December 2006 Archives

Maru ga a yo. Pula ga e yo. Go Mogote thata. No Clouds. No Rain. It’s very hot.

Normally the rains come by this time of year to help provide at least temporary relief from the heat. But things are dry and people are grumpy. Christmas time for most Batswana is spent at masimo (farm lands) plowing for maize, sorghum, pumpkins, sweet reed and other traditional crops. If the rains don’t arrive soon many people will give up on this season altogether.

While the villagers keep watch of the sky, we’re keeping watch of thermometer. Today it’s 103 degrees outside, which isn’t too bad, but it’s about 90 degrees in our house. The real problem with the heat in Botswana is that you can’t ever seem escape it. There’s no AC and at night homes tend to radiate the heat they’ve absorbed throughout the day.

Photo: The temperature outside and the temperature inside.

Our friend Gareth took us and a few other PCVs out to Dithopo Ranch for a Sunday afternoon game drive and braii. Dithopo is located a few kilometers north of Lephepe and about 50 km from the southeast corner of the Central Kgalagari Game Reserve. The government-run ranch isn’t really a tourist destination, but it’s so close that we decided to just go and check it out.

Photos clockwise from top left corner: 1) a walking stick insect on Gareth’s windshield; 2) me holding gemsbok antlers; 3) an eland staring us down; 4) Heather, Kathy, Gareth, Erin, Scott and me; 5) vultures circling around; 6) us eating meat; and 7) the welcome sign.

I was given a big giant wooden hippo by a family in Molepolole for helping them with their gardening. They noticed my lawn while passing through the neighborhood and asked for advice in getting one of their started. I paid them a visit the next day. As a token of appreciation they gave me the hippo.

As I walked back home I received more than the usual allotment of stares, but not any of the “lekgoa” calls. I am sure people were thinking, “Why’s this white guy walking through the village? And why is he carrying a big giant wooden hippo?”

I spent last weekend attending the 2nd annual Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) in Gaborone. Just the few days I was there was definitely a highlight of my Peace Corps experience. Having a group of young women together learning to be future leaders just fills your heart. It was amazing. As most of you know, I attended to teach a session on scrapbook/memory book making. What I wanted to emphasize with the girls was the importance of documenting their lives. You are not the same person today as you were yesterday or last month and you are not the person you will be tomorrow. I strongly believe in the importance of young girls recording their lives not just for future generations, but for themselves.

As I mentioned before I solicited donations from several scrapbook companies in the U.S. for camp, so the supplies we had were amazing. (I’ll get to the thank you’s in a minute.) Every girl had enough supplies to make a 6x6 mini-album tied together with ribbon plus punch-outs and other embellishments. I had cut the papers into 6x6 sheets before so that was a time saver, but we had less than 2 hours only for the girls to put the books together plus write journaling and placing their pictures so they didn’t get very far that night. Despite the time limitations, however, the girls really enjoyed putting the books together and using all the materials.

Other highlights of camp included making an AIDS quilt with blocks of colored cardstock, tie-dying t-shirts, breaking the “I Can’t” piñata, having the current Miss Stigma Free HIV as a guest speaker and, of course, talent night. I was so fortunate to get to be a small part of the camp.

I want to say another public thank you to the companies that donated supplies to make the scrapbook experience special for the girls. Strano Designs was the first company to respond to my plea with a big package of their beautiful ribbon. Other packages came from Me and My Big Ideas, Cosmo Cricket and Autumn Leaves. Everything sent was beautiful and very much appreciated by the girls. If you scrapbook, please support these companies who gave products for such an important cause. I also want to give a big thank you to my mom who shipped a couple of the packages that were sent to my parents house in the U.S. Thanks Mom!

Had to share a group picture of my young women after receiving their Peer Educator certificates at the Kweneng District World AIDS Day on the 24th. I am so proud of them. :)

P.S. There appears to be something wrong with our comments right now. They appear in our system, but aren't being published on the website. I'll see if I can figure it out, but in the meantime know that we're still getting them!

We had a great time traveling last week for Thanksgiving in Maun. We took the train Friday night from Gabs - Francistown and then jumped on the first bus to Maun. There were 34 people at Dave and Wendy's house for dinner on Saturday, almost all of them PCVs. Fortunately, Wendy cooked 4 turkeys so there was plenty of food! Wendy and Dave are the most gracious hosts and also dear, dear friends. We spent an extra night with them just so we could talk and catch up. We can't thank them enough for hosting dinner and then letting us camp in their yard!

After Maun we traveled to Sepopa - Etsha 6 - Ghanzi - Kang and back to Molepolole by Thursday. It was a long trip but a good break from the craziness at work. Now it's December when everything basically comes to a standstill. My counterpart is on leave until January 8th, which is the day we're leaving for Mozambique. The time is going so quickly it will be the end of January before we know it! Then it will be just three months left in our official service.

Pictures above clockwise are: a view of the Delta from Swamp Stop; Suzie, Scott, Libby, Brian and I on Suzie's front porch; Libby, Brian and I chilling by the Delta at Swamp Stop; Brian and Suzie chatting with the neighbor kids in Etsha 6; Ostrich shell bracelet I bought at Ghanzi Craft; giraffe we saw during our walk at the Maun Education Center; Dave carving the turkey; one of the baskets we bought from the Etsha 6 basket co-op; and the whole group for dinner at Dave and Wendy's.

The Botswana Daily News had a little blip at the end of an article on the Zebras4Life, Test4Life campaign that Scott and I are spearheading. Hannah and Scott came up with the idea to get the national team football players to test for HIV and to use them as spokespersons for getting other men to test for HIV. They also had the idea to give out bracelets in the color of Botswana Blue that say Zebras4Life, Test4Life (similar to the yellow Lance Armstrong bracelets) to those that go for testing. The purpose of this campaign is to show unity and eliminate stigma of those that test for HIV. Unfortunately, Hannah had to return to the states (Hi Hannah, hope you are doing well.) so I was pulled into the project by Scott.

It is been a real challenge moving Test4Life from an abstract idea to an actual, viable project. We expect to have a major launch of the campaign next year with the bracelets. In the mean time, Scott and I have been educating the players on HIV/AIDS and having them make appearances around the country at village-level World AIDS Day commemorations. We are hoping that the players will become more confortable and confident in discussing HIV issues. So far, the players have been excited to participate and the audiences have been very receptive to their messages.

On behalf of Scott and Hannah, we are really greatful to the U.S. Embassy in Botswana for funding Test4Life . The ambassador has been very encouraging, engaging and helpful of our efforts. We are also greatful to the National AIDS Coordinating Agency, Tebelopele Voluntary Counseling and Testing Centres and U.S. Peace Corps staff for their efforts in moving the project forward.

As many of you know, today is World AIDS Day. A lot of bloggers and websites have posted links and blurbs about World AIDS Day and the smug Red Campaign. In addition, most papers are running stories on the HIV/AIDS situation in the U.S. and around the world. Woop-dee-freakin-do!

I am all for awareness campaigns and for people getting involved in ways they can, but I find that World AIDS Day brings out all of my frustrations with the global struggle against HIV, particularly here in Africa. Speeches, marches, buying a red Ipod (or 100,000 of them), etc. won't make a bit of difference in the struggle against HIV on this continent. People are already aware HIV and funding is at unprecidented levels. What is really needed here and elsewhere is a scientific, evidence-based focus on the prevetion of new HIV infections through behavior change and the empowerment of the most volunerable population--young women.

It is high time to that we give major donors, non-govermental organizations (both big and small) and impacted communities a swift kick in the ass when it comes to HIV matters. It is time to turn our attention and resources where they are most needed and where we can PROVE they will make a difference. We have been spinning our wheels for too long, We need to find new approaches or simply emphasize those that worked in the past. Otherwise, we will continue feeling like we are making progress on HIV when we are only contibuting to the problem. More later...