Something finally clicked in April and this whole Peace Corps thing started to come together. We broke the 3 month streak of workshops, and it was a month where everything started to feel normal (whatever that means these days) Maybe it is the start of the first project, or just being around for the past 6 months, but people are finally starting to reach out and talk to me about project ideas which is a really amazing feeling. I finally feel like I have a life here rather than that I am just here til the next training or vacation. Or maybe since we’re no longer melting 24/7 as winter is approaching we are finally starting to feel (slightly) sane. Or maybe its seeing all of the Bots16’s accepting their invitations and all of their questions and realizing how crazy the last year of our lives have been. But something is finally starting to click, and for that, I am thankful.
- Easter weekend. We have been waiting for Easter weekend for months – 4 day weekend camping trip up north at Tsodilo Hills. As we have learned to adapt, classic Peace Corps style, Easter weekend was an unusual rainy, cool mess. After debating back and forth with our disappointment of not going and our lack of desire to be soaking wet and cold in tents for a few days, we decided to cancel our camping trip and spend the weekend in Maun. Everyone you talk to will ask the same thing “have you been to Maun? Ah you must go!” which has left me very curious as to what all the hype is about, and the time finally came. Maun is different from your normal village – its bigger, its more spread out, it is the gateway to the Okavango Delta, village life but also expats, pilots, and tourists. There are plenty of opportunities for delicious food, laying by a pool and relaxing or other water activities. We enjoyed a relaxing weekend with cheeseburgers, braiis, swim spots on the Delta, pool time and much needed time with girlfriends.
- The time I tried to kill a chicken (part 1) For some months, a friend of mine at the clinic has been inviting me to her lands and offering to teach me how to kill a chicken but every weekend for some reason or another, it never works out. Finally, our schedules worked out and we were able to spend a day at the lands. In my village, I am always hearing about people going to “the lands”; my landlady will disappear for days at a time there, the kids will miss school to spend time there, and mosadi mogolo (old women) will insist I hop in their donkey carts and help them at the lands. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect of the lands but it was everything and nothing I expected. There is a frustrating stereotype (not true of all, but certainly of some) of people being lazy and not working at their jobs (mostly government employees) which makes life as a PCV incredibly frustrating when no one wants to work with you. But perhaps the reason for this, which we have been overlooking for so much time, is that people are so exhausted from working the lands that they don’t perform at their jobs. Anyways, our day at the lands started at KB’s house where we fed the chickens and caught the chosen one. I got my first ride on a donkey cart as we rode through the bush in Ramokgonami out to Mosimo to go to the lands. The lands we went to were shared by her family, and left messy by her nieces and nephews so we started by collecting water and doing all the dishes that had been left there for who knows how long. There is not running water at the lands, but rather large holding containers; I was amazed at how little water she used to clean and how effective it was. In classic Botswana style, we breaked for tea and bread before continuing our day. We walked through the fields, as she told me about this years poor harvest season and arrived at the goat/sheep krawl where she chased around goats to milk to have fresh milk at the house. I yelled with the goats as they ran circles around me and played with the baby goats as she did the hard work. Noticing there were not nearly as many goats/sheep as there should be, she ran around the lands catching the ones that had gotten loose and collecting them to go back to the krawl. On our way back to the house at the lands, we collected maize and watermelons, and covered baby watermelons with weeds so the birds would stop damaging the crops. The time finally came for the chicken, and I was nervous and feeling horrible about the whole thing. But everytime I felt guilty about killing a chicken, I thought about everyone here who has told me “if you can’t kill it, you shouldn’t eat it” and for all the chickfila nuggies I’ve eaten in my lifetime(RIP), I figured I needed to kill a chicken to justify my forever love for nuggies…. Or maybe I would stop craving them so much for some time. KB helped me get into position with the wings tucked in one another, my feet on the wings and feet, and the knife in my hand. I had imagined killing a chicken would be a smooth slash of the knife across the neck and it would be over. But I was so wrong. After a few shaky handed attempts at slashing the neck and fighting back tears, I handed the knife over to KB who finished what I started. So much sawing was involved that I was not prepared for. She says next time we’ll use an axe! We boiled water and stuck the body in and picked the feathers. I helped hold the chicken as she used the knife to dismantle it, and KB showed me all the body parts of the chicken and what they eat and what they don’t. I was amazed at how very little of the chicken goes unused. We spent the afternoon eating and talking, and by the time I got home I was absolutely exhausted. I was so amazed and humbled by what a hardworking, wonderful and kind person she is to take me out there and spend the time to teach and explain to me that part of their life. Sadly, we had told plenty of people at the clinic and in the village I would be killing a chicken so telling everyone I couldn’t do it was a shame, but also hilarious as everyone knew I wouldn’t be able to but still offered to take me so I could try again.
Kebaneetse and the chosen one
- Wedding! One of the lovely Bots14’s (the group that left the year before mine) got married and I was fortunate enough to be able to join them in the celebration of their love! The day of the wedding was cloudy and cool, beautiful weather! We spent the morning among PCV’s as Stephanie got ready for the wedding. We spent the afternoon with her husbands, Patrick, family and friends as well as her parents. We ate so much delicious wedding food and time all together. It’s amazing watching two people from completely different worlds come together in marriage. Everyone in my village that knew I was going to a wedding of an American and a Motswana was thrilled and I came back to everyone requesting to see the photos from the weekend.
The beautiful couple! Cheers!
- GRS! But the real highlight of April has been starting my first official project as a Peace Corps Volunteer! April 21st, Matoteng and I started Grass Root Soccer! Our goal is to put all 100-something standard 7 students at Ramokgonami Primary through GRS by the end of the year. There are 3 classes of about 36 kids each, which is more students than we ideally wanted but ya gotta learn to roll with it. The 7A students are as awkward as your average 13 year olds as they came running to the field after class to be greeted by the crazy eager lekgoa with a soccer ball. The beginning of each practice starts with an activity called “Take A Stand” in which you read various statements about HIV to the kids and they take a stand with their eyes closed and agree or disagree with the statement. The first practice began with one about soccer where they agreed and disagreed with eachother on their favorite Botswana and international soccer teams. Then we continued onto “HIV is a big problem in my community” and all 40 of the kids raised their hands to their heads to agree. That hit hard. There are a lot of people I have talked to in my village that say malaria is not a big deal; we are not far enough north, and had a total of 2 nonfatal malaria cases last year. But there are also people that say HIV, multiple partners, etc. is not a big deal, which is incredibly alarming. But then to have all 40 of these awkward preteens agree that HIV is a big problem in Ramokgonami was amazing. They are at an age where they have most likely all known someone that has lost their life to HIV/AIDS at some point, and they also are at the age where they were born before PMTCT (Prevention of Mother To Child Transmission) was an intervention all HIV+ mothers were put on treatment to prevent transmission so they could be + themselves or very likely have classmates that are. They are also at an age where they are receiving sex ed in schools and about to hit puberty if it hasn’t started already. These kids are at such an influential age, these kids are our future. And its when it truly hit me how important it is to provide these kids with the information to protect themselves, and empower them, especially the girls, to stand up for themselves when it comes to their sexual health. The first practice also includes a pre-challenge of questions to check what they know the first practice and again at the last practice. It shocked me how few of the kids believed there was anything they could do to help stop the spread of HIV in their community. But perhaps, slowly they will realize they are the future and their life choices can make a difference. The kids were a little slow to warm up and talk, but the as the practices go on more kids have begun to speak out and its wonderful. On the 2nd practice when the kids were being extra shy, not wanting to say sex or condom, I brought them all in a circle and on the count of 3 we all shouted “PENIS!” “SEX!” “VAGINA!” “CONDOM!” “HIV!” to get them comfortable saying these words. They officially thought I was crazy after that. But they also are warming up to the idea of being oayy with saying these words. I look forward to Tuesday and Thursday afternoons with these kids so much, and am so excited to continue to get to know them and watch them grow over my next year and a half (WEIRD. I’ve started saying the next year and a half vs saying two years. TIME IS FLYING)
Practice 1 “Find the Ball” – a game that teaches kids that you cannot tell someone’s HIV status just by looking at them
“Risk Field” – Avoiding risks such as unprotected sex, multiple partners, sex & alcohol and older partners by navigating their way through cones with the ball to avoid getting HIV!
Flat Stanley came all the way from Baltimore to play soccer and learn about HIV!
In other news, Peo turned 6 months old and she is as wild as ever! I cannot even express how thankful I am to have her – to run around and celebrate the good days and to snuggle on the bad days. Less than 40 days til dad gets to Botswana! I cry literally every time I think about how excited I am to see him. I went the entire month of April without shaving my armpits. Why? Why not? I don’t really know. It felt right. Well it felt so wrong it felt right. I’ve binged on all the nutella in my house (and had my stock replenished) and I am in serious need. Hook a sister up.
“Sometimes you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, and sometimes, in the middle of nowhere, you find yourself.” Life is good. Ke itumetse.
Where the &%!# is Botswana? 