21 Dec 12: Sarah Gives a Presentation at the Prison, Attends Workshops, and Learns ANOTHER Life Lesson

Home Sweet Home: Tshane!

Happy Holidays everybody! This post marks my nearly 5th week at site, 3.25 months in Africa, and my first Christmas in Botswana. As of the 14th, my service is 5% finished. Or maybe I should say I have 95% of my opportunity left! While people in America are boarding planes to go and visit loved ones, people here are cramming onto buses and combis to do the same thing. The larger villages and towns are clearing out as people make the trip back to their home villages. I have seen lots of new faces in my village as well as an influx of teenagers home from their boarding schools for the holiday.

I have included several pictures of houses in my village. They range from mud huts to nicer cement homes. I just thought that you would like to see what people (who are not government employees like me) live in. Keep in mind that these houses have no insulation, no central heat or air conditioning, and most don't have running water or electricity. Let's be thankful this holiday season!

When I was preparing to come to Africa, I met a lot of people who said "Peace Corps! I had a friend who joined the Peace Corps. He learned so much about himself!" I often mention something in my emails about how Peace Corps Service changes people. This week, I didn't change so much as I learned something. I learned that when it comes to this job, this life I'm living right now, the best I could do is good enough. If I did the best I could do, I don't have to sit around worrying about whether or not my audience got the message or what they thought of me. My best is good enough.

Garden for Home-Based Care Patients at the clinic

Last Sunday, I told my family "I don't really have any plans this week." HA! The universe laughs! By Monday, I was committed to a week of activities and workshops. On Tuesday, I attended a workshop at Hukuntsi Primary Hospital about the Children's Act of 2009. This act guarantees children certain rights including the right to play and recreation, the right to freedom of religion, and the right to a name. I was surprised to find out that Botswana is one of the many countries to have signed the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, while the United States has NOT signed. What the heck?

Typical mud hut with thatched room. Windows are made
of sticks.

On Wednesday, I attended a workshop of the Child Protection Committee held in Hukuntsi. The theme of the day was the Children's Act and Child abuse. I learned about the laws that protect children, the penalties for those who violate these laws, and also about recognizing signs of abuse in children. Child abuse is often under-reported here, as it is in the US. Most abuse occurs within extended families and family members are reluctant to report one another. I am fortunate to have a social worker at my school as well as the regional social work office in the next large village. After two days of child protection workshops, I was feeling little down. But you know, I will be working with children everyday. It's important for me to know the law.
After school starts, I plan to teach some classes to the children about their rights. It is in a child's best interest to know how they should be treated and what they deserve. I think it might ruffle some feathers of those people who would choose to keep children submissive, but that's just too bad! Oh, it was also decided that I should be a member of the regional school health committee, so now I may add that title to my name!
The highlight of my week occurred yesterday, Thursday, as I was transformed from captive audience member/VIP guest to presenter and HIV/AIDS educator. Wednesday evening, my friend and officer in charge of the prison, Phiri, invited me to the Tshane Prison's World AIDS Day Commemoration. He asked me to give some kind of short presentation about HIV/AIDS. I had one whole evening to prepare so I decided to do something called the HIV Epidemic Game. It is a game that demonstrates the spread of HIV through a person's sexual network. I don't want to be the kind of educator who just talks AT people. They get enough of that already. I want to be engaging and interactive. I want to do things that keep people thinking about the topic even after I have left. And who doesn't love a game? Yesterday (Thursday) I arrived at the prison for the celebration and I was pleased to be greeted by many smiling faces. The prisoners and even the guards always welcome me warmly and they all know me by name! After waiting for the guests to arrive, the celebration began with an opening prayer, as usual. Welcome remarks were made and guests were introduced. Then it was my turn to kick off the ceremony!

Tshane Library and Pre-School

I had invited my fellow Peace Corps Volunteer and friend, Ashley, to facilitate the game with me. I was proud to see my name on the program: Drama, by Maduo and Friends. Talk about a souvenir! Anyway, I was so so so nervous for some reason. Maybe because it was my first real contribution as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Maybe because I am an expert at all things and people expect a LOT from me. With the lay counselor from my clinic translating, I had 20 prisoners (some volunteered, some peer pressured by me) form a group in the center of the room. Each man was given a small slip of paper, some of them blank, some marked with a red X, some marked with a C, and some marked with an A. I then instructed them to mingle with each other and each time they talked to some one, they should sign that person's paper. The DJ (yes, there was a DJ!) played some music and the men mingled. When the music stopped, I instructed them to return to their seats.

Another mud hut

I reminded them that this was just a representative game. I told them that each signature represented sexual contact. This was followed by laughter, which I expected given that all of the participants in the game were men. We decided to just pretend like some of them were men and some were women. I said, "If you have a red X on your paper, please stand up. Those of you with an X are HIV+. Anyone who had their paper signed by one of these people, please also stand up. All of you have been exposed to HIV." Some of the men were reluctant to participate, which I can understand, because this is the point in the game where people start to make mental connections. The lightbulb goes on, if you will. I went on to say "If you have a C on your card, Congratulations! You used a condom and you reduced your risk for contracting HIV. You may sit down." The man with the C on his card was so excited! Everyone actually clapped for him! I said "If you have an A on your card, Congratulations! You were abstinent. You do not have HIV. You may sit down."
At this point, I spent a few minutes talking about how the participants could have reduced their risk of contracting HIV in the game, i.e. only signing one person's paper (being faithful), not participating (abstinence), or by insisting to see if the person had an X on the back of their paper (testing.) I would have like to have had a real interactive discussion but time was not permissive, so Ashley and I wrapped up our presentation and took our seats. We got a hearty round of applause and I later found out that several of the speakers had said, in Setswana, that our activity was very helpful.

Mud hut

The remainder of the workshop, which lasted until about 1 o'clock, consisted of traditional dancing by the prison's cultural troupe, an inspirational message by "Miss Stigma Free," and lots and lots of singing. I don't know if I mentioned in a previous message that the people of Botswana are the most amazing singers. They have a mental bank of hundreds of songs, each person singing a certain part. At any time, someone can burst into song and everyone else just joins in. Think flash mob, but singing. They sing with such conviction that you can actually FEEL the music. They harmonize and it is really amazing.

So those were my professional accomplishments this week. I feel fortunate that people think enough of me to invite me to their meetings and workshops. I have done some serious networking and I think that I will have no problem finding people to facilitate workshops with me. In other news, after the event at the prison yesterday, Ashley and I decided to work out. We get the idea to see if we could walk from my village to hers, which is about 10 km/6 miles. Our villages are equidistant from the major road that leads to Hukuntsi. I figured that I could walk her to the main road and then turn around and head back to my village while she continued walking to hers. We set out, backpacks full of water, around 4:30. We walked and talked and walked some more. We made it to the junction of the main road and made a pact that we would walk the rest of the way, despite the temptation to catch a hitch. Several people stopped along the way offering us rides. As Peace Corps Volunteers, we are supposed to be role models. I think that by declining the rides, explaining that we were walking for exercise, we fulfilled that expectation. On my way back, I walked for a while with a herd of donkeys. I wish I had had my camera because it was amazing. I've never seen so many donkeys together. At 7:30 pm, I arrived at my house and Ashley arrived at hers. We had walked for 3 hours in the 100 degree heat that is the Kalahari desert. I was tired, achy, and thirsty (I had drained my 1.5 liter camelback a little before I arrived home.) I set up my computer in the bathroom and sat in a tub of cold water, eating ramen noodles, watching Lost. A nice end to an even nicer day.

Look at that fence! Nearly all of the houses in my village are
surrounded by this kind of fence. Talk about hard work!

Rich people housing! They even have a satellite dish!

I made a carrot cake with peanut butter frosting this week. I know that sounds like a trivial thing to mention, but here in Africa, that's a major achievement for me! My nurse friend, Florence, and I are going to have a lunch feast together on Christmas day. She is from Zambia, far from her family like me, so we can really relate to each other. She has to be at the clinic for half a day on Christmas, and then we are having lunch pot-luck style. I have never made a carrot cake before and I had to improvise on the frosting. Cream cheese is not something you can get in my neck of the woods. My trial cake was delicious so I am going to make another one on Tuesday, as well as mashed potatoes. Feeling of accomplishment + carrot cake with peanut butter frosting = happy Sarah.

After 7 hours of work, I finally finished my fancy dancy living room ceiling. My mom had sent me glow in the dark stars, which included two sheets of star stickers and a map of constellations. I chose "Summer in North America" and spent a ridiculous amount of time standing on a rickety desk putting up tiny stars according to the diagram. Now, when I turn off the lights in the evening I can look at the ceiling and it looks just like the summer night sky in Kentucky. I'm not gonna lie. I get a little weepy just typing the word "Kentucky," much less looking at a re-creation of my home sky!

New friends I made walking through the village!

When I arrived at site 5 weeks ago, I spent many sleepless nights worrying about what I was going to do here. My school was closing for the month-long holiday break. I was afraid that there would be nothing for me to do, that I wouldn't be able to help anyone. I'm proud to report that I was busy this week, even busier than I may have liked. I spent two days learning how to help children. Despite my nerves, I facilitated a presentation that I can call a success, even if it only affected one person. I sleep easy now knowing that when I come back to America after two years, I will be able to say "I am a returned Peace Corps Volunteer and I did the best I could."

Love, Peace, Joy, and Hugs and Kisses to my family and all my wonderful friends. I miss you all so much and I love you. Merry, merry Christmas!

16 Dec 12: Sarah Interviews Prisoners, Becomes an Expert, Travels to Kang, and Makes New Friends

Meet Fred. One of the many flatsy spiders that
live in my house. I actually saw one of these
things eating a moth whole.

Warning: Almost all of the pictures in this blog post are BUGS!!! The bugs here are RIDICULOUS!!

If you had told me a year ago that I'd be spending my 27th birthday in Africa, I wouldn't have believed you. If you had told me that I'd be spending it in Africa at a prison eating meat cooked over a fire, I'd REALLY wouldn't have believed you.

Many things happened this week. I turned 27. I made ice cream in the desert. I became an expert. An expert at everything. On Tuesday, I attended a wellness seminar being held by my friend, Dimpho, for the employees of the meteorology office. He asked me to tag along, so I did. When it came to the Q&A session, he asked me to answer a couple of the questions that the meteorology staff had asked. I just thought he was being nice, trying to make me feel included in the seminar. Afterwards, he whispered to me "Thank you. You really helped me! I couldn't answer some of those questions." And that, ditsala tsame (my friends), is when I became a nutrition expert.

On Wednesday, I met my friends, Peace Corps Volunteers, Ashley and Emma, in Hukuntsi. We had decided to have a sleepover in Emma's village because we had to be at the World AIDS Day Commemoration at 6:30 a.m. It was unlikely that Ashley and I would have been able to hitch hike a ride to Emma's village that early. Where there is a slumber party there is wine and cheese curls. We were stocking up on our junk food (and also ingredients to make Amarula Ice Cream) when I got a phone call from Dimpho. I knew he was preparing for a Proper Parental Care seminar because I had typed up the program for it. He said, "Hi Maduo! I need you to give a presentation tomorrow at 2 o'clock about nutrition in children." Nutrition in children? Give them lots of sunshine and water and watch them grow. That's the extent of my knowledge of nutrition in children. I explained to him that most of my expertise is in nutrition in COWS and I respectfully declined. Maduo, expert in all things nutrition, computers, and Barack Obama.

The cockroaches in Botswana are on steroids.

Thursday, Emma, Ashley, and two volunteers from Hukuntsi named Tracy and John (who are from KY!!!) attended the World AIDS Day Commemoration ceremony in Lokgwabe. We didn't actually do anything to help at the event. We just sat for 6 hours and listened to speaker after speaker talk about AIDS/HIV in Setswana. Every once in a while, there would be a skit or some singing, which was nice. People really really appreciate that we show up to these things. Even though we don't actually contribute anything, just showing up seems to mean a lot to them.

Speaking of events, *cough cough hint hint*, my birthday was on Friday! I had made an appointment earlier in the week to interview one or two inmates at the prison. I wanted to know what kind of programs/information they felt like they were lacking and what I could do to help them. The Tshane Prison is a part of my community so I don't feel right excluding the prisoners just because they are a little bit creepy. The prison is a minimum security prison, mostly housing rapists and poachers. The Saan people of the Kalahari kill animals for food, as they have been doing for thousands of years. Unfortunately, their way of life has become illegal because they are driving the animals towards extinction.

Am I in the rain forest or the desert?

So anyway, I showed up at the prison at 9 a.m. on Friday prepared to speak to maybe one or two prisoners. When I walked in, I had a regular crowd of people waiting to talk to me! At least 30 chairs had been lined up for the prisoners and a little desk and chair had been placed at the front for me. The deputy officer in charge formally introduced me (even though I'd met most of these fellows before) and we got started. With an officer translating, I asked the men what kind of programs they would like to see. I wasn't really prepared for a group of that size but it worked out. I found that they would like more info about HIV/AIDS. They would like to start an HIV support group for HIV+ prisoners. They also need information about career opportunities after release. I was very happy to learn that they would love to participate in some art therapy. One of the young men asked me to please come and talk to them on a monthly basis. I think I can do that! After our chat ended, the deputy walked me to the gate. I was able to pick his brain a little bit about what he feels the prisoners need. He confided to me that many of them are sex offenders and he thinks that I should do a seminar about gender equality and women's rights. OH YES I WILL! On Tuesday, I'm going to meet with the social worker at the hospital in Hukuntsi to get the ball rolling on that.
When I made my appointment at the prison, the officer in charge and one of my closest friends, Michael Phiri, invited me to the officers' Christmas Party. I attended the party on Friday night and it was a lot of fun! It started late, of course, but I was made a VIP, also of course. The turn out wasn't too good, but I always say quality over quantity! Phiri asked me at the last moment to give a speech about American Christmas parties. They sang happy birthday to me three times: once in my house by the officer who picked me up, a second time at the party as everyone was sitting down, and then a third time when they decided that they should also sing it to me standing up. Phiri gave a wonderful, inspirational speech, I gave my speech, there was praying, and then we got to eat! My friend, Dimpho, also attended. We ate braiid meat (meat roasted over a fire) and potato salad. When it got late and I was ready to go, Phiri sent me home with arms full of soda and a personal prison guard escort.

This is the kind of bug that hit Ashley in the eye! There are
wings under that shell.

Saturday, Ashley, Emma, Pam (the other volunteer in Hukuntsi), and myself traveled together to Kang for the Peace Corps Kalagadi Mini-Regional Meeting. I had to leave my house at 5:30 a.m. in hopes of catching the 7 o'clock bus with the other volunteers. I walked in the rain for 40 minutes before a car came by and picked me up. The car dropped me at the highway, where I was able to catch a hitch with a solider into town. We all made it onto the bus (a Christmas miracle!), rode the hour to Kang, and enjoyed lunch and bonding time with other volunteers from our region. We caught the 3 o'clock bus back to Hukuntsi, which was an interesting ride. We had to stand because the bus was so full. Ashley and I were able to stay at the front of the bus, where we at least got some air through a window. Also through that window came a GIANT kamikaze beetle thing, flying at a million miles per hour, whacking Ashley in the sunglasses before pinballing off my hand and onto the floor. It was the size of a small cell phone. It scared the crap out of us and then we about died laughing. You can probably imagine that EVERYONE on the bus was staring by then.

Thirsty Ashley waiting for the ambulance.

Saturday night, we stayed at Emma's again to enjoy some grilled cheese sandwiches, coloring books, and more wine. Ashley and I tried to watch The Gods Must Be Crazy, but as it turns out, when you're living it it's not that funny. Finally, we turned it off and went to sleep. We left out this morning around 8 a.m. to hitch rides back to our villages. After standing in the sun for hours, we learned our lesson. No one goes anywhere on Sunday. I ended up calling my nurse friend, Florence, who arranged for an ambulance to come pick us up. We couldn't walk home because the village was out of water. We wouldn't have made it the 11 miles home without water.

Camo bug!

As you can tell, this week was very very busy! I received several packages (THANK YOU SO MUCH!) for my bday and Christmas. My mom sent me a set of glow in the dark stars and planets that you stick to the ceiling. Remember those when you were a kid? I wanted some of those to jazz up my accommodations. I stuck them to the ceiling with great care and waited for them to "charge up." My neighbor and friend, Kealeboga, came over around that time. We were supposed to go walking for exercise but it was storming. I took him into my bedroom and said "watch this!" I flipped off the lights and watched his reaction. It was priceless. He had never seen anything that glows in the dark and he actually thought that I had installed tiny lights on my ceiling. He said "Oh my goodness. They are so beautiful! They are magic." After that we alternated sitting on my bedroom floor in the dark chatting and looking at stars and waiting in my living room for them to recharge. Kealeboga is a 23 year old young man, the son of the ambulance driver. He sells produce out of his truck to help support his family. Having just moved here in August, he really doesn't have any friends in the village. We chatted for several hours about random things and about his goals and aspirations. He wants to go and finish his studies in Gaborone and become a surveyor. I guess you could say that I'm now an expert in counseling and career development as well.

Millipedes snuggling. These bad boys are almost a foot long
and as big around as a carrot. Emma stepped on one and we
found out that not only are they ugly, they are also
very juicy.

One more thing. I talked to my program manager from Peace Corps this week and he was really amazed at how well I'm integrating into my community. I think some new volunteers tend to become reclusive, spending most of their time at home instead of being out meeting people. Not me! Everyday here is a real adventure. Every morning when I leave my house, I really can't say what the day will bring. I plan things of course, but I always end up doing something that I couldn't imagine. Example: I initially went to the prison on Monday thinking that I could just walk in and talk to some prisoners right then. Turns out I had to make an appointment. When I arrived, Phiri was leaving to distribute letters to the nearby villages informing them of his upcoming transfer. Phiri is transferring to the boys prison far from here in early January. :( He asked me if I wanted to ride along with him. Since I couldn't interview prisoners and that had been my plan for the day, I agreed to go! We ended up riding around, drinking ginger beer (it's a type of ginger soda) and talking about how it's a bad idea for a man to have 14 girlfriends. What an adventure! Please note that as the officer in charge of the prison, Phiri NEVER drives himself. He is important and respected. The other officers even have to salute him. But on Monday, Phiri drove ME. When we arrived at the police station, I asked him if he wanted me to get out and open the gate. He said "Ah, Maduo! You are an angel. An angel will never touch the gate." He got out of the truck and opened the gate himself. So basically, I got the VIP treatment from Monday to Friday this week!

Some kind of giant moth

In conclusion, I'm getting pretty busy. I have people calling ME to ask me to participate in their workshops. I'm being invited to Christmas parties. People respect me here. I'm becoming a valued member of the community. No longer an outsider. No longer a lekgoa (a white person.) I'm becoming the person that I'm supposed to be. I'm becoming Maduo, expert in all things childrens' nutrition, computers, Barack Obama, American Parties, birthday girl, and VIP.

Love, health, and happiness.

Sarah

8 Dec 12: Sarah Gets the Mumps and Goes to an African Hospital

Since I don't have any other pictures for this week's
blog I thought a picture of my favorite snack would suffice.
Salticrax. Salty Cracks? Delicious.

In America, we love to complain about our healthcare system. "Boo hoo, I had to wait 20 whole minutes to see the doctor today. I had to shop for 30 minutes in WalMart while they filled my prescription. Waaahhh..." Well, this week I would've given my first born child for some American healthcare.

I woke up on Tuesday with a swollen lymph node in the right side of my neck below my ear. I felt fine so I went about my day and thought nothing of it. Late that night, I woke up and it was much worse. My jaw line had disappeared under the swelling, creating the illusion that my cheek and neck were one continuous part. Not cute. Normally under such circumstances, I would've gone to the capital to the Peace Corps Medical Office for treatment. Because I'm 8 hours away from the capital, I had to go to the hospital in the nearby village of Hukuntsi.

I set out walking, hoping to get a hitch to the hospital. My clinic has an ambulance (a truck) but our driver was in Gaborone for a few days, so there was no transport. Lucky for me, an ambulance pulled up to the clinic as I walked past. The ambulance had brought the hospital's social worker (a man whom I happened to meet on my way home from Mokatako over the weekend) to pick up some paperwork. This is a good time for me to mention that I meet random people all over this country and then they unexplicably pop up later when I need help. Anyway, I got to the hospital and went to the outpatient department. I "registered," meaning that they took my temperature and BP and I sat and waited for my turn to see the doctor. I had been waiting for about half an hour when a short, dark man came running from around the corner, grabbed my arm and pulled me into the exam room out of turn. Meet Dr. Ntumba from The Democratic Republic of Congo! He took one look at me and decided that I had the mumps. THE MUMPS? I didn't even know what he was saying when he asked me if I'd ever had the mumps. I thought he was inquiring about my "lovely lady lumps" or something. Mumps is really really common in children here. I would get a disease that normally only infects children. My friends at the clinic had a good laugh about that.

Dr. Ntumba ordered some blood work, told me to go home (QUARANTINED!), and asked me to come back the next day for my results. I walked to the hospital's pharmacy to pick up the Ibuprofen he had prescribed. I asked the pharmacist where I should go to set up a payment arrangement (PC foots the bill) and he shrugged and said, "Eh. You're free to go." I don't need to pay? You don't have to tell me twice. I found that the same ambulance that brought me was still in the parking lot. More good luck. The ambulance brought me home and I went to bed.

Thursday, I woke up feeling worse. The swelling in my neck had gone down, but I just felt really crappy all over. I was supposed to be introduced to the police force by the police chief but I had to skip it and go to the hospital instead. I walked to the clinic and waited, hoping that someone from the village would arrive and then I could ride back with them. A government bus showed up to pick up a nurse who was going to a workshop and I was able to get a ride. Again, I "registered," picked up my results, and waited to see the doctor. I sat in the hot, smelly hospital for 3 hours. I was repeatedly told that the doctor was in surgery but that he would be out soon. Finally, I got so aggravated that I called my nurse friend, Florence, and she agreed to interpret my blood work results. When I left the hospital, I was sad to see that there were no ambulances in the parking area. That meant that I had to hitch home in the midday sun, sick. I put on my sunglasses, had a litty cry, and started walking. I had walked for around 15 minutes, when a man in a Land Rover pulled over. He wasn't going to my village so he could only take me as far as the junction, 5 km away from my village. That was good enough for me, so I got in. He realized that he had left his hat in another car at the hospital, so we had to take a short detour back. I saw a nurse in a surgical outfit and asked her if Dr. Ntumba had finished in surgery (I was feeling guilty about waiting all that time for nothing.) She laughed and said "Dr. Ntumba left for Gaborone early this morning." So basically, I sat there for 3 hours waiting for nobody. Cool.

The Land Rover dropped me at the junction and shorty after that I got a ride in the bed of a truck to the clinic in my village. Florence decided that I probably had a virus which had initially infected my lymph node and then spread throughout my body, which explains the general malaise. She also gave me antibiotics just in case. Yesterday, I felt much better and spent the morning trying to make a map of the village. Moral of the story: getting sick in Africa is a hassle. There is little organization, no appointments, and you may or may not get any help. I still don't know if I have the mumps or not. So as much as we like to complain about the healthcare system in America, let's be thankful! Sure it costs lots of money and it has its flaws, but at the end of the day it is still the best in the world.

You guys are probably wondering about my trip to Mokatako over the weekend! It was great! Florence arranged for our ambulance driver to pick me up at 5:30 in the morning on Friday (last Friday.) He dropped me at the bus stop so I could get on the 6 a.m. bus. I rode that bus 6 hours to Kanye. In Kanye, I got on a bus to Lobatse, another hour long bus ride. In Lobatse, I found my friends and we had barely enough time to buy some food for the weekend. We had to rush to get the last 4 seats on the combi going to her village. We sat packed in like sardines for the 3 hour ride on dirt roads. Fun. When we got to Liz's house, we made dinner and went to bed. We woke up to rain that continued the whole weekend. We spent Saturday playing cards, making cookies, drinking wine, and having a sing along to Liz playing her guitalele. For those that don't know, a guitalele is a cross between a guitar and a ukulele. It's awesome.

Sunday, we got up super duper early because we had heard that the combi to Lobatse goes through her village at 6. We stood in the freezing cold rain until 7:30, when a man walking by advised us that the combi doesn't come until 8:30. We caught the 8:30 combi, and 3 hours later I bid my friends goodbye. I continued from Lobatse to Kanye, where I was able to do some grocery shopping. I caught the bus from Kanye to Hukunsi at 2:30. The first hour, I had to stand because the bus was so full. The conductor arranged a seat for me when someone got off, a priority seat for the honorary white person on the bus. I was thankful and took the seat for the next 5.5 hours. The bus got so full that I ended up finishing the ride with a child on my lap, the vector for my illness I suspect. I got off the bus in my village shortly after dark. I found that my fabric softener and chicken had leaked all over everything I had bought.

No biggie. I could wash the nastiness off and get the chicken in the freezer right away. I dragged my bags home, unlocked the door, and switched on the light. Nothing happened. I had no power. I had been traveling for 12 hours, I was covered in sweat and chicken juice that had leaked from my bag, only to find that the power was out at my house. Just my house. The other teachers' houses had electricity. I sulked to the police chief's house and he eventually figured out how to get my power back on. Needless to say, it was a very stressful journey, but seeing my friends was worth it.

My trip to Mokatako and my illness are pretty much the only things I did this week. I was not productive at all in terms of my community assessment. I spent more time in my bed than I did in the community, except for when I was in the clinic being tended to by Florence! I was able to spend a little bit of time thinking about more projects I'd like to do: a weekly dance for fun/exercise class, art therapy at the prison, and a women's empowerment seminar.

My health educator friend has volunteered to help me build a garden and a chicken coop, or as I like to call it, a chicken castle. In Sarah's chicken castle, every hen is a queen. Doesn't that sound nice? We are going to build a structure around the garden to keep the animals out and also to provide shade for the plants. He is supposed to come by sometime this weekend to draw up the plans. I cooked beets and butternut squash this week, which left me with a lot of veggie scraps. I usually feed the scraps to the goats, but I decided to try composting. I put my scraps as well as some dead plant material into a bucket and mixed it all up. So far it has just served as a home for sleeping moths, but we'll see!

I found out yesterday that Dimpho writes poetry. With his permission, I may try to put up one of his poems on here. He wants to write a book of poetry and I'd like to help him with that. He writes in English so he needs someone to help him edit.

Tomorrow, I'm going to make mini loaves of bread for my friends in the village: Tshene, Dimpho, Florence, and a few other people! Next week, I am going to continue trying to draw a map of Tshane. I have found that cartography is not a talent of mine. On Saturday, I am going to Kang for a Peace Corps mini-regional meeting. Kang is about an hour from here by bus, so it shouldn't be a difficult trip.
Despite the several storms we had this week, the heat is back with a vengeance. I was going to work in my dirt yard today but it was just too hot. I have to wait until sundown to go out, lest I have a heat stroke and end up back at Hukuntsi Primary Hospital. Pass.

I hope that everyone is getting ready for Christmas! I never thought I'd miss hearing Christmas music 24-7, but I really do. After this holiday season, I'll only have one more Christmas and then I'll be home! I can't help but count down the months because I just miss you guys and America so stinkin' much! Please feel free to email me! I'd love to hear about everyone's holiday plans and what you all are buying each other!!!

Love and Peace,

Sarah

29 Nov 12: Sarah Meets Florence, Discovers the Library, and Sees a Camel!



My house, aka Peace Corps Africa Ritz Carlton



 

Rumelang batho ba me! Hello, my people! You might be wondering why this email has arrived a day early. Well...I'm travelling this weekend! It is Thursday night, about 8:00 pm. By this time tomorrow I will be relaxing (a.k.a dance party and cheap wine) in Mokatako, Botswana. Tomorrow morning I will board a bus at 6 a.m. Two buses and a combi later, I will arrive in Mokatako around 4 something p.m. with my friends, Liz and Diane. We will attend a wedding on Saturday, for the food of course, and then have another three-person dance party. God willin' and the creek don't rise, I will arrive home sometime Sunday afternoon, but it could be Monday. I'm dying for some time with Americans. I'll let ya know how it goes! Good or bad, it will be an adventure!


My backyard, as viewed from the back door of my house.

I really started feeling like a Peace Corps Volunteer this week. I identified a need in my community and took steps to fulfill that need. I had to set some goals for myself so that I wouldn't just sit home all day and read. I left the house by 9 and stayed out until 3:30, except for when I came home for lunch. I wanted to meet at least 20 people, get their names and enough info about them to write them in my "People of Tshane" notebook. I got 22 names. I went to all the government-related places in Tshane, including the clinic, postal agency, police station, Livestock Advisory Office,
metrological station, and even the...drumroll please...Tshane Prison.

Florence!

I spent a good deal of time at the clinic and the library. I made several new friends! I met the nurse at the clinic, Florence, and she is an amazing woman. She is from Zambia, she is a midwife, and she acts as the clinic's doctor. She prescribes drugs, performs minor procedures, pretty much everything. We hit it off really well and, lucky for me, she is one of my neighbors! I also spent some time with the health educator, Dimpho. He let me accompany him to the primary hospital in Hukuntsi today. At the library, I made friends with the librarian, Bareketse, a lady in her mid 30's. Nicest lady I ever met.

Tshane Clinic

So I'm not just going around the village meeting people for fun. Remember, I'm doing a community needs assessment. I am based out of the school, so I started my assessment there. Upon finding that the school receives high marks, the teachers are good, and the kids are well-behaved, I got to wondering why a Peace Corps Volunteer was placed in Tshane. Why do they need me here? Well, I found out. The HIV prevalence rate in Botswana is reported to be 25%. A quarter of the population is reported to be infected with HIV. You expect the actual number to be a little bit higher because there are a certain number of people who are HIV+, but are unaware of their status. Brace yourself: according to Florence, 75% of the people in this community are HIV+. Let me say that again. 75%, three quarters of the villagers in Tshane, are infected with HIV. WHAT?!?!?!?! She went on to explain to me that although many new infections are being diagnosed in older people, most of the new infections are teenagers. Young people have sex for recreation. For fun. No feelings, no relationship. Just something to do. There is really nothing else to do here but screw. This leads me to something else that has kept me up at night...

Tshane Library

THE LIBRARY! We are fortunate to have a library (really just a one room structure with some books in it) in Tshane. There are lots and lots of benefits of reading. It makes you smarter. It broadens your mind. IT GIVES YOU SOMETHING TO DO. As I think its clear, people in this community need something to do. There are about 20 fiction books for adults. Every adult in this community that reads has read them all. There are a few more children's books, but they are old. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donated three computers but no one, not even the librarian, knows how to use them. Several people have told me that they want to learn how to use a computer and how to type. After my assessment is finished, I think that me and Bakeretse are going to start a computer class. This afternoon, I installed teaching typing software onto the computers. Dimpho was the first student. The program is full of typing games, which he seemed to enjoy!

Dimpho takes Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing for a test drive!

So that's being a Peace Corps Volunteer. See a need, figure out how to fulfill it in a way that builds capacity and is sustainable. Installing Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing software onto the computers of the Tshane Library was my first good deed as a PCV!

Kraal, a pen for cattle/goats/donkeys

I mentioned in my email last Saturday that I was going to a farewell PARTAAAYY!! I arrived at the party at 4 p.m., as I had been instructed to do. A goat had been killed and was boiling away in a cauldron over an open fire. I've been protein starved, folks. So even though I could see the hide of the goat and it's face laying on the ground beside the pot, I was pretty excited about the meat. In true African fashion, the party started after 8:30. The lady who the party had been thrown for called me "her best lady," so I was seated between her and the Kgosi (chief.) There was plenty of singing and praying and preaching and stuff. Gifts were given, more prayers, more singing, and finally...the moment I had been waiting for...FOOD! I was served third, behind the Kgosi and the lady of the evening. For those of you who have never been to Botswana (hehe,) the order in which people are served food is a sign of respect. Being served before everyone else, including the elders, was a real honor. There was more dancing and singing, and at 11 o'clock I dragged my exhausted self home. It was a great first party in Tshane!

Believe it or not, there are horses here. This fella was
headed to the salt pan.


 

A "cold" front blew in this week, thank goodness. It has been hot, but tolerable. I haven't woken up at night in a bath of my own sweat. They are predicting rain this weekend. Please say a little prayer to Jesus, Allah, Buddha, and the whole gang that we get rain. We're in a pretty severe drought and the cattle are looking awful skinny.

I always have to mention something about wildlife/bugs in Botswana. I saw a real CAMEL this week in the salt pan. That evening, you'll love the irony here, I met a baby CAMEL SPIDER in my house. Oh, you aren't familiar with a camel spider? Google it. Be prepared to be freaked out. But don't worry. I have a can of Doom with "Damien the Camel Spider from Hell" written all over it.

Next week, after I recover from traveling, I am going to try to map the community. I am going to walk and walk and walk and try to get a grasp on the layout of this very spead out village. I'm also going to be formally introduced to the police force by the officer in charge at the police station. Exciting! Well, I'm getting eaten alive by mosquitoes so I think it's time for me to go crawl under my net. I'm willing to bet that you guys aren't having any mosquito problems back in KY right now.

My bedroom. See that net? My favorite thing in the whole world.

In conclusion, I gave my first help as a PCV this week, so it's time for my first plea as a PCV: the library needs books. I know how Americans love the idea of donating things to Africa. If anybody feels the urge to do a book drive and small fundraiser to cover the cost of shipping, I'd be forever in your debt. Local fundraisers aren't possible because everyone here is poor. My community loves fiction, fiction, and more fiction, especially romance novels (Danielle Steele) and mystery/thrillers (Robert Ludlum, whoever that is.) The library also needs books for teens and children. I don't think it would be a stretch to say that donating books to the Tshane Library saves lives.

Special thank you to my Granny, who sent me a recipe for French Bread that takes 5 hours to make. I made two loaves this week. 1. They were delicious. 2. I have nothing else to do on the weekends. Thank you.

Salang sentle!
　

24 Nov 12: Sarah Learns How to Just BE

Happy Belated Thanksgiving! Nda wa zoga jwang? (How did you rise? in Sekgalagadi) Today marks one full week of me living in Tshane. As I anticipated, the week has flown by. Before we know it, I'll be stepping off the plane from Africa in November 2014!

As I've mentioned before, Peace Corps teaches you all kinds of things about yourself, good and bad. This week, I realized that I like a routine. I still haven't gotten used to not being constantly productive. My routine this week consisted of me waking up around 5:30 (I know that's early but the sun rises here around 4:45 and it sounds like a barnyard in front of my house), getting dressed, and heading to Tshane Primary School. I live right beside the school, less than a 5 minute walk. The children start trickling in as early as 7 am. At 7:20 one of the older kids rings the bell to signal that it's time for assembly. The students form a semi-circle in the school yard, older kids in the back (the students range from 6-12ish years old.) The head master gives a little pep talk and then the students start singing. That is my favorite part of the day. One of the older kids starts singing and the others repeat back, call and answer style. The first song I heard them sing was about chickens going to the hen house. As they were singing, the students would take off marching one row at a time towards their classroom, like chickens going to the hen house! Precious. One of their favorite songs (I heard it three times this week so I'm assuming it's their favorite) goes "home for the boys...home for the girls...home for the teachers of Tshane school!" That's the whole song. They just repeat that about a million times. So cute.

Back to my routine...there was no instruction at school this week because school closed for the year on Friday and the teachers were in meetings all week. The kids would just run wild around the school yard. Supervision is not something that happens here. The older kids are expected to look out for, and even discipline, the younger ones. I would hang out at school for a bit to see what was on the schedule for the day and then decide what I wanted to do. Most days, I ended up going walking around the community meeting people. Monday, I went to Hukuntsi and got my water connected. Tuesday, I was formally introduced to the staff of the school. Wednesday, I went to the tiny village clinic and met the nurse. Thursday, I met the health educator. Friday, I introduced myself at the police station. After going around meeting people, I would go home for the day around 11 am. Short day, right?

Dimpho, the health educator

Thing is, after mid morning it's too damn hot to do anything. Some days, I worked in my yard until the heat got too intense. Other days, I napped. On Thursday, I went for a long walk in the salt pan. Oh, I also met the kgosi and his staff. The kgosi is the chief of the village and his staff includes a court clerk and a bailiff. The kgosi is kind of like a local judge in that he is the person who doles out punishments. He mediates disputes as well. Everything that happens in the community goes through him. Fortunate for me, the kgosi in this village is a really nice man. His wife is the deputy school head, which also bodes well for me.

Several things happened this week which significantly improved my living situation. My water was turned on! Yesterday, a truck pulled up at my school carrying a refrigerator! For me! I was so excited that all I could do was run around the school yelling "they brought me a fridge!" This is significant because, with a way to keep food chilled, I can add eggs and milk to my diet. As it turns out, eggs don't actually have to be refrigerated. Long shelf life milk is also available here. Unfortunately, when the temperature gets so high, even food that is stable at room temperature goes bad. I can't tell you how nice it is to be able to drink water that is not warm. It's amazing. I will probably maintain my meat-less diet due to the fact that I can only go to my shopping village once per month and it's a LONG trip.

My kitchen! You can't see the fridge
but it's there!

Also yesterday, the cleaning ladies at my school helped me get a couple of small desks and chairs to put in my living room. I was able to prop one of them up on books so that I can sit at it and use my computer, eat my meals, etc. Not having to eat dinner sitting on the floor has boosted my morale a lot. The man who delivered my fridge said that the Ministry should be delivering the rest of my furniture next week (bed, small couch, table, dresser.)

In exploring the village, I discovered that there is a general dealer not far from my house. The general dealer sells food/home staples, such as flour, yeast, and sometimes produce and eggs. Everything at the store is marked up pretty high, but as there is no transportation out of this village other than hitch hiking, I don't really have a problem paying a little bit more to be able to eat fresh vegetables. Learning about the store really reduced the anxiety that I had been feeling about my food situation. I was able to buy some yeast there and bake some "bread." I say "bread" because I didn't have a recipe so I just kind of threw some ingredients together, baked it, and ended up with a dense, but edible, loaf.

The last thing that has improved my quality of life the late week change in the weather. The past two days have been cloudy, or as my new cleaning lady friends calls it, nature's umbrella. Ironically, everyone in the desert carries and umbrella everyday. To shield them form sun, not rain. Last night we had a little bit of rain. Between the clouds and the little bit of rain it has cooled off a bit, thank ya Jesus, Mary and Joseph. I'm uncertain how long this break in the heat will last, but I'm enjoying it while I can.

Although I've spent the majority of my time in my house, I have been able to make lots of new friends here in Tshane. I've most closely bonded with the two cleaning ladies at school, especially the younger one. Her name is Tshene, she is 28 years old, and she has a 20 month old daughter. She is very kind, eager to laugh, and she speaks English. She and the other cleaning lady are the ones who cleaned my house for me before I got here. I think I'm going to ask Tshene to tutor me in Sekgalagadi language. My other friend, Dimpho (pronounced "deem-po",) is the health educator for the village. He is in his early 30's, well educated, and he loves to chat. I will probably be working with him on several projects, so I'm glad that we hit it off well.

Now that school has closed until January, I'm not really sure what I will do with myself. I have until the end of January to do my community assessment. I expect that for the next month, I will spend a lot of time at the clinic, hanging out and talking to people. The teachers have left to go back to their own villages so I'll probably hang out with the cleaning ladies in the mornings as they will continue to go to the school M-F. I have been invited to a farewell party this afternoon at the kgosi's office. The court clerk is transferring to a position in Kanye. I feel very honored to have been invited to the party, as there will be lots of important people there!

Having just been here for a week, I've already noticed a couple of things that I'd like to try to work on during my service. All of the surrounding villages have a combi (a small bus) that provides public transport for people to and from the village to the larger village of Hukuntsi. All the villages except Tshane. Why? I don't know. It's a mathata, a problem. The clinic in this village does not administer the ARV drugs that HIV+ people have to take every week. Those people have to hitch all the way to Hukuntsi to get their medication, which often leads to problems with adherence. When an HIV+ person misses a dose of their medication, the virus immediately begins to mutate. Each mutation makes the virus more and more resistant to that line of medication. There are only 3 lines of antiretroviral drugs, each one with worse side effects. So once you get to the second or third line of drugs, you're in a bad place. Drug adherence is the most important thing to successful ARV therapy. So maybe I will try and figure out how to get a combi route to Tshane.

I'm not gonna lie and say that Thanksgiving day was a great day for me. It was the day that parents come to school to pick up their kids' grade reports. Every parent I talked to either a)tried to sell me something, b)begged me to hire them for a piece job, i.e. doing my laundry, raking my yard, or c)flat out asked me for money. I was so frustrated and upset that I had to go home for the day. I was really offended. Did I come all this way to be an ATM for these people? It took me a day to cool off and decide that these folks wouldn't embarrass themselves if they didn't really really need the money. As a very rural village, many villagers are destitute. I can help with that! Many volunteers start projects that help women make goods that can generate income.

Is that a frozen lake out there? No, silly! It's a salt pan!

Some things I've learned about this place through my limited exploring this week:

1) Tshane has a population of approx 1,115 people. Many of the villagers are government employees, many of whom work in Hukuntsi. It is one of the safest places to live, as many of my neighbors are police officers. There is a police station that serves a good chunk of the region, just within walking distance of my house.

2) The desert doesn't care about your clean house. It comes right in and doesn't wipe it's feet. You can't keep the sand out of your house for longer than a day or two.

3) Donkeys can be ridden by fully grown humans. I see old people, young people, and children riding donkeys. People love to ride a donkey here.

Tshane. Isn't it beautiful? Salt pan in the background.

3) GOATS, while they may appear cute and cuddly, are furry, little demons. They will eat all your plants if you don't have a fence. If you do have a fence, they will burrow under it and get in your yard anyway. There are more goats than there are people here. God help you should a baby goat get away from its mother while you are trying to sleep. A lost goat will drive you freakin' crazy until it finds its mother. BEEYYAAHHH! BEEYYAAHHH! ALL.NIGHT.

4) You can see the effect of the peak of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the early 2000's. There are virtually no middle-aged people around. There are lots of kids/teens and lots of old people. Hardly any 40-50 year olds.

5) Most of the kids in this village are orphans and vulnerable children, having been left parentless by the AIDS epidemic. Although they have it rough, living with relatives who may or may not want them, they are the sweetest, most joyful children I've ever met.

Speaking of kids, the kids at the school have taken a real liking to me. Almost all of them speak Sekgalagadi as their first language and Setswana as their second language. English is their THIRD language, so as you can expect, only the older ones have any kind of proficiency. But you know what? Not being able to talk to me in English doesn't bother them! They are satisfied with just being with me. The first day I went to school, I looked like someone leading a parade. I had a throng of children following me around, laughing and smiling. Now, they come and sit with me and we just BE together. If I'm walking somewhere, I usually have a small entourage of children, some even holding my hands. This leads me to something that one of my fellow volunteers told me, and the moral of the story this week:

Barbara is an older lady volunteer who spent most of her life living in Ethiopia. One day during training, we were talking about how important, yet difficult it is to form relationships with people here. She planted a little seed of wisdom in my brain that I didn't really understand until this week. She said "Sarah. The most important thing I learned in Africa is that all you have to do is learn how to be with someone. Really just BE with them. You don't have to talk. You can just sit with them and enjoy being in their presence." I learned what that means this week. The power of just sharing space and time with another person is something that busy, overworked Americans don't know anything about. It's almost a foreign concept to us; being with another person and not having to resolve a problem or talk about something; being with someone without it being a meeting. These Bakgalagadi children are content to just BE with me. Even my new friend, Tshene. I can just sit with her and we don't have to communicate or do anything really. We can just BE together. Breathe, think, be alive, share a moment in time and space.

And with that, I conclude this overly long blog post. Much like my life back home, I have good days and bad days. But when I'm walking to the salt pan, or hanging my clothes on the line, or going to the general dealer, and I hear tiny voices screaming "Maduo! Hiiiii! Mma Stuuuwarttt!! Hiiii!!!!", I know that I wouldn't choose to be anywhere else but here.

Salang shente ditsala tsame!)

(Stay well my friends!)
 

19 Nov 12: Sarah Gets a New Address and RUNNING WATER!!

I promised everyone my new address so here it is:

Sarah Maduo Stewart, PCV

Tshane Primary School

P.O. Box 37

Tshane, Botswana

I just had the best experience of my life and I just have to share it with you. This morning me, my supervisor (Mma Cungudika) and my counterpart (Mma Motswakae) went to the next village over to sign the papers to have my water turned on. While we only spent 20 minutes at the water company, we waited for several hours for a ride back to Tshane. We arrived around 12:30, so I went home for lunch. Thankfully, I had no other obligations this afternoon because it was so freakin hot that all I could do was lay on the floor in my living room praying that the water people would come soon and turn on my water.

When I saw the truck pull up, I was so excited I about peed my pants. They turned a crank and BAM! Running water in my house! I spent the afternoon/early evening washing clothes, mopping the floor, and cooking my dinner (rice with a vegetable sauce.) Now for the exciting part:

Luxury!

I haven't had the luxury of soaking my body in water since September 10th, when I shaved my legs for the last time before coming to Africa. The bathing process here is anything but relaxing. With a bucket full of water and a cup, I wash myself. Nothing fun about it. I just had the pleasure of filling up a tub with cool-ish water and sitting in it. When I sat down in the tub, I literally gasped and said "Oh my God" out of sheer pleasure. I turned on some Sade on my computer and laid there for a good half hour. I have been fully drenched with sweat since I got up this morning and drinking warm water, so sitting in cool-ish water was the best thing I've experienced since coming to Africa! Even though I probably used up half the water supply in Tshane, I don't care! I'm going to make this an every night thing.




Surviving in the Kalahari is something that you have to take one day at a time. You have to grab the little things that give you pleasure and hold onto them! Now I'm going to sit under my mosquito net and eat my dinner!

12 Nov 12: Swearing In, Becoming an Offical PCV, Moving to Tshane!

 


Swearing In Ceremony Program

Hello everybody! I have a lot of exciting things to tell you this week, best of all: I'm in my new village! I'm really getting a sense of what it is to live in Africa and have to be self-reliant. In Kanye, I had a host mom who knew what to do during water shortages and how to keep food edible without refrigeration. I'm on my own now, which is a little scary and a lot exciting! Living in the desert, 12 km from the next village, with no regular transportation, well...it takes planning. You have to plan for water, budget money so that you can get to the shopping village with the ATM before you run out of cash, and really think about meal preparation. I don't have a refrigerator, so I have to try to eat a balanced diet that doesn't involve meat. I have been able to get my hands on a couple of cartons of low fat long shelf life milk. Because of the heat, I have to drink it within a day of opening it so I probably will save it for emergencies. I want to get on with the story, but I just want to emphasize that I've never had to plan and think and be wary like I'm having to do right now. It's a little stressful but it should make for some very funny stories!

This makes me so proud!

Lots of important people talked at the ceremony.

I completed my 2 months of training this week! On Thursday, I was sworn in as an official, honest to God, Peace Corps Volunteer. It was a pleasant ceremony, attended by the trainees, our host parents, and some important dignitaries and government officials. The Paramount Chief (the head chief over all the tribes in Botswana) attended, as well as an official from the US Embassy, and several members of Parliament. There were lots of speeches, but most of the time was spent recognizing the important people that had attended, as is protocol. After the ceremony, the newly-minted volunteers spent the evening in the company of wine, cider (think alcoholic apple cider-delish!), and each other for one last hoorah. Fun!

Me and Liz were REALLY excited to have completed training!

 

Friday came and proved to be just as exciting and stressful as I had imagined. Moving day! The three of us (me, Emma, and Ashley) moving to this side of the bush were supposed to ride together. Our supervisors were supposed to have arranged for transport to come and pick us up. When I spoke to my supervisor that morning, she said that she wasn't sure what day our ride would come. WHAT DAY?!?! I was a little ticked but I let it roll off me like water off a duck. The most important thing I've learned is that the less you stress, the less you care about things happening as you plan them, the better off you will be. So I took some deep breaths and walked to the Education Center to wait just in case our transport showed up. I was amazed when I arrived and there was the truck, sent to pick us up! Me, Emma, Ashley, and our driver spent an hour trying to pack all of our stuff into the back of this truck, which had a cover over it. There was only room for one passenger in the front seat, so I volunteered to sit up there (nobody wanted to ride for 6+ hours up front with some random person.) Ashley and Emma (and her new puppy) had to ride in the back of the truck, sitting on a folded up mattress. They were packed in there with the luggage tighter than a couple of sardines. I wasn't much better in the front as I was loaded down with stuff that wouldn't fit in the back. Needless to say, it was a LONG, HOT trip. We left at 9 am and arrived in my village at 5 pm.

It's official!

When I got to Tshane, I was greeted warmly by several of the teachers that work in the school I will be working at. The cleaning ladies from the school had cleaned my house for me, which I am so thankful for. The man who lived in this house before me left trash and nastiness EVERYWHERE. They worked very hard to make it presentable for me. My house is really nice by Peace Corps standards. The Ministry of Education did not deliver furniture or a gas cannister as they had promised to do. The chief of the village has graciously lent me a bed to use until mine arrives, which could take months.

Unfortunately, the water company refused to turn on my water until they had a copy of my passport and my signature. So until Monday, I don't have running water. After the welcome wagon left last night, I took a couple buckets to my neighbor's house and filled them from her standpipe for drinking water. I have a huge tank in my yard, called a JoJo, that collects rainwater. I used that water to wash my dishes and bathe. Peace Corps provided me with a swanky water filter, which I assembled last night. I put some rainwater through it and drank it and it tastes ok. Fingers crossed that I don't get dysentery!

I spent most of last night setting up my kitchen and unpacking. It is so nice to not be living out a suitcase anymore! Since I couldn't cook, I made myself a dinner of raw vegetables with salad dressing and a couple pieces of bread and butter. I went to bed late and woke up early this morning covered in various kinds of bug bites...

This house has been vacant for some time, so the bugs living here have had a chance to grow and grow and grow. The spiders I saw in my home last night were MONSTERS. I am lucky to have a screen on one of my bedroom windows, so I was able to leave it open all night. The first thing I did when I woke up this morning was hang my mosquito net over my bed. I didn't have any string so I hung it with dental floss from the curtain rods. Now I have a nice little bug-free haven set up around my bed. The net is impregnated with pesticide so if a bug even tries to get at me by climbing up my net it will be killed! Take that mosquitoes! I opened the net up last night to check it out. When I hung it this morning, there was a nice little collection of dead bugs in the net, having climbed on it and died. Ha! I also sprayed so much Doom around the baseboards of my house today that I actually got nauseous. Small price to pay for not being attacked by cockroaches the size of texas and spiders with fangs.

My counterpart (the guidance and counseling teacher at the school) gave me an empty gas cannister from the school. She was able to arrange for transport to pick us up today and take us to town. The ministry is supposed to provide my gas but I chose to pay for it myself (which took half of all my money) and hope to be reimbursed. Otherwise, I'd be eating bread and raw veggies for God knows how long, which would be fine expect for the fact that it takes me a whole day to get to the grocery store. My counterpart also lent me two curtains to put up in my bedroom. Over the third window, I have hung a towel.

a road in Tshane!

Tshane is a tiny, tiny, tiny village at the end of a tarred road. As I mentioned there is no public transport here so if you want to leave the village you have to walk to a larger road and hitch. The village is situated right next to a HUGE salt pan. It's unbelievable. It looks like a lake, but it's really just salt. No water. I don't know much about salt pans other than what I've heard: when it rains the salt reflects the sunlight and it is breathtaking to see.

A funny story: When I took a bath this morning, I figured I could just use the water from the JoJo unfiltered. The water filter takes about half a day to filter a gallon, so filtering bath water isn't practical. Anyway...I'm standing in my tub pouring water over myself, and my eyes started burning. I thought, "Oh I've gotten soap in my eyes." So I rinsed them with more water. It wasn't until the water hit my mouth that I realized that it wasn't the soap. Evidently, it rains salt water in the Kgalagadi! Maybe because of all of the salt pans? Anyway, I was washing myself with salt water and I didn't even know it! Welcome to Africa!

I love my village and I love my house, but I have one complaint. The heat here is unbearable. It's 2:30 right now and if you look outside, the place is a ghost town. It is so hot that people cease to function by late morning. I don't have a thermometer but it has got to be well over 100F. It's not much cooler at night, which is surprising for a desert. It gets this hot in Kentucky, but I think the difference is that there is no escape from it. You go inside and it's not much cooler. There is no airconditioning to cool you off. Even the water I'm drinking is hot! No escape! Also, constant sweating leads to a kind of chronic dehydration. Sweating all day. Sweaty Sarah. I crave fruits and vegetables, not my usual chips and candy, because my body just can't keep up with the moisture loss. As a small mercy, there is usually a breeze out here, so I do have a little bit of air flowing over my hot, dripping self.

In conclusion, I'm pretty much settled into my home in Tshane. I have no furniture except a tiny bed surrounded by a mosquito net. I have an empty living room and another bedroom, just aching for some furniture. I have a large yard, which is full of rocks and trash. I plan to work on that tomorrow morning when it's not so hot. There aren't any plants in my yard; the soil here is actually just sand. Starting next week, I will spend the next two months doing a community assessment. I will integrate into my community and write a lengthy report followed by a plan for my first year of service. Monday, I will send out an email with my new mailing address for those wishing to send me a package. I will, fingers crossed, be getting my water turned on that same day. I am now a legitimate Peace Corps Volunteer! I am learning patience and humility. I'm learning that most of the things that I've always stressed and fussed about are insignificant. I'm becoming a duck: figuring out what's important and letting the rest roll off.

Stay well!