Week 33: “Go alone and you will go fast, go together and you will go far.” (Harder than it sounds…)

There is a saying that what takes a day in the States takes a week in Africa, what takes a week, takes a month, what takes a month takes a year. The saying relates to the infrastructure present as well as cultural differences. I thought this was offensive and did not understand it, until now. This past week I had to submit my quarterly report for Peace Corps as well as having multiple programs and events that I have been planning get rescheduled, some for the fourth or fifth time. I was at the end of my rope, until I remembered the above saying. I know that I need to take a deep breath and remain calm, however, the American in me as well as my personality in general cannot help but feel self-conscious as I look at my quarterly report and think that’s all I have done in the last few months and I just want to tack on an addendum explaining myself and offering excuses. I know that peace corps understands this and that every site is different, so even as my friends text me all of their triumphs, I should remember the calming words I share with others, that we all have our own time lines. But this week I cannot help but be frustrated with my seemingly slow timeline. I just want to complain and say that I am doing the best I can with what I have, I do not know what more I could do. It is time to turn in my report, take a step back, and reflect on all that I have done that could not fit into the electronic data base. Maybe our funding sources do not care about the funerals I attended or the yoga I have taught, but I know that my friends in Moshana do. This is not the first time I have tried to measure my success by words on a piece of paper, but I guess it’s a lesson I continue to have to learn. Even though I could have done more events, if I was the only one planning them, that would not be sustainable and makes me think of the African proverb, “Go alone and you will go fast, go together and you will go far.”