Peeping Tom Conclustion...Hopefully

After being away from site in Nelspruit for three nights I finally returned and inevitably had to deal with the problem known as Oupa. I had reported the situation to Peace Corps and their response was great. My APCD, Lydia, basically my boss who is in charge of overseeing all of my work, was very supportive and wanted to know if I wanted her to come to my site and move me to a new home. Apparently, she also got on the phone with the head of Peace Corp safety and security as well as Peace Corp Medical Staff who I also received phone calls from: “Cait we just wanted to check on your psychological health after the incident. If you ever feel overwhelmed and need to talk to someone please call us. We think it is good that you’re going away for the weekend.”

I had decided with Lydia that I wasn’t ready to try to move somewhere yet. I adore the rest of my family and my house is in the perfect location as compared to my schools. I told her I would talk to my family Sunday night about the situation and get their opinion:

“Peace Corp is talking about moving me to a new house. They are worried about my safety here. I told them I loved my family and didn’t want to move, but I am worried about the situation becoming worse. What do you think?”

In the conversation that ensued we discussed that we didn’t think Oupa was going to hurt me, but I was concerned that with him getting older, (he’s 16 now) and dropping out of school, I was fearful of him becoming worse. They didn’t think he would, but then I pointed out with him spending his time drinking and gambling and basically being the epitome of a bum that I couldn’t see him suddenly becoming beneficial to the family in some way. At about this time Oupa showed up and I went into my room because I had no desire to be in the middle of that conversation.

Eventually they called me out and Oupa apologized. He explained that he was drunk and when he drinks he goes to the side of the house to urinate. He just happened to look in the curtains and didn’t mean any harm. My mom then said she was going to close the space in between the fence and my wall so that it wouldn’t be possible for anyone to be there.

For now I’m running on the “wait and see” policy. I’m going to give it at least another week or two before I make any more permanent decisions about moving. I finally feel settled in my community and don’t particularly want to uproot and start again with a new family, in a new location, trying to become comfortable. At least I feel I can cope for now.