Week 64: Trouble in Paradise (When Paradise is the Library)

I was enthused by how many children were using the library at school, with 50-100 books being taken out daily. However as the week wore on, I was becoming less enthused with the amount of books being returned, the state of the books that were returned, and the over all state of the library after the hurricane of kids left each day. My first reaction was to get angry with the kids for mistreating the books and make it personal feeling that they were mistreating me. Then I was reminded that my mother read to me every night as a child and I was surrounded by books at school, at home, and (because I was cool like that) the library. Most of the kids I am working with have not had the same exposure to books and thus my new goal is to try to create a culture of reading and mostly just don’t take it personally.

Week 63: Elections

On October 24^th there were long lines at the school as community members waited to vote. Botswana has had a parliamentary democracy, modeled after the UK system, since independence in 1966. Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) has held the majority in Parliament since independence and remained the majority this election keeping President Sir Seretse Khama Ian Khama in power for another 5 year term (his second and last due to term limits). This election was more heated then recent years and opposition parties now have 20 seats in parliament, which is greater then ever before. Keep an eye out for the next election in Botswana times are a changing.

At the end of the day I went over to the Kgotla, our other polling place, to see how voting was going that side. Civil servants such as teachers are the ones who work and manage the polling stations and thus I wanted to check in with my friends. While chatting with the teachers one of them told me that there was a case of Ebola in New York and then let me read the article on his phone. Just as an fyi there have been more confirmed cases of Ebola in the States then there have been in Botswana (there have been zero Botswana).

Week 62: "The Bugs are Back in Town..." and Prize Giving

Summer has started and the bugs are back in town. My old friends from last year such as large cockroaches, a variety of eight-legged creatures, and everyone’s favorite, the persistent fly, which is not stymied by a swat of the hand. However with this old cast of characters come beautiful sunrise runs and shamelessly lazy afternoons.

This week at school we had the end of term prize giving event, where the best students in each class and subject were awarded (you guessed it…) a prize. Last year at this event I was new to site and eager to please which ended in my cutting cabbage (rather poorly) for three hours. This year I began the morning with gift-wrapping the prizes and as one of the teachers remarked, “At least this time you are doing something you are good at.” Not only was she complementing on my masterful wrapping but also the first of many to acknowledge the cabbage incident of last year. This time when I entered the kitchen it was only to get away from lengthy speeches in Setswana or to banter with the friendly kitchen staff and remind everyone about the cabbage and how I make much better company than help. Later receiving a lesson on the proper way to eat chicken from a bone I was called away to the kitchen. Worried, that I did not rattle everyone’s memory enough about last years events I wondered what task they would trust to me. Upon arrival in the kitchen I found out the task was taste tester, winning! Taste testing turned into a heaping plate and thus when the event ended late I was not cranky but pleasantly full not only of samp (a maiz product) but also of my co-workers kindness.

Week 61: Mad Libs

This week was the first meeting of English club and I feel like I figured out the secret, work with motivated kids. I had been fighting this and trying to work with the kids who need the most help, those who cannot read and are not supported. Like many before me I have discovered that is a very difficult job and a tall order. I am only one person and my motivation is also limited.

For our first meeting of English club, I thought that Mad Libs was a great way to start. We could discuss parts of speech and have a good laugh. It turns out that in order for Mad Libs to be funny the context has to be understood, lets just say that was not the case. I came to the realization that I think every day is like a game of Mad Libs for the kids as they hear words and do not understand the context. On the Brightside we all understand nouns, verbs, and adjectives, but maybe I will plan something different for next lesson.

Week 60: Bouipuso (Independence)

September 30^th was Independence Day and I celebrated with the rest of the community by going to the Kgotla. Although I have been to the Kgotla many times, this was the first time, I learned that there was a male and female entrance and sure enough I used the male entrance… oops! After living in Moshana for a year my village savvy told me if the event started at 8am, 10am was a good time to arrive. I was not led astray by this notion and instead had time to get a seat but did not have to wait long for the festivities to begin.  Soon after I arrived, the women’s choir of Moshana started to sing and I was hit by a wave of Botswana patriotism. My misguided notions of the peace corps before arriving made me believe that this would be what my life was like; Immersed in a vibrant community learning about another culture. Although these “vibrant” moments exist, they can get lost in the day to day. I need to save this memory for a rainy day when I forget why I want to be here, because in that moment, sitting next to my friend, surrounded by my neighbors, and listening to the choir, I felt like a part of the community that at other times I question the existence of.

Also fun fact our Kgosi (traditional leader) was videoing the whole thing on his iPhone. Don’t worry at the same time I was surreptitiously taking photos of my Kgosi.

Week 59: Ga ke itse Setswana (I don’t know Setswana) Nnya, wa itse Setswana (No, you know Setswana)

When I first arrived at site, many people were very impressed with my Setswana; I could greet people and have very brief conversations about trivial things. I had just come off of two months of Setswana lessons at least 4 days a week, which I am pretty sure that no one knew and thought I just magically picked up the language as I ambled around the village. Also although there are white people around Botswana anecdotal evidence has shown that many do not know Setswana and thus my Setswana greetings won over the hearts of many villagers. Now I have been in the village for a year and if my Setswana was progressing as community members assured me it would, I would be fluent right now. In fact my Setswana has stagnated and although I can still greet people, make trivial conversation, as well as all of the noises, I am no closer to fluency then when I first arrived. However, this has not stymied people’s beliefs that I am fluent and has even gotten me thinking that maybe I am fluent; this is until people proceed to only speak in Setswana to me and I realize I have no idea what is going on. Perhaps I should hit the books again, but I must admit this self-delusion has been nice

Week 58: Orange Marmalade

I have always thought of orange marmalade as Classy and British, two things I want to be. Consequently when I came into 7 kilos of oranges, that were quickly hardening past edibility, I thought it would be a great idea to make marmalade. A brief Internet search later I came across a very simple recipe and was not at all stymied by the fact that I did not have a candy thermometer nor a mandolin to cut the oranges. Sunday afternoon came and it was time to begin the marmalade process, as it turned out my knife was no match for my oranges and there is a reason that a mandolin is recommended to thinly slice the oranges. However, orange chunky marmalade is still good and I instead like to think that I made candy coated orange rinds in a thick goo. Okay perhaps not quite as thick as marmalade usually is, but here is where I understood the purpose of the candy thermometer and mostly just did not want my cooking gas to run out. I am not quite ready to go into business but I think it was a good first attempt, and I believe the most important thing for me to remember next time is that, I do not actually like orange marmalade… oops! Now what to do with the jars of candy coated orange rinds in a light syrup… Any takers?

This week I also went up to Serowe to help out with the training of the new volunteer group and continued to tutor my neighbors.  I wanted to share that so it doesn’t sound like I am only boiling oranges for hours at a time, I am occasionally working and interacting with people.