if you go to the following link you can view pictures that we have finally posted.
http://picasaweb.google.com/mattandlaurabots
This link is also on the left side bar of this blog so you can check to see if we uploaded pictures whenever you check the blog.
29 July 2009
16 July 2009
Happiness Found in the Small Moments of our New Life
-GREETINGS, GREETINGS, GREETINGS, in Botswana they are definitely the most important part of seeing ANYONE. It is such a pleasure for everyone to say hello and ask how you are doing. In America, all too often you don’t know your neighbours and go through your day without saying hello to any strangers. Here it is the exact opposite. Go say Hi to your neighbour!
-Waking up this morning, the first thing I said to Matt was I can’t hear the chickens, it is dawn, why is it so quiet. I was actually scared I would over sleep since the chickens, which are our natural alarm, where not crowing as loud as they possibly could outside our window. Most compounds, including ours, have plenty of them and you definitely know when the sun is going to rise. Your sleep schedule pretty much revolves around the sun here so the natural alarm clock is quite a treat.
-Being in an environment in which time is not of the essence and moves very slowly. While there are inherent frustrations that come along with people always being late and waiting for a ride while looking at your watch and realising only ten minutes have passed when it seems like hours, there is something magical about being able to enjoy these moments and truly reflect. Living in NYC time was never on your side, you had to find a space and place to reflect and process everything that was always going on around you. We began to enjoy longer walks just because you had more time to think and be alone in your head. Here, I have more time to think and be alone in my head then I ever have (minus hours spent on the beach in Hawaii) and I have to say there is something captivating, addictive and to be learned from this. Inspecting the small minor happenings that become all the more interesting because you have time. Letting go of the frustration that arises by all that you should be doing and can’t because electricity is out or there is not transport. And instead, learning, due to the slow click of the man made minute hand, to enjoy what you can do with what is working or have witnessed throughout the day.
-Little Kitty, Kgosi (chief in Setswana). We have this adorable kitty that is growing all to fast. He is now, thankfully, flea free thanks to my sister Emily and mom. I love that he sleeps on my head and jumps right in front of the computer as I type, just like Nubs. I get such joy giving him our chicken bones. Especially since after watching Batswana devour chicken bones almost entirely, I feel less wasteful knowing I get to feed the cat. Whoever said you cannot feed cat chicken bones, even though I would not try this with American cats. Is this racist?
-Walking out of the school computer lab, into the lobby to see chickens scurry at the site of me and five cows and an uncountable amount of goats all around the school grounds.
-Being in Gaborone (the capital) yesterday and realising that the blank stare on commuters’ faces is a universal. I swear wherever you go and see people on public transit there is the same dull, get me out of here look. Ha, it is not just grumpy New Yorkers! I love universals that show how much we are all alike, no matter how different we might be. Would be interested in anyone that finds a country or city that challenges this theory we have.
-Batswana, and I would have to say most African countries that I have seen, have this ability to develop the best route to anywhere. Just when you think you have found the quickest dirt path, you come across another even quicker path. So while time seems to move slowly, there is always a quicker more time efficient path. I love the co-existence of opposites.
-Waking up to VOA and BBC on our little hand held radio. For a brief ten minutes, we are transported back to the world of news and media that we miss so much.
Thinking about all the places we are going to travel to in the southern part of Africa and all the visitors that are going to come.
-Having traditional lunch from Mma B outside the council offices. She cooks loads of food in a tiny tin shack. Laura isn’t much of a fan of the local food so I get the chance to fill up on either goat or beef with a healthy serving of rice, beans, or paleche (mashed up corn meal). It also gives me the opportunity to practice my Setswana.
-When people speak slow enough that I can actually understand what they are saying. Even though Setswana is kind of like Latin (the dead language) in the international world of communication, we are enjoying learning another language and practising when we can. I feel like I know the basics but have hit a road block although people constantly tell me I am doing very well. I think a tutor would be good so that I study more often. Re a leka!
-Donkey cart jams in our ward.
-Donkey noises.
-Baby donkeys and goats. I wish they would let you pet them. Maybe we should open a petting zoo. Yelling at kids that harass the dogs by throwing rocks. A teacher is always a teacher.
-The thought of staying in a hotel and taking a real shower.
-Starting the garden. We have developed a small plot on the compound and should be ready for planting in the coming weeks, once I get some chicken mesh to protect the feisty little birds from digging it up. Oh I am using chicken manure to make quality dirt to start the seeds as the ground has about 6 inches of straight sand on top. Damn chicken shit stinks.
-Every morning hearing the students sing beautiful songs at the assembly. I love hearing six hundred voices together with such spirit and cadence. Thank god I cannot understand what they are saying. I am sure it some religious preaching that I would not be happy about. No separation of church and state is still a little hard to digest. Oops, this is supposed to be only happy thoughts.
-Being able to finally talk practically about development and all it’s complexities. NO longer just talking theory. It so good to finally be working in the field of development.
-THE ENDLESS SKY! Sunrises and sunsets are worth the trip in itself.
-The fullness and brightness of the moon.
-The darkness of no moon as you feel as if you can touch the stars.
-LASTLY, LETTERS AND PACKAGES ARE AWESOME!
-Waking up this morning, the first thing I said to Matt was I can’t hear the chickens, it is dawn, why is it so quiet. I was actually scared I would over sleep since the chickens, which are our natural alarm, where not crowing as loud as they possibly could outside our window. Most compounds, including ours, have plenty of them and you definitely know when the sun is going to rise. Your sleep schedule pretty much revolves around the sun here so the natural alarm clock is quite a treat.
-Being in an environment in which time is not of the essence and moves very slowly. While there are inherent frustrations that come along with people always being late and waiting for a ride while looking at your watch and realising only ten minutes have passed when it seems like hours, there is something magical about being able to enjoy these moments and truly reflect. Living in NYC time was never on your side, you had to find a space and place to reflect and process everything that was always going on around you. We began to enjoy longer walks just because you had more time to think and be alone in your head. Here, I have more time to think and be alone in my head then I ever have (minus hours spent on the beach in Hawaii) and I have to say there is something captivating, addictive and to be learned from this. Inspecting the small minor happenings that become all the more interesting because you have time. Letting go of the frustration that arises by all that you should be doing and can’t because electricity is out or there is not transport. And instead, learning, due to the slow click of the man made minute hand, to enjoy what you can do with what is working or have witnessed throughout the day.
-Little Kitty, Kgosi (chief in Setswana). We have this adorable kitty that is growing all to fast. He is now, thankfully, flea free thanks to my sister Emily and mom. I love that he sleeps on my head and jumps right in front of the computer as I type, just like Nubs. I get such joy giving him our chicken bones. Especially since after watching Batswana devour chicken bones almost entirely, I feel less wasteful knowing I get to feed the cat. Whoever said you cannot feed cat chicken bones, even though I would not try this with American cats. Is this racist?
-Walking out of the school computer lab, into the lobby to see chickens scurry at the site of me and five cows and an uncountable amount of goats all around the school grounds.
-Being in Gaborone (the capital) yesterday and realising that the blank stare on commuters’ faces is a universal. I swear wherever you go and see people on public transit there is the same dull, get me out of here look. Ha, it is not just grumpy New Yorkers! I love universals that show how much we are all alike, no matter how different we might be. Would be interested in anyone that finds a country or city that challenges this theory we have.
-Batswana, and I would have to say most African countries that I have seen, have this ability to develop the best route to anywhere. Just when you think you have found the quickest dirt path, you come across another even quicker path. So while time seems to move slowly, there is always a quicker more time efficient path. I love the co-existence of opposites.
-Waking up to VOA and BBC on our little hand held radio. For a brief ten minutes, we are transported back to the world of news and media that we miss so much.
Thinking about all the places we are going to travel to in the southern part of Africa and all the visitors that are going to come.
-Having traditional lunch from Mma B outside the council offices. She cooks loads of food in a tiny tin shack. Laura isn’t much of a fan of the local food so I get the chance to fill up on either goat or beef with a healthy serving of rice, beans, or paleche (mashed up corn meal). It also gives me the opportunity to practice my Setswana.
-When people speak slow enough that I can actually understand what they are saying. Even though Setswana is kind of like Latin (the dead language) in the international world of communication, we are enjoying learning another language and practising when we can. I feel like I know the basics but have hit a road block although people constantly tell me I am doing very well. I think a tutor would be good so that I study more often. Re a leka!
-Donkey cart jams in our ward.
-Donkey noises.
-Baby donkeys and goats. I wish they would let you pet them. Maybe we should open a petting zoo. Yelling at kids that harass the dogs by throwing rocks. A teacher is always a teacher.
-The thought of staying in a hotel and taking a real shower.
-Starting the garden. We have developed a small plot on the compound and should be ready for planting in the coming weeks, once I get some chicken mesh to protect the feisty little birds from digging it up. Oh I am using chicken manure to make quality dirt to start the seeds as the ground has about 6 inches of straight sand on top. Damn chicken shit stinks.
-Every morning hearing the students sing beautiful songs at the assembly. I love hearing six hundred voices together with such spirit and cadence. Thank god I cannot understand what they are saying. I am sure it some religious preaching that I would not be happy about. No separation of church and state is still a little hard to digest. Oops, this is supposed to be only happy thoughts.
-Being able to finally talk practically about development and all it’s complexities. NO longer just talking theory. It so good to finally be working in the field of development.
-THE ENDLESS SKY! Sunrises and sunsets are worth the trip in itself.
-The fullness and brightness of the moon.
-The darkness of no moon as you feel as if you can touch the stars.
-LASTLY, LETTERS AND PACKAGES ARE AWESOME!
08 July 2009
Calling All Recipes
So, I am complete dumbass and decided not to pack cookbooks. So I am asking for a big favor. Could people email us recipes. Anything. We have alot of chicken, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers. We have all the basics. We are lacking alot of fruits but we can get almost any vegetable. Please help us cook good and satisfying meals.
Email the recipes to either matt's or my personal address. not going to publish that- way to much info. or you can post as a comment.
thanks and love
laura
Email the recipes to either matt's or my personal address. not going to publish that- way to much info. or you can post as a comment.
thanks and love
laura
02 July 2009
Offical and Final Address..Unitl it Changes Agian...
Matt Thuso Jefferson
DHT OFfice
Private Bag 005
Molepolole
Botswana
DHT OFfice
Private Bag 005
Molepolole
Botswana
I Pledge to Uphold The United State..blah blah...
We were sworn in as official Peace Corps volunteers on June 18th, yes training is over. We got placed here in Molepolole, the same village we have been in since day 1. At first it was fairly uneventful as it would be nice to see some other parts of the country, but we are very happy. The rest of the country can wait as we will have plenty of time to travel in the coming years. I got placed at the District Health Team office with the PMTCT (Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission) coordinator and Laura at a Junior Secondary school developing a life skills curriculum.
Molepolole (Moleps) is a very large village, somewhere around 60,000 people with most every convenience you could want in Botswana. The grocery stores are filled with many things. I never thought all of these choices would be possible before arriving. Having spent some time in West and East Africa with really no options, I would have to say it is pretty nice to have some things available. Batswana (people from Botswana are called Batswana) call it a village but I consider it more of a town compared to some of the other villages. Nonetheless, it is the village we will be living in for the next two years and since it really is the only place we have been since we arrived, we have grown to like it very much, especially now that we have our own house.
About the house and ward! Moleps consists of many wards, or neighborhoods, and is very spread out. Many volunteers get placed in government housing, which all look the same and are surrounded by other government employees that usually are not from the community. We really lucked out because we are on a family compound in the community, more specifically the Lekwapheng ward. It is exactly what we hoped for as far as living in a locally. More importantly, it gives us a chance to fully integrate into the culture and community as a whole. It is definitely on the outskirts of town but only a 10-15 minute walk for Laura to get to school, which is quite nice. Being on the outskirts, it gets a bad rap as one of the more dangerous and impoverished areas of Moleps but we could not be happier about our location and house. The landlady, whose front door is about 30 feet from ours is super nice and maintains a nice compound. There are about 20 chickens running around and a “guard” dog named Lion. He isn’t much of a gurad dog but still tours the grounds like he owns it. She really wants us to be comfortable and feel at home and loves to call us her children. I guess we kind of are considering we are sharing her plot for quite some time.
Our house is brand new, just finished being built and is bigger than any apartment we have had in NYC. We have two bedrooms, yeah I said two bedrooms which means there is plenty of room for those of you that want the Botswana experience. We have a huge sitting room, full kitchen, and a nice bathroom. Moreover, we will hopefully have hot water and yes electricity is here as well. So here, you wont feel too far away from home other than the fact there are no ceilings in the house. Just rafters and a tin roof, which makes for very very cold nights right now. Seriously, it sounds crazy but right now there is frost on the ground in the mornings and it basically feels like you are sleeping outside with no insulation and/or heat. Our tent would be warmer. We were typical volunteers that really didn’t believe anyone that it gets really cold, simply because they were telling us this when it was snowing in NYC last year, but its COLD. Things should get really interesting when the temp reaches 115 F and radiating through the aluminum roof. In any case, the place is nice and as volunteers we are super lucky as many of our friends don’t have anything and they are getting the true Peace Corps experience , no electricity or running water.
The ward we live in is really interesting. Walking through the ward you definitely realize you are in Africa. Dirt paths, chickens, goats and of course our neighbors have the nicest donkey cart in town. It is strange that our house is so nice because most of the compounds in our ward consist of dirt round houses or very modest cinder block homes with a water spicket if they are lucky. Most of the compounds probably don’t have electricity.
In Botswana there are many cars, and some very nice, but in Lekwapheng there are many donkey carts cruising around getting the job done. We have yet to cruise the ward via donkey cart yet but we are slowly learning which dirt path takes us where.
We have a kitten. Definitely does not take the place of Nubs but he is sure nice to come home to. His name is Kgosi (chief in Setswana). I know that him and Nubs will get along famously. For all of you who are wondering- of course we are bringing the little flea bag home, we have very different ideas about how pets should be treated than the Batswana.
Our jobs are slowly coming along. We are meeting people in the office and trying to get their very difficult names down. It is challenging adjusting to a very different work environment and work ethic but we will find our roles soon enough. The school I am in is great. It is sooo good to be back in a school. No matter what crazy things happen or how frustrating a day is, I am always guaranteed to have some beautiful African teenager smile and make my whole day better. There is a lot of work to be done there and I look forward to two years of enhancing the already strong foundation at the school.
With that said, we still have great days and days when we question what we are doing here. This country is fairly developed and sometimes we both don’t know if Americans need to be here at all. There is an estimated HIV/AIDS prevalence rate of 25% (depending on whose research you read). It seems like much of the countries economy is based on such a high prevalence rate. So many people are employed by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It also seems like they have all correct programs on paper and are doing what they should be doing yet somehow the prevalence rate continues to rise. At this point behavior change is key, and we constantly ask ourselves if this a role that we as Americans can partake in without being to patronizing.
Overall, after being here almost three months, we are so happy and firm in our decision to see this thing through and learn as much as we can. We love living in Africa and waking up to the roosters crow and a magnificent sunrise that fills the horizon. We are so excited to have this to experience and learn all there is to learn from this crazy little place called, Botswana.
Miss you all more than you know....
- written jointly by matt and laura
Molepolole (Moleps) is a very large village, somewhere around 60,000 people with most every convenience you could want in Botswana. The grocery stores are filled with many things. I never thought all of these choices would be possible before arriving. Having spent some time in West and East Africa with really no options, I would have to say it is pretty nice to have some things available. Batswana (people from Botswana are called Batswana) call it a village but I consider it more of a town compared to some of the other villages. Nonetheless, it is the village we will be living in for the next two years and since it really is the only place we have been since we arrived, we have grown to like it very much, especially now that we have our own house.
About the house and ward! Moleps consists of many wards, or neighborhoods, and is very spread out. Many volunteers get placed in government housing, which all look the same and are surrounded by other government employees that usually are not from the community. We really lucked out because we are on a family compound in the community, more specifically the Lekwapheng ward. It is exactly what we hoped for as far as living in a locally. More importantly, it gives us a chance to fully integrate into the culture and community as a whole. It is definitely on the outskirts of town but only a 10-15 minute walk for Laura to get to school, which is quite nice. Being on the outskirts, it gets a bad rap as one of the more dangerous and impoverished areas of Moleps but we could not be happier about our location and house. The landlady, whose front door is about 30 feet from ours is super nice and maintains a nice compound. There are about 20 chickens running around and a “guard” dog named Lion. He isn’t much of a gurad dog but still tours the grounds like he owns it. She really wants us to be comfortable and feel at home and loves to call us her children. I guess we kind of are considering we are sharing her plot for quite some time.
Our house is brand new, just finished being built and is bigger than any apartment we have had in NYC. We have two bedrooms, yeah I said two bedrooms which means there is plenty of room for those of you that want the Botswana experience. We have a huge sitting room, full kitchen, and a nice bathroom. Moreover, we will hopefully have hot water and yes electricity is here as well. So here, you wont feel too far away from home other than the fact there are no ceilings in the house. Just rafters and a tin roof, which makes for very very cold nights right now. Seriously, it sounds crazy but right now there is frost on the ground in the mornings and it basically feels like you are sleeping outside with no insulation and/or heat. Our tent would be warmer. We were typical volunteers that really didn’t believe anyone that it gets really cold, simply because they were telling us this when it was snowing in NYC last year, but its COLD. Things should get really interesting when the temp reaches 115 F and radiating through the aluminum roof. In any case, the place is nice and as volunteers we are super lucky as many of our friends don’t have anything and they are getting the true Peace Corps experience , no electricity or running water.
The ward we live in is really interesting. Walking through the ward you definitely realize you are in Africa. Dirt paths, chickens, goats and of course our neighbors have the nicest donkey cart in town. It is strange that our house is so nice because most of the compounds in our ward consist of dirt round houses or very modest cinder block homes with a water spicket if they are lucky. Most of the compounds probably don’t have electricity.
In Botswana there are many cars, and some very nice, but in Lekwapheng there are many donkey carts cruising around getting the job done. We have yet to cruise the ward via donkey cart yet but we are slowly learning which dirt path takes us where.
We have a kitten. Definitely does not take the place of Nubs but he is sure nice to come home to. His name is Kgosi (chief in Setswana). I know that him and Nubs will get along famously. For all of you who are wondering- of course we are bringing the little flea bag home, we have very different ideas about how pets should be treated than the Batswana.
Our jobs are slowly coming along. We are meeting people in the office and trying to get their very difficult names down. It is challenging adjusting to a very different work environment and work ethic but we will find our roles soon enough. The school I am in is great. It is sooo good to be back in a school. No matter what crazy things happen or how frustrating a day is, I am always guaranteed to have some beautiful African teenager smile and make my whole day better. There is a lot of work to be done there and I look forward to two years of enhancing the already strong foundation at the school.
With that said, we still have great days and days when we question what we are doing here. This country is fairly developed and sometimes we both don’t know if Americans need to be here at all. There is an estimated HIV/AIDS prevalence rate of 25% (depending on whose research you read). It seems like much of the countries economy is based on such a high prevalence rate. So many people are employed by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It also seems like they have all correct programs on paper and are doing what they should be doing yet somehow the prevalence rate continues to rise. At this point behavior change is key, and we constantly ask ourselves if this a role that we as Americans can partake in without being to patronizing.
Overall, after being here almost three months, we are so happy and firm in our decision to see this thing through and learn as much as we can. We love living in Africa and waking up to the roosters crow and a magnificent sunrise that fills the horizon. We are so excited to have this to experience and learn all there is to learn from this crazy little place called, Botswana.
Miss you all more than you know....
- written jointly by matt and laura
Wedding Babies and Training
Finally!
Dumelang borra le bomma. Le Tsogile Jang? Re tsogile sentle. (Hello Ladies and Gentlemen. How are you? We are fine.)
Yes, we are alive and well. First, I want to apologize to all of you that have been gracious in sharing about your lives while we have not given any visuals or information about our lives here in Botswana. Sorry. It is not as easy as heading to the coffee shop for a few hours and wirelessly sending you some information.
I do not want to elaborate and bore you too much with how training was but overall it went fairly well. 60 Peace Corps trainees, including Laura and myself, arrived in Botswana sometime in mid April, moved into a local families house, and went through Peace Corps training for two months. Our days consisted of language training in the mornings, followed by HIV/AIDS sessions and cultural adjustment so to speak. It was fairly taxing considering we sat through session after session from roughly 8:00 to 17:00. Overall, it was necessary and gave us valuable insight to the complexities, challenges, and way of life here in Botswana.
On the whole, the other volunteers are great. We have all made it through training and we have had no one drop out. This is quite a feat considering on average 10-15% leave during training worldwide. Reflecting on our two months together and now that we have our freedom back, I would have to say that we really like and admire most of the people that we are serving with and look forward to working together over the next two years. Now, we are placed all over the country.
I do want to talk about a few experiences during our home stay with Mma and Rra Poloko Mothlobogwa. They are awesome. He is around 82 and she is around 75 years of age. She does not look a day over 60 and still works like she is a 40 year old woman. I guess one might say that all those years of hard work have actually benefitted her.
They have 9 grown children, most working at professional jobs in various parts of the country. Rra knows NO English and Mma gets by due to the fact she had a Peace Corp volunteer in the past. We learned so much from them culturally as they are old fashioned. It was fascinating how traditional Mma and Rra are; while their children are much more modern. This one family was such a prime example of how this country is in transition from old world to the modern world.
The newborn in the house was a prime example of how the traditional life and modern wonders were constantly at odds. Their daughter, Dolly, had a newborn. The baby was 2 months old when we arrived. Dolly used nappies (diapers) and let anyone hold the baby and care for her. On the other hand, Mma would not let her burn the soiled nappies as she thought it would bring bad luck to the baby, and she did not let me handle the baby at first since there is the two month confinement tradition. Before the baby was allowed to be handled by me, according to Mma, the traditional healer had to come and give her traditional medicines to protect her from evil spirits. All the while, Dolly was handing the baby to me to help and secretly burning the nappies in the yard. Dolly, obviously was not present for the traditional healers ceremony. This was a great introduction to all the changes that are happening between generations in this small country of 1.8 million.
Laura was required to do the household work. Mma put her to work the minute we would walk in. And since there is not really a word in Setswana for please, getting used to the orders took some time. We cooked traditional foods, outside by the fire as well as in the kitchen. A great welcoming to Botswana and a family we will see often since we have been posted here in Moleps.
After all, she has given us our Setswana names and considers us her children. My name is Thusoetsile, meaning ‘help has arrived’ and Laura’s is Kelebogile meaning ‘gift from God’. The village knows me by Thuso.
The first weekend we arrived their last born had a wedding at the house. What an event. It is much different than our traditions back in the States. (Who knows what those are as we all know about Matt and I’s wedding tradition.) First of all, the groom is required to give the brides family her worth in cattle. Yes, Botswana is cow country. Sana, the last born, and most brides in Botswana, are worth 8 cows! What a cheap price since Joe and Kathy would have received at least 15 cows…..
Meanwhile, the wedding is open to really anyone that wants to come, it is a community affair and everyone chips in to do their part. The women are cooking endlessly in huge pots in the backyard while the men are in charge of the meat. Sounds similar huh? Not really, there is a striking difference.
The day before the wedding we arrived home from training a bit early and noticed a group of men, from both families, sitting next to the krall (a place to store cattle in the community). There were 5 cows or beasts, as they are called here, in the krall ready for slaughter. I rushed inside to get a sport coat on and to witness the action. When you are with elders at such an event a sport coat is a sign of respect and much needed. Anyways, a registered local man pulls a rifle from the box, and boom, the cows dies right through the eyes from about 25 feet. Yeah, it was crazy. Next, he gives the gun to one of the groom’s family members and boom, #2. It proceeds until all 5, with only a single shot each, fall to the ground. I really couldn’t believe it. As you might have assumed, the women are not allowed to witness this event. They only hear the shots and after each one, they make this crazy sound with their mouth. I can’t explain the sound on paper. The women are also sitting around, in traditional attire, telling the bride what is expected of her as a wife and what she can expect as a married woman.
Meanwhile in the men’s department, I was told you don’t enter the krall unless you have your own knife, so I rushed back inside, changed from my sport coat to a t-shirt and grabbed my blade. All the men in the community began skinning and butchering all 5 cows. I was so amazed as I had never seen this procedure. I started in with a group of 4 guys and one beast. I grabbed a camera but some of you all may not enjoy the photos. (Not sure I can find a computer that will upload photos on this blog but I will try soon.) By the end of the night the cows were butchered, not a single piece of the beasts were wasted, and I really mean not a single part. In Botswana their favorite part is the intestines and were cooked immediately because the men couldn’t wait to get their fair share. It was all brought to the storage house in back, ready for preparation the next day. (Not to mention that these same carcasses were laying around the house for weeks, could possibly even be random parts around the compound as we write this six weeks later.) What an event. The best part was that everyone that helped with butchering got a nice portion to take home for their families to enjoy. Even after the wedding we had beef around for a month and people would come over everyday with empty plates to get some dinner. What an event, we got to witness a traditional wedding right away.
Ke a leboga (thank you) to the entire Poloko family for all they did for us, you are a part of us forever……………….. (Hopefully some of the nine children are reading this.)
Dumelang borra le bomma. Le Tsogile Jang? Re tsogile sentle. (Hello Ladies and Gentlemen. How are you? We are fine.)
Yes, we are alive and well. First, I want to apologize to all of you that have been gracious in sharing about your lives while we have not given any visuals or information about our lives here in Botswana. Sorry. It is not as easy as heading to the coffee shop for a few hours and wirelessly sending you some information.
I do not want to elaborate and bore you too much with how training was but overall it went fairly well. 60 Peace Corps trainees, including Laura and myself, arrived in Botswana sometime in mid April, moved into a local families house, and went through Peace Corps training for two months. Our days consisted of language training in the mornings, followed by HIV/AIDS sessions and cultural adjustment so to speak. It was fairly taxing considering we sat through session after session from roughly 8:00 to 17:00. Overall, it was necessary and gave us valuable insight to the complexities, challenges, and way of life here in Botswana.
On the whole, the other volunteers are great. We have all made it through training and we have had no one drop out. This is quite a feat considering on average 10-15% leave during training worldwide. Reflecting on our two months together and now that we have our freedom back, I would have to say that we really like and admire most of the people that we are serving with and look forward to working together over the next two years. Now, we are placed all over the country.
I do want to talk about a few experiences during our home stay with Mma and Rra Poloko Mothlobogwa. They are awesome. He is around 82 and she is around 75 years of age. She does not look a day over 60 and still works like she is a 40 year old woman. I guess one might say that all those years of hard work have actually benefitted her.
They have 9 grown children, most working at professional jobs in various parts of the country. Rra knows NO English and Mma gets by due to the fact she had a Peace Corp volunteer in the past. We learned so much from them culturally as they are old fashioned. It was fascinating how traditional Mma and Rra are; while their children are much more modern. This one family was such a prime example of how this country is in transition from old world to the modern world.
The newborn in the house was a prime example of how the traditional life and modern wonders were constantly at odds. Their daughter, Dolly, had a newborn. The baby was 2 months old when we arrived. Dolly used nappies (diapers) and let anyone hold the baby and care for her. On the other hand, Mma would not let her burn the soiled nappies as she thought it would bring bad luck to the baby, and she did not let me handle the baby at first since there is the two month confinement tradition. Before the baby was allowed to be handled by me, according to Mma, the traditional healer had to come and give her traditional medicines to protect her from evil spirits. All the while, Dolly was handing the baby to me to help and secretly burning the nappies in the yard. Dolly, obviously was not present for the traditional healers ceremony. This was a great introduction to all the changes that are happening between generations in this small country of 1.8 million.
Laura was required to do the household work. Mma put her to work the minute we would walk in. And since there is not really a word in Setswana for please, getting used to the orders took some time. We cooked traditional foods, outside by the fire as well as in the kitchen. A great welcoming to Botswana and a family we will see often since we have been posted here in Moleps.
After all, she has given us our Setswana names and considers us her children. My name is Thusoetsile, meaning ‘help has arrived’ and Laura’s is Kelebogile meaning ‘gift from God’. The village knows me by Thuso.
The first weekend we arrived their last born had a wedding at the house. What an event. It is much different than our traditions back in the States. (Who knows what those are as we all know about Matt and I’s wedding tradition.) First of all, the groom is required to give the brides family her worth in cattle. Yes, Botswana is cow country. Sana, the last born, and most brides in Botswana, are worth 8 cows! What a cheap price since Joe and Kathy would have received at least 15 cows…..
Meanwhile, the wedding is open to really anyone that wants to come, it is a community affair and everyone chips in to do their part. The women are cooking endlessly in huge pots in the backyard while the men are in charge of the meat. Sounds similar huh? Not really, there is a striking difference.
The day before the wedding we arrived home from training a bit early and noticed a group of men, from both families, sitting next to the krall (a place to store cattle in the community). There were 5 cows or beasts, as they are called here, in the krall ready for slaughter. I rushed inside to get a sport coat on and to witness the action. When you are with elders at such an event a sport coat is a sign of respect and much needed. Anyways, a registered local man pulls a rifle from the box, and boom, the cows dies right through the eyes from about 25 feet. Yeah, it was crazy. Next, he gives the gun to one of the groom’s family members and boom, #2. It proceeds until all 5, with only a single shot each, fall to the ground. I really couldn’t believe it. As you might have assumed, the women are not allowed to witness this event. They only hear the shots and after each one, they make this crazy sound with their mouth. I can’t explain the sound on paper. The women are also sitting around, in traditional attire, telling the bride what is expected of her as a wife and what she can expect as a married woman.
Meanwhile in the men’s department, I was told you don’t enter the krall unless you have your own knife, so I rushed back inside, changed from my sport coat to a t-shirt and grabbed my blade. All the men in the community began skinning and butchering all 5 cows. I was so amazed as I had never seen this procedure. I started in with a group of 4 guys and one beast. I grabbed a camera but some of you all may not enjoy the photos. (Not sure I can find a computer that will upload photos on this blog but I will try soon.) By the end of the night the cows were butchered, not a single piece of the beasts were wasted, and I really mean not a single part. In Botswana their favorite part is the intestines and were cooked immediately because the men couldn’t wait to get their fair share. It was all brought to the storage house in back, ready for preparation the next day. (Not to mention that these same carcasses were laying around the house for weeks, could possibly even be random parts around the compound as we write this six weeks later.) What an event. The best part was that everyone that helped with butchering got a nice portion to take home for their families to enjoy. Even after the wedding we had beef around for a month and people would come over everyday with empty plates to get some dinner. What an event, we got to witness a traditional wedding right away.
Ke a leboga (thank you) to the entire Poloko family for all they did for us, you are a part of us forever……………….. (Hopefully some of the nine children are reading this.)
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