Botswana

Sunday, April 20, 2008

I am in Gaborone, Botswana. I arrived today with 58 other Peace Corps (PC) volunteers. About 20% of us are over 50. About 7 are over 60. There are several married couples. One couple had to drop out already due to a possible pregnancy. About 80% are female. Although many are in their twenties, there are those in the 30’s and 40’s. One is from Mexico, another from Singapore, one Korean, and two from Hawaii. Many have travelled extensively and some have worked in Africa. On is a PC returnee. Many will be working with communities, some with nongovernmental organizations (NG0)’s, some as assistant district coordinators and about 13 of us will be working with the schools as Life Skills Advisors (???). The backgrounds of several volunteers vary. We have several social workers, a few nurses, a natural health and medicine person who is also trained in acupuncture, a few with business backgrounds, some with HIV education experience, and many whom I yet to know.

We spent a night in a wonderful hotel in Johannesburg, South Africa and today were bused up to Botswana to stay a few nights in the capital before going to Molepolole, which is about 1 hour outside Gaborone. There we live with host families for about 9 weeks of training. The internet access will probably be limited there so do not be surprised if I do not post for a while.

My assignment post may not be far from Gaborone, since they are planning to place many life skill workers in a district near the capital to see if they can make an impact in one area. The job evidently will be difficult and not well defined. Everything is subject to change. Learning the language is also quite difficult evidently.

We are presently at a motel outside Gaborone, getting medical updates and further training. On Monday evening we will have a dinner with the US ambassador and several people from the government.

It feels like I have entered into some kind of arranged marriage for which I am being prepared. Once the training is over it evidently takes about a year more to figure out the placement before you can make a contribution. So it goes.

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Staging

Hello friends,

I feel very fortunate to have had lots of support and interest in my upcoming adventure.
Tomorrow I leave for a short staging period in Philadelphia where I expect to sign papers and obtain more information about our service in Botswana. I will also meet the 60 other people going to Botswana.

On April 18th we leave for Botswana via South African Airlines flying from New York to Dakar, Senegal, and then on to Johannesburg, South Africa. Get out your maps folks. We then bus to Gaborone, the capital of Botswana. We are only there a few days and then will begin a three month training in a town an hour outside of the city. These are exciting times. During the training I hope to learn Setswana every morning. I will also be staying with a host family during this time. It should help my total immersion with the language.

Now I have to finish packing and get out the door!

Feel free to ask questions. Also, tell me what you know about Botswana and Africa. I have lots to learn. I may not know the answers. Perhaps I can find them out and we can share as my experience and knowledge increases.

So see you on line. I hope to get photos up eventually.

Molly