#3 Learning, Learning, Learning

Just finished writing this and holy smokes you guys it’s a long one again. I’ve realized that once I start typing there’s just so much to share. I guess every one is just going to be long, so I’ll stop apologizing…

Hello! Wow. About two weeks since I last posted on here. In those two weeks, I’ve done quite a bit. I’ll give you the highlights below, as well as some more about what I will be doing for the next two years! I know. Exciting. But don’t get your hopes too far up, because I still don’t know where exactly or what exactly I’ll be doing. Anywho, here, in no chronological order whatsoever, are the major highlights from the past two weeks:

A normal day is packed. We have training from 7:30 to 5:00. It’s about a 30-35 minutes’ walk from my homestay to the various training sites, so really, it’s more like 7-5:30. A brief example follows.

6:00 Wake up and spend 30 minutes in bed trying to get up.

6:30 Speed through getting ready/dressed/eat breakfast while cursing myself for spending so long in bed.

            An important aside for the ever-important topic of breakfast. Most days, if I get up in time, I have peanut butter bread (no toaster), yogurt, hot chocolate (going cold turkey from caffeine), and an apple. I always wish I had gotten up early enough to make eggs, which takes up part of the aforementioned 30 minutes in bed. This past Sunday my host brother made a huge breakfast for us: scrambled eggs, pan-toasted American cheese sandwiches, some baked beans (cold) and a healthy serving of liver (!). As many of you know, I worship breakfast and could eat it three meals a day. The twenty minutes I get of making breakfast and reading my book is one of the calmest/best parts of my day.

7:00/7:10 Leave for my language class.

7:30 One hour of language. Very short for learning an entire new language!

8:35 Training Session #1 (at a different training center)

10:00 Tea break!

10:30 Session #2

1:00 Lunch!

2:00 Session #3

5:00 Walk home

5:30 Shower, put everything away, and start on my homework. Sometimes my family is home.

6:30 Practice Setswana and start cooking with my family.

8:00 Watch CNN and then some South African Soap Operas while eating.

8:30 Ke lapile thata (I am very tired) le ke ya robala (and I go to bed).

Rinse and repeat including half of Saturday! Super busy, and no time for relaxing. But everyone agrees that while exhausting, it is kinda a good thing, because there is no time to do anything except learn about Peace Corps things and integrate into the culture.

We went to a cultural village to be taught about traditional Botswana culture (specifically of a tribe under the Baboon totem). Pretty much everything was interactive (picture yours truly dancing with a man who was wearing loincloth in front of everyone else, feeding goats, wearing traditional clothing, recreating traditional events, etc.). Had a great meal after too. Funny note is that the word “mabele” can be pronounced two different ways: mabele (sorghum) and maBELE (breasts). You see the problem here, especially given that they sound almost exactly the same in practice. One of the volunteers mispronounced the word while we were reenacting a traditional event and whooboy did all the Batswana laugh. A super easy mistake that could land ya in some hot water.

I had a very nice dinner/celebration at my language cluster house (where I meet every morning for my language class with three other volunteers). I have gotten very close to the three others in my group, Jasmine (Laone), John (Kagiso), and April (Gosego). We were invited to John’s host parents’ 40th wedding anniversary. It was just the four of us and their family, and we helped cook a big meal and then all ate together out in their garden. It was really touching to be invited, and as I was leaving his host parents said that I was their “last-born.” Take that John.

Sunday. Church. MmmmmMM, church. Have been twice now, to the Evangelical Lutheran Church with my homestay family. The first time, I introduced myself (from memory) to the congregation in Setswana: Dumelang Phutegho. Ke bidiwa Kopano. Ke tswa kwa America, mo Minnesota. Ke moithaopi wa Peace Corps. Ke nn le boora Malope. Ke itumelela go rapela le lona. Ke a leboga thata. I had to use a microphone and was addressing maybe 200-300 people in another language. Super-duper fun, not at all stressful. The next weekend (two days ago), church happened to be held in a vacant lot in front of another volunteer’s homestay. It was Jasmine’s homestay, and because she lives nearby my family, and I helped set up and take everything down. The service was in a huge tent and was four hot hours long. They thanked us (in Setswana, so I only perked up at my name) multiple times, and the four volunteers who were there (my language cluster) had to bring the collection baskets to the front, where we held them while they were blessed (quite unsure of this. We stood at the front holding the baskets for a few minutes while a woman recited something from memory. Could have been a blessing, could also have been a vigorous case for why Rick should have just left with Ilsa at the end of Casablanca. I’ll never know.). So overall, I’ve spent more time (seven hours) in church in the last two weeks than I have in the previous six years combined.

I’m learning to cook more! Have semi-learned how to make Palachi and Morogo so far, and try to help as much as I can every night. This also results in me doing the dishes every day, which is a kinda relaxing way to end the night. Maybe I am just missing doing/making things by hand, but it is very nice. (Have agreed to make beehives for my homestay dad too, so don’t worry, I am building things. Also trying to figure out how traditional Botswana baskets are made, so that I can try it myself soon).

What else, what else, oh! I have a new favorite snack, which I’ve already had to cut myself off from: Mrs. H. S. Ball’s Chutney Flavour Potato Chips. Oh my goodness gracious they are good. But now I’ve had too many, so maybe it was just a phase. I am also strictly adhering to the “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” diet.

To give y’all some additional context, I am sitting at the dining table going through my pictures from the last two weeks and writing these little tidbits as I come upon them. Just like if I was sitting next to you showing you picture after picture after picture like normal!

Another interesting dynamic is the issue of parents. I now have, by my count, at least five sets of people who hold the immense burden of having me as a son. Think about the responsibilities I’ll have in 30 years! Traveling between the three countries for various medical emergencies is going to be exhausting, and I haven’t even factored in the technology “problems” I’ll need to trouble-shoot. I’m worried already. On a serious note, I have been so incredibly lucky to live with and learn from some amazing people. I have traveled all over the world, and in each instance, I have been welcomed with open arms into the family and included in everything they do. I cannot emphasize enough how much the people I have met have made me into who I am today, and how thankful I am for all my ‘parents’.

Alright, I’ve teased you long enough. If you made it through my rambling about the new chips I’ve had, you truly deserve a medal, or at least some credit (10 points to Gryffindor!!). What I’ve learned about my new job:

The Project Goal: Youth in Botswana effectively lead healthy, HIV-free lives by 2030.

The Project Objectives: 1) Increase the knowledge and skills of youth to improve their health and remain HIV-free. 2) Improve treatment adherence and general health and wellbeing for you and adolescents living with HIV. 3) Strengthen facility and community Primary Health Care for effective youth friendly services.

What does this all mean, you may ask. Basically, through a variety of co-facilitating, co-training, learning, capacity building, being a ‘change agent’, and mentoring, I will be working to improve the health of youth in Botswana. We have been given a scant few examples of what our little personal projects will be, which range from giving health talks to playing soccer after school with kids and teaching them to be healthy.

A super important note is that the first three months of my actual service (late Sept. through early Dec.) are spent doing a “community assessment.” This assessment consists of me going around the community and asking (formally) what the community members want or need for their community. It is from there that I will develop a project with my counterpart (someone I will work with daily) that serves the needs of the community. The goals of this approach are twofold: for the community to have a real say in what needs to be done, and for me to integrate into the community (which is important for safety, effectiveness of service, and general wellbeing).

During the long hours of training, most of which are spent sitting in a desk watching presentations, the parts about how I will be serving a community and helping people are what excite me the most. I cannot wait to get out and make a difference, and I feel that a lot of the things I have done before (working at Camp Lincoln, guiding canoe trips for Colby orientation, ELC, etc.) have prepared me well. I have had a few days where I am more awake and happier on my walk home after 10 hours in a desk than I was beforehand. I count that as a pretty good day.

If you have more questions about my service/what I will be doing, feel free to send me an email, either directly or through the Q&A section above. I also recently started following the Twins, so any baseball-related talk is very welcome.