I leave in less than two weeks for Staging which is in DC and then we fly out the 25th for Madagascar! Crazy! The past few weeks have been so fun getting to catch up with so many of yall, thanks for all the great times.
Here is what I know about what I will be doing in Madagascar:
The first 10 weeks I will be in training. I will live with a local Malagasy family and go to Peace Corps class all day every day. I am really pumped about living with a family at first so that hopefully it will help me learn Malagasy - the language and the culture.
During those first 10 weeks you can send me lots of mail and love in envelopes! Here is my address from Sept 25th-Dec 4th. Mail takes around three weeks to arrive so start sending it now! After about 6 weeks I will find out my village that I will work in for two years and get yall that address...
Erin Levin, PCT Peace Corps
Corps de la Paix
B.P. 12091
Poste Zoom Ankorondrano
101 Antananarivo
Madagascar
On the envelope please also include both "Airmail" and "Par Avion"
Thank you so much for your support and staying in touch while I am over there! Former volunteers say that mail is the best way to not be homesick... so write a lot! I hear that packages do not always get to us, so don't worry about sending those, thanks though! Oh and it is also important to number letters because sometimes with mail back ups in Africa, we get them all at once...
Also check in to this blog whenever you have a chance. Internet there is flaky but whenever I have a chance I will post on here. I am planning to write in a journal every day and then quickly summarize my life on here for all of you. Whenever I do, it means I have Internet that day so please e-mail me back, that is even more secure than airmail! Thank you :)
So after training, I will move on my own to a rural village or small town in Madagascar. There I will live in a hut-type room with no water or power - 2 years of camping :) - and work with community health outreach through social communications. I will be working with the Malagasy and my community to explain how diseases such as HIV/AIDS are transmitted but doing so through creative means such as sports and play lessons. I will also be working with my neighbors on any other projects they feel like I can help with... most importantly I will be learning with them and making friends with them and living with them in their poverty of material and money but wealth of spirit and love. It's going to be pretty tough at many points but I know in my heart it will be worth it! They say it's a huge roller coaster ride, so don't get upset if I write and sound discouraged - because by the time you get the letter or see it on here, I have already become more comfortable and happy.
I welcome all of your prayers as my departure quickly approaches. I have already been in touch with a few other girls who will be going with me and they seem so great! Thank you again for your love and friendship through this special adventure!
Be in touch a lot while I am still here and I can't wait to get there and start getting your letters about home!
Love,
Erin
Here is what I know about what I will be doing in Madagascar:
The first 10 weeks I will be in training. I will live with a local Malagasy family and go to Peace Corps class all day every day. I am really pumped about living with a family at first so that hopefully it will help me learn Malagasy - the language and the culture.
During those first 10 weeks you can send me lots of mail and love in envelopes! Here is my address from Sept 25th-Dec 4th. Mail takes around three weeks to arrive so start sending it now! After about 6 weeks I will find out my village that I will work in for two years and get yall that address...
Erin Levin, PCT Peace Corps
Corps de la Paix
B.P. 12091
Poste Zoom Ankorondrano
101 Antananarivo
Madagascar
On the envelope please also include both "Airmail" and "Par Avion"
Thank you so much for your support and staying in touch while I am over there! Former volunteers say that mail is the best way to not be homesick... so write a lot! I hear that packages do not always get to us, so don't worry about sending those, thanks though! Oh and it is also important to number letters because sometimes with mail back ups in Africa, we get them all at once...
Also check in to this blog whenever you have a chance. Internet there is flaky but whenever I have a chance I will post on here. I am planning to write in a journal every day and then quickly summarize my life on here for all of you. Whenever I do, it means I have Internet that day so please e-mail me back, that is even more secure than airmail! Thank you :)
So after training, I will move on my own to a rural village or small town in Madagascar. There I will live in a hut-type room with no water or power - 2 years of camping :) - and work with community health outreach through social communications. I will be working with the Malagasy and my community to explain how diseases such as HIV/AIDS are transmitted but doing so through creative means such as sports and play lessons. I will also be working with my neighbors on any other projects they feel like I can help with... most importantly I will be learning with them and making friends with them and living with them in their poverty of material and money but wealth of spirit and love. It's going to be pretty tough at many points but I know in my heart it will be worth it! They say it's a huge roller coaster ride, so don't get upset if I write and sound discouraged - because by the time you get the letter or see it on here, I have already become more comfortable and happy.
I welcome all of your prayers as my departure quickly approaches. I have already been in touch with a few other girls who will be going with me and they seem so great! Thank you again for your love and friendship through this special adventure!
Be in touch a lot while I am still here and I can't wait to get there and start getting your letters about home!
Love,
Erin
1 comment:
I love you so much, Erin, and I'm very proud of you! Peace Corps/Madagascar is lucky to have you! Please know that you will be in my thoughts and prayers every moment. I know you will be happy because helping others brings you such joy. Honey, I'm just a phone call away...after you've ridden in the back of a truck with pigs and chickens for 9 hours! I am treauring these last days and can hardly wait to visit you this summer. (Only one night in your village, honey, you know my knees won't hold up too well squatting when I have to do so!) Please know that you have been one of my two best things in life! I love and will miss you!
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