Beauty In Simplicity

With Christmas soon approaching I asked my host brother, Sanele, if he was excited for the holiday. His words to me were: “Danielle, this isn’t America; Santa doesn’t come to South Africa.” Instead of show him how depressing his words were to me I awkwardly laughed as the “right” words just seemed to escape me.  Although technically Sanele was right, there was something about Christmas in the village that was far more significant than presents from Santa Claus.  

On Christmas morning I was awoken at 6am by the sound of knocking on my door.  Although I did not want to get out of bed I sleepily opened the door to find two of my students from my Boys’ Club bearing gifts of fresh mangoes from their trees and sweets from the little village shop.  I welcomed them into my home and shared some of the  Christmas sweets my family had sent me–no match for the generosity they had shown me. At that moment I thought to myself that this could easily be the most special Christmas morning I ever have.

After the boys left I was eager to get Christmas started! I spent the rest of the morning baking with the children of my host family, which has come to be a Christmas tradition as this was our second Christmas together.  The kids started asking me long before Christmas day if we would be baking cakes like last year! So in the same fashion as the year before my tiny hut was quickly transformed into a bakery with kids mixing batter, rolling out dough and decorating cookies! The smiles on the children’s faces made finding sprinkles inside my bed that night totally worth it!  

After completing Christmas morning in my hut I ventured out to pay a couple visits to people around the village.  The first visit was to one of my students from Girls’ Club, Slindokuhle, who has been begging me to come meet her mom for awhile now.  So I met her at the village carwash (something I will never understand as my village hasn’t had water in two years) and we made the trek to her home.  When I arrived at her house I was initially taken aback by her very humble two-room home made of wood planks that housed herself, her mother and her two siblings.  Yes, this simple structure is a common one in the village, but when I work with my students at school or they visit me at home I somehow forget the poverty that they go home to every night and that realization is never an easy one.  These thoughts were quickly taken out of my mind the moment I was ushered into the “sitting room” to enjoy biscuits and apple soda with the mother, uncle, grandmother and children.  We sat around the table watching old recordings of Celine Dion and Kenny G music videos on their tiny television.  (Celine Dion and Kenny G are some of the most popular singers in my village and although I will never understand it I try to embrace it!) During our time together the family explained to me how much they love Christmas because they get to be together and enjoy one another. As I left they couldn’t stop thanking me for spending my Christmas with them and how honored they were to be with me when in reality I was the lucky one to have shared the holiday with them. 

Still full from my biscuits and apple soda I headed over to my friend Jabu’s house to share a Christmas meal.  Jabu is a cook for the orphans at the HIV/AIDS organization in my village and was one of my very first friends here! When I arrived at her home her family, just like that of Slindokuhle’s, was gathered around the TV, but in this case they were watching an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie as they always seem to be on TV.  (My students always like to tell me they think it’s so funny that Arnold is the “chief” of my village of California!) So as we sat around the TV I was fed the most glorious Zulu meal complete with chicken and beef, rice and maize meal as well as various side dishes.  Zulu people take great pride in spoiling their guests and I was for sure spoiled in the sense as I was so full that I could hardly walk home! During our meal and TV watching we discussed my upcoming departure from the village and there wasn’t a dry eye in the room.  Jabu put it perfectly when she said, “when you first arrived we thought it was crazy that you would be here for two years without your family and now nobody can believe those two years are almost over.”

This Christmas was one that I will never forget as it taught me that true beauty lies in simplicity.  Whether it be receiving a gift of mangoes, baking cookies in a hut, watching old Celine Dion music videos or eating a large meal with friends, simple beauty is present in all of it.  

Now I have an answer for my host brother, Sanele: “you are right; the famous Santa in a red suit does not come to South Africa because he only has clothes for winter, but the true meaning of Christmas is present all around you.  It can be seen in the joy of a family sharing a meal or the smiles of children walking down the road eating fresh mangoes. Hidden in the small things we take for granted is the simple beauty that makes Christmas so special”  

Happy New Year to you and may your eyes be opened to the simple beauty that is present all around you. 

 

 

 

Girls’ Camp Takes St. Lucia By Storm

What do you get when you take 14 7^th grade girls from Khula Village to St Lucia?….a whole lot of fun!! Earlier this month I kicked off my camp initiative by taking some of my girls from the Ubuhle-Bemvelo Girls’ Club to St. Lucia for a three-day camp. Those three days were some of the best days of my Peace Corps service to date! The camp was packed with fun activities and various learning sessions for the girls. The excitement began as the infamous “green taxi” picked us up from my house to take us to St. Lucia. The entire ride the girls were dancing and singing to the booming house music. Upon arrival at the backpackers (youth hostel) in St. Lucia I thought the girls were going to die of excitement as each one ran up and thanked me for taking them to “the most beautiful hotel they had ever seen.” The highlight of the accommodation for everyone were the hot showers as not only were these the first showers for most of the girls, but they couldn’t believe that hot water came out of the showers with just the twist of a nozzle! After getting the lay of the land the girls and I headed over to Fur Elise Restaurant to enjoy their swimming pool and waterslide. Granted the pool is pretty brown and the slide is rather slow, but this particular “St. Lucia attraction” is #1 on every Khula child’s wish list. This was no exception for my girls as they refused to leave the pool until it was dark! It didn’t matter that it was beginning to rain or that they hadn’t eaten all day; to them they were at the coolest place in the world and they didn’t want their time there to end! That first evening one of the peer mentors from the village high school, Sne, came and did a lovely presentation for the campers on what it means to be a Zulu woman. The presentation was very special for the girls as they were extremely impressed with how much Sne had accomplished in her life all while being an orphan. This struck a cord with a number of the campers as being an orphan in Khula is all to common and hearing Sne’s success story provided them with much inspiration. That night I sang my campers to sleep as they snuggled into their bunks full of anticipation for the following day.

The second day of the camp was even more fun-filled than the first! The planned morning activity was tie-dying camp shirts, but of course the graphics I had painted on the day before came off the moment the shirts touched dye as the fabric paint apparently wasn’t waterproof (only South Africa would have fabric paint that isn’t waterproof!!) so I quickly stopped the activity to save the shirts. The rest of the day was absolutely fantastic! In the morning we went to the Crocodile Centre located along the estuary where the campers were given a fabulous presentation on the local ecosystems as well as the wildlife that populates the estuary. The girls even had a chance to hold a baby crocodile! The fun didn’t stop there as immediately after the Crocodile Centre we headed down to the beach for some fun in the waves and a delicious braai (South African BBQ) prepared by my host brothers. Watching the girls play in the water and enjoy their meat feast was so wonderful. These are girls who have more responsibility in their homes than I could have ever imagined at their age and for the first time in their lives they were getting the chance to just be kids!

That evening after some long hot showers the girls participated in an wonderful session by African Impact, the local voluntourist organization in St Lucia. The volunteers led the campers in acting, movement and musical activities as a way to show the importance of self-confidence and self-expression. If that wasn’t enough for one day the night session was quite memorable as we did a little gender role swapping through the “Ask A Boy” session. Since in Zulu culture it is the “woman’s job” to take care of a man I thought it would be fun to show the girls that gender roles are interchangeable. The South African constitution so clearly states that men and women are equal so why not show them what equality looks like! So for dinner that night I had four guys from my host family as surprise guests to dinner, but instead of being served by the girls they were the ones doing the serving. The girls could not get over how strange the situation was yet quickly began to feel more comfortable as the guys showed that what they were doing was perfectly normal. That’s what two years of living with an American woman has done to my host brothers! That night the guys led the “Ask A Boy” session and literally had each girl at the edge of her seat during the whole thing. Before the session began I had the girls write down the questions they’ve “always wanted to ask a boy” on slips of paper so that they wouldn’t feel embarrassed asking the boys the questions directly. My host brothers then took the box of papers and answered each question much to the girls enjoyment. I think this session was equally rewarding for the facilitators as it was for the campers as they were able to tell the girls things that most Zulu men never feel comfortable saying, but would like to say to girls in their community. Since the girls were all wound-up from the session with the guys I decided to add to the madness with some South African style s’mores with flavored marshmallows, marie biscuits and Cadbury chocolate. The girls could not get over how funny it was to “braai marshmallows” as they’ve never done such a crazy thing before, but the moment they tasted their first s’more I couldn’t get them away from the campfire! From morning to night it was constant fun so I thought the girls would be exhausted, but who was I kidding? They had so much energy that they even managed to lock themselves out of one of the bedrooms and then break and door handle…nothing like a little extra excitement!

The next morning was the beginning of the final day of camp. After a delicious breakfast I led the campers in a teambuilding session complete with silly games and songs to bring up the energy after a fun-filled evening. Then I presented a lesson on stress management as this is a huge issue in the community today with youth suicides being all to common. The girls did excellent skits to show stressful situations they frequently find themselves in as well as the constructive solutions they would use to rid themselves of the stress. The acting skills of Zulu children never fail to amaze me! During the entire camp I had the girls keep journals as a learning tool to be used as a way to relieve stress outside of the camp setting. After all the learning was concluded I had one final surprise for the girls up my sleeve….a boat cruise along the estuary to see the hippos and crocodiles that inhabit the water! This adventure was extremely special to the girls as many have dreamed of being on one of the boats that they so frequently see the white tourists enjoying! This outing as well as the ones to the Crocodile Centre, pool and beach were things they will never forget as even though these amazing places are so near to their homes the majority of people in my community lack the means to ever visit them.

That evening as the taxi pulled into Khula Village the girls were yelling out the windows with excitement bragging to everyone on the road about their special camp experience. When we finally reached my home the girls all followed me to my door begging me to let them sleepover so that the fun wouldn’t end. Unfortunately, my tiny hut is a little small for 15 people to sleep in, but their enthusiasm was a true indicator to me of how much the camp meant to them. As they exited my gate to go home with huge smiles across their faces and a spring in their steps I knew that the camp was something that they would never forget. For three short days these 14 girls had the opportunity to step away from their typical lives and focus on being kids, something all to rare to a village child.

This camp was made possible thanks to the generosity of donations from family and friends in America. This camp was truly life changing for the 14 girls who had the opportunity to participate in it. I look forward to doing another camp like this for a group of 20 boys in November. Yay for Youth Empowerment!

My “Royal” Parents

A little over a month has passed since my parents’ trip to South Africa and although they are gone the impact of their visit remains strong. Not a day goes by that someone in my village doesn’t ask me when my parents are coming back as of course no one has any idea how far America is from South Africa!

Although there were many memorable things about their trip it was their experience in Khula Village that really stood out. From the moment my parents’ pulled into Khula on a bush taxi they seemed to fit right in! My tiny hut quickly became home to the three of us. My dad and my dog, Bruni, bonded as they slept together on the floor and both my mom and dad immediately mastered using a pit latrine and bucket bathing. After just a few hours in the village my parents were sporting traditional Zulu attire as well as showing off their skills as Zulu dancers.

The next day was the real treat as we planned to visit the primary school and the community organization where I had been working since last year. As we trekked through the sand to get to school I noticed that many students were hanging out around the school, but not in class. When I asked one of the boys why the students weren’t in class he said, “Miss Piccinini, we are waiting for you guys.” Of course I thought he was pulling my leg, but sure enough when we got to school a huge formal function had been planned to honor my parents. My mom and dad processed in though a tunnel of singing children and were led to the front of the school where the remaining students were eagerly awaiting their arrival. I’ve never seen the students so excited! The event continued in a large tent with speeches and performances to honor “Mr. and Mrs. Piccinini.” The event could have not been more perfect as the learners and staff were truly excited to have them there and had prepared many special things for the day. One of my personal favorite parts of the program was a poetry reading by one of the 7^th Grade Boys where he recited a poem which began, “Miss Piccinini from the country of California in the village of America.” Other highlights from the program were the traditional song and dance routines done by the students and the speech from the principal where he compared my parents to royalty; “we have not had visitors this important since Prince Charles!” Now that was quite the statement! The event ended perfectly with the entire student body singing the South African national anthem in beautiful harmony. The teachers put it best when they said, “this is the day we will never forget!”

Later that day we ventured to my community-based organization where my parents distributed teddy bears to each of the orphans at the centre. Each of the children’s faces lit-up as they were presented with their own teddy bear. For some of them this was the first toy they ever personally owned. It was funny to watch how each child played with his/her bear; the play ranged from perpetual hugging to staging fights with their friends’ bears. As the children were happily playing with their new toys my parents and I set-up tables filled with used clothing they had brought from America for the staff members of the organization. Even though we were all a little concerned about what the reaction would be to this we were quickly put at ease when all the staff started signing and dancing with joy!

It’s amazing how things that seem so small to us have the potential of making a huge impact on the lives of others. It only took a visit to the school to warrant a huge celebration, a teddy bear to render extreme joy in the orphans’ faces and used clothing to create a desire to sing and dance in praise.

Although my parents’ time in Khula Village was limited the lives they touched and the impact they made on the community are far greater than we could ever imagine.

Nothing Like A Little Perspective

I’ve always thought that I loved my life as a Peace Corps Volunteer in my rural South African village, but I was never completely convinced of this until my trip to America.

With a year and a half of life in a village behind my belt I felt pretty confident in myself as a volunteer and in my impact on the community. Whenever anyone would ask me about my life in South Africa I would say with confidence that I loved my time here because I genuinely did…or so I thought. I mean how could I really know I truly loved it until I took a step back to gain some perspective? I had the opportunity to gain that much needed perspective during my visit to America.

When I was preparing for my trip home many volunteers warned me about feelings I might have upon my return to “the land of plenty.” So I boarded the plane with nerves of culture shock, the potential that I may not relate to my family or friends anymore and the possibility that I might not want to come back to South Africa. Luckily for me, the moment I arrived in America I was thrown back into my “old” life wearing a fancy dress, heels and make-up (things I haven’t worn in almost 2 years) for my brother’s graduation. I didn’t even have time to think about the adjustment as it was forced the moment I got off the plane.

This made the initial step back into American life much easier than expected as being my “American” self couldn’t be any more different than my “South African” self. So a few days went by and all was “normal.” Then little things started to set me off like breaking down in tears upon seeing a man begging on the street or needing to pull over every so often to buy caffeine because driving in traffic is draining or the inability to sleep because the excess clothes in my closet stressed me out. Then there was the fact that I missed about every pop culture reference, but I guess that’s to be expected when I live in a hut!

My biggest “light bulb” moment was when I was in Target and Costco at the end of my stay at home. I mean Costco and Target are the definition of excess, but are places that volunteers dream of when sitting in our little huts, but now I was experiencing it through different eyes. While walking in the clothing section of Costco, getting completely distracted by all the stimuli, my mom said to me, “what things could your host family use?” I thought about it for a second and then realized, “what things couldn’t they use!” With that realization I told my mom it was time to leave because I was afraid I might break down. That singular moment had a huge unexpected impact on me.

Up until that point in my South African Peace Corps service I was very aware of the great need for “development,“ but I was pretty blind to the raw poverty that was right before my eyes. Having immediately transferred from Niger, the poorest country in the world, South Africa didn’t even seem to compare. It wasn’t until I took a step outside of it that I realized how wrong I had been. Maybe the Zulu people in my village don’t initially seem as poor as the rural villagers in Niger, but take away all the “show” and the reality is not a pretty one.

Because of South Africa’s unique history rural South Africans have always taken great pride in presenting themselves with dignity. Although a person may only have 2 sets of clothing you can bet that those clothes are washed and ironed each day so that he/she always looks his/her best. Then there is the style of homes. With the heavily white South African influence many Zulus have transitioned from traditional huts to what look like typical western homes on the outside, but a step inside would show something a little different: unfinished ceilings, broken furniture and numerous people sharing a single bed. These facts all go completely unnoticed to the typical visitor and even apparently to someone like me who prided myself on my integration in my village. It wasn’t until that moment in Costco that I had clarity on the reality of village life.

With that realization in the back of my head and the burning desire to get back to work I boarded the plane back to South Africa. Now after being back for about a month the perspective I gained during my trip to America has been the driving force behind my work. I have eight more months to continue making as large of an impact on my community as possible and I am dedicated to doing just that!

An AIDS-Free Generation

Please help me win the AIDS-Free Generation Photo Contest put on by the Peace Corps Headquarters in Washington DC.  The winner of the contest gets his/her photo put hung in the Peace Corps Headquarters.  It would be an honor to win this! Please click on the link below to read the story behind the photo and cast your vote.  Voting ends Monday, July 16th, at 12pm EST so please cast your vote today! Thanks for your support!

http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=10151064517365914&set=a.10151064514975914.410512.110634980913&type=3&theater

 

One Year Down…One To Go!

It’s official…I have passed the one year mark in my village! I remember arriving in my little Zulu community on March 25^th, 2011. It was 8 o’clock at night, dark and pouring rain when I arrived to a new and unknown place that was to be my home for the next two years. I vividly remember being guided to my tiny hut by two of my new Zulu brothers by the light of their cell phones as the electricity was out due to the storm. When in my hut I immediately experienced the wonder of the extremely loud sound of rain on a tin roof (a sound I don’t think I will ever get used to) and the fear of being all alone in my new home. I was convinced that I would never sleep that first night, but eventually I did and here I am now after a year and two months of “hut nights” behind my belt and honestly I can’t imagine being happier living anywhere else.

Everyone who knows me in South Africa, villagers and Peace Corps Volunteers included, knows that I ooze Zulu pride as I absolutely love every aspect of my life in the village. Okay, maybe that’s exaggerating a bit as I could do without the 5am wake-up calls by the extraordinarily melodic birds that live in the trees near my home, the trudging through deep sand to get to school in the morning and the endless amounts of rice and maize meal, but all in all I love my simple Zulu life! At this point in my service I can honestly say that I am the happiest I have been yet as I am feeling extremely integrated into my community, I am very busy and I am starting to see the impact of my projects.

Although my main assignment in the village is at the local HIV/AIDS organization I have found fulfillment by doing projects and sharing my talents in various places throughout the village. In the primary school I have implemented a reading component into the English curriculum where I split the grade 7 students into groups of 5 and we are reading The Phantom Tollbooth together. This is extremely exciting for the students as they have never had “individualized” attention due to the fact that they are used to the typical 60 students to 1 educator ratio. Also, because reading is not a prominent part of Zulu culture completing The Phantom Tollbooth will mark the completion of their first “big book” ever!

Also at the primary school I am running two extracurricular clubs that I began at the start of the new year: a PenPal Club and a Girl’s Club. The PenPal Club is made up of 30 Grade 7 students and we meet once per week to write letters to and read letters from our American PenPals as well as discuss the differences between South African and American culture. This club is a blast as this is the first time any of my students have ever received mail and they love to show off their letters to the rest of the student body as well as constantly talk about their American friends. The Girl’s Club is my favorite project thus far! The club is made up of 20 girls that meet once per week with the underlying theme of female empowerment. The girls love the various components of the meetings: ice breaker games, snack time (their real favorite), journaling, lecture/discussion, activities and dance parties! I always know that even if I am having a bad week that my Girl’s Club girls will remind me of why I love being a Peace Corps Volunteer.

Aside from work at the primary school I am also working in the village high school. This is something I avoided like the plague during my first year in the village as I was extremely intimidated by the students as many of them are my age or even older. Although I began my work there as a learning specialist for those students who had fallen behind my work became an endless battle as the timetable changed on a daily basis making it impossible to have a consistent schedule that worked with my other projects. Because of this I switched my focus to developing a youth empowerment program for the high school . My most direct role in the program is holding a weekly Life Skills Club for a selected group of 40 students that will begin next term. In the meantime I am working with the principal to develop a strong and complete curriculum for the program. It is hard to know how successful a program like this will be, but the potential is sure there! Also, at the high school I am currently putting together a comprehensive school-wide English proficiency test that will be given to the students at the beginning of each school year to assess their English knowledge. Based on the results of the test the educators will tailor the curriculum to the most pressing needs of the students. This is extremely important as all high school classes are taught in English and unfortunately the current English standards at the school are rather low thus resulting in extremely low pass rates.

So without even meaning to I have become more of an education volunteer than I expected to be, but I have learned during my time in the village that development needs to start at the most basic level and the schools are the best place for that. Aside from my work in the schools I am still very active in my village HIV/AIDS organization as my most recent project there was the development an after school educational and recreational program for the orphans that we serve. When I first got to my organization we had a decent feeding scheme where the orphans would come after school to receive a nutritious meal, but I noticed that there was something missing. That missing piece was the love and care that the orphans greatly needed thus my reason behind the development of the after school program. Since instating the program I have watched the number of orphans that attend increase dramatically as well as the overall morale of the group.

My biggest fear with these programs is that they won’t be sustainable and after I leave they will all cease to exist. Although I am doing my best to get as much community buy-in as possible I know that a lack of sustainability for some, but hopefully not all, of my projects is inevitable. I need to come to terms with the fact that the work I am doing now may not be completely sustainable in its original form, but that I am impacting the lives of those I serve directly on a daily basis during my two years of service. My hope is that my impact will have a ripple effect and that the people I personally influence will go on to impact and change the lives of others.

Well, one year down and one to go…who knows what the future holds!

Never A Dull Moment

It’s amazing to me that even after a year living in my village a day doesn’t go by that I don’t have a new experience. I think it is because of this that my time in South Africa is flying by! These past few weeks have been particularly eventful.

Two weeks ago I was asked by the principal of the primary school where I work to chaperone a field trip. I naively agreed somehow forgetting all of my past field trip experiences. As I got ready for the day I put on warm clothes as it was raining and cold, but of course that managed to be the worst decision ever when the day turned to 100 degrees with 85% humidity. Gotta love the bipolar weather in KwaZulu Natal! Anyway, I boarded the bus super excited for the day because once the students saw that I was going on the field trip they were all cheering! The moment the bus started I was reminded of why field trips are so exhausting: the house music immediately started blaring, the kids started singing and yelling and the general madness began! The field trip itself was rather cool as we took 100 7^th graders to a career and science centre for some educational motivation and then ended with at a trip to a reptile centre. When I say there were 100 students you would think there would be quite a few chaperones, but that wasn’t the case as there were only 5 of us! The field trip as a whole ended up being 10hours long as we left school at 7am and got back at 5pm. It’s things like that that remind me that that I am not in American anymore! By the time I got home that night I was dripping in sweat and exhausted mostly from our transit times when the bus was a madhouse!

The following week I had some very interesting times with nature. I got my very first wasp sting, which was extremely painful! I didn’t know this about wasps, but apparently they continue to sting until they are removed from the body so it feels far worse than a bee sting. My arm ended up swelling so big and radiated heat that everyone in my village was very worried for me as they had “never seen anything like that in their lives.” Of course that made me feel good when the locals were worried! Luckily that went away within a few days just in time to discover the three dead rats in my water supply.

So my host family has a water tank on the property that we use to collect rain water for drinking and bathing. One day we had someone visit who mentioned that the water smelled funny. We all immediately chimed in that the water has been smelling and tasting funny for weeks now, but never said anything thinking it was normal. Well, sure enough we looked in the tank and there were three dead rats inside! Lovely…I had only been drinking and bathing with that water for a long time…that can’t be good for my health! Anyway, since there wasn’t anything I could do at that point I decided to make light of the situation and make a delicious Ratatouille for dinner!

If that wasn’t enough two days after that lovely discovery we were hit by Cyclone Irene! To be honest cyclones always seemed like fictitious things to me until I experienced one first-hand. When I say I experienced it first-hand I mean that I was awoken by rain falling on my face while I was asleep in bed. Once I was fully awake I noticed that my bed was soaking wet and that my hut was flooded! Joy joy joy! Luckily I have the best host sister in the world and she helped me clean everything up, but the one thing that we couldn’t fix was the door. So I spent a week without a door praying that nobody would break in (well I guess it would be more like walk in) to my house in the middle of the night!

The day that my door was fixed I was so excited that I was skipping to my hut from the main house after delivering my host brother hot water and I tripped on the wheelbarrow that was hidden in the darkness and I gashed open my left leg. Again everyone in my village was freaking out saying, “who will believe a lady with a scar?” They really know how to make me feel good sometimes!

So I thought I had my fair share of strange situations for awhile, but I was mistaking. Last night I was awoken by a strange itching sensation on my shoulders and face. I tried to ignore it and just figured I was so tired that I was hallucinating. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case! I turned on my light and found thousands of tiny iridescent insects all over my bed, my body and my walls. I had no idea what they were and so I did the most logical thing at the time: spray Raid all over my bed and bug spray all over my body. It probably wasn’t the healthiest thing in the world, but I figured that I had ingested rat water for a month and I survived so a few chemicals wouldn’t hurt. In the morning I decided to take a nice long bucket bath to rid myself of the insects, but instead I was disturbed by a little mole that was in my bath bucket. After removing him from the bucket he was so terrified that he stood by my side for the duration of my bath!

All I can say about all of this is:

1.) My life is strange (but awesome)!

2.) This is Africa!