New year, new challenge?

I think that we often forget how bless we are. And when I say "we" I mean, everyone reading this blog. Often we find things to complain about in our lives--traffic, weather, "living pay check to pay check," our friends, our family, the president, etc. We never really take time to think about how fortunate we are. When I live in America, I never feel overwhelmed/overcome with patriotic pride. Being an American is just something that I take for granted. The ability to vote and elect our own president, the ease of transportation, the ease and convenience of banking, going to the grocery store or talking on the phone. Looking at a bigger picture, living in a country where as frustrating at times our government system is, for the most part...it has its shit together. We have rights, civic responsibilities and access to services. Most of the world doesn't live like this.

In my American life, I was very connected to the news, world events, etc. Ever since I have been in Botswana, I haven't had regular access to...well anything. Come to find out, Egypt is still erupting in violent political protests, other countries in the Middle East are facing similar political conflicts. I have been blissfully ignorant.

I haven't been blissfully ignorant of how blessed I am.

Living in Botswana for the past 5 or so months, I am constantly reminded of how blessed I am. At times I get the impression just by "being an American" I have a leg up on things. Which is sad. My nationality shouldn't determine how fortunate I am, it shouldn't determine my fate....but it does. Not all Americans are as fortunate as I. Or as my family is. Or as my friends are.

When I took the Peace Corps oath (btw, very similar oath that the President takes), I took the oath to serve my country. The past few months, serving my country has taken on a new meaning for me. In my eyes serving my country isn't just acting on behalf of my country or defending my country. Don't get me wrong, my baby brother is a Marine and I am SO proud of him. To me, serving my country is comprised of many things, including sharing other cultures with my own. Rather, fitting that I joined the Peace Corps. The Peace Corps has three goals (see below) that governs their mission and every PCV throughout the world.

1. Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.
2. Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.
3. Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

In light of those goals. I challenge you to take the Peace Corps Challenge. Now, I am not challenging you to join the Peace Corps (but, if you do--thats great!). I am challenging you to track your current spending for a few weeks, then live like a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) and THEN donate your saved money to a charity. (If you really want to make me happy, tell me about your experience!)

As a Peace Corps Volunteer, I live like my village does, translation I live on about 8 US Dollars a day. 8 USD a day, is actually a rather comfortable living allowance for the majority world or  as it is more commonly known as "developing countries"

In starting this challenge, decided how long you want to live like a PCV--if you decide to live like a PCV for 2 weeks, monitor your NORMAL spending habits in the US (that includes groceries, electricity, cell phone bills, cable bills.....ANY BILL YOU HAVE) and total the budget. Now, as a PCV, I live off of 8USD a day, so, if you take the challenge for 2 weeks that means your budget will be: 112USD total (yes, total. As in you only have that amount of money...nothing more, no credit cards allowed). 

Just a brief glance into my Peace Corps life. I live in Lehututu--which is about 4 or 5 hours from the nearest bank (and ATM), grocery stores are sparsely stocked, the only vegetables in my village come once a week and consist of onion, potato, tomato and bell pepper, I don't have electricity, my water access is sporadic, I walk every where and I pay for internet access by the megabite and cell phone texting by the message. Get the picture?

For your challenge...I challenge you to live like me. You need the ATM? Walk around for 4 or 5 hours.....you want to charge your computer? I walk 45 minutes to school to charge, which means once your/my battery dies--no computer, electricity...out of the question--use natural light or candle light. And speaking of electricity, I don't have AC or heat, so turn it off. Bundle up, or bundle down depending on the season. Oh by the way, don't use your fridge either--I don't have one! Test the bounds of food security.  I don't have a car, I rely on hitch hiking, the khombi (tax/mini bus) or walking) if you want to get anywhere--hoof it, hitch it or take the bus...but remember to track every penny you spend.  So, you want to eat? There are no "fast food" options in Lehututu, so plan on cooking everything. And groceries in Lehututu are roughly the same price as they are in the US.   As you can tell, life is different. Very different. Can you take the challenge? I dare you.

No, I really dare you. There are many people living in your own community that live in utter poverty. Homeless and low income citizens are a marginalized population. A population not talked about in the US with compassion...it is a population of disgrace and stigma. But in the US, when looking at the rest of the world--we view tho
se populations with compassion. Don't forget about your neighbors, your own fellow Americans.

Please, take this challenge. Tell me your stories, if you don't have a charity in mind, I will gladly give you a list of my own favorite organizations.

And above all, remember that we (as Americans, by that right) are blessed. No matter how bleak life is in our eyes, there are millions of people our there who have it worse. Engraved on the Statue of Liberty is " Give me your tired, your poor/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free/The wretched refuse of your teeming shore/Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me/I lift my lamp beside the golden door."  So please, lift your lamp to the homeless, tempest-tossed--your fellow Americans. 

Never forget what our forefathers, brothers, sisters and parents fought for. As Americans we hold certain truths...."to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Most of all, be thankful, give thanks and give back.

Just call me Miss Rice...

For Christmas, I went to Medie, Katy's village--our friend Amanda came down for Rwanda for the holidays. It was a wonderful holiday vacation, spent with wonderful friends-good conversation-lots of laughs and a few tears. It took me most of the day to get to Medie, on a hot cramped bus rides and an even more cramped hitch on a bumpy dirty road to get to Medie. But worth the journey! We made our Christmas tree--from tree branches in Katy's yard and decorated it with popcorn, flowers, local berries and topped it with a star!

 

We thought it would be a wonderful idea to kill our own chicken for Christmas dinner. We set out wandering around Medie to buy a "Setwsana Chicken" instead we got a "white chicken" which are tastier! On Christmas morning, Matilda was brought to our door step by village children! In typical IYFD fashion, we said good-bye to Matilda before her slaughter and thanked her for her sacrifice. 

Katy and Amanda saying thanks. We even fed her a wonderful last meal of dried fruit!

Warning...graphic image. Katy held Matilda down, and I had the honor of....making the cut and Amanda was in charge of documentation. Truthfully, its a little traumatic to make that cut. Matilda finally went limp and Katy let go....the next thing we know--Matilda jumps up, wings flapping and started to run around Katy's yard--with her neck half cut off! We were all in shock and little bit of panic...and yes, I think we each had tears in our eyes. Finally, we chased her down and well...had to do the deed again. 

After your chicken is dead, you then put the body in hot water then pull the feathers off, then proceed to de-bone said chicken. Also, I would like to take this opportunity to say...why are we single? Look at us, we can kill a chicken and we are educated (and very smart women) 

We, went even further and cooked over a fire! Motswana style! Most of the Motswana I encounter, don't think that Americans can light a fire--none the less cook over the fire.

I am a the Junior Secondary School in Lehututu, which is a boarding school that houses about 300 students. Our classrooms are large open rooms, with a chalk board and small desks; there are about 50 kids per class. The kids use a pit latrine and go to a stand pipe for water (when we have water). 

Three days a week, kids line up for assembly. This would never happen in America! They line up in rows, like little sardines, sing a religious song and say the Lords Prayer.

The Form 1 students are from Lehututu and from the settlements of Ukwi, Ncaang, Monong and Make. There are 101 Form 1 students, 60 of them are failing--receiving Ds and Es, possible grades are 0-100 (with 100 being the highest). Most of the Form 1 students have little English skills, or Setswana, students from the settlements speak primarily Sekgalagadi (there are many dialects of Sekgalagadi). There are not enough class rooms or teachers in school, so the Form 1s are stuck in the school hall for lessons. I have been teaching Guidance and Counseling classes to all three forms. The kids call me Miss Rice, also when I am walking through the village I hear Miss Rice over and over again.

Walking thru Oz...

A long last blog post...

It's been a quiet few weeks in Lehututu, it is the rainy season in the Kalahari, the bush is turning sage green and my village is filled with these little yellow flowers. It's like walking through Oz....

 Puppy love! These are my neighbors dogs who like to pay me daily visits! 

 This is my yard (I am the first yellow house) 

Oz...This is right outside my house, the entire village looks like this.

Bats, freckles and everything else

I had the pleasure of meeting Michelle Gavin, the US Ambassador to Botswana. Let me just say this. I love this woman. She was amazing, honest, frank and funny! Someone asked about President Obama coming to visit...I offered my first born child to make that happen, I am not sure why no one took me up on the offer. As someone interesting in making a career out of development, truly appreciated her “3 Ambassador goals” We were told that in Ambassador school you are instructed to pick 3, not 2 and not 4 goals for your time in office. The one that stuck out to me the most was her focus on long range economic development. To be honest, the diamond mines will dry up, they employ so many and it would be a huge economic failure when that time comes. 

On Thursday (the 15th), I became a Peace Corps Volunteer. I took the oath. Something that I did without reservation, although, swearing to defend the constitution agains enemies both foreign and domestic was a little strange...

The past few weeks in PST have been strange, we all finally let our guards down--realized how freaken cool everyone else was, and that yes, they are our new family for the next two years. We all clicked. We were all stressed. We all cracked under the stress. We all laughed, and cried and then had to say goodbye. 

On Friday, Sarah, Emma and I were to head to “kwa bush” aka Lehututu and our respective villages. Communication with our counterparts was scarce and we were hoping that our ride to the bush was set up. Low and behold. It was. Kind of. The three of us are in villages that are about 10K-20K away from each other, it only made sense that we were to all ride together. Only one of the two vehicles showed up, we had a truck, with one seat in the front. Three girls, two years of stuff plus house hold furnishings to set up home. We got this. Fortunately, Sarah and I are master car packers (think Penelope moving to and from Missoula), Emma was on puppy duty (Tau is amazing!). We got ourselves, and a dog crammed into the back of a truck, and then road in the back. Yes, thats right, we sat amongst our belongings for the trek to the desert. it was pretty uneventful, except for the fact that our driver sped like a bat out of hell. Legit. It was a good thing we couldn’t really see out the windows. Tau (the puppy) did amazing. Nothing broke and we all have homes. Sans furniture. 

My house in Lehututu is nice and tiny! Perfect for one! It has one bedroom, small kitchen and a living-room. The bathroom is outside, still attached to the house, just outside. The school has loaned me a piece of foam, a little plastic kids table and a stove until the Ministry of Education brings me my real furniture. 

Its just me and the bats. Yes, bats. I have a bat infestation. I can’t decide how creeped out I really am. I should NOT have watched Contagion this summer! Currently, there are 5 of them hanging out in my bedroom, one just dropped to the floor.....Every once in a while I spray doom at the (doom is bug killer for African size bugs, not effective on bats...).

I live on a compound, there are 3 other houses, a flock of chickens, a few puppies and a gaggle of grey hounds. The grey hounds both like and dislike me at the same time...let me just say that going to the bathroom in the middle of the night, well....is frightening. However, today, as their owner came home the ran to greet him! Just like American dogs do! If you know anything about African dogs, they are not treated like pets, these are pets (American style)! The sight absolutely made my day!  My neighbors are all very nice, one lady brought me ice water after my jog today! Since I have no electricity, this was like winning the lottery. 

The past two days I have been at the Junior Secondary School, home base for me. The whole things has been a thought provoking experience. I have to say, that the teachers are not entirely sure A-why I am here, B-why they should listen to me, C-why I am not teaching...the list could go on. Oh, the joys of being the first PCV in my village. No one knows what to do with me! Except to speak English of course! 

The students leave for Christmas break on Friday, they had exams the previous week. This week the teachers are busy “marking” or grading exams. Today, I was fed to the wolves. Literally. I asked to get to know the kids better, it ended up like pirañas going after dinner. First, they were all too scared to talk to me....then one lone boy asked a question. Attack. They are wonderful kids, I ended up sitting on a chair and they surrounded me (360 degrees, kids climbing on chairs). They are enthralled with my tattoos on my foot, my industrial (ear piercing that spans the top of my ear) and my freckles. A few girls tried to rub my freckles off of my shoulder. How do you explain freckles? Any words of wisdom in describing the culture of America? 

HOLY CRAP. As I am writing this, my bat friend just landed next to me. Almost died. 

Good thing I am living by candle light...and every thing is romantic looking. Including Mr. Bat. 

The kids are aged 13-18 or so, they asked some wonderful questions. Including if I know Justin Beiber and Obama. I wish. Also, more heart breaking questions if I have both my parents...It broke my heart to see the look in their eyes when I said yes. Of course, I have my favorites. Who doesn’t? I keep telling myself, it is like your clients....

So far, a I have met a few people in my village, let me say. People I pass on the street know my name...I don’t know them. A few people have stopped by my house to introduce themselves. Its nice, expect when men come over a dusk time....Lehututu doesn’t have much, they have a few tuck shops and general dealers where you can get the basics aka maize meal, rice, sorghum and tins of beans.

Signing off to deal with my bat crisis.....

Next Crazy Venture

“What is that feeling when you’re driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing? It’s the too-huge world vaulting us, and it’s good-bye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies.” (Kerouac)

I pulled this quote from my quote bag in a hotel room in Wyoming. This was after a week long camping extravaganza with my Daddy and packing up Penelope and leaving Missoula. I was sipping my smuggled Coldsmoke, trying to blink back tears when the sudden weight of my year and my upcoming journey hit me. I spent the most wonderful and challenging year in Missoula; Botswana never felt real to me, until that moment.

One afternoon in Lincoln, I was visiting my Granny and I had her pull a quote from the quote bag, she too pulled same quote. A week later while my Mum was helping me pack, I had her pull a quote from the bag. She too pulled the same quote.

Bots-13 PST is coming to a close, we only have a few more weeks left. Site announcements have been made, I am looking forward to November 16th with a mix of excitement, trepidation, anxiety, joy, relief, and a certain amount of disbelief. I keep thinking back to the Kerouac quote over and over again. Leaving PST will be bitter-sweet, I have come to rely on 32 other people in ways that I would have never imagined before.

My site is Lehututu, Botswana a small-ish village in the Kalahari Desert. It is perhaps 7 or 8 hours away from Gabs by bus. My designated shopping village is Jwaneng, a good 5 or 6 hours away by bus. It is my shopping village since it has the closest reliable ATM in it. My primary placement is at the Lehututu Junior Secondary School and I can do secondary projects in the village. As of right now, I am not sure about what my housing situation is like, I do know that I am in the village as opposed to the school compound. We have IST (In-Service Training) in January and from the time we are dropped off at our villages until IST we are “on lockdown” which means we are not to leave our village unless we are going to our shopping village. During this time our primary focus is to be integrating into the community and doing a community assessment. This will help us focus our projects and goals for our service.


My house is a little one bedroom house called a "2 1/2 room house" is a bedroom, sitting room and a half room that is a kitchen. I have a tin roof and no electricity!

I am both excited and worried shitless about lockdown. I have never been good with free time. I am the girl who takes 18 graduate level classes in one semester, working a few jobs and doing internships on top of it. All my life I have been go go go. Fortunately, PST has been a nice transition from go go go to free time. We have class Monday thru Friday from 830-late-ish afternoon, after class I come home and hang with my family, read and practice my Setswana. On Saturdays we have class until noon and then I spend the afternoon with fellow trainees until our curfew which is “sunset” But Sundays are the hard days. Sundays are the days that are unscheduled.

Here is to the next crazy venture in the sky!

A few pics

Site announcement, Mpho MCing the event (yes, those are balloons)

Katy, with her cookie, monster pop and site announcement card

I am thrilled! 

Me announcing my site: Lehututu placed at the Lehututu Junior Secondary School. Lehututu is in the Kalahari Desert (also known as "kwa bush" ) 

The beautiful jacaranda trees!

A view from my house after the rain...

More beauty....

Diamonds and Fred

My past week...well, has been full of interesting experiences. We had the opportunity to go to Diamond Technology Park where Steinmetz Diamonds cuts raw diamonds. Not everyone is allowed in, we had to get finger printed, show our passports and get photographed to even enter the compound. We were given a tour and followed the process from raw diamond to finished polished stone. They passed us 10 ct diamonds like they were nothing...

 Me, with about 3 million worth of diamonds...

It was one of those trips, like the the zoo where you can't think too much about it. Blood diamonds, the mining conditions etc. This is coming from a girl who made a "blood diamond" sculpture in ceramics class.

My mom asked me to help her get something from the car...Little did I know it was a dead sheep...

So I named him Fred, and then cooked him for dinner. 

(I couldn't make this up if I tried)