First Congregational UCC - Platteville

Dear friends and family,

I cannot believe it is February. This short month will go by and then it will be March and then I will be 25 years old and then my sister will be married a few months after that and then I will have a year left in Botswana. Unlubievable, as my father would say.

My “projects” at the moment are as follows:

Anonymous friend: She is 23 years old, very pretty, very smart, and in the process of applying for her first job as shop assistant in Ncojane. I helped her write the letter for the application. I encouraged her to look beyond sweeping and mopping the “Ratamang General Dealer” and apply for University of Botswana. There is one small problem that she finally admitted to me. She only graduated from Form 3 (there are 5 “forms” in the equivalent of high school and 4 and 5 are like senior year. Completing form 5 is required to enter UB). In fact, in order to apply for this job, she finally bought her graduation certificate (JCE, Junior Certificate of Education). It cost 72 pula (12 USD) which she didn’t have at the time of graduation.

She opened up to me while I was walking her home the other night. She has a little girl, about a year and a half, I think. I knew her current boyfriend (her “husband to be”) is not the father of the child. He forgave her the affair, even though it resulted in a child, and they are still committed. I didn’t realize she was still having an affair (different guy this time).

Don’t be too harsh. This is done in order to get money for her and her daughter. The current man will buy her clothes (to compliment her very pretty figure) and milk and pampers. I am somewhat shaken by the news, though. (For one thing, the guy is a “friend” of mine and for some reason, I want to blame him). She told me in confidence (so if you are ever in Botswana, please keep it in your confidence as well), so I am not going to confront him. Instead, I asked her if she wanted advice. She said, “Yes, please!” I used the message that we tried to give the girls at Glow camp: You are in charge of your life. When she told me she was cheating on her boyfriend she said, “I hate myself.” I told her not to beat herself up for what she had done, but to pay attention to that feeling and to realize she was in charge of her decisions. If she felt bad after making a certain decision, make a different one next time. Mostly, though, I tried to tell her that I was supportive of her no matter what, and thanked her for sharing with me.

Her story is the story of so many young women in Botswana. Maybe more so than the story of young women who are faithful. My best teacher friend also had a child outside of her supposedly committed relationship. At least use a condom, people!

VMSAC Workshop: This is a more mundane subject but it requires lots of mundane tasks to be done and I like having “to do” lists every day. I typed and printed letters of invitation for the members of the committee and for guest presentors. I made certificates for the members (Congratulations for participating! . . . people LOVE certificates). I am finding quotations for catering. That means asking a few women to cater who are capable of going to Ghanzi to get food, buying it up front, cooking, and being reimbursed for their services later (meaning the women whose husbands have vehicles and who are in all other ways fairly well off). Then I make up two other “caterers” and make fake quotations for them (much too expensive to actually be chosen) because the government requires three quotations. Never mind that there ARE no caterers in Kole. Oh, yes, maybe I should explain, workshops need to be catered. That’s why you call it a workshop, to advertise that there will be food and therefore people will attend.

In this workshop, I will do my best to teach (with the help of a translator for the scientific language): What is a virus? What is the difference between HIV/AIDS? Where does HIV live? How is it transmitted? What is the window period? What is ARV treatment? What does resistance mean? What can we do as individuals to help fight HIV? What services are available in the sub-district?

That’s a lot. I am hoping to do it in 5 hours. Wish me luck!

GLOW: There continues to be petty politics at the school, especially related to Glow. It’s not just Kole Primary School. My friend Cassie offered to start a Glow club at the Ghanzi junior secondary school and was met with resistance. The subject of gender empowerment is touchy to say the least. It addresses so many cultural topics which Batswana feel foreigners are not qualified to teach (things related to sex, marriage, family, behavior). We definitely experienced tension at our camp because of this. A small example was the behavior in the dining room. Meal times were sort of a let down for those of us who have been “campers” before. Meals are supposed to be a communal, social time. The way things went at our Glow camp in December, the girls would straggle in in small groups, eat quietly, and leave. On the second day, someone suggested at the leader’s meeting that we make up some games to play or to sing songs (reminiscent of Pilgrim Center meal times, for those of you who know what that is like – not subdued). So, the next day, Patricia divided the room into three long tables and had the girls sit in the their “teams” from that morning. I don’t remember what she tried to do, but the activity sort of flopped and we let them eat quietly and leave as usual. I think partly the facilitators were too tired to get into it with the girls. Anyway, a few nights after that, the leaders meeting got emotional and the “racist” card was even pulled at one point. (We think we are better than the Batswana because we’re white and they’re black . . . this was particularly ridiculous because the woman who mentioned it was the counterpart to one of our black American volunteers . . . it was simply meant to be hurtful and it was). So, one of the more reasonable explanations for the Batswana facilitators being upset with the way things were going in camp was what had happened at mealtime: meals are meant to be eaten in silence. It is absolutely rude to “visit”. So, it was culturally offensive to encourage the girls to make noise.

To make a long story a little bit shorter, I am not going to try to pursue holding Glow club at the Primary School. I will have it at my house. And I may call it “English lessons” to really avoid any further complications. We will practice English and public speaking as part of Glow. And if my Glow girls decide on their own to be subversive and start calling the club Girls Leading Our World, I will not stop them. J

I am in Ghanzi at the moment, and I have the luxury of free internet, so I wish I could just write and write to you for hours. But that would be tedious for everyone involved and I have a line of 6 PCV’s waiting to use this free internet, too. We have four new additions to Botswana from the Kenya program which had to be closed for obvious reasons. They spent a month in consolidation not knowing anything about what was happening, when they would leave, where they would go. So, they are in majorly chilled out mode and seem to be handling the transition beautifully.

So, I’m cutting my usually obnoxiously long emails a bit short for their sake!

I love and miss you very much.

Love, Leah

p.s. I am eating rape (spinach, sort of) out of my garden! And fresh basil. Ahh.