The Librarian

I’m incredibly pleased to say that my village’s library stayed open while I was away. I was fairly sure that it would not be used, and now I feel a little guilty for my slightly pessimistic prediction. So, I’m back in action at the Tefisi Library and it seems like a race against time to make the most progress between now and November, when my time will be up.

The enthusiasm of one parent has been inspiring to me. If I didn’t mention before, there is a woman from my village who is responsible for keeping my hope alive that the work I put into the library will not be in vain. She alone kept it open while I was away, and she alone is still coming in order to help make it something the village can be proud of and benefit from.

The kids love it. We have regulars at this point and it’s so different than being at school, for both of us. They are more open and try speaking English more and, with my helper Kave, I’m such a better teacher. We are setting up reading groups, lesson planning, activities, and I wish I could exchange my time that I spend at my school for more time at the Library. Maybe it isn’t too far fetched…

I brought back a couple of puzzles, just 100 pieces, and the other night when the Secondary School kids came, I joined a couple in their attempts to work the puzzle. I slowly realized that they had never seen anything like this before and were completely puzzled by the puzzle (ba-da-bump). They kept trying to put pieces together that to me were obviously incorrect, so it took a couple of tries and examples to show them the process of finding pieces that fit. Eventually they would get one, then another, and another, each success brought a huge smile on their faces and they would say with all sincerity, “WOW! Senoni, Look!” and I would smile broadly in response with the same sincere excitement for them. It was so nice to be a part of that.

After so many disappointments and little success with projects in the Health Promotions area, it’s nice to feel some amount of success and accomplishment. I never would have thought this would come by playing the role of Shannon the Librarian Extraordinaire. Feel so silly for all the frustration and anxiety about trying to find a project that I thought I could do, when doing this was just fine. Now it’s unfortunate that my time is limited, a day will pass and suddenly I’m a week, then a month closer to the end of my service. It’s always possible to stay longer, but I don’t feel like that’s in the cards for me, and I think the people I know best in my village know that too.

I feel good about the next few months; I feel good being back here in this place that I’ve called my home. With all the flaws in life here, that I have in mind even as I praise it right now, I will be sad to leave.