Football early on a Saturday morning

Last night as we watched the World Cup game Rachel got a text from Talia, a US Peace Corps volunteer about a football tournament today put together by the "Be Mobile" campaign (a sports and HIV/AIDS awareness group) and a couple of other organizations such as the Kasigo Women's Shelter to promote HIV/AIDS testing and create awareness around domestic violence. We showed up early and it felt good to be put to some use with folding pamphlets, hanging up posters, and distributing condoms.

Also, it somehow got communicated that the library was a sponsor, so I ended up giving an impromtu speech in front of the crowd about library services. Yikes! I think it went alright though, and I was able to say everything that I wanted to about the current and future library and its services. Afterward a man approached from the community college and was interested in computer programs the library offered--in terms of learning from them and also eventually teaching some workshops. I told him that I'd only be here through the winter, but that he should stay in touch with Mr. Mazunga about programs at the new library.

I am beginning to think that just our mere presence here is helpful for promoting the library, because people ask us all the time what we're doing here, and we get to put a plug in for the library and help community members realize and/or remember that the library is a place to go within the village to gather information, and also to distribute information.

Talia is a really great person and it was nice to talk to her about her experiences here with the people and culture and know that some of our perceptions, frustrations, hopes and thoughts are similar.

As for the rest of the day, we've been waiting for our avocado to ripen so we can make some tuna, avocado and tomato sandwiches. Yum! It's hard to find good cheese here, so that's one thing that I've been missing. Good thing I ate about 5 pounds of fried cheese curds before I came here.