Shadowing and More!

Oct 10th
We were supposed to go on a trip to a smaller village in Botswana to
shadow a current volunteer for one week, but we came down with some
intense flu-like symptoms Monday and Tuesday. But after two days we
had recovered enough to make the 5 hour trip to visit the volunteer
for about two days before returning home. We had been through a
session on traveling in Botswana and were expecting it to be a lot
more challenging that it turned out to be. We got a ride to the Bus
Rank in town and waited around for an hour until the combi left one
the first leg of our journey. Combis are mini-van style vehicles that
are used for transport between villages. They use charter buses for
more popular destinations, and taxis are also available but are very
expensive when traveling outside village limits. The first leg of the
trip was about 2 hours long and was a very cramped experience because
16 people were seated in a combi made for 12 people! After that ride
we got to wander around the bus rank area of Molepolole until the next
combi left on the next leg of our journey heading West across Botswana
(we have been advised to be vague about our travel destinations for
security purposes). The next two combis were just as crowded as the
first, but we made it to our destination without any major issues
other than the usual dehydration that we are constantly battling
because the dry air evaporates our sweat so quickly we often do not
realize how much water we are losing.
During the one full day that we were at our shadowing site we got to
visit the school that our host has been working at for the past 1.5
years. The school was a boarding school with hundreds of students from
the surrounding villages that live at the school when it is in
session. Like this school, most schools teach only in English, so we
were able to sit in during a few class sessions and observe the
teachers at work. Over all the classroom experience seems comparable
to the United States in that it varies greatly from teacher to teacher
depending on the methods that they use. At the end of the day we were
assigned to complete a focus group discussion with some students at
the school in order to gain more data for the Peace Corps regarding
the current knowledge and needs of communities around Botswana. Our
focus group was comprised of some very well-spoken students that had a
lot to say regarding the current state of Botswana's economy, social
issues, and corporal punishment in schools.
Also, during our stay with our host we were treated to some great
meals! They were simple, but their similarity to dishes we ate at home
made them a very welcome treat in our diets! Our host had made pizza
from ingredients she bought while visiting Gaborone recently. She also
made spaghetti one night. Both dishes tasted great, and were a very
nice break from the usual cornmeal, cabbage, beets, and tough meat
that we usually have. Our diets at home have kept us full, but we are
always craving the comforts of familiar tastes from home.

October 25th
Last week we learned the location of our permanent site. The village
we will be moving to has a population of about 7000 people and is in
the Southern Kalahadi District which is home to the sand dunes of the
Kalahari desert. We will be living in the teacher housing of the
school that Michael will be working at with the guidance counselor and
Hayley will be traveling across town to work with the district health
office. We were pretty sad to learn that our village has us separated
from everyone in our Botswana Group 11, so we don't expect to have
much of an opportunity to see the people that we have gotten to know
so well over the past weeks of training. But, there are a few other
current volunteers in our area that are very nice and we look forward
to getting to know them better and collaborating with them on projects
with them.
More information on our permanent sites and the things we are learning
about it will be posted soon! And on an unrelated note, we have yet to
experience much of the stereotypical African wildlife (so far we just
see birds, cows, goats, and chickens every day). But a group of
trainees that we usually walk with to school came across a bright
green chameleon crossing the road before we met up with them!