January 19, 2005: Headlines: COS - Tanzania: North Lake Tahoe Bonanza: Megan Erickson, a new Peace Corps volunteer and 1998 graduate of Incline High School, is one of 40 Americans adjusting to life in Tanzania

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Tanzania: Peace Corps Tanzania: The Peace Corps in Tanzania: January 19, 2005: Headlines: COS - Tanzania: North Lake Tahoe Bonanza: Megan Erickson, a new Peace Corps volunteer and 1998 graduate of Incline High School, is one of 40 Americans adjusting to life in Tanzania

By admin (pool-141-157-13-244.balt.east.verizon.net - 141.157.13.244) on Friday, January 21, 2005 - 10:23 pm: Edit Post

Megan Erickson, a new Peace Corps volunteer and 1998 graduate of Incline High School, is one of 40 Americans adjusting to life in Tanzania

Megan Erickson, a new Peace Corps volunteer and 1998 graduate of Incline High School, is one of 40 Americans adjusting to life in Tanzania

Megan Erickson, a new Peace Corps volunteer and 1998 graduate of Incline High School, is one of 40 Americans adjusting to life in Tanzania

Making a difference a world away

By Merry Thomas

January 19, 2005

Megan Erickson, a new Peace Corps volunteer and 1998 graduate of Incline High School, is one of 40 Americans adjusting to life in Tanzania.

She speaks highly of Peace Corps training.

"It's very thorough and extensive," she wrote via email to her mother, Lisa, of Incline. "We have one Tanzanian language teacher for every four Americans."

Erickson's first assignment was living with a family in Bigwa, a small village at the base of the Uluguru Mountains, home of some of the country's oldest tropical forests.

"The mountain right beside my home caught on fire the other night ... I didn't sleep much," Erickson wrote.

Yet her Tanzanian family "wasn't worried one bit ... They are used to it and were very sure that the house was going to be fine. It was," she wrote.

Erickson enjoyed her native family. They gave her an official family tribal name, Msumbwa Semgomba.

"My baba (dad) speaks both English and Kiswahili, but tries to speak to me only in Kiswahili so that I will learn," Erickson wrote. "My mama (mom) and dada (sister) only speak Swahili, and they are the ones that I end up hanging out with a lot, so I am able to practice quite a bit."

In the meantime, Erickson wrote that she is becoming good at acting out words.

In one of her first letters, she talks about having more than enough to eat - plenty of beans, rice, eggs, papayas, spinach, bananas, potatoes, cassavas, eggplants, uglai (which tastes like Cream O Wheat) and mangos (ripe in December).

She teaches a health class at the local school, which is a 15-minute walk along a winding, red dirt road.

"I pass coconut trees, mango trees, banana trees, cassava and pineapple fields, chickens and roosters, pigs, monkeys, dogs and numerous villagers, who are always more than happy to quiz me on my Kiswahili," she wrote.

A couple of weeks later, Erickson had just finished teaching her second HIV AIDS lesson to high school students.

"I think I had the best possible set-up," she wrote. "We were able to dispel some myths, talk to the kids about issues they haven't had the chance to talk about, and do a condom demo."

The headmistress of the school asked that she begin with the basics: Abstain, be faithful and use condoms. The culture differs from that of the United States most especially in the age youth become sexually active.

"Here, it is common for someone to lose their virginity at 12 years old," Erickson wrote.

Erickson explained despite early sexuality and plain speaking about sexual behavior at the school, there is "a culture of silence about issues involving sex and HIV." Many are embarrassed or afraid to talk about it.

"Religious and community leaders tend to either not address the issue or (most commonly) spread harmful lies about how HIV is spread and the effectiveness of condoms," she wrote.

Erickson said school officials estimate that 70 percent of high school students were engaging in sex.

"I am excited to get to my site and work on empowering girls to say what they want to say - say "No" when they want to, or insist on condom use," she wrote.

A recent recovery from "the worst flu I've ever had" taught her additional new words, no doubt grist for her midterm in Swahili.

"This weekend I will be going on a very short safari, which I am very excited about," she wrote.

In her third letter, Erickson said she had gone with her mama to a coming-of-age ceremony for two girls.

"I carried a bucket of water on my head, met a bunch of cool people, danced a bit, drank some corn porridge stuff and had a great time," she wrote. "I was able to convince/trick quite a few people into thinking that I could speak Swahili decently; Mama was thrilled."

She also discovered that she would be living in a village at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro, about an hour north of Moshi, for the rest of her two-year Peace Corps commitment.

She was excited about getting a bicycle to get around and that she would be living close enough so she could hike into Kenya and walk to the gate to climb Kilimanjaro, she said.

But the opportunity to have a garden also appealed to Erickson.

"It's one of the most fertile areas of Tanzania, so I can have a garden ... Yay!" she wrote. The house she will be living in, with running water and electricity, is more modern than some.

She said those who would like to send packages would be best served sending padded envelopes less than four pounds. Erickson said she would enjoy receiving some packages of Mexican seasoning or other spices and seeds.





When this story was posted in January 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:

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Story Source: North Lake Tahoe Bonanza

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Tanzania

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By SARAH MUNEJA (82.206.205.182) on Friday, August 05, 2005 - 9:06 am: Edit Post

IAM A UNIVERSITY STUDENT.IAM INTERESTED TO VOLUNTEER FOR WORK IN TANZANIA.HOPE I WILL GET A CHANCE.

By SARAH MUNEJA (82.206.205.182) on Friday, August 05, 2005 - 9:06 am: Edit Post

IAM A UNIVERSITY STUDENT.IAM INTERESTED TO VOLUNTEER FOR WORK IN TANZANIA.HOPE I WILL GET A CHANCE.


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