20 Apr 13: Sarah Rides the Peace Corps Roller Coaster!

Happy Saturday, friends! It is a lovely autumn day in Botswana. I woke up this morning to COLD temperatures. I even cooked breakfast wearing my fleece coat with the hood up! It has since warmed up to a comfortable sunny day. I know that I just wrote a post a few days ago but so much has happened this week that I feel compelled to write another one.

This week has been a shining example of the roller coaster ride of frustration and triumph that is Peace Corps service. School started back on Tuesday and so did GrassRootSoccer. The man who had agreed to co-facilitate the club with me has been missing in action the last few practices so I was pleasantly surprised when he showed up! We had an incredibly successful meeting where we made an HIV Transmission Tree, which shows how quickly HIV spreads via unprotected sex and multiple partners. My kids are so smart and I can see their little brains soaking up the HIV messaging. HIGH!

After the meeting, a teacher approached me and asked me to come to school the next day to type something for her. That was pretty much the straw that broke the camel's back when it comes to all this "type for me" bullshit. I told her that they need to send me back and ask for a secretary instead of a PCV and that I didn't quit my job, leave my family, and sacrifice two years of my life to be her typist. Needless to say, she wasn't happy about that. Please note that I have offered to teach her how to use the computer but she always has some kind of excuse as to why she doesn't have time. LOW.

Wednesday I had a chat with the nurses at the clinic about an idea I had for a workshop. My village has 15 volunteers who go around to sick people's houses and care for them. They help them with all activities of daily living, as well as cooking food and collecting firewood. Having experience taking care of bed-fast people and palliative care patients, I felt that I could help them with their skills. The nurses were VERY receptive and I am proud to say that on May 2nd I am going to teach a workshop for the home-based care volunteers about how to care for a bed-ridden person. This includes bed bathing, catheter care, oral care for unconscious people, etc. Finally something I'm actually qualified to do!!! HIGH!

After my meeting at the clinic, I taught kick boxing at the police station. Several of my "students" stayed after to talk to me about the benefits of exercise. I even had a new student show up, a police officer who loves Foreigner and Led Zeppelin! HIGH!

I had been doing a lot of thinking about how the teachers are not utilizing my skills and I decided to have a meeting with my counterpart, the "guidance and counseling" teacher (she neither guides nor counsels.) On Thursday afternoon I went to her house during her 2 hour lunch break. I explained to her how offensive it is when the teachers ask me to type for them. I told her that I will not be spending much time at the school but if a teacher needs help on something ACTUALLY related to my job, he/she can call me and I will come to the school and help. I also decided that I am going to do twice-weekly individual computer classes for teachers. That way, when I offer the classes and no one signs up (as will most likely happen) I can say that I tried and wash my hands of them! High.

That afternoon at the school, there was to be a PTA meeting. My counterpart told me that I should do GrassRootSoccer at 3 o'clock since the kids wouldn't be in class due to the meeting. As I'm walking to school, I see one of my kids and I remind him about GRS. He tells me that the teachers told the students not to return to school after lunch because they didn't want the students to make noise in the yard and "disturb" the meeting. You can imagine my reaction. I was pissed. I went and found the deputy school head and asked her why the teachers would tell the kids not to come back to school when they know good and damn well that we have GRS that afternoon. She had nothing to say. I found a couple of my kids and told them that if everybody came for GRS that they could come to my house and get me and I we would do it. I was skeptical because I know how the students fear defying their teachers and getting beaten for it.
I went home sulking, mad as hell that the teachers at my school try to mess things up for me at every turn. I wasn't mad for long because at 4 o'clock a bunch of children came up to my door to tell me that everyone was there for GRS! Did I mention that I have the best kids in the world?!? One girl said to me "Maduo! This is our favorite club! We are learning sooo many things!" I went to school and we did GRS and were loud and proud and I hope that the PTA meeting was disturbed by our cheering for an HIV-free generation! HIGH!

Friday morning I met Ashley in Hukuntsi to get some stuff (booze) for a slumber party. After the week I'd had, it was wine o'clock. I had also invited her to attend my prison health talk. This week's activity was the Condom Time Bomb Game. I went around asking people in my village about common myths/misconceptions about condom use and sex in general. I wrote the myths on small slips of paper. When Ashley came over we put the slips in condoms and blew them up like balloons. I felt like Santa Clause carrying a big ol' bag of Christmas presents when we walked to the prison that afternoon. I had a garbage bag full of blown up condoms, my computer with music on it, and my resolve that by the time I left the prison those guys would be comfortable handling/talking about condoms.

The Condom Time Bomb Game works like this: everyone stands in a circle. Music is played and a condom balloon is tossed into the circle. The participants have to pass the condom balloon around until the music stops. When the music stops, the last person to touch the condom has to pop it. Watching someone try to pop a condom is pretty darn funny and it really keeps the game light. Then the person has to read the slip of paper and tell me if it is true or false and justify their answer. Some of the myths included "The lubricant on condoms causes kidney problems...The most important part of sex is that you reach orgasm. The woman's pleasure does not matter...If you put a condom on backwards just turn it around and put it on the right way." We got a lot of interesting answers and a lot of interesting questions. One man asked me about how he can protect himself when he is giving his girlfriend oral sex. I almost hugged that man for asking me that question. Why? Because THAT IS CRITICAL THINKING, FOLKS. That is progress!!!!!!!!!!!

Earlier this week I delivered a proposal to the prison asking the warden to let me teach yoga once per week. I was expecting a lot of resistance and a lot of red tape. So it was my absolute pleasure to announce yesterday to the group of 20 men that come to every one of my health talks that beginning on Wednesday I am going to teach them yoga every week. The class will be held on Wednesdays from 2-3 pm. I actually saw one man's face light up. Literally. You know when you're a kid (or an adult) and you put a flashlight under your chin and it lights up your face? That was that man! Lit up! HIGHEST HIGH EVER.

Ashley and I left the prison feeling satisfied that we had gained a point for orgasms for everybody (people who are sexually satisfied in their relationship are less likely to cheat which is important considering multiple concurrent partners is a driving force of the HIV epidemic in Botswana) and condom use. We came home and made a chocolate cake and buttery popcorn and drank wine. We spent the evening sending pictures to my friend, Marshall, who is coming to Botswana as a volunteer in August. The pictures were meant to show what PC service is like including "Ashley taking a bath."-->Ashley sitting in a bucket. "They forgot to deliver our beds."-->Ashley sleeping on the floor. And "Hello winter."-->Me wearing my coat and hood laying in my sleeping bag reading a book.

We woke up with the roosters this morning and I've since painted my nails with my new polish from America (I got a package yesterday!!!!!! Thanks Granny and Grandpa!!) and read some of my Teaching Yoga book. I have 4 days to become a yoga teacher and 5 days to become a computer teacher! But I'm not worried! Being idle and watching the world go by isn't really my style. I didn't come here to become an expert at spider solitaire, although that is a side-effect of Peace Corps service. I came to do something! And I'm doing it!!!

Namaste!

PS-Millie always wants to be one of the girls. She has to be right in the middle of whatever is going on. Last night, Ashley and Iet Millie come in the house and chill with us even though it was past her bedtime. She flew up onto the table and took a seat looking innocent as you please. She proceeded to stand up, poop on the table cloth, walk six inches to the right of her former spot, and sit back down like nothin happened. What am I gonna do with that lady?!?

PSS-You might recall that I'm teaching aerobics Wednesday evenings. Yeah that's right after my new yoga class. Be ready for me to come home lookin like the hulk! Muscles for days!

14 Apr 13: Sarah Has a Visitor, Teaches Prisoners to Meditate, and Vacays in the Big City!

Aaahh the feeling of fullness, something we take for granted in America! I have enjoyed this feeling more than usual these past two weeks. I just finished eating a huge salad with pears, almonds, and a homemade (of course) vinaigrette. I am proud to say that the lettuce, green onions, and basil came from my garden. Soon I will be able to add baby tomatoes from my garden as well!

If you remember in my last email I told you that I was anxiously awaiting a visit from my friend and fellow PCV, Diane. She surprised me by arriving three days early on Wednesday, April 3rd. Diane lives in what PCV's like to call "bastard child housing." It's a tiny, tiny "house" with no storage or counterspace and no electricity, where everything you own is stored in bags on the floor. I wanted her to feel extra special when she got here so I bedecked the pillows with candies, prepared dinner for her arrival, and played the theme song from Harry Potter when she arrived. I think I succeeded in making her arrival something special when I led her to my house from the bus stop by lantern and said "Welcome to Hogwarts!" a la Hagrid.

Open-face grill cheese sammiches with popcorn and pears

Diane stayed for 8 days, 8 of the funnest days of my service so far. Diane and I have a similar stupid, goofy sense of humor so we get along. We can get weird together. We made all kinds of good food including bread, tortillas and tacos, rice pudding, chicken tikka masala, and popcorn loaded with butter. We played dominoes for several hours a day. We had a slumber party with another PCV, Ashley, that involved homemade pizza and UNO! Together Diane and I taught two aerobics classes: hip hop dancing and Latin dancing. Since neither one of us really knows Latin dancing, we just kinda copied off the Zumba videos. Nobody knew any different.

Tacos Round 1: made from scratch beef tacos! The beef ended up making us sick, not unusual, which
led to Tacos Round 2. 

Tacos Round 2: made from scratch chicken tacos! Perfect this time with no diarrhea or vomiting!

Diane's visit coincided with one of my bi-monthly health talks at Tshane Prison. The scheduled topic was Stress Management and Meditation. On the day of the health talk, we walked the not short walk to prison where we were told that they didn't have a guard to escort us and we would have to reschedule. Unfortunately for the prison guards, they had no idea who they were dealing with. Diane has many remarkable qualities but her most useful quality is the ability to ask seemingly nice questions that end up 1. making the guilty party feel guilty, and 2. pressure them into doing what she wants them to do. It is really is a superpower. Through her pointed questions, she was able to guilt the officer in charge into finding an escort for us! The health talk went well, as usual. Diane has a degree in mental health counseling so I was able to refer questions to her. At the end, I had all of the prisoners lay on the floor and I guided them through a meditation. Some were skeptical at first but I was able to convince them (Diane was rubbing off on me?) to shut it and lay on the floor. I can't describe the feeling that comes with watching 23 "hardened criminals" lay on the ground, eyes closed, resting in stillness. It was unbelievable.

Something unbelievable happened before we even got to the health talk. Diane and I could feel our clothes getting tighter from all the bread we were eating so we decided to workout. During our work out a man came into my yard and approached my door. I recognized the man as the same man that I have warned on multiple occasions to leave me alone, not to come to my house EVER AGAIN, not to contact me, etc. By this time, I had lost all consideration for cultural norms and social graces. I immediately gave him a "GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY YARD," a most rude thing to say here. It didn't work. Diane tried to "convince" him to leave in her own special way but to no avail. You can't reason with crazy and this dude is the mayor of crazytown. So I called the police and the guy finally left. The police, who came in their own sweet time (25 minutes), tracked him down and warned him to never come back to my house. Welcome to being the only white woman in my village! I wonder if I can report beating crazy men off with a stick as one of my activities!

Diane turned out to be quite the baker!

Having spent a glorious 8 days together, Diane and I rode the bus to Gaborone, she going home and me going to a hotel for a nice solo mini vacation. I spent last weekend in the comfort of the Metcourt Inn at the Grand Palms. You should google that place. It is NICE. As a PCV, I get a 50% discount! I spent most of the weekend sitting at Mugg and Bean, a cafe that has great food and free wifi. On Friday morning, I drank a Caribbean mocha, ate a piece of cheesecake, then drank a frozen ginger beer crush, and then ate lunch. Do you know how exciting real food is when you live off of fruit and chicken??!?? Friday afternoon, I decided to go to the cinema to see the new wizard of oz movie. Halfway through the movie, everything went dark. Oh hey rolling blackout! There is not enough electricity to go around so to shed some of the load we are experiencing rolling blackouts. I got a complimentary ticket and went back to the hotel.

I spent the remainder of the weekend eating, going to the hotel's casino (I won money!), eating, going to another movie, taking several hot showers per day, sleeping on a real mattress, and watching tv. Saturday night, I had dinner at the hotel's fancy schmancy Asian fusion restaurant. I sat outside near their garden sipping wine and listening to the soft sounds coming from the garden's fountain. I saw something darting around at my feet and it was a cat. The cat sat down right beside me, which is amazing because I've never met a tame cat in Botswana. In that moment, enjoying my dinner alone and relaxing with a kitty cat, a feeling of tranquility and peace washed over me. It was a beautiful end to my weekend in civilization.

The next morning, Sunday, I was on the bus headed for home. My bags were full of produce and I was sad to leave hot showers and air conditioning. I was lucky to get the very last seat on the bus. It was a typical bus ride: crowded full of stinky people and hot as hell (no one will open the windows because they are convinced that air flow causes flu.) To top it off, my backpack fell out of the overhead compartment and about killed me. Then the bus got a flat tire. I ended up getting home several hours later than usual but it was ok. You know why? Because I had a happy, excited little ball of feathers named Millie waiting for me at the gate.

To sum it up, the last two weeks have been wonderful. While I was eating my dinner at the Asian fusion restaurant it occurred to me that I've never been on a vacation by myself before. And why not? Traveling alone is the most awesome thing in the whole world. I got to do exactly what I wanted to do, when I wanted to do it! Does that make me antisocial? I don't think so. I think it makes me a strong and independent woman that just happens to enjoy her own company more than that of other people. I enjoyed my solo trip so much that I have booked myself another one! On May 21st I am going up north to Maun, in the Okavango Delta, to stay for 6 days at a backpackers lodge by myself. I am going to go on a boat safari, a land safari, horseback riding, and I'm going to learn how to make the traditional woven baskets that Northern Botswana is known for!

The rest of this week is business as usual: teaching aerobics classes, GrassRootSoccer Club now that school is back in session, health talk at the prison on Friday. I am going to meet with Florence, best nurse ever besides my mom, about doing a workshop for the home-based care volunteers in the care of bed-bound people. I am spending almost no time at school these days besides the afternoons when I do GrassRootSoccer. The teachers continue to treat me like a secretary when I'm there so I don't go anymore. On Tuesday I'm going to announce that I am starting bi-weekly computer classes for teachers so they can stop bitching about not knowing how to type (a lie that they tell in an effort to get me to type everything for them.) Poo on them!

I hope everyone stateside is getting a taste of springtime (finally) as it is starting to cool down here. In the words of the Starks, "winter is coming." Just want to mention that as I type this on my porch, a full size grown man is riding on a tiny little donkey past my house. And Millie is eaves dropping on this post in typical nosy Millie fashion.

Peace.

26 Mar 13: Sarah Becomes an Aerobics Teacher, Convinces Prisoners to Masturbate, and the Water Goes Out

Guess who made an appearance behind my house? The famous
and rarely seen Tshane camel!

Le teng borra le bomma? How are you ladies and gents? This last week and a half has probably been the most intense week I've had since I moved to Tshane. More intense than when I had lions sharpening their claws outside of my tent? More intense than the time I walked through the salt pan when it was wet and almost lost my life sinking in the muck? Yes.

In my last post I described how busy this past week was going to be for me. Monday, the 18th, I taught my first aerobics class at Tshane Police Station. The ladies who organized it had requested Hip Hop Dancing as the theme. I spent the day choosing music, choreographing a dance, and hoping that they wouldn't think my fly moves were stupid. All that worry was for nothing when, after the class, my "students" bragged about their awesome USA dance coach all over Facebook. The class was great: lots of energy, laughter, and fun people. We even had two men attend!

On Tuesday morning, I gave a presentation about Budgeting/Financial Management, Anger Management, and Stress Management at the Meteorology Station. I finished the workshop with a relaxation exercise complete with some Enya and a guided meditation. I received lots of thoughtful questions from the participants and they seemed to enjoy the relaxation. I was served tea and cookies afterwards, always a plus.

Later that day, my friend, Ashley, PCV from Lehututu, came to my village to spend the night and watch my GrassRootSoccer Club. She is thinking about starting a club at the primary school in her village. We donned our "sportswear" and went to the school. We waited for the kids to show up and after 30 minutes of waiting I went to their classrooms to find out what was up. The teachers had decided to keep them after school to prepare for their end-of-term exams. Unfortunately, they had neglected to inform me of this so I was pretty ticked when I had to cancel GrassRootSoccer for the week. Club Cancelled. Ashley and I went back to my house, cooked pasta, and drowned our frustrations in cocktails.

Wednesday morning, Ashley and I hitchhiked to Hukuntsi to attend a meeting we had scheduled with a man from the youth office. Having seen the need for women's empowerment, we wanted to plan a women's forum to discuss such issues as masturbation as a healthy alternative to sex, female condoms, and domestic violence. When we got to the youth office, our counterpart was nowhere to be found. Meeting cancelled. Boo.

I hitched back to my village and prepared for that evening's aerobics class: Kenpo! I was super excited to share kick boxing with my "students." They love Jackie Chan movies and who can't use some cool martial arts moves? I showed up at the police station only to find that there was a meeting going on in the room where we do aerobics. Me and my people waited an hour for the meeting to end and when it didn't, we had to cancel class. Class cancelled. Boo.

I spent Thursday resting because I was completely tuckered out from the events, or lack of events, during the week. I woke up from a nap and went into my kitchen to make dinner. When I turned on the tap all that came out was a slow trickle of water. NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! I went into panic mode and filled up all the containers I had. I managed to fill up the bathtub with about 5 inches of water before it went out altogether. In this village, we don't store water because it NEVER goes out. I spent Thursday night thinking about the ramifications of not having water. No bathing. No cleaning. Mathata. Problem. I have a rainwater collection tank in my yard, nearly empty, that I use to water my garden. The water in the tank is not potable and it is too salty for bathing. And I need it for my garden!

Friday morning the water was still out. I had about 10 liters of water stored in my freezer and fridge, enough to sustain me for 3 days. I decided not to exercise because I had a health talk to attend that afternoon and the last thing I needed was to get sweaty! The officer in charge of the prison informed me that he had arranged for someone to pick me up at 1:30 pm so I wouldn't have to make the 45-minute trek to the prison in the afternoon heat. 1:30 came and went. 2:00 came and went (the time that my health talk was supposed to start.) At 2:45 I gave up on waiting for the ride and set out walking to the prison. My health talk started an hour and 15 minutes late but I think it went pretty well. I talked to the men about what happens to your body after HIV infection using pictures of HIV, bacteria, and white blood cells pinned to a volunteer's shirt. I showed them how after infection, the viral load goes up, then down, then the CD4 count goes down. During the Q&A session we ended up talking about masturbation, extra-pulmonary TB, oral sex, you name it. They aren't used to having somebody, especially a woman, that will answer any and all of their questions. Masturbation is taboo here and I'm trying really hard to promote it as a healthy alternative to risky behavior.

Friday night, it rained: the most beautiful sound I have ever heard. We are in another drought season, not having had any rain for at least a month. I imagined my rainwater tank replenishing. Saturday morning my garden was very happy. All of my plants were perky and smiling. It rained again in the afternoon and then all night. I am convinced that all of the positive energy you guys sent this way helped us out. Sunday night we had a trickle of water and I filled up my bathtub to the top. Yesterday I was able to wash clothes, mop the floor, and then take a bath with the water I had saved in my tub. As of today, the water is running. Let's hope that it doesn't go back out anytime soon.

Last night I taught my second aerobics class. We finally got to do the Kenpo that I had planned for last week. It was a really good workout but I don't think my people enjoyed it as much as they enjoyed hip hop dancing. They requested dancing for Wednesday so I think that we are just going to do dancing every time! I have already made a playlist and when I go home for lunch I'm going to choreograph a dance! My ultimate aerobics idea is a Michael Jackson themed class, music, moves, and all. I'm still eating paleo and doing P90X. Between the P90X and teaching exercise classes, I'm losing weight. I'm getting some serious arm muscles from pushups and my new 3kg (~6.6lb) dumb bells.

This week is the last week of school for Term 1. Beginning Thursday, I have a 3 week break from school! I'm still going to be teaching aerobics and health talks at the prison, but I am looking forward to not having to go to school. Today is the last GrassRootSoccer practice until after the break. All that stands between me and my long weekend/break is one GRS practice and one aerobics class. OHHH YEAH! I plan to spend the break reading, meditating, working in my garden, and trying to convince Millie to sleep in her chicken house. Speaking of Millie Moo, she is eating grown up chicken food now. She's getting so big! I think we will have eggs soon!!!

My friend, Diane, is coming to visit me for 5 days on Saturday, April 6th. I can't tell you how excited I am to have a visitor here and to see my friend. We are going to eat good food (relatively), watch movies, and have a slumber party with Ashley.

So what did I learn from the mess that was last week? You know, I am a very result-oriented person. I'm all about getting things done, accomplishments, movin and shakin! Last week reminded me that I need to practice going with the flow. Nothing ever goes as planned here. It just doesn't. More times than not, things will not go my way. Having no water over the weekend forced me to relax, read, cross stitch, and rest. If the water had been flowing I would've spent all day Saturday washing clothes and sheets and cleaning my house. What I really needed was rest. Maybe not having water was a blessing in disguise. I know that I can survive a water shortage so I hope that the next time I turn on my tap and nothing comes out, I won't freak out. I'll resign myself to a relaxing weekend of being a lazy, dirty human!

Peace.

17 Mar 13: Sarah Meets the Prison Health Committee, Attends the MYAA Event, and EATS PIZZA!!!

"Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens." -Kahlil Gibran

First harvest from my garden: lettuce, green onion, and basil
for a salad!!!

Good day everybody! I know it's cheesy but I just had to start with a quote. Why this quote in particular? Because it sums up the last few weeks of my life. I realize that I haven't written and update in almost two weeks now. In the words of my wise Uncle Carl, "Good intention doesn't always mean action."

To be honest, the week of March 5th-7th wasn't exactly action-packed so I didn't feel all that compelled to write about it. Friday the 8th I was supposed to do my first health talk at Tshane Prison. When I showed up, ready to go, the staff had no idea why I was there. As it turns out, Mr. Phele-Officer in Charge-didn't tell anybody about my health talks. I ended up having to meet with the Prison Health Committee, comprised of 15 inmates and 2 officers, to discuss the health talks. All of the men eagerly approved my schedule of topics and we decided that the first health talk would take place on March 22nd. What happened that day is typical of life in Botswana. You plan for this great thing that you are going to do and when the time comes it doesn't happen for one reason or another. Although I was a little frustrated because I had my props and I was ready to talk about what happens physiologically following HIV infection, that day marks the first day of my upswing.

For the past 4 months I have struggled with trying to start projects, trying to motivate my teachers, and trying to settle in to this new life of mine. On March 8th, as I laughed and joked with the men on the Prison Health Committee, something happened in my brain. Instead of leaving the prison pissed off because things didn't go as I had expected, I left there with gratitude! GRATITUDE! I was actually thankful that things had been a mess. I ended up getting to put in some one-on-one time with the men in the health committee, something I never would have gotten to do if the health talk had gone on as planned.

That moment of gratitude has slowly morphed into a more overall sense of gratitude for being here. I am starting to re-feel the awe that I had when I first arrived. Sometimes when I'm walking down the road waiting for a ride to here or there it hits me: "I'm in Africa right now. I LIVE IN AFRICA." During GrassRootSoccer, when I'm interacting with a 10 year old girl whose parents died during the peak of the HIV epidemic I think "Wow. This girl might insist that her boyfriend uses a condom because of this very interaction." I am starting to see the beauty in this place and the potential impact of the work I'm doing.

Speaking of GrassRootSoccer, it is going better than I could have imagined. Last week, we had two practices and they were great. In our practice, we played a game called "Risk Field" in which the kids were divided into two teams. The object of the game was to dribble a ball around rocks that represent risky behavior. The team that made it through the risk field first won. The risks included unprotected sex, multiple partners, older partners, and sex and alcohol. When the ball touched the risk, the player had to do an exercise before he could continue dribbling the ball. During the first round the consequence (the exercise) was only done by the player who touched the risk. In the second round, the entire team had to do the exercise. In the final round, the player who touched the risk, his/her team, the other team, AND the coach had to do the exercise. After the game, we had a discussion about how HIV affects you, your team (family), and the community. The kids loved the game and it was a great way to talk about how HIV affects everyone, not just the infected person.

Month of Youth Against AIDS march

Look at all my smart kids!

On Friday, there was an event in my village for Month on Youth Against AIDS. The event consisted of a panel discussion about various topics surrounding HIV/AIDS. Two of my GrassRootSoccer kids were chosen (by me) to serve on the panel and present the topic of Self-Awareness. We spent two days preparing for the event. The event began with a march from the prison to the Kgotla (community meeting place.) All of my GRS kids were invited to participate in the walk. We walked for Getting to Zero: zero new infections, zero AIDS related deaths, and zero stigma. After we made it to the kgotla, Lisa and Phomolo, the kids chosen for the panel, got to sit up front with the other panelists. Me, Ashley- PCV from the next village, and the other kids sat in the audience. Can I just tell you that I have never been so proud of anyone in my life? It was like Lisa and Phomolo were my own children. When they answered their questions about Self-Awareness in front of the hundreds of people in the audience I almost cried I was so proud. Tomorrow morning I am presenting them with certificates of achievement at the school assembly. Praise is something that children don't really get here so I am always eager to give extra extra extra praise.

A drama at the MYAA event

I was invited to the Month of Youth Against AIDS event but I was not invited to be a speaker, which I was thankful for. I had planned to read my new meditation book, as the event would be entirely in Setswana. My plan backfired when, as I sat reading, the presenter called on me to come up and give a presentation about how to talk to kids about sex. I hadn't been paying attention and I was caught completely by surprise! Throughout the remainder of the event, the presenter would randomly call on me to respond to a questions or to "give my thoughts" on something. So awkward. Remember, I am expert...on everything.

Ashley making pizza!

After the event, Ashley and I had a nice two-person party at my house. We made pizza with Mozzarella cheese!!! I had made chocolate and peanut butter ice cream, which was delicious. We drank cocktails and talked about life in Botswana.

Homemade pizza and cocktails! Delicious!

The garden is growing!

I continue to be amazed at the bounty that is growing in my garden. I have more lettuce and tomato plants than I know what to do with. Every morning and every evening when I water my garden I am reminded of the saying "grow where you're planted." If these plants can grow in sand, I can grow in Africa.

Basil!

Other side of the garden

My lettuce crop.

Container gardening: tomatoes, basil, cilantro

Beginning this week, I am going to be busier than ever. Monday evening marks the first aerobics class that I am teaching. It will be held on Mondays and Wednesdays from 5-6pm. Tuesday and Thursday I have GrassRootSoccer. On Tuesday morning I am giving a workshop for the meteorology staff about Anger Management, Financial Planning and Budgeting, and Stress Management through Meditation. I have been preparing since Thursday but I am still very nervous! I read a whole book about meditation and now I'm reading about how to teach people to meditate. Wednesday morning I have a meeting with someone from the youth office about organizing a women's forum. Friday I am giving a health talk at the prison. All of this and I am still doing P90X and I have just started a meditation practice! And lets not forget that hugging and kissing Millie takes up a good 15 minutes of my day at least.

So I'm getting busier and busier, which seems like stress. But I'm learning that its not what I have to do, its how I respond to it. Maybe I'm learning to cope or maybe my brain is changing, I'm not sure. Do I still get people asking me for money? Of course. Do I still find it stressful to deal with teachers who think I'm their secretary? Yes. The difference is that I'm taking it with an attitude of gratitude. I am thankful that I am able to do all of these things in my village. I am thankful that I get to interact with 45 of the most amazing tiny people every week. I am thankful that I am perceived as an expert because it gives me instant credibility. I am thankful to be here, to be doing what I came to do, and to be able to handle it with gratitude.

I started out this post with a quote so why not go full circle and finish with one? There is a Sanskrit phrase that goes "Yogastha kuru karmani." It means " Established in one-ness, perform action." It means that once you have realized that you are a part of the universe, that you are a part of everything and everything is a part of you, go out and move mountains! I have come to understand that being here, I am completing a part of my life that I was destined to do before I was even born. Through me, I can change the course of these kids' lives. With a sense of gratitude I can thrive here and be at peace. Established in one-ness, I can perform action!

Namaste.

5 Mar 13: GrassRootSoccer Kicks Off, Sarah Goes to Transfrontier and Has a Slumber Party with Lions

Savanna outside Transfrontier Park. Isn't it beautiful?

Hello world! The last week has been soooo busy for me. Busy is good though! Busy means I'm getting something done! Read on to hear about my GrassRootSoccer Club and my trip to the wild and amazing Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park!

Last Thursday was the scheduled kick off day for my GrassRootSoccer Club. To refresh you, GrassRootSoccer (GRS) is a 12-week long after school program developed by an NGO in South Africa specifically for Peace Corps Volunteers. It is a clever way to teach kids life skills and HIV/AIDS messaging using soccer. There really isn't all that much soccer, it is more of a tricky way to get kids to join the club.

I had identified a man in my community, Moilwa, whom I wanted to co-facilitate the club with me. He has a long history of volunteerism including being the village's Alcohol Awareness volunteer for the past 6 months. He is also very unique in that he is albino. Having struggled with bullying and unwanted attention as a youth, I figured that he would really be able to relate to the kids. I approached him over a month ago and he agreed to do the club with me.


Monday last week I tried repeatedly to get ahold of Moilwa to confirm our plans for starting the club. I couldn't get him on the phone and he was nowhere to be found. On Tuesday I was able to reach him and we met at my house. We finalized our plans to begin GRS on Thursday. The Standard 6 and 7 teachers at my school told their students about a new club that was forming. They didn't mention that the club would be run by me so that students wouldn't sign up just to hang out with Maduo. Surprisingly, nearly every student signed up! I was so excited that 45 children, ages 10-14, had signed up for GRS! Unfortunately, I can only run GRS with 20-30 students. I spent all night on Tuesday thinking about how I could tell certain kids that they couldn't be in the club to get the numbers down.

I couldn't bear the thought of letting 20 kids down and on Wednesday morning I had a stroke of genius. I would run the club twice a week with the same lesson plan both days. There would be a group of kids that would come on Tuesday from 4-5 and a group that would come on Thursday from 4-5! Moilwa agreed to help me with the club twice a week and my school seemed to like the idea. I went around from class to class telling the kids on which day they should come. They were SO excited.

Thursday rolled around and I was beyond nervous! In the morning, I administered a pre-test for monitoring and evaluation purposes. That afternoon at 3:45 I had 22 of the most excited kids in the world waiting for me behind the school. Moilwa showed up and he was excited too! We started off our practice by talking about what we would be doing for the next 12 weeks. We made a giant contract agreeing to respect each other, actively participate, and be leaders in our community. I signed it, Moilwa signed it, and the kids signed it. Then we did an activity called Pass the Ball. We don't have any small balls so we used wads of paper, which was fine. In Pass the Ball, the children break into two groups and stand shoulder to shoulder with their hands behind their back. They pass a ball from one kid to another for about a minute. At the end of the minute someone from the other team has to guess who is holding ball just by looking at them. Of course, they couldn't tell who had the ball. So the lesson for our first practice was that you cannot tell someone's HIV status by looking at them, just as the kids couldn't tell who was holding the ball by looking at them. We concluded our practice with a discussion about the lesson and then we decided on a team name: the Tshane Springboks. 

I hung around after practice to interact with the kids and get to know them. I think it's safe to say that the first practice of the GrassRootSoccer Club went off without a hitch. I have to say that huddling up and yelling "AAAHHH! Springboks!" was by far the most moving experience I have had here. This afternoon, I will be leading the first practice for the other group of kids and I am pumped. The amazing thing about GRS is that the NGO gives you a soccer ball and all of the coaching materials. The plan for each practice is laid out word for word. It is high energy and it gets the kids thinking. My favorite part is the praise aspect of it. Praise is something that kids don't get here so it's important that when someone does something great or answers a question that we praise them. The way that praise is given by the team in GRS is using kilos. Kilos are high energy, loud cheers. So when I say "CAN I GET A KILO?!?!" all of the kids do the kilo, which goes like this: "*clap, clap, clap* *clap, clap, clap* SKILLZ" When they yell "SKILLZ" they make an "S" shape with their hand and wiggle their body. Skillz represents the skills we are learning as a team.

So anyway, that's GRS. I can't tell you how happy I am that it is working out. 90% of the projects that PCV's attempt end up failing. I am having a string of successes and I hope it lasts! This Friday, I am giving my first health talk at Tshane Prison. From 2-3 pm I will be doing an HIV/AIDS activity with the prisoners that demonstrates what happens to your body after infection with HIV. It uses pictures of bacteria, HIV virus, and T4 cells taped to a volunteer's body to demonstrate how your viral load goes up, T4 count goes down, etc. I haven't done this activity before but I am really looking forward to trying it out on them. It teaches through visual aids rather than just auditory methods.

Plans have been finalized for a wellness workshop at the Meteorology Station on March 19th. I will be teaching the meteorology employees about financial management and budgeting, stress management, and anger management. Next week I am supposed to attend a Ministry of Education workshop in the capital but it will likely be cancelled.

Setting out on the road to Transfrontier. Cows do not care
about you and your car!

Camping in Zutswa.

Mosaarwa man dancing around the fire.

Now for the most exciting thing that happened to me last week: I went on a game drive in the Transfrontier Park. Like everything else here, it didn't go exactly as planned. The PCV living in Hukuntsi, Pam, met a Greek volunteer based in South Africa. He wanted to go on a game drive so they arranged a trip to the Transfrontier Park and invited me. We were scheduled to leave early Friday morning but on Thursday our driver wrecked his truck. On Thursday night, the Greek guy (his name is Lefteris) met a man who was willing to take us. I got up at 4am Friday morning, exercised, packed, and sat waiting to be picked up. The man who was supposed to drive us never showed up so again the trip was cancelled. Around 3pm I got a phone call that a colleague of Pam's had agreed to take us so the trip was back on. After rounding up all the volunteers, we set off for the park. Because we left so late in the day we had to camp in Zutswa, about 70km from the park entrance. We camped in the yard of the mother of one of our friends in Hukuntsi. She was a gracious hostess providing us with a campfire and chairs to sit in. A couple of Basaarwa people (the politically correct term for Bushmen) showed up and entertained us with some dancing around the fire. We drank wine and stumbled into our tents late.

Early Saturday morning we packed up and set out for the park. Our plan was to camp in Nossob Valley, a 5 hour drive into the park. Unfortunately, we took the wrong road. The road we intended to take was a graded sand/gravel road, described by the park ranger as "a good road." We ended up on an unkempt sand road called the "Wilderness Road." The park requires that anyone traveling on this road have two 4x4 vehicles so that when you get stuck in the sand you have another vehicle to wench you out. We made it 2.5 hours down this road when we got to a sand hill that we were unable to get over. We sat under a tree and ate lunch while we decided what to do. We had no choice but to turn around and go back to the gate. It was especially stressful because on the way in we had driven down some really steep hills and we weren't sure if we could get back up them. The park does not keep track of who enters and exits so we could potentially be stuck in the desert until someone realized we were missing. There is no cell phone network or radio signals. If we did get stuck in the desert, when we didn't show up to work on Monday, the Peace Corps would send the US Marine Corps with choppers to come and extract us, which would have been very dramatic.

Kaa Gate

Horns!

The sand dune that eventually defeated us.

I think the vultures expected us to die out there. Ha! 

Campsite!

Fortunately, we made it up the sand dunes and back to the gate just in time to have dinner and set up camp. We never made it to our intended campsite but it was ok. We setup our tents, ate some food, and built a fire. The campsite had an outdoor "shower" which I took advantage of. We were told at the gate that come nightfall you must stay within a few feet of your tent or vehicle. Why? BECAUSE THERE ARE LIONS THAT WILL EAT YOU. We were warned that lions WILL come into your camp and that you should stay in your tent and do nothing to provoke them. I was skeptical but excited about the prospect of seeing a lion. I had already seen lots of wild animals but seeing a lion would be the icing on the cake. I went to sleep shortly after dark and boy did I get the full experience! I woke up in the middle of the night and there was a lion sitting right outside of my tent. I couldn't see him because he was on the back side of the tent. I knew he was there because I could hear him roaring and grunting. It was the most amazing thing: I didn't feel scared or threatened at all. It almost felt like the lion had come to greet my spirit or something. Like he was talking to me. I know that sounds weird but it was almost a cathartic experience. I don't know if it's the Native American in me or what, but I felt an indescribable connection with that animal.

Hanging out in camp.

 Lefteris saw the shadow of a lion as it walked past his tent. Our fearless leader, who had locked himself in his car for the night, actually saw several lions walking around our camp. In the morning, we woke to find lion paw prints all over the place.

On the crappy side: because the road we took was so wild, our driver ended up with hundreds of scratches on his car and a cracked windshield. We paid him extra money to compensate for the damage to his vehicle. Because the trip was so last minute, the driver didn't have time to buy food. We had to share food with him which left us all a little hungry. I am proud and embarrassed at the same time to say that between the time I got home on Sunday afternoon and breakfast Monday morning, I ate a whole kg of beets. That is 2.2lbs of beets. I must have been dehydrated/deficient in some mineral or something. I could not stop myself. I have learned that if my body is craving something (i.e. a fruit or vegetable not a big mac) it is because I NEED to eat it. I have also learned that if you are going to take a trip in Africa, spontaneous is absolutely NOT the way to go. Lots and lots of planning is required.

Kory Bustard

I think these things are called Kudu. 

Hartebeest

All in all, the trip was a success. I think I have had enough safari to last me the rest of my life, unless its one of those luxury safaris that cost a billion dollars. I got to see gemsbok, kudu, meerkats, a lioness, all kinds of birds, and then I got to have a slumber party with lions! Talk about a once in a lifetime experience!

Gemsbok. These bad boys are HUGE. Look at those horns!

Ostriches. I always thought that you could ride an ostrich. Wrong.

One of the many salt pans in Transfrontier

Fox in the grass

Can you spot the lioness? 

The gang at the end of our safari!

Beginning at the end of this month, there is a national holiday and the kids are out of school for two weeks. Diane and I were planning a trip to Capetown but we just didn't have the time or resources to make it happen. I think I will travel to the capital and spend a couple of days in a hotel in air conditioning!

Things I learned this week: when a lion comes into your camp, just lay in your tent and pretend like no one is home. Also, having a project succeed makes all the stress worth it. Seeing the smiles on the faces of the kids as they showed up for GRS really made my life. If all of my other projects fail, it will be ok because this one project, this club that teaches kids that they are all special, that gives them the self-respect to avoid risky behavior, was a success.

Peace and Love.

PS- Millie is such a little turd. Instead of sleeping in her cozy chicken house, she still insists on sleeping on the porch near my bedroom window. I think maybe she is going through that rebellious teenage phase. Also, I am now famous throughout the Kalahari as "the girl who tamed the chicken." Seriously. I go into Hukuntsi to pay my rent and random people ask me "How is Millie?" I had no idea that during my service I would, just through being kind to a chicken, advocate for animal rights and people would notice! :)