Its the small things in life...

We find out our site placements tomorrow, our new homes for the next two years. There will be tears of sadness and joy as we find our pin on the map. 

I have always found that the small things in life can bring you the most joy. This week, my joy is that one of the cleaning ladies at the education knows my name. She greets me "Mma Maleke" and asks me how I am doing. Last night I programed "Bruce" in my computer to talk to me. Thank you Steve Jobs for giving me 6 different voice options to choose from! The sky here brings me joy every time I look up--it is the pretties shade of blue. The sky after the thunderstorm, the way the lightening lights up the night sky. The way my host family ooggles over pictures of my American family, finding ways to complement everyone. 

Half way done...

We are in week six of PST, we are now in new language groups based on our skill level. We find out our placement sites on Friday (eck!). We are half way done with PST, and we have been in Botswana for just over a month now. 

PST is hard. Really, hard. In IYFD, we never talked about PST, nor what to expect. Our year was full of learning tools to be a great volunteer...This two months of training will just be a blip in my Peace Corps service.   

Botswana is a place full of contradictions: poverty and riches, modern and outdated combined. 

For the past week, I had the opportunity to shadow a current PCV in Middlepits, it is a small village on the border of South Africa and Botswana. 

This is where we hitchhiked rides (the Peace Corps doesn't support hitching, but recognizes at times it is the only form of transportation) I hitched with total strangers, in ambulances and police trucks. On on of my rides, a lady used me as a pillow....which was an interesting experience. 

We went to the sand dunes in Gakhibane

And I rode a camel! In Tsabong, the police used to ride camels...now the camels just humor the tourists. 

Dumelang. Mo Botswana ke bidiwa Bonolo Maleke, kwa Amerika ke bidiwa Ashley. Ke moithaopi wa Peace Corps. Ke ithuta Setswana le ngwao. 

I am one of the 34. The 34 who are on the journey to become part of something bigger, something bigger than ourselves. We make up Bots-13, a group of Life Skills Volunteers, who are to help roll out a Life Skills Curriculum initiated by the Government of Botswana and the Ministry of Education. We will be placed in schools, working along side Guidance Counselors and Teachers implementing the Life Skills Curriculum. 

Peace Corps was initially invited to serve in Botswana after their independence in 1966, Peace Corps served until 1997. In 2003, the Peace Corps re-entered Botswana due the HIV/AIDS pandemic that is currently plaguing the world. Botswana and the southern part of Africa has been particularly hard hit by HIV/AIDS. Currently, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Batswana aged 15 and older is 25%. In certain regions of Botswana, the prevalence is as high as 49% in females aged 30-34 (Botswana AIDS Impact Survey III, 2008). 

We are in week four of PST (pre-service training), we are in classes six days a week, totaling 40-45 hours a week. Our days consist of learning Setswana, Setswana culture, development approaches, anything health related--from malaria to keeping ourselves healthy during service, safety and security, HIV/AIDS and life skills training. We currently in the village of Kanye, located southwest of Gaborone. I live with a host family, the Maleke’s, my parents are Jackson and Cherry and I have three sisters: Lone, Bettinah, Tshiama who are 27, 25 and 17 respectively. My mom takes great pride in teaching me traditional Setswana dishes! So far I can make soup (not American soup), maize meal, chicken and liver. Yes....liver. 

In the past few weeks I have....

Cooked liver

Safety first!

 Gotten Shots! (and a just box!)

 Voted for president!

 Licked lots of stamps! (ick...)

 Walked in a lot of sand...

T-minus...

Its September 11th. 11:40 EST. We board a bus to go to JFK in three hours.

I rocked my first "business causal" work outfit today. I also met some cool people, that I will be my family for the next 27 months. 

Bon voyage and bonne chance!

February 28th...

February 28th:
I had my placement interview...I spent the entire interview pacing up and down the kitchen. Long story short I was told to pick: Southeast Asia leaving early June working with at risk youth/human trafficking or Africa working with HIV leaving September. 

I picked Africa. 

March 5th:
On a coldish Missoula Monday morning in early March (six months ago today to be exact) I woke up and thought to myself, yup, I don’t want to go to work today...So I found someone to take my shift. As I am curled up on my bed doing homework, I heard the FedEx truck drive by and stop. My heart stops. Could this be the package that I was waiting for?!!?!? The door bell rings. WHAT. Deep breaths deep breaths. There lying on the doormat was a package with my name on it. AHHHHH. I scurry back to my room, praising God that I had ditched work for the day and trying to call my mom (who doesn’t answer, I she was actually working). There it is! The blue folder! I open it. Botswana. Then I start to google. I tried to call my mom again, no answer. So I text her a 911 Peace Corps news text. No reply. I call my dad, no answer. Gish.  I call my brothers, no answer--both of them. Again, gish. What is up with my family, I just want to tell someone! So I call my grandparents, thankfully they answer. My mom texts me that she is in a meeting but wants to know where I am going. Botswana. I break the news over a text message. 

Then I notify all of IYFD Cohort VIII (and of course post it on Facebook)

My dear friend Scarah was supposed to come over, since we are after all in graduate school we had classes to teach and things to learn. But instead we drank Champagne and did more googling of Botswana. 

March 5th-September 5th:
Over the past six months, three of my cohort loves have left for their PC assignments, one has her placement interview in a few weeks and five are leaving with in the next month. I said goodbye (more like see you later) to Missoula, a town that has stole my heart. September 11th always seemed so far away, but March turned into April then May then June then July then August...and its my turn. 


This past year has been full of growth--personally, professionally and self-realization. Before I left Lincoln, I was unhappy...I knew that Lincoln wasn’t the town for me. But I stayed year after year. I was working, there was family and it wasn’t the right time. I found that right time. I am so glad I have left, Lincoln will always have a spot in my heart, but Missoula has my heart. My cohort consisted of 9 other wonderful women, we were taught by phenomenal professors and our TA was out of this world. We each challenged, pushed and supported one another. I took extra classes in Public Health and nonprofit management. All in all, I completed 39 graduate credits and walked away with a 3.85 GPA, a certificate in Public Health and in nonprofit management. 

The next two years will be hard, at times, all my schooling will seem futile. Right now the thought of doing anything...well is...The thought of potentially hitchhiking as a means of transportation gives me instant anxiety. The thought of packing seems overwhelming and I have been doing a wonderful job of not packing. I know the pre-departure emotional roller-coaster will pass as I step on that airplane. Soooo....




Here is to the next two years! 

Dumela rra, Dumela mma

On September 11th, I start my journey with the Peace Corps to Botswana. The 11th will be a day, like any other day marking my journey from this girl...

To this girl...

As the other Life Skills Volunteers convene on a staging city (still TBA) we will start our journey together...But this is my journey. 

I am catching up with the times and blogging about it (PS: I loath blogging/bloggers). Rumor has it that all good PCV (Peace Corps Volunteers) blog for friends and family back home. So here we have it. A Blog.

Welcome. 

Re tlaa bonana

(We will see each other in Setswana)