Week 102: Lock Down

The final three months of Peace Corps Service are to be spent in the volunteers’ village, lovingly referred to as, Lock Down. A part of me is feeling sentimental about leaving and eager to spend time with the friends I have made in my community. Then this morning I went into work, only to find the place deserted and no one having communicated this to me. To be fair the kids are on break and it is the morning after a public holiday that the teachers had off so I should know better then to expect my coworkers to be at work bright and early. It was also a good reminder that although my life is about to undergo a serious shift, my coworkers and friends lives will continue with the same natural highs and lows. I may be eager to be with people, however, that does not stop their family members from getting married, their kids from getting sick, or their cars from breaking down. I know that over the next three months there will be many more tea times, meetings, and even a few parties to allow us all to say goodbye and in the meantime I guess I will enjoy my surprise day off.

Week 101: Close of Service Conference

The time has come for my Close of Service Conference (COS). I have been in Botswana with my fellow Bots 14 intake group since August 2013, we arrived at 61 and 42 of us have made it to our COS conference. I am told that this is considered high or on par with other Peace Corps Countries retention rates. I am proud to have made it this far but support all of my friends and peers who have left for various reasons. I applied to Peace Corps on a whim three years ago one Saturday as I avoided writing a paper for one of my then classes. It was early in my final year at University and I was stressed about what my next step would be. Having been involved in community based social issues theater projects, I felt that solutions needed to come from the community itself and I believed that as a peace corps volunteer I would become a part of what ever community I was living and serving in. Oh how I could not have been more wrong. After two years I am still an outsider and know that after twenty more years I will remain an outsider, however, I am loved and respected and I am grateful for the community of Moshana and the people who patiently shared their culture and way of life. I am clear that it is time for me to move on to my next chapter however; I will miss the friends I have made and the families that took me in as one of their own.

Week 100: GLOW Camp No. 3

 After many meetings and debates over what would be served for tea, the teachers and I pulled off a GLOW (Girls/Guys Leading our World) camp for the standard six students. Our camp was held over two days and Modisi teachers taught sessions on HIV and high risk behaviours, leadership, and gender. Sustainability is the name of the Peace Corps game, however, more often then not that is an impossible standard. Although I took the lead on organizing this camp I am confident that my coworkers could have succeeded without me. Initially we tried to get funding from an outside source, which fell through, however, the organization promised to put room in their budget next year for a GLOW camp. At this point that is only a promise and the budget will not be made until the end of the year, but regardless I am proud to say that I had a hand in that and that my coworkers will continue to make these camps happen, or at least I can tell myself that. A job well done Modisi teachers!

Week 99: Sir Seretse Khama Day

Sir Seretse Khama was the first president of Botswana and the father to the current president, his Birthday, July 1^st, is a national holiday. Khama was born to the paramount chief of the Bangwato people who reside primarily in what is now the central region of Botswana. As a child he was sent to South Africa for schooling and attended university in the UK. It was in the UK where he met his wife a white English woman by the name of Ruth Williams, this interracial marriage led to Khama’s exile. The British adhered to Apartheid South Africa’s pressure to refuse Khama to return to his home since they did not want to lose goods from the mines in South Africa. The British had this power since Botswana was a British Protectorate known as Bechuanaland. In order to return home, Khama had to renounce his tribal throne, which he had held since his father's death when he was four (Khama's Uncle was acting as regent). After a five year hiatus from politics Khama formed the Bechuanaland Democratic Party and helped Botswana gain independence, September 30^, 1966. Botswana is made up of many different people groups each with their own tribal chief, called a Kgosi. These tribal systems are still in place and work in conjunction with the democratic system that Sir Seretse Khama helped to install. Happy Sir Seretse Khama Day!

Week 98: On the Banks of the Zambezi

I spent my week in the northern part of Botswana catching up with friends, trying Elephant biltong (jerky), and watching the sunset over the banks of the Zambezi River. It turns out Elephant meat tastes like grass and far more delicious was the “We Carrot About You” cake that my friends made to continue the birthday celebrations. My mittens of last week were replaced by bare feet in the sand of the Zambezi river as we spent a few days on an island in Zambia where I became aquatinted with the calls of Hippos and how to use my core strength to not tip the mokoro boat we road in to get there. Mokoro boats look similar to canoes, except the bottom is flat, they are made from a hollowed out tree, and only one-person paddles while standing in the back. I have been intrigued by these boats and eager to ride in one, until I sat down and noticed just how close I was to crocodile infested water… Antoine, the man paddling the mokoro and taking us to the island seemed unconcerned, I on the other hand was reminded of when I learned to drive and how I had a bad habit of overcorrecting the steering wheel as this time I kept throwing my weight from side to side, rocking the boat far more than was necessary. As it turns out everyone seemed to be more comfortable in the water then I was as I saw even the Elephants enjoy a good swim!

Week 97: High Tea

I have two of the best Peace Corps Volunteers as neighbors (in my shopping village). These two individuals are thoughtful, giving, and never fail to brighten my mood, no matter how happy I was when I arrived at their place, I always leave happier. In honor of my Birthday and with a nod to my inexplicable enthusiasm for all things British they threw me a High Tea! This tea was complete with crust less triangular cucumber sandwiches served on a MacGyver styled three-tiered tea tray made out of plates and bowels. We watched a video of stately homes and castles, listened to British music artists and got caught up in conversation that we did not have time to watch any of the British movies they picked out. Not only did they throw me this party, which was definitely the only high tea happening in Kanye that day, they also bought me a thoughtful gift that was complete with Broccoli! This is my favorite vegetable and not always easy to come by. A trend was started as all the other birthday gifts I received outside of a hand crafted basket, were food items. Teachers at my school gave me fruits and chocolates and from home I received a slew of Trader Joe’s treats. I am never underfed here nor is giving food a common gift, all of these friends just know where my priorities lie.

As a side note, winter hit hard this week and it is now time to wear mittens to bed and really I don’t see a reason to ever remove them.

Week 96: Scheduled and Rescheduled

Much of my time this week was spent scheduling meetings and workshops and rescheduling. By the middle of the week this became more frustrating than I could take. It’s a small thing but in the moment it felt like the end of the world. I have four months left in my service and at this point I believe that I will be unable to see some of the projects I have been working on to the end. In the moment this was simultaneously devastating and yet I also felt apathetic, which scared me more. Every time I was told a meeting was canceled I lost a little bit of faith. Ultimately I do think there is value that I went to the social workers office every week and tried to talk about Gender. Although I have yet to see these conversations converted into an event for the community. I know that at least on some level the conversation is being had. Although the workshop on Emotional Intelligence is going on its third reschedule and I believe this one is indefinite, I am grateful for the opportunity to have put that workshop together and maybe the next volunteer at my site will get to put the workshop on. No doubt this will happen moments after they arrive and lead to a comical story for that volunteer for years to come. I’m lucky to understand that my service is so much more than these canceled meetings and rescheduled programs. I always knew that I was going to take more than I could give and this week was a prime example. This experience has allowed me to grow in ways I could not have imagined and for that I am grateful. These discomforts and frustrations are simply growing pains, they are just part of the process.