PULA!

Hello All!
Wow! What a month! A lot has been going on in and around Semolale. I’ve also had several opportunities arise that allowed me to get out to other parts of the country and work with other volunteers which is great in terms of strengthening networks, idea sharing and resource acquisition. So where to begin . . . ?

As you might recall from my last entry, I was working with the primary schools to finalize preparations for “Students Teach Parents: HIV/AIDS Day”. Despite the funding issues, we were able to pull off 2 of the 3 events to date. Semolale and Mabolwe both hosted their events the 3rd week of October. I was truly and delightfully surprised by the time and hard work that was put into these events. It’s always very refreshing and inspiring to find someone to work with that is motivated and enthusiastic about an idea or activity and really take off with it. The guidance teacher from Mabolwe turned out to be one such person who I am very grateful to have met and formed a partnership with. It was rather last minute that we decided to go ahead with the activity as planned, but you would have never known by the complete preparedness and ultimate success of the day. The kids had a great time and the school ground was full of anxiety and excitement as the parents and village stakeholders began to arrive. The event consisted of presentations (songs, dances, rhymes, dramas) at the main “stage”, as well as, displays and educational presentations in each of the classrooms that the parents rotated through. These included condom demonstrations, myth vs. facts, art work and creative writing, and many other creative activities. The students were able to capture everyone’s attention and all of the parents, even the chief, got involved and had a great time! I upload some pics from this event on the picasa page, so take a look!
For next school year (beginning in January) I am hoping to initiate a regular schedule at the primary school in Semolale incorporating many of the suggestions that I received from the teachers at our initial meeting upon my arrival. I am hoping to spend one or two half days each week at the school allowing teachers so sign up so that each class will have a session led by me each month. I have been asked to work on English composition, grammar, and public speaking which I am hoping to tie into the use of the school’s Reading Room. I also want to introduce health education focusing on a different topic each month. Also a cultural session taking a topic and exposing the students to that aspect of American culture while sharing that aspect of Botswana culture with classes back in the States. I am hoping to complement this with a pen pal program. There’s also been talk of an art exchange and some interest has been expressed in starting an art club so I have talked with the art teacher and he seems willing and excited to head such a club. So only time will tell, but as always, I have big ideas and high hopes! I am scheduled to meet with the faculty before the close of term at the end of November so we can meet the new term head on, so I will keep you all posted.

I have a lot of pots on the fire right now, so moving on to my next pot . . . the Youth Group has had quite a remarkable month! At the end of October they organized and hosted a multi-sectored community meeting to discuss the effect of HIV and AIDS in this community, to identify contributing factors and to propose possible solutions for effective education and behavior change. At first, it seemed like we bit off more than we could chew as most of the youth had never planned anything like this and were at a loss with where to start logistically, organizationally, and content-wise. However despite a few days of me pulling my hair out, we were able to enlist the help of the clinic staff and others in the community to lead them down the right path and wind up with a rather successful day. I was really impressed with the effort put forth by the youth. I think it was very rewarding for them and a boost in their confidence to have all eyes of the community on them. They were all in their best dress and actually showed up EARLY!
Last Thursday was one of the highlights of my service thus far. The Department of Youth and Culture came to Semolale with a truck full of equipment for the Youth Center that had been purchased with funding they received from their grant proposal. The original proposal was done by the previous volunteer but I have definitely had my share of headaches, stress and disappointments in the whole process so I can only imagine how the youth feel after this year-long process! It was better than any Christmas morning I’ve ever seen. All of the materials were presented to the youth and the community at a kgotla ceremony where all department representatives showed up in support of the youth and to offer words of congratulations and encouragement. The youth have been busily assembling everything within the center so that we can be prepared when all of the young people come back to the village at the end of the school term (many schools aside from primary schools are boarding schools in the larger villages). The Center now hosts a pool table, foosball table, ping pong table, TV & DVD player, music system, 2 computers and printer, tables and chairs, board games, soccer balls, volleyball and net, netballs and I’m sure there are a few other things that I’ve neglected but I think you get the point . . . this is a BIG deal! Especially for a small, remote village like Semolale. So kudos to the youth for their hard work and perseverance in this process; they are getting their due reward! We still have a lot of work to do as far an organization and operation of the center but this is certainly a step in the right direction. And now, with the reality that this youth center will soon be functioning there are so many new opportunities that have been created and the potential is truly limitless! (yet a bit overwhelming)

The G.L.O.W. club is excitedly anticipating the camp next month in Gabarone. At the end of October, the local leader and I went to Maun to meet with the other facilitators from the other delegations. It was a great weekend! I really enjoyed having the opportunity to spend a lot of quality time getting to know my local leader on a more personal level and forming a bond that I think will carry forth and strengthen our endeavors with the GLOW club. Just being surrounded by so many motivated and passionate people and exchanging ideas really helped to get the creative juices flowing and created a contagious energy for the weekend and GLOW as a whole. I am very excited for the camp and am optimistic about the impact that this week will have on these young girls. The sessions and activities are going to touch on such a diverse myriad of topics that are pertinent to adolescents and that are rarely spoken of and often considered taboo in this culture. I’ll go in to more details after the completion of the camp. Aside from “business”, we did get to enjoy a bit of Maun including a boat ride on the river at sunset and a walking nature/ wildlife safari where we got to see giraffe, zebra, kudu, warthogs and impala.
This past Saturday (Nov.8th) the GLOW club hosted an HIV/AIDS Carnival at their school for their peers. The girls created seven carnival “booths” for their fellow classmates to visit. The booths consisted of different interactive games and activities whose objective was to reach the adolescents at their level and impart valuable information about topics such as peer pressure, alcoholism, relationships, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and prevention and treatment of HIV/ AIDS. The girls led the other students in puzzles, role playing, a trivia game show “Jeopardy”, an STI Talk Show, creating an HIV Infection Tree, resolving facts vs. myths about HIV and AIDS, and condom relay races. The day was a huge hit with all of the students- which says a lot considering it was taking up some of their precious Saturday free-time. I think the event really energized and boosted the confidence of the GLOW girls to really breath fresh life into the club and take it to the next level.

At the clinic, exciting things have been happening as well. As of last week, our clinic is now an ARV (Antiretroviral) clinic which means our HIV positive patients can get their medications right here as opposed to going into Bobonong (50k). We will also have a doctor visiting once a week to consult and prescribe treatment, which will benefit all people in the community. I’m a bit removed from the immediate impact of this program since I focus the majority of my work outside of the clinic and working in preventative ways, but I can foresee great improvements that will be made possible due to this advancement of our clinic’s resources and ability to provide a higher quality of health care.
I was finally able to go on one of the clinic mobile trips. The clinic ambulance load up with medical supplies and rations and head out to the cattle posts the first 2 weeks of every month to weigh babies, consult patients, give immunizations, provide food rations, etc. After a 1 ½ hour trek across an unpaved donkey trail through the bush in the back of the truck riding on some sacks of samp and beans, we finally arrived. Although I was feeling a bit woozy after inhaling all the fumes from our reserve petrol tank (that’s necessary when you life out in the bush like I do), I really enjoyed the day and gained a different perspective of healthcare, life in other parts of Botswana, the “cattle post” culture and overall was a real eye-opener. It was definitely one of those picturesque “Peace Corps experiences” that all of you probably think I have every day; however, Botswana is fairly well developed so my typical day doesn’t look a lot like the mud hut/ starving baby picture that you might imagine.
The ladies from the clinic have been very faithful in attending our afternoon exercise sessions and it’s been a lot of fun hanging out outside of the workplace. We are even planning a clinic staff Thanksgiving Dinner that will be held at my house next weekend. We are going to serve traditional Setswana chickens instead of turkey, but I am going to do my best to replicate some traditional Thanksgiving dishes- so I’m hoping for a successful “cultural exchange”.

The next big thing on the agenda is World AIDS Day on December 1st. The Bobirwa (which is mine) and Phikwe Sub-districts are hosting the National Commemoration which will even be graced by the presence of His Excellency President Khama. Since I am on the planning committee, I travel into Phikwe every Wednesday for WAD meetings and preparations. On the big day, the other area PCVs and I will be running the testing tent with other fun and interactive educational stations. I have recruited some of my youth group members to come and help us man the tent- and of course do the Setswana translations! Throughout the whole month of November, there have been community outreach programs targeted at the smaller villages on the outskirts of these districts. Last weekend, my neighborhood, Gobojango, was the target community. There was a kgotla event with drama and traditional dance, HIV testing and education, condom demonstrations and a football tournament (from which Semolale took home the Gold medal!) it’s about as much festivity that can be found in these parts so I know everybody really enjoyed the day. I arranged for the youth group to take part in the festivities and even punctuated the day with a campfire at my house that night where I taught them all how to roast marshmallows.

Halloween weekend was spent camping at Khama Rhino Sanctuary, which was a fantastic weekend being out in nature and away from it all and spending quality time with friends. I knew I was missing the environment of home but I didn’t know how much I longed for it until I was able to sleep out under the stars and spend all night cooking and having some drinks around the campfire and I never felt more at peace. The only thing missing was Tim’s guitar around the fire and our feeble attempts to sing along. That was also the first weekend that I saw rain since the first week of my arrival in April— we had an hour long onslaught; it even hailed! Pula! The rain finally made it’s was to Semolale last weekend. Since then, the skies have been opening up at least once a day and I’m beginning to fear that I should have brought my kayak with me because the water’s getting awfully high here and I can barely make it across the road to the clinic without sinking up to my knees in mud. But I do love the afternoon/ evening thunderstorms, in addition to the nice respite from the intense sun and heat. Unfortunately with the rain also comes the plague of every insect known to man- and some unknown! First it was the infestation of ants, then these flying things that shed their wings all over the house, of course the mosquitoes, and a ton of other unidentified varieties and despite the fact that I let the spiders and geckos reside in my house, they aren’t doing a very good job of bug control!

So all in all, Life is Good! I feel very fortunate to be here and be surrounded by great people, and I am eager and optimistic to see what adventure awaits me next, because if one lesson has presented itself to me time and again it’s it “Expect the Unexpected”!