Week 44: “Happy Birthday to Me…” June 9th-15th

I am now the wise old age of 22. One year ago I graduated from University and became legally able to drink in the States and then promptly moved half way across the globe to Botswana. A little geography lesson, Botswana is located in Southern Africa resting just above South Africa and bordered by Namibia to the west, Zimbabwe to the east and touching Zambia at the site of Victoria Falls.  The official languages in Botswana are Setswana and English although there are also a variety of other languages spoken including Kalanga, Sarwa, Ndebele, and Afrikaans.

As of June 13^th I have been living in Botswana for 10 months and in the village of Moshana for 8 months. Frequently I question what I am actually accomplishing here, however, I have some how managed to worm my way into the hearts of the teachers at my school. In the staff room there is a small calendar where I post my monthly schedule. The calendar is mostly so the staff can see when I will be working in other villages however I also marked my birthday. This did not go unnoticed (it also probably helped that I told everyone) and the teachers threw me a surprise party complete with cake, presents, and speeches. Highlights of the party included the photo shoot, where everyone took a photo with me, which is made better by the fact that one of the teachers tricked me into going home at tea for my camera saying she needed it to film her students. She was a very convincing liar and although the project was fictional, now that I know the idea, I would love to see it come to fruition, and am grateful that the party was well documented. The presents consisted of a space heater and a blanket, which could not have been better, I am currently sitting under the blanket next to the space heater and I am quite toasty. Hilariously I was a bit late to school today since I could not rouse myself from the cold, with my new heater, I have no excuse. To conclude the party the school head said, “This is love,” and I couldn’t agree more.

Week 43: Back to Village Life

Sadly there were no metal cowboys to be found this week, however, I did feel vaguely like a cowboy (okay more like a dairy farmer) as I learned how to milk the goats my land-lady keeps

Term two at school has started up and the temperature has dropped. Morning temperatures this week reached a whopping 27 degrees Fahrenheit, which lead me to put on all of the warm things I owned and then dance around my house singing, “I am a marshmallow, marshmallow, marshmallow.” The temperature is likely to reach the 60s by the afternoon, which brings an end to my marshmallow dance and the feeling back to my toes. As a native Chicagoan I am used to temperatures much colder for longer periods of time, however, I am also used to insulation, central heating, and indoor plumbing. Lucky for me, the winter is much shorter in Moshana than it is in Chicago.

Week 42: Ghanzi Metal Festival

The last week of May marked Ghanzi’s fifth annual metal music festival and my first metal concert. Initially when my friend invited me to the event I thought, “Oh fun, I love crafts!” It was not until weeks later that I discovered I had actually agreed to go to a metal music festival and not a craft fair. Knowing that I may not have agreed to attend, however, I am so glad I did. The festival draws bands and metal enthusiasts from all over Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa (as well as an unsuspecting peace corps volunteer). The weekend was also quite informative as the mystery of what constituted a metal cowboy, was unraveled. From what I saw a metal cowboy wears leather chaps, fringe, and a whole lot of studs.

During the day we were doing HIV/AIDS education and community outreach and by night we were all just a few metal enthusiasts. Highlights for me included the march across town, in the name of ending poverty however more like an excuse for the metal cowboys to strut their stuff. The march was very informative for me as I also learned the appropriate way to strut, even if my bright orange shirt did not exactly match the leather body suits, I did learn to strut with the best of them. Although I am still partial to crafts I am also excited for next years metal music festival.

Ghanzi is a village in the northern part of the Khalahari desert on the western side of Botswana, not far from the Namibian border.

Week 41: World Map

Drawing a map is an empowering experience. In the course of a morning, I am redefining borders that have been fought over for years. This was not intentional nor do I relish the idea of conflict, however, it is a funny way for me to let go of my perfectionism and be honest about my drawing ability. Really, with the help of a grid the drawing of the world is not as intimidating as one (drawing challenged individual) would expect.

For the second week in a row I was lucky enough to get my co-workers excited about a project I am doing. Throughout the week, I had nearly all of the teachers pick up a pencil or marker and help draw or outline various parts of the world. We also all learned new information. I admitted to not knowing where Botswana was before I found out I would be moving here and felt less guilty about this as I held a mini South American geography lesson.

One of my favorite things about this project is being able to have something tangible to show for my efforts. Many of my endeavors and daily actions I do not have the privilege of getting measurable results. However, assuming the paint holds I have left a little mark on  the school, hopefully for years to come.

PS Pending capable internet, photos coming soon!

Week 40: Plaited, Books, and Gratitude

I got my hair plaited! Aka braided. This took three and a half hours and the dedication of three women. The end result left me with a dull headache and after a look in the mirror, I felt partially bald. However, the community would disagree and they could not get enough of it. This new hairstyle coupled with my favorite purple pants means there is no end to the conversation about my physical appearance. Lucky for me it is all positive. Fun fact these purple pants are also the favorite of many of the teachers who repeatedly tell me that the pants make me look smart. I realize this is the equivalent of saying that they are flattering, however, I prefer to think that they make me look intelligent. Admittedly I feel pretty cool, with my hair plaited, which means that the teachers braided my hair in many very tight braids, however, it was decided to not braid my fringe (bangs) which I think was a wise choice. It is a very odd sensation when I touch the back of my head and am met with either my scalp or a new bumpy texture.

Thanks to the generosity of the Books for Africa Project, my school has received 17 boxes of books! The library has doubled in size and everyone around the school is taking much more interest in it. My school head even pops in to discuss the creation of a “reading culture” at the school, I am blissfully happy. I am particularly excited for reading-comprehension appropriate books for the kids and some of my personal favorite books. For instance we have acquired a HUGE copy of the under rated book Piggies, which consists of adorable drawings of pigs in various climates and settings. 

I am so grateful for all of the people I have met and the ideas they open me up to. This is relevant to many people in my community, fellow PCVs, and I particularly wanted to give a shout out to my friend Liz (Kelebogile) for our honest conversation and her never ending kindness.

Week 39: Visitors

 This week the women of First United Methodist Church of Roseburg, OR donated over 100 dresses and some shorts to the students of Moshana and we were able to distribute the clothing. A big thanks goes out to the “Little Dress Ladies” as well as the PCV Terri Lundy for her generosity and facilitation of this exchange.

I felt like I had a break through with the standard one students this week. I picked them up from their classroom and led them in a silent line to the library building. This set a much more behaved tone then the usual excited screaming rampage that is their favorite mode of transport to the library. This rampage inevitably leads to the desire to continue the same level of excitement and noise once in the library.

Over the weekend I had some surprise guests, leading to a delightful PCV filled weekend, where the conversation never failed to be flowing and interesting as well as the baked goods. I also had the privilege of meeting some other Americans who were traveling in Botswana, who allowed me to continue to expand my view of religion and what it means to different people. To close out my weekend I had an unwanted surprise visitor, but the silver lining was that I was able to see that my landlady and her family always have my back.

Week 38: Ke Lesego (I am lucky)

My Setswana name means lucky which struck me as kind of funny when I arrived since I felt that luck was foolish and hard work was the real deal. As I type those words I cannot help but laugh because now that sounds quite ridiculous to me and I am embarrassed that I thought that. I am a hard worker but if someone from a lower socio-economic status and I worked equally as hard, I would get farther because of the opportunities and privileges that came from where I was born.

Upon seeing my co-workers again, one greeted me with saying, “Your white!” I could not help but snarkily look at my arm and go, “Yup still white.” In her defense she was implying that I have lost some of my tan or at least did not get any more tan since I saw her last.

I have begun writing for our volunteer run newsletter, and below is my first article. STEPS is an international NGO that uses films to promote debate and discussion around HIV/AIDS related topics.

Trying to Show a STEPS Film

By Dawn Bangert, Bots 14

Everyday I see 374 students at the primary school who would love to watch a movie. These same students I would love to teach about HIV, what better way than to show a STEPS film, winning! The other teacher at my school who came to the training is eager to show the films as well and it looks like all signs are a go. Another PCV friend texted me about the success of their film screenings and I am excited to get things going.

The saga begins with one working TV and an elusive DVD player that is rumored to be somewhere on the school premises.

Attempt Day One: There is an all teacher meeting and I am unable to look for the DVD player as planned.

Day Two: My counterpart is too tired from yesterday’s meeting to look for the equipment and I cannot locate the keys to the storeroom where I suspect the DVD player may be hiding.

Day Three: Counterpart is still tired, but the cleaner has my back and lets me into the storeroom. No sign of DVD player, and Head Teacher has meetings in his office all day and I am unable to look there.

Day four: DVD player has been located. I am ecstatic my counterpart has a new found energy and we begin setting up. The TV works however the DVD player is missing the cables to connect it to the TV. After a brief chat with another teacher we discover these cables should be easy to locate in Kanye and fairly cheap. CRASHHHHHHHHHHH That would be the sound of the table crumpling and the TV crashing to the floor. The score now stands, down two (non-working TV and no connector cables) however up one (DVD player).

Day Five: Begins with a text from a friend about yet another successful STEPS screening and I am begrudgingly happy for friend. Vow to self that if I do nothing else all service I will show a STEPS film.

Day Six: A projector randomly appears and the hunt for a teacher willing to share their laptop begins.

Day Seven: A school laptop appears, I can almost smell a successful STEPS screening in the air that is until I spend the better part of the morning trying to hack into the password protected device. After I try every combination of my head teachers name, position, birthday, and anything else I can think of, I no longer smell success but intense frustration.

Day eight: Work on my VRF and feel like a failure as a volunteer. Also contemplate swearing off STEPS films as over rated and probably not as good as they are cracked up to be.

Day nine: A teacher brings her laptop to school and another teacher asks to show a film. Could this be real? One o’clock approaches, I successfully set up all the technology components. The students settle down, I hit play and in walks my head teacher in a tizzy waving a sizable report that he needs me to type immediately so he can turn it into the education office in Kanye by 2. Based on the combis in my village him getting to the office, let alone with the report in hand, is an impossible task, however, after making sure that the teacher is comfortable leading the discussion, I duck out to bitterly enjoy my success from behind the computer screen.

I may have been too frustrated to enjoy my success in the moment however after sometime away, I am not only happier for my friend but also able to enjoy the fact that a STEPS film was shown at my school. With only a minor attitude adjustment my happiness greatly improved as well as my sense of accomplishment. In the moment it can be hard to remember that we all have different timelines and varying levels of motivation and support from our community members and co-workers. Just because a friend of yours or a facebook status tells you of other volunteer’s success, chances are that someone else is at the same place on the spectrum that you are. It’s a roller coaster, stay strong and reach out for help when you need it.