April has been a busy month! I just got back from a week at the training center, where I trained the new group of health volunteers. It was a really fun experience to get to be on the “other side of training” and it brought back so many memories of my PST. The new stage got here in March, so this was week 7 of their training, which meant it was jam-packed. Another health volunteer and I led sessions about safe motherhood, prenatal consultations and birth plans for the first two days. And then the the trainees had technical practicum. They gave presentations (in ‘gasy) at the health clinic, hosted a huge community festival for World Malaria Day, and of course had lots and lots of language classes. While I love our training center, I do not miss being in training!
It was interesting to see the new volunteers going through the exact same thing I went through 21 months ago though. The anxiety from having to give presentations in ‘gasy in front of a huge group of mothers. The exhaustion from sitting in sessions from 8 to 5 every day. The terrifying realization that training doesn’t last forever and soon they would be living alone at site. All these things I went through myself, and I could see the new trainees having the exact same thoughts and feelings.
I also found it amazing to see how much you learn in a year. I still don’t feel like I’m a “zoky,” or an older volunteer, but my stage is oldest and the next to go home, which is hard to believe. Hearing the questions from the trainees made me realize how long I’ve been here, and how many crazy things have happened in that time. It was a good opportunity to remember these crazy experiences and to share them with the new trainees. Although, I probably shouldn’t have told them about my “house getting swept away in a cyclone” story, because I think that made them a little nervous.
Anyway, the training went really well. The malaria festival was a huge success. It began with a parade from the training center to the school with over 500 students walking with Peace Corps. All the elementary school children had made their own hats with messages about malaria prevention and our language teachers dressed up like mosquitoes. It was pretty funny. The festival was similar to what I did at my site, although on a much larger scale. Instead of one piñata…five. But, just like in Tsarasambo, the piñatas were utter chaos...including two full grown people getting trampled by candy seeking kids. A fun day though.
The final night of training, the trainees hosted a talent show. As a typical trainer, we had to make a fool of ourself in front of the new volunteers, so we named ourselves the “Mahay-kus” (Mahay=smart/good at something) and we wrote 30 different haikus for the trainees about their lives as PCVs. They loved it. The other volunteers sang “Call me Maybe” but in Malagasy, the language trainers did a skit/interpretive dance about prostitution (interesting topic choice) and others sang and danced and played guitar. It was really fun.
The new group of volunteers is super hard working and a fun group. A few of them have sites close to mine, so I’m excited to help them move in and see them around the East coast for the few months that I have left!
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