was (for the most part) good at it and loved it! I worked as a nurse, volunteered, helped out with my mom, if you know me u'd know my sisters life was pretty much just a extension of me as a person!!! so to come from a place where I was busy but still found time to help where I could to come here and just literally sit around and do nothing on days on end isnt exactly the most satisfiying of accomplishments. Especially when u have pepole back home telling u ur doing “amazing” work. It doesnt feel too amazing...i eat pap and try to speak another language and have lost all sense of hyigene/sanitation. But nevertheless I am here and have wanted to do this for a LONG time. So trying to make the best of it. Also PC is all about the lifecycle of a PCV so this is supposed to be a down cycle. Apparently you dont start to actually get “work” done until the 1 year mark. Also initially to work on my language and develop trust with my community, I will have to do small little projects that dont seem soo rewarding to build to bigger stuff. I want to start a exercise class. This will help promote health and fitness and hopefully keep me a little more motivated to stay active as well! Another downer here is that, my community has started some programs that I could restart or similar to stuff I could do. But they all just eventually stop because people stop going or the people running it just stop doing it. Which is pretty discouraging considering the whole goal is to maek sustainable change but how do u do that if people loose motivation? I can motivate people but to keep that motivation alive after I am gone...that comes from within the village. And I am the third volunteer in my village, the first at my organization, and none of the previous volunteers projects are still going. Also kinda discouraging! But overall my vilalge has accomplished a lot in the last 10 years. They build a school, got a clinic, started a home based care, started two day cares (kreshes), reduced crimes, stopped selling alcohol/closed shiebeens (bars), insured more reliable taxis, have reliable and good water, getting municipality toliets (outhouses not like US toliet) So they really are driven and get what they want. Currently they want a drop in center for orphans and it looks like they might have found a organization to build and start it! Which would be a great partner to work with! But I have IST in service training next week, so hopefully this will give me a little direction and insight as to how to get the ball rolling. So first two months was training in mokopane, then 3 months at site for integration and my community needs assessment. Now we have IST as kinda a close to that a segway into projects. So hopeuflly this will help refoucus and redirect my efforts. Also my counterpart at my org is never around, she is finishing high school...which is awesome! But leaves no time for me to work with her. But schools done soon so hopefully she will have more free time! I do have to say shes the hardest working women in my village! Shes so proud! So we will see. But “lockdown” this time I am in right now is over after IST, so maybe i'll start planning a big trip! Something to look forward to! And start to get to see more of this beautiful country! I have to say no matter what happens this ahs been a amazing, life changing experience! And i'd recommend PC to anyone still! But just a lot of downtime doing nothing...and also I dont really have friends...which sounds strange...but most volunteers dont have friends in their villages. Life without any friends is different and lonely. I have my host family whos great but I cant just sit around a bs with them like I could at home in the states. I cant complain or be overly sarcastic like I normally am (my charming self i'm sure u all miss :) ) also I have to say...if u know me, sundays are my favorite days for 2 reasons, football and pool days. So I am missing the beginning of my favorite half of the year at home. I love sundays at my parents with family friends over! The wise words of wisdom mabel and mrs. Conroy have given me over the years at my pool are indispensible! (proud worth a heater :)) And they always bring good snacks! Dad on the grill! Cool drinks, hot days, good people...then fall comes and its football sundays...dads chilly, tailgating, leaves changing...but i've had 25 years of these activites and will have many more to come once I am done here. So just trying to remember that! But I cant help miss home! I've surrounded myself with some pretty awesome people! And I realize I miss more adults, aunts, uncles, family friends, family, than I actually do friends! Ha! But I guess at most wedding u go to its mostly family and family friends, and a handfull of good friends...so I guess that makes me pretty much balanced! And those friends I am missing I am missing very much and dearly! Janers, kfud, julie, maura, sims, candee, kam, jean (haha), raig face, bec, balls, andy!!! welp! I think i've rambled on enough for today! Love everyone and miss you all more than u could know! Also...i dont really speak a lot in my village...language barrier and just generally stuff is soo different here half the stuff I talk about in the US would be taboo to bring up here. So I get a lot out here...so just remember to take this all with grain of salt!