The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the United States Government or the Peace Corps.

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

More about toilets, dogs and Botswana...


Exploring some of the trails that follow the Mahalapye river thinking I found a place of solace I froze and broke down into uncontrollable tears. At the base of a small tree was the rotting carcass of a dog that was tied up so tightly that it's front legs couldn't reach the ground. For days, every time I thought about what that dog went through, I started to weep. It baffles me that such a "God fearing" Christian nation can treat "Gods" creatures so cruelly.

 
The river is what my new hometown is named after. It's pretty amazing to see what a truly free river looks like. Right now there are just a few puddles of water scattered about the twisting sand. Some of the locals have found a couple of fishing holes that seem to come and go with the seasons. Watching them I wondered where the fish came from. The big rocks on the jagged banks show that at it's height the river is as deep as 20ft. The span that runs near my house is from approx 30 feet to 50 feet across.

I walk a minimum of 3 miles a day and probably average around 5. On one of my walks to the store I was looking down ans it had just rained, actually hailed. It was a fantastic storm that was directly overhead. The thunder felt like it shook my brain inside my head. This storm revealed some beautiful quartz. I realized that the quartz is everywhere, maybe it was the brain rattle that opened my eyes to all the beautiful minerals around me. I've been wondering if there is a place to find crystals near by?

 BTW a tin roof with no insulation is pretty darn loud.

Since I can't make my blog private I need to start watching my "P's" and "Q's" I hope that I can still have the freedom to write without censorship. The Peace Corps want's the opportunity to censor public documents.

After looking in 5 different hardware stores I found one very cheap plastic toilet seat. There are several seats for pit latrines and complete inserts for them, but the only decent toilet seats I've seen in the stores are attached to toilets! I've managed to use to the toilet as is, without a seat, and don't have too much of an issue with it, though when men come to visit it could pose an issue.

Some basics about Botswana

Botswana actually has a better economy than South Africa. Things are cheaper there than in Botswana. It's a very slow pace here and not a productive society when it comes to business, but its very socially productive. Lots of big parties, weddings and celebrations that everyone is welcome to. Everyone is on Facebook and it seems like it's all the time and my Botswana friends wonder why it takes me several days to respond to them. Facebook was smart and kept the old interface, the less bandwidth demanding version, of Facebook available in Botswana.

It's a bit more underdeveloped and in some cases more unsanitary than Mexico, but the government has their act together!! Very little corruption. It's more socialist, than democratic, but they call themselves a democracy. The diamond mines allow the government to support their people. Lots of government aid. It's the only country that pays for the peace corp housing and other support. The government also gets a lot of global aid because of the HIV/AIDS issues. So, basically I'm reporting to the Botswana government and the US government.

Lots of monitoring, reporting, red tape etc... Probably not much different than working in our government.

Since I've settled in my new community the pace has become crazy slow and the non productivity will be very hard to get used to. It's amazing how many people are on Facebook in meetings, even in formal government gatherings the people on stage are on their smartphones. It's totally acceptable to answer your phone at anytime and use Facebook during small meetings of 3 to 5 people. There is lots of social time in the office. In general they are very social and gracious people.

The Botswana LOVE! The white people. Slave trade didn't exist in Botswana and they were never effected??? Still don't know why? Britain made them a protectorate in 1880, one of the main chiefs of Botswana asked for protection. I still don't know from what? Maybe the Americans and other Europeans were crushing the rest of Africa. It's a very friendly and welcoming country. So many of them want to be my friend and the kids surround me and want to touch me, say hi and use their English. English is the government language, though everyone speaks Setsenglish, with more Setswana than English.

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Not what I thought Peace Corps would be!

Yes, there’s no heat, no air-conditioning, no hot water and I’m living in a concrete block, but the biggest inconvenience is no electricity in the bathroom. I have what they call a 1 and ½. There are 2 rooms with a bathroom and kitchen in between, they often rent out each room individually, so the tenants share the amenities, but I get a living room AND a bedroom.

The District Aids Commission (DAC), where I will be working, couldn’t find the stove that the last Peace Corps volunteer used, so I now have a brand new gas range with oven. Everything is miniature, well except for the HUGE gas canister I have in the kitchen, which scares the crap out of me. It’s totally posh. I think the hardest thing to get used to will be having 5 keys, the bedroom, bathroom, living room, kitchen and the large security gate. All the doors sit behind the gate on the veranda. I bought myself a long nightshirt to travel out on the veranda and move from room to room. Winter will be interesting… maybe I should have brought my long down coat? But then again I don’t have to use the pit latrine (outhouse) and I could always pee in a bucket in my room at night.

I live on what they call a family compound. There are 2 buildings, the main house and mine, well 3 if you count the pit latrine. The landlord is a schoolteacher, so her English is impeccable. Her daughter, son-in-law, 3 grand kids and maybe her son?? Live in the main house, which has hot water. I still haven’t figured out how many people actually live there? The good thing is there are no roosters near by and the dogfights are off in the distance. In general it is much quieter, than at the Serowe house, with less animals. I kinda miss all the random far animals everywhere. Don’t get me wrong there is still the farm type atmosphere, just not nearly as many animals.

I have a papaya (popo) tree and 2 mango trees in my yard. There is also a beautiful garden right out my front gate! I will be creating a permagarden out back and look forward to starting this soon.


Mahalapye, or Maha as Peace Corps Volunteers affectionately call it, is a huge hub for travelers. It’s situated in the middle of the A1, the major highway that connects the 2 largest cities, the only cities, in Botswana. It’s a bit more hectic than I would like, but it also has some decent shopping. The Spar, one of the 3 local grocers, is stocked much better than the one in Serowe, and I was even able to get some organic olive oil and honey! Given that Botswana doesn’t allow any GMO’s and they do regulate the use of pesticides, I’m feeling I might not get too many chemicals in my system???? The levels of pesticides in the ground are very low, so I’m definitely psyched about that and I kinda like that the kale and spinach have some holes and every once in a while you get a pear, or apple with wormholes. Everything does taste pretty darn awesome, especially considering they are being grown in sub-Saharan Africa.

I also bought a dongle for internet, it’s 3G, but seems pretty good. Hope to be able to Skype! My handle is my.magicdoor, so please connect with me!

Finally feeling like I’m hitting my stride ;0]

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Garbage, Goats and Toilet Seats

After a rigorous practice with the number one Botswana volleyball team, Serowe College, my legs were so sore that the mere thought of squatting over the toilet in the morning brought on anxiety. Some families are living day to day and by the end of the month all that is left to eat is rice, phaletche (corn meal, or sorghum past that looks like a thick cream of wheat) or shamp (dried corn that is cooked like beans). So, when things break that they can do without, like the toilet seat, well... they don't get replaced.

When important things that break, like refrigerators and stoves, they are replaced and put next to the one that broke. My host family has 3 refrigerators in the main house kitchen where the ceiling has fallen and the sink was removed. Only one works, but can't seem to keep things cold enough in the freezer without freezing some items in the fridge. This could be due to the fact that the control knob is missing and we're not really sure what it's set at. Still wondering why there is a stove in a dusty, dirty package set next to the 100lb bags of shamp, beans, or other dried goods.

Other, not so important, broken electronics like hair dryers and hot water kettles, are placed about the property. There is no recycling, or way to remove what we consider household hazardous waste, so it either sits in the yard, or in the house next to the working appliance. For your average garbage, there is the lesser used option of putting it in a black plastic bag, if they can afford the bag. I've been unsuccessful in trying to tell them how toxic it is to burn plastic and other options. The other alternative seems to be to dump the garbage on the other side of the fence. If some random items do get put in the black bag it will hopefully be collected on an unknown day and possibly before the dogs and goats get to it!

If the toilet seat is missing hen I get my own place in Mahalapye next week that will be one of the first things I purchase! So looking forward to being on my own and starting my service!!!

There have been so many baby goats and chicks running around. Walking down the middle of the road they seem unaffected by the people and cars, yet they will, very casually, only let you get within spitting distance.

I will miss Serowe and my host family. Here are some random pics from around town...

Two kids that came to say hi while I was standing outside the library... No shoes, or parents to be seen

My Setswana friend Mary, who gave me a makeup bag for my birthday.

Early morning hike! See what looks like ancient volcanoes in the background?

Map of the east central part of Botswana, where Mahalapye is. This is only a small subset of the 73 volunteers placed around the country.