Anti-malarials are pretty well known for giving people very vivid dreams, so over breakfast one morning I was sharing that the night before I had dreamt I was trapped in L.L. Bean.

All of the non-New Englanders thought that meant I was trapped inside a catalogue.

(Wednesday, July 15, 2009)

Last week’s concerns about being the only volunteer at Juvi have been replaced by entirely new concerns: how to handle ‘competing’ volunteers from other organizations. Specifically, how to deal with the two Finnish women who have come to raise money for Juvi and therefore want to teach the kids about their country. No, not Tanzania. Finland.

And here I thought that multiplication was a useful life skill.

I am really finding myself at a loss for grace toward these women who come in with their video cameras and their ideas about making life better for these kids. Instead of worrying about how I’ll fill the time, I’m worrying about being able to teach them at all.

I love my placement and I love the kids SO much. If they were learning, I wouldn’t care who was doing it or how they did it. But yesterday, the kids didn’t learn anything at all. And that frustrates me.