Richard and Stacy's journey...: We Made It!!!

Monday, April 21, 2008

We Made It!!!

Well, we made it to Botswana!!! We can't believe it!!! We had 2 days of orientation in Philadelphia, where we met our fellow volunteers. We then left on Friday for Johannesburg, which was a 16 hour flight. After spending a night in Johannesburg, we were bused to Botswana on Sunday (I was happy to get my favorite South African treats- nougat and top deck Cadbury chocolate). We are now in training for the next 8 weeks, focusing on language and technical training. We will be transferred to our homestay soon!!

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...

Monday, April 21, 2008

We Made It!!!

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