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.