So what happens now?

With the Francistown Gym project in this protracted cycle of delay, I have been looking at possible alternatives. I have put out feelers to see what projects I can devlop both in Rome and Johannesburg. The nuns I have been working with for these past few years have been asking me to come out to Rome for a while so I think that we can get something together in that department. The sister incarge of the German translation of my music is now in Rome and since we are now publishing our third English edition she could use some help in puting together the eqv. German and Italian editions. The Mothers are in full support of the trip and so we are working out the details.

In Johannesburg I have a musician friend looking into projects in townships of Kagiso and Soweto. When I was in the Peace Corps I did some work there with local choral directors and their chiors. They were the best music students I ever had. They wanted to asorb everything that they possibly could from the short time I spent with them. They were so happy to have me with them that they offered what little money they had between them to come and stay with them and set up some formal classes. While I could never take their money I'm looking into what we might be able to set up. Here the Mothers have come to my help by asking the community to pray for my return to Africa. The sisters have been very supportive my projects over the years.

Time will say...

What is it like?

What is it like to be a Peace Corps volunteer?


On Returning Home- Notes from a Peace Corps Volunteer:

From the Savvy Travler comes an clip aired on NPR about a PCV (Peace Corps lingo for a volunteer) in Benin. She is preparing to end her service and discusses what its like to be a volunteer in Africa and the difficulties of ending her service and returning home. I have never been to west Africa but what she says is amazing- it could have been my service she was talking about.

Visiting with a Peace Corps Volunteer



A Day with Sister Agnes:

Check out this radio diary / flash presentation about a HIV/AIDS nurse in the Soweto hospital. Soweto stands for the south west townships and is one of the largest townships in South Africa. The hospital, Baragwanath Hospital, is the largest in the world. They can see 2,000 AIDS paitents in a day. Often there is little they can do. The drugs to treat HIV are not free and hardly anyone can afford them.


The NPR Web Page - Audio and Flash Virtual Tour

Direct to the Real Audio from NPR

Delays, Delays

On the issue of returning to Africa we have reached a critical junction. The board of directors for the devlopment agecny has voted not to approve. There is an appeals process and the branch manager and the project supervisor from the devlopment agency reccomend that the project be taken down that path. They still very much want the project to move forward. I cannot speculate on the reasons for denial but the report should be out tommrow. When I was in Botswana the national devlopment agency and the national devlopment bank we accused of not approving good business plans so that they could pass them off to friends. I dont know what happened but the though has crossed my mind. Everyone so far involved in the project is convinced of its viability... even those with MBAs who work at the branch and district level. Time will tell. For the mean time I shall continue to prepare for my return to the music school world.

Welcome

Welcome to the blog that I should have started before I joined the Peace Corps!! Well, at least I figured out how to do this before I head back to Africa. I have been backloading it with pictures and stories from the past two years so you can see what I have been up to.