life's too short

i know that life is very slow here and i am often frustrated by inefficiencies and stress like bad internet connections, heat, bugs, constant harrassement from men, and the lack of regular sex. I have recently decided though that there is absolutely nothing i can do about the vast majority of those problems and stressing out about them just raises my blood pressure in 95 degree heat. I also spend a lot of time annoyed by the slow pace of my work and how ineffectual i feel like I have become at a time when I thought I was going to be having the most impact on the world. I have realized, though, that this is just the way it is and i should spend more time trying to be successful working in this system than trying to change the system. This is Africa and there are many many cultural and historical (not to mention geographical and climate related) reasons for the way things are here. Honestly there is a certain amount of naivete and meglomania associated with the assumption that a volunteer living here for just two years can have any impact on the larger social structures that make up that system. I am starting to see, though, that if I accept the things I cannot and should not change, I just might be able to help in a way that works for Africa.