Richard and I took our first out-of-country leave since coming to Botswana. Last week, we went to Dahab, which is in the Sinai, in Egypt. We were gone Sunday to Sunday. It is winter in Egypt so it was refreshingly cool. We had a nice week of diving and snorkeling in the Red Sea and camel rides in the desert. We even climbed Mt Sinai- all 3750 “steps” to the top. The reefs of the Red Sea were beautiful and amazing- so many fish and healthy, colorful coral. One of the dive trips we went on involved a 1.5 hour camel ride since the site was inaccessible by vehicle. We also took another camel trek to a canyon and a Bedouin village in a desert oasis. In the evenings, we relaxed and dined in the restaurants by the sea. Since there are so many cats in Dahab, the restaurants give you a water bottle to squirt the cats because they try to the steal the food from your plate. They actually got food from our plates one night because we felt guilty about squirting them. On the way back on Sunday, Richard met his counterpart and a Peace Corps staff member in Johannesburg airport so they could fly to Lesotho for a week long Peace Corps sub-regional meeting on using technology to address HIV/AIDs.
The week and a half before we left for vacation was quite busy. Richard was helping his office prepare for upcoming DMSAC and TAC (Technical Advisory Committee for DMSAC) meetings and several upcoming events, like health fairs and VMSAC formations. We had a veterinarian, from a NGO in Maun that does free vaccinations and spaying/neutering dogs, stay with us for a week. Since the vet did not have an assistant, I helped her prep dogs for surgery and monitor the dogs during the actual surgery. It was quite interesting to be able watch the whole process. The vet was able to sterilize an average of 3-4 females and 2 males a day, which will greatly influence the dog population in Gumare. As a favor, she neutered our cat Mufasa.
The three days before we left for Egypt, I was in Gaborone to be trained for the Peer Support and Diversity Network (PSDN) for Peace Corps volunteers in Botswana. There were 10 of us chosen from within our Bots 7 group to provide peer support for other PCV’s. One of our first responsibilities will be spending a week each with the new group of volunteers coming for pre-service training in April. We are providing on-site support to the new group because pre-service training tends to be a time of stress and a lot of adjustment.
At the end of the month, there will be a 2 day Orphan and Vulnerable Children Stakeholders Networking workshop in Shakawe. I am currently helping a NGO in Shakawe prepare the workshop, which will provide an opportunity for S&CD and NGOs in our district to get to learn more about each other and problem solve, as well as share ideas, successes, and best practices. We are hoping this will lead to greater cooperation and collaboration in the future.
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.