Sickness and (near) death

Strictly speaking, if we're going for chronological order then the title should be the other way round as the near death experience came first, but that's by the by.

Yes, it's true, earlier this week my stomach (which I had great faith in seeing as it survived four and a half months in Brazil without the slightest revolt) decided it didn't agree with whatever I ate (too much fruit methinks) and so I had a 45 minute date with the bathroom at 2 in the morning as my bowels decided to empty themselves however they could. Beautiful. Thankfully I am back to normal now but I know now to be more wary with what I'm eating and drinking. Think I'll steer clear of cherries and apricots from now on...

The near-death experience came last Sunday and it's certainly something I will not be forgetting easily. I don't think I've ever feared for my life as much as I did then thanks to the stupidity of some 20-something Kazakhstani guys who thought they would be giving us a fun afternoon and evening! Seeing as it is ridiculously hot here in Shymkent, I have been dying to go swimming since we arrived and so when one of the host homes (a young recently married couple) offered that they and their friends would take us to a nearby swimming spot, we readily agreed. Little did we realise then. We started to gather at 4pm at Mega, the super-shiny shopping centre in the centre of Shymkent which juxtaposes against the hot and dusty streets of the rest of the city. As Kazakhstan is pretty laid back when it comes to timing, it was 5pm before we were ready to set off. We were split into different cars and off we set. A little more quickly than we are used to but we know drivers here are pretty nippy so we thought little of it. It was only once we hit the roads outside of the main city that we realised perhaps the driving was a little more than we had bargained for. I'm talking something like out of The Fast and The Furious. And literally breaking every single driving rule I can think of!!!! No seatbelts, talking on a mobile whilst driving, speeding, going through red lights, drinking beer...at one point, three of the guys drew their cars into a row across the road, revving their engines before slamming on the accelerators and racing up the road. I was in the car on the inside of the road and along with Grace and Ben, the other passengers, was literally screaming as we saw an oncoming lorry! Parents and friends, I PROMISE FAITHFULLY NEVER TO TAKE SUCH A RISK AGAIN by getting into a car with these lunatics on any other occassion! We all agreed later that a lesson had been learnt.

Having said all that, once we got to the second lake (the first was too full...so 2 and a half hours of hair-raising driving later we finally got to some water!!!), had a thoroughly refreshing swim. It was just approaching dusk which gave the place a lovely light and we got to see the mountains near Shymkent too in the hazy distance. It was rather pretty after the dusty confusion of the city. Dinara and I didn't want to stay too late so took the first opportunity of getting back to Shymkent with the first car leaving. Still, this wasn't quite the direct route home we were hoping for as the couple in the car insisted taking us to a cafe first and stopped off to persuade another family member, Oscar, to come too. There were a few comments that Oscar and I should get married but they were only joking. I think! Although we didn't really want to go to the cafe and stay out even later, it was a display of Kazakhstani hospitality and people here are really just genuinely interested in English people (we're a very rare breed) and are eager to learn more English.

Dinara and I got off quite lightly compared with the others in our team who had stayed on at the lake - they weren't so lucky. The crazy lunatic drivers insisted on having a party which meant everyone had to stay late and when they eventually agreed to head home, all three cars got stopped by the police! It all sounded very confusing but involved trying to bribe the policemen... But thankfully the whole team did eventually get home safe and sound. It was an adventure not to be repeated and one that we can now look back on and laugh!

On more a more GX programme-related note, we started our volunteer placements last Monday. I am working for a Youth Clinic with Olga. The clinic is not yet open as the building (an old 'House of Blood' - where blood was donated and transfused) is being thoroughly renovated and repaired, but the organisation also works with schools etc to provide education and information and healthy living and sexual health. I'm not entirely sure if the building will be ready before we leave but we'll have to see. This week has been very quiet and there have been long hours when Olga and I have been sat in our room (yes, we have our own room!) chatting and trying to make some decorations for the room with the very limited resources we have (pens keep disappearing as well...). A lot of the other workers were hard at work preparing for an Anti-Drugs event which happened on Friday evening. I'm hoping that that's part of the reason why we did not have much to do and that things will pick up from this week. There's talk that we might be giving some English classes to the rest of the workers in the clinic as none of them speak much English and they are keen to learn more. To be honest, I have found the week quite frustrating as I'm the type of person who wants to get stuck in and make a difference from the beginning but it is really difficult when I am unable to communicate with anyone else except Olga. But these are probably just teething problems and hopefully as the weeks pass we will be able to identify how we can make a difference.

Another GX development is that we have taken part in several Community Action Days already which is encouraging as through these actions we have a purpose regardless of our placements and through them we also take part in the community. The first CAD I missed as I still wasn't feeling 100% on Thursday evening, but the rest of the team went to a nightclub, introduced themselves at the front and stated their purpose - giving out condoms to encourage safe sex so as to prevent the spread of HIV-AIDS (a rapidly increasing problem in this region) and STIs. Apparently it was quite a fun evening but the condom distribution got a mixed reception as some people just did not want to know. I think sex is still quite a taboo topic in Kazakhstani society, especially in this region which is known for being more "traditional".

Our second CAD was on Friday - the team were involved with the Anti-Drugs event which took place in one of the parks in the centre of Shymkent and was to mark the International Day of Combat Against Drug Addiction and Trafficking. The Event was kind of a concert thing with lots of acts - dancers (including some breakdancers who involved contortion in some of their moves!), singers (the GX team were spontaneously invited up on stage to act as backing dancers - a very surreal experience dancing on stage in front of a couple of hundred Kazakhstani people!), quizzes about drugs, and then GX. Our team performed a sketch about why drugs are bad which involved string tying people together representing the different pressures that drugs exert on a person. Unfortunately the string kept breaking but I think we just about managed to pull it off! Our other involvement was in a "volunteers' dance" along with some othe local young volunteers. We had only learn the dance that afternoon so were a bit nervous but it was actually rather fun and went well. The concert closed with the symbolic act of launching lots of helium balloons. We left feeling that it had been a good evening's work and that, hopefully, the message about drugs will have hit home to at least some of those who attended.

And then yesterday (Saturday) we did another mini-CAD in about 20 minutes where we handed out 150 information packs about HIV-AIDS to young people in the centre of Shymkent, representing one of the volunteer placements which supports HIV-AIDS orphans. Again, a bit of a mixed reception but most people were happy just to take a plastic bag from us, I think as it was easier than stopping to chat or to refuse!

Phew! Mega-bloggage going on there. But a lot has been happening recently. Every day is different and my mood is yo-yoing a bit at the moment too. I think I am finding it more difficult to settle in here than I had expected I would but things are definitely on the up as we take part in CADs. Hopefully our role in the placement will begin to take shape this week too... I'll update you on that next time.

But til then, with lots of love,
Beth xxx :)

Prayer points
Praise:
- That we are getting stuck in to some Community Actions;
- That I am beginning to feel a bit more settled. Getting to grips with the bus system, and being able to update my phone by myself are just little daily victories!
- That I am being taught to trust and rely more on God day by day. This experience is really helping me to focus more on Him.

Prayer:
- For team health. I think most people have suffered a little in some way since we arrived.
- For more opportunities for the team to take part in the community.
- For my placement - that Olga and I will find some meaning to us being there which will keep us thoroughly occupied!

Thanks and God Bless. B x

Beginnings

I never thought I'd ever be the type to keep a blog (mind you, this being just one post doesn't exactly count as "keeping a blog" yet). Although I respect others who are able to divulge a portion of their personal thoughts and feelings on the limitless world wide web, and I enjoy reading their contributions, I've never felt able to, partly as I keep things to myself most of the time, or at least, just amongst my closest friends.

Nevertheless, with an exciting new era dawning, and the prospect of a 6 month volunteering exchange programme which will take me to places as diverse as the Stansted area (Harlow and Bishop's Stortford) in the UK, and Shymkent in southern Kazakhstan, I feel this is the best way to do things and keep people in the know with how things are going. Last time I went abroad for an extended period of time I would send stupidly long emails round to everyone. Now I know from personal experience that that's not what people want cluttering up their inboxes so this here blog is the solution! I'll try to update it from time to time, with a few details about what I'm up to, how I'm feeling, and thoughts and "musings" on what I'm experiencing. I'm certainly not the world's best writer but I'll try my best!

For info, I'm leaving Norwich on Thursday 19th March, first heading to Stratford-Upon-Avon where I will meet my team (there are 18 of us, half from the UK and half from Kazakhstan) for a few days preparatory training. Then we're travelling across to Harlow and Bishop's Stortford where we'll live with local families and volunteer with local charities. Then in mid-June sometime we'll make the trip over to Kazakhstan, to do the same kind of things (albeit the Kazakh way, and in charities appropriate to the local issues) in Shymkent. I believe our return is scheduled for 4th September but it's all a bit vague at the moment.

Many of you know that I have to contribute £600 to this programme (the rest being subsidised by the British Council who jointly run it with VSO). I am almost there - about £80 short at the moment so I will use this space for a cheeky plug for my fundraising page - http://www.justgiving.com/bethwilliams_gx_march2009. Please do take a look and contribute if you can - I appreciate all contributions, big and small as every little helps (thanks Tesco)! Just Giving accepts donations from as little as £2 - the mere price of a drink. I'll be on the volunteering programme when my birthday comes around so perhaps you might consider donating instead of buying me a birthday drink?! A big thanks to all those who have donated already. :)

OK, money plug over. There's loads more general information about Global Xchange available about http://www.globalxchange.org.uk/ - well worth a look. The first time I checked it out I knew immediately that I wanted to get involved. Who knows, maybe the same will happen to you?!

Also, I appeared in a recent article in the local newspaper so if you want to take a look and laugh at my self-conscious-looking mugshot then go here: http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/content/LocalLife/story.aspx?brand=ENOnline&category=LocalLife&tBrand=enonline&tCategory=locallife&itemid=NOED03%20Mar%202009%2016%3A05%3A28%3A580

Please do watch this space if you wish to keep updated and to learn some fascinating stuff about Stansted and Kazakhstan (did you know that apples originate from Kazakhstan?)! I've also a facebook group (http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?ref=sb#/group.php?gid=72064335866) if you're interested and I'll try to respond to personal emails/phone calls/letters as well as I'd love to hear how you are getting on too (it's not all about me!). But this has been a very long start to this new blogging chapter in my life. I'm incredibly excited about the next 6 months, but there's a little time to go before things start kicking off good and proper, so for now, I shall bid you farewell, and until next time,

Beth x