Richard and Stacy's journey...: March 2008

Friday, March 28, 2008

The beginning of goodbyes...

It is time to start saying goodbye... How sad to say goodbye to friends and loved ones, even though we are excited and ready to leave. We spent St. Patrick's day weekend in Boston with my brother Brian, his wife Kimber, and my very cute nephew Braeden and niece Sydney. We all did a side trip to Newport, RI to gawk at the mansions. We also got to say goodbye earlier to Richard's family who live in the area. After our trip to Boston, we met up with my brother and his family again in York, PA (my hometown) to visit with my grandparents. Braeden had tons of fun playing with the pug.

We finally received our "staging materials" last week. We will have staging (which is essentially an orientation) in Philadelphia from April 16-April 18. We will then be bused from Philadelphia to JFK on Friday, April 18 to catch our flight to Johannesburg, South Africa. From Johannesburg, we will be transported overland to Botswana.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

5 more weeks...

I can't believe we leave for Botswana in 5 weeks. It seems like yesterday we were saying that we have 5 months to go - it was so far away. Now our departure date is just around the corner. We have jumped into pack mode- we have piles of clothes, toiletries, and other necessities in our apartment to attest to this.

During February, Richard and I headed to Peru for our last big trip before leaving for the Peace Corps. We visited with Jen VT in Lima and she travelled with us to the Amazon. We loved the Amazon- creatures everywhere!!! We saw parrots, lizards, tons of frogs (including poison dart frogs!), tarantulas, big insects, snakes (including an anaconda and a viper), jungle deer, pink dolphins, etc. We even went piranha fishing and got to eat our catch. After the Amazon, Richard and I went to Cuzco, Machu Picchu, and the Sacred Valley- all of which were all amazing.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=30125&l=9c9de&id=531866536

Richard returned to the United States to go skiing and visit friends/family and I stayed in Peru with Jen. Jen and I made a trip to Lake Titicaca. The altitude made me feel drunk and made Jen feel sick, but the lake, its islands, and its surroundings were beautiful. The man-made floating islands were especially amazing.

I also met Kate in Argentina for a week. We explored Buenos Aires and Colonia de Sacramento, Uruguay. We then headed to Patagonia where we visited Ushuaia and Tierra del Fuego, El Calafate and the Perito Moreno glacier, and Torres del Paine in Chile. Trekking on the glacier was especially memorable!! On the way back to Lima, I spent a couple days visiting Valparaiso and Santiago, Chile where I was able to spend a day with Javier.

We are now back home in New York City counting down the days until we leave. So many emotions come with leaving your family and friends and home for two years...however, we are looking forward to our time in Botswana.

About Botswana and the Peace Corps

According to the BBC's country profile, "Botswana, one of Africa's most stable countries, is the continent's longest continuous multi-party democracy. It is relatively free of corruption and has a good human rights record. It is also the world's larger producer of diamonds and the trade has transformed it into a middle-income nation. Botswana is trying to reduce its economic dependence on diamonds. Safari-based tourism- tightly-controlled and often upmarket- is an important source of income."

Independence: 1966 (there has been four decades of

uninterrupted civilian rule since)

Capital: Gabarone

President: Khama

Population: 1.9 million (UN, 2007)

Area: 224,607 sq. miles (slightly smaller than Texas)

Major languages: English (official), Setswana

Life expectancy: 40 years (UNAIDS, 2007)

Literacy Rate: 81 percent (CIA Factbook)

According to the CIA Factbook, "Botswana has maintained one of the world's highest economic growth rates since independence in 1966, though growth slowed to 4.7% in 2006-2007. On the downside, the government must deal with high rates of unemployment and poverty. HIV/AIDS infections are the second highest in the world and threaten Botswana's impressive economic gains."

According to PEPFAR, which Includes Botswana as one of its 15 focus countries, "At the household level, families face increasing health expenditures to meet the needs of family members with HIV/AIDS. At the same time, they are experiencing loss of income as productive family members become sick and die. Botswana's workforce is being depleted as many productive adults develop AIDS and are no longer able to work. Between 1999 and 2005, Botswana lost approximately 17 percent of its health care workforce due to AIDS and by 2020 the loss in agricultural labor force could be more than 20 percent. High levels of HIV/AIDS among teachers reduces both the quality of education and the number of hours taught. School enrollment is expected to fall as children drop out of school to care for sick family members, to contribute to household income, or become too sick to attend school. Finally, stigma continues to be an issue that needs to be addressed."

National HIV prevalence rate among adults (15 - 49): 24.1%

Adults and children (0 - 49) living with HIV in 2005: 270,000

AIDS deaths in 2005: 18,000

AIDS orphans at the end of 2005: 120,000

According to the Peace Corps website, Peace Corps started working in Botswana in 1966, but closed the program in 1997 due to the country's economic success. "However, in 1998, the government declared HIV/AIDS a national crisis, and President Mogae dedicated his first five years in office to fighting HIV/AIDS, poverty, and unemployment. The government of Botswana has enlisted the aid of civil society, international agencies, governments, and volunteer organizations to help the Botswana people address the HIV/AIDS pandemic. In 2003, Peace Corps returned to Botswana. Currently volunteers are:

-Helping build capacity at the district and village levels in HIV/AIDS service organizations

-Assisting in mainstreaming HIV/AIDS prevention activities into development projects

-Providing technical assistance to the government's home-based and orphan care programs

-Helping to promote the prevention of mother-to-child transmission in four selected districts

Richard and Stacy's journey...

Friday, March 28, 2008

The beginning of goodbyes...

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

5 more weeks...

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