September 27th, 2015

My final week at site visits was a busy one! Monday and Tuesday I toured the community and talked to most of the key stakeholders. I met with the primary and junior secondary school principals, I spent an hour at the clinic meeting everyone on staff, I visited the general store, post office, etc. There were so many people to talk to! I am gaining so many ideas of things that I can help with and be apart of in my village, to the point that it’s sometimes overwhelming. I am only one volunteer, after all. It’s important for me to find what the national priorities are (which are HIV related) what my community needs are, and what my personal interests and experiences are, and to combine them to decide the best ways to direct my service. Wednesday and Thursday I spent all day at school, getting to know more students, and continuing my tutoring in Setswana by a brilliant form 5. Friday I finished my massive to do booklet with a visit to a traditional healer. He gave me a lot of insight into the history of the village and some of his services. Friday afternoon I attended a colloquium at the school that was in honor of a freedom fighter. Many important people were at the event, including the Minister of Education and parliament members from both Botswana and South Africa. It was extremely educational as well as entertaining as there was traditional dancing and singing to accompany the festivities. Personally, it was also a hectic and thrilling week as I found out my best friend (for almost 20 years now) said yes to her engagement! I am unbelievably happy for both of them and can not imagine a better time for them to start the rest of their lives together. This also meant calls back and forth between my parents and I as well as desperately seeking out internet to chat with my friend while I went back and forth about whether or not I could or should come home for the wedding. I’ve known that this was a large possibility for quite some time, and I had thought I wouldn’t come home for it, but the longer I’ve been here, and the more I’ve thought about it, the more I’ve realized how much I would regret missing such an important day for such an important person in my life. Although we’re still working out the details, I’m hoping in about a years time I’ll be able to fly home for her wedding. Speaking of home: being here, I’m constantly reminded of how incredible my parents are and how lucky I am to have their full support. During our last day at training before site visits, I received a package from them that was filled with Kind Bars, spices, a journal, a few things that arrived in the mail after I left, and a beautiful hand written note from both of them. It felt like Christmas, honestly. We’ve talked once every other week on the phone for an hour or so at a time, and they are always willing to listen to whatever boring comments I have about life here, as well as long detailed personal theories of why things are the way they are. They try to call when my niece or nephew are at their house so I can hear their voices, and they give me updates on everyone at home. With my limited internet and inability to talk to everyone, they really help me feel connected and involved with everyones lives. I can’t wait for them to come visit so I can share my life here with them. It was nice to get back to my host family in my training village and to feel at home. I’ve said it before but I can’t say enough how much a part of the family my host family makes me feel. I had another wedding to attend on Saturday and then a day of washing and relaxing Sunday to prepare for the final stretch of training. Two and a half weeks to go until we swear in on October 14th. I can’t believe it’s practically here already!

September 20th, 2015

The first day at my new school was brilliant. I met my office, was introduced to all of the Heads of Department, and sat through a few of the classes. Each time I went into a class during the week I introduced myself in Setswana, much to the shock and amusement of the students (and teachers!). Even though my Setswana knowledge is very basic, I always try to start my conversations in Setswana to show respect to the culture and to try to build trust with the community. Most people in my village know English fairly well, but it is still always best to speak Setswana as much as I can. During my two week site visit I have a booklet of things to do and information to collect in order to help with my community integration. Since I stayed 4 nights at the other volunteers house, I was a bit behind in my work, but thankfully I had a couple of people from the school as well as couple people from the village to help introduce me to the community. I went early on in the week to the Kgotla. This is the center of the community. It’s where the community meetings take place, including the trials over disputes and the festivals. The Kgosi, or the Chief of the village works out of the Kgotla. In my village it’s connected with the police station, so I was able to meet with the police and the Kgosi’s right hand man at the same time. It was crucial for this to be my first introduction as the Kgosi should always know what’s happening in the community and the police should be aware in order to look out for my safety. In a society that is fairly hierarchical and respectful of elders, the more people in power in the community that know about me the better. On Thursday there was a cultural festival in a neighboring village. Since it’s very close to Botswana’s Independence Day, there are many festivals happening all over the country to celebrate the culture of the people. I was taken to the festival by a well respected village elder, and so I was treated as a VIP for the program. Events such as this including several hours of sitting while VIP’s are brought in and introduced, poets recite, dancers and singers perform, and many speeches are made. Unfortunately, it’s all in Setswana. They were extremely kind to translate my welcome into English, which I very much appreciated. Although it was in Setswana, I was able to learn a lot by piecing together what I did know, and observing the event. At one point we all walked around to admire the cultural objects that were present, such as the traditional plow, traditional kika and mothse (the instruments used to pound sourgum or maize meal), and traditional bowls. It was wonderful to see all of the objects in one place and in use. I was able to gain a rich understanding from the showcase. We ended the day with a traditional meal, which was wonderful, as always. Friday I was back at school for another long day: the Prize Giving ceremony. This is an all school ceremony that celebrates the achievements of the school for the year. There were once again performances, including singing by the school choir which was ranked first in the nation this year. They are amazing. When I got to the school in the morning, students were DJing and everyone was scattered preparing. I was walking around taking it all in feeling energized by the students enthusiasm. I helped prepare the food for the guests before attending the event, which was four hours of entertainment and awards. I loved seeing everyone having a great time out of classes celebrating. Saturday was yet another celebration! We had our own cultural festival in our village, and this time I helped to usher. This is a very important role in events here, and it involves treating the VIP’s well, ushering people to seats, and serving all of the food. Being an usher is hard work. Thankfully since I still don’t really know what I’m doing, I got to take breaks from time to time and enjoy the entertainment, which included traditional dance and the school choir. The students started getting to know me at the event. A few sat next to me and asked me many questions about America and my life in Botswana. It’s always fun to interact with them because they are so full of wonder and ideas. Sunday I attended a Lutheran service with my host family. There was a lot of singing, and I realized that I pick up a lot of Setswana when I sing it. I’m going to have a few of the most common songs written down and translated for me so I can learn them. Here, everyone knows so many songs and hymns that you only need one person to lead the call and response for everyone in the room to join in 4 part harmony. It’s only my years of choir and sight reading, and my choice of sticking to the melody, that keep me singing when I have no clue what the words are. Not that I do much better when the song is in English!

September 13th, 2015

What a exciting week! We started the week with Labor Day celebrations of our own by coming together for a cook out, and then a few of us got together on Monday afternoon to cook the closest we could to taco salad. It was marvelous. To hang out with friends without the stress of training and to eat familiar food full of vegetables and spice. Truly the life. Nerves built as the week moved on and Wednesday Site Announcements came closer and closer. On Wednesday morning we were led into the auditorium and told to take a seat and then to reach under our left armrest for a slip of paper. They had numbers on them (1-76) which told us what order we were going to find out our placements. I was number five! When my number was called, I walked up to the front of the room and found the envelope with my name on it. I reached in to grab a small slip of paper which included a proverb “Don’t pursue happiness, make it, in…” and then the name of my village. Everyone cheered while I walked to the next table and they handed me the folder with my site and school on it. I was going to a senior secondary school!!! I nearly lost it with excitement. I had asked over and over to be placed with older students, either a junior secondary (grades 8-10, or form 1-3) or a senior secondary (grades 11-12, or form 4-5), but I knew there were only three senior secondary schools that volunteers could be placed with, and I was afraid I wouldn’t get my request. I couldn’t be happier that I’ll be able to work with older students in a boarding school setting. I realized this summer, working with youth in metro detroit, that I truly thrive with this age group. Although they can be challenging, the challenge fills me with motivation and energy. Their energy is vibrant, and it propels me to work my hardest to be there for them. Students at my school are sent from all over the country and many are OVC’s (Orphans and Vulnerable Children). There is a very high rate of teen pregnancy, as well as problems with drugs, alcohol, and suicide. Some issues are truly universal. With my background and interests I already see so many opportunities for me at the school, and I can’t wait to get started. Thursday and Friday were both full day Supervisor Workshops. Friday was 9/11. This was my first time out of the country on the date, and it was surreal to see that no one seemed to know of it’s importance in our hearts, and it was just another day in Botswana. We had a short tribute at the start of our day with a moment of silence followed by a volunteer playing a beautiful saxophone solo of the national anthem. I was glad to still be at training and to be surrounded by other Americans for the day. Saturday I departed for my village! Unfortunately there was a bit of a trip up, so I didn’t have a host family to stay with. Luckily, I am one of the few who is fortunate enough to have a fellow volunteer staying in my village. She’s already been there a year, so she was gracious enough to let me stay with her for a few days while they sorted things out. We were supposed to shadow our last weekend, so I ended up doing it my first weekend instead! Some of her friends were in and I helped them with a clean up project at her work. I also had the luxury of free unlimited wifi while I stayed there. It was so nice to relax, recharge, and just hang out with peers for a few days. A perfect end to a busy week.

September 6th, 2015

The weeks are starting to blend together as we trudge through training day in and day out. Each day is simplistic and joyful in it’s own way. We are so close to finding out our site placements and everyone is eagerly waiting for Wednesday when we finally know where we will be living for two years! This weekend was very eventful! Ditubaruba is a major cultural festival that happens in our training village once a year. There is tons of food, craft booths, and a lot of traditional dancing and celebrations. We went as a group and I was ecstatic to have my brand new setswana dress to wear for the occasion! Pictures hopefully coming soon. We were unbearably early and it happened to RAIN this weekend, so it was actually very cold. To try to get through the boredom of waiting for the event and the cold as we shivered in our dresses, we started a bit of a dance party. Our teachers were leading us in dancing and soon 30 or so Americans and Batswana were dancing in a big circle to traditional music. It was definitely the highlight of the day! After was a long ceremony. Most of the festival was like watching a show as the Kgosi (chief) came in, the women of the Bakwena tribe (Crocodiles) proceeded in with offerings of harvest and traditional beer, there was a choir that sang, and fabulous dances were presented. There was the occasional long speech in setswana, which I’ve gotten used to sitting through, and most of the morning was enjoying the culture and forgetting about the cold. We were all served traditional food for lunch, which I’ve grown accustomed too. I love most types of food, and the food here is basically comfort food, so it’s always welcomed. After Ditubaruba I came home to the wedding happening at my neighbors. All week my host-family had been helping prepare for the wedding. The night before I went over and helped peel and cut dozens of acorn squash. I was excited to go to another wedding and experience another big event (after a nap). There was a lot of dancing at this wedding as well and I was happy to see my host-family enjoying themselves so much! Since I was at this wedding as the only American I definitely felt the celeb status, and it started to feel very strange. I introduced myself more than once by essentially saying “My name isn’t white person. My name is Mpho.” Which I think will start to become habit. Thankfully as I get to know people and they talk among themselves, people see that I’m just a person like anyone else. Sunday meant more Zumba, another large load of laundry (by hand of course) and a bbq with a group of trainees. It was a long and packed weekend, which means there wasn’t much time for resting before the next week. It’s strange to think that tomorrow is Labor Day, and it’s a holiday weekend back in America. I guess our BBQ today was a bit like a Labor Day cook out! And we have a short day on Monday filled with Setswana Games and language. I am realizing that being offline and away from contact with people is easier the more days I’ve gone without talking to anyone. But a week or so away from it and it starts to become strange to think that life is going on without me. Time and distance are two things I’ll keep learning about while I’m here I think. If you have something you want to send, wait to send it until I have my new address at my site. If you send it now I probably won’t get it until January. S/O to Jesse and Whitney:: Last week I got mail from both of you! Getting mail at PST is a big deal, everyone gets a bit jealous. It was an awesome treat! Thank you! I’ll post to facebook once I know where my placement is so that everyone can google away. Best, Bethany