Dear Nicole Mandall and Amy Sage,
The first year and a half of my service was spent in what Peace Corps described to me as LIMB: Loneliness, isolation, miserable, boredom. I was utterly alONE in this new place called Liben. I joined Peace Corps partially for the challenge. Could I survive living in a new culture with a different language, food, religion, weather, in a mud house, with scarce water, electricity, and no internet? The answer was yes. I survived and thrived. However, I would be lying to you if I said it didn’t improve when you two arrived.
I came first, the (G8) Environment; then you came along Nikki, from (G10) Health; and then of course, we needed a (G11) Education Volunteer too, welcome Amy. A blonde, a brunette and a redhead walked into a town in rural Ethiopia to collaborate on projects in this small community of Libenites. Together, we were a trifecta, a multi-sectoral approach to development in little ol’ Liben. We were able to implement projects like: (1) Club GLOW, a gender empowerment club for high school girls, (2) Grass Roots Soccer Malaria, a malaria prevention project, (3) English for Civil Servants, (4) WASH hand-washing and hygiene for primary school kids, (5) Yoga sport club with high school kids and civil servants. And we even put on a mini-camp at Liben High in my very last week to create a world map, permagardens and one last bottle brick bench (we were crazy to do that btw).
I’ll never forget our fun programs together either like that trip to see Yegna, an Ethio-girl-power band, or treks up our backyard Zimbisa Mountain, or best of all that excursion to the Blue Nile Falls. I’ll miss our regular shiro dinners, and coffee ceremonies. Thank you for eating my crappy food when I attempted cooking and surprising me on my birthday! Nikki, I couldn’t have done a lot of my second-year work without you; you were an integral part of the success of my (our) projects. And Amy, I’ll miss drinking lots and lots of Cokes together and our Wednesday baya ayinats! Our circumstances fostered a friendship closer than just simply site mates. We shared birthdays, successes, failures, tears, hugs and laughter.
I will (and already do) miss you two dearly, but I know that will continue to serve Liben well and carry on our good work. Amy, I’ve been told you’ve been carrying on the blogging torch! GOBEZ (clever)! [Check her out at http://thefreckledlife17.com/] I wish you two the best of luck in the remainder of your time in Liben, Ethiopia! L4L! Libenites for Life! Ayzochiu (Stay strong)!
Love,
Cassie
Before I officially sign off from @PeaceCorps #Ethiopia, I need to share a little Site Mate Love @AmySage17 Dear Nicole Mandall and Amy Sage, The first year and a half of my service was spent in what Peace Corps described to me as LIMB: Loneliness, isolation, miserable, boredom.