The final words for now . . .

Week of Sept 1st

This was a week of conflicting emotions. I looked forward to reuniting with the other volunteers at IST (In service training) and the nice vacation from the stresses and responsibilities of organizing and leading activities around the community. In addition, it will be nice to have some social life, speak English, and share our experiences with other people that can relate to the same joys and challenges and just relax and take a breather and reflect. At the same time, I am really feeling at home in Semolale and very happy and I know that I will miss everyone while I’m gone for 2 weeks. I also feel like a lot of projects are just taking root and starting to sprout a bit. I feel like they are still vulnerable and could wither away in these 2 weeks if not nurtured properly and then I will be starting at square one when I return. It was also crazy stressful trying to wrap up loose ends, try to be sure everything goes smoothly in my absence and also prepare myself to leave.
I feel like we made a lot of forward progress this week with the youth center. The youth department is finally backing us up and helping us speed up the process a bit. I also met with the VDC (Village Development Committee) who is our partner in the project. We took measurements for all the new windows and doors, and me and a few of the guys busted out all of the old windows one afternoon, so I’m hoping to have all new windows when I return! We also met to discuss starting a HIV/AIDS peer educator program which was an idea brought to me from a guy in Semolale who thought the youth would be a good place to start this project and help it take off in the community. The idea is to have a community meeting with representative s from the kgotla, school, police, clinic, VDC, shopkeepers, bar owners and include young, old, men and women to assess the contributing factors to the untamed spread of HIV in our village in particular. The nurses will then educate and train a group of interested individuals to be the peer educators within the community so that people who are intimidated by the going to the clinic or talking with young, mostly women nurses will feel comfortable discussing and therefore more receptive to correct information regarding the transmission of HIV and the behaviors that encourage it. Then this group will be responsible for coming up with creative activities and events to reach all people with this information at the local bars, schools, homes, and other places where local people congregate. I am excited about working with them to develop this because it is locally initiated and would empower the villagers to educate each other which should help the program’s sustainability after I leave.
The other things I spent a lot of time coordinating before I left was the primary schools’ “Kids Teach Parents: HIV/AIDS Days”. Since September is Botswana’s HIV/AIDS Awareness month, they want the events to be shortly after I return so I had to make sure each of them were on task and felt capable of doing the rest of the preparations while I’m gone. I teamed up the Family Health Educator from each village with the Health committee at each school to plan the day. The idea is that each grade will be given a topic to cover and then they come up with a creative presentation to encompass that topic. The parents will then go from class to class learning different aspects of transmission, prevention, testing, treatment, behavior change, etc. from their children. It had a very powerful impact last year in Semolale so we are hoping for the same this year in all 3 of the villages.
The last day in town was pure craziness but I was really touched that so many of the youth and my neighbors came by to “check” me since I was leaving. It made me feel like I will actually be missed these next 2 weeks.

IST (Sept. 6th- 17th)

Wow! This week was so much fun! Kanye is actually quite beautiful. It’s set in the hills and is a bit greener and lusher than the other places I’ve seen here. There are great views off the ridge and a nice reservoir that we ran to in the afternoons. It was really great to see everyone together again and hear about everyone’s experiences at their sites. It was also really helpful to share similar challenges that we were all encountering and also to hear about different things that people have done and found to be successful to help generate ideas for us to take back to our own sites. We had a great time hanging out and strengthening relationships within our group also. We had a lot of valuable training on funding opportunities and partners to team up with on initiatives throughout the country. And of course, a lot of Setswana lessons, which I really need. I think a balance between structured and unstructured learning. We also had a lot of fun hanging out, catching up, and simply being “American” without any cultural or language barriers. We even had a few birthday celebrations which livened things up a bit! We had a day off and a group of us went on a hike to the gorge. It was great to be out climbing around on the rocks and hiking through the bush. And we even saw monkeys! All in all, a great 10 days and a much needed break but I will be happy to get back to Semolale and see everyone and go forward with all of these fresh ideas!

Gabs (Sept. 18th- 22nd)

Well this little side trip took an interesting turn in events about midway through. I was in Gabs meeting with the Department of Home Affairs to register the youth group as a society in Botswana. I also met with a potential funder for youth activities and projects. He wants to plan a benefit gala here in the city and invite the ministers of parliament and corporate executives to the dinner and have the kids perform drama and traditional dance. We are hoping for some time during he holiday season, so I’ll keep you all posted. Then just as I was about to return home, I felt death come over me and despite my stubbornness I actually did go to see the doc. It still has not been decided exactly what it was. People call it “African Sickness” but all the clinical symptoms matched with malaria so they kept me in the city a few extra days to treat and monitor me. But now, I am feeling much improved and anxious to FINALLY get home!

Well, that’s about all for now. Sorry this is so much at once, but I hope you all feel in the loop once again. Hope you are enjoying the nice change of seasons on that side of the globe. Miss you all greatly! Keep smiling! Love, Jac

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.