Big News!
All 56 of us volunteers have been assigned to places all over Botswana. While others are going out to the Kalahari, the Okavanga Delta, and other exotic places, I will be in Molepolole for the next two years working with the Life Skills program at the Kgari Sechele Senior Secondary school consisting of 2500 students in form 3 and 4 ranging from ages 16 to 19 and above. The school is the highest level of learning under the British system before university and the only one in the district. My counterpart is supposed to be terrific so I feel very lucky to have this post.
In terms of our training, in addition to the language, we have been learning the Peace Corps model of development which involves terms such as integration into the community, appreciative inquiry interviews, seasonal and other calendars, maps of the community, and participation action planning. Collectively, they are called PACA tools. A partner and I just finished a two week project visiting a school and put on a skit today that made fun of the Peace Corps volunteer and her role in finding "opportunities" for moving forwards. I wore a cape with a Peace Corps sign on it and ran in with my hat, sunglasses and sandals, which are normal Peace Corps attire. I carried my PACA tools. We all had a good laugh and we received a standing ovation. We had fun planning it as well. So you can tell we are all a bit stir crazy after 6 weeks of training. It was only funny if you had gone through all the classes we have.
Next week we meet our counterparts and learn more about what we will be doing and where we will be living for the next two years. I will have cell phone coverage and internet as well as electricity. I will also have an outhouse and water available outside, which is the way the family I live with now lives.
Peace Corps in Botswana is considered to be Africa lite, however, we have other stresses and strains. For example, a Peace Corps volunteer who was extending to a third year beginning in a few weeks was just killed in a car accident in the capital, Gaborone. Car accidents are the second highest cause of death after
HIV/AIDS.
On a lighter not, most people here begin the day by drinking tea in the morning rather than coffee. Both are imported from South Africa. Tea time with a snack is about 10 or 10:30. Lunch time is about 1:30 to 3pm. There can be a late tea and also a late dinner. I find I am hungry all the time. Although most Batwanans are not vegetarian, they eat lots of porridge with few vegetables and some meat or chicken. Desserts are not common general speaking, but I do enjoy their scones and fried bread called fat cakes with my morning tea. Fruit such as apples are available for snacks.
So keep the comments and e-mails coming. Although I buy a newspaper, I do not get world news. For example, I hear nothing about the war in Iraq or the election, so any news is appreciated.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Quick Impressions
Hello Friends,
I have just returned from a day of seeing traditional dance, customs and traditions, as well as eating lots of good African food. So I wish I had photos to send, but hope to in the future.
Just some quick impressions to date:
I do not find the large or small African markets here. There are stores, some big and some small, and then tables outside them where they sell snacks, candy and sometimes spinach, which I often buy from women.
The state is the main employer. Health, education, welfare, roads and lots more is funded by the diamond and gold mines, so the infrastructure of Botswana is better than most African countries.
They are now working on expanding and diversifying their economy.
The level of transparency is greater here than in most African countries. There are problems with cost over runs, bureaucracy, and scandals of the type you find in Chicago where there are misappropriations and work not completed or completed on time.
Construction is on-going. There were only 10 miles of paved roads when Botswana became independent in the 60's and there are good roads throughout the country now. Construction for housing, schools, hospitals, malls, etc. is on-going. The schools look better and are better equiped than what I have seen elsewhere.
The transportation by bus and train are generally good. The vehicles are newer and better equiped than in many African countries. It does not mean there is not overcrowding and problems, but the prices are low and reasonable despite the high price of fuel.
The sky at night is amazing. The moon is generally bright and clear. The sky is filled with stars. I see the milky way, the dippers, Orion and his sword on a nightly basis. It is a wonderful night show.
I have learned some of the greetings in Setswana. Dumela is the main one. You say to everyone, Hello Mr or Mrs, how are you? I am fine. And how you? I am fine. Good bye. Thank you. You do this twice a day or more. It sounds funny in English but is so culturally appropriate here. Not sure where it was the British way or not. In Setswana, it is Dumela Rra le Mma, O tsogila jang? Ke tsogile sentle, weno o tsogile jang? Go siame. Ke a leboga. Do read the Ladies No 1 Detective Agency for learning about some of the protocol of Botswana which is very important.
Everyone dresses rather formerly here, especially the women. They are very stylish with their shoes, long skirts, neatly pressed shirts and pants. It is a challenge for me to look proper on days of school visits. On Sundays, women and men usually wear uniforms to church. Some have blue or green pants or skirts with white shirts and sashes. All very colorful.
Last of all, I enjoy tea time when we have it between sessions. In addition to black tea, red bush or roobios tea is always offered. We have scones or fat cakes(fried jelly donuts without the jelly). People drink tea in the morning, afternoon and evening from what I have seen.
So that is all for now. Perhaps I have repeated some things, but let me know if there are other things you wish to know.
Go Siame (Go well),
Molly (Mpho or gift is my Setswana name)
I have just returned from a day of seeing traditional dance, customs and traditions, as well as eating lots of good African food. So I wish I had photos to send, but hope to in the future.
Just some quick impressions to date:
I do not find the large or small African markets here. There are stores, some big and some small, and then tables outside them where they sell snacks, candy and sometimes spinach, which I often buy from women.
The state is the main employer. Health, education, welfare, roads and lots more is funded by the diamond and gold mines, so the infrastructure of Botswana is better than most African countries.
They are now working on expanding and diversifying their economy.
The level of transparency is greater here than in most African countries. There are problems with cost over runs, bureaucracy, and scandals of the type you find in Chicago where there are misappropriations and work not completed or completed on time.
Construction is on-going. There were only 10 miles of paved roads when Botswana became independent in the 60's and there are good roads throughout the country now. Construction for housing, schools, hospitals, malls, etc. is on-going. The schools look better and are better equiped than what I have seen elsewhere.
The transportation by bus and train are generally good. The vehicles are newer and better equiped than in many African countries. It does not mean there is not overcrowding and problems, but the prices are low and reasonable despite the high price of fuel.
The sky at night is amazing. The moon is generally bright and clear. The sky is filled with stars. I see the milky way, the dippers, Orion and his sword on a nightly basis. It is a wonderful night show.
I have learned some of the greetings in Setswana. Dumela is the main one. You say to everyone, Hello Mr or Mrs, how are you? I am fine. And how you? I am fine. Good bye. Thank you. You do this twice a day or more. It sounds funny in English but is so culturally appropriate here. Not sure where it was the British way or not. In Setswana, it is Dumela Rra le Mma, O tsogila jang? Ke tsogile sentle, weno o tsogile jang? Go siame. Ke a leboga. Do read the Ladies No 1 Detective Agency for learning about some of the protocol of Botswana which is very important.
Everyone dresses rather formerly here, especially the women. They are very stylish with their shoes, long skirts, neatly pressed shirts and pants. It is a challenge for me to look proper on days of school visits. On Sundays, women and men usually wear uniforms to church. Some have blue or green pants or skirts with white shirts and sashes. All very colorful.
Last of all, I enjoy tea time when we have it between sessions. In addition to black tea, red bush or roobios tea is always offered. We have scones or fat cakes(fried jelly donuts without the jelly). People drink tea in the morning, afternoon and evening from what I have seen.
So that is all for now. Perhaps I have repeated some things, but let me know if there are other things you wish to know.
Go Siame (Go well),
Molly (Mpho or gift is my Setswana name)
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Update on Training
Hello again,
I am very much in a learning phase. For those of you who want to know more about Botswana, you might want to check out the US State Department latest bulletin on the country. Background Notes : Botswana (05/08) . The longer I am here, the more questions I have.
We are in the process about learning about the HIV problem. Depending on the figures you see, and most are outdated, the rate for adults is about 25%. The rate is higher for young women and people 14-24. That is about 3o%. So you can see it is a real problem. I am doing a project on the district of Molepolole to determine more information. The local clinic says the rate is going up in the sense that more people are being tested now that the ARV treatments are available and fewer people are dying. The mother to child transmission has gone down dramatically since the mothers are being monitored and treated with medication to prevent the transmission at birth. That transmission rate is now on 4% evidently. I will be dealing with younger people in the schools. There is a life skills program to be implemented to empower young people to make decisions regarding their lives. More as time goes on...
I walk several miles a day between various locations. It feels great. I am cooking for my host family which find my vegetarian ways odd. But they do eat my pasta, rice and various stews with vegetables. We did a mapping exercise of the community to show where the churches, stores, community center, clinic and hospital were located. All Batswana people have a clinic within less than 10 miles from where they live. That is an amazing accomplishment for a country in Africa. However, the ARV drugs are not at those clinics and are only found at hospitals and the district center, which is a real problem for many.
The news show President Khama visiting various parts of the country, which is the size of Texas.
Cattle prices are on the news nightly. Cattle are prized here. My host father has a cattle outpost about 3 hours away. To marry you need to pay a bride price. It is usually in the form of number of cattle. Most can not pay so many live together without being married. From what I can tell most young couples do not get married since unemployment is about 20 %.
There is also lots of news about Zimbabwe because so many refugees are here looking for work.
The newspapers are filled with pictures in the paper of people who have been tortured as the result of the last election. The next run off could be worse.
Our training goes on six days a week from about 8 until 4 pm. We are learning proper protocol for dealing with people in the work place. Among other things, we are told to dress well in business attire since the country in general is very formal. All kids have school uniforms which must be in order every day.
Have to run. My time on the internet is running out. I am at an internet cafe with a fairly good connection today. Forgive me if I repeat myself, I usually have limited time on the internet to re-read all postings.
I am very much in a learning phase. For those of you who want to know more about Botswana, you might want to check out the US State Department latest bulletin on the country. Background Notes : Botswana (05/08) . The longer I am here, the more questions I have.
We are in the process about learning about the HIV problem. Depending on the figures you see, and most are outdated, the rate for adults is about 25%. The rate is higher for young women and people 14-24. That is about 3o%. So you can see it is a real problem. I am doing a project on the district of Molepolole to determine more information. The local clinic says the rate is going up in the sense that more people are being tested now that the ARV treatments are available and fewer people are dying. The mother to child transmission has gone down dramatically since the mothers are being monitored and treated with medication to prevent the transmission at birth. That transmission rate is now on 4% evidently. I will be dealing with younger people in the schools. There is a life skills program to be implemented to empower young people to make decisions regarding their lives. More as time goes on...
I walk several miles a day between various locations. It feels great. I am cooking for my host family which find my vegetarian ways odd. But they do eat my pasta, rice and various stews with vegetables. We did a mapping exercise of the community to show where the churches, stores, community center, clinic and hospital were located. All Batswana people have a clinic within less than 10 miles from where they live. That is an amazing accomplishment for a country in Africa. However, the ARV drugs are not at those clinics and are only found at hospitals and the district center, which is a real problem for many.
The news show President Khama visiting various parts of the country, which is the size of Texas.
Cattle prices are on the news nightly. Cattle are prized here. My host father has a cattle outpost about 3 hours away. To marry you need to pay a bride price. It is usually in the form of number of cattle. Most can not pay so many live together without being married. From what I can tell most young couples do not get married since unemployment is about 20 %.
There is also lots of news about Zimbabwe because so many refugees are here looking for work.
The newspapers are filled with pictures in the paper of people who have been tortured as the result of the last election. The next run off could be worse.
Our training goes on six days a week from about 8 until 4 pm. We are learning proper protocol for dealing with people in the work place. Among other things, we are told to dress well in business attire since the country in general is very formal. All kids have school uniforms which must be in order every day.
Have to run. My time on the internet is running out. I am at an internet cafe with a fairly good connection today. Forgive me if I repeat myself, I usually have limited time on the internet to re-read all postings.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Report from Molepolole
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Hi Folks,
I have been in Botswana for two weeks totally occupied with training. I face many challenges.
Our progress is monitored by oral proficiency tests in Setswana every two weeks, portfolios with assignments due every week or so dealing with numerous competencies and a journal with our reflections. My first language proficiency test focused on the formal greetings and a description of our roles here. Hope to do better for the next test. My language teacher is excellent and I am in a class with 4 other highly motivated people over 60. The star of the class is the 68 year old with a hearing problem who will probably be moved to an advanced class because he catches on so quickly. The language is in part tonal and there are lots of unusual sounds. The grammar is challenging.
For these two months I am living with a host family which consists of a man in his 60's who is a chief of the village and his 50 year old wife, both of whom are very kind and friendly. They take good care of me and are teaching me to live, cook, clean and survived in a different cultural context. I love waking up to the roosters crowing in the morning. The stars are night are incredibly clear and plentiful. The landscape has trees and lots of sand colored earth. Last night and yesterday it poured rain. Unusual since we are in fall going into winter. The nights are getting cool and the days are sunny and somewhat windy. In general it is very dry here.
In addition to learning Setswana every morning, we are having speakers on HIV/AIDs, the country and the cultural, our role as a life skills advisors dealing with the schools, and the general Peace Corps approach to development. There are also talks about health and shots of all kinds to protect us from every disease known.
Next week I shadow a Peace Corps volunteer who lives and works in Thamaga about 40 kilometers from here. It should be a useful experience to learn what happens on the ground versus the theory we have been receiving.
We are now about 57 volunteers in total. All have lots of experience in travel, health, HIV, administration, and more. We all will be dealing with HIV prevention in some capacity. I will be working with the schools. Others will be working with nonprofits, the communities, or districts in general.
Let me know if you have any specific questions about what I have said or anything else about the Peace Corps and Botswana. For example, all our volunteers have different backgrounds but a US citizens even though they come from different countries originally. I am in training and will hopefully get more information about Botswana as time goes on here.
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