I’ve been here nearly nine months, which is significant because the last time I stayed so long in one place was over four years ago when I was still attending my classes at uni. I am grateful for the time I spent here. Thankful for the stubborn and fantastic team of GBV Ambassadors, our successes, and the learned lessons from setbacks. Indebted to my team, who were here to celebrate the victories, support me during obstacles, and gossip about all that is unfolding here. Grateful for the green garden filled with countless bird species, the cows that come to graze the overgrown grass that every visitor keeps commenting on, and the privacy it has provided us. And happy with the gym, which has served as a cornerstone for my social interactions here.
Just a while back, I felt more than ready to leave and seek a new adventure with a new deployment. But now the time of leaving Shianda behind has finally come to my doorstep, I realise how much I have been able to build up here. I am definetely not a village person, having been born and raised in the city and enjoying disappearing in the crowd. Although, I learned to appreciate meeting my friends at the market, stopping here and there on my way home for small talks with acquaintances, getting called when I skip a gym session, having people randomly come over, and hearing the classic umepotea (you’ve been lost) when I haven’t seen someone in a while.
Shianda has many opportunities; it is located along a relatively important road. It has services available, a market that provides all you need, a tiny cinema that plays movies daily for a few shillings, and it now has two gyms. The area is quite safe, and public transportation is readily available. At the same time, the region is too poor for a water refill station to exist, I haven’t spotted any place with a washing machine (yes, I can see my white-way of comparing wealth here), and people are struggling way below the poverty line to make ends meet. The capacity to tackle these issues is present as there are enough educated people to uplift the area. But enabling is an issue. I genuinely feel this is the most essential thing an ECSD volunteer can do. Enable activities to happen, support organising training and events, and ensure everyone has the capacity to attend. To be the neutral ground in negotiations and simply exert your foreigness to bypass corruption that others are facing on a daily basis when meeting people that actually should have been the neutral ground themselves.
There is still so much that can be done, and there are countless things that I really appreciate while living here. But I am also delighted to close this chapter and further my career elsewhere. Shianda has engraved her special place in my heart, including all the good and all the bad.
I am glad that not all work will go in vain, as a new set of volunteers is preparing to arrive as I am preparing to leave right now. WEFOCO will work together with a new consortium, which will send four new volunteers - all for gender.
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