Saturday, October 11, 2008
Settling in for the long haul
Post IST
At first it was a rude awakening being back at site. Suddenly I found myself being the only American/ English speaking person and the rural isolation of Semolale was more blatant than ever in contrast to the city life of Gabs. I came back excited and recharged with all these new ideas from other volunteers and partner organizations- anything seemed possible- and super motivated to do all of these really awesome projects and then I was smacked with the reality of the pace of progress in Botswana. I was only in the village 2 days after IST because then we had a holiday weekend and I went traveling to the west side. But those two days were filled with frustrations as it seemed like everything I had been working on was sitting dead in the water during my absence and I was hitting road block after road block trying to get things moving again. But I think the disappointment was only magnified because I was in a different mindset and consequently was seeing everything through a different lens and not my Botswana-adapted one. Once I got readjusted and reacquainted with the local attitude, things seem to be “cruising” right along.
Independence Day
So as I said, the last weekend of September was Botswana’s Independence Day which meant a nice long weekend and since I was off travel restriction, I of course headed out to explore this country (because after all, I’ve been here 6 months already and time’s a-tickin’ so I gotta get moving if I’m going so fulfill all of my African travel and adventure aspirations). I headed out to Ghanzi, which if you look at a map is about directly opposite Semolale, to visit some fellow volunteers. Whoever, coined that phrase about the journey being the adventure rather than the destination, must have been traveling in Africa because that couldn’t have been more true during these next few days! My journey began on Friday as I was able to hitch a ride out of Semolale with one of the nurses who owns a car (since it’s month end all of the government employees get paid and head in to the towns to cash checks, buy groceries, etc. and most of them drink away a large portion of their paycheck as well) so I managed to reach Phikwe rather effortlessly. The 2 volunteers who stay there were both celebrating birthdays so several other volunteers came in to town to join the celebration. The next morning I caught an early bus out of phikwe to continue on my journey west which was easier now that I was out of my little nook of the country and in a hub along the main drag. But being a holiday weekend, takes the public transportation experience to a whole new level as everyone is going places (most government workers are placed away from their home villages and travel back during holidays and breaks and since most Batswana don’t own cars, that leaves A LOT of people dependent on the buses). The next leg of my journey was to Francistown where I then caught a bus west toward Maun. Now a days, it’s getting rather hot here as summer is upon us. The average temperature has been about 100-105 degrees each day. So picture this heat in a jam packed bus (and remember my luck with seat mates) and people are afraid to open the windows for fear of the “flu” so basically your in a 7 hour sauna with the smell of fried food, funky bus odor and sweaty people. But it was something liberating about just traveling alone again. Often times being in Peace Corps can be stifling as you have a group of adults (and I’m the second youngest) who are used to being self-sufficient and independent and now we have all of these peace corps affixed restrictions and find ourselves sometimes floundering to take care of our most basic needs. Anyhow, I was only able to make it to Maun before dark so luckily we have a great volunteer network and I had no problem finding a place to stay and to top it off, I got to see a little of Maun. This is the gateway to the Okavango Delta region and where all the top-end safari companies are based. It’s quite a paradoxical village as the super ritzy lodges and tourists meet with the local village population. But the environment is a little more green and lush and you can find a river and some marsh land which was a sight for my drought-sore eyes. Walking along the river edge as the sun was setting was very satisfying for my soul—and I even got to see my first wild giraffes! The next day, my journey continued to Ghanzi. By this time I was ready to be there already but as luck would have it, the bus I caught out of Maun that morning only have about 100k in it and we found ourselves broken down in the middle of nowhere, and I mean NO WHERE. So of course there was a flurry of activity and discussion (all in Setswana) but after some time, I was able to get some of my money back and I resolved myself to hitchhiking the rest of the way there (about another 200k). I’ve gotten pretty good at hitchhiking by now, but the odds are slightly against you when you’re standing with about 60 other people also hoping to hitch a ride with the one vehicle that passes every 15 or 20 minutes. After about an hour I got a lift with a group of tourists which turned out to be quite a luxurious mode of travel by comparison (I had a back seat all to myself with leather seats and AC). I felt like a total sell out/ had a moral conflict about taking this ride when these people obviously stopped to pick me up but wouldn’t offer a ride to any of the Batswana who were waiting with me, but what’s a girl to do when she’s stranded on the side of the road in the middle of the desert and traveling alone- so I took the lift and decided that I could mull this over in my conscience once I was safely to Ghanzi.
Ghanzi was great! It’s small in population given its western location (something like 80% of the population lives along one corridor in the East) but has many resources. Like I said, Ghanzi is on the outskirts of the Kalahari and is skirted by several San (Basarwa bushmen) communities. When I arrived, we took a long hike to the outside of the village where there is a quarry that started filling in with water and is now a swimming hole. So we took a very refreshing dip and waiting for the others to meet up with us for a braii. It was like an all-american BBQ (almost) then we headed back into town for “Jazz” night at the local bar and then met up with some other friends at a lodge for some drinks in a low key atmosphere before calling it a night. The next day I got to explore to town of Ghanzi including the San art and craft shop. Then we hiked out to a nearby game reserve where we had lunch and enjoyed the serenity of being the only people there observing the wildlife gather at the watering hole in the salt pan. We saw some Eland and kudu and all kinds of birds- even Zazu. After a very peaceful afternoon, we hiked back home and experimented making a fantastic curry for dinner and unwound for the night. The next day was Independence Day which meant an official village celebration at the kgotla (customary court). Everyone was gathered there and performances were given by local schools’ traditional dance groups, choirs, drama groups and other entertainers. By mid-day it was time for me to begin my journey back east. The 2:00 bus never showed so once again I was hitching (along with about 20 others at the hitching post) so we went a way down and away from the crowd and got lucky as a lot of trucks come through Ghanzi on their routes from Namibia, South African or southern Botswana (Gabs) and are usually happy to have some company, which he got a lot of with 5 of us in the cab! After spending the night in Maun, it was a marathon traveling day all the way back to home sweet Semolale and I was never more happy to jump off that bus by my little corner shop and be HOME at last!
Back in the Groove
After a very exciting, fun and diverse month of September, I am happy to be back and staying put for a while. Now that I’m here, it feels like I never left. Like I said things are moving right along.
The primary schools have been finishing their preparation for “Students Teach Parents HIV/AIDS Day”. Gobojango and Mabolwe are having this event for the first time whereas Semolale is following up last year’s event with a focus on HIV/AIDS Related Illnesses (opportunistic infections and AIDS defining illnesses) so we arranged for the clinic staff to do some education sessions at the school to help the students and teachers prepare. Unfortunantly, the DMSAC funding has been held up in processing so we have had to postpone the events until the money comes through, but most of the preparations are complete and the children are ready for the big day, whenever it comes.
The Youth Group did a small performance at the Independence Day celebration. They have been preparing their paper work for registering as a society and laying the ground rules, establishing committees, and deciding how to conduct business, etc. giving the group a little more focus and formal structure. The Community Center is coming along with new windows and burglar bars and electric wiring being installed and the recreation equipment to be ordered after the renovations have been completed. We are planning a clean-up day and I am trying to find donations from local hardware stores for paint so that we can maybe decorate the building with murals and fresh, colorful paint. We are also moving forward with our plans to create a community based peer-education group. We are planning for a catchment wide meeting in 2 weeks to discuss the different aspects of the HIV/AIDS situation and how to best approach the issue and combat the continuous rise in statistics and encourage behavior change and healthier lifestyles within these communities.
After running around like a crazy person to compile and fax our applications last week, the GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) Club has been accepted to participate in this year’s GLOW camp. We will be sending a delegation including a local leader, myself, and 3 student representatives to Gabarone for a week in December. We will have the opportunity to meet with and share ideas with other GLOW groups from around the country, attend sessions addressing topics pertinent to adolescents, participate in teambuilding and bonding activities and learning how to run, develop, and motivate our GLOW clubs once returning to have a greater effect on our communities overall. We are very excited about this opportunity since only a very few delegations are selected each year. The local leader and I will be heading to Maun, where the WAR (Women Against Rape) headquarters is located, in 2 weekends to join with the planning committee for the camp.
Some loose ends: At the clinic we are beginning to make preparations for the Run 4 Life 10k race. We are also starting an exercise and nutrition program that will meet for 1 hour 3 days a week after work. They are all really excited to get started and it will help discipline me in my own routine. World AIDS Day is December 1st and preparations have begun for a big event to take place in Phikwe combining the efforts of S/Phikwe district and Bobirwa sub-district. We will be meeting again this week to continue planning and discussion.
Aside from the business, I’ve been hanging out with my parents. My father is now being treated for TB so he can’t go to the cattle post which means he is around more these days. And my mom has been busier than ever making her breads and other goodies to sell at the shop and I enjoy helping her whenever I can. It’s always fun to be the shop keeper when she has to run somewhere fast, people are never expecting to see me when they pop their head inside and they think it’s hysterical to hear me try to conduct business in my awful Setswana.
I’ve been reading a great book by Kerovac ,The Dharma Bums, which has made me a little homesick for the life and the people I left back in the States since those passions and ideas of life and spirituality are not shared by people here in Botswana- at least not by anybody I’ve found so far. I am also reading another book alongside Kerovac’s that’s written by one of his lovers Joyce Johnson entitled Minor Characters that tells the story of the role women played in the Beat Generation and the influence the time had on women and women had on the time. Both books, I highly recommend.
So that’s the news for now. I feel like I might be boring you all with the tedious details of my projects, but I find it more difficult to write now that everything doesn’t seen quite so new and exciting. So let me know if there’s anything you’re curious about that I’m neglecting to touch on. Also I’m hoping at the start of next school year (January) to start a pen pal program per request of my school head. So any of you teachers, substitute teachers, student teachers, etc. let me know if you’re interested in doing a correspondence between your class and students from Botswana. Besides Semolale, I also have primary schools in Mabolwe and Gobojango so that’s potentially around 1,000 students which creates a lot of possible opportunities so please throw any ideas my way and maybe we can make them happen!
Hope you’re all doing well and enjoying the nice change to Autumn. I’m hoping to be getting some good Halloween pictures coming this way soon! As always . . . miss you all, with peace and love ~Jaclyn
At first it was a rude awakening being back at site. Suddenly I found myself being the only American/ English speaking person and the rural isolation of Semolale was more blatant than ever in contrast to the city life of Gabs. I came back excited and recharged with all these new ideas from other volunteers and partner organizations- anything seemed possible- and super motivated to do all of these really awesome projects and then I was smacked with the reality of the pace of progress in Botswana. I was only in the village 2 days after IST because then we had a holiday weekend and I went traveling to the west side. But those two days were filled with frustrations as it seemed like everything I had been working on was sitting dead in the water during my absence and I was hitting road block after road block trying to get things moving again. But I think the disappointment was only magnified because I was in a different mindset and consequently was seeing everything through a different lens and not my Botswana-adapted one. Once I got readjusted and reacquainted with the local attitude, things seem to be “cruising” right along.
Independence Day
So as I said, the last weekend of September was Botswana’s Independence Day which meant a nice long weekend and since I was off travel restriction, I of course headed out to explore this country (because after all, I’ve been here 6 months already and time’s a-tickin’ so I gotta get moving if I’m going so fulfill all of my African travel and adventure aspirations). I headed out to Ghanzi, which if you look at a map is about directly opposite Semolale, to visit some fellow volunteers. Whoever, coined that phrase about the journey being the adventure rather than the destination, must have been traveling in Africa because that couldn’t have been more true during these next few days! My journey began on Friday as I was able to hitch a ride out of Semolale with one of the nurses who owns a car (since it’s month end all of the government employees get paid and head in to the towns to cash checks, buy groceries, etc. and most of them drink away a large portion of their paycheck as well) so I managed to reach Phikwe rather effortlessly. The 2 volunteers who stay there were both celebrating birthdays so several other volunteers came in to town to join the celebration. The next morning I caught an early bus out of phikwe to continue on my journey west which was easier now that I was out of my little nook of the country and in a hub along the main drag. But being a holiday weekend, takes the public transportation experience to a whole new level as everyone is going places (most government workers are placed away from their home villages and travel back during holidays and breaks and since most Batswana don’t own cars, that leaves A LOT of people dependent on the buses). The next leg of my journey was to Francistown where I then caught a bus west toward Maun. Now a days, it’s getting rather hot here as summer is upon us. The average temperature has been about 100-105 degrees each day. So picture this heat in a jam packed bus (and remember my luck with seat mates) and people are afraid to open the windows for fear of the “flu” so basically your in a 7 hour sauna with the smell of fried food, funky bus odor and sweaty people. But it was something liberating about just traveling alone again. Often times being in Peace Corps can be stifling as you have a group of adults (and I’m the second youngest) who are used to being self-sufficient and independent and now we have all of these peace corps affixed restrictions and find ourselves sometimes floundering to take care of our most basic needs. Anyhow, I was only able to make it to Maun before dark so luckily we have a great volunteer network and I had no problem finding a place to stay and to top it off, I got to see a little of Maun. This is the gateway to the Okavango Delta region and where all the top-end safari companies are based. It’s quite a paradoxical village as the super ritzy lodges and tourists meet with the local village population. But the environment is a little more green and lush and you can find a river and some marsh land which was a sight for my drought-sore eyes. Walking along the river edge as the sun was setting was very satisfying for my soul—and I even got to see my first wild giraffes! The next day, my journey continued to Ghanzi. By this time I was ready to be there already but as luck would have it, the bus I caught out of Maun that morning only have about 100k in it and we found ourselves broken down in the middle of nowhere, and I mean NO WHERE. So of course there was a flurry of activity and discussion (all in Setswana) but after some time, I was able to get some of my money back and I resolved myself to hitchhiking the rest of the way there (about another 200k). I’ve gotten pretty good at hitchhiking by now, but the odds are slightly against you when you’re standing with about 60 other people also hoping to hitch a ride with the one vehicle that passes every 15 or 20 minutes. After about an hour I got a lift with a group of tourists which turned out to be quite a luxurious mode of travel by comparison (I had a back seat all to myself with leather seats and AC). I felt like a total sell out/ had a moral conflict about taking this ride when these people obviously stopped to pick me up but wouldn’t offer a ride to any of the Batswana who were waiting with me, but what’s a girl to do when she’s stranded on the side of the road in the middle of the desert and traveling alone- so I took the lift and decided that I could mull this over in my conscience once I was safely to Ghanzi.
Ghanzi was great! It’s small in population given its western location (something like 80% of the population lives along one corridor in the East) but has many resources. Like I said, Ghanzi is on the outskirts of the Kalahari and is skirted by several San (Basarwa bushmen) communities. When I arrived, we took a long hike to the outside of the village where there is a quarry that started filling in with water and is now a swimming hole. So we took a very refreshing dip and waiting for the others to meet up with us for a braii. It was like an all-american BBQ (almost) then we headed back into town for “Jazz” night at the local bar and then met up with some other friends at a lodge for some drinks in a low key atmosphere before calling it a night. The next day I got to explore to town of Ghanzi including the San art and craft shop. Then we hiked out to a nearby game reserve where we had lunch and enjoyed the serenity of being the only people there observing the wildlife gather at the watering hole in the salt pan. We saw some Eland and kudu and all kinds of birds- even Zazu. After a very peaceful afternoon, we hiked back home and experimented making a fantastic curry for dinner and unwound for the night. The next day was Independence Day which meant an official village celebration at the kgotla (customary court). Everyone was gathered there and performances were given by local schools’ traditional dance groups, choirs, drama groups and other entertainers. By mid-day it was time for me to begin my journey back east. The 2:00 bus never showed so once again I was hitching (along with about 20 others at the hitching post) so we went a way down and away from the crowd and got lucky as a lot of trucks come through Ghanzi on their routes from Namibia, South African or southern Botswana (Gabs) and are usually happy to have some company, which he got a lot of with 5 of us in the cab! After spending the night in Maun, it was a marathon traveling day all the way back to home sweet Semolale and I was never more happy to jump off that bus by my little corner shop and be HOME at last!
Back in the Groove
After a very exciting, fun and diverse month of September, I am happy to be back and staying put for a while. Now that I’m here, it feels like I never left. Like I said things are moving right along.
The primary schools have been finishing their preparation for “Students Teach Parents HIV/AIDS Day”. Gobojango and Mabolwe are having this event for the first time whereas Semolale is following up last year’s event with a focus on HIV/AIDS Related Illnesses (opportunistic infections and AIDS defining illnesses) so we arranged for the clinic staff to do some education sessions at the school to help the students and teachers prepare. Unfortunantly, the DMSAC funding has been held up in processing so we have had to postpone the events until the money comes through, but most of the preparations are complete and the children are ready for the big day, whenever it comes.
The Youth Group did a small performance at the Independence Day celebration. They have been preparing their paper work for registering as a society and laying the ground rules, establishing committees, and deciding how to conduct business, etc. giving the group a little more focus and formal structure. The Community Center is coming along with new windows and burglar bars and electric wiring being installed and the recreation equipment to be ordered after the renovations have been completed. We are planning a clean-up day and I am trying to find donations from local hardware stores for paint so that we can maybe decorate the building with murals and fresh, colorful paint. We are also moving forward with our plans to create a community based peer-education group. We are planning for a catchment wide meeting in 2 weeks to discuss the different aspects of the HIV/AIDS situation and how to best approach the issue and combat the continuous rise in statistics and encourage behavior change and healthier lifestyles within these communities.
After running around like a crazy person to compile and fax our applications last week, the GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) Club has been accepted to participate in this year’s GLOW camp. We will be sending a delegation including a local leader, myself, and 3 student representatives to Gabarone for a week in December. We will have the opportunity to meet with and share ideas with other GLOW groups from around the country, attend sessions addressing topics pertinent to adolescents, participate in teambuilding and bonding activities and learning how to run, develop, and motivate our GLOW clubs once returning to have a greater effect on our communities overall. We are very excited about this opportunity since only a very few delegations are selected each year. The local leader and I will be heading to Maun, where the WAR (Women Against Rape) headquarters is located, in 2 weekends to join with the planning committee for the camp.
Some loose ends: At the clinic we are beginning to make preparations for the Run 4 Life 10k race. We are also starting an exercise and nutrition program that will meet for 1 hour 3 days a week after work. They are all really excited to get started and it will help discipline me in my own routine. World AIDS Day is December 1st and preparations have begun for a big event to take place in Phikwe combining the efforts of S/Phikwe district and Bobirwa sub-district. We will be meeting again this week to continue planning and discussion.
Aside from the business, I’ve been hanging out with my parents. My father is now being treated for TB so he can’t go to the cattle post which means he is around more these days. And my mom has been busier than ever making her breads and other goodies to sell at the shop and I enjoy helping her whenever I can. It’s always fun to be the shop keeper when she has to run somewhere fast, people are never expecting to see me when they pop their head inside and they think it’s hysterical to hear me try to conduct business in my awful Setswana.
I’ve been reading a great book by Kerovac ,The Dharma Bums, which has made me a little homesick for the life and the people I left back in the States since those passions and ideas of life and spirituality are not shared by people here in Botswana- at least not by anybody I’ve found so far. I am also reading another book alongside Kerovac’s that’s written by one of his lovers Joyce Johnson entitled Minor Characters that tells the story of the role women played in the Beat Generation and the influence the time had on women and women had on the time. Both books, I highly recommend.
So that’s the news for now. I feel like I might be boring you all with the tedious details of my projects, but I find it more difficult to write now that everything doesn’t seen quite so new and exciting. So let me know if there’s anything you’re curious about that I’m neglecting to touch on. Also I’m hoping at the start of next school year (January) to start a pen pal program per request of my school head. So any of you teachers, substitute teachers, student teachers, etc. let me know if you’re interested in doing a correspondence between your class and students from Botswana. Besides Semolale, I also have primary schools in Mabolwe and Gobojango so that’s potentially around 1,000 students which creates a lot of possible opportunities so please throw any ideas my way and maybe we can make them happen!
Hope you’re all doing well and enjoying the nice change to Autumn. I’m hoping to be getting some good Halloween pictures coming this way soon! As always . . . miss you all, with peace and love ~Jaclyn
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