Recently in Getting Ready for Peace Corps Category

Less than two weeks to go. I feel totally unprepared to leave Botswana. I think I’m still in total denial.

Lots of paperwork to fill out, medical exams to complete, materials to transfer over, and personal items to sell. Not to mention all of the people to say goodbye to. All of this on top of a mysterious illness that just won’t go away. Instead of being able enjoy my last few weeks in Botswana I’m left lying in my bed reflecting on the past three years.

I did manage to pull myself out of bed to attend Bots7’s swearing-in ceremony in Molepolole on Wednesday. I was so envious of them—to be heading off to villages far and near and beginning their own Peace Corps adventure. If Peace Corps volunteer service paid better, I would do it all over again.

A few new PCVs asked me to share tips and advice for Peace Corps service. I had two. First, what I’ve learned most is that it is a choice whether Peace Corps, or any other thing in life, will be a positive or negative experience. This isn’t to say that it will be easy and fun all the time because you can’t control what challenges and obstacles stand in your way. But you can control how to approach them and grow and change as a result. It’s up to you, not Peace Corps, not your counterpart, not anyone, whether your time in Botswana will be productive, beneficial, and enjoyable.

Second, negativity and venting are infectious, counterproductive toxins—it’s best to limit your exposure to them. Discussing and noting challenges can be a useful exercise if you are willing to seek and consider strategies and solutions. But only dwelling on what’s wrong and doesn’t work is disempowering and leads to more unproductive attitudes and behaviours.

I feel like I gave a lot of myself to Peace Corps and Botswana. But I feel that the benefits I’ve received from Peace Corps and Botswana far outweigh my contributions. At this point, however, I think I recognize that I’m exhausted and worn down from the last three years. I’m ready for a break. I’m ready for something new.

My goal is for the coming years in my life to be as stimulating, challenging, and rewarding as the last three.

I saw your original packing list and some of your old posts. Is there anything else you wish you brought with you?

Headlamp: I wish a brought a small headlamp and an extra battery for it (you can by more batteries in Botswana). It’s great for reading in the dark if you don’t have electricity or during power outages. It also functions as a flash light for camping or making late night trips to the pit latrine.

Dress shirts: I brought a lot of polo-type shirts, but they really stretched out through the hand-washing and line-drying process. My dress shirts held up much better and just look sharper. You can always roll up the sleeves and undo a button or two if it gets hot. If it’s cold, you can pull over a sweater.

Old dress clothes: During training sessions you are expected to dress reasonably well (business casual-ish) to demonstrate your professionalism. Unfortunately, I wore out a lot of my clothes initially as PC has you put one of your bags in storage during training. I wish I had kept a lot of my older casual-ish clothes before coming and then worn the same few things over-and-over again. Then at swearing-in you can retire your training uniform and look your best when you go to site. (Please don’t misconstrue this as recommending that you grunge-it-up during training.)

Nurf American football: Who doesn’t enjoy tossing around a football? It’s a great way to revive yourself between sessions. Not to mention you can teach the host fam and neighbor kids a new sport.

Juggling Truths
by Unity Dow

Unity Dow was a human rights activist and lawyer before becoming Botswana’s first female high court judge. She has published a growing number of short, fictional novels with themes related to her professional background and passion for education. In Juggling Truths Dow takes readers back to Mochudi in the mid-1960s and explores the contradictions experienced by a coming of age girl caught between her western-influenced school curriculum and traditional village life. As with other Dow novels, the narrative is not as easy to follow as something like McCall’s #1 Lady’s Detective Agency Series, but her cultural commentary has much more accuracy and depth. At least one of Unity Dow’s growing assortment of novels is a must read for this reason.

Here are some useful resources for future (or current) Peace Corps volunteers. We've found these to be very useful to our work in Botswana, but wished we had known about them much, much sooner. I think a future PCV can get some perspective on the type of work they will be doing and what roles they will play.

• All Together Now! (pdf) - An AIDS Alliance guidebook for working with communities to developed sustainable HIV/AIDS interventions.
• Tools Together Now! (pdf) - This clever handbook has 100 participatory community development tools grouped into categories (e.g., mapping, time analysis, linkages, etc.) with an example of each tool in use. This is designed to be a companion to All Together Now, but it can be used on its own to enhance any community effort to address HIV/AIDS.
• Peace Corps NGO Handbook (pdf) - A training/pratical guidebook for volunteers working with non-government organizations.
• Role of the Volunteer in Development (pdf) - This is a great book for future and current volunteers. It lays out the Peace Corps approach to development and how a volunteer fits into a community's effort at addressing a problem.
• Peer Education for Behavior Change (pdf) - This is the facilitator's guidebook we compiled/wrote to help educate people on HIV/AIDS issues and support one's decision to commit to healthy behaviors.
• On-going Language Learning (pdf) - This manual has good tips for anyone trying to learn a language in an immersed environment.

You talked about how much down time you have, but on the other hand you seem to be very busy. My job description says I'll be working 7:30-4:30, then working with after school programs and weekend activities. It sounds like I won't have a minute to spare. Is there a lot of down time or not?

I guess being “busy” in Botswana is relative (though I am busy by any standard of measurement). You are a PCV 24/7, but I can assure that you will have more than a minute to spare.

You will have many days at work that you feel aren’t very productive—you’re going to have to deal with that. You won’t have something work related everyday after school or on every weekend either. To make matters worse, you may feel stuck inside your home after working hours. This is largely because it’s not safe to be out after dark unless you have a ride, and even that can be dangerous because of cows/donkeys/goats on the road and rampant drunk driving. Also, Botswana is closer to the equator and there is no daylight savings time. In winter, the sun sets around 6:00 p.m. In summer, the sun sets around 7:00 p.m. People tend to head inside and lock up after dark. There will be lots time between sunset and sleeping.

How “busy” you are is up to you. I truly believe that a good PCV will make themselves busy, even if means just falling back on the Role of a Volunteer as Learner. A lazy/jaded PCV will always find an excuse not to be busy, ignoring that a PCV can play different and equally valuable roles in a community. But no matter how much you put yourself out there you will have plenty of time to enrich yourself.

We are receiving inquiries from a few folks in Bots7 who will depart in April ‘08. We are excited to hear from you and ready to answer your questions and concerns. In the near future we will post a few documents on the blog that will be worth checking out. In the mean time there are a few things you can do to prepare:

Read up on HIV/AIDS at your local library and on the internet.

I am often surprised that new trainees profess to lack knowledge on HIV/AIDS and then go on to blame Peace Corps for not spending what little training time exists on something they should have researched on their own. Hardly the independent and mature attitude expected of a PCV. Get started studying up on HIV/AIDS right away. If possible, consider volunteering at a local AIDS service organization to learn more.

Start a Yahoo or Google group with your training class.

You may find a trainee that is coming from your state or hometown. Meeting up before staging can help make the departure process a lot easier. Seeing friendly faces in Phily, Scott and Coleman, definitely helped us feel more comfortable being with 23 other strangers.

Be thinking about how you plan to spend hours and hours of down time.

I’m surprised how many volunteers have no hobbies or interests other than reading, studying for the GRE/MCAT/LSAT, and/or watching DVDs on a laptop. Those things just won’t cut it. I like to run, practice the guitar, play sports, play nerdy strategy games (Carcassonne rules!), teach people card games…. In Molepolole, I even had a rather productive vegetable garden. I guess that I’m unusual for a PCV because I wish I had MORE down time for the things I enjoy. Use your personal time to enrich yourself by learning a new skill and/or perfecting something you already enjoy doing.


Enough advice for now. Your questions:

What are some of your favorite things about your job? I will be a DAC also.

The access to resources for DAC volunteers is unique for Peace Corps programmes. I work as part of a two-person team coordinating HIV/AIDS activities and interventions in an urban/rural district of 180,000 people. I only wish there was more of me (and my counterpart) to go around as we are only able to get to do a small fraction of what we planned. Our financial year ends at the month-end so we are racing this month to conduct workshops, train peer educators, purchase supplies and equipment for income generating projects, print IEC materials and procure condom models. I am doing more this month than over volunteers do during their entire service.

Not every DAC volunteer, however, feels as useful as I do. Expect to have different levels of success in moving and targeting resources where they are needed. And depending on who you work with can greatly affect your personal happiness. This is kind of getting into your second question, but a lot of volunteers in the DAC programme have felt like nothing more than an administrative assistant. I have never felt that way, but I do some things occasionally that I don’t particularly enjoy or find rewarding to earn capital to do things that are very important and meaningful to me.

You mentioned some volunteers have complaints about their service in Botswana. What are some of their main complaints?

Some volunteers feel that Botswana is not “real” Peace Corps because most (not all) volunteers have running and electricity. Also, the culture is much more subtle and subdued. Let’s just say you will not be welcomed into your community with a song, dance and feast in your honor. If you work hard and make an effort with the language, after about a year-and-a-half you will have people express thanks for what you do.

Do you feel safe?

I feel safe because I am cautious. Peace Corps will give you advice on safety strategies during training. But a lot of your personal safety will rely on you taking common sense precautions.

How conservative does clothing need to be for women? Your blog says District AIDS Coordinators are in either a sub-district or district, so am hoping pants are ok.

Dress pants are OK for DAC volunteers, but plan on having a dress skirt or two for very formal occasions. Remember that the nicer you dress at work the more credible you will have with your coworkers. I don’t recommend bringing things that need to be dry-cleaned (maybe just one suit jacket for men). You will likely be washing everything by hand. So the trick is to bring things that are durable, but still look sharp and professional (you will be able to iron clothes). The most important thing is not to dress like you are going on safari. Just use common sense and dress how you would in the states. You can always buy more clothes in Gabs if you need to.

How difficult do you think it will be to be a vegetarian? I haven't eaten meat since I was 9.

Difficult. There are several volunteers hat have kept up their vegetarian lifestyle and several volunteers who gave it up during Peace Corps. It can be hard to get protein and other essentials through non-meat sources. Packaged peanuts are the only widely available nuts. Beans are cheap and easy to get. Dairy is another story. Depending on where you are will affect if you can get yogurt and cheese. Milk is easy though. As for soy, not much available here. In terms of the cultural, you can get by without eating meat in social situation without offending anyone. People will think you are a little weird for not eating meat, but hey, they will think you are weird anyway.

I saw that you brought $500 dollars with you. Is that all you needed to travel around as much as you have. How much money do you think a volunteer should bring to travel?

It realty depends on how much travel you plan to do. You can use credit cards and ATM cards when traveling to Namibia and South Africa. You can even get Rand from an ATM in Gabs. The dollars are only recommended if traveling to Vic. Falls or further up the continent as the exchange rate is better (or you can avoid exchanging at all in some places).

Have any volunteers done HIV prevention in the prisons?

I have worked with the superintendent at the local prison along the lines of educating staff and prisoners about HIV. I guess don’t know what you are getting at with this question. I don’t think condoms are provided to prisoners as it is illegal (and considered a cultural taboo) for men to have sex with men, if that is what you are getting at. The Prisons Department is chairing the national men's HIV/AIDS campaign this year so they are very active. I am sure if you want to work with prisons you will have no difficulty doing so provided it is culturally appropriate.

Do you recommend getting insurance for my things?

Yes. We used the travel insurance programme Peace Corps recommends. Read the policy closely about what is and what is not covered and under what circumstances

1. I can not get a concrete answer on how many suitcases we can bring, do you know?

Just check out regular airline guidelines for how many bags are permitted. Generally, you get one carry on and two bags to check in. I took a backpack on the plane and checked two bags. I also had my guitar, but had someone hold on to it that had already checked in just in case it would have been a problem.

2. Did you feel safe bringing cash with you? Where did you store it during training?

First piece of advice is to bring and wear a money belt. You can store cash and important documents in the Peace Corps safe during training and service. We brought about $500. Dollars are good for traveling to Victoria Falls (Zim and Zam), Mozambique and places further up the continent. My advice is to bring a few hundred USD, however, bring smaller bills ($1, $5, $10 and $20) as you will not get change if you pay in dollars for accommodation or crafts.

3. How many trainees usually stay with a host family during training?

PCTs this year will again be divided by programme area (DAC, NGO or CCB) between three host communities. There will be only one trainee (or married couple) per host family, but you will not be that far from other PSTs. You will be assigned to a training cluster of about 4-5 PSTs in your area and one language and cultural facilitator (LCF). Every morning your cluster will gather at your LCF’s host family house for a few hours of language instruction. Then, your cluster will either go to the community hall for technical training or will work as a group to do participatory analysis of your community and complete a community project. At 5:00 p.m. you will return to your host family to help cook, hang out, study, or whatever.

4. I realize that you traveled a lot, were you able to do that with Peace Corps income or prior savings?

We save a little bit of our Peace Corps allowance for travel but augment it with our prior savings. There are PCVs that travel strictly off their allowance, however, they give up a lot of day-to-day comforts to do so. We would not have been able to do nearly what we did on the Peace Corps allowance alone.

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.

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.