I'm Back!!!

I finally got my laptop back a few weeks ago and with that I made a little trip to Gaborone to get my internet reset up. From now on (as long as technology will allow me) I hope to update more regularly so that you all will know what I have been up to. To keep this from being entirely too long I will just give a couple highlights of what I've been up to the past couple months.


Thanksgiving

Our Spread of Food 

One of the little one's enjoying his food

Although I didn't get to spend Thanksgiving with my family at home I was glad to be with some of my new Peace Corps family. We got together at another volunteers house in Selebi-Phikwe, which is only a few hours away from my village. We ended up having a huge spread of delicious of food. Everyone contributed something and we all sufficiently stuffed out faces.  I was able to make my Mother's Green Bean Casserole dish and my Aunt Ginny's cheesy potato recipe, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. We even had so much food that we invited the neighbors over to eat.


Youth Workshop in New Xhade

Traditional Hut

One afternoon we had an intense 4-square game going

In the month of December, I was invited with a few other volunteers to help co-facilitate an OVC Life skills workshop in New Xhade. With just over 2000 people, the village of New Xhade is one of the largest San resettlements in Botswana. The village is home to many different tribal groups and carries a rich cultural heritage. However, due to lack of employment and illiteracy rates, the village leadership is crippled by excessive alcohol abuse and the problems associated with it, and ultimately it’s the children whom suffer for it. Currently, New Xhade has 57 registered orphans, 200+ vulnerable and needy children, and 260 hostel dwellers that have little to no access to healthy role models on a day to day basis. As a result, the vast majority of OVC’s are in need of life-skills training and psychosocial support, as evidenced by the high drop-out rates, high teenage pregnancy rates, youth-committed crime, and alcohol and drug abuse.

Youth doing the Obstacle Course

Playing soccer with the Youth

The theme of the workshop was “Live Well, Tshela Sentle.” Students were taught to associate alcohol abuse with poor decision making which can lead to domestic violence, rape, destitution, and/or HIV/AIDS. The workshop also focused on gender empowerment to help students recognize and take pride in their growing sexuality while alerting them to the dangers of MCP, domestic violence, and unhealthy relationship patterns. Additionally, team-building, art therapy, recreational therapy, and nutrition were key interests and skills taught.

It rained a lot but there was a beautiful double rainbow on day

Some of the boys after the exercise and nutrition portion

The PCV in New Xhade who organized the workshop did an amazing job. It was a very successful week, the kids had a blast. These kids have probably never participated in organized games or sports that we Americans are accustomed to growing up in, let alone have they ever had positive role models in their lives who just simply acknowledge them. It was great to be a part of something new in these children’s’ lives and just to see them smile.



Christmas in Francistown

My Bird

Fake Snow!!

Christmas 2010 will definitely be one I will always remember. Although I was not able to spend it with my family, which is always sad around the holidays, I once again enjoyed spending time with my volunteer friends here in Botswana. A few of us who would be traveling to Zambia after Christmas met up in Francistown to spend the holiday together. We did a White Elephant gift exchange and I ended up with a cool metal bird.  There wasn't any snow, expect for the fake snow someone from home had sent one of the other volunteers, but all in all it wasn't a bad day. We made a delicious meal and watched some holiday movies, one being Elf (one if my all time favorite Christmas movie). A couple of us even went to church Christmas morning so I was able to sing some Christmas songs and get a little into the Christmas spirit.


Zambia Vacation
Wow where to start….Zambia was a great time and I don't think I will be able to do justice explaining it here on this.

The trip up to the border from Francistown was a little cramped with all our stuff on the small bus but not as bad as I was anticipating. Once you get past Nata you start to see elephants along the side of the road, which was one way of entertaining yourself during the 6 hour bus ride. One of the other volunteers said he saw 12 or something like that, I only saw 5 but I was sleeping most of the way. Once at the border we boarded the fairy and crossed over the Chobe River into Zambia!

The cramped shady combi

Once through customs we got (or should say crammed) into a shady-looking combi. I say shady because the door fell off at one point, it was only hanging on by the ties they had used to keep it closed. But sure enough we had made it to Livingstone.

We stayed at a hostel call Jollyboys Backpackers for  a few days.  I was pretty excited when we got to Jollyboys because I had never stayed in a hostel so I wasn't really knowing what to expect, especially when images from the movie "Hostel" come to mind. Once inside I was pleasantly surprised. Jollyboys was very nice and had a very chill/hippyish feel too it.
 There was a pool, bar, self-catering kitchen and tons of cushions everywhere for lounging around. They had private rooms, mixed dorms, and camping available. I stayed in one of the mixed dorms with one of the other girls who went with us. The beds weren't bad and I was able to get somewhat full nights of sleep except for the one night when a guy in my dorm started singing in his sleep. After we got settled in, the group of us decided to walk around Livingstone's downtown area. We went by the market and I ended up buying a couple souvenirs after bargaining with the guy in the booth and even traded some hair ties for some smaller trinkets.

                                                                       

In the morning we all got up bright and early to head to Victoria Falls to brave a walk across the falls with a swim in Devil's Pool. 

Victoria Falls, or Mosi oa-Tunya (“The Smoke That Thunders”) is located in southern Zambia and is one of the seven natural wonders of the world.  It’s smack dab in the middle of the Zambezi river, and is a 100 meter drop.  They are 1.7 km long, with 1 km being located in Zambia and the rest in Zimbabwe.  This makes it one and a half times wider than and twice as tall as Niagara.  In 1855, an English explorer named David Livingstone set eyes on the falls, renamed it in honor of his queen, and quoted, “Scenes so wonderful must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight.”  

So we began our trip across the falls walking hand in hand  (with 2 guides to keep us safe) over the slippery walks. The water was usually only ankle deep, but at times it up past the knees and there were points where you could feel  how strong the current was. They took us right up to the edge of the falls, where the view was breathtaking!  We took many breaks to get amazing pictures.

Rainbow Falls

After about an hour or so we were finally at the Main Falls where Devil's Pool is. Once there we stripped down to our swimsuits to swim to Devil's Pool. Devil's Pool is a natural infinity pool at the edge of the Main Falls. Once we swam through some strong currents we got to a little rock and then were told to jump in one-by-one. I was a little afraid of going over the falls but the guides told us there was a rock ledge that would keep us from going over. 

So when it was my turn I took a deep breath.................................

 and jumped in.............................

 and survived!

I swam in Devil's Pool at the Top of Victoria Falls and it was AWESOME!

If you look closely there's 4 hippos

 After all of us jumped in twice we headed back to Jolleyboys. Some of us decided to go on a sunset boat cruise, which was very relaxing after the day of adventure. We saw some hippos and the sunset was beautiful.

 The next day a few people from the group went whitewater rafting while the rest of us decided to conquer the 111 meter bungee jump (3rd highest in the world) off the bridge that goes over the Zambezi River gorge. I was extremely nervous to do this.

I don't have much of a fear of heights, I was a zipline guide for godsake, spent the whole Summer and Fall of 2009 up in trees and hundreds of feet up in the air without a fear, but something about nose diving off of a bridge makes the stomach churn. 

In the morning we headed to the bridge to scope things out. We got some pictures and watched someone take the leap off the bridge. Usually when I am nervous to do something, if I see someone else do it and survive I am usually fine. Not this time. After seeing a random guy take the jump, my stomach and nerves were not calmed. Oh no what was I getting myself into? We headed up to get checked in. They weighed us and I was going to be the 3rd out of our group to go. We went back down to the bridge and I kept thinking…am I really gonna do this? 

When it came my turn to go they sat me down and started to strap my feet in and all I could think about is what if the cord broke.  Before I knew it I was standing on the edge of the platform with my arms out and they were counting down 5..4…3..2..JUMP!!!

 And there I went and let out the biggest scream. Down I went and then back up and around, for awhile I wasn't quite sure what was up and what was down, but the view was amazing. Once I stopped bouncing around I was really able to grasp what a beautiful view the gorge was and then the blood started rushing to my head. Luckily the guy was soon there to bring me back up. 

Once back on the bridge I was able to try to get my bearings a little and enjoy the view.  Afterwards I felt pretty motion sick from all the bouncing and spinning. I found out later that if you leave your arms out the whole time you spin less. I'll have to remember that the next time I go bungee jumping.

The next day the group headed to Jungle Junction. Jungle Junction is an eco-friendly fishing resort on privately-owned Bovu Island, on the Zambezi River.  Featuring a self-service bar, library, and no electricity, it’s the perfect place to get away from your worries, reflect on life, and recharge.  The group was pretty excited to relax for the next four days after our two days of action-packed adventures.

The Library

Another view

The Bar

The Kitchen

Once on the island the first thing that came to mind was paradise. I felt like I was in the movie "The Beach" starring Leonardo DiCaprio.  I took off my flip flops immediately, and went barefoot for the four days we were there.

You can camp, or stay in fisherman's huts or chalets. I decided to stay in a fisherman's hut, so I got to wake up every morning to the most beautiful sunrises every morning. 

The Fisherman Hut I stayed in

The view from my hut at sunrise (this picture doesn't give it justice)

The only access to the island is by a makoro boat (traditional dug-out canoe). During our stay the boatmen would take us out fishing or to the safe swimming areas to go for a swim (there are crocodiles and hippos around the island so it's not a good idea to just swim where ever you feel like). 

Packing the boats up with all our stuff

No crocodiles here :)

The guys went everyday trying to catch the much talked about tiger fish. These things are hard to catch, mainly due to their shark like teeth and the fact that they will literally spit the hook back out at you. One of them finally caught a big enough one for all of us to try on New Years Eve. It was pretty tasty but lots of bones to pick though. 

The first night they took us out for a sunset boat ride. Every night the sunsets were the prettiest sunsets I have ever seen, but I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

The first morning we were there I found some trees to set my hammock up in, so I would have a nice place to relax and read with a great view. Then a few of us went for a walk around the island. 

The lack of electricity didn’t pose any problems and was actually added to the feel of the island.  There were steaming hot outdoor showers and all the food was cooked over charcoal fires.  At night, the bar area was lit by candles. 

The showers

New Year's was spent on the Island, some people had brought watches to let us know when it was midnight. It was a great way to bring in the New Year (Ngwaga o Mosha--literally A New Year). On New Year's Day the Owner's did a Pig Roast for everyone staying there. It was delicious and I was excited to get my pork (sans sour kruat) for New Year. Apparently it brings you good luck. 

The Group on New Years Eve

Last sunset of 2010

The trip was amazing and I highly recommend everyone, young or old, to stay on the island. The staff were very accommodating and laid back. There is even a resident botanist who is willing to walk with you around the island and teach you about the wildlife.

After leaving the island we stayed a night camping at the Chobe Safari Lodge in Kasane. This lodge is high class and borders the Chobe River. You can sit by the pool watch monkeys come within a foot from you and watch elephants, hippos, and crocodiles roam the river. It is beautiful! If you do decide to go camping there though make sure to have a tent or rent one of the lodges. A hammock won't suffice as I unpleasantly found out. I don't have a tent, but I do have a hammock that I thought would be sufficient enough to sleep in. In the middle of the night I was unpleasantly awoken from my deep sleep by a night watchmen who told me I had to be in a tent, sleeping outside was unsafe because the hippos, elephants, crocodiles and lions will attack me! I was sure to cram into a tent with some of the other pcvs. Next time I will know to bring a tent.


On our way back to Francistown we saw more elephants and giraffes on the side of the road which is always a great site. 


Sorry this was so long, but I wanted to give you all a good description of my wonderful trip. I had a great time and the sights were so beautiful that it made it hard to leave and come back to Botswana. I defiantly want to go back up sometime to see the Zimbabwe side (apparently the views of the falls are even better) and raft the Zambzi. Good thing I'm still here for another year or so.




Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not. 
Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Technology is not my friend

So my computer crashed and I had to send it back to the states a few weeks ago. This means I will not be able to update my blog until I get it back :( I am very sorry but since I don't have a computer that means I have to use the internet at the Post Office in my village which gets a little expensive and is really slow. Just found out last night that the motherboard is fried from overheating. Guess it just couldn't take the Africian heat :( The good news is I will be getting a new computer for Christmas! Thanks Mom and Dad! Hopefully I will get that back in a few weeks. Just for a brief update: I have been fairly busy through the months of October and November. I will just list some of the things I have been doing. I went on a Safari at the Rhino Sanctuary, was a Judge for the Matlhako Library Preschool Beauty Pagent, Screened a STEPS video and had a great disscussion with the community about disclosing one's status, talking to children about HIV/AIDS, and stigmatization. I also helped plan our Sub-Districts Drama Competition and my village's Drama team won! They took home P500 and were extremely exited. Now I am getting ready for a get together with some of the other volunteers for Thanksgiving this weekend. I'm pretty sad I won't get to be with my family this year, but at least my mom sent me some of the family recipies to make here :) Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and I will try to upday when I can!

6 Months in Botswana

Today marked 6 months of being in Botswana. On April 12th, 2010 I landed in Gaborone. In many ways it doesn't seem possible that I have been here that long and then in other ways it seems like I have been here longer. They say the first 6 months are the hardest part of your service and that it only gets better in time. I can see now why that is true. Since I have been here it has been a whirlwind and roller coaster of emotions. I love roller coasters but this one has been one I haven't always enjoyed being on. If the hardest part is behind me hopefully that means my train has climbed up the biggest part and I am now on the downward slope with full speed and momentum. Yes there will more bumps along the ride but hopefully they won't be as big as this first hill.

As I look back on my time here so far I can already see change in myself and isn't that partly why I decided to go on this journey? Even though there are still days where I hit a low there are many more where this feels right. Last Friday I went to the Prize Giving Day Ceremony at the Primary School. It was a lot like the one I went to a few weeks ago at the Jr. Secondary School. After I was fed lunch and started on my way home I heard someone call out "Refilwe." I turned to find my landlord's granddaughter peaking out from the fallen down tree behind me. I decided to go over and talk with her and her friends. I gave her my VIP card that was given to me during the ceremony, since I was one of the guests for the day. Her face just lit up so bright from a little piece of paper with some flowers on it. It reminded me of how much we take for granted the little things in life. She didn't receive any prizes during the ceremony because she didn't have the highest grades in her classes, but that little piece of paper I gave her probably meant more to her than any of the prizes that were given out at the ceremony. After a little bit the group of us walked home. Once I got home I changed and heard some noises coming from my front ledge. I went outside to find a whole group of kids sitting outside my house waiting for me to come outside. For the next hour or so I showed them how to throw a Frisbee. Afterwards Kenilwe asked me to teach her some English and she would teach me Setswana. I told her we could do that on Monday afternoon. Monday afternoon came around and once again she and I were sitting on the ledge under my window trying to teach each other languages we don't really understand. She is in form 2 (so the same as a 2nd grader) so her English is not all that great, which makes it difficult for her to teach me Setswana. It was fun spending time with her though. During those moments I felt like I was supposed to be here. I decided that I will need to find someone different to teach me Setswana, but I could probably still teach her English and will try to meet with her at least once a week. These are the types of things I pictured I would be doing as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

I don't think anything could have prepared me for what I have experienced so far during my service. That is not to say it is a bad thing. Botswana and being a Peace Corps Volunteer is just very different than what I had thought before coming here. As time moves on I am noticing that I am being able to adapt to the changes or differences better than when I first arrived. I have made some friends in the community, I am starting projects (slowly but surely), I have a new family of support from the volunteers here in country that I can lean on when things get hard, and I have even gotten to travel a little bit around the country and see and experience things I never imagined I would had you asked me year or so ago. As I become more integrated into my community I am starting to scrape away the layers and see that there really is a need for me to be here.

I want to once again thank everyone back at home for all the support and words of encouragement you have given me. During the hardest times it's good to know people at home are thinking about me. The letters and packages are always lights in my darker days and I know I will continue to need and want that support throughout the rest of my service. As hard as these past 6 months have been, it makes me excited to see what the next 6 month will hold.

Botswana's Independance Day

September 30th marked Botswana's 44th year of independence. In 1966 Botswana gained Independence from being a British protectorate, so Botswana has truly come pretty far since it became a country. So what did I do to celebrate? I met up with 24 other Bots 9 volunteers to go camping on the Makgadikdadi Pans! This is one of the biggest salt pans in the world, it is about the size of Portugal. Usually there is a little bit of water on the salt pans which makes pictures look awesome but since we are in the dry season there was no water, but I still got some really good pictures. I'll have to go back sometime when there is more water.

There was a little bit of water in one of the river beds and some not so pink flamingos!

It's mini me!

The whole time I looked out onto the sandy abyss I couldn't help but feel like I was Captain Jack Sparrow when he was stuck at the world's end (maybe that's because I had just had a Pirate's of the Caribbean Movie Marathon the weekend before??).

Setting up tents

Beautiful Sunset :)

As we wondered the pans a little bit, we came across these huge tracks. At first we thought they were lion tracks but were later informed that they were hippo tracks! It's too bad we didn't get to see any, or maybe that’s a good thing…I wouldn't have wanted to be trampled by one while I slept out under the stars. I decided I didn't want to spend my money on a child's pup tent, like some of the other volunteers did. Luckily I wasn't the only one who didn't have a tent so I felt completely safe and it was really nice to sleep under the stars.

We were up before sunrise

Here comes the Sun!

We only stayed one night out on the pans, which was fine by me because there was no water and it was really hot out there with no shade. So on Friday some of us went to Francistown to stay at Daniel's apartment. He has a really nice place, which makes me slightly jealous. He has hot running water, although now that it's gotten really hot here I don't really need that, a shower, and AIR CONDITIONING! So it was a luxury to take some showers and relax in the air conditioning. The bus ride back to Ftown was a true African bus-ride experience. Because it was a holiday weekend the buses were crazy packed! The nine of us caught a packed full bus heading to Ftown from Maun. Somehow they squeezed us on, but we had to stand the whole 2 1/2 hour ride back. I think every part of me was brushed up against throughout the trip as people were getting on and off, luckily I was standing next to Lindsey so at least I knew one of the people brushing up against me. At one point there was a group of goats crossing the road (very typical in Botswana) and the bus driver was honking his horn to let them know they need to move. Unfortunately a baby goat got confused and just kept darting back and forth, not knowing where to go and then BAM! Baby goat is no more :( Very sad! Oh and at one stop a guy got on the bus with a live chicken in a grocery sack and sat next to Joel. The rest of the trip Joel was having to avoid getting bit by the chicken! Glad I wasn't him.

Once in Francistown we decided to go out for Mike and Jen's (two of the volunteers) birthdays. There was an Irish Pub just down the street from Daniel's apartment so we decided to go there to get a drink. We were all pretty excited to have some good draft beers, especially after looking over their vast selection on the menu. But surprise, surprise the only import beer they had was Guinness, which was insanely expensive, so most settled for a domestic and a couple of us ordered some margaritas. The beers came right away but our cocktails were taking a really long time, I think it was because they didn't know how to make it. After our drinks we went to an Indian Restaurant and ate a ton of really yummy food. Indian is now my new favorite kind of food.

In the morning a few of us went to an NGO that a Bots 8 volunteer works at. This organization does afterschool programs for the orphans and vulnerable children in the worst part of Francistown. On Saturdays they have some programs and feed the children lunch. Daniel typically goes and helps out on Saturdays and invited us to come along. We had a lot of fun playing with the kids. We tried to teach them duck, duck, goose but it didn't work too well. I had one little girl who was following me around for a little bit and when I had to sit in the pot she got up from her seat and sat in the pot with me! Soo cute! We played a lot of "touch" with the kids, which is what they call "tag" but not exactly the same. Later that night the 6 of us that stayed decided to make tacos from scratch. I was incharge of the tortillas. I had made them before but I was little nervous to make them for a bunch of other people, but they turned out great! Those tacos ended up being one of the best meals I've had here in country! Soo good!

The little girl in front is the one who was following me around

They were playing with Daniel's hair lol

Kgotla Meeting

Yesterday I got to go to my first ever Kgotla meeting in my village. Pretty exciting huh? What's a Kgotla meeting you ask? Well the Kgotla is the place in the village where the Kgosi (chief of the village) works, so the village holds meetings at the Kgotla to discuss issues or concerns in the village. The organization of power in most villages in Botswana is the Kgosi, Assistant Kgosi, Kgosana or Headmen (the heads of the different wards within the village, Machaneng has 7 wards and 6 Kgosana, the one ward doesn't have a Kgosana because it is a newer ward where the Jr. Secondary School was built), and the Village Development Committee (VDC). Here's a picture of what the Main Kgotla looks like (each ward has a smaller Kgotla where issues within the ward are discussed and talked about, but the Main Kgotla is used for bigger issues).

 

Some of the really important people in the District came to Machaneng today to talk about issues within the village and talk about the funding of youth activities. I went to see what a meeting was like and because the Out-of-School Youth Officer and I needed to talk to the District Commissioner about using this building that he is in-charge of for the preschool we want to start. The meeting was supposed to start at 2:30pm so I left my house around 2:45ish because things never start on time in Botswana. When I got to the Kgotla I was surprised to see that the meeting had started on time and there were lots of people already there. I decided to sit under one of the trees because I didn't want to be disruptive and the meeting was all in Setswana I didn't think I needed to be up where all the important people were sitting. After a few minutes I noticed a group of children gathering around me. I tried to ignore them since the meeting was going on and once again I didn't want to be disruptive. Soon I had children sitting all around me giggling and staring at the "lekgoa". A little while later a woman came over to me and told me to go sit in the Kgotla (the main building), so I went cause I didn't want to be disrespectful. Once I got to the Kgotla I notice there weren't really any chairs for me to sit in except for one empty one up front where all the important people were sitting. I decided to go sit in the back on the floor. After a few minutes another women came over to me and told me to go sit in the chair. In the Botswana culture men are supposed to have seats first and if there are none left then women sit on the floor, so I thought I was just being respectful by not taking the empty chair. I told her I was fine where I was, mainly because I didn't think I was important enough to be sitting up with the Kgosi and District Heads. Guess I was wrong because a few minutes later I was told again to go sit in the empty chair next to Kgosi Sarona. This time a obeyed because I figured refusing would have been disrespectful. So the next couple hours I spent listening to speeches made by the District Head and various individuals for the community. It was all in what I like to call Setswanglish (Setswana with some English mixed in) so I was able to pick up a little bit of what they were talking about. They talked about the libraries and how there needs to be more emphasis on reading in the community, funding for various things like youth sponsored things, and more funding for music and the arts in the youth, and more funding for youth development in sports. All pretty good things from what I picked up. As I was sitting there trying to understand what was being said I noticed my posse of children had followed me and were now sitting on the other side of the wall from me. A couple of times they got a little loud and were kindly told to quite down. I guess I was just more interesting to the children then whatever they were talking about during the meeting. Towards the end of the meeting the Out-Of-School Youth Group preformed a skit about Multiple Concurrent Partnerships and how that can easily spread HIV. It was really good and I even got a video that I will try to post sometime. It amazes me how talented these youth are. They had a DVD they were selling for P50 and the District Head of Youth and Sports said he would buy one for P500! The group was really excited! They want me to buy one from them but I told them I would if they make one with English subtitles.

After the meeting the Out-of-School Youth Officer and I were able to talk to the District Commissioner about the building we wanted to use. Unfortunately he said the Wildlife Department had already asked to use the abandoned building so we wouldn't be able to use it. On the brighter side Kgosi Sarona and a VDC member said they would look into letting us use the old preschool building. The Out-of-School Youth Group had sent the VDC a letter a few weeks ago about being able to use the old preschool but the VDC didn't really understand why they wanted the building. After talking to the VDC member, she said we could come to the next VDC meeting and explain what our project plans are. Things are looking good, especially since Kgosi Sarona thinks the project is a good idea. I just hope we will be able to convince the other VDC members as well.

Creepie Crawlies and Projects

So last night I was getting ready to go to bed when I look over at my wall and see this looking at me!

It was pretty scary especially since I didn't have any doom in my house (doom is kind of like raid here in Botswana). I'm not normally afraid of spiders but this one looked like a cross between a spider and a scorpion as you can see, so I didn't really want it hanging out on my wall. After gaining some confidence I decided to grab my running shoe and my bug repellent. I sprayed it with the spray hoping to stun it or something . Then I slammed my shoe on top of it. The creature fell off the wall and landed on the towel I use to cover the gap in between my front door and the floor so no creepy crawlies get inside my house (guess the gap wasn't covered very well). After repeatedly slamming my shoe on the spider (that thing would not die) I carefully moved the towel outside and shut the door. I showed the picture of the spider to some of the nurses at the clinic and the one said that I shouldn't have been scared of it cause they don't bite! Haha! Guess I freaked out for nothing, but I wouldn't want that thing crawling in my bed regardless if it will bite me or not!

I am starting to get some projects started in my village. Yesterday I met with the Out of School Youth group to hear about their ideas for some projects they want to do. The one I decided to help them with for now is opening up a pre-school for the orphans and needy children in the village. There already is a preschool/day care center in Machaneng, but you have to pay to enroll your child in it, which can be pretty expensive so many parents don't have their children go there. The Youth Group wants to open up a new preschool/daycare that is free of charge so the orphans and needy children have a place to get the love, support, and education they need to be ready for primary school when they turn 6. I think it is going to be a really great thing, but it is going to take a lot of work. Right now we are in the process of trying to find a building. There are a few options as to which building we could use but first we have to get permission and now I am finding out just how much red tape you have to go through to get something done. The Out of School Youth Officer and I will be meeting with the District Commissioner tomorrow to see if we can use this old building that is not being used. If he says yes then we can move forward with our plans. If not then we have to go back to the drawing board and come up with ways we can get funding to build a building and convice the VDC (village development commitee) to use one of thier buildings. I hope we will be able to make this idea a reality.

Another thing I am trying to get started with one of the nurses is a support group for any government worker in Machaneng. Any job can cause stress and then if you add the HIV/AIDS pandemic and how that affects job performance you can end up with a huge heaping amount of stress in the workplace. There are many healthy and unhealthy ways to deal with stress and I thought it would be good to form a support group so people in the community can deal with their stress in healthy ways. I hope to teach them stress reducing techniques and also talk about other health issues. I am excited about this project because I can incorporate my background in Exercise Science into the group. We had our first meeting last week but only one girl from the police office came. I was a little disappointed but after talking to my Dad, he reminded me that you have to start somewhere, and that one is better than none. Hopefully the next meeting more people will come.

In Service Training (IST)

After being at site for a few months, Peace Corps has all the volunteers come together for more training. The NGO (non-governmental organizations) and LS (life skills) volunteers came a week earlier than the CCB (community capacity builders) and DCL (district community liaisons) so by the time I got to the lodge in GABS where I would be spending the next 2 and half weeks most of my BOTS 9 group were there. It was really exciting to see everyone again! I made sure to spend the first few days with my friends from the NGO and LS groups because they were going to be heading back to their sites on Saturday or Sunday depending how far away they had to travel. The past weeks have been filled with lots of sessions on various topics. Some presentations have been great and others have been not so great. I was feeling kind of low (part of the PC rollercoaster, you go through a lot of ups and downs throughout service) before IST, but now after being here for a few weeks and listening to the presentations I have a lot of ideas for things to do in my village. I have also had a lot of Setswana. We have another LPI (language proficiency indicator) on Monday so hopefully I will move up to a higher level. It's been really nice to have a hot shower and good food everyday. The lodge we are staying at feeds us a ton! I feel like I have had more food these past few weeks than I have had during my 2 months at site. One night they fed us pizza and another night the cook made hamburgers for us! We were all pretty excited because chicken and rice is getting pretty old. The lodge also has a pool so we have gotten some time to work on our tans. The second night at IST some of us decided to change our hairstyles. One girl said she wanted to shave her head and ended up with a Mohawk. The Mohawk looked good so she's decided to keep it for awhile. I finally dreaded my hair!!! It took a couple days but the finished product looks good (or so I am told).

One night we had an 80s themed party. Another night a few of us went to Riverwalk (it's a mall close by the lodge) to see "Inception" . The movie was really good and I recommend seeing it if you haven't yet. That is the weird thing about being here in GABS. GABS is very developed and it feels a lot like I am back at in the US, especially when I go to Riverwalk. It's funny how developed this city is and then only a few miles away there are villages that don't have running water or electricity. It makes me happy I didn't get placed in a site that is as developed as GABS or Francistown. It’s nice to have the luxuries for a little bit, but after being here for a few weeks I have realized that I have grown accustomed to my simple life in Machaneng and rather enjoy it.

One evening I went to Riverwalk with a couple other volunteers to get some coffee at the café there. As we were sipping our mochas and people watching I noticed this group of guys coming towards us. From their body language I could tell they were not from Botswana. They came up to us all wide-eyed and bushy-tailed with this glow of excitement on their faces. Immediately they asked if we were Americans and what state all of us were from. One of the guys was from Pennsylvania so he was pretty excited when he found out I was from Ohio. They had only been in country for a week and we were the first Americans they had come across. After talking to them for a minute we found out they were missionaries working at the University of Botswana and were going to be here for a year. I also found out that they were working through Campus Crusade for Christ. It was cool to find that out because I was involved with CCC and Athletes in Action at Miami University. After a few minutes they left us and we went back to enjoying our mochas, but I just chuckled to myself. They had soo much excitement for being here and it made me think back to when I first got here. It's hard to believe I have been here for almost 5 months, but at the same time it seems like I have been here forever. The new excitement has worn off but there are still things I come across here in BOTS that makes me remember I am halfway around the world in a completely different country and culture.

Today a few volunteers and I went to the Mokolodi Game Reserve to go on a Game Drive and to pet Cheetahs!!! I didn't go on the Game Drive but I did do the Cheetah petting! Cheetahs are my favorite animal (Phologolo yame ke e rata thata ke lengau) so I was soo excited! As we were waiting to go out to pet the cheetahs some warthogs came up by the playground near the reservation desk. Another volunteer and I tried to see how close we could get to them but some kids came up and scared them away. I was able to get a couple good shots. There was a restaurant with a patio seating area and apparently wildlife, like rhinos, impala, and warthogs, will come close.

The Game Reserve has two Cheetahs who they had found as cubs. They were abandoned so the Staff took them in and since they were never trained how to survive in the wild they couldn't set them free. They are 14 years old now which is pretty old for a Cheetah. Cheetahs usually live to be 16 years old in the wild and when they are in captivity they can live up to 20 years.

On our way out to see them we say a male ostrich (male ostriches have black feathers and females have gray). Once inside the cage we got to get up close to the cheetahs and pet them :) Both of them were purring as soon as we got close to them. Cheetahs love to be petted (as long as they are used to humans) but I wouldn't just go up to any cheetah and start petting them. We all got to take some turns petting the cheetah's head and at one point the cheetah rolled over. The guide told us that means he likes being petted.

We also got to see a few of their hyenas that the Game Reserve had also rescued. Hyenas look a lot different than what I have always pictured from the Lion King. They more so look like a hybrid of a dog and a bear. We didn't get to pet them which is fine by me because I guess they are really aggressive. After spending some time with the Cheetah's we went back to wait for the other group get done. The Game Reserve also had some monkey's in a caged area for people to watch. They were really cute and I was thinking that it would be cool to have one as a pet. As we were watching the monkey's play one got out of the cage. I was standing kind of near it watching it and I guess I was too close because all of a sudden the monkey came running at me making all sorts of noise! It was kind of scary haha! I was ok though cause it didn't get too close and just kind of ran away. I think I might have to rethink the whole monkey as a pet thing.