November 2007 Archives

candy, Crystal Light, and Taco Bell hot sauce packets.

It's been almost two months since I've posted to the Encylopedia of Life in Botswana series, and do you know why? I got stuck on the letter "E." Thus, I'm moving on to "F" and maybe if I can ever think of something with an "E" I'll come back to it.

F - Fanta
Fanta is my cat. It's also a fizzy drink that comes in orange, grape and pineapple flavors. (According to the Wikipedia entry, Fanta comes in 150 flavors worldwide!) I really like both (the cat and the fizzy drink that is. Except Fanta Grape, it reminds me of cough syrup.) We adopted Fanta from the Botswana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BSPCA). She was about 6 weeks old when we took her home and too small to even jump up on the couch. Now she's still kind of small for a grown cat, but she's so much bigger than before. We leave the bathroom window open and she can jump up to the window sill and be in and out of the house whenever she pleases. (Not that it doesn't keep her from standing next to the front door and staring at you if she wants to be let out.) She is the funniest cat ever. For example, she doesn't really know how to meow. I guess it's from not having other cats around. Therefore to get your attention, in the kitchen for example, she'll stand up on her hind legs stretch her front legs real long and claw you in the butt. You know, just to say "hey, I'm here. Pay attention to me." Another example: she's terrified of thunder and one little rumble will send her under the couch for protection. or sometimes to the bottom shelf of our clothes closet. Fanta is also one of the most affectionate cats ever. In the winter it's not unusual for her to end up under the covers with me and Brian. Brian also claims that whenever I'm not home Fanta won't leave Brian along until he sits down and gives her a good petting. (She really likes it when he scratches her ears.)

Fanta the fizzy drink is also good (even if it doesn't snuggle up with you when you're sick.) I picked out Fanta (the cat) because when we first moved here I had a (small) obsession with Fanta Orange and wanted to name my cat after the drink. I originally imagined an orange and white cat, but once I saw Fanta with the tabby body and little orange streak on her face I had to have her. (She was also the most friendly of the bunch.) I've since kicked the Fanta Orange obsession, although it is nice to have a Fanta Orange float with vanilla ice cream every now and then.

We watched the Young Zebras defeat Morocco in an exciting game at the Botswana National Stadium on Saturday. Both goal keepers were busy throughout, but the Zebras found the back of the net in each half and managed to hang on by playing tough defense. The Botswana Football Association reduced ticket prices for the match. That, along with the alcohol smuggled in by fans, created a wild atmosphere in the packed stands.

This match was part of Botswana's effort to quality for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. (In men's soccer at the Olympic games countries send their under-23 teams, unlike the soccer world cup) Botswana advanced to pool play for the first time in its history setting up home-and-away games against Morocco, Guinea, and Cameroon. While the Zebras went undefeated at home, they suffered some tough losses on the road. But as of Saturday, they still had a chance to qualify for the Games provided they beat Morocco (which they did) and Guinea beat Cameroon (which didn't happen). I don't think anyone really expected Botswana to quality. So people were dissapointed, but generally pleased with their effort in the qualifying tournament. But four years from now the pressure is on.

Treatment

There was a great quote by Botswana President Festus Mogae in The Voice last Friday that should be put on the wall of everyone working with HIV/AIDS: “Priority number one is prevention; priority number two is prevention; and priority number three is prevention.” Continue reading below to access the entire article.

Abstinence

The Freakonomics Blog had an interesting comparrison of South Africa's ridiculous driving exam the failure of abstinence-only education in the states. Even if you support abstinence-only education on moral or other grounds, the approach just isn't working--so why keep funding it? See also: D.A.R.E. Continue reading below to access the entire article.

I loved the book Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, so I've been following their blog even before it moved to the NY Times website. So I had to share this post from yesterday that I really enjoyed: "How is Abstinence-Only Sex Education Like South Africa's Driving Exam?" It makes me wonder about the driving test in Bots. There are "driving schools" on basically ever empty lot around town but I've also known plenty of people who failed the driving test. None of them ended up driving without a license, but it makes me wonder exactly how hard the test is.

Check out the pictures from our trip to Kutse Game Reserve this weekend with our friends Ben and Sheelagh. Kutse is the southern most part of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and definitely the most wild park we've been to for camping. The highlight, of course, was seeing our first big cat - lions - at the watering hole Saturday night. We were sitting the car watching a giraffe drink when Brian says, "Wouldn't it be cool if a lion came out to hunt the giraffe?" Less than 5 minutes later, out comes one lioness from the bush. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it) she and her friend that came out after her looked well fed and weren't interested in hunting. Regardless, it was so cool to see a big cat. They were huge and powerful. It was awesome.

Other game we saw included: ostrich, kudu, gemsbok, steenbok, springbok, jackal, tawny feathered eagle, vultures, ground squirrel, guinea fowl, hartebeest. Not to mention all kinds of smaller birds. None of it in big quantities, but it was enough to keep us occupied.

Here's the full link to the pictures just in case the above doesn't work: http://picasaweb.google.com/heatherawsumb/KutseGameReserve

Botswana is well known for its vast diamond mines. But few people know that Botswana is a major producer of soda ash. Also known as sodium carbonate, soda ash is a raw material used to produce glass, detergents, and other industrial chemicals. Exciting stuff.

The Town of Sowa, home to BOTASH who mines sodium carbonate from beneath the Makgadikgadi Pans (salt flats), hosted a football tournament/wellness day for mine employees and residents of Sowa on 3 November 2007. Tebelopele and the Zebras were invited to contribute the activity. I decided to tag along.

Photo (clockwise from upper left corner):
Those that tested for HIV show off their cool Zebras4Life wrist bands.
Zebra goalkeeper Kagiso Tshelametse delivers a motivational speech at halftime.
Football game between two local clubs from the mine.
These creepy giant moths lay eggs that become pane worms (which many people enjoy eating).
The rustic, but comfy accomondation at Nata Lodge.
I am the dork in the middle. For some reason everyone looked away right as the picture was taken.
Tebelopele mobile tents and banners next to the football pitch.

Got an email today with the subject "Congratulations on your accpetance to the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine." That's right, my first grad school acceptance, and it was even sent on my birthday! Feels like there should have been more fanfare. You know, fireworks going off, marching band, something. Instead it feels kind of surreal. Especially since Tulane was the last application I sent in and now the first to accept me. It's kind of like, "For real? You can make a decision that quickly?" Don't get me wrong, I'm THRILLED. Totally thrilled. Tulane is way up there on my wish list for schools. Of course a lot of it will come down to cost, so now that I've been accepted somewhere I can start turning my obsession into financial aid. :)

Another interesting article about AIDS prevention in the Washington Post. I came across the link on PSI's website (the article was published Nov. 1). Can't say enough here about the importance of prevention, but man is it difficult! There are low tech options (condom use, partner-reduction, abstinence) but for these to work it requires behavior change on the part of those who could are or could become infected. (Not to mention the people who are high risk but don't recognize their behavior as being risky.) In addition, one thing Brian and I talk about frequently is how much more succesful medical/clinic interventions are in Botswana than interventions using NGOs and that require personal behavior change. This is definitely influenced by the wealth of the Government of Botswana and their ability to provide unparalleled services to its citizens. Anyway, very interesting article Check out the link above to read the article in full.

Interesting website I came across today doing some research on grad schools and maternal health. The issue of maternal health is something I'm very interested in pursuing through grad school and beyond. For more links to organizations dealing with this issue visit the Averting Maternal Death and Disability website.

(Oh, and the scrapbooker in me loves the color scheme they use. Thus, why I had to share the header above.)

I know that we've mentioned the Nata Village Blog here before and couple of times. It's a project by our good friend Melody and others in her village where they share stories about the village and raise funds for various HIV related needs. I stay up to date on the blog with the RSS feed and had to share their most recent successes:

A couple of weeks ago the clinic in the village received a fetal heart monitor thanks to the generous donations of a couple in Hong Kong. What spurred me to share this is Melody's post from yesterday about using the monitor for the first time. It literally brought tears to my eyes. In Botswana women do not normally get to hear the heartbeats of their babies they're carrying. There's just not the technology out in the clinics to do it. (And there's definitely no way to get a sonogram at the mall.) Can you imagine this woman's delight to be able to hear her baby's heart beating? I can only imagine, but seriously, it must be a miracle for her.

Another miracle ... they just got a donation of $20,000 from a group of people (most of whom have South African ties) and an anonymous donation of $6,000. As Melody says "That's U.S. dollars!!" The money will go so far here and the best part is that 100% of it will go directly to helping the people in Nata. How cool is that?