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| a little girl with her new teddy bear! |
It's been a while since I wrote because, to be honest, the month of July was pretty boring. School was out from June 28th until August 6th so I wasn't doing anything there. Yoga and health talks at prison were the only activities I had going on. So what did I do for a month and a half? I cleaned my house. A lot. At some point before I moved in, my house was sprayed for roaches. The spray looks like Coca Cola and it just drips down the walls. Disgusting. I took on the task of washing the walls in my house, which took a couple of weeks. I scrubbed the floors, organized the closets, etc. Diane graced me with her presence for a whole week! We ate lots of good food, as usual, played cards, and acted a fool. We had a picnic and we washed my blanket. Yes, it takes two people to wash the huge blanket that we were given when we first arrived in Botswana. You shoulda seen it. I put the blanket in the tub, filled it up with water and soap, rolled up my pants, and got all up in that blanket's business. I stomped all over it, just like Lucy squishin grapes, until we decided that it was clean. Then we each took one end and twisted. We got about half the water out before our arms gave up. We hung it out to dry and voila! The blanket got its annual wash.
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| my neighbors: Lesego and Tsotso |
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| 1st graders after receiving their teddy bears! |
School started back last Tuesday (August 6th.) I spent the first two days of the term giving out the hundred knitted teddy bears that were sent to me by the Mother Bear Project in America. The preschoolers, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders all got bears and what a hit they were! Seeing all those little ones who go home and play with dirt or rocks, seeing them smile when they got a bear made my week. On Thursday, I met Ashley and the other local PCV, Pam, in Hukuntsi to discuss our upcoming women's empowerment camp. We are doing two camps to teach local women about financial planning, gender based violence, goal setting, and communication. I am sooooo excited about this! It's gonna take place between November and January.
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| my neighbors: Lesego and Phoebe |
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| this little monster LOVES his bear! |
On Saturday, Ashley and I led a workshop at her junior secondary school (it's like a middle school.) Her school is a boarding school for kids from the settlements. A good portion of the time the school doesn't have any food. RIDICULOUS. The kids aren't allowed to leave the grounds. The best way to describe it is "concentration camp"-esque. We spent all of Friday night making cookies, treat bags, and planning our presentation. Saturday morning we were greeted by 30 boys aged 14-19. We talked about gender-based violence, sexually transmitted infections, gender norms, showed a movie, and did a male/female condom demonstration. My friend, Marshall (future PCV who is actually en route to Botswana right NOW) sent me a care package containing a condom demostration kit. The kit came with a giant wooden penis, which I named Jimothy. Jimothy was a big (no pun intended) hit with the kids and we were able to actually demonstrate how to put on a condom! The workshop was a huge success! Yay for productivity!
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| so sweet! |
The week before the event I'm going up to Maun to volunteer for the Special Olympics. Me, Ashley, and Pam are going to set up a yoga booth! We don't really have all the details nailed down but what I do know is that we will take any opportunity to go up to Maun!
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| happiest kid in the world! |
Next week, I'm hoping to start a PACT club at school. PACT stands for Peer Approach to Counseling Teens. The goal of the club is to teach kids stuff that they can then teach their peers. The lessons range from respect to puberty topics. Pretty much anything life skills. To keep them motivated, I've decided to do a kind of girl/boy scouts badge system. They'll probably be paper badges that the kids can paste onto a larger piece of cardboard or something. I'm still figuring it out. TIA (this is Africa) so it's not gonna be too fancy. The good news is that no matter what the kids will be excited anyway!
I also had a meeting last week with my village's social worker. We have planned some activities for orphans and their guardians. I was approached by some people from Hukuntsi who want me to teach aerobics there twice a week. It's still in the planning stages so who knows. Didn't I tell you I just got busy?!?! And it feels soooo good! People are seeking me out to work with them. It's about damn time!
In other news, winter sucks. Me and Ashley were talkin about how mild the winter has been ("Aww this isn't that bad!") We shoulda knocked on wood because we woke up the next morning and the thermometer in her house barely registered 40 degrees. You know what it feels like to get out of bed and see your breath in the house? NOT FUN. You think your toilet seat's cold? You ain't felt cold! All year long we complain about the wind out here. You hang your clothes out to dry and you bring em in all stretched out and dusty. Apparently August is the "windy" month. What? How can it get any windier than it already is?? I'll tell you how. It's called dust.storm.all.day. I was washing my clothes this morning and I looked out the window and thought "dang it's foggy!" Then I remembered that we don't have fog in the desert. NOT FOG. Dust. Not only could I not hang my clothes outside but I couldn't even go out there. When I walked to the prison last week for yoga, I had to clean the sand out of my nose and ears. And then I dropped my apple in the dirt. But since I'm used to living in Africa, I just picked it up and ate it anyway. You think I'm gonna waste an apple that I had to ride the bus for four hours to buy? Not hardly! Oh yeah, word on the street is that the windy month is when the scorpions and poisonous snakes come out of the sand. WONDERFUL! And then next month we can look forward to the return of the bird-sized bugs. Dang Africa, anything else?
As I approach the one year mark and I get busier, I've noticed that I feel different. Things are easier emotionally. Why is that? Is it that I'm accustomed to my new lifestyle? Or that I'm used to nothing working out like I plan it? Or that I'm adapted to the life of a leper? Being here for a year means that I haven't had any kind of intimacy with another person for that long. That's hard folks. Really hard. Everyone in my village knows me. No one asks me for money anymore. When I turn on the faucet and nothing comes out I don't even worry about it. The water will come back eventually. When I set out hitch hiking to get to the next village I don't stress. Somebody will pick me up sooner or later. When none of the teachers at my school want to help me with my club...oh well. Nothing bothers me anymore. I don't think it's apathy. I think it's adapting. I am living, breathing proof that humans can adapt to anything. If you stay strong, hold on to your motivation, and remind yourself every damn day why you chose to put yourself through this...you'll make it. I do miss America, my family, Target, and microwaves everyday but, at this point, Tshane is home. Here's to another year!
Sarah
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| poor people art |
PS- My latest craft project: toilet paper roll art. Home decor for us poor folks!
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