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