A much belated update . . .

Dumelang Distala (Hello Friends)
I am so sorry for the lag in recent communication. I was expecting to have internet access during my 2 week training session and was hoping to update everything then, but no such luck. However I am now in Gabs until either Sunday or Monday so I will be able to access the internet up until then for any of you who wish to respond via e-mail, I should be able to receive it. Oh, and I have finally gotten a few pictures up via facebook so you can check them out and I’m hoping to get more loaded before I leave.

Week 8 (August 11th-17th)

So I believe I last left off when I was about to leave for International Youth Day. This was a great event! Myself and 2 representatives from the youth group went from semolale along with about a dozen total to represent our Bobirwa subdistrict in Mahalapye. There was probably a total of 300 youth participating in the events. The day started off with a “walk”. We were split into groups and given different starting points from around the village. We were donned with t-shirts and banners and started singing, dancing and chanting through the streets until we all met at the village center. There we were met by a marching band and together we continued the trek to the community hall where the day’s events were going to take place. It was a little reminiscent of a second line celebration in New Orleans! The theme for the day was “Youth & Climate: Time for Change”. There were speeches from different government officials stressing to the youth the importance of them taking responsibility of both their personal environment (people they associate with and activities they engage in)as well as their global environment (environmental consciousness and global awareness) through behavior change and positive leadership. There was also entertainment from traditional song and dance groups, choirs, drama groups, and some of Botswana’s pop artists. Overall, I think the kids took a lot away from the day and I felt very privileged to have the opportunity to share it with them.
On Friday, I met with the village kgosi (chief) and elders (only men) at the kgotla to learn a bit more about the history of Semolale and some of the traditional aspects of the culture. (I passed this info on to all of you in that e-mail attachment) This was a very enjoyable experience! I had to bring my friend from the clinic along to translate for me, but it worked out well. These men were full of wisdom, experience and great stories! This was a very valuable and interesting experience for me and I hope to continue having these chats so that I can learn more about this particular culture and also so that I open myself up to another group within the village and one that is especially hard to reach especially as a young woman in a very patriarchal society.
I kept myself busy the rest of the week with dance parties for the youth, a birthday party, sports, and the usual. The weather is finally starting to warm up, which means it’s “football” season. And surprisingly, Semolale has 5 teams and the neighboring villages also have several teams apiece which means most Saturdays or Sundays a match is going on. The games are a lot of fun, just like any sporting event in the states. Everyone in the area comes out to the game; there’s some tailgating, carrying on, etc. Most times, I almost forget that I’m in a place so far and completely different from home. But then there are some moments when I am abruptly reminded of the reality that I am in Botswana. One of those instances happened this weekend when we were all playing volleyball in the school yard. One moment playing and joking around with my friends, the next minute they all take off running across the yard to chase the goats out and I find myself alone at the net with no teammates and no opponent. In Maryland, we have fire drills; I think here they have goat drills. Everyone knows exactly which tactics to use. There’s the running with arms waving/ flapping ferociously, the high pitched whistle, the rock throwing, or any other creative combination of erratic movements.
I also got to meet my neighbor’s daughters since school is out for the month of August. Here the kids go to school for 3 month trimesters with a one month break between each. Little did I know, this would be the beginning of a very enjoyable and exhausting relationship. It took me back to the days of when Val and Shell were younger. The 3 girls are ages 8-12 and they come over every night to watch movies, makes art projects, bakes treats, paint their nails, play games, practice their math and spelling . . . it’s great having people around all the time and they are very well behaved unlike a lot of the kids here who just want money or food. However, after a few weeks of constant company, I was in serious need of a moment to myself.

Week 9 (August 18th-24th)

So the week started off slow, just carrying on with projects. Traditional dancing, planning the PMTCT workshop, playing with the kids, more chats with the old men in the village. The weekend got a bit interesting though. First of all, I had fresh fish in Botswana! I didn’t think it was possible but 2 of my friends from the clinic bought me one and helped me prepare it and it was delicious. Apparently there is a short window of time when they can be found in a reservoir in Phikwe and some guy from our village had just brought back a bunch of them.
I saw signs going up around the village advertising a “music festival” on Friday night. Of course I was excited and spent all of Friday trying to convince friends of mine to go and make arrangements to get there. It was all Botswana artists, but I’ve never known a music festival that wasn’t a good time. It was supposed to start at 8, but knowing that we’re in Botswana, we didn’t go until after 9 yet still we had to wait until after 1 AM before the first performers went on, and they were horrible! After the bars closed, the place finally started to fill up, but this also meant it was full of drunk people and having a white girl show up at such a local event was apparently very exciting and since all the guys were liquored up they were feeling pretty confident in themselves and their dance moves which means A LOT of unwanted attention. There was one descent group called Shamba that came on around 4 AM and was a modern twist on the traditional song and dance routines. By about 6 AM, the festival was finally winding down, we were finally able to find a ride home, and the sun was rising. Overall not a bad experience but I will no longer generalize the term “music festival” without considering the cultural context. But now that I know what to expect I think I could enjoy the whole experience a bit better in the future I guess what they say about expectations is true and that you shouldn’t have any, even if you don’t realize that you have any.
Despite suffering from sleep deprivation, I managed to attend a wedding the next day in my village. The weddings here are very impressive. They are beautiful with the whole wedding party having several different outfits throughout the ceremony and reception. The dancing is also great and lots of fun! The best party is—it’s totally acceptable to be a wedding crasher because they don’t give out formal invitations here, it’s just assumed that the entire village is invited. Besides enjoying myself at the wedding, I was also trying to help one of my youth take notes on what preparations need to be made for the wedding reception because she is hoping to start her own business providing the tents, tables, chairs, music, decoration, etc. for weddings and other special events (which here, is most often funerals sadly enough).

Week 10 (August 25th- 31st)

In contrast to last week, this one was crazy busy and fun from start to finish! First of all it’s really getting hot here now and those mosquitoes are also starting to come out from hiding- I can’t wait to see December! I guess I will finally have a summer birthday! I’m definatley enjoying the warmer days, it puts me in a more upbeat and happy mood, plus more people are out and about so I meet more of the villagers and people are more apt to mingle outside and be more active so the whole village feels more alive! Also, my favorite parts of the days are the mornings when the air is still a little brisk and I can sit outside on my veranda and sip my morning tea in the remaining quiet, peaceful moments of the morning before the “work” day begins. And of course there’s nothing like walking home in the evenings just as the air starts to cool – people are all more willing to engage in conversations or linger outside their homes or around the fires watching the sunset, chatting about the day, and enjoying the fading moments of daylight. It’s just like summer nights at home when neighbors gather after dinner just to unwind and enjoy the longer days. Plus, I’m learning to find beauty in things that I didn’t see at first. So I love sunsets, and at first I was really disappointed because there’s no water or nice scenery to watch the sun set upon and hardly any clouds to create a really dramatic sky (it didn’t help that Tim was bragging about his breathtaking scenery in the South Pacific!), but there is something to be said for this gorgeous orange-pink fire ball that sets without fail every evening and is in perfect view from my yard as I hang out with the kids (playing dodge ball or monkey in the middle or frisbee) or chatting with my parents before it’s dark and everyone retreats to their homes for supper. Sorry I got a little carried away, but you all know how much I love nature and how my environmental surroundings really effect my mood and experiences- and here I’ll take it any way I can get it!
The week was very busy preparing for our Male Involvement in PMTCT Workshop. Despite my fears and the seeming unorganized chaos that ensued on Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday came and everything went smoothly and successfully. (I have included the summary write up in that report also, so I won’t repeat all the details here) But needless to say, I felt great relief and was very proud of our clinic staff for pulling through all the setbacks, lack of cooperation from other partners on the project and the bureaucratic hurdles and host a fun, enjoyable and effective event!
The youth group has been really stepping it up and has self initiated daily meetings in the afternoons to do activities and a smaller group of us meet one morning a week as a sort of “executive committee” to discuss the business side of things and make decisions and plan for future growth and progress. Even though we are taking (in my opinion) decent strides in developing the youth group, we decided it was time to be a little more aggressive with the governmental powers if we ever want to see our grant money come through. So we drafted letters to Dept. officials and met to discuss things with them and I think we got the ball rolling. Quotations are being sent to purchase equipment and measurements are being taken to replace the windows in the community hall so I’m hopeful that there may be visible progress by the time I return from training!
This weekend was one of the best days here so far. I didn’t even leave my compound aside from my morning jog, but I had so much fun and the Nndodole compound was quite the popular place for everyone else in the village to be so there was no need to leave. We played games out in the yard all day and then I helped my mom and Itseng bake biscuits for close to 6 hours outside in the brick oven in our yard! It was awesome, plus a great social opportunity and I really felt like part of the family.
This was a tough week for me because Val is heading off to college and I won’t be able to help her through that freshman year which can be difficult and challenging in so many ways (mostly the staying out of trouble, haha). But I’m super excited for her and I know she will have an amazing experience and flourish in her new environment! By the time I come back, she will have a new “home” and group of friends and have a “family” just like I found in the Bury.