First Congregational UCC - Platteville

Dear friends and family,

Dumela, gape.

It had been incredibly windy (meaning sand, everywhere!), but that part of spring is over and now it is beautiful. The nights are not as cold, I actually throw the blankets off sometimes, and in the morning I forget to put on my slippers which would have been miserable and unthinkable even a couple of weeks ago. There is a bush that is common ground cover with little yellow buds that I finally connected with a sweet new scent in the air. I noticed it when I was jogging the other night and actually thought I had gotten a whif of someone’s strong perfume as I went by. But it persisted. I am told that when it rains, the flowers open completely and I imagine it will be striking.

I am delighted to have our nurse back . . . she is rejuvinated after three weeks away at workshops and at home. She had me over for dinner and a movie on Sunday evening. Her daughter, Larona, is just over a year old and has more personality than any baby I have every met (sorry, Helena, I only met you briefly!) We were sleepy, wrapped up in blankets, watching a bad South African movie on TV and she was full of energy, using a wash cloth to dust everything in the living room (including us) and also wearing it as a hat occasionally.

Besides her adorable child, I am glad Twenty is back because I needed to talk to her about my relationship with Pearl, my counterpart. I got the unfortunate news last week that Pearl fits perfectly into the picture of immature, catty, jealous counterpart about whom we heard horror stories from our fellow Bots 5 volunteers. I knew we had communication issues, as I liked to say, but I honestly thought it was mostly due to language barriers and the fact that she is spacy. I’m afraid she isn’t as spacy or unintelligent as I thought. She has deliberately not informed me of important meetings or opportunities for transport to events in Charles Hill or Gantsi. I am finally understanding why. She is angry with me because I, “took her house” (I don’t know how thoroughly I explained that predicament but Pearl and I had a very civil conversation about it and she assured me that I should move into the house she had applied for because 1, I had applied for it first and 2, the gov’t is required to provide me housing and is not required to provide her housing because she is in her home village). Acting civil towards each other in public is very important. Genuine disagreement or argument is not appreciated. Culturally, it was more appropriate for her to express her frustration with the housing situation to someone other than me and to assure me that everything was fine. There could be other reasons, too. I’m white, which everyone is so unafraid to point out, and that means I have a lot of money, which I have almost given up trying to counter. (Relatively speaking in terms of the whole world, yes, I am rich, but in Botswana, I am not. This is not a poor country and Pearl’s salary is certainly more than my Peace Corps stipend . . . still, she manages to neglect supporting her two sons, from different fathers, neither of which live with her). Anyway, enough of that to avoid further catty-ness, but I feel like I have regained my place at the health post since Twenty came back and she has been reassuring and helpful about Pearl. Pearl and I will be fine. We haven’t been rude to each others’ faces, which, as I say, is important.

The Regional Drama Competition was last weekend. There were ten PCV’s in Gantsi for the event. I met some new people who have been here a year. It was fun, and I worked hard on the catering committee, endlessly chopping green peppers on Saturday morning. I had a great sense of accomplishment at the end of the weekend when I came into the kitchen before leaving and received warm greetings from my fellow cooks, (“T-Girl!” was my nickname). They pulled me into the storage room to make sure I got my share of the drinks that had been provided for the catering committee (Grape or Orange Fanta and Stoney Ginger Beer). They knew I liked Stoney best, I’m not sure how.

I was feeling guilty about being gone from Kole so often, partly because of my poor cat and partly because the phrase, “you’re never around,” from a villager actually gives me a physical pain in the chest. I don’t want to be a PCV who is using her time here as a vacation in Africa. But again, the nurse and Katlego reassured me that I am doing fine. I need to make the sorts of connections I have made by being involved with the event in Gantsi in order to be an effective HIV/AIDS worker. In a country as developed as Botswana, with so many organizations already responding to HIV, the biggest challenge I have is getting the “officials” in Gantsi and Charles Hill to include Kole, not to forget us, to send transport, to invite us to the workshops, etc, etc which doesn’t happen if there isn’t someone saying, “helloo, remember the settlement villages, please!” Even so, I’m afraid Kole is low on the pecking order. The transport for this last event arrived after midnight and everyone on the mini-bus from the Charles Hill sub-district had somewhere to sleep. Except for those from Kole who slept on the bus. In the morning, I saw one of the drama group members who had come to observe the competitions and said, “How are you?” “Not sharp!” Which was a funny, Africanz/Englishized response meaning, “not okay” and he explained what had happened with “boroko” (accomodation). I helped them find the person in charge of accomodation who showed them a room at the Senior School where they stayed for the rest of the weekend. (A common greeting in Gantsi area where there are lots of Africanz is: “Howzit?” and the response is “Sharp,” pronounced “Shop.”)

I asked Obusitswe, the garbage collector at the clinic, to look after Lefifi while I was gone. He did a wonderful job, and wouldn’t accept any money. The broom was moved, so I know he swept my house, too, which any good Motswana does once a day. And he changed the litter box even though I didn’t ask. I am hoping he will be available again when I go to Kanye (near Gaborone) in September for our two-week Peace Corps In-Service Training. Several of the Motswana, including Katlego who I consider a good friend, are afraid of Lefi. Cats, especially black cats, are associated with witch craft. So asking someone to cat-sit takes on a whole new meaning.

I think Kole’s Run for Life team is becoming a reality! There are at least four interested young men. Run for Life is an organization started by PCV’s in Botswana. The team signs a pledge to live a zero-transmission lifestyle. They train together for a half-marathon that was supposed to be in October. Luckily for us, the funding for the event has been delayed so the race won’t be until January or February. In the meantime, we can hold our own local race in conjuction with World AIDS Day in December. It is so good to have these concretely scheduled things in mind . . . it makes me feel useful.

Besides that, I am realizing that the Kole Youth are actually fairly organized. Those who were in the drama are the same youth who have formed soccer teams, volleyball teams, and other drama groups in the past. They have recently elected a new committee of youth leaders and are forming a schedule for the year. I am involved and it feels awesome and fragile at once. Those who are closest to me and most helpful are also cynical about the youths’ commitment. They say they are not “serious” and that I will get frustrated waiting for them to show up for practices. For now, I remain impressed and grateful at their level of involvement and commitment. They have continued to get together to practice songs and dances at the community hall about five days a week since the drama competition. I have told them about a drama workshop that the Botswana National Youth Council is planning for the Gantsi district in September and another one that Monica is going to plan for the Charles Hill Sub-District in December. I’m hoping those things keep them motivated.

September 30th is Botswana’s celebration of Independence. The youth are fundraising to be able to put on a talent show for the event and are planning a new drama.

This weekend, Katlego and Twenty have convinced me to go to D’Kar with them to see a Basarwa traditional dance festival. I was reluctant, not wanting to leave Kole again, but they assured me as someone who likes to dance that this event should not be missed. Besides, without them in town, my weekend nights would be lonely.

I miss you and think of you often. A few of you have asked for ideas for packages. I’m not hinting, it’s just a convenient way to let you all know at once. ;)

Multi-vitamins, candles, hand sanitizer, Paul Simon’s Graceland cd, more pens, more tea

Much love from across the Atlantic,

Leah