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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5 comments:
A year for a placement? Yipes. Maybe you can spend the time finding perfect wild life refuges for your friends to stay in and identifying the best local beer. In Egypt, it seemed to be Amstel.
At least the big silver bird got you there in one piece.
Eleanor Franklin Hazen communicates to the class of '57 that she has pancreatic cancer metastacised to her liver and 4-6 mos. to live. I emailed I and Mummy forbade her ill health.
Joe
I loved this post and this blog.
Have a nice day.
Hi Molly,
So glad you are finally in AF-RI-CA!! I can't imagine learning a new, completely different language- what a challenge. This blogging thing is interesting; I didn't even need my son to help. Hope all goes well.
Coral
Hi Molly,
I am thrilled to read your blog,and I hope you will be able to continue it despite the difficulties. Hope your first week is going well - I miss you, but spring has sprung here in the Midwest and it's beautiful. I had a great trip to Berkeley,too.
I hope you are well and adjusting to this new and uncertain life. We are hoping for an Obama win in Indiana but it's pretty unpredictable.
Hope to hear from you soon,
Love,
Terry
Molly,
I just heard that you joined the Peace Corps. Way to go! I look forward to reading your blogs. (There wasn't an internet when I joined 29 years ago.) I may have my students read them as well.
Enjoy the experience.
Mark
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