Wrapping up week one

Hi all!

Hope everyone is doing well! It's been an adventurous couple days here in Gaborone. The overall impression I've gotten is how much pride and spirit Batswana people have for their culture and country. As I write this, there is a football (aka soccer match) taking place right across from the University of Botswana where I am staying. I would be there, but the last few days have been busy, and I'm trying to catch up on journaling and some much needed sleep. Besides, it seems as though I'll have several other opportunities to go. My group and I were on our way back from a game park just a few miles north of Gaborone called Mokolodi when we stumbled across the football match beginning. The spirit here is ridiculously impressive! Everyone is wearing the national colors, which are blue, black, and white, and everyone seems to have a long, plastic horn that they use out of excitement. It's pretty intense. One of my peers and I were walking to the library to send emails and the cheering is so loud that it ran chills up my back. It's similar to Ohio State and their Buckeyes I suppose, although the horns are an added touch. It feels more like we're a block away from a Quidditch match! Ha!

Anyway, let me back track a little...

On Wednesday my cohorts and I went to a women's shelter, which specifically deals with women who have dealt with physical and/or mental abuse from their husbands and/or respective partners. Many of these women have HIV/AIDS. The first center that we went to was the drop-in center. Evidentally women from up to 1,000 km travel to this shelter for the care and support the center provides. The center deals with a lot of community outreach, not only for women but men and children as well. All but two full time staff members are volunteer workers. As we sat around the table and discussed the work of the center, it was hard to miss these incredibly designed pillow covers, curtains, and bags in front of us. Some of the women who drop-in are given the opportunity to help make these crafts in order to sell at many of the malls around town; this just happens to be one of the ways that they fund this operation.

The second component to the women's shelter project is the shelter itself. Located near the university, the shelter is well-protected and generally houses a few women at a time. We were fortunate to have the chance of actually meeting four women that were staying there, although it felt a bit obtrusive being there in a large group given the nature of the women's circumstances. The shelter itself was pretty small, and evidentally the women who are allowed to stay at the shelter are first given an need-based evaluation by the counselors from the drop-in center.

We were at the shelter briefly and then returned to school only to leave a few minutes later for yet another mall. I swear, these people love their malls; only these malls are much smaller than ours. For those of us who know Columbus well and how much they love their malls, Gaborone is covered with them! River Walk, which is the mall that we went to on this day, is not on a river at all. We took a look around and then headed back to the university for dinner.

I feel like the kitchen staff is trying to be very gracious in supplying us with more traditional "American" foods such as salads and even the last couple days there has been french fries (or chips). I was most excited to have fish last night, which I didn't realize how much I'd appreciate until I came here and most of their diets consist of beef, pork, and/or chicken. They love their meat in Botswana. We've been served chicken livers, beef livers, minced meat, ox tail, and yesterday the special was cow intestine. I've tried to be somewhat adventurous in trying the stuff, but I'll admit I'm usually sticking to the chicken. God forbid you also ask for a napkin, because here a napkin means diaper, and I learned the hard way when I asked for one and the kitchen staff cracked up at me. :P

Thursday our group went to the Holy Cross Hospice, which is associated with the Anglican Church. This is another NGO that we will be able to work with if we want. We were forewarned that we might see some severely ailing patients, and if we were not comfortable with it, we had our program coordinator's permission to not attend. I felt a little bit strange going, but thankfully we only met with the director and a couple of the social workers. This branch of hospice has approximately 20 AIDS and/or cancer patients that come for daycare services. 95% of the patients are in the more advanced stages of AIDS and they can range anywhere from 20s and 30s up to the elderly. Holy Cross Hospice also has a home care program. While their facilities were very nice, and even felt like a small bed and breakfast, this organization has its share of issues; mainly staff burnout, no full time doctor, a lack of nurse care, and a lack of funds. Interestingly, the Women's Shelter Project receives most of their funding from international donors, but Hospice has a fair representation from both local and international donors. My theory on this is that this is a rather conservative country where Christianity is the dominant religion. Botswana, as I have also mentioned in my past blog, is also a very patriarchal society. I can see how hospice is regarded higher than the women's shelter given the nature of these overlapping factors.

After hospice, we went to Botswana Craft, which as you might have guessed is a popular crafts store. We were warned that it is expensive, so most of us are holding out for street vendors to buy things where you have the ability to bargain. If I'm unable to find the souvenirs that I did at the store though, I'll have to make a trip back. So many awesome masks, fabrics, jewelry, and festive mobiles.

On the way back to the university we drove through two different areas of town: a very poor ghetto called Old Naledi (meaning "no rules), and a very wealthy area, which has a full golf course, club house, etc. Old Naledi is considered to be a "high risk" area for people with HIV/AIDS as there is a lack of funds for education and/or contraceptives. In general, the area is fairly depressed. Most of the houses are cement, very close together, and no larger than an average dorm room. Many of the places also do not have running water and electricity. It was really hard driving in a van around the area. Surprisingly, many of the people have nice cars and are well-dressed, although they clearly reside on the bottom rung of the socioeconomic chain in Gaborone and by the look on their faces, resented our presence. I asked one of the university students how much a place like that would cost to rent and he claimed anywhere from 300 - 1,000 Pula, depending on the running water and electricity status. This amount is equivalent to $50-200 in the States, approximately. Lerox, the student I spoke with and who has been one of our guides, said that anything above 1,000 Pula is pretty decent.

The wealthier areas, on the other hand, are a different story all together. We went to two different neighborhoods: the first had relatively nice houses, and the second was the one on the golf course, and those houses were ridiculously large. The fact that there is real grass throughout the golf course should be testament enough to the amount of money that goes into this area given that all of Botswana and a large majority of subsaharan Africa is covered by the Kalahari Desert (i.e. grass in a desert = time, money, and a lot of water).

Water is highly valued in Botswana, and there is a shortage of it. It is more expensive than gas prices! Batswana people value water so much that it is synonymous with the names of their currency: Pula (primarily bills and a few coins) and Thebe (coins and change). Pula also means rain and Thebe means shield. In fact, the country's moto is "Pula ke Thebe," or the rain is our shield. You find the word Thebe at the University of Botswana as well. The school moto is "Thuto ke Thebe," or learning is our shield.

Yesterday (Friday) was probably my favorite day here thus far. We spent most of the day in a village about a half hour outside of Gaborone called Magorogelo. Within the village and perched up on a hill full of large red rocks is a representation of "old Botswana" known as the Magorogelo Reception. While the chalets and camp site gave me the impression that it's a bit of a touristy destination, the intention of this project is to showcase to visitors what Botswana was like before western influence took place. This includes the traditions, customs, and rituals of Batswana people. Botswana gained its full independence in 1966 after it had been a British Protectorate for nearly a century. Many of the elders that we have met here still reminisce about a time when they can remember when there was no car dealerships or malls, but rather a strong bond to their tribes and traditions. I can tell though that spirit still remains, and the Magorogelo Reception is one of those efforts that continues to tell the story of Botswana and its people. We got to witness a mock wedding ceremony, eat food characteristic of the culture, and learned just so much!

Last night we decided to hit the clubs. We went to a club called "Ozone," but we evidentally arrived a little early. We got there at 9pm because most everything around here closes so early, but apparently not the night clubs. Most people start arriving at Ozone and other clubs after going to late dinners and/or other bars somewhere around 11:30pm. The clubs stay open here until 6am! It was a lot of fun, although I'm really sore today. We literally danced for 4.5 hours solid! Good times.

As I mentioned before, today we went to a game park not too far from Gaborone called Mokolodi. While it is not a large game park, it does have an abundance of wildlife that is characteristic of Botswana and Africa. We saw Impala, Ostrich, Kudo, Game Foul, Warthog, Zebra, Hippo, Leopard, White Rhino, and of course African Elephants. The elephants were probably the most impressive animal we saw as most of the animals (especially warthogs) were totally scared of the safari truck. The elephants, on the other hand, were not scared at all. In fact, the male elephant who also had three female companions, was a mere 20 feet from our truck. I got some great pictures, so don't worry mom!

Now I am here and I've been writing so long that the football match has come to a close. The Zebras (yes, it's the Botswana mascot) beat Mauritania 2-1, or so I have heard from one of my peers. The sun is going down and it's time for another dinner.

Thanks for reading this entire blog if you had the patience! I'd be impressed! ;)

Much love,
Mark