Winter in Botswana, June 09

The June 21st solstice has just passed. The days are light from 6am to about 6pm, but now will be getting lighter fortunately. The sunsets and sunrises are still dramatic with lots of orange streaks across the horizon. The sun is lower and the shadows as one walks are long and narrow. In the evenings I turn on the oven mostly to stay warm and to bake almost anything to have an excuse to have it on. With weather in the morning in the 30’s and 40’s, I wear lots of layers which I shed when the sun is higher around 10am.
It is also the time of the federation soccer cup to warm up for the up-coming world soccer cup in 2010. A few satellite dishes are popping up as the time gets closer. The news coverage is intense. I was congratulated frequently when the US team upset Spain in the semi-finals. It was disappointing to see the US lose to Brazil when they were up 2-0 at half-time.
Well we are into the fall and winter here. Leaves are falling but not many turn yellow or brown. The grass is turning brown. There are, however,a few flowering trees despite the constant frost. The landscape is changing. Rain has come,which is unusual for this time of year, but always welcomed.
Lots of people have flu like symptoms, coughs and runny noses. Students go to school in the dark or come home in the dark depending whether they are in the morning or evening shift school that week. The early shift starts at 6:40am and the second shift ends just before 6 at night. When school lets out you see a sea of students in dark blue and grey uniforms with only thin jackets in the cool of the evening,streaming down the sides of the street.
With the changing of the seasons, the Peace Corps who came in 07 have departed from Botswana and 60 new ones have arrived in April have completed their two months training and left for posts throughout the country. They were a common sight in town with their backpacks and hiking clothes. This group is older, 20 over the age of 50 and nine married couples. Still concentrating on working with HIV/AIDS, they are working with non-governmental organizations, schools, health clinics and District AIDS Committees. All are very enthusiastic and impatient to get out and tackle the challenges.
In one week my school had a blood drive, hosted the Peace Corps swearing in with lots of Batswanan and American dignitaries including the US Ambassador, and celebrated the Day of the African Child on the 16th of June. That date for the African child began as a commemoration of the school children in South Africa, who were killed by policed in 1976 while demonstrating in the streets. Today it has a theme to remember all children in Africa and emphasize the strides made to meet the challenges for food, shelter, clothing and healthcare. Several students and I went to an official village commemoration in which our school head talked about the challenges as well as the advances in education and healthcare. There was music, dance, drama and lots of speeches.
The next week proved busy as well. A teacher, at the age of 33, went to a clinic with complaints of chest problems. By the end of the week she was in a coma and died due to heart problems. She left a four year old child. The school held a memorial service for her with singing and speeches by students and teachers. In the same week, a group of five college students on winter break from the University of Botswana arrived for a five week stay to teach classes about HIV/AIDS and to counsel students. They teach about abstinence and being faithful, but not condoms. They are now handing out white rubber bracelets for those students how pledge abstinence. The group is supported by the Baptist ministry. They are very religious. There is no separation of church and state here. Prayers are said at all assemblies and at the beginning and end of every meeting.
There was also a PTA meeting where about two hundred or more parents, mainly women, showed up. They represent about ten percent of the parents for the 2000 students. Some teachers and many of the new administrators were in attendance and spoke. As usual, it was all in Setswana making it difficult for me to communicate with any parents. It is said that parents have very little interest in their children’s education since it is basically paid for by the government and many parents have never attended senior secondary school since it was not widely available after the country became independent in 1966.
On Friday I was invited to a Peace Corps volunteer overnight to celebrate our one year of service at our sights. We had some delicious homemade pizzas with chocolate cake for dessert. As usual, we talked nonstop talking about events at our schools. However, we also reflected on the meaning of the year in terms of personal and on the job growth and understanding. We all found many challenges in bringing life skills into the schools and balancing our lives. Some have taken up running to relieve stress. Others are helping to make beads as part of fundraising project. We all enjoy eating, especially in this cold weather.
And this coming week, I am off to a Mid Service Training with Peace Corps to map the way forward for the next year. As part of this we have yet another language skills test, which I am not looking forward to at present. Also all of us will have annual dental and physical medical check-ups. Later on my school will be visited by the Ministry of Education on the development of the life skills program. So I am writing a report for the school along with reports to Peace Corps and the Ministry of Education on my activities in the school and the community for the last quarter. Rest assured there is lots of monitoring and evaluating.
So it goes. I am waiting to see if the school's tennis team has made it into the final tournament. Hope they did. I wish you could see them practice in their bare feet with one ball avoiding the grass growing over the court. Balls get lots both on the court and outside because of the high grass. Challenges are many. But the will is there. I feel on firmer ground coaching tennis than life skills.