Volunteer in South-Africa

“A year has passed and now we stand on the brink, of returning to a world where we are surrounded by the paradox of everything and yet nothing being the same.
In a couple of weeks we will reluctantly give our hugs and, fighting the tears,we will say goodbye to people who were once just names on a sheet of paper to return to people that we hugged and fought tears to say goodbye to before we ever left.
We will leave our best friends to return to our best friends.
We will go back to the places we came from, and go back to the same things we did last summer and every summer before.
We will come into town on that same familiar road, and even though it has been months, it will seem like only yesterday.

As you walk into your old bedroom, every emotion will pass through you as you reflect on the way your life has changed and the person you have become.
You suddenly realize that the things that were most important to you a year ago don’t seem to matter so much anymore, and the things you hold highest now, no one at home will completely understand.
Who will you call first?
What will you do your first weekend home with your friends?
Where are you going to work?
Who will be at the party Saturday night?
What has everyone been up to in the past few months?
Who from school will you keep in touch with?
How long before you actually start missing people barging in without calling or knocking?

Then you start to realize how much things have changed, and you realize the hardest part of being an exchange student is balancing the two completely different worlds you now live in, trying desperately to hold on to everything all the while trying to figure out what you have to leave behind.
We now know the meaning of true friendship.
We know who we have kept in touch with over the past year and who we hold dearest to our hearts.

We’ve left our worlds to deal with the real world.
We’ve had our hearts broken, we’ve fallen in love.
There have been times when we’ve felt so helpless being hours away from home when we know our families or friends needed us the most, and there are times when we know we have made a difference.
Just weeks from now we will leave.
Just weeks from now we take down our pictures, and pack up our clothes.

No more going next door to do nothing for hours on end. We will leave our friends whose random e-mails and phone calls will bring us to laughter and tears this summer, and hopefully years to come.
We will take our memories and dreams and put them away for now, saving them for our return to this world.
Just weeks from now we will arrive.
Just weeks from now we will unpack our bags and have dinner with our families. We will drive over to our best friend’s house and do nothing for hours on end.

We will return to the same friends whose random emails and phone calls have brought us to laughter and tears over the year.
We will unpack old dreams and memories that have been put away for the past year.
In just weeks we will dig deep inside to find the strength and conviction to adjust to change and still keep each other close.
And somehow, in some way, we will find our place between these two worlds.
In just weeks.
Are you ready?”

This is not written by me, but it does reflect the way i’m feeling quite accurate!
Difficult, right?

I will be returning to the Netherlands the 1st of August.

Hi Guys,

Alles goed?
Heb besloten om na 4 maanden maar weer is wat van me te laten horen.
Daarnaast ook blog-post nr. 1 in het Nederlands, ik denk in het Engels, ik droom in het engels, praat elke dag in het engels, af en toe nederlands lullen is ook best prettig..

Zoals enkele van jullie misschien wel weten, ik ben niet langer werkzaam in het AIDS-tehuis. Door financiële problemen is het tehuis gesloten, en moest ik een andere plek gaan zoeken.

Die ik uiteraard heb gevonden, anders was ik nu thuis geweest..
Ik werk nu als een vrijwilliger voor de uitwisselingsorganisatie waarmee ik naar ZA ben gekomen. Niet meer in Bloemfontein, maar in Port Elizabeth, aan de kust.
Prachtige plek, lekker weer, zonnetje, strandje. Zien jullie het plaatje?

Het werk dat ik hier doe is op vrijwillige basis, maar mijn benzine, beltegoed en andere kosten die ik maak om m’n werk te kunnen volbrengen worden vergoed door de organisatie. Mijn grootste taak is het promoten van het uitwisselingsprogramma, dit doe ik door presentaties te geven op scholen, interviews met radio stations, kranten en posters in kerken etc.

Leuk en interessant, maar soms ook redelijk saai.
Dit is namelijk COMPLEET anders dan het AIDS-tehuis…

De laatste paar maanden zijn in gegaan, en ik moet zeggen dat de tijd vliegt.
Veel dingen geplanned de komende tijd, dus ben bang dat dit voorbij vliegt.
Helaas, ik kan me namelijk nog als de dag van gister herinneren dat ik op schiphol stond met een huilende familie. Misschien zijn er mogelijkheden om te blijven? Ik ben namelijk verliefd!

Niet op een vrouw, maar op dit land!!

Tot gauw,

Paco

Tja, thats a nice saying, live life to the fullest, because nobody promised tomorrow.
Thats definitely true, yes. Though it is not always possible…. or maybe i’m just wrong.

It is honestly very easy to explain my current situation, no actually I just told my current situation in 2 sentences. Let me explain this to you.
When I arrived in Bloemfontein I had quite a shock, the climate is different, the people are different, the surroundings are different, the environment is different etc. etc.

I took my time, wasted time, enjoyed my time. And now the coin finally dropped.
It is you who has to change the situation when you’re stuck, yes you are probably feeling this one, it is you who has to live life to the fullest.

So thats what I did, I found my own way.

Let me tell you a few off my experiences.
at first, a new girl arrived, she was looking for a place to stay so we offered her a place to stay. After a lot off things happened with her she walked away, it is actually a very sad story but i’d rather don’t discuss this on my blog. Next to that my neighbor Petronella has left the house. She found herself a quite nice room in an old-age home in town.

I’ve visited her and it’s a nice place to stay, I hope she’ll be more comfortable in her new room, i’ll definitely will visit her from time to time.

And one off my greatest experiences of the past weeks is the Transkei.
Deon and I went to the Transkei for a meeting with Wil, a dutch guy who runs a stichting in the netherlands to sponsor projects like Ons Plek. We stayed arrived there friday evening and left on monday. Really, the Transkei is so incredibly beautiful. I cannot explain how it is.. The Transkei used to be an independent country, a long time ago…, now it is a sort of province in the Eastern Cape, I went to Coffee bay, it’s a very small town which is 100meters from the sea, in the middle of all the mountains. People live there without electricity and so on, but really, i’d happily move to the Transkei.

On my facebook are some pictures, see http://facebook.com/paco.bleeker

I just don’t have a lot of time to post things on my blog, keep watching my facebook for more updates.

Take care everyone.
hugs,

Paco

Good evening everyone,

After a few days spend in Bloemfontein I know a bit how things are around here, the house is great, the people are also great and the vibe is wonderful, yet things are so difficult.
it’s so hard to explain in words whats being here like, I really think that this should be an experience for everyone because every single day, you see yourself walking by and saying hi to you with a funny smile.

For me this means time to think about myself, who am I, who can I become and whats needed to achieve those goals, and it’s not always easy to be confronted with yourself in another culture where people are struggling so hard to get food on the table or even try to stay alive. When a wise old man once talked to me about growing up, this must be what he’s been talking about.
Let me put it this way, I need some time to settle, things aren’t good, things aren’t bad, things are different…

Let me tell you a few things off what I’ve been up to lately, at first Saturday I had a braai at Joubert’s place, he’s my representative from YFU, my exchange organization, it was so much fun and the food was nice, though I didn’t eat so much because I’m not used to so much food anymore. (thats a good thing!!!) At the braai I met Hans, he’s the chairman of the YFU board, and on Monday morning I went to the Grey College with him because he had to give a presentation about becoming a world citizen, he had planned to show off with me in front off the children but due to a problem around the house I’d missed the hole presentation and was luckily right on time to have some coffee with Hans and the principal.

After that I went to a little café with Hans where we talked about everything and more and had some lunch. I really like him and we promised each other to stay in contact. He even wants to sponsor me when I need some extra money for a little project inside or outside the house, which is of course very welcome! For now I don’t know what that should be, but I’m more than sure that I can use the sponsoring one day this year.

Today I went to the shopping mall with Petronella, a woman in the room next to me, to do some shopping, I bought a little USB internet stick so now i’m able to check my email more often.

I’ve no idea what tomorrow will bring but lets see about that tomorrow, for now i’m a bit ill so I’m going to close my eyes,

thank you for staying with me.

Reply’s to this posts are more then welcome, I miss you guys a lot.

keep well.

Paco

These are some pictures of the kids around here.

The picture in de middle was during the orientation camp.
the guy on the left is my finnish friend called Johannes!

Take care

Hi All,

How are things back there?
I’ve finally arrived in Bloemfontein, South Africa.

friday till yesterday i’ve had an orientation camp in Pretoria.
It was really fun, but unfortunately they told so much about school and hostfamilies and i’m not in a hostfamily and i’m going to a school.
Though it was really fun, i’ve made some friends from all around the globe.

now i’m here in Bloemfontein at the project called Ons Plek or Our Place.
It’s really hard to be here, everything is so different and it takes a lot of time and patience to get to know all of the people on the project, especially because i’m running around from one place to another, for instance today, I woke up and played a bit with kinan, then went to Deon’s place, then back to OP, then after ten minutes back to Deon and then I drove around with Deon and visited some people.

It’s difficult for me, but also for the people when i’m away all the time.

Next to that the times are rough around here, there’s a lot going on and I just need some time to fit in all the chaos. though I think that i can make a change and adjust some of the things which are going around.

Today i’ve done quit a bit of administration for Deon, and we’ll see what tomorrow brings. I’m atleast happy with the fact that all the patients are doing really well, the look good and as far as I can see none of them is really suffering.

Tonight i’ll try to fix the internet in the house, because now I hijacked the computer at Deon’s place. i’ll keep you posted.

Please leave a comment if you feel like it.

With love,

P

Hi!

This is my last post from the Netherlands, tomorrow I’ll be heading to the Airport and fly to Johannesburg via Cairo, all together I’ll be 16 hours “on the road”.
My plane leaves at 16.00 and i’ll arrive at 7.35 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

In Johannesburg i’ll be welcomed by some YFU volunteers and follow an introduction program off 4 days, this is only for exchange students, so it has nothing to do with AIDS and HIV, purely to get to know a little more about the country and it’s culture.

After those four days, i’m going to Bloemfontein to meet Deon at my “new home”.
I’ll go to Bloemfontein by car, so I do not have to fly again.
I’m so excited to finally meet him and everyone else involved..

Once again I want to tell you how fortunate I feel, not many have the chance to voluntary leave their country and go somewhere else..

Gladly i have this chance!

Though it is not always easy to leave your normal life behind.
Saying goodbye is always a hard thing,

I’m ready, packed and have nothing to lose.

C u in a next life!

P.

Hi folks,

it has been a while since my last update, though i’ve got to share a few pretty excited things. To start off with is my graduation, I finally have my HAVO-certificate. (see photoalbum), today is my birthday and next to that, the 4th of August is coming closer and closer!

Damn, I can’t wait ti’ll i’m on that plane while it’s preparing to fly away to Johannesburg via Cairo (Egypt). My plane leaves at 4.00h pm from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.
i’ll arrive in Cairo at 8.30 pm egyptian time and i’ll leave at 11.30 pm local egyptian time.

Unfortunately I still have to go to the embassy two times for my visa. Wednesday i’ll probably hit the road to the embassy in The Hague because time is slowly running out, not that I mind that, but a visa is probably handy when i’m trying to get off the Airport once i’m there…

Tomorrow i’ll be starting with my first driving-lesson. It starts at 10, so for those 2 hours
i will be making the road very unsafe, think before heading to the shoppingmall guys!
No, i’m not really worried about my driving exam, it’s more the theory-part i’m afraid off. Still i’ve got until the 1st of August to practice my skills with my driving instructor Peter.

It would be great if I managed to get my drivers license on time, so we’ll see.

thanks for reading again, feel free to leave a comment.
Paco

I was really in the mood for this song, enjoy everyone!