I can’t believe Xmas is a week away. I admit it is kind of refreshing not to have to fight for a parking space at the mall, brave hordes of people who do their shopping last minute like me, and listen to the same Xmas songs over and over everywhere you go. I do however miss the light spectacle that is New Jersey at Xmas time. We will have a few PCVs visiting us over the holiday so we may go camping nearby our village for a day or two.
Since the rains have come, there have been substantial changes in the environment. Everything has turned green. I was away last week for GLOW camp and when I returned our yard was green. Well, all the weeds that sprouted now cover most of the sand. Millipedes are still everywhere you go but now they are getting bigger and bigger. I’ve been lucky enough to find two more chameleons. Fortunately, we haven’t seen any snakes yet. Actually, the only Setswana words Richard knows are the words for all the poisonous snakes in our area.
Last week was GLOW CAMP (GIRLS and GUYS LEADING OUR WORLD) in Gaborone. I went with four junior secondary girls and a teacher from Okavango JSS in Gumare. After weeks of struggling, we got a government vehicle to transport us at the last minute. The vehicle picked us up at 6am on Saturday(4th) and we were on our way. Unfortunately we got stuck in Ghanzi for five hours because they had to fill the government fuel pumps, which temporarily stopped working after they were filled. Unfortunately, you can only fill government vehicles at government filling stations so we had to wait for someone to get the pumps working again. We did not end up getting to Gaborone until almost 10pm.
The week at camp went really well. There were seven girls delegations and seven boys delegations. Each delegation contained a Peace Corps Volunteer, a local leader, and 4 boys/girls aged 12-17. The delegations came from all over Botswana although I believe our Gumare delegation came from the furthest point. The goal of the camp was to create adolescent leaders who can educate their peers on HIV and gender based violence, as well as address gender inequalities. The Peace Corps volunteers and local leaders facilitated the different sessions. My local leader and I facilitated sessions on Our Bodies (focusing on reproductive health) and on HIV and STI’s. Other sessions at the camp included leadership; love, sex, and dating; friendship; communication; peer pressure; human rights; decision making; and etc... There were also activities like a scavenger hunt, a talent competition, a dance off, a mock protest, a debate, movie night, etc.. I was able to do a craft session where I taught girls how to make beads from magazine pages. A few of the girls really got into it and started making necklaces and bracelets. On the last day of camp, everyone got to meet Unity Dow, a well known Botswana writer and first female justice of the high court. Unity Dow hosted our GLOW camp group at her home, where the boys and girls where able to meet professionals who provided advice and guidance on success. In the afternoon, the boys and girls participated in a mock trial in one of the courtrooms in Lobatse.
I must say by the time I left on Sunday (14th) I was exhausted because our days lasted from 5:45am to 10:00pm. I did get a half day off on Thursday when I roamed the malls in Gaborone and chowed done on good food. I am looking forward to working with the girls from Gumare when school resumes in January. Eventually, we would like to have a regional camp in Okavango so we can create GLOW clubs in other Junior Secondary Schools in the district.
An account of our time in the Peace Corps in Botswana
About Us
- Richard and Stacy
- New York, NY
- Richard and Stacy have been married since June 2003. They will be serving in the Peace Corps in Botswana from June 2008-June 2010 (with in country training from April - June 2008). Richard's assignment is working with a District AIDS Coordinator and Stacy's assignment is Community Capacity Building for HIV/AIDS Project in Home-based Care and Orphan Care/Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission.
LINKS OF INTEREST
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
Disclaimer:
The views/contents included on this website are solely that of Richard Rain and Stacy Wallick. It does not reflect the position or views of the U.S. government, the Peace Corps, or any other persons and organizations.