Put Down That Classic Novel, and Watch a Classic Movie!

To whom it may concern...

This blog post will not convey any of the details of our Peace Corps
service. It is a submission I recently made to the Peace Corps
Botswana newsletter in the hopes that i could share my passion for
movies with other volunteers.

During a week of shadowing back in October 2011, Hayley and I stayed
with a currently serving volunteer in order to learn more about the
life of a volunteer first hard. Our host was great, and one of the
most important things that i learned during the time was: be ready for
everything, and ready for nothing...

Our host gave us this piece of advice in order to help us understand
that at times Peace Corps service will be EXTREMELY hectic! And this
has come true on many occasions in which we spend a lot of time
pushing to get projects accomplished but keep running into local
resistance, but eventually things come around and then all the
projects you had been working on come to fruition all at the same
time! Again, "be ready for everything..."

But, you must also be ready for nothing meaning sometime you will have
ample time with which to entertain yourself and this can be a
challenge for volunteers from American in that we are from a
consumer-entertainment culture and many of the avenues for
entertainment are not available to us anymore.

So, with a focus on the challenge of entertaining yourself, I put
together a list of short movie reviews of classic movies in order to
give my fellow volunteers some recommendations of great movies they
should check out in between stints of reading classic books!

Here is my article:

Many volunteers take on the challenge of reading 100 books while in
the Peace Corps, or at least getting through all those long classics
they have been avoiding since high school. However, watching movies is
another great way to entertain yourself and experience the classics of
cinema during your service.

Below is a short list of a variety of films that are readily available
among the media collections of Peace Corps Botswana volunteers. At
times, selecting movies from another volunteer's collection can be
tricky but after looking through this list you might find a few films
you won't want to miss!


2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Science-Fiction
Three main story arcs make up this movie's narrative (primitive
humankind, modern humankind, and future humankind), but the primary,
character-driven story deals with a sentient computer system named
HAL. Even though the movie was made in the 60's, HAL continues to
serve as a poignant representation of the risks involved in handing
over our everyday responsibilities to technological innovations. This
film is famous for its mostly successful attempt to capture the broad
expanse of humankind's evolution from prehistoric days into the
distant future. The scope of this film is unchallenged by any other
film, and it is the director's intention that it should be viewed as
an audio/visual symphony rather than just a science-fiction film.


Rear Window (1954)
Mystery, Thriller
Hitchcock was a master of intrigue, mystery, suspense, and all other
nail-biting genres. This film is set within an apartment complex and
has a lot to say about voyeurism. In an attempt to ease his cabin
fever, a man stuck at home with a broken leg starts to observe the
goings-on of his apartment block. One day he thinks he witnesses a
murder, and from there the plot thickens! Very few modern films
involving stakeouts and voyeurism (e.g., The Burbs (1989) and
Disturbia (2007)) have failed to pay homage to Rear Window in one way
or another. Above all else, this film highlights the "life in a
fishbowl" that every volunteer can appreciate!

Amélie (2001)
Quirky Romance
This is a movie full of happiness! It tells the story of a young girl
who, deprived of love and affection from her father, has grown into a
woman that finds joy in anonymously bringing happiness to others in
need. The film tells its story in the fashion of a lighthearted
fantasy where we get to share in the main characters wonder at the
world around her. Along with the inimitable joy found within this
movie, its place among the classics of cinema is founded upon the
creative ways in which the director fuses the camerawork, color, and
sound into such creative presentations that viewers cannot but help to
feel some of the bliss and wonder contained within the film.


Before Sunrise (1995)
Romance, Travel
A young American man travelling abroad meets a French woman on a train
to Vienna. The two hit it off and have a single day to spend together.
They fill their time with intimate discussions about worldviews, love,
and existence as they explore the city. The discussions and
experiences that these characters have are so naturally written that
most everyone that watches the movie finds at least one sympathetic
connection with the film's two main characters. Unlike most films that
revel in the grandness of cinema, this film finds a magical and
engaging way to show two ordinary people, have ordinary conversations,
during an ordinary chance meeting.


Nosferatu (1922)
Silent, Horror, Romance
For many, the recent culmination of Stephanie Meyers's vampire
quadrilogy exhausted the vampire mythos and essentially was the final
nail in the vampire-genre's coffin… but give the genre one more chance
with the original vampire flick! The film is loosely based on Bram
Stoker's novel Dracula, it is the only silent film on this list. It is
a historically important film in that it was the first to shoot on
location and utilize a new camera filter technology to film scenes in
both day and night settings. Further, the silence of the characters
adds a brooding atmosphere to the viewing experience. Consider the way
in which the actors of the silent era practiced a craft wholly
different from the craft we see actors practicing today (i.e., tell a
story without the emotive power of their voices), yet its influence on
contemporary cinema is incalculable.


Singin' In the Rain (1952)
Musical, Comedy
This film is the perfect follow up to the silent film Nosferatu in
that Singin' in the Rain is the story of Hollywood's reluctant and
rocky transition from silent movies to 'talkies'. The film's fame is
founded upon its quick witted comedic dialog as well as its intricate
song and dance numbers. I cannot explain the greatness of this film
any more succinctly than one reviewer (Bryant Frazer,
filmfreakcentral.net) already has, "… Singin' in the Rain is a genuine
national treasure—a single text proving for posterity what a wondrous
thing the Hollywood studio system could be when it was firing on all
cylinders. It's the quintessential studio picture and smart as hell
about its own nature. Unpretentious and unabashedly entertaining, it's
a simultaneously self-reflexive product of the same filmmaking process
it simultaneously documents and lampoons."


Casablanca (1942)
Drama, Romance, War
Casablanca is the story of a cynical American expat., living in the
Moroccan city of Casablanca and operating a night club during the
early years of World War I. The plot focuses on the appearance of a
set of traveling-documents that will allow the possessor to freely
leave the city without being arrested by the city's German occupiers.
The main character must decide whether to help his former love and her
resistance leader husband leave the city or to attempt to continue
re-kindling his relationship with her. The fame of the movie comes
from its solid screenplay which establishes both characters we all can
empathize with, and a story deep with wartime romance, intrigue, and
suspense. It does all of this through the execution of some of the
most iconic scenes in movie history.


Say Anything (1989)
Comedy, Drama
Set firmly in the 80's, teen-centered films, this is a classic story
of a boy and girl from opposite sides of the track. The film is iconic
for a scene in which on of the main characters holds a boom-box over
his head, but the social commentaries are another timeless aspect of
this film. This is a film about teenage romance, and the challenges
that we all face in life after graduation (whether that be from high
school or college). One of the main characters famously states: "I
don't want to buy anything, sell anything, or process anything as a
career," this form of idealism perfectly captures anyone of a
generation that has already, or is coming into, a time in life when
the go-to question of "what's your major" transitions into "what do
you do". Say Anything has become a classic in virtue of its humanity
and honesty; where romantic comedies of the 80, 90's and 2000's
consistently tell the story of generalized archetypal characters
(i.e., the jock, the nerd, the pretty girl, etc), Say Anything tells a
story about two ordinary teens and their experiences in fostering a
relationship and trying to figure out whether or not their lives are
on the same path or not and, more importantly, if that question really
demands an answer where matters of the heart are concerned.


Dogville (2003)
Drama, Experimental
The gritty tale of an outsider exploring the social and moral
ecosystems of a small town. The movie was filmed entirely on an open
soundstage with only chalk outlines to designate the various locales
of the town (and even the town dog!). Through all of this, the actors
play their scenes as if they cannot see into the rooms and houses next
to them (yet another commentary on "living in a fishbowl"). This film
is contemporary, cinematic pop art in full form, and as the main
character is slowly subjected to the shadier aspects of the village
the film presents some challenging scenes. The film is morose, but
remains a classic due to its achievements in experimental cinema and
uncompromising investigation of the darker side of the human psyche.

The Lives of Others (2006)
Drama, Suspense
Set in the Orwellian world of Berlin in the 1980's, The Lives of
Others tells the story of a surveillance officer in East Berlin and
his work in monitoring the underground art scene. The film focuses on
the officer rather than the artists, and from this we watch as the
lives of those he is monitoring begin to influence him. Aside from the
unique storyline set in the world of a Berlin divided, the film's use
of color and set design create stark contrasts between the vibrant,
expressive lives of the artists and the grey, dull world of the
surveillance officer. The suspense is top notch, as an artist works to
export his literary work across the wall, and through all of this the
film fosters lingering connections between you the viewer and the
characters that you are observing on screen.

The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
Comedy, Romance
Woody Allen, the film's director, subscribes to the professional
self-declared policy of quantity over quality. That is, he prefers to
remain a prolific moviemaker in the hopes that at least some of his
works will strike a chord with audiences. And, lucky for us, his
methods have produced a lot of quality films (which made it a
challenge to choose just one…). The Purple Rose of Cairo is a film
about a woman stuck in a bad marriage who finds an escape in going to
the movies. After attending countless showing of a film called The
Purple Rose of Cairo, she notices that the characters on the screen
begin to address her and then the star of the film actually steps off
the screen and into the real world and doesn't want to go back! As
with most of Allen's features, its place among the classics is
established by his unique humor and ability to integrate his
characteristic witty commentary into a heartfelt, real-world romance.

Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Horror
While Night of the Living Dead is not the first movie of the zombie
genre, it is the movie credited with the genre's long standing
popularity. Night of the Living Dead tells the story of a small group
of survivors that hole up in an abandoned farm house in the first days
of a zombie apocalypse. The majority of the film takes place in the
house and, like all good zombie flicks, has little to do with the
zombies and more to do with the band of survivors trying to understand
each other and establish a plan for survival. This film's importance
in movie history lies in its use of the zombie apocalypse as a
metaphor for longstanding social issues such as the civil rights and
distrust of the government. What's more, the movie stands as an
archetype on which countless contemporary social issues can be
superimposed.

The Seven Samurai (1954)
Epic, Adventure, Drama
The Seven Samurai created its own genre and defines the word epic. Set
in Japan, 1587, the film depicts a rag-tag band of wandering samurai
that come together to defend a small village from raiders. In a now
common trope recently made in vogue by films such as Ocean's Trilogy
(2001-2007) and Inglorious Basterds (2009), you get to know each
member of the group of samurai as they are recruited for their unique
skill sets. The structure of the film finds time to both allow the
viewer to come to care about the future of the villagers and to
appreciate the samurais' own personal issues (they live as social
pariahs in a world that no longer seems to require their services)
while also depicting scenes of supremely choreographed battles.

Return from Lesotho

October 10, 2012

We have just returned from an amazing, yet very short trip to Lesotho. Lesotho is an enclave (a country within the borders of another country) that is located in the eastern region of South Africa and is governed by a monarchy. The country is located in a mountainous region and offers some amazing hiking opportunities. Just as our trip to the Okavango delta reminded us how refreshing it can be to exist in the presence of water, it was a relaxing experience to be in the presence of mountains and trees again too! The region of the Kalahari Desert that we live in has its own forms of beauty to offer, but it has been nice to take breaks from it and experience the lush flood plains and mountains of the surrounding regions of Sub-Saharan Africa.

We traveled to Lesotho with seven other volunteers in a private combi (minivan/bus). It had been assumed that the drivers would be a little more aware of the route we needed to take to get to our destination, so when our group only brought vague directions and no detailed road maps we set ourselves up for plenty of scenic detours! Although the detours could be frustrating at times, they still offered us more time to hang out with our traveling group. Like any road trip, the time in a cramped car eventually gets to you but the destination was definitely worth the trip! We spent two days in Lesotho staying at Malealea Lodge and going on two hiking excursions led by guides. The first hike was 6 hours and took through a gorge to see a waterfall and then led us into the mountains to see some ancient rock paintings! The second excusion took us into another gorge to swim in some rock pools and then took us up the side of small mountain. We were exhausted during from all of the hiking (especially because our desert home does not offer much in the way of high elevation hiking..) but we all had a great time and hope to go back again someday. Pictures will soon be posted on facebook.

Now that we are back in Botswana, we are hosting a Peace Corps  shadowee. After one month in Peace Corps Botswana, trainees are sent out to spend a week living with a current volunteer in order to get a break from training sessions and also to learn firsthand was volunteer life and work is actually like. It is always a fun time, getting to hang out with a new volunteer and introduce them to the aspects of your village life! We spent our first night making pizza and getting to know each other more, and with the remainder of our time we will try to cook more unique meals and give the shadowee plenty of time at the school in order for them to have a better idea of what school work is like because this most recent group of volunteers is comprised of school volunteers. Along with getting experience at the school, we plan to meet up with other volunteers and shadowees in the area for a joint trip to the local Camel Park which is one of the tourism based operations currently available in our region (the Trans-Kalahari Frontier park is nearby, however it is inaccessible without a good 4x4 vehicle).

Again, be on the lookout for pictures from our recent adventures in Sub-Saharan Africa!

Best,

-          Michael

Don’t Go Outside!

Don't Go Outside!
The Spring season is in full swing in Botswana. The season is
characterized by dramatic temperature changes and windy weather (with
a about 2 very short rain showers thrown in as well). The gusty winds
kick-up the sand into big clouds that make walking into and out of the
village pretty miserable because you get covered in a layer of dust
and sand for the rest of the day.
Aside from the weather, Hayley and I have been busy with projects and
planning a trip for ourselves and my sister and her husband when they
come to visit Southern Africa during their honeymoon! We have plans to
see Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, experience an over night camping
safari in Chobe National Park, and also to spend some time in South
Africa swimming with Great White Sharks, exploring Table Mountain, and
enjoying some relaxing beach time! After a little over 1-yr in
Botswana, we have not really taken much time to travel because: 1) we
have been saving our money for epic trips like the one described
above, and 2) travel in Botswana without a private vehicle is pretty
painful given the effort it takes to travel out of our area of
Botswana via public transportation (the buses are very good at
sticking to their schedule and charging American's the standard rates,
but the long distances that have to be traveled in packed buses and
mini-vans is rough, to say the least!).
These next few months mark the end of the school year, and that means
the students at my school have been gearing up for final exams since
the beginning of the semester. A group of college-aged volunteers
(Eduvolunteers is the name of their group), that is funded by the
Botswana Ministry of Education, has visited my school on multiple
occasions because after their first visit they discovered that many
students are over one full year behind in their course work. So the
volunteers are back for a thirst visit to continue offering their
tutoring services for a few days.
As has been stated in the past, the reason for the students being so
far behind in their course work is the teachers' Industrial Action"
that ended just before Hayley and I arrived in Botswana in September
2012. The Industrial Action is a polite term for the teachers' strike
that left the students without teachers for much of the last half of
the school year. And even once the strike ended, it has been a slow
process of getting teachers back into the habit of teaching their
classes and offering the students feedback on their work in a timely
manner.
Even amongst these hardships, we have still met many inspirational and
hardworking individual professionals and students in Botswana that are
also aware of these shortcomings and are working tirelessly to mend
them! It is because of these friends and colleagues that we continue
to find the support and energy to keep up with our lives as Peace
Corps Volunteers!
Lastly, my Birthday came and went earlier this month and, along with
the many packages we received (Tami & Mitch, Gma/Gpa Holthus, Gma/Gpa
Johnson, Dad Stolzle, Gma and Mom Knopick, Sister and
Bro-in-Law-To-Be) Hayley and I celebrated together in our village with
the exploration of a part of the village we had not yet seen. We also
made cake and other special foods from the packages we received, and
watched lots and lots of movies and TV shows! It was a fun and
relaxing day to see a little more of our home village and also enjoy
the tastes and entrainments of our home culture in the US. Thank to
everyone that send their love through packages, cards, and facebook!

In an attempt to keep these blog updates shorter and more readable, I
will stop here. But expect more updates soon!

- Michael

4 Botswana Cultural Practices I Admire and Embrace

1.) Greet people ALWAYS- Greetings are huge in Botswana. They mean the world to people and are a significant part of any relationship. I also like how it is expected to greet people before you ask for help or ask them to do something for you. This does not always happen but it is considered impolite to not first recognize the individual as a person (and not a means to an end). On days when I am not super busy at work, I love to go and “check” all my coworkers and friends in the community just to let them know I care about them and recognize their importance in my life. Every time I travel to the capitol city where such extended greetings are not common, I always experience a bit of culture shock.

2.) Sing or dance whenever you want and wherever you want- Tswana culture is full of the celebration of life with its continual expression and rhythm. People are not afraid to randomly break into song or dance and love it when you do, too! Songs are used to open school assemblies, work meetings, casual community meetings and about everything else in between. And when you ask people what they enjoy doing they will often say dancing and singing. They will then proceed to break into song and dance for you.

3.)  Share your food- Food is also a huge part of building relationships with people. At first I found it difficult to openly share my food especially with the limited volunteer allowance we are given and the expense of food in our village of Tsabong where a bag of apples costs 29 pula and only costs 9 pula in villages closer to the capitol. However, once you see how it brings people together your heart is opened and it is a nice experience. There are times where you are offered food you don’t really want like gemsbok liver or cow intestine and there are times where it’s a delightful experience like honey sucked straight out of a freshly gathered honey comb. Recently on the bus home from the capitol, I witnessed my seatmate (a 25 year old woman) share her bag of chips with a snotty-nosed little girl standing next to us in the aisle. The girl was obviously starving and very sick with some sort of bad chest cold. The little girl couldn’t have been more than 4 and was traveling with her mother and two younger siblings. I can’t imagine trying to take three small children on a crowded 7 hour bus ride but the mother was helped by the women around her who took turns holding them.

4.) Hold or Clap someone’s hand when you talk-  Even grown men will be seen walking down the road holding hands and chatting it up. When I first arrived here, I found it awkward and weird but now I even do it to others and find it to be quite pleasant. When you are really excited to see people, you usually give them a hug and then hold their hand for a few seconds while you chat. It’s also very common for people to do what I would equate to a fist bump in the states during the middle of a conversation. You do it after you or they say something funny or after something you agree on. The hand slap is just a clap of the hands with a little thumb touch at the end. It’s hard to put into words but it’s like doing a secret handshake with your best friend growing up except you regularly do it in mid-conversation with everyone from your closest friends to complete strangers.

Marital Rape Still Legal in Botswana

One of the hardest things for me to face as a woman working on gender issues here in Botswana is the issue of marital rape. It is technically still legal for men to rape their spouses. Thanks to the Domestic Violence Act of 2008, women can now prosecute the husband’s rape as a civil lawsuit. However, the rape cannot be tried as a criminal lawsuit and is not recognized as a criminal offense.

Recently, I gave a sexual abuse training to doctors, nurses and administration at the primary hospital where I work. Afterwards, one of the doctors asked how one of his patients who is married and a mother of four with her husband can claim to have been “raped” by him. The doctor was dead serious when he asked, too. As politely as I could…I explained that women can be raped no matter what their relationship status and that it’s not his job to decide whether she was raped or not. I told him that based on my presentation, he now knows what he should do in this case which would be to examine the woman for signs of rape, do a rape kit, treat her, note her chart and then take her to social work for counseling. I further explained that it’s up to him to take those first steps and then it’s out of his hands. It is not his place to decide whether she was actually raped or not. That is for the social workers and police to decide after extensive counseling and investigation.  His response was simply shaking his head as if doing what he is required by law to do is too burdensome in this case. The Chief Medical Officer did have my back, though, and encouraged the other doctors to always follow through with a rape case even if it’s a married woman reporting rape.

I am not sure what else to say except that I hope this demonstrates what we are up against here with challenging such viewpoints on women’s rights when even doctors do not acknowledge or take the time to report cases of rape for married women. I hope to write another blog soon addressing marriage dynamics and why women are likely to experience marital rape.

Photo Gallery Update

We have been posting pictures of our time here in Botswana on our Facebook pages.

In case you have missed the new photos that we have posted, or are interested in checking out the older ones, we have posted links to all of our Facebook photo galleries in the sidebar on the right side of the screen our blog (michaelandhayley.blogspot.com). You are not required to have a Facebook account in order to view them, they are open to anyone to view.

August 2012 Update!

Here is a much delayed update!
The one-year mark of our service is coming up. There is a trend among
Peace Corps volunteers where around the one-year mark, your service
work really starts to pick up speed. This trend has proven to be true
with us as well. It really has taken about a year to integrate
ourselves into Botswana's culture and systems of business. Over the
last year our service has been comprised mostly of building
relationships and learning the do's and don't's of life here. But now
that we have reached this point, a lot of our initiatives and projects
are coming to fruition much quicker than we anticipated. This is
probably because the people that we work with have gotten to know us
to a degree that they are more comfortable trying new projects with us
and allow us to support them in leading their our projects as well.
When I first arrived at the school, most teachers were not quite sure
what I was there to do. When I sat in on classes to observe the
standard approach to teaching most teachers were initially defensive
because they assumed I was there to audit them and file reports about
their weaknesses to the Ministry of Education. But After building
deeper relationships with my fellow teachers, they started to see that
my primary focus was on setting up programs and initiatives for the
students' benefit. And after a year of small projects, teachers are
now starting to buy into my work here and show an interest in
bettering the school themselves. This is a really important step
because my school has a very very poor pass-rate (meaning barely 50%
of the students received passing grades at the end of the school last
Novemebr). The Ministry of Education has been putting a lot of
pressure on the schools of Botswana that had such low pass-rates, and
have especially been placing a lot of blame on the teachers for doing
a poor job of engaging their students. The teachers subsequently focus
the blame on the students who "don't want to learn". It is a difficult
issues to overcome, but I do believe the handful of teachers at my
school that are showing a real interest in helping the students
perform better will pave the way to higher scores this November
(although, change happens slowly and I don't expect a large
improvement this time around..maybe next year!).
Aside from work in our villages, Hayley and I have been traveling
between our home village and Gaborone (the Botswana capitol) to work
on various projects and committees. Hayley is part of a very active
Gender Committee for the Peace Corps which works on researching gender
issues in Botswana and providing information and training to Peace
Corps Volunteers in the hope that we will all be more educated and
qualified in ways to help address the gender issues here. Some of our
older volunteers liken Botswana current social structure to the US
life and culture of the 60's. Women's rights were still (and still
are) needing improvement, and the society was patriarchal in that most
positions of power were filled by men and minority opinions lacked
strong representation.
Hayley will also be traveling to Gaborone in order to help lead some
sessions at the Bots12 In-Service Training which is a training given
to recently arrived volunteers after they have spent 2-months at their
sites. And, the newest batch of volunteers (Bots13) will be arriving
next month so she and the rest of the gender committee will likely be
preparing some sessions for their arrival training as well.
As for me, my latest project outside of the village has been helping
to create a set of introductory Setswana language training videos. Two
other volunteers and I collaborated with the Peace Corps Botswana
administration to put together a series of language videos that could
better prepare incoming volunteers for learning the Setswana language.
Because Setswana is a Bantu language it is complete foreign to more
English speakers due to the fact that we come from a heritage of
Romantic languages that are derived from their Latin/Roman language
heritage. Along with the challenge of learning a Bantu based language
like Setswana, the English language is widely spoken in Botswana which
makes learning Setswana even harder because you are never forced to
learn it. It is very easy to speak English with people at school,
work, and even the grocery store. So, many volunteers, such as myself,
don't progress very far beyond basic sentences and greetings. These
reasons help to explain why Peace Corps Botswana has such low scores
when it comes to language uptake by its volunteers. Our language
trainings pale in comparison to the language trainings of other
countries in which learning the local language is ESSENTIAL for
survival and success. But, it is the hope of the Peace Corps Botswana
administration that these language videos will give incoming
volunteers a leg up on Setswana before moving here so that further
language learning will be much easier for them in the future! You can
check out our finished product at this address:
www.learningsetswana.wordpress.com
I am currently working with a group of dedicated students on a
twice-daily study group. We meet every morning before school and every
afternoon after school in order to study various subjects in
preparation for their exit exams this November. Students graduate from
Junior Secondary Schools like mine, and move on to Senior Secondary
Schools before going on to college. Basically, my school is the
equivalent of 8th-10th grade and in order to go on to 11th and 12th
grade students must receive a passing grade when all of their final
exam scores have been averaged together. Keep in mind that the
Botswana grade scale is shifted about 10 points down from the standard
scale used in American schools. So, 80-100 is an A. 70-80 is a B. etc.
Unfortunately, for students in the Kgalgadi region of Botswana there
is only one Senior Secondary School in the region for them to go to
and this school is usually described as more of a refugee camp than an
actual school! The living and learning conditions at the school are
very poor and the Peace Corps Volunteers that work at the school and
in its surrounding village are planning some monumental camps and
projects that just might be able to help students and teachers at the
school improve things a little bit. Most of the volunteers in our
region are planning to go to the school early next year for a GLOW
camp (Girls Leading Our World) in which we will provide a number of
girls with further education about their rights, health, and education
in the hope that they will acquire the tools and confidence necessary
to help Botswana move towards a less patriarchal society and into a
more egalitarian one.
I am also working on starting a school newsletter. My hope is to have
the letter at least be a monthly production at the school written and
edited by teachers and students. It will mostly likely only be a one
page, two-sided publication but I think that it will be a great way to
increase people's awareness of the goings-on at the school. Currently,
I hope to have each newsletter include: A message from the School
Head, an article by a student, an article by a teacher or other
professional, and also some bits of life skills/health tips, and
lastly a section that promotes any events at the school or community
that would have a positive influence on the students and teachers at
the school. This project is currently in the 'buy-in' phrase in which
I am working with the head of the school's language department to get
one English teacher interested in the project so that I can work with
her/him to put together a team of students to create the newsletter.
Over all, we are loving our experience here in Botswana. The
relationships that we are building with co-workers, community members,
and students make it very easy to move through frustrating
circumstances and remain inspired to help our new friends. Even with
frustrating systems of protocol that impede our efforts to change
things, we are able to see that we are having a positive influence on
the lives of the people we befriend and work with here in Botswana.
But more importantly, we are seeing myriad ways in which the people we
befriend and work with have a positive influence on us as well.