keyerrasthoughts

[keyerrasthoughts]

Dear Nalo,

You’re here, healthy, and so loved! It’s been 3 months since I’ve moved from South Carolina to Arizona. And you are near 4 months old. Maybe one day you’ll read this. A letter written to you by your aunt, who loves you so much! And even as I write this, I’m thinking of what I want you to get from it. As you likely know by now, I like to get to the point!

My hope and prayer for you, Lo, is that you know how loved you are. By your parents, by me, and by your whole family. I look forward to taking you one day to South Carolina. To my home! And you’ll get to meet our people and they’ll get to know you. I’m sure, in no time, South Carolina will feel like a home to you too.

I further hope and pray for your safety. Physically, of course. But also mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. That you are solely familiar with environments where only love prevails. Environments and spaces where you aren’t expected to be anyone but yourself. And that there is safety when you indeed allow your true colors to show. Almost unrealistically, I hope you never have to build protective walls for yourself because we do such a great job of keeping you safe.

Lastly, I pray for direction and provision for you. That your steps be divinely ordered before you. And that those very steps lead you into your innate destiny. We both know I’m not the first to pull out biblical quotes but I’ve found Proverbs 16:27 "Idle hands are the devil's workshop; idle lips are his mouthpiece" to be true many times in my life. May there be order that helps you to be disciplined and structured but also space for you to explore and be creative. I’ll be honest, Lo, I have no idea what that looks like practically. I think it starts with those characteristics that are present so beautifully in both of your parents. I’m pumped, Lo!

I’m excited for the journey ahead of you. And I’m eternally grateful to be a part of it. I’m looking forward to learning more about you and your personality traits. You are already so expressive, social, focused, and impatient when it comes to meal time haha! There’s so much more to learn about you and a lifetime to learn it! Prepare for a lifetime of being spoiled! I love you with my whole heart.

Love,

Aunt Keyerra

[keyerrasthoughts]

These opinions are solely my own, and do not reflect the opinions of Peace Corps or the United States government.

1-19-2023

The new year is here and shockingly I've been reflecting lately. 2023 was a year of the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. I worked a big girl job for a little over a year. I got to return to Tonga and complete my Peace Corps service after it was originally interrupted by Covid-19. I got to connect on a more personal level with my family. It was no longer about the relationships that my parents had with my relatives, but my personal relationships. And while all of those things were exciting, and amazing, and grounding, we had so much loss in my family in 2023. And I lost my grandma. I can't even begin to find the words the describe the grief I have felt.

And here we are, a new year. 2024! I'm thankful for another year. I'm thankful to be here, happy, healthy, and loved. I know that none of those things should be taken for granted. I'm so extremely blessed, I know.

I don't have a new year resolution, or a phrase or word for the year. My goal is to figure out what I'm doing after my Peace Corps service ends in June. It has been a dream come true returning to Tonga to complete my service. And as much as I love my kids, my school that I teach at, and my community, it's time to think about what's next. To "chase a new dream," to quote some cheesy movie or show that I've probably watched a million times. I have no idea what that could be. I spent the first 8 months of my service just soaking it all in and not worrying about the future. And its been amazing! Lately, I've been taking more videos. Trying to hold on as long as I can.

But here we are, the new year. The time I told myself I would apply to jobs and start thinking about the future. Right now, the future is looking very ambiguous and open haha. If you know of anyone hiring send it my way! My job seach is quite open to a vast amount of experiences. A very practical option I'm exploring is the chance to serve a third year in another country. I'm excited to see what opportunities will come from that.

My second goal that has transitioned into the new year is just to continue to be a better person. A better communicator, friend, relative. It's something that I try to do daily. I won't always get it right the first time, whatever "it" is. I'm human, I allow myself that. But, the next time I'm faced with a similar circumstance I expect at the very least growth in my response. Best case scenario, the second time around I'll make the right call. That is if there even is one "correct" answer.

2024, I'm happy you're here! I look forward to all the experiences, wisdom, and the love that you will provide. I've seen a little bit of it already. A tiny preview in the sunsets, the beautiful smiles on my kids faces, and the immense amount of love that I've already received. I'm expecting more of that this year.

With love,

Keyerra(Ela)

[keyerrasthoughts]

These opinions are solely my own, and do not reflect the opinions of Peace Corps or the United States government.

Hi everyone,

It’s been about two months since being back in Tonga so I thought now would be a good time to update everyone on how things are going. Just to get caught up I returned to Tonga in late March after a very intensive and stressful medical check. I’ll save you the details, but there were times I didn’t think I‘d be able to return to finish my service. Fortunately, I was wrong and was able to return in late March with 3 other volunteers from my previous group. We had 10 days of training on the main island of Tongatapu in a village called Hoi. We stayed with host families during that time. And then we were sent to our sites. I’m now off of the main island, on a nearby smaller island. For security reasons I’m not sure how much we can share about our specific site locations so I will stay intentionally vague. But the majority of this will be about my experience so far at site. And to quote a movie that I quite enjoyed Avatar: The Way of Water “her heartbeat is mighty.”

This is not the same site I had when I first came here to Tonga, though I have every intention of visiting my previous site while I am here. And they are so different, my previous site from my current site. I am working as an English Teacher at a Government Primary School. It’s been great! Me and the other volunteer here, David, joke about how I hit the jackpot with my site placement. It’s a perfect fit in so many ways. I have mainly been working in the classroom with classes 3-6. Which is the same age group as our (American Education System) grades 3 - 6. The kids are the highlight of my day everyday. They are so sweet, fun, and eager to learn English which makes my job that much more easy and fun. I’m so lucky that my job is play games with my kiddos while continuing to fuel their desire to learn the English language.

I would like to highlight the relationship between the Peace Corps organization and individual communities here is fantastic and Peace Corps volunteers are treated with the upmost respect. While I’m so lucky and thankful this is the case, it means that I get a ton of attention. Which I love, but it poses a bit of a challenge because I actually feel the most comfortable taking up the least amount of space and attention. It’s been fun noticing my more introverted and quiet kiddos and community members because I relate so strongly to them. Within the larger community, I have been working with the older students enrolled in high schools with their English assignments. I’ve enjoyed working with them and seeing what they are studying. However, I always worry that I am not being helpful enough. See my Tongan is not great, and I’m super shy about using it. However, each time I’ve worked with students they seem to leave with the correct answers and a better understanding of the assignment or the information. It’s an area where I hope to grow in. I would say that is true for many areas of my service. I would love to grow in my ability and my confidence in: tutoring English, classroom management, and speaking Tongan. Those are just some of the areas off the top of my head.

I briefly mentioned my current struggles with speaking Tongan. I am learning the language from my host family, school kids, and a language learning book provided by Peace Corps. Also, I am taking language lessons twice a week from my principal after school. My goal is to learn as much Tongan as I can. I would love to be able to hold conversations in Tongan and understand what is being said in church. We’ll see what’s a manageable goal for how long I’ll be here. Right now, though, like I said my Tongan is not great.

Lastly, I want to talk about church as it is a huge part of my life right now. My mom and I joke that I go to church more here than I did in the States, which is absolutely the case. We go to church, on a typical week, Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 6pm-ish, and Sunday. And on Sunday, there are 3 services. One at 6am, 10am, and 4pm. Though, I usually only attend the 10am and 4pm services. Actually, my first weekend here, at site, I attended an “Apitanga” which is essentially a church camp over 4 days and 3 nights. It was Easter themed, so there were multiple bible lessons, along with what we would call praise dance (action) practice. Also, those who chose to could sleep in the church hall. Which is like the church recreation building. It was so much fun and also so exhausting. But fundamentally the best integration tool I could have asked for. I met so many of the Wesleyan Church youth members. Some of which are students at the school where I work. Some, I would consider friends.

All in all, I’m doing fine. Life is good here in Tonga. The weather has started to cool off which I love, but everyone around me is saying it’s too cold. I have kids wearing coats to school in the morning. I do miss my family in the States. It made me a little sad to celebrate Mother’s and Father’s day here without my parents. But the news headlines that I randomly read don’t make me want to go back to the States. And it’s proven really difficult to explain why the US is such a mess when I’m asked by Tongans. I’m thankful to be here! I’m thankful for the family I’m gaining here. I’m thankful for Peace Corps that is allowing me to have a once in a lifetime experience twice now. I’m looking forward to the growth that I will obtain while being here. Thank you for reading this! I’m looking forward to writing more blog posts in the future.

Much love,

Keyerra (‘Ela)

PS: below is some music and things I’ve been listening to :)

Music:

If by Chance - Ruth B.

Body Ain’t Me - Pink Sweats

State of Grace - Taylor Swift

Liahona-Lanu Mata Hinehina by Peni Tonga ft. Nisha Recorsz

Podcast:

The Pivot Podcast ft Dawn Staley

[keyerrasthoughts]

These opinions are solely my own, and do not reflect the opinions of Peace Corps, FEMA, or the United States government.

Hey to all my people!

It's been a little more than a month so I thought it would be fitting to do an update on the Peace Corps/FEMA position that I've been doing. The official title is a Community Vaccination Center Mission Support Volunteer, which is a mouthful. Essentially, we help fill the non-clinical positions at a vaccination site. I am NOT administering vaccines. There are: Greeters, Registration workers, Scribes, and various traffic positions. Although when we were in Ocean City, one of our lovely volunteers created a new position where we did more outreach. Meaning, we stood on the sidewalk and held up a sign that read "COVID SHOTS FREE" to try to bring in business. It was actually really fun! We started to keep count of how many waves, thumbs up, honks, middle fingers, and miscellaneous rude reactions we got. An overwhelming majority of the reactions from the passing cars were positive, but the negative ones struck a little deeper.

Anyway, most everyone in our group has been cross trained to do every position except Greeter. There are about 4 of us who have been trained as Greeters. I am one of the four and take it as a promotion of sorts? Greeters essentially screen each person with a temperature check and a list of questions to determine if this person has had a high chance of contracting Covid in the last 14 days. Examples of questions that are listed are: have you experienced any Covid symptoms in the past 14 days, or have you traveled to any Covid hotspots in the past 14 days?

In total there are 10 Peace Corps teams in Maryland. I am a member of Team 1(the best one) and there are 7 members on our team. I believe most teams in Maryland also have 7 members. There are two Peace Corps groups that work at our MVU(mobile vaccination unit). Us and Team Two. Currently, FEMA is preparing to end their mission in Maryland so at least 2 other teams have been moved to outreach to help increase the numbers of people coming to our MVU.

There are some days where we have vaccinated over a hundred people(typically clinics that are majority 2nd dose of Moderna have higher numbers), but there are also days where we struggle to reach 20 or less people. And I think we overwhelming experience the latter. Which is good, because that's still 20 or so people who are now vaccinated or partially vaccinated. But 20 or less people in an 8 hour day can be trying sometimes. But, my absolute favorite part is when families come to the MVU and the kids draw with chalk on the ground while their parents get vaccinated. It's so precious to see the drawings that the kids are able to create! So it's possible I'll be headed back home late July.

One struggle I've had is Covid testing. We were originally told we would be required to get tested for Covid weekly. Unfortunately, that hasn't come to fruition. So, being the nervous Nelly that I can be, I have been getting tested weekly at mainly CVSs, but this week I went to an urgent care. My brother thinks I'm obsessed with getting Covid tests, but weekly negative tests provide me with peace of mind that at the time of the test I FOR SURE did not have Covid(and even if I am obsessed with Covid tests, is it bad considering we're in a pandemic?).

And to add to that: we interact with people everyday who haven't been vaccinated, a MVU requires a lot of staff which increases the likelihood of getting Covid, and lastly we're hotel bouncing. So daily we have a ton of interactions with various people, and I say all of that to say I believe that getting tested weekly is in my best interest. So if you're still anxious about Covid, you're not alone.

Overall, I've really been enjoying this assignment! Traveling to different communities each week and meeting so many people has been lovely. Hotel living has been as good as it can be, but it's not nearly on the same level as having more stable housing. Even simple tasks like grocery shopping and doing laundry varies from place to place. Sometimes, we're lucky and have laundry services in our hotel and a grocery store within walking distance. Other times, we're not so lucky. Right now though, I love where we're at! We have laundry services at the hotel and are walking distance away from any type of food you could imagine. Needless to say, I've been eating out a ton lately.

The variety of food options is truly a representation of how diverse this area is. The diversity has been something I have greatly appreciated about Maryland, and specifically where we're currently placed. Being from a state with a majority White population and little diversity amoungst Black and Brown people, I honestly never knew that communities this diverse existed. Diversity certainly has been added as a requirement for wherever I decide to settle down and plant my roots.

Thanks so much for following so far! I'd like to answer a common question I get pertaining to the vaccination clinic for all my people not vaccinated/still on the fence about the vaccines.

1. Which vaccine is better?

I get this question a ton and it's certainly a question that I googled before I got my vaccine, so I totally get it. All of the vaccines are effective! At our clinics we mostly give out Moderna and Johnson & Johnson(Janssen). So it's mainly just a question of if the client wants to come back for a second shot in 28 days(Moderna) or get one shot on that day and be done(Johnson & Johnson).

Pfizer and Moderna have higher efficacy numbers, that's true. But that is due to so many things like how the research for each of the vaccines were searching for different outcomes in their results. It's actually extremely difficult to compare the vaccines. But if the efficacy numbers deter you from a specific vaccine, I recommend you take whichever one you feel comfortable taking. The goal is to vaccinate as many people as possible. The sooner people get vaccinated the better.

In the research that I did before getting my vaccine (Johnson & Johnson) the experts were saying to just take the vaccine that is available to you.

I totally understand the apprehension and distrust of the vaccines and the government, in some ways I'm in the same boat. But these vaccines are safe. Of course, everyone responds differently to the vaccines and if you're worried talk to your primary care physician to determine which one is best for you. And if you don't have a primary care physician, I feel confident that at most vaccination clinics there is a clinician who can help you decide.

But just to repeat myself, the vaccines are safe. All of them.

Honestly, from the bottom of my heart thank you for following along with my seemingly endless thoughts. I appreciate the love and support so much. Feel free to reach out to me! I would love to hear from you!

Much love,

Keyerra

[keyerrasthoughts]

"You want to go back?"

I wanted a space for my loved ones to hear directly from me about my life updates. To hear from my perspective, why I make the decisions I make, and what my new life updates will entail. So, that is the purpose of this platform/space. Hopefully, I'll use this consistently, but only time will tell.

I wanted this post to be both my reaction to a question that I get all the time and an update on my current situation. I'll start with the update!

As I am typing this, I'm on a flight to training for a Peace Corps Response position that I have been accepted to fulfill. I will be serving as a COVID-19 Community Vaccination Center Mission Support Volunteer for the next 3-ish months. I've been asked multiple times "what will you be doing?" Long explanation short, I'm not entirely sure. I will be serving in Maryland doing logistical support to vaccine clinics. That could mean a lot of things from helping people sign in, traffic control, line control and more. Fortunately, I'll be training over the next couple of days and will be able to give a more detailed explanation in the future. But for right now all I can say is I'm truly honored to be able to serve in this capacity to help with Coronavirus relief and response.

Secondly, I wanted to address a question that I get a lot "you want to go back?" Some context, I get this question often in response to me saying that my plan is to return to my Peace Corps service when it is safe to do so. I served in Tonga for 7 months before we were evacuated due to Covid-19.

Honestly, it frustrates me when I'm asked because the question feels based on misconceptions about the country where I served. Tonga is a beautiful country and I had an amazing time serving there. I was welcomed with open arms and hearts into my host family's home, the community that hosted our training for 2 months, and my community where I served for 5 months. I am forever grateful for each of them.

It's true that where I served I only had electricity from sunset(8pm-ish) till about 2am. And I didn't have running water in my bathroom, so bucket showers were my thing for a bit. But, I loved it. All of it. The sunlight gave me all the light I needed in my lovely home. And particularly on hot, humid days a cold bucket shower was just what helped me cool down.

To me, electricity is nice but not needed. Running water is cool, but I won't die without it. And that's part of the reason I was placed on an outer island where those were the conditions. Because I didn't mind doing without. This wasn't the experience for every volunteer in Tonga. All of my friends had running water and electricity 24/7.  But I was SO HAPPY in my community! I felt a very pure and genuine form of joy that became my norm. A joy that I hadn't experienced in America, even with constant electricity and running water. It feels that maybe we're focused on the wrong things?

One of my fellow Peace Corps volunteers worded it perfectly, "the feeling that I'm the luckiest person in the world." I felt that all of the time! That I was the luckiest person in the world to be serving where I was. It was an honor. An honor that I hope I will be able to return to soon.

That's not to say that my service was perfect. There are problems with Anti-Black racism in Tonga. And the expectation that all Americans are White led to me being asked "where are you from?" more than I liked. Lastly, my classroom management skills were not on point, so the struggle of teaching my kids English and keeping them engaged was where a large amount of my growth occurred.

But it's THAT growth that I saw, even in those 7 months, that I hope to expand upon in my return to Peace Corps service. So when people ask me "you want to go back?" I hope you now understand why I say "yes" without hesitating. For me, from my perspective, it's a no-brainer.

I hope this shed some light on my perspective. And if you made it all the way to the end, God bless you. I appreciate you going through this with me. I'm so grateful for the love and support that I receive.

Reach out to me with your reactions, questions, and comments! I'd love to hear them all.

Thanks for reading!

With love,

Keyerra