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.