April 2006 Archives

Last week we volunteered as counselors at Camp Hope Botswana, a weeklong recreational event for 70 children who are living with HIV. The camp was sponsored by the Gaborone-based Baylor Clinic (as in Baylor University in Texas). With the support and partnership of the Botswana government, Baylor Clinic provides for all of the health needs of over 1,400 HIV positive children in the Gaborone area.

As Brian mentioned in his post, the new group begins their staging in Philadelphia on Monday. They will physically be here in less than a week! The arrival of a new group is exciting for pretty much everyone in-country. The Peace Corps office in Gabs is a buzz getting the last minute preparations. PCVs are excited for the “fresh blood” the new group will bring. We wonder what everyone is like, if they will like us and who will be placed in villages near us. I’m excited to put faces with the names of people we’ve been emailing with the last couple of months. Fortunately, as a member Volunteer Advisory Committee (VAC), I get to be there when everyone arrives at the Crystal Palace just one week from Friday.

The arrival of Bots 5 this year happens to coincide with the Close of Service (COS) for volunteers from Bots 2. All but four or five PCVs from Bots 2 are leaving on the 26th or 27th, the absolute first days they can leave. (The Country Director can approve a COS date up to 30 days before your official COS date, which is normally two-years from the day you swear-in.) There are also four volunteers who are staying for a third year. Fortunately our good friends Anne and Kathi are among those staying. Even though Anne is moving from our district (boo), I’m glad that we don’t have to say goodbye quite yet!

Here’s to Bots 2 and Bots 5, comings and goings and just the evolution of life as a PCV. Brian and I will be out all next week at a camp for kids and then I'll go immediately to meet the newbies. Promise to post all about it when I get back. Peace.

Staging for the next Peace Corps-Botswana training group will begin in Philadelphia on Monday. Here are answers to last minute questions by future trainees:

Visits...I know there's a rule that family and friends can't visit until at least 3 months after you have been at your station. Is it common that people come to visit?

I think they can actually visit during the first three months, you just can't take any leave or spend the night away from your site during that time. However, even if they can still drop by during the first three months, I would strongly recommended against it. Those first three months are critical to settling into your village and project. But to answer your question about how common visits are, yes a lot of friends and family make it over here. Of the 27 volunteers in our group, maybe about 1/4 had either a friend or family member drop so far. In my opinion, it is a great way to share Setswana culture with Americans (or others) and helps fulfill Peace Corps' GOAL THREE. We haven't had any visitors yet, but we may next year. When we first came to Botswana we wanted family or friends to visit. Then we decided that it would be a distraction from the experience and job at hand and we discouraged people from coming. Now that we want to extend for a third year we are more open to the idea of visitors.

What's the best way (.i.e., cheapest,fastest) to travel to Botswana?

There is not really a cheap or fast way to get here. Even getting around Botswana is expensive. You can't get to the good tourist spots without a good vehicle and renting one is expensive. I guess I would recommend www.bootsnall.com or the other travel websites.

Electronics...I saw you had a laptop when I was looking through your website. I decided to go as non-tech as possible with exception of my camera and cd player. Did you find the laptop as something helpful to have and would you recommend taking one to a new volunteer?

If you don't already have a loptop, don't go run and buy one this weekend! Some volunteers were issued a laptop for their jobs, which is something to keep in mind. You could also buy a decent laptop in Gabs with your own money if you really wanted one. I think a digital camera with several memory cards is a great idea. You can get to a computer and burn backup DVDs of photos and store the backups in the Peace Corps safe (that's what we do). I think an MP3 player is also a great idea. You could bring a few DVDs with back up songs that you could add to your MP3 player when at a computer. A lot of volunteers brought MP3 players and many others brought portable CD players. Whatever you do, bring a lot of music!

A note on blogs or personal websites:

Putting anything up on the internet while you are a Peace Corps trainee or volunteer is considered publishing. The Peace Corps country director is supposed to approved all pieces that are published. If you plan on blogging, be sure to tell the Peace Corps director or Associate Peace Corps director before putting stuff up and to find out the latest blogging policies. Remember that your blog is available for the whole world (including people you work in Botswana) to see. Even if you think it won't be read by anyone other than family, the "wrong" people will find it, and that can be very damaging to you and the PC-Botswana programme.

I don't want to get all political, but I found out from my mom today that someone I knew growing up - Ty Johnson - was killed in Iraq on Tuesday. Here's a link to the article in the Deseret News.

I knew Ty as far back as I can remember - elementary school through middle school and then he chose to attend the rival high school (Jordan instead of Alta). I haven't seen him for many many years, but the pictures from the artcle looks just like I remember him but older. I remember a few things about Ty. He has a twin brother named Blake. Ty was a blonde and Blake had really dark hair - total opposites. Ty played baseball when we were young, I'm not sure if he played in high school or not. His dad had an immaculate lawn, like what you would see on a golf course.

Anyway, I mention this because he's the first person I "know" who's been killed in Iraq. It really brought home for me all of the deaths in Iraq. I know from losing Spencer how devastating it is to lose a loved one - especially someone who could have had a very long life ahead of them. It's terrible that families are forced to go through that kind of loss and suffering for the war in Iraq.

The families of everyone who has lost somebody in Iraq are in my thoughts and prayers today. Peace.

Is it appropriate for female DAC volunteers to wear pants to work?

I would say that it is ok for female DAC volunteers to wear pants to work as long as they are not denim. Most Batswana women I work with wear skirts most of the time and dress pants some of the time. For important meetings and special events, however, women wear skirts. That being said, the nicer you dress the more respect and credibility you will earn among your colleagues. As a male, I wish a brought a few more dress shirts and wore ties a bit more often just to impress.

Is dry cleaning available?

Yes, dry cleaning is available in Gaborone, towns and larger villages. I know of a at least a few Molepolole, but they are very basic operations and I am not sure I would trust them. Not all DAC volunteers will be placed in villages with dry cleaning services. Outside of maybe one nice outfit or one suit jacket I don't recommend bringing things that need to be dry cleaned. It's expensive, inconvenient , impractical and unnecessary.

Are you using a huge sleeping bag as your bedspread or did you have a comforter shipped to you?

In the summer months I sleep on top of everything, sometimes with a fan blowing on me! But in the winter I am glad I purchased a comforter from an HIV/AIDS support group doing a sewing project for income generation. Don't bother to ship a comforter over here because you can purchase one with your settling-in allowance in Gaborone or possibly in your community. You can also buy plenty of cheap blankets during training and afterward to keep you warm. If you decide to bring a sleeping bag make sure it is a compact one that you can use to travel.

Anything else? Let me know.