First Congregational UCC - Platteville

Dear friends and family,

Dumelang, tsotlhe!!! Life in Kole is much more slowly paced, and so I have lots of time to think about you all. I haven’t considered getting on a plane to go home yet, but I do miss you and appreciate any correspondence so much. Denise, thank you for the candle! And, Mom and Dad, of course, send an impressive amount of mail . . . thank you.

So, the journey to Kole involves a 6 hour ride on a paved road between Gaborone, heading slightly north and mostly west towards Namibia. Before you reach Ganzi (sometimes spelled Ghanzi, or Gantsi or any combination thereof, just like Kole is Kule on the map), turn left at the “junction” towards Charles Hill. Charles Hill is a settlement of about five different ethnic groups: Herrero, Bakgalagadi, Basarwa (San), Motswana, and Namibian to name those I have heard of, although there are those I haven’t. My friend Monica is there. She has the challenge of trying to mobilize a community that has absolutely no history of being a community with tribalism and ethnic and cultural divides . . . three previous volunteers have been unsuccessful in starting support groups or anything of the sort related to HIV/AIDS. So, create a sense of community and then mobilize them. Eish, I don’t envy her. She may be moving to a new community, which is a whole different story involving Peace Corps politics which I won’t get into, but it’s related to the fact that our two closest volunteers, Andrew (also in Charles Hill) and Susie (18 km south of Kole) are leaving for the States next week. They have both decided for very good reasons not to finish their two years. It seems to be a trend for Botswana volunteers and I’m beginning to wonder if Peace Corps Botswana should only be 1 year to start with and that way communities don’t have to be disappointed if volunteers leave before their term is up. Susie and Andrew broke the news to Monica and me on the same day (by coincidence) last weekend. It was sort of a shock and we felt a little bit like the rug was pulled out from under us at first, but once I was used to the idea of truly being the only lekgoa anywhere around Kole, I realized it won’t change my situation or experience that much. They are still lovely people who still have every intention of making me comfortable and happy in Kole and I am capable of being a happy and effective volunteer there.

I moved to a gov’t house with running water (luxury!) and have part of my furniture. So, my housing fiasco is still getting worked out, but I feel comfortable and people seem to be concerned about getting me the stove and gas-run refrigerator as soon as possible. They have even said that electricity will be installed. Complete luxury! :)

The staff at the health post have been extremely receptive and understanding about my role as a health care volunteer. Other volunteers have run into expectations of being at the clinic/health post 40 hrs/week. It’s difficult to do any sort of community mobilization from that position, but my co-workers seem to understand that I will be more effective if I am mobile. I have already been invited to teach a class in English (I will do a short HIV/AIDS education) in the standard 7 class at the primary school. I can, in turn, sit in on their Setswana classes. Since they speak Segkalagadi in their homes, the kids really are learning Setswana at a level that will be helpful for me. I also have a tutor. He is the standard 1 teacher. Most of the teachers are young men, and I didn’t feel comfortable asking them to tutor me, but he is an older gentlemen and therefore automatically more . . . respectful. (Two of the other teachers have proposed marriage . . . they must have had enough contact with Peace Corps in the past to have realized that Americans don’t require leboa, the fee for marriage which can be up to 20 head of cattle (40,000 pula)). I also have a “walking partner”. She is one of the FWE’s (family welfare educators) at the health post. We haven’t actually followed through on our walking date for 5pm after work every day yet because she’s in the process of moving, but I have been walking and it is completely safe to do it alone if I want or need to.

I think I have determined that the population of Kole is about 800 or 900. There is a big gap in the middle of the village where an air strip used to be (to fly in health care workers before the health post arrived). So, it was hard to tell, before I started walking around.

I am excited about the possibilities of doing HIV/AIDS education with the staff at the health post and then having them help me make an AIDS day for the community of Kole. We will serve lunch and tea so that people come and then present the history, modes of transmission, how ARV therapy works, time frame of the disease, behavior change methods, and most importantly, ANSWER QUESTIONS. Some of my fellow volunteers did a workshop for the Red Cross while we were still in Moshupa and the questions we got were surprising. (I feel like I’ve written this before, I hope I’m not repeating myself) . . . anyway, one woman asked how it was possible that a baby of an HIV + woman be born HIV – . . . it’s strange that PMTCT is so successful and almost every pregnant woman in Botswana is enrolled who needs to be enrolled (we are only missing about 4%) and yet that question is floating around. Eish.

I also think I have mental health skills to offer my co-workers and Kole. I hope to talk about “active listening” and “counseling skills” which are things that I only had three months of training for before working at Mendota for a year and a half . . . but still, they seem to be topics that are only talked about and not really practiced, even in the health care setting. Ultimately, my goal will be to increase cross-gender communication. As important as the extended family is in the history and culture of Botswana, the nuclear family unit seems to have no bearing and it is extremely uncommon to find a husband and wife actually living together and raising children together. They are working in different places and grandma has the kids. So, sexual relations happen between all kinds of people, and things like, “sexual history”, are virtually unheard of, especially if discussed between a man and woman. To change the HIV/AIDS situation in Botswana, something needs to happen regarding cross-gender communication, especially in the bedroom.

I’m out of time for the internet. I will write in the next two weeks.

Take care, I love and miss you very much!

love, leah