Every Sunday, a group of us SA25s would get together by the river. We'd swim, play, chat and relax. Some of my favorite memories of PST include that river. I continued to hang out at that river all throughout the summer

Fast forward six months later. I'm starting to get incredibly sick. I can't keep any food down, my stomach is in lots of pain. I call my helpful PCMOs who tell me to get to Pretoria ASAP. After a couple days of tests in Pretoria, I find out that I have schistosomaisis. http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/schistosomiasis/. Basically, I've got my first parasite.

I'm in some good company, as 200 million people have schisto. However, most schisto takes at least 2 years to turn from active to inactive. I had super schisto, it seems, as it only took six months. Luckily, I caught it soon enough so it won't do any lasting damage. However, Schisto, if untreated, can cause orgtan damage and even death. However, even though I was in a lot of pain, those Sundays by the river were worth it

After surviving schisto, I went directly to Polokwane for Permagarden training. We spent three days learning how to make our own permagardens, which included making our own. It was incredibly fun and educational. My thumb is definitely not green, but with this training, I feel like I can make my own garden. It was also great to see the fellow participants, which included the 25's who live in limpopo and mpumalanga, as well as some 24's. We had a blast.

Now I'm on my way back to Bundu am excited to go back to normal life.