Richard and Stacy's journey...

2010-01-06T08:40:00.002-05:00

Ngwaga o Mosha!! Happy New Year. I realize that I have not posted anything in 3 months. In my defense, I was very busy doing projects that required me to be away from Gumare. I was barely home for much of November and half of December. Now it is 2010, which means that we will be done in 5 months. I can’t believe Close of Service is so close. Richard and I are looking forward to R&R next month in the Seychelles, where we will dive and lay on the beach.

In November, the District AIDS Coordinator’s office began working on its evidence-based plan for 2010-2011. During a 3 day workshop, our district planning group (government officers, NGOs, community leaders, etc) used the HIV/AIDS statistical information from the previous year to set priorities and activities for the district. Priorities included reducing teen pregnancy, increasing HIV testing, getting families to discuss HIV and sexual/reproductive health with youth, and increasing uptake of ARVs. This workshop was followed up with a another 3 day session with a small group of 10 people (including Richard, myself, my counterpart Pretty, and the DAC office), who helped put the plan and proposed activities together to submit for funding from the National AIDS Coordinating Agency (NACA). After evidence-based planning, I went to a four day GLOW Training of Facilitators workshop in Maun. Since I am on the planning committee for GLOW this year, I helped this year’s facilitators plan their sessions so they are both comprehensive and interactive.

I also spent a good amount of time in remote areas. The UN volunteer Pusetso and I spent six nights camping out “in the bush” to provide sexual and reproductive health to 5 remote villages in our district: Tsodilo, Chukumuchu, Nxau-Nxau, Qangwa, and Xai-Xai. Unfortunately, the route we took to Nxau-Nxau was impassable so we never made it to this village. At each village, we presented for 4-5 hours at the kgotla (central meeting place). We talked about topics such as the reproductive system, breast and cervical cancer screening, STIs, condom use, fertility, birth control, clitoris stimulation, etc. We had a good turnout of 30-40 persons, with an almost equal amount of men and women, at each village. There were many questions and discussions, and people were generally very responsive. When we were finished, I came back to Gumare for a few days before heading back to Tsodilo for a 6 day life skills camp for 12 female and 12 male students from 4 area junior secondary students. We all camped at Tsodilo for the week and had life skills sessions (ex. Our Bodies, Communication skills, Relationships, Decision-making, HIV and other STIs, etc) outside. We also took some time to hike to the rock paintings and learn about the cultural aspects of the site.

After the life skills camp, I headed straight to Maun so I could leave with Women Against Rape the next morning to Francistown and Selibi-Phikwe to buy supplies for GLOW camp. After buying supplies, we headed to Tsetsejbwe to prepare the junior secondary school for the arriving facilitators and students. Unfortunately, mosquitos, giant roaches, and big beetles were plentiful at the hostels were we were sleeping. GLOW camp lasted 8 days and the kids seemed to have fun and learn a lot. The goal of the camp is to teach life skills and create youth leaders who can educate their peers on HIV/AIDS and gender-based violence. After GLOW camp finished, I was very tired and went back to Gumare to rest for a few days.

Things have been slow around the office because of the holidays. We did go to Maun for a couple days to start processing our data for the Global Information Systems (GIS) project we are working on. For Christmas, we were invited to dinner by one of the local lodge owners in Shakawe. She ended up letting us stay for free for a couple days with our Peace Corps friends from Kasane.

It has been incredibly hot the last couple of months. In the middle of December, it was averaging a 110 degrees. It finally started raining heavily this last week, so hopefully it will break the heat.

2009-10-07T03:04:00.001-04:00

Over two weeks have passed since we returned to our village after our three-week vacation in America. We had a great time visiting friends and family and eating all our favorite foods. It wasn’t actually a restful vacation, as we did not stay in one place for more than a few days a time, but it was well worth it. We were there for my father’s birthday and we managed to visit NYC, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, DC/Baltimore, Boston, and New Orleans in a short amount of time. We had no trouble adjusting to being in America, which was somewhat surprising, and it was an easy transition back to being in Gumare.

The weather was nice while we were home. We managed to miss the hottest part of the summer and there were only a couple of days of rain. Unfortunately, I picked on of those rainy days to drive to Baltimore by myself, after 2 years of not driving. That particular day, it was pouring so hard I could not see more than a few feet ahead. Luckily, I made it safe and got to see a great friend in DC.

I was expecting the worst weather-wise when we returned to Botswana, since September and October are the hottest months, but it hasn’t been too bad. It was hot the first few days, but then we got a few days of rain, which made it cool. The temperature is starting to steadily rise though! – it is already back in the high 90s.

Unfortunately, our electricity has been going out quite a bit. We have experiencing rolling power outages almost twice a week. We get our electricity from Namibia and there does not seem to be enough electricity to go around. We have also been on drought control, despite the recent rains and the flooding earlier this year, so we lose our water for most of the day, several times a week. Luckily, the water usually comes on in the evening, around the time we typically bathe.

Elections are next weeks so everyone has been gearing up for the big day. We have postponed events, such as a health fair in Xakao, until after the elections since everyone is busy preparing. Most of our projects, such as GIS mapping, are still ongoing, and we continue our work with our respective offices (Orphan Care and District AIDS Coordinator) as well as the basket co-op, Mothers For All, the schools, etc. Richard still continues to work on the same basket. I was chosen to be on the organizing committee for the national GLOW (Girls and Boys Leading Our World) camp in December. I went to a prep meeting the weekend after I returned for America and our organizing committee will be leading a training of facilitators in November.

Since the weather has gotten warmer and there has been rain, all the creatures have been out in full force. There are millipedes and grasshoppers everywhere and we have seen a few chameleons. My chameleon Fido is still happily living in the bush outside our house
He now eats grasshoppers (with his long sticky, tongue) from my hand. Also, there have been brush fires in the area, so some of the bigger animals have come closer to the main road between Shakawe and Maun (Gumare is the middle point between the two places). We see elephants from time to time and an occasional zebra.

It is nice to have our own yard. We have made a 2 nice cactus gardens. Richard started his second (or third) attempt at growing vegetables. He created several patches in the yard in hopes that something will grow. We did have two tomato plants grow by accident (bird droppings) and Richard is quite proud of them.

2009-08-21T10:25:00.000-04:00

Last week was a very sad week for us. The health education officer, who I worked with a great deal and who was a good friend to Richard and I, was killed in a drunken driving accident over the previous weekend. The funeral was held last Sunday and over two hundred people came. Besides his family, he left behind a young son. Drunk driving is actually quite common in Botswana and the second highest reason for orphan hood after HIV/AIDS. Unfortunately, this is not an issue that receives enough attention.

The funeral was held in Ikoga, which is about thirty minutes north of Gumare. Traditionally, there are prayers every night leading up to a funeral, which can occur up to a week after the death. The evening before the funeral, the casket is picked up from the funeral parlor and mourners follow the casket to the family’s house. The mourners stay up late into the night praying. In the morning at 5AM, there is a viewing, and then the body is buried at 6AM. Women must cover their heads and wear a skirt/dress to the funeral. The family feeds everyone in the days leading up to the funeral.

Richard and I will be home for a visit in less than two weeks. We are very excited to see our families and friends. It will be interesting going from our village to NYC for those weeks we are home. Richard is already planning all his meals. I will be spending some time looking at PhD programs while I’m home, but I have to admit, I’ll also be spending a lot time planning for the next meal.

It is really starting to warm up here. June and July are the coldest months and September and October are the hottest months so we just watch the thermometer rise every day in August. We have actually been seeing quite a few elephants along the road near Gumare. Last week, when we were going to Xakao for a meeting, we saw a herd of females and babies about 30kms away.

I’ve been helping the Rehabilitation Officer, who works with people living with disabilities, write a big grant to create programming for people with disabilities. Unfortunately, people living with disabilities do not have much access to services and education and are often stigmatized due to traditional beliefs around the nature of disability. For example, many people in our area believe that disability is the result of witchcraft. Most rarely leave their houses and for those are physically handicapped; it is difficult to get around on the sandy terrain.

Richard is making progress on his basket. He is trying hard to finish before we go home. I suspect that the women at the basket co-op add on to it when he isn’t looking. Richard and I are still working on data inputting for our GIS mapping project, but we are making progress. We haven’t had too much trouble gathering the data we need. We are also planning for a health fair in Xakao, across the river, which will take place after we return in September. As a follow-up to the Employee Wellness Day I helped work on in May, I am now on the Workplace Wellness Program committee, which I really enjoy. School is out for most of August so we will resume mentoring and other school activities when we return.

2009-08-02T06:43:00.000-04:00

It has been over a month since I last posted a blog entry. July was a very busy month. We had our mid service training in Molepolole. This was the first time I’ve seen many people in our Bots 7 group since our last training in September – it was nice to catch up with everyone. We had 3 days of training, including a language test, and a day of check-up medical/dental appointments.

After returning from Molepolole, my college friend Jen came for a visit. I took two days off of work so I could show her the Caprivi Strip in Namibia, which is very close to Gumare. Luckily, my birthday fell over a four day weekend, so this was a perfect opportunity to relax and show Jen around the area. She also got to experience village life, as she spent a few days in Gumare and I took her to a malaria event in Tsau, a village about 120km away. She was my first (and probably only) visitor and I was happy to see her and show her where I live.

The weather was very cold in July. We bundled up in layers and we were still cold, especially at night. The temperature was in the low 40’s in the early morning and mid-60s during the day. It is now starting to get warmer – actually at an alarming pace. I’m quite sure that it will be very hot again in a few weeks. Unfortunately, September and October are by far the hottest, most uncomfortable months. The good news is that my chameleon has hung around all winter and is still living in my front yard.

We continue to work on several ongoing projects. Right now, Richard and I gathering health data, such as HIV, TB, STIs, Malaria, Mother to Child Transmission, and Unavailability of Medicine for our sub-district and entering the data in excel spreadsheets. We are then going to use the data to make a GIS map, which looks at health trends in the area and where resources need to be targeted. We are also planning a health fair in Xakao and I am collaborating with a NGO in Shakawe to do a Needs Assessment of adolescent orphans. In addition, my Orphan Caregiver’s paper bead jewelry group is starting to sell to Mothers for All – they have made amazing progress.

This time next month, we will be in the United States for a visit. Looking forward to it!!!

2009-06-24T05:24:00.000-04:00

Monday was Richard and I’s 6th anniversary. Since there are no fancy restaurants, (though we do love the Chicken House take-away), it was a pretty low-key day. Friday was our 1st anniversary in Gumare, which was also a pretty uneventful day. Time really does fly, though.

The weather has gotten much colder, which means winter has arrived. There has been quite a decrease in bugs, to the detriment of the chameleon that has happily taken up residence on the bush in our front yard. Chameleons aren’t usual visible in winter – many believe they hibernate – so he is a welcome surprise, especially since he has stayed for over two weeks. I try to help him out by gathering grasshoppers and he thanks me by extending his long tongue. Funny enough, the UN volunteer found him in her back yard. She called me to collect him and said that it is a belief in Botswana that when you see a chameleon, it will rain. Sure enough, it rained the next day and a couple days after that, which is unusual for this time of year.

Richard has been learning to weave a basket and he is progressing quite well. He provides the ladies at the basket co-op in our village with a lot of entertainment, though they have been quite helpful and patient with him. The women in our area make beautiful baskets and Richard and I have spent a good portion of our living allowance buying them. Richard is actually helping the women assemble a catalog right now, in exchange for the basket-making lessons. The bead-making project for orphan caregivers is progressing well. There are 7 women in the group. Last week, 2 women from the Mothers-for-All NGO came and taught them how to assemble different types of jewelry. Hopefully, they will be able to start selling the jewelry next week.

June 16th marked International Day of the African Child, which commemorates this date in 1976 when hundreds of black school children were shot in Soweto, South Africa, as they demanded their right to equal, quality education in their own language. This day also brings attention to children’s rights, such as the right to education, health, lack of poverty, etc, in Africa. This day is celebrated in most schools in Botswana. Our office sponsored a commemoration in XaiXai, a mostly San village near the Namibia border. Richard attended the event, while I went to the celebrations at the Primary School and Junior Secondary Schools in our village. I keep forgetting that every time I go to an event at the primary school, they ask me and the other PCV in Gumare to lead an activity, without time to prepare. We ended up teaching (i.e. demonstrating in front of the whole school) the Hokey Pokey. I’m not sure if the kids got more fun out of learning the Hokey Pokey or watching us – actually I know the answer .

2009-05-31T04:09:00.000-04:00

Time has been flying as usual. It is June tomorrow, which means we have been at our site for almost a year now. When we were in training, the PCVs that came before us kept telling us how the second year of service gets much easier and is much more enjoyable. I definitely am comfortable at my site now and have established good relationships with co-workers and others. These relationships definitely took a long time to develop, but have been worth the effort.

I just finished spending a week in Molepolole with the new group of PCVs who arrived in April and who will be in training for another 3 weeks. I was there for peer support since I am on the Peer Support and Diversity Network. The new group was amazing and asked lots of great questions. They had their site placement yesterday so they now know where they will placed. We will have a few new people in our area, which we are excited about.

It was interesting to think that we were in training this time last year, dealing with all the frustrations that go along with it. Training was definitely the hardest part of the last year. However, spending time with training staff this week, made me realize what a hard job they have. While in Molepolole, I stopped by and visited my host family. They were very happy to see me and told me how fat I have gotten (a complement here).

Richard was in Gaborone the week before me. He was helping to set up an internal Botswana website for PCVs as part of the PCV ICT (Information, Communication, Technology) committee. While he was in Gaborone, he was invited to the Gaborone Senior Secondary School (GSS) to talk to a Business class and answer their questions for a couple of hours. I have been working with the Tommie who teaches the class, as well as computer classes, at GSS. Tommie has helped start several Students Against Malaria groups in Botswana and teaches students ICT skills. We invited him to train a group of students in Gumare and he was finally able to come a couple of weeks ago. Tommie is very dynamic and the students really respond to him. Unfortunately, the internet is still not hooked up at Gumare’s junior secondary school so Tommie wasn’t able to show the ICT skills, like how to communicate with students around the world about issues like HIV and Malaria, that he would have liked. Richard has been working the 2 last weekends, though, to demonstrate the internet and sign students up for email in his office at the RAC. Hopefully, when the internet is working at Gumare’s junior secondary school, the students in this new group will be able to communicate with other students around the world about their work.

The women I am working with in the Orphan Caregivers beadmaking group are becoming very good at making beads out of paper from magazine, boxes, etc. In a couple more weeks, they will be given the equipment from the NGO Mothers for All to make jewelry with the beads and the NGO will start buying from them. The women in the group are wonderful and very enthusiastic.

Richard has started helping the local basket co-op with business development. A couple of the women are actually teaching Richard how to weave a basket, which is fun to watch. Richard and I have also started mentoring 4 students each at the junior secondary school, which we hope will be a valuable experience for them.

2009-05-09T06:55:00.002-04:00

The last month has sped by. We had a very nice 10 day vacation in Namibia. We went to the capital of Windhoek, the big sand dunes at Sossusvlei, the seaside resort town of Swakopmund, the rock paintings at Twyfelfontien, Brandberg Mountain, and Etosha National Park. We camped most of the nights, except in Windhoek and Swakopmund. I really enjoyed seeing how beautiful the desert can be. We saw lots of creatures like chameleons, a sidewinder, geckos, weird insects, etc. Namibia is very beautiful and much more hilly/mountainous compared to Botswana. We really liked Etosha National Park because you can just sit by the watering holes at the camps and see tons of animals like rhinos, elephants, warthogs, lions, zebras, etc. without having to get in a car and drive around for hours.

Since we returned from Namibia, we have been busy. The bead making group, sponsored by Mothers for All, for orphan caregivers has been trained and the women are working hard at practicing making jewelry from magazines and other types of paper. We finally had the Employee Wellness fair on Thursday and it went very well. Lots of people came for HIV testing, BP screening, Diabetes screening, BMI calculation, oral health screening, eye screening and information on STIs, nutrition, breast cancer, cervical cancer, etc. I was elected as the one to give nutritional information, while Richard did the opening prayer.

Last weekend was a three day weekend so we went to the Maun music festival. We had a great time connecting with friends. This week, we had a couple from the new Peace Corps group shadow us for a few days. We took them, along with the District AIDS Coordinator and a couple other volunteers, to Tsodilo Hills yesterday to see the San rock art paintings. They also got a good view of how the area has flooded because the water was all the way to the road in some spots. The water in our house is still going on and off. Even though the rainy season is over, it rained a few times in the last week, though the flooding is coming from Angola.

2009-04-15T05:39:00.000-04:00

A wonderful thing happened this weekend- we got water back in our village. There has been a lot of flooding in the Okavango because of heavy rains in Angola and DRC. Several villages in the area are heavily flooded and we hear there is more to come. We are not close enough to the water to be flooded; however, the water plant in Sepopa, which supplies our water, flooded a couple of weeks ago. As a result, we didn’t have water in Gumare for two weeks. We are luckier than most because we have a Jo-Jo, which collects rainwater, in our yard as an alternate source of water. We have been sharing with people in the village who do not have an alternate source, although we have to be careful not to run out of water all together. Unfortunately, the toilets at work weren’t working and there was no alternate place (i.e. pit latrine) to go the bathroom all day. The village finally got the back-up generator up and running this weekend so we have water now, although off and on.

We had a 4 day weekend because of Good Friday and Easter Monday. We spent a couple days in Maun visiting friends and hanging out, then spent a couple days reading and relaxing at home. We are headed to Namibia this weekend for vacation for a little over a week. Although we are sad it’s not Madagascar, it is still much needed time away.

This weekend marks one year in Botswana. I can’t believe how time flew!!! The new group (Bots 8) will be arriving this weekend for their 2 month training and most of the group that arrived the year before us (Bots 6) will be leaving at the end of next month.

May will be a busy month. I arranged for teacher from Gaborone, who does work with the Malaria Foundation, come do malaria training for 25 students at the junior secondary school so they can form a Students Against Malaria group and provide education in the community. Then a NGO called Mothers for All, started by a PCV, will be coming to train 2 groups of 6 orphan caregivers in Gumare on how to make beads from magazines and paper for the purpose of income generation. We are hoping to get those groups going strong after the initial training. We are also holding an Employee Wellness Day in May, which I am helping organize. The schools are on break now until the first week in May so I hope to get the GLOW club going again when the students return. I am fundraising now for a regional GLOW camp in our district in August so I have been doing a lot of calling and emailing around for that.

more MYAA

2009-03-27T05:21:00.001-04:00

Month of Youth Against AIDS (MYAA) is wrapping up. The second week of March, we hosted a HIV/AIDS Youth Forum in Gumare. We had 31 students show up. Surprisingly, it wasn’t hard to get students to come on a weekend. The teachers attribute it to boredom, although I think part of it has to do with the fact that the teachers tell them they have to come. 2 other PCVs and 2 counselors from the Gumare Counseling Center help facilitate the workshop.

We used interactive, learning activities and games to teach the students about HIV myths versus facts, risky behaviors that transmit HIV, how HIV affects the immune system, and how HIV spreads through sexual networks. The students also learned about topics like STIs, the ABCs of HIV prevention, healthy living, behavior change, gender-based violence, decision-making and communication skills. Discussion was especially animated around topics such as Love, Sex, and Dating and Gender. We also did condom demonstrations; unfortunately, there is nowhere for youth to access condoms, even though 33% of 15-29 year olds are HIV positive and 33% of all pregnancies in our district are teenage pregnancies. Some of the issues that the students brought up as problems in schools were teachers who have sex with students and young girls having sex with men in the village for “presents”. At the end of the forum, the students discussed how HIV/AIDS affects their community and strategies they can use to help work against HIV/AIDS in their school and in Gumare.

Last weekend, Richard, the other PCV in Gumare, and I helped the GLOW/PACT club at the primary school do two mural projects to commemorate Month of Youth Against AIDS. One of the murals carried this year’s MYAA message One Me, One Partner, One Life (which is aimed towards reducing multiple, concurrent sexual partnerships that are fueling the HIV epidemic here) and the other one was a AIDS ribbon with We Want Life written in Setswana. The kids were very proud of the murals when they were done. Next week, they are going to do a drama and read a poem to the school to teach the other students about HIV/AIDS.

Things in the office have really picked up for me. I am usually busy during the morning/afternoon. We have been working on reports, following up on the Child Welfare Networking Forum by creating a directory for our area, etc. There will also be an Ark for Children Therapy Camp for orphans, sponsored by our office, next month. I’ve also been trying to get funds to hold a GLOW regional camp in our district in August. I am also helping the Health Education Officer plan an Employee Wellness Fair in May. We have already assembled a committee to help us arrange activities. Richard has been busy helping his office coordinate all the MYAA activities going on this month, as well as prepare for the upcoming quarterly TAC (Technical Advisory Committee for the DMSAC) and the District Multisectoral AIDS Committee. He is also working to raise funds to renovate the village’s community center so people have a social outlet, other than bars, and kids can relieve some of their boredom.

I have been going to the schools in the late afternoons, a few times a week, to work with the PACT/GLOW clubs at the primary school and the junior secondary school. I am also starting to mentor seven Form 3 (equiv to 9th, 10th grade) students from the Junior Secondary School. Richard is also mentoring four Form 3 students. Hopefully in May, I will be able to get a Students Against Malaria group going once the students are trained by a teacher who will come from Gaborone.

The weather is starting to get a lot cooler now since it is almost winter. It goes down to the low 60s at night, which is nice because I no longer start sweating the minute I get out of the shower. It makes sleeping a lot more pleasant. We are still fighting to get a refund for our plane tickets to Madagascar, but it doesn’t look promising. I think we are planning to go to Namibia next month instead. We finally bought our plane tickets to visit home in September. We will arrive in NYC on September 1 and leave September 14th. We are really looking forward to seeing our family and friends, as well as eating at all our favorite restaurantsJ

For those who are keeping tabs, we are up to 3 dogs and a cat. The third dogs we dubbed Not Our Dog even though he is looking mighty comfortable in our front yard these days. Unfortunately, all three dogs (two have been in our yard since we moved in) are dogs people left behind when they moved. Since they are very loyal to us, we don’t have the heart to eject them from our yard; however, we don’t claim ownership. I guess it doesn’t help that we go around collecting scraps for them whenever we can (they refuse dog food).

MYAA

2009-03-11T11:06:00.001-04:00

It is Month of Youth Against Aids in Botswana so we have been busy with several events in our district. Last weekend, we did a mural project with the PACT/GLOW club at the junior secondary school. First, the students had an art contest to pick a winning drawing. They then took the winning drawing and sketched it on a wall at the school. Finally, on Saturday, the club members took turns painting the mural. It was a fun day of painting, playing Frisbee, and having a group discussion about HIV/AIDS. It started raining in the afternoon, but luckily we were able to get the majority of the painting done.

On Friday, we will be attending an HIV/AIDS event for students at the junior secondary school in Sepopa. This weekend, we will be facilitating a 2 day HIV/AIDS Youth Forum in Gumare for 30 junior secondary students. Next weekend, we are going to have the PACT club members from the junior secondary school help the PACT club members at the primary school paint a mural.

On Thursday and Friday, February 26 and 27th, we held the Child Welfare Networking Forum in Shakawe at the Fishing Lodge. After weeks of preparation, the two days went very well. We had 28 people come, representing S&CD, the DAC office, and 10 NGOs involved with orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) in our district. There were a lot of relevant discussions about how NGOs can work with each other and come together as one voice to advocate for OVCs. This was also an opportunity for S&CD (Social and Community Development office- gov. organization that provides benefits and services to OVCs and their caregivers) to clarify some issues pertaining to its role. The forum ended on a positive note, with all organizations expressing interest in meeting again in the near future, although no specific action plan was created. We are now working on a directory so that the organizations have each others’ information, including focus area and services offered, so it will facilitate referrals in the future.

The Saturday after the forum ended, Botshelo Trust, the NGO I was working with to produce the Child Welfare Networking Forum, sponsored an event called Shakawe Music Festival/Have a Heart for Kids day. At this event, all the NGO’s who came to the networking event had a booth where they provided information about their organization to the public. There was also talent show and traditional dancing, which people enjoyed. Unfortunately, it ended up raining quite a bit and the star act Chris Monto7 ended up backing out at the last minute.

The weather has not been nice for the last week. It has been raining heavily nearly every day. As a result, the roads have been hard to walk on because of all the mud and huge puddles of water. Luckily, the temperature has cooled as a result of the rain.

Sadly, my planned trip to Madagascar next month has to be cancelled due to the riots that have been happening in the capital. Peace Corps could not approve our trip due to safety concerns. I was really looking forward to seeing all the creatures (especially the chameleons and lemurs). We are not sure if we will go somewhere else yet, although we will be ready for a little R&R in the near future  The good news is that Jen P. has booked her flight and will be come visiting us in July, which will be a nice birthday present.

2009-02-23T08:10:00.000-05:00

The weather seems to be getting a little cooler now, although it is still hot. Since it is still the rainy season, there are occasional downpours which leave huge puddles of mud. I’ve never seen rain come down as it does here in Botswana. We are still dealing with occasional power outages because of shortages of electricity from Namibia. For example, our electricity was out all day yesterday. Since the water pumps, which also filter the water, run by electricity, we also lose water when the power is out for more than a few hours. When the power goes out during the work week, it is hard to get work done at the Rural Administration Center (RAC) where I work. Luckily, the power outages usually occur on weekends. When they do occur during the week, they usually post signs alerting what times the electricity will be out.

Richard is very proud that vegetables are now starting to grow in our yard. His watermelons are getting quite big and the tomatoes plants have started to sprout. We have also been working on getting a nice garden growing in our front yard. We occasionally have to get our yard cleared because all the weeds grow fast and big during the rainy season. It is nice to see everything green though because during the dry season, everything is brown. I had a happy moment this morning when I walked out and there was a chameleon staring at me in the tree in our backyard.

Work has really picked up for Richard and I. Richard really enjoyed his workshop in Lesotho in which he gained lots of ideas for technology projects aimed at HIV/AIDS. He is hoping to pass these ideas on to our fellow PCVs in Botswana. For instance, using soda cans to give cell phone coverage to places without network. This goes along with a project that uses SMSs (text messages) to remind people to take ARVs.

We have several projects planned for the Month of Youth next month. We are going to do HIV/AIDS mural projects with the primary and junior secondary schools as well as a weekend HIV/AIDS youth forum in Gumare, in which we are going to provide HIV/AIDS education and have the youth come up for strategies for combating HIV/AIDS in the community.

I’ve been going back and forth to Shakawe to help plan a Child Welfare Networking Forum in which all the local NGOs and government offices will meet to strategize on how they can cooperate and work together. The event will finally occur on Thursday and Friday this week, followed by a musical festival on Saturday where all the organizations will have stalls to present their organizations to the public. I’m hoping that after all the work we put into planning, that things work out smoothly.

We have also been planning health fairs. This week, we went to Gudigwa, the furthermost village in our district. It involves going to Shakawe, crossing the river by ferry, then driving down an un-tarred, bumpy road for 2.5 hours then returning, all in one day. We tried to go on Thursday, but the ferry wasn’t working because someone forgot to anchor it and it floated away and they were working on retrieving it. Instead, we ended up doing the trip on Friday, leaving at 6AM, getting back at 6:30. We were hoping to do a health fair there in a few weeks, but we will have to wait until next quarter because they want more time to set up their Village Multi-sectoral AIDS Committee (VMSAC). There will, however, be a health fair in Ngarange, also across the river but much closer than Gudigwa, in the first week of March.

There has been a lot of focus on malaria since our district has the highest rate in Botswana. Several organizations, along with our district health team, are doing door to door bednet distribution in our district. I’ve sat in on one of their planning meetings. The plan is having teams go out to the villages in three stages: first to educate and sensitize, second to distribute the bednets, and third to make sure the people are using the nets. Last time I was in Gaborone, I met up with a wonderful and devoted teacher who has started Students Against Malaria groups in Botswana. He invited me to go out with a group of students from Maun two weekends ago to a village called Shorobe. The students formed teams to go house to house to educate families on malaria and ways of prevention. Tommie and I are hoping to start a group the local junior secondary school in Gumare in the next couple of months. I’ve been coordinating with the Health Education Officer for our district to find out where are students will be most useful (which right now looks like working with students at other schools).

2009-02-05T04:19:00.000-05:00

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.

2009-01-09T07:57:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!!! New Year’s Day in Botswana is a big holiday. It is a time to get together with your family, braii (barbeque- since it is summer here and not cold and snowy), eat, and celebrate. New Year’s Eve was actually very uneventful since most of the celebrating is done here on New Year’s Day.

Since it was a 4 day weekend because of the New Year’s holiday, we decided to go on a mokoro (dug-out canoe) trip through Back to the Bridge Backpackers in Maun. It was a lot of fun, as we got to camp overnight on an island in the Okavango Delta and do bush-walks. We were able to see giraffe, elephant, zebra, wildebeest, waterbuck, hippos, all kinds of great birds, etc. Plus, I’ve always wanted to try riding in a mokoro, which is made from a large tree and is a traditional form of transport in the delta’s waterways.

Our Christmas was also very nice- quiet and relaxing. We had a PCV friend come visit us. We took a couple day trips around the area, including a boat ride in Shakawe, where saw lots of hippos, crocs, and birds, a visit to a crocodile farm, and a boat ride in Sepopa. There was a huge storm on Christmas Eve so we didn’t have power that night. We also lost power for most of Boxing Day and the day after. Our neighborhood was quite empty Christmas weekend through New Year’s weekend because everyone went home to their home villages to visit family.

The last two weeks of December were very quiet in the office since many of our co-workers took their annual leave and the schools were out for the month. Now that it is a New Year, we have started planning for the months to come. We are going to try to do a health fair in Gudigwa (a remote village on the other side of the delta from us), another Sexual Health celebration in either Gumare or Seronga, a regional GLOW camp, a fish-a-thon for PLWHAs (people living with HIV/AIDS), and an orphan stakeholders workshop. We will also be taking a week vacation at the end of January for a little R&R and diving in the Red Sea. When we get back from vacation, Richard is going to Lesotho for a sub-regional Peace Corps meeting on how to use informational and technology to address HIV/AIDs.

2008-12-18T09:00:00.001-05:00

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.

2008-12-05T09:14:00.000-05:00

It’s hard to believe it is only three weeks to Christmas. Since it’s been so hot here, it has been hard to get into the Christmas spirit. It may be also be due to the lack of thousands of Christmas lights on people’s houses and blow up santas on people’s lawn. For Christmas, we are expecting a few other Peace Corps volunteers to come celebrate with us in Gumare.

We spent the weekend before Thanksgiving in Maun at a Peace Corps regional meeting. We stayed at Audi Camp, a nice camp with permanent tents with attached bathrooms. We met with other PCV’s from the Okavango, Maun, and Ghanzi districts to share what has been going well and what has not been going well, as well as strategies. It was good to see the other PCV’s in the area and find out how they are doing and what they are working on. It was also good to eat real food- I must say I do miss restaurants at times. That Sunday, we found a cheap flight (resident rate) from Maun to Kasane. We flew on a very small plane (Cessna) that did not feel so sturdy, especially when it started to rain. I was gripping on for dear life, but we made it in one piece.

Once we got to Kasane, we had “language week.” We stayed with one of the volunteers in Kasane, who a very nice view of Chobe river from her front door, and had language lessons with a Peace Corps language instructor and 4 other volunteers (three from Kasane and one from Nata) from Monday to Friday. It was very helpful to have more Setswana lessons because I feel that as hard as I try, my Setswana is not improving as fast as I would like. On Friday, we had a half day of Setswana lessons so we were able to fit a game drive in very early in the morning and a boat cruise on the Chobe in the evening. We saw lots of creatures like elephants, a lion, African buffalo, a jackal, hippos, crocs, monitor lizards, meercats, big birds, etc. We took the bus back to Gumare on Saturday. Actually it took us three buses and 14 hours to get home, but it was worth the trip.

We had a very nice Thanksgiving in Kasane. There was no turkey, but we had chicken, mashed potatoes, stuffing, veggies, etc. It was nice to share the day with friends since we couldn’t be with our families. We all got to talk to our families that day though, which was nice.

Tomorrow, I am headed to GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) camp in Gaborone. I am going with a teacher and four junior secondary school girls for the week so the girls can learn how to be leaders and peer educators, with an emphasis on gender equality and HIV/AIDS. It was a bitter fight to the end (yesterday) wading through bureaucracy to get transportation to Gaborone, but we will be on our way tomorrow.

Pula!

2008-11-18T04:56:00.000-05:00

Pula! Pula is the Setswana word for rain. Since rain is very important in such a dry, desert climate as Botswana, the word pula is often seen and used. For example, the word pula appears on the official Botswana seal. Also, at the end of speeches, people often yell “pula!” The rainy season has begun and it has cooled off slightly. We have been having occasional thunderstorms and downpours. By December, I’m told the rains will come almost daily. Millipedes have appeared everywhere- they are even more plentiful than earthworms after a rainstorm in the US.

I finally found a chameleon on Sunday. I have been looking everywhere for one since I was told they are plentiful in this area. However, many people in this region are afraid of chameleons and consider them evil. Many of the children will even try to kill them if they see them. After extensive searching, it turned out that one was in a tree right in my backyard. He was using his long tongue to capture millipedes and he was camouflaged beautifully with the tree’s leaves. He turned about 5 different shades and hissed when I tried to touch him. Richard recently had his second elephant pack sighting over a week ago. He saw them both times while he was in the car between our village and the next village to the south. The elephants come to this area in search of water.

Since the rains have started, we will be starting our vegetable garden soon. Yesterday, my counterpart’s 9 year old son helped us plant watermelon. We have also been collecting plant clippings so we can expand our plant/flower garden. Having a garden is especially exciting since I haven’t had my own yard in over ten years.

I spent last week in D’Kar, which is a San (sometimes known as Bushman) village in the Kalahari. Myself and 3 other PCVs were helping the PCV in D’Kar with data from a health seeking behaviour survey. It was interesting to the see the data (some of which was from villages in our district) and also spend time in another village. D’Kar is home to a large NGO called Kuru, which works with the San and other minority groups in Botswana. You can find some beautiful crafts in D’Kar such as paintings and ostrich eggshell jewellery.

While I was in D’Kar, Richard spent a couple of days in Shakawe at Drotsky’s cabins, helping prepare the annual District HIV/AIDS report and next year’s DMSAC activities budget proposal. We are hoping to get funding to do activities like an orphan needs assessment for the district, as well as life skills camps. On Saturday, we will be in Maun for a Peace Corps regional meeting, and then we will be in Kasane all next week for a language workshop.

2008-10-29T07:54:00.000-04:00

Right now we are in the hottest time of the year, where it is over 100 degrees during the day and still in the 80’s at night. We did have a brief rain shower the weekend before last. It was the first rain I’ve seen since leaving the United States over 6 months ago. Recent creature sightings include a small scorpion in our bedroom last week, as well as a plethora of other bugs.

Richard’s office has been busy preparing for the next fiscal year. Richard was working on our district’s HIV/AIDS profile for the 2 day evidence based planning workshop we had two weeks ago. At the planning workshop, DMSAC (District Multi-Sectoral AIDS Committee) members got together and used statistics from the district HIV/AIDS profile to help identify the five most pressing issues to focus on in our district during the next fiscal year, as well as select objectives and activities that address these issues. The 5 chosen issues for our district include High Teenage Pregnancy, Low HIV testing rates, Low Participation of Men in HIV/AIDS, Myths and Misconceptions, and high rates of STI’s.

Richard is now busy helping organize a health fair in Qangwa, which is a small village near the Namibian border. The health fair is this weekend so we will be camping out on Friday night so we can help run interactive HIV/AIDS educational games with the other Peace Corps volunteers from our area on Saturday.

Last weekend, I attended a two day workshop in Maun. A local junior secondary teacher and I applied to bring 4 girls to a GLOW camp in December so the workshop was to teach the two of us and other selected Peace Corps volunteers and local leaders how to facilitate educational sessions at the camp. GLOW stand for Girls Leading Our World (though there is also a Guys Leading Our World) and is an initiative to create adolescent leaders who can teach peers about HIV/AIDS and gender-based violence. I really excited that our 4 girls were chosen since it such a great opportunity for them.

We finally got our new kitten who Richard named Oscar. It is 2.5 months old and very cute (although our dogs seem to want to kill it). Cats are not popular pets in Botswana because some people associate them with bad luck. Richard is hoping the cat becomes good at killing snakes and bugs.

2008-10-09T08:57:00.001-04:00

Being in the Peace Corps has given me the chance to catch up on reading. I am finally reading all the books I wanted to read before I came to Botswana, but did not have the time for. I’ve read over 30 books so far and Richard has also read quite a few. Both Richard and I are working our way through the Harry Potter books right now. I’ve also read through the Number 1 Ladies’ Detective Club series, which takes place in Botswana, in addition to a variety of other books. We share books with other Peace Corps volunteers, especially those close to us in the Delta, so we have a pretty good book exchange going on here in Botswana.

Since we live in a government neighborhood, most of our neighbors have satellite television so when kids come to our house, they are fascinated by the fact that we don’t have TV or video games systems (which they think all Americans have). There are even more amazed when they discover that we like to read for fun.

We’ve actually been busy on the weekends since a lot of events are scheduled on weekends. Last Saturday, Richard and I went to a PACT club (which focuses on HIV/AIDS) workshop at the secondary school. I actually had to give a talk on decision- making skills, which I had little time to prepare since I just found out about it that day. On Sunday, we borrowed a braai (barbeque) stand and grilled some chicken and meat with friends.

Now that it has gotten very hot, we have been seeing a lot more critters. There are definitely a lot more insects, including the baby wall spiders which seemed to have hatched in our house. Luckily the wall spiders are harmless, don’t use webs, and chase smaller bugs to eat. Everyone except us seems to now have big huge geckos in their houses- of course we are one of the few that actually want them in our place since I have a love of lizards.

Richard and I actually heard the sad new that Bacchus, who was our pet iguana of almost 5 years, passed away in New York this week (he was being cared for by a foster family while we are gone). Also, we are down to two dogs now. Our 6 month old puppy Peba went to go live at a co-worker’s cattle post because she was getting into too much trouble in town. She was chasing goats and donkeys, barking at everyone on our street, and was following us to work and going into offices to bark at our co-workers. I am told she is doing well, is well-fed, and is a perfect fit for the cattle post.

We are now dealing with almost daily water outages, especially during the weekends. We’ve learned to get up early to do our wash on Sundays before the water goes out later in the morning. We also keep bottles of water filled, as well as pots for cooking and the tea kettle. Since we are usually sweaty and dirty at the end of the day, we just bucket bathe when the water goes out in the evening. We have a big water tank called a Jo-Jo that is hooked to our gutter to collect rainwater during the rainy season so we have back-up during the dry season. However, the water is not drinkable and used only for bathing, washing, and cooking.

2008-10-02T04:06:00.001-04:00

It has gotten very hot as we roll into summer. When it first started getting warmer, the nights remained cool. Not anymore- it is already in the mid to high 70’s as we walk to work at 7AM and it is still in the mid to high 80’s when we get home around 5PM. At night, we have to lay on top of the covers with the fan on us. I am told that when the rains arrive around December, it will cool down a bit.

Tuesday was Botswana Independence Day so there was no work. Richard and I went to Etsha 6 to help with a 4km marathon for Men’s Sector. Afterwards, Richard and I hung at with a couple of the PCV’s who were also helping with the event. In many of the smaller villages, everyone meets at the kgotla in the morning on Independence Day for speeches, traditional dancing, and food. Later in the day, everyone parties and there are small bonfires. I am told that in the larger cities, there are bigger festivities, as well as fireworks. The day after Independence Day was also a public holiday so there was no work that day either.

There have been wildfires burning in our area. You can see the giant clouds of smoke from our village. There are no organized fire departments/volunteers here so when there are fires, all able bodied citizens (men and women) are expected to help fight the flames. On Monday, there were very few people at work since it was the day before a two day holiday, but the ones who were there were called away to help fight the fire.

On Saturday, Richard and I went with another DMSAC member to Qangwa and Xai-Xai in the western part of our district, near the Namibian border, to meet with the Village Development Committees and the VMSACs about setting about a Health/AIDS fair on November 1. The only way to get out there is by a 120 km gravel road. Both villages are mostly composed of San and Herero peoples and there is no cell phone reception or electricity. We did get to see the Aha Hills which are beautiful rolling hills in the middle of the flatness of the desert. There are supposed to be some impressive caves in the area, which we hopefully get to see in the future.

2008-09-21T06:30:00.002-04:00

Richard and I are finally both back in Gumare. Richard and I went to Kanye, in the south of the country, for Peace Corps In-Service Training. Richard started a week before me- we only overlapped for three days. We were both in Kanye for a total of a week and a half- Richard’s DAC (District AIDS Coordinator) group had training with the Life Skills group and my CCB (Community Capacity Building) group had training with the NGO group. Our Bots7 group went in two shifts because there are over 50 of us (minus the few that have returned home since we arrived in Botswana). Richard got back last Friday and I got back this Thursday. Kanye is very pretty- there are flowering trees, lots of monkeys, a gorge, hills and boulders, and a reservoir. It is very different looking from Gumare, which is sandy, flat, without many tall trees (not that I love it any less).

During our Peace Corps service, we will have several in-service training sessions, where we will get additional language training, as well as lectures on topics of need/interest (some more useful than others). They are also an opportunity to reconnect with other volunteers from our Bots7 group and share our experiences. Having more language training was definitely useful this time because it re-inspired me to make the effort to improve my Setswana. Setswana is a very difficult language and it is easy to get lazy about learning it when so many people speak English. However, many meetings are carried out in Setswana and people are more open with you when you make an effort at using Setswana.

Getting to Kanye took two days of travel for us. Although Botswana has relatively good tarred roads, the distances are long between villages on the sparsely populated west side of the country. There are only between 1.7-1.8 million people in a country the size of Texas- there is actually more cattle than people. For us to get to Kanye (south-east) from Gumare (northwest), we have to take two buses (about 5-6 hours not counting waiting time) to get to Ghanzi, where we spend the night with a friend. From Ghanzi, it is another 6-7 hours on the bus. Many people in Botswana hitch-hike because the buses are infrequent (once or twice a day for long-distant buses) and expensive because prices keep rising with the increasing price of petrol. Hitching-hiking is safe and often necessary here in Botswana. Buses tend to get crowded and hot at times. There is a myth among some people that if you open the windows, you will let sickness in, though I have not experienced this in practice often.

Since Botswana is one of the most prosperous countries in Africa, it is sometimes hard to reconcile what is just beneath the surface of this very traditional country. Many people still believe in witchcraft and hold onto myths as truth. Although many people live in concrete houses, drive cars, watch satellite television, and shop at supermarkets, many more still live in mud huts, drive donkey carts, have no electricity and get their water from outside taps. Despite all the money poured into HIV/AIDS, new cases of HIV/AIDS have barely decreased and the country still has the second highest rate in the world.

There are many theories as to why HIV/AIDS has not been decreasing much in Botswana. One of the theories is that people are becoming desensitized to HIV/AIDS messages since they are so many out there. Second, ARVs are free and now widely available (although not everywhere- my district being a prime example) so HIV/AIDS appears to be a manageable disease since there are no longer funerals almost every day. Also, alcohol abuse is rampant and this leads to problems such as making poor decisions about sex. Additionally, until now, prevention campaigns have focused very little on one of the main drivers of HIV/AIDS in Botswana - multiple concurrent partners. People here do not have more partners than the rest of the world; however, instead of serial monogamy, there is an overlapping of partners. A campaign has recently been rolled out that focuses on the reduction of “small houses” (the term given to multiple partners at the same time). Although the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission program has been effective at reducing the number of infected babies dramatically, many women who know they are HIV positive are still having multiple pregnancies and supplies of baby formula often run out.

The weekend Richard returned from Kanye, a British NGO came to Gumare for two days to provide free vet care. Richard and a Dutch ex-pat went door to door to try to get as many dogs spayed/neutered as possible. We were fortunate to get our three dogs fixed for free. We are down to three dogs since the ex-PCV’s dog Skye moved to Katie’s (the other PCV in Gumare) new house. Richard has been busy since he got back helping plan a health fair that occurred this weekend in a small village called Habu. He has also been teaching kids in our neighborhood how to play a Japanese card game called Yu-Gi-Oh.

On Friday, Richard and I helped three other PCVs with a sexual health fair in Etsha 6, which is about 30 km from us. The three PCVs previously did a similar fair in Shakawe. The fairs are very successful because they provide sexual health education through interactive games, such as HIV/AIDS jeopardy, High/Low/No risk, Myth vs Fact, condom races, etc. It was a very fun day for all involved and the kids seemed to learn a lot through the games. The plan is to have one of these fairs in each of our villages.

It has become increasingly hot here as we move into summer. I like to say that someone has been turning the thermostat up. Of course, everyone has been telling us that we haven’t seen the worst yet- pretty scary since we are already in the mid-to-high 80’s. We have been seeing different kinds of birds and animals now. Unfortunately, there have been some black mamba snake sightings. Recently, our water has been going out several times a week, for hours at a time, so we keep bottles of water on hand. The weekend that Richard was on his way to Kanye and I was home, there was no water or electricity for two days. Electricity is a precious commodity that we import from South Africa (which is short of it itself) so rolling outages do occur. Unfortunately, our water pumps in Gumare are powered by electricity so when the electricity goes out, so does the water.

2008-08-22T10:26:00.002-04:00

It is starting to warm up here in Botswana. We are now entering spring. I’m starting to get a little concerned by all the reports about how hot it gets here. Apparently, by late September and October, it is uncomfortably hot and you just sweat all the time. We are trying to mentally prepare ourselves, as I have noticed that the temperature goes up almost a degree each day. Apparently, with the coming heat, then the rains in Dec./Jan., we will see a lot more creatures- some we want to see, some we don’t (like puff addlers and mambas). Apparently, there will be tons of birds and also chameleons, which I’m really excited about.

A couple of weeks ago, Richard attended a program called Taking Services to the People. It is a program in our district where different departments go to each village in the district and bring services that people may have difficulty accessing because of transportation, etc. It normally lasts about 17-18 days and the staff camps in the villages each night. Richard only attended the first few days, to bring HIV/AIDS information and to help the DAC Monitoring & Evaluation officer, because we wanted to attend my counterpart’s wedding which was some distance away.

Last weekend, we traveled with the Home Economics officer Gomolemo from my department, her husband, and her baby to my counterpart Pretty’s wedding. We had a really good time. We also got to see some friends while we were there. It was interesting to see the wedding customs unique to the area where my counterpart comes from in Northern Botswana. For example, she is supposed to keep her eyes lowered during the day. Also, she puts a cup of water on her head, which her new father-in-law drinks from. When that is finished, the cup is used for friends and family, as they dance around the couple, to put money in.

In most of Botswana, there are several stages in the marriage process. First, the brideprice is paid. The paying of the brideprice (lobola) is still very widespread. I’m told that the average price is 10 cows, although this price varies by region and local custom. After the brideprice has been paid, the couple will go to a local official to sign papers so they become legally married. After this (usually the next day), there will be what can be compared to a wedding reception in the bride’s home village. Anyone can come to this reception and eat- there are rarely official invitations. A week or two later, there will be another “reception” in the groom’s home village.

Richard and I just spend the last two days in Maun for a workshop. We saw some other Peace Corps volunteers while we were there so we got to hang out with them, which was fun. Richard will leave next weekend for a ten day Peace Corps training, then I will go the weekend -Peace Corps split our Bots7 group up so we come in two different shifts.

We now have another Peace Corps volunteer in Gumare, which we are happy about. She was supposed to be here originally, but her site got changed right after we were sworn in. Since her housing fell through at that site, they were able to find housing here in Gumare (after a long, somewhat complicated process). She will now be at the local HIV testing and counseling center. Welcome!!

2008-08-07T10:29:00.004-04:00

This last Saturday was the annual Okavango District Home Economics Craft Show organized by the Home Economics officer in our department. It took place in Gumare and featured woodwork, beadwork, leatherwork, and basketry. My committee (solo) was publicity so I helped by making fliers, brochures, business cards, name tags, etc. The Okavango is actually known for its baskets (often called Ngamiland baskets). The baskets are very beautiful and intricately done. It is said that some baskets are woven so tight that they can hold sorghum beer. The exhibits at the craft show were judged and the winners are being sent to the capital for the national competition. Several Peace Corps volunteers came to the craft show (cheap baskets) so it was nice to see them.

Our pack of dogs continues to increase. In addition to the trail of dogs that follow us wherever we go, we now have 4 dogs that sleep on our porch at night, including our puppy Peba, an ex-volunteer’s dog named Skye, and 2 abandoned dogs Lady and Buster. The community knows us not only for being the local PCV’s, but also being the couple with many dogs. Our female dog Lady was in heat last week, so every male dog within a two kilometer radius was hanging out in front of our place waiting for a chance to violate her. There is a government vet that comes a few times a year to spay and neuter dogs (for free), but unfortunately he is not coming to September or October so it will be too late for Lady, who will probably be ready to give birth by then.

Richard is leaving today for a work trip- a program called Taking Services to the People. People from different departments go on a 17 day trip to visit villages in the district and bring services that are not normally readily accessible. Richard is only going until Wednesday or Thursday because we are going to my counterpart’s wedding next weekend.

2008-07-24T10:25:00.001-04:00

Things are still going well as we continue the community integration process and get a better sense of the work we will be doing for the next two years. We finally had the opportunity to go around to the schools and be introduced. There are three primary schools and one secondary school in Gumare. Since there are only a few secondary schools in the district, the secondary school in Gumare also serves the surrounding villages and has a hostel to board students from the more outlying areas. It seems there is some good work to be done with the schools so we will be meeting one on one with the guidance counselors in the next few weeks. We were also introduced at the primary hospital, which is the only hospital in the district. Currently, the primary hospital in Gumare and a clinic in Shakawe distribute ARVs for the district and blood for CD4/viral load counts are sent to the lab at the Gumare primary hospital.

My birthday was very nice- I appreciated all the Happy Birthday messages I received. Since there was a DMSAC (District Multi-sectoral AIDS Committee, which meets quarterly) meeting that day, I got to see a few of the other Peace Corps volunteers in the area. One of the volunteers Joe even baked me a chocolate birthday cake. Since there are only a handful of volunteers, besides Richard and myself, in the Okavango Delta region, we call ourselves the “Delta Force.”

The end of last week kicked off the start of the Men’s Sector in Gumare. There was a “beauty contest” for men, as well as football (soccer) tournaments, horse racing, and a party. There was a formal kick-off for the Men Sector at the kgotla early Saturday morning, which we attended. A lot of important members of the community turned out to show their support, which is very positive.

We made our first day trip into Maun to buy our “specialty” groceries. Maun has 5 different supermarkets to choose from and their goods give us much happiness. We made sure to stock up on cheese because we have been making our own pizza. Luckily, there are two take-away places in Gumare so we do get to “eat out” every once in awhile. The one take-away we like serves fish (fresh since we are near the only “body” of water in Botswana), as well as the staples, such as chicken, beans, rice, madombe (boiled bread), papa (maize meal), and chips (french fries). While in Maun, we had also a chance to meet up with the Peace Corps volunteers who live there.

We finally named our new puppy. We call her Peba, which means rat in Setswana. We call her this because her tail looks very rat like. We have also officially taken in two other dogs, a male named Buster and a female named Lady so we already have three dogs within the first month of site. We have also been promised a kitten from a volunteer in Maun who has a pregnant cat.

Saturday-Tuesday was a four day weekend for us. Presidents Day was on Monday, followed by another extra day off (public holiday) on Tuesday. It gave us a chance to relax and thoroughly clean. Since everything is dirt/sand, it is a constant struggle to keep oneself, as well as one’s clothes and house clean. Everything is always covered in a layer of dirt/sand. When we wash our clothes (by hand), the water in our wash basin always turns brown. We have to sweep our house almost everyday because sand is always getting dragged in. There is only one paved street in Gumare, so we walk mainly on sandy paths where the sand can get quite hard to walk in because it is deep in some places. The sand in Gumare actually reminds me of the sand at the Jersey shore because it is the same color and consistency.

Settling In

2008-07-11T10:45:00.001-04:00

Richard and I have been busy settling in and getting to know our community. We have been walking around and introducing ourselves in our free time. Richard and I managed to find a poultry farm a mile outside town. There, we can buy fresh chicken fairly cheap.
We also added to our pack of dogs. The newest member of our pack is a 8 week old puppy who has yet to be named.

Last Saturday, I was invited to baby shower, which was a nice opportunity to get to know some people from the Rural Administration Center (RAC) where I work. When a woman goes to a baby shower here, she is supposed to bring the present wrapped in a cloth diaper. That way the expectant mother has a supply of diapers when the baby is born (although disposable diapers are readily available and often used). When opening the gifts, the expectant mother has to guess who brought each one. Finally, after the gifts are opened, all the women at the baby shower offer the expectant mother advice and words of wisdom.

On Monday, Richard left for a workshop on HIV prevention in Francistown (2nd largest city) sponsored by NACA (National AIDS Coordinating Agency). There, he got a chance to see some of the other Peace Corps DACs from the region. He returned on Thursday night. I stayed in Gumare to work this week. I am getting a better sense of what S&CD (Social and Community Development office) does at the district level, compared to the community level. I’ve been able to meet most of the social workers who work within our district. In my office, we deal strictly with administering orphan care for the district, while the community social workers deal with all issues, including orphans, destitutes, needy students, home based care, home economics, etc.

This week the Home Economics officer asked me for help with the district craft show, which is going to be in Gumare on August 2. Okavango is known for its crafts, especially baskets. For the show, I am working on publicity, which includes making and distributing fliers, creating a show program, making business cards for the artists, etc. Richard is currently working on the newly formed committee to establish a Mens Sector in Gumare. There is going to be a soccer tournament and horse race next weekend to encourage HIV testing for men.

We finally have a new a post office box:

Richard Rain and/or Stacy Wallick
P.O. Box 546
Gumare, Botswana

Our New Home

2008-06-30T10:50:00.002-04:00

Richard and I have been in our new home in Gumare for a week and a half now. We left Molepolole last Thursday and arrived in Gumare the following day. Since it is such a long drive (10-12 hours), we spent the night in Ghanzi, which is one of the bigger cities in the West (Kalahari). Since there are no big supermarkets in Gumare, we stocked up on stuff like granola, cheese, cereal, etc. that we can’t get at the general dealers here. You can get a lot of the staples and basics like milk, eggs, rice, and canned goods in Gumare, but we will probably be going to Maun (the tourist capital of Botswana ), which is three hours by bus, at least once a month to buy our specialty items at the supermarkets and stores there. For those who know my diet coke addiction, I am happy to report that I can buy diet coke in Gumare, though I have curved my intake due to budget restrictions.

We both started work last Monday. Richard and I work down the hall from each other the Rural Administration Center (RAC) for the Okavango District. It is about a twenty minute walk from our house to work. We are often escorted in the morning by the neighborhood pack of 5 dogs, who like to hang out in our yard during the day. The government working hours in Botswana are 7:30-4:30 (with lunch from 12:45-1:45). Since we are usually up with the morning calls of the roosters and the donkeys, it hasn’t been a big adjustment to start work earlier than we did in the United States. Since it is winter here, it is quite chilly in the morning, although not as cold as it was in the southern part of the country where we were training. The days are pretty warm (low 70’s), though I hear it gets very hot and humid here during the summer.

The emphasis on the first 2.5 months of Peace Corps service is on community integration and getting a feel for our jobs/project. Every village in Botswana has a Kgotla (similar to a tribal court), which is a central meeting place (usually near the tribal offices and usually a semicircular enclosure), where the kgosi (chief) consults the people, where decisions are made and problems resolved, and where everyone (regardless of social standing) has their say. One of the most important parts of community entry is meeting the kgosi, which we were able to do this week. We have also been walking around quite a bit during the last two weekends to get a feel of the town and meet people. Our neighbors are very nice and we have made friends with some of the kids in our area. This Tuesday is actually a holiday (Sir Seretse Khama day- in honor of the first president) so we have day off to explore the community more.

We're Official Volunteers

2008-06-19T03:56:00.016-04:00

Training has finally ended. We swore in as official Peace Corps volunteers yesterday afternoon. It was a really nice ceremony. The US Ambassador to Botswana swore us in. Former president F. Mogae (who left office in April) was also on hand and we got to shake his hand. It was a bittersweet moment though. We are looking forward to going to our site, but it is hard to say goodbye to our friends and our host family.

On Tuesday, we got to go shopping in the capital Gaborone for stuff for our houses. It was quite funny to see all the stuff people are dragging to their sites. Richard and I managed to fill a shopping cart.

Today, we are heading towards to our site and we will start work on Monday. It is a long trek to Gumare- 10-12 hours. Last night, our host family killed a chicken for us as a goodbye present. They wanted us to taste real Setswana chicken (instead of the frozen stuff shipped in from South Africa). It has gotten really cold lately, especially at night. I am looking forward to be in the north, where it is quite a bit warmer right now.

Almost There!!

2008-06-10T09:52:00.003-04:00

So Richard and I did our site visit to Gumare last week. We only had a few days there because it takes 10-12 hours to get to Gumare from our training site. We overnighted in Maun on the way there to break up the trip. Our house is very cute. It is a government house with two bedrooms, electricity, hot running water, a porch, and a yard. We even have a pack of dogs who serve as our escorts around the community. Once we move in, we also planning to get a cat, which we heard are good for killing snakes. We met our counterparts, who are both very nice and knowledgeable. Both of our jobs are in the Rural Administration Center- we will be in the office most of the time (which is an unusual Peace Corps job). I will be working with the orphan care coordinator for the Okavango sub-district and Richard will be working with the DAC. We are now back at our training site, finishing our last week and half of training. We swear in on June 18th. We can't wait!!!

And the Verdict is...

2008-05-31T09:35:00.011-04:00

We got our site assignments today. We will be in Gumare in the Okavango delta, in the northwest of Botswana. We are very excited and happy. I will be working specifically with orphan care/home-based care and Richard will be with the DAC for the sub-district. We will be meeting our counterparts on Monday and checking out our site Tuesday- Friday. After that, we have a week and half of training before swearing in as official Peace Corps volunteers.

On Friday, we got to visit the Jwaneng diamond mine. It was a fun, interesting experience. Botswana produces 25 percent of the world's diamonds, in cooperation with DeBeers. Jwaneng produces most of the country's diamonds, especially gem quality diamonds. Interesting enough, the world's only green diamonds come from this site. It was important to see this mine because diamonds are one of the main reasons for the country's wealth and stability. Botswana has very good infrastructure. No person is more than 15 kilometers from a health post. When I first arrived in Botswana, it was amazing to see the differences, compared to other African countries I have visited. There are tarred roads around the country. There are supermarkets, instead of markets. There is even four malls in Gabs, as well as malls in the larger cites/towns.

Training continues...

2008-05-22T10:22:00.003-04:00

Things are going well so far. We are in week 5 of training. Our Setswana is coming along slowly. It is one of the most difficult Bantu languages to learn. When we arrived at host family, we were each given Setswana names. Mine in Larato (Love) and Richard in Kagiso (Peace).
Family and community is very important in Botswana. For example, 4 generations live in our host family's house. Even if a Batswana moves to the city, they still consider their village their home and visit often.
Next Saturday, we should find our site locations. We are anxiously awaiting to know where we will be living and what we will be doing specifically for the next two years.
This week, we have been doing field work- Richard has been visiting a District AIDS Coordinator's office and I have been visiting a clinic. We have also been learning about Peace Corps's approach to development, which is based on a collaborative partnership with communities so our projects are substainable when we leave.
It is definitely starting to feel like winter here. Botswana is mostly desert so we are getting sunny, warm days with wind and cold nights. It is supposed to get even colder with June through August as the coldest months.

Shadowing another PCV

2008-05-12T10:19:00.002-04:00

This was an interesting week for Richard and I. We got to shadow a current PCV (Peace Corps volunteer) in D'Kar, which is a San (also known as bushmen) community in the Kalahari desert. We left really, really early on Wednesday for the 8 hour bus ride to Ghanzi. From there, it was another 35 kms to our PCV Rachel's village. Rachel showed us around the community and introduced us to the NGO she works with, which is the Kuru. Kuru serves the San community, in terms of health, art, culture, youth development, and the presevation of the Naro language (which is a click language). It was interesting to learn about the San and the challenges they are facing. Rachel served us great food, which was a nice break from the staple food we have been eating. It was also good to see first-hand the work PCVs are doing in Botswana, as well as to have a short break from our regular training schedule. We also got to meet other PCVs in the area and hang out with them. On Sunday, we took the long bus ride back to our training village.

Week 3

2008-05-04T04:47:00.002-04:00

We are now entering our 3rd week of training. Our Setswana language skills are slowly improving. We can now say more than greetings and intructions. I can now name all the farm animals we see here- cows, goats, chickens,etc. Things are going well with our host family, who are helping us learn the language and the culture.

We are very excited that we get to shadow a current Peace Corps volunteer this week. It will be nice to have a break from classes and to see another part of Botswana. We are going a site in the Kalahari Desert- the town of D'Kar. Many San live in the area so it should be interesting to see their culture.

So we have officially missed having a summer this year. It is now winter here and it is suprisingly cold. We sleep with two warm blankets at night.

Pre-Service Training

2008-04-30T10:24:00.006-04:00

We are finally at our training site, an hour's ride from the capital Gabarone. We arrived here last Wednesday, after a three day stay in Gaborone. We are staying with a host family, who is very sweet and hospitable. Our host mother treats us like her own children. We have 4 hours of Setswana language classes a day, in addition to culture and tech. training.

We were fortunate enough to go to wedding, a funeral, and to our family's field this weekend. So needless to stay we have been very busy... We will find out our our actual placement site in mid-June so will keep you all updated. We would love to hear from everyone by email or text...

Here is our numbers:
Stacy 267 75014124
Richard 267 75014175

We Made It!!!

2008-04-21T12:44:00.005-04:00

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!!

The time has come...

2008-04-15T21:14:00.004-04:00

The time has finally come. We are reporting to Philadelphia tomorrow (Wednesday) for staging, which is Peace Corps's orientation. On Friday, our pug Maggie went to her foster family, which was very hard for us. We had our goodbye party in New York on Saturday (thanks to everyone who came-we'll miss you!!). Finally, on Sunday we left New York City to go to New Jersey to say goodbye to my parents.

The plan is to attend staging on Wednesday and Thursday. We will meet all the our fellow future Botswana Peace Corps volunteers, which we are looking forward to. On Friday, we will all begin our flight to Johannesburg and arrive on Saturday. After a night in Johannesburg, we will be bused to Gaborone, Botswana where we will spend a few days before being transferred to our homestay to begin training.

Here is our temporary mailing address in Botswana (until we get our site assignment in June):

Stacy Wallick and/or Richard Rain

U.S. Peace Corps

Private Bag 00243

Gaborone

Botswana

The beginning of goodbyes...

2008-03-28T22:06:00.014-04:00

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.

5 more weeks...

2008-03-11T09:24:00.014-04:00

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.

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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.

Future Peace Corps Volunteers

2008-01-28T16:38:00.007-05:00

This is the beginning of our blog/website. Richard and I are leaving for the Peace Corps in Botswana in mid-April. My assignment is Community Capacity Building for HIV/AIDS and Richard's assignment is working with a District AIDS Coordinator. Unfortunately, we won't find out more details, such as the location of our placement in Botswana or job details, until we finish our 9 week in-country training in June 2008.

We received our nomination in May, followed by our official Peace Corps invitation in November. During this time, Richard and I remained busy. In May, we both finished our second Master's degrees at NYU (mine was in International Public Health and Richard's was in Urban Planning). Richard continued working in the municipal planning office in Hastings-on-the-Hudson. I was a group leader for Operation Crossroads Africa. I led a group of nine to Uganda, for 2 months this summer, to complete a community health project, which involved doing health needs assessments in rural villages and organizing clinic days to respond to those health needs.

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In September, Richard and I left for Eastern Europe. We visited Krakow, Budapest, Prague, Berlin, and Romania, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, and Slovenia. We then traveled on the trans-Siberian railroad from Russia to Mongolia to China.

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It was an amazing trip!!! At the end of our trip, I traveled for two additional weeks with Jen P in northern Thailand and Laos. Richard and I returned in time to spend the holidays with family.