Week 55: Lesotho

 For week two of my sister’s adventure we got a car and headed down to Lesotho for some hiking and breath taking scenery, and we were not disappointed. Lesotho is a land-locked country surrounded by South Africa and known as the Mountain Kingdom. It took us roughly 8 hours to get there which was the perfect amount of time for a well rounded sing along as well as plenty of fun car treats. Due to well-marked roads in South Africa the driving went off without a hitch until we arrived in the capital of Lesotho and only roughly knew the name of the B&B we were staying at. An hour and half later after combing the streets of Lesotho, making friends with passersby in the hopes of using them for their directional savvy, we arrived at our destination. This method of travel made us all the more excited for the little things such as a roof over our heads as well as a much better understanding of Maseru, then I dare say some locals have. We had definitely entered the Mountain Kingdom and wholly enjoyed the electric blankets and hot showers.

Then it was on to Malealea Lodge, which is only 60k from the capital but pleasantly tucked away off gravel roads, through “The Gates of Paradise”, and nestled into a picturesque valley. The Malealea community has a Peace Corps Volunteer and I have been in PC long enough to know that their life is far from idyllic, but simply being a traveler at Malealea I was enamored with the place. We spent our time hiking, pony trekking, reading, and watching the peacocks (okay mostly just watching the peacocks, but they were so fun to watch). On our last day at Malealea we woke up to snow!  Since I was not the one driving nor going back to a country where it snows, this was the best possible send off.

Week 54: Visitor in the Village

My sister came to visit and had the best attitude, “No running water no problem.” She is now an expert at bucket bathing, cooking with limited to no counter space, and dealing  with the ever present dust in the village.  It was a lot of fun to share my day to day life with someone who was eager to not only learn about it but also be a part of it. As a fancy New York writer, I thought who better to talk about her time in the village than herself, so here is her take.

Michelle Meets Moshana

Three days and three flights from my apartment in Brooklyn, I landed in Botswana. I had seen photos and heard stories, but it was still so fascinating to actually be in Dawn's village. (And leading up to my trip it was a lot of fun telling people I would be out of town, and then saying Botswana when asked where I was going. It was definitely not something people expected to hear.)

I felt lucky to be somewhere so remote and beautiful. (Although, incidentally, no one who lives there seems to think it is a pretty place.) But to me, it was stunning, especially just outside the village. It was one of the most unusual places that I've ever run. (And I've gone running on five continents.) Imagine running for two hours through the bush and not seeing a single person walk by, and only a few pickup trucks. It was just me and the road and the sky, plus occasional groups of goats and donkeys and cows. They seemed surprised to see me.  

Dawn and I spent about five days together in Moshana before leaving for a road trip to Lesotho, and I was never bored. We met with a friend of hers who made us a delicious lunch of sautéed greens and boiled bread cooked over a fire, toured her school and met the teachers, hosted a dinner party, and wandered around making unannounced social calls. Even though I did not particularly like bathing in a bucket or washing dishes without a sink, I really did enjoy spending time at her house. (And to be fair, I probably washed about four dishes the whole time I was there since Dawn handled everything.) 

I was so impressed how Dawn has made her two-room house a cozy little pocket of home, with photos and candles and podcasts, while just outside the window were small farm plots and animals pecking around. Even though she doesn't have running water and just uses buckets from a water pump outside - one volunteer said that Peace Corps. brings a new relationship to buckets - the kitchen is still very functional and Dawn was such a great host. She made me French toast for breakfast and brought me hot tea in the morning, and whipped up so many delicious dinners: lentil soup and coconut milk curry and risotto and some traditional Tswana meals of beans and corn, as well as some very American foods like grilled cheese and applesauce and apple chips. 

Although I've traveled a lot, as someone who grew up in Chicago and now lives in New York, the village seemed so different from anywhere I've ever been. According to a sign at JFK Airport on my way home, New York has 27,000 people per square mile. In all of Moshana, there are less than 2,000 people. I kept imagining all the empty space in comparison to my neighborhood. It seemed so much more peaceful to have neighbors across the yard instead of across the hall, and to avoid all the traffic and construction noise. (However, I am still glad none of my neighbors have roosters.)

The best part of the trip of course was being with Dawn. I had so much fun laughing with her and I hope the village realizes what a treat it is to have her in town. 

Week 53: "We have a Surprise for you"

“We have a surprise for you!” exclaimed Mma Pule’s standard 2 class as they skipped into the library shortly followed by Mma Pule. Usually this means a fat cake or someone wants me to do extra work, however, Mma Pule instead pulled out one of their readers and five kids stood up saying they could read the whole page in English. This was the best surprise I could have asked for and came at the perfect time. I wasn’t sure who was more excited, the kids who could read, Mma Pule, or me. Regardless it gave me just the boost I needed in my midweek slump and reminded me that although I cannot always see it, I am making a difference in people’s lives just as they are making one in mine.

This week the “Bots 15s” arrived and their energy and enthusiasm is contagious, hopefully I was able to share some experience with them and become infected with their spirit.

Week 52: Singing and Combis

 Every Monday and Friday Morning the kids have morning Assembly, which begins and ends with the children singing. The most common being a Christian themed song, “We are marching over to Jerusalem…” Clapping and foot stamping usually accompany the singing and inevitably I am singing it to myself all day long. However it is much more culturally acceptable to be walking around singing to one’s self here and thus I fit in.

The Moshana combis in and out of Kanye (the nearest shopping village) can always be seen full of bags of maize meal, sorghum, and other personal items while the owners of said items are in the midst of finishing their shopping else where. Since I do not buy maize meal in bulk and have had a hard time shaking my American distrust, I usually carry my shopping bags, however, having just stocked up on flour (and living in Botswana for a year) I decided it was time to trust a little and leave my bag on the combi. I then went to go buy airtime (minutes for my cell phone) only to return to see the combi pulling out of the bus rank. My American kicked in, and I was angry with myself for letting my groceries out of sight and mostly just sad that the snack I bought was now traveling further from me and closer to the place I wanted to be. I knew that my groceries were not gone forever, it would just be more of a hassle tracking down the combi driver later and maybe the butter I bought would be a little melty. Resignedly I walked to the new combi that is waiting at the rank and what do I find inside? My bag! The combi driver saw that I was not back yet and relocated my bag to the next waiting combi. Although I had to wait another hour for the combi to leave I sat happily munching my snack and grateful for small acts of kindness.

Week 51: HIV Lesson and Investing

Peace Corps Botswana’s mandate is to teach about HIV/AIDS. My motto is I can only fight one loosing battle at a time and the fight I have taken on is literacy. If you cannot read, that affects every other aspect of your life so I think that is a good starting point. Some my call my mindset pessimistic, but I call it realistic.  However, this week I was able to have an HIV/AIDS lesson with the standard 6 students. This was a short 45-minute lesson, however the planning process was not quite as short. Many meetings were held in order to pass through the proper protocol including one with my counterpart where he got up 15 minutes into the meeting to pass a message onto another teacher, never to return. It was only him and me in the meeting so 45-minutes later I go to the teacher he went to see only to find out he never made it to her, then I go to his classroom where I find him. He was shocked to see me and completely forgot we were in the middle of the meeting.  Luckily I was in a good mood that day and was able to laugh it off.

I was still laughing later in the day when I came across my land-lady’s eldest son traipsing through the bush next to our home. I greeted him and he responded with a mutter, “I am going to invest in property, not living things.” His mother on the other hand has invested in goats who have recently had babies and the little ones do not know their way home yet so Mpati was sent to retrieve them and had apparently been looking for some time. In his mind, property cannot go wandering away and is thus a better investment. As a result of the baby goats wandering they are now only allowed in the yard and have been continually trying to sneak in my house.

Week 50: Sese Bush Walk

I am incredibly proud of another PCV friend who organized a 25 and 10 K walk between her village and a neighboring town. She exceeded her monetary goal and will now begin building a library and a woodshop at her school. Like a good friend I went to her village the weekend of the walk to help with last minute details. Promptly upon arrival I got sick and ended up sleeping in her house all weekend. I was bummed I missed the walk and was a poor helper, however, it was the best place to be sick, surrounded by friends who fed me tea and chocolate.

Traveling from Moshana to Sese begins with me walking to the paved road outside of my village to catch the bus to Jwaneng. This time I walked the 2K with a guy from my village who was giving me a history lesson which after my prodding turned into a discussion about the politics of Zimbabwe. The man was articulating that people are averse to change because it is scary (which I agree with to a degree), however, with the sun shinning, a light breeze in my hair, and the prospect of a fun weekend ahead I was pro-change. A year ago, I was excited and afraid to move to Botswana, now it is my home and it has opened me up to experiences I could not have gotten elsewhere, cheers to taking chances.

Week 49: GLOW

“FIVE-FOUR-THREE-TWO-ONE, Left hand, FIVE-FOUR-THREE-TWO-ONE…” Shouted 15 boys as they shook their hands and feet to warm –up before learning about gender roles at the Southern Region GLOW camp.

GLOW stands for Girls/Guys Leading Our World and is a camp usually put on by peace corps volunteers focusing on leadership, self-esteem, gender roles, puberty, and HIV/AIDS education. This particular camp I have been working on with 10 other PCVs since March. Together we brought 60 boys from all over the Southern Region for a long weekend.

Working on this camp has been the most rewarding work experience I have had here. I co-taught two lessons on gender-roles and risky sexual behavior (that increase the risk of HIV infection). In the gender-roles session, one of the boys admitted that he babysits his younger sister, which sparked a lot of discussion and some of his peers to make fun of him, since as a young man this was not a role that he should have. The courage of this boy to be honest with his peers warmed my heart and reminded me that this is how change happens. I feel lucky to have created a space where that boy felt comfortable sharing because I know that his peers got more from what he said than all of the other things I taught. On the contrary when I asked other boys what they learned in the session, they replied, “Men eat more than women.” Haha you can’t win ‘em all.

Overall the camp was revitalizing. I had the privilege of working with other motivated PCVs, teachers, and students, can’t wait to start planning another!