Permagardening

I am so behind in blogging its ridiculous. I promise that I will post more about my adventures. Starting now…

This week I facilitated an awesome permagardening workshop with the women enrolled in my NGOs economic empowerment project. The goal of the training was to provide practical experience for the women so that they can each start their own backyard gardens to supplement their income. We planted carrots, beets, onions, rape (its like spinach), and swiss chard.

“What is permagardening?” you might ask. Well, it is a combination of permaculture and bio-intensive ….. Basically you control for water better with trenches around the plots, plant more seeds using a hexagonal patter as opposed to rows, and dig twice as deep so that the roots go down further instead of out (thus being less competitive for nutrients).

Honestly, I was actually nervous about this training because I have very little experience with gardening, but thanks to the support of my coworker and a couple volunteers (thanks Rose and Nate!), the training was really successful. Near the end of the practical, a bunch of standard 1 students (equivalent of our first grade) came to watch and we had the women explain everything that they had learned and practiced during the day. The kids even helped us water the plots!

All in all a very successful event!

Molepolole Happenings

Sorry its been a while since I last posted. A lot has happened over the past couple of months. For starters, some of you may know already, but my NGO closed its office in my village. This means that while the NGO still does outreach and workshops in my village (every couple of weeks or so when a school requests it), we no longer have a space for counseling and I no longer have a place to go everyday. This transition was difficult at first but I have figured it out and now things seem to work pretty smoothly.

In other news, myself and another volunteer have started computer classes with several community members. Between us, we teach 5 classes a week and have about 90 students or so. Turnout was way more than we anticipated. At our first class, over 100 people showed up wanting classes (unfortunately we were forced to put several on a waiting list) and since then, people have continued to show up at the college where we teach the class asking about registering. Its pretty amazing! I have also started a business class for about 15 young adults. Business is so not my thing, so it has been a learning experience for both me and the adults in my class. This is what Peace Corps is all about, challenging yourself and trying new things.

As for the time I don’t spend working, I spent an amazing week in Mozambique for my birthday. After several hours on multiple buses, I got to relax on a beach, eat tons of seafood (amazing when you live in a landlocked country), and meet a bunch of new people (some of whom were other Peace Corps volunteers on vacation themselves). If you’re lucky, another post with pictures will follow soon!

Passover/Easter Weekend

So a group of us had planned to go camping in a game reserve in the Kalahari for Passover/Easter, but after being cancelled at the last minute, plans changed. After searching through my handy dandy Botswana travel book, another volunteer and I booked campsites at a backpackers in the capital.

The beginning of the vacation started by me making an awkward situation even more ridiculous as I climbed into a combi (a van that follows public transportation routes) with my hiking backpack, a tent, a sleeping bag, and a box of wine. Due to the fact that my bag was too big to fit between the seats I was forced to put it in the aisle. But because the bag was so heavy, this meant that each time a person needed to get on the combi I had to stand up on my seat and hoist the bag up so someone could slip through. This happened about 5 times and each time I was met with stares from everyone in the combi. Culturally appropriate? Probably not!

The rest of the weekend went smoothly and we had a great time. We met several new people from South Africa, Portugal, England, and Slovakia. We went on a game drive and saw zebra, giraffe, several impala, baboons, kudu, and even a dung beetle (seriously, the driver stopped the car and backed up at the request of some very excited tourists to take pictures of the beetle). I witnessed a staring competition between a giant pig and a chicken. See picture below. And we ended the weekend with a delicious braii (means “grill” in Arikaans) and is similar to a barbecue in the States. The best parts of dinner were the bacon wrapped chicken and my first experience trying zebra meat (though I felt very guilty about the latter).

The trip finally ended with us at home, but not without experiencing ABBA playing on the bus sound system for half the way. Oh the joys of traveling in Africa!

All in all it was a memorable Passover/Easter.

School Supply Drive

The Baobab School was started in 1991 by seven women who recognized the need for a private primary school for the emerging middle class Batswana. Today, the school hosts around 700 students, 90% of whom are Batswana. This is compared to many other private schools which largely enroll children of expats.

In a past post I had mentioned that I was teaching a community service class for about 40 11 years old students who attended this school. As an interactive, project based class, this term we decided to raise school supplies for another school, Mantshwabisi Primary School, which had very little resources. One of my fellow volunteers is assigned to the school and was happy to help coordinate. Yeah Peace Corps collaboration!

Mantshwasbisi primary school is approximately 30 minutes north of Molepolole and serves as a boarding school for much of the surrounding population. The school has approximately 500 students, and before our drive, had such a severe lack of basic supplies that they would break pencils in half to make sure each student had something to write with. A significant proportion of the student population are San, a population that has often been marginalized in this country in part due to their differences in culture and way of life. In addition, approximately 75% of the students are considered vulnerable children.

I am happy to report that the standard 5 (equivalent of 5th grade) Baobab students put on a successful school drive. We raised 1848 notebooks, 911 pencils, 425 erasers, and some various other school supplies. In addition, the Baobab school donated several old English language textbooks and dictionaries.

As part of the class, we decided to take our students to Mantshwabisi to get a look of what its like to live in a rural village and to interact with the standard 5 students from Mantshwabisi. Many of our students had never been to any smaller and more rural villages in Botswana.

After a bit of hesitation from both groups of kids, the day started with some simple games that we played together as a group and then the kids were given mostly free time to play soccer, jump rope, netball, or color together.

I think it was a great opportunity for the Baobab students. The students immediately picked up on the different living conditions of the Mantshwabisi students and the fact that, while they played the same games as them, the students at Mantshwabisi made most of their toys (such as soccer balls made from plastic bags). This event gave them a much clearer picture of poverty in Botswana and how many people outside of the capital live.

The Mantshwabisi students had a lot of fun with all the activities as well. Typically all the teachers leave over the weekend, so there is nothing for the boarders to do. This was the first time in a while that they had activities and new kids to play with.

At the end of the afternoon we split the kids into small groups and had them tell each other things about themselves. Overall it was a successful day. Everyone had a lot of fun, made new friends, and learned a lot. The hope is to start a pen pal system between the students at the 2 schools in the near future as well.

Down Time

Just a fun moment in the life of a Peace Corps volunteer. What started out as cereal boxes and bottle caps turned into “Scrabble: Peace Corps Botswana Style”:

On another note, today marks 6 months in Botswana! The time is going by fast, but I still have 20 months to go.

Current Projects

So my whole last month has basically been full of workshops, trainings, and meetings. Nothing too interesting on that front to post, but in other news I have been working to start some really cool projects in my village/NGO.

My most exciting project is one I am doing with community leaders and youth. We are hoping to set up some kind of recreation center for the youth in one of the wards in my village. This will be a 2 year project, if not longer. We are at the beginning stages, but its something I, as well as the community leaders are pretty passionate about. We held a meeting last week with youth from the ward to discuss the need for the project and what types of services they would like to see offered. It was a good start and we will be holding regular meetings with the youth as the project continues.

Next, I have been asked by my NGO to assist in creating a monitoring and evaluation framework for the organization and to strengthen their current reporting tools. It’s a big project but I am really excited about it. I work in the capital, Gaborone or “Gabs”, once a week now since that’s where the main office is located.

The other project I am doing is actually teaching a class. I teach kids at a school in Gabs about service learning. The class is great because the aim is to teach priveleged kids in Botswana the importance of giving back. It is particularly important here as volunteerism does not exist here in the same way as in the States. Here there is often an expectation of a stipend or salary when you work as a volunteer. This often puts a particular burden on NGOs and community based organizations which cannot always afford to pay staff. It is a project that was started a couple years back by another PCV and has continued since. The class infuses classroom learning with field trips and community service projects to connect the students to the issues that their communities face.

In addition to all of this I also have plans to facilitate several STEPS films with my counterpart from my NGO. STEPS films are a set of documentaries filmed throughout Southern Africa that address issues ranging from HIV/AIDS, gender issues, orphans and vulnerable children, stigma and discrimination and much more. The aim is that the films help facilitate discussions among adults and youth on these various topics which are often not openly talked about. I actually facilitated my first film about the importance of education with my counterpart last week. It went pretty well for my first time and I am excited for the next one this coming Wednesday.

There are some other smaller projects I am working on and some I am hoping to start working on next month…but more on that next time.

My House

So it occurred to me recently that I have never posted a picture of my house…so here it is. Hopefully more pictures soon!

It’s a government house so all the houses around me are pretty much identical. I have 2 bedrooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom attached to my back porch. Its really a great set-up, but I could still use some more decorations, so keep sending me photos!

The Molepolole Running Club...Open to All Ages

So I have unintentionally started a kids running group. I decided the other day to start running around the block near my house, so I got all ready, went outside, and was welcomed by half the kids on my block. This is more common than not, to walk outside and find 10 kids watching my every move.

Anyways, I explained to them that I was going for a run and they all decided they wanted to come with. So here I am with a group of children ranging from age 2 to 12 following me like a pack around the block. Turns out they are great motivators since everytime we found ourselves back at my house they said …”again, more gyming!”. Apparently “gyming” and “running” are synonymous here.

I also had a great excuse to take breaks since the 2 year old running with us could never keep up so if we all got to far ahead she would start crying. So every now and then I would stop, for the sake of the 2 year old of course.

I was telling someone at home about this recently and they said “That would never happen in the states”. Parents wouldn’t just let their kids run around near dark all over the block. Interestingly enough, I am pretty sure most parents here didn’t even know where their kids were. Kids seem to have a lot of leeway in Botswana. As long as they are home for dinner and a bath at some point, they spend the rest of the day all over the neighborhood playing with other kids.

I have always been really impressed by kids here. They are content playing in trees or with small toys they find in the dirt. Not that they really know anything different. They are entirely capable of entertaining themselves without the help of Nintendo or TV or other mass produced products that defined my childhood. Another volunteer here recently said in a conversation when discussing this same topic, “My kids are gonna hate me, all they are gonna get from me to play with is a stick and a rock!”

Hanging out with the kids on my block has become something I really look forward to after work everyday and with this new running club, my 2012 resolution to stay in shape will become a reality!

Holidays in Botswana

The winter holidays in Botswana are both the same and different from the holiday season in the US. Although widely celebrated here, Christmas almost came and went unnoticed. Something somewhat refreshing for a Jewish girl! Though in reality, my family typically comes together for the Christmas holiday so it’s a day I always look forward to. I even got a surprise text message from my nieces informing me that Santa Clause had just passed through Botswana. How cool is that!

But back to Christmas in Botswana. While there are fake trees and Christmas themed stuff in stores, there is no Christmas music playing for months on end, no houses with decorations, and not a lot of talk about Santa Clause. Either way its still a big holiday here, since much of the population is Christian and most people clear out and head back to their home villages to celebrate with their families. For me, this meant an empty street for two weeks!

My Christmas was definitely different, but fun. I met up with friends for a low key lunch and then we all went on a hunt for french fries, which we found…only to be the klutz that I am and knock mine on the ground. While the 5 second rule typically applies to most Peace Corps volunteers, on this occasion I could not bring myself to follow it. Eating french fries off a parking lot frequented by not only cars, but goats and chickens does not lead to an appetizing snack. Thankfully I have good friends who are willing to share.

Hanukkah was good. I have missed many Jewish holidays since being here, but not this one. Some friends and I used a makeshift menorah to celebrate and made sweet potato latkes. I have never been a fan of latkes before, but sweet potato latkes are awesome!. If you hadn’t had them before, you are missing out.

New Years was a bit more exciting than Christmas. I spent the day at a volunteer couple’s house with some friends, eating good food, browsing facebook, and playing with sparklers. How someone found sparklers in Botswana is beyond me, but they definitely eased us into 2012.

ll in all its been a nice holiday season and I am excited to be back at work!

New Mailing Address

Happy New Year everyone! I will be posting some new things soon, but wanted to let you all know that I have a new mailing address. After a spending 2 1/2 hours traveling around the capital city trying to find a package, I have decided to take an easier route. So in the future please send my mail to the following address:

Danielle "Neo" Tuft (PCV)
c/o DAC Office
P/bag 0048
Molepolole, Botswana