You Sleep Like a Goat!

This is going to be a long blog post so I’m sorry. I will try to update more often for the next two months or so while things are still new and interesting. So much has happened in two weeks that I’m finding it hard to figure out just want to start this blog with.

So on September 2^nd my cohort and I went to Khama Rhino Trust. The rhino reserve was absolutely amazing. It was my first ever safari and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. We saw wildebeest, springbok, zebras, an amazing eagle, impala, and a white rhino. The reserve is home to something like fifty white rhinos and five black rhinos. It has giraffes, hyenas, and occasionally big cats. It really was an amazing experience and it was the first time we didn’t have to be in the training center all day which was a much-welcomed break.

Later that same week Chris, Mike, Muhammad and I went to a small NGO in Serowe called Little Friends. Little Friends is a preschool for orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) that was partially funded by St. Vincent de Paul. They provide OVCs ages 2.5-6 lessons in language (Setswana and English) and math as well as a number of life skills including toilet training, good touch/bad touch and HIV/AIDS prevention (yes they start them that young). It is run by a wonderful elderly Motswana woman named Ellen who is incredibly passionate about providing this opportunity for children that are not able to afford preschool. She told us her dream is “to educate every child in Botswana” but their mission was to “ensure that every OVC in Serowe goes through preschool.” It was really rather inspiring to be able to talk with this amazing woman and really get the chance to pick her brain.

The week after (so the week of the 10^th) was shadowing week. Shadowing is where we spend three full days with a current serving volunteer to really see how life is as a PCV. I spent my shadowing experience with the wonderful Mia Sprinke in a small village northwest of Gabs, in the desert, called Metsibotlhoko (met-see-boe-klow-koe). Now when I say small… I mean small… 400 people in the entire village small. From Gaborone, it took us an hour-long combi ride and an hour-long hitch to get to her site. She lives in a small two-room (kitchen/sitting room and bedroom) home with no electricity and no running water inside (which means a lovely pit-latrine). She is lucky and the community tap is no more than 50 ft from her home. She works at the primary school in her village. Her main job is to promote and teach life skills in the school. So I was with her every day at school working with the kids in the library on this book report challenge she was running. Every morning we would go to school at 7am then leave around 11:30 to make lunch then we were back by 2:30 to work in the library. Each night we came back to Mia’s house only to find the kids waiting for us hoping to get some hula hoops, a tennis ball, or a jump rope to play with for the night. I had a blast reading to them and playing with them until it got dark. I even got a little boy named Kabo to read and write for me, something all the teachers had struggled with. Somehow I always forget how much I love children until something like this happens and I am able to really connect with a child (a child that spoke almost no English mind you). While there I got the pleasure of perfecting my bucket bathing technique and my squatting over a pit latrine skillz. So the thing Metsibotlhoko is known for is the salt pans that are there. The people all around the saltpans used to go there to get their water. They dig these primitive wells and use buckets to scoop out the water. Now that they have their community taps it is used as a way to water their cattle and donkeys. We walked out there one night before I left just to see it. It was really neat to see this flat place where nothing really grows in the middle of the bush. So if you can’t tell, I had an amazing time at shadowing. I still think my favorite part was when the bus driver, on the way back to Serowe, randomly starts blasting “Call Me Maybe.” Classic Africa.

THEN, on the 18^th we went to the only closed city in Botswana, Orapa. Orapa is the site of two of Botswana’s diamond mines. We started the day out with a fun introduction on security and the history of Orapa and the diamond mining there. We also got a super fun explanation as to why Botswana’s diamonds are the best because they aren’t blood diamonds. So, no my experience was not nearly as exciting as the movie… in case you were wondering. Most of the diamonds mined in Orapa are used for manufacturing purposes (saw blades, etc.). They are open mines so they are not underground. Anywho the most exciting part of the entire trip (in my opinion) was getting to climb all over this massive dump truck. I’m going to try to get a picture of it to post up here because it was wonderful. All my dreams as a child were answered by climbing on this truck that had tires that wee twice my height. My inner 8 year old child self was jumping for joy… no shame. It was awesome. We were supposed to see a piece of machinery called ‘The Crusher” but it wasn’t running that day and my inner 8 year old died a little. We were also supposed to go see the processing plant but that also wasn’t actually doing anything that day so we didn’t end up going. It was actually a really fun trip and I am happy I got to see the thing that makes Botswana famous and wealthy.

Alright, last thing, I promise. So the most exciting thing that has happened by far… I GOT MY PLACEMENT! On October 15^th I will be sworn in as an official Peace Corps Volunteer and get shipped off to my permanent village for the next two years. Now I have basically hit the Peace Corps Botswana lottery with this placement and immediately after you read this you should all go google image this place. I was placed in the beautiful village of Kasane, Botswana. My main project will be working with the Red Cross in Kasane but there are numerous other NGOs up in that area so I can diversify my service as much as I want while there. I will post more on this over the weekend. I'm thrilled to know where I am going and what I will be doing. 

Things are going great here! As always if you have any specific questions please let me know and I will answer them!

Love and miss all of you!

Erica