Sorry for the crazy long post. It is a bit of a catch up post. The last week or 2 has been such an eventful and amazing
time. Here are the event breakdowns:
Next came the Setswamorago’s condom demonstrations while
one of the nurses and I entertained the kids.
We played a version of duck, duck, goose using pitsa, pitsa, tau. (zebra, zebra, lion…actually horse, horse,
lion but zebra is horse with stripes and is way too long to say while tapping
someone n the head). The kids loved it
and I loved watching them. It is a great
way to entertain kids ranging from standard 1 to standard 7.
Next we went to the school, were walked around to all the
class rooms to meet the kids. The
amazing thing in some of the primary schools here is that even if a classroom
is missing a teacher the kids normally try to teach each other or
themselves. There were a few classrooms
missing teachers due to transfers and maternity leave. Some students from higher grades were
teaching the others (normally math and English). After tea break, the kids lined up to get
their teddy bears and the photo session began.
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| Rachel & John after a long fun morning |
After this we went to Rachel’s for lunch and then to
catch a hitch back to Hukuntsi. The
amazing thing is that as we were walking up to the hitching post a vehicle
pulled over to pick someone else and we took off running. There was just barely enough room for all of
us, but the vehicle had air conditioning (which is not often found) and great
tunes. We then switched hitches in Kang
and only had to wait 45 minutes which is seldom heard of as well as getting a
free hitch. All in all it was a great
day!
Tuesday August 28,
2012
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| Dika waiting to perform |
During a conversation the previous day with a good friend
of mine, One, I found out about the Ward level of a Youth Arts Competition that
was going on that week and the regional level was happening the following week
(Sept 8). John & I went to Lehututu
(a village about 10K away) and had a marvelous time. We caught the combi there and were late
going, so we were afraid we missed a bunch, but luckily we are on Africa time
(the same as Island time for those of you who don’t know the Africa time
phenomenon). We got there in time to
catch the end of the first part which was musician who occasionally sang. The rest of the competition included poetry
(not like US poetry readings it is almost a mix of poetry and drama), drama,
traditional dancing, and choir. Several
of my friends were performing and I was glad not to have missed them,
especially since some of them I have never seen perform before.
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| One in a skirt she borrowed from a friend |
The traditional dancing was amazing too especially since
the acoustics in the Kgotla caused my whole body to reverberate to the beats
that were being clapped. There are
normally 2 differing beats being clapped creating a unique atmosphere. Traditional dancing also has a bit of drama
depending on what group is dancing and the type of dancing and attire varies
region to region. When I first came to
Botswana I did not see/feel/hear the differences from dance to dance as well,
but I am definitely getting the hang of identifying differences and knowing
which groups are better than others and when possible mistakes are being
made. The Kgalagadi region really loves
traditional dancing to the effect that the entire Kgotla filled as soon as
people noticed the dance was about to begin and a large number left right
after.
After the event we chatted with friends for a while and
started making out way to the combi with a few friends. While still a ways away One noticed the combi
and said something to John about running to get it. As you all know he is up to a challenge. He took off running like a serious sprinter
with the rest of us trailing behind.
When we all got there everyone was cracking up and one of our guy
friends mentioned taking him to Zutshwa to go hunting with a spear. I’d love to see that happen!! Apparently John
did not know the combi had a stop and he was literally trying to catch the
combi… ha ha ha. I think he might have.
Wednesday August
29, 2012
I spent the morning at Makgakgane Primary School
assigning a composition for the Standard 7 kids (similar to 6th or 7th
grade in the US, but the age range is very different ranging from 12-18). I am going to start working with these kids
on English tutoring around once a week. I only spent about 15 minutes with them
before assembly and was really just trying to get my bearings but it is always
fun around the younger kids.
I had to leave for a Health Fair meeting, but later
returned to show the HIV/AIDS club kids TeachAIDS. Most of the kids in the club were Std 3-5
although almost every kid in the school wanted to be in the room. They were even trying to climb through the
window. Mpho, the special Ed teacher
(and friend) helped calm them down and kick those who shouldn’t be there
out. I showed the video, which is in
Setswana, but has a section where it asks questions. Almost all the kids answered right. Afterwards I gave them a Q&A
session. A lot of them kept asking the
same questions over and over and they even went to get a book to find
questions. I figured out that they
really only wanted to hear me speak, so I let them ask me any questions after
that. A kid from outside came running in
to get me saying they needed my help.
Apparently some kids got locked in a store room and the key was not
working. I went to get Steve to help and
he was already on the case.
While all this was happening I walked across the campus
to get something and was accosted by a mob of small children wanting to shake
my hand. This is something to be careful with in relation to the young
ones. 1 starts shaking your hand and
before you know it you have 30 kids on each arm about to rip them out. Just hope you have not eaten recently. It is one of the funniest things I have ever
experienced. Then one of them wanted to
touch my hair, so I let them…a mistake.
Before I know it the mob is trying to touch my hair or skin (they just
want to know if it feels much different from their own. Most kids have not seen
many white people before, especially one who is ok with it).
It took about an hour but they finally got the trapped
kids out there was an explosion of cheering from the room and all the
kids. The timing was lucky because it
was time to go home for the day. Mpho
walked me and it was nice catching up with her.
Thursday August
30, 2012
In the morning I worked with a friend, Keba, to help her
design a pamphlet for her business. She
then mentioned that the Youth Arts Competition was going to Monong and invited
me to go with them, so I went. Monong is
about 40K down a pot holed gravel & sand road. Depending on who is driving and who is in the
car it can be a great or really long experience. This time I was in the car with a pretty fast
driver who knew the road well and a talkative crew. I had never met them before but we all got
along well and joked a lot. Keba was in
the other car with a few of the Lehutshelo teachers I know. I had no idea they were coming so it was a
pleasant surprise.
The atmosphere at the Kgotla is completely different than
Lehututu which made the competition much more quaint and pleasant (not that the
other wasn’t it just had a whole different flavor…kind of medium sized
villageish). This covered part of the
Kgotla is very small and surrounded by sand with the wooden “fence” part of the
Kgotla really close. This made all of
the performers extremely close and I ended up sitting right behind the
judges. I got to see the musicians
within a few meters and the traditional dancers were a few meters farther
away. The first traditional dance troupe
had a lot more drama than I have ever seen in a performance which I really
liked, but I later found out that it should be more focused on the dance than
the story.
For the choir portion we had to move outside of the
Kgotla because there was not enough room, so we were just sitting on the sand
and the dancers performed on the sand. I
have never seen this on sand before. They are normally on concrete in the
Kgotla which creates more of a drum sound from the feet. I was amazed at how much of that they were
able to keep on the sand.
There was no drama or poetry performed here. Next year I want to make sure that John has
the ability to come to all of these too.
I will post more pics after the regional
Friday August 31,
2012
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| Wawa & Thato |
I stopped by to visit Thato and help him with his
computer. While waiting for Avast to
download (at excruciatingly slow rates), we spent the afternoon chatting and
joking around. John called at one time
and mentioned another friend we were going to go with to Lehututu to see what
we initially thought was a DJ ended up having to go out of town. I asked Thato if he was interested, which he
was. We did some research and found out
that it is actually the Tshane Police band.
Around 9 Thato and Wawa, who was visiting him from Gabs,
picked us up. As is normal Bots fashion
the band was late. It should have
started at 8 but actually went on at 10:30pm.
We went to the pan for a little while and just talked and joked around
which was great so we got to know Wawa a bit.
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| John in the dance competition |
Then the madness began.
The band included horns, 3 guitars, a singer, and dancers. The speakers were crazy large for a place so
small and when they first started playing it was only a few of us there. The bars close at 11 which is when people
started packing in. We had such a great
time dancing and I got to see a bunch of people I know in a completely
different atmosphere. John and I did the
2 step swing to a song which caused everyone to be watching us, or so Thato
says. People do mostly club type of
dancing here unless it is a wedding party that has choreographed
something. Everyone wanted a turn
dancing with us (I don’t think anyone expected us to be there) and I got
comments from people about it all week.
Late in the night John even was in a dance off which he claimed he lost,
but I am not sure if that is true. When
he later watched the video I got he is not sure either.
J King of the dance floor!! Ha
Saturday September
1, 2012
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| Akiko wearing her present from co-workers |
John & I went to a going away party for Akiko (Thato),
the Japanese volunteer. We didn’t stay
super long as we did not get much sleep the night before due to the band, but
we wanted to make sure to say good bye to her. By the time we got there the
party had been going for a little while and there were pockets of dancing, a
fire, the braii was going, and traditional food was ready. We ate, had a few beers, and socialized for a
little while. Eventually my eyelids were
taking over, as were John’s and we had to go or curl up in some corner.
Akiko was the dietician at the hospital and is a great
person. She also helped me with a few
projects related to nutrition. Although
I didn’t get to see her too much I really enjoyed the time we spent
together. Akiko…I wish you the best in
everything and hope to see you again in the future!
Sunday September
2, 2012
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| Morutwa & Zati |
I went to check a friend who had a baby a couple months
ago. I spent a couple hours there and
had a great time. I have wanted to check
her for a while, but have not made time.
Seeing her reminded me how much I miss her at the office. Zati (might have spelled that wrong), her
daughter, is adorable and I am excited to watch her grow into a little girl
before I leave.
That evening Thato & Wawa came over to make pizza,
hang out, and play games. Although the
dough did not want to rise, the pizza was still good. We ate, laughed, talked, and ended up playing
a few games of Pachisi. John and I both
were demolished during the games with Wawa winning the first and Thato winning
the second. Hmm, maybe next time we
should play a different game. I am
beginning to get the feeling that we are just innately bad at Pachisi. Dorcus almost always beats us when we play
too and it was a new game to her too.
Sigh.
Yesterday Thato called me with some really bad news, Major Nelson
Mautle passed away. Major Mautle is one
of my favorite people. Maybe I should
use was, but his passing away does not change that status. The Major was one of the most driven people I
have known, and in Botswana that is saying a lot. He would get on to people about being late,
not following protocol (which sometimes drove me crazy, but I understood why he
did that), and just plain wasting time.
He spent 2 years in the US (1985-1987 I think) studying then came back
to Botswana. He spent some time in the
military and worked with the government.
By the time I met him he was retired and had moved on to the next phase
of life. But retirement to him did not
mean just sitting back and letting things happen, he wanted to make a
change. He served on the VDC (Village
Development Committee), was head of Men’s Sector, always at the DMSAC and a
part of pretty much everything going on in Hukuntsi. In Botswana many people can serve on a
council and not do anything, but not the Major.
He had a very distinct voice and I was assured to hear him outspoken at
every event. Sometimes it was calling
out protocol issues, but normally it was pointing out obvious flaws in data or
questioning how issues would be addressed.
Botswana has a strong passive aggressive culture. Often people will not want to contradict
anyone or swim upstream, but the Major was definitely a salmon especially if he
saw ill affects to ignoring a problem. 
