Nelson and I are home in Ohio from the Peace Corps. When I got face to face with going and being a teacher in Rwandan schools, I had to confess that it was more than I wanted to take on….so we opted to come home. Nelson was told several weeks before the end of training that the Peace Corps would recommend him to be a tutor and maybe work with his architecture skills in the community instead of being a teacher. The school was promised one teacher for sure, and I was it. When Nelson received the news, he was insulted, but I was so jealous that he didn’t have to take on those big classes. Even though I waited until the last possible minute to voice my dark and deep worries, I was comfortable with the decision. Now, here at home, I’m really trying not to second-guess what we did, but it’s hard to keep a positive spin going. I miss all the other volunteers and teachers we had. Also, I know some great experiences lay ahead for us as we made our new home in Nyundo. I think a different assignment would have been better for both of us. We told the Peace Corps at the start that we didn’t want to be teachers. We did have three months of living in Rwanda, learning the language and the culture, but for some reason, at this moment, I’m just thinking about all we are missing…so I guess the wound of leaving is still raw.
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