Tricia Kolp Shares Her 2 Yr Peace Corps Experiences in a South African Village – Saturday, October 26, 2013

October General Meeting—Joint meeting with Lompoc/Vandenberg Branch.

We were invited to come and hear about the experiences of a Peace Corps Schools and Community Resource Project volunteer who worked among the villagers in Tafelkop, a small community in Limpopo Province, a couple hours from Pretoria. Our featured speaker, Tricia Kolp, had just returned from her 2-year stay in South Africa. She had fascinating stories to tell about the daily life of the villagers as well as thought-provoking insights on the status of women and girls in this developing country.

Tricia shared memories and moments of joy and challenges during her time in South Africa, evoking interest, respect, laughter, and reverence for what she experienced and shared with her co-Peace Corps-workers during her 2 year commitment.  The most memorable story, for this reporter, was about her desire and accomplishment of creating a Library for her village, and the joy the villagers had when opening the many donated boxes of books.