At present I am living in a dust bowl. It is dry and the wind this month makes small funnel clouds both close and far. They could be tornadoes, except they are brown. Hard to keep you shoes and clothes clean. I cannot believe the amount of dirt I track in. It is like Chicago, except it is brown. I could clean every day. The space under the doors allows not only dirt, but leaves, crickets, spiders, ants and other assorted creatures in my place. I think the critters march in in broad daylight when I am not home. I had a noisy cricket in my bathroom. I found it and put him outside. Then the noise kept coming but louder. Found an even bigger one. I welcome spiders to even out the war with the insects. . My floors are cement, so I can sweep everything out the door. I have also installed my beautiful green mosquito net. It gives me a room within a room. Now I am no longer cold. The weather is really beginning to heat up, but things cool off at night.
This month I have spent making my place homey. I have bought curtains, pots and pans, dishes, sheets, towels, utensils, buckets for water when the water does not run and candles for when the electricity goes out. Since I only have water in the bathroom, I spend lots of time carrying water and dishes back and forth. There is no hot water, so I heat water for baths. Just use about two buckets a day. Water is a problem in Botswana. I received a lovely donation of spices and teas, so my kitchen is getting well stocked. I have found some delicious local beans, so rice and beans plus my spices are delicious. There is also wonderful fresh chard and rape that I have practically daily. I do not have a refrigerator, so food does not last long. A guest donated another mattress, which is now on my floor as a yoga mat and a place for playing Uno and connect 4 with my young neighbors. Besides children’s art, I now have some photos on the wall and even some aerial maps of Molepolole and different parts of Botswana.
Since school does not begin again until September, I have been interviewing people in the village. I just visited a juvenile rehabilitation center. Another Peace Corps volunteer and I hope to do further observations and perhaps help with some life skill workshops. This week I met some great folks from SAMEID, an organization for developing private media in Southern Africa. I want them to come for a workshop on HIV and the media. The intent is to inform and help people think critically about the news media. The government really controls the press here, so there is a lot to think about and learn. My role at the school is turning out to be encouraging critical thinking, as I did years ago at Harper College.
On the HIV front, I also visited a group of older women like myself who were doing Home Based Care work with the elderly and people living with HIV/AIDS, although the ARV treatments have really altered the wellbeing of these people who previously have not been able to work. In addition, I interviewed the chairman of the men’s multi sector HIV committee in Molepolole. One of the many factors affecting the spread of the disease seems to be the fact that men and women have many concurrent sexual partners, rather than getting married or staying with one. The young women tend to hook up with sugar daddies and get pregnant early. These cultural partners are very strong. Many men and women have jobs away from their partners which encourages the practice. For examples, teachers are placed by the Ministry of Education. They are not usually placed in the same town as their spouses. Evidently men are very competitive about the number of women they have relations with in the same or different towns. Changing attitudes is one thing, but changing behaviors is even harder.
Well the Olympics have passed me by and now the Democratic Convention has as well. But the Peace Corps provides us with old issues of the international version of Newsweek, so I will get news eventually.
On August 31st I leave for 10 days in service training in Kanye, another village not far from Gaberone. We will be doing more language study and discussing our needs assessments to determine how we can be most effective at our sights.
Hope to post some photos eventually. I still have lots of questions and few answers. But maybe that is how it will be.
Go siame,
Molly
Friday, August 29, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Camp ala Botswana
August Aug 10 to 16, 2008, Youth Empowerment Forum, Pitsane, Botswana
The Youth Forum represented over 100 poor and vulnerable children as well as many exceptional youth from the ages of 8 to 18 years old. They were bombarded with talks by all kinds of organizations presenting on everything from alcohol abuse, HIV and AIDS prevention to volunteerism a la the Red Cross and Peace Corps. Students recorded their notes on each topic and participated in productive discussion groups to elicit more participation. I personally had fun debating with a team of old people against some students who advocated student rights. We lost when the students voted, but we did try our best.
The students were assisted by 30 or more facilitators from government offices, teachers, NGOs, and 12 Peace Corps volunteers who all worked as a team over the weak to focus on the children’s needs and concerns. It was an intense camp atmosphere with little time for play and sports. We all stayed in dorms of the 10 year old Barolong Vocational School in the southern part of Botswana near South Africa. And during the week we did take a field trip to see the Botswana Defense Force’s automated diary, which happened to be near the South African border, although we did not cross it.
The experience was very challenging in part because it was both in Setswana and English. The Peace Corps Volunteers had trouble understanding the Setswana and many of the kids and adults had trouble understanding the English, although the society is amazingly bilingual.
The forum was sponsored by such organizations as UNICEF, UNDP (Development and Planning), the Ministry of Education, the Red Cross, etc. They provided us with three meals a day plus tea breaks in the morning and afternoon. The experience was intense. The question was, did it build capacity? Maybe and maybe not, but it might have planted some seeds in the minds of some of the children. Did the Peace Corps make a difference by our presence? We hope so, but in any case we learned more about Botswana culture and customs. The last evening we also attend a “braai” which is really a barbeque in which everyone, except me, cooked their own meeting over the fire.
I learned lots about different organizations that presented to the students. Also got tested for HIV by a PEPFAR or US aided organization. The counseling was excellent so our money was well spent. They used the rapid test so I knew very quickly that I was negative.
I also enjoyed seeing a different town and part of the country. It is the center of the cattle slaughtering houses and also has the main mental hospital. Lobatse looks like it could be a town in the Midwest. It has a shopping center, train and several housing developments. The weather there is colder than Molepolole because it is farther south and nearer the southern part of the Kalahari Desert. (Cold showers were a challenge!)
Our winter is almost over. Days are windy and nights are still cold, but the days are generally warm. My clothes dry quickly on the line these days. I have a major needs assessment of my school and the community due soon which will keep my busy while the school is on break until the beginning of September. I am busy organizing my new home and hope to have some time to post photos or at least refer you to other volunteers blogs to give you a visual image. Hope everyone is enjoying the summer. Tsamaya sentle! Good well!
The Youth Forum represented over 100 poor and vulnerable children as well as many exceptional youth from the ages of 8 to 18 years old. They were bombarded with talks by all kinds of organizations presenting on everything from alcohol abuse, HIV and AIDS prevention to volunteerism a la the Red Cross and Peace Corps. Students recorded their notes on each topic and participated in productive discussion groups to elicit more participation. I personally had fun debating with a team of old people against some students who advocated student rights. We lost when the students voted, but we did try our best.
The students were assisted by 30 or more facilitators from government offices, teachers, NGOs, and 12 Peace Corps volunteers who all worked as a team over the weak to focus on the children’s needs and concerns. It was an intense camp atmosphere with little time for play and sports. We all stayed in dorms of the 10 year old Barolong Vocational School in the southern part of Botswana near South Africa. And during the week we did take a field trip to see the Botswana Defense Force’s automated diary, which happened to be near the South African border, although we did not cross it.
The experience was very challenging in part because it was both in Setswana and English. The Peace Corps Volunteers had trouble understanding the Setswana and many of the kids and adults had trouble understanding the English, although the society is amazingly bilingual.
The forum was sponsored by such organizations as UNICEF, UNDP (Development and Planning), the Ministry of Education, the Red Cross, etc. They provided us with three meals a day plus tea breaks in the morning and afternoon. The experience was intense. The question was, did it build capacity? Maybe and maybe not, but it might have planted some seeds in the minds of some of the children. Did the Peace Corps make a difference by our presence? We hope so, but in any case we learned more about Botswana culture and customs. The last evening we also attend a “braai” which is really a barbeque in which everyone, except me, cooked their own meeting over the fire.
I learned lots about different organizations that presented to the students. Also got tested for HIV by a PEPFAR or US aided organization. The counseling was excellent so our money was well spent. They used the rapid test so I knew very quickly that I was negative.
I also enjoyed seeing a different town and part of the country. It is the center of the cattle slaughtering houses and also has the main mental hospital. Lobatse looks like it could be a town in the Midwest. It has a shopping center, train and several housing developments. The weather there is colder than Molepolole because it is farther south and nearer the southern part of the Kalahari Desert. (Cold showers were a challenge!)
Our winter is almost over. Days are windy and nights are still cold, but the days are generally warm. My clothes dry quickly on the line these days. I have a major needs assessment of my school and the community due soon which will keep my busy while the school is on break until the beginning of September. I am busy organizing my new home and hope to have some time to post photos or at least refer you to other volunteers blogs to give you a visual image. Hope everyone is enjoying the summer. Tsamaya sentle! Good well!
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