2 Weeks...

...the amount of time I have left here in Botswana. After years of having the goal to serve in the Peace Corps, the amount of time it took to go through the application process (1.5 years), and having my dream finally come true, it will all be over 2 weeks from now. 2 weeks from now I will be getting ready to board a plane to come home. I haven't set foot in US soil in over 2 years. As excited as I am to come home and as much as I am looking forward to that feeling of satisfaction of finishing and achieving a goal I had set out for myself, I am also sad to close out this chapter of my life. The past week I have been working on my site report to be handed over to the volunteer who replaces me in Machaneng (which is weird to think about in its self), working on my Description of Service Report, sorting through my stuff, and saying my goodbyes.  Various friends I have made over the past two years have been stopping by to see me before I leave and each time they leave with some of my stuff. My house is becoming less and less mine as the days pass by. My village is throwing me a Goodbye Braii Party this Friday, and I'm really looking forward to spending that time with all my friends in Machaneng. I've never really been great at goodbyes so these past few weeks have been hard. Luckily in this day and age there are things like facebook and email that makes the world a much smaller pace and makes it easier to stay in touch with people from another country. But in the end there are many people who I will more than likely never see again and that makes me sad. Not only will I miss my friends that I have made over here, I am going to miss so much of Botswana and Africa that I have grown to love. In life they say when one door closes another one opens. Hopefully the door that is opening will be just as great as the door that is closing. 

Shadows and Casts

A couple weeks ago I got to host another Peace Corps Trainee for a week. When the new volunteers come into country they go through 2 months of training before they get sworn in as official Peace Corps Volunteers. One week out of their training they get to leave the training site to stay with a current volunteer. During their shadow time they get to see what life as a PCV is like. I got to host a trainee from the Bots 11 group back in October so I was excited to be chosen to host someone from the Bots 12 group that just came to Botswana in April.

After I was told I was going to be hosting a trainee I started to freak out a little bit, because I realized I didn't really have much going on at site anymore as my projects are starting to wind down. The week before I was supposed to meet her in Mahalapye I scrambled around to make sure we had some stuff to do. In the end there was no reason for the minor freak out. 

On Monday I went and met Leah (the girl that would be shadowing me) and the two other trainees who would be shadowing the volunteer who lives in a nearby village in Mahalapye (my shopping village). I had to mail a package home so I took the 3 trainees to the post office so they could experience the wonderfulness of the Botswana Post. Luckily trying to send my package home didn't take too long and I only ran into a couple minor complications. After that we picked up some food for the week and headed for the bus back to the village.

On Tuesday I showed Leah around the clinic and village. Then in the afternoon she led a focus group discussion with the PACT Club at the Jr. Secondary School. We had a small group of students show up which worked out really well and they were able to have a pretty good discussion on their views about Botswana and the economy and problems in the village. It's always interesting to hear what the youth have to say about some of these issues. Leah did a great job facilitating too. That night we made flatbread and hummus for dinner and it was pretty yummy.

On Wednesday, I took Leah over to Sefhare (a nearby bigger village) so that we could meet the women who make beads for the Sefhare branch of Mothers for All. Mothers for all is an organization that makes jewlery from breads made from recycled paper, magazines and posters. All the proceeds from the beadwork goes to support mothers or caregivers of orphans and vulnerable children in the community. It's a really great organization so I wanted the new volunteers to meet some of the women and learn more about what they do. Plus there was the added perk of being able to buy some of their products first hand! I also invited Cassie (the volunteer staying in a nearby village) and her shadows to come since we were collaborating to do a STEPS Screening (STEPS Videos are films made in and around Africa and they touch on various HIV/AIDS issues and are great to use to help facilitate a discussion with different community members) at Matlhako Library in the afternoon. While we were in Sefhare my friend Sister Francis (a nun whose been ministering in Sefhare for the past 16 years and has been in Botswana since the '70s) showed us some of the other things she's accomplished since she's been here. We got to see a really nice preschool and day care center, a Red Cross Center that runs a preschool for disabled children in the village and surrounding area and has a Big Brothers/Big Sisters program on the weekends, and we also got to see some of the backyard gardens some of the Mothers For All women have started up. It was really neat to see so many great things happening! I hope it was inspiring for the new volunteers to see what can be accomplished with hard work and motivated people. Some of the trainees were specializing in food security so I think they really appreciated getting to learn more about how to garden here.

In the afternoon we headed over to Matlhako Library to set up for our STEPS Screening. The week before Cassie and I had met with the Library Staff and planned to do a screening with the Standard 6 and 7s from the Matlhako Primary School. I thought it would be cool for the shadows to see. We got to the library and waited around. After a few hours we were told that the teachers were not going to allow the students to leave school to come and watch the movie, so no screening was going to happen. That was pretty disappointing, but it's what happens sometimes in Peace Corps. Once home Leah and I made some Taco Salad from scratch which was pretty yummy!

The rest of the week was spent at the clinic working on a volunteer job description with the clinic staff. This is so the organization and the new volunteer will be clear on the volunteers roles and responsibilities in the clinic and community. I think it’s a really good thing to have and I hope it will help the next volunteer who comes to Machaneng. I was also supposed to meet with preschool owner to work on a grant proposal, but she unfortunately ended up cancelling.

At the end of the week all the area volunteers and their shadows came over to my house and we had pizza! Then on Saturday we all went out to Len and Marina's farm on the Tuli Block so the shadowees could see what it's like out there.

 Lennie took us out on an afternoon game drive and showed us around the farm. We saw a few animals and some giraffes!! This was pretty exciting for the trainees, because these were the first wild animals (besides monkeys) that they have seen in Botswana.

We got to stay the night out at their hunters campsite, which was pretty cool. We had a braii with huge tasty steaks. After dinner Lennie took us out to chase after springhares, which is probably one of my favorite things to do here! This time I actually got to chase after them, unlike when my family was here (because I was sick). At one point I was super close to catching one, but it hoped away…should have dove on top of it. One of the runs I didn't see a warthog burrow and took a bad spill. I rolled over laughing but when I got up I could tell my ankle was hurting pretty bad. Once we got back to the campsite I investigated the damage. My ankle was swollen pretty bad…I decided I would text Peace Corps Medical about it once I got home. The rest of the night was spent hanging around the campfire and enjoying the outdoors. It was really nice of them to let us all come out there. The Vermulien's have been soo hospitable towards me throughout my service and I cannot thank them enough for all that they have done for me. I'm really glad I met them and became friends with them. I will always remember the kindness they showed me throughout my service and hope to one day return the favor.

Once home on Sunday I called the Peace Corps Medical Office and they told me to go to my clinic to have my ankle checked out. The doctor at the clinic wanted me to get an x-ray done to make sure nothing was broken or dislocated. On Monday I was sent to Sefhare Primary Hospital to get my ankle x-rayed and checked out by the doctor there. Gotta love rural public health care. The doctor said nothing was broken, but there was definitely soft tissue damage so he wanted to administer a POP (plaster of paris). So they put a cast on me and gave me some pain pills and crutches and sent me away. Sucks this had to happen right at the end of my service, but luckily I only have to keep my cast on for a few weeks. And now I will have a cool African cast full of signatures to take back to America with me when I leave in June :)

Walls of Encouragement and Love

Since I have been gone a lot on the weekends the past few months, my house has become very dirty. I decided to tackle some of the massive amount of cleaning it needs this weekend. As I was straightening and cleaning up my bedroom, I came across some of the letters people have written me that had fallen off the wall. When I first came to site I started a wall of encouragement by hanging up every letter and card I received. Over the past two years this wall has spread into three walls! I decided to not hang the fallen letters back up, since I will only have to take them back down again in the next month or so. As I was piling them I found myself reading back through the letters and cards. After reading them and reflecting I wanted to say THANK YOU!!!!! Thank you to anyone who took the time to write me and send me a care package over the past 2 years. Thank you for the kind words of love and support. You have helped me to get through the rough times of service and remember why I am here. You have helped me to stay strong and be persistent when the easy thing would have been to give up and go home. These walls have been a physical sign and reminder of all the people back home who have been thinking of me, praying for me, and showed an extra bit of love and support through my service. I CANNOT THANK YOU ENOUGH! I am soo grateful to have each and every one of you in my life and I can't wait to see you all soon :)

walls of encouragement

some art work sent to me by some of my cousins

the letters and cards that fell off the wall. feeling the love <3

"There comes that mysterious meeting in life when someone acknowledges who we are and what we can be, igniting the circuits of our highest potential." -Rusty Berkus

Only in Botswana...

As I was walking home from the Jr. Secondary School, one of the teachers stopped and asked if I wanted a ride home since it was getting dark and the school is a little ways from my house. I gladly took the ride and opened the door. As I was sliding into the front passenger seat I looked down and saw some red, orange, and black feathers on the floor. Right away I knew it was a chicken, but then the chicken moved! As I looked closer, I noticed the chicken was bound by its feet and was still alive. It must have startled me or something because the teacher asked if I was afraid of it. I slid the rest of the way into the seat, careful to place my feet as far away from the chicken's beak as possible, and said no. Then I proceeded to ask if this chicken was going to be his dinner tonight. He laughed and said no, but tomorrow he would be eating it. Then we hit a bump and then chicken was startled and flapped up and into my leg. This made me jump a little and probably emit some sort of squeal. The teacher laughed as I once again tried to get as far as away from the chicken. Guess I was slightly afraid of it, mostly because I didn't want it to peck me. The rest of the way he asked me about chickens in America. I think he was asking if they were the same size and I don't really think he understood any of my explanation about chicken farms and hormones that are injected into said chickens. Finally we were at my house and I bid him and his chicken farewell, happy to not have had my toes pecked off. He then invited me to come over to dinner the next night for some chicken. I think I will pass...

Hosting A Trainee

Last week I got to host one of the new Peace Corps Trainees (these are volunteers in training, they came in September and will be sworn in as volunteers in November). The new volunteers got to take a brake from the long tedious days of Setswana, lectures on project design management, the science behind HIV etc. and stay with a current volunteer for a week to see the ins and outs of what they do.

Monday I went to Mahalapye to pick up my trainee. I actually had a little bit of trouble getting a hitch out of my village so ended up taking the bus which got me to Mahalapye a little later than I had wanted. Luckily some of the other volunteers in the area had met up with her at the bus rank. My shadowee was Tracy who is from Kentucky and serving here in Botswana with her husband John, who was shadowing another volunteer up in Francistown. I had a few errands to run, mostly dealing with my rent, and then I showed her the Regional Administrative Center (RAC) where the District AIDS Coordinator (DAC) works. Tracy is actually in the  DCL (Disctric Community Liason) program and not a CCB (Community Capacity Builder) like me, so I thought it would be important for her to see what the DCLs do in the DAC offices. Once we were done there we headed over to SPAR to pick up some groceries then headed out to the hitching post to catch a ride back to Machaneng. Luckily it wasn't too long of a wait.

tracy and me

One thing I wanted to do for my shadowee was make sure they got feed really well. I remember back in training I was very excited during my shadowing visit to eat some pizza and have a break from sesewa, palache, and the other monotonous foods they eat here so I wanted to give my shadowee the same break. Over the course of the week we made pizza (from scratch), hummus and flat bread, taco salads including salsa and guacamole from scratch, omelets, brownies (from scratch), and my Aunt Jana's Peaches and Cream French Toast. Everything we made turned out great and I am 100% Tracy enjoyed it, considering we had no leftovers at the end of the week! She told me I was a great cook so if I haven't learned anything these past 18 months I can say I have learned to cook. Though we ate well all week, we also ran/exercised everyday, so I think we earned it :)

flat bread and hummus with cherry tomatoes and feta cheese. Soo classy! (Photo taken by Tracy)

peaches and cream french toast (picture take by tracy)

taco salad (photo taken by tracy)

The rest of the week was spent taking her around the village and showing her what I do. Right now my main project is teaching the staff at the clinic how to type and use the computers, so majority of our time was spent doing that. One morning we headed over to the Police Department so Tracy could get some crime statistics as part of her shadowing assignment for her training portfolio. When we received the results I was actually very surprised by them. Over the past year (September 2010-August 2011) in Machaneng there has been:

9 Drug related crimes

18 Burglaries

28 Sexual and Domestic Abuses

44 Break ins

236 Thefts

And a whopping 442 Violent Crimes!

Crazy!! I was really surprised by this and it kind of made me a little concerned. What exactly is defined by a "violent crime"? And maybe I should look into getting some burgular bars over my door…? If all else I do have my can of pepper spray my Papaw gave me before I left.

Another part of the shadowing assignment was to host a focus group discussion. The US Embassy in conjunction with the US Peace Corps are currently researching what the youth (in-school and out-of-school) believe to be the main problems in their communities, attitudes towards the economy, and views of the US and the US-Botswana relationship. I actually had already done a focus group discussion with the PACT Club at the Jr. Secondary School back in September. This time I was wanting to get a group of the older out-of-school youth, to participate in the discussion. I had told the Out-of-School Youth Officer about this before I left for Namibia, and then Tracy and I checked in again early in the week to make sure it would happen. As far as we knew it was a go and 4pm on Thursday we would be hosting this discussion. Thursday came around, we headed over the Officer's house to find no one there. We waited around for a good hour and still no one. Finally a lady came by and I asked her were Ookeditse (the Out-of -School- Youth Officer) was and the lady told me she had gone to the hospital in Sefhare (a near-by village) because her son was sick. Since Tray had to go back the next day to training we weren't going to be able to complete her assignment. Opps :( On the bright side while we were waiting some neighborhood kids ventured out from wherever they were and did their shy stare at the makgoa (white people) thing that they usually do. Being bored we decided to entertain them by playing a few rounds of "Refilwe/Wame Bua" (Simon Says). I don't think they really understood but they sure did have a good time following whatever motions we were doing. On our walk home we were called over by a group of Primary School girls who were playing a game with string. Basically two girls stand a good distance apart with a string wrapped around their ankles or knees. Then the other girls try to jump in and out of the strings without breaking it. It is kind of like Double Dutch but less scary because you don't have a jump rope swinging at you. After we watched them a couple times they then asked us to join in. It was much harder than it  looked but good fun.

Friday morning I took Tracy to the preschool to play with the kids. Fridays are their Physical Education day at the preschool so it's fun to go over and play games with them, that get them up and moving around. We played versions of sharks and minnows, duck duck goose (they do zebra, zebra, lion), and many other fun little games. If I am having a bad week going to the preschool usually makes it better. The kids are soo adorable! After we spent a few hours there I took Tracy back to Mahalapye to catch a bus back to Gaborone and then to Kanye.

I had a great time hosting and I hope I will get another shadowee when the next group comes in April. I hope Tracy had a good experience and was able to learn some things from me and have some fun too.

sooo cute! (photo by tracy)

"Nothing ever becomes real till it is experienced." John Keats