10 Feb 13: Sarah Finished In-Service Training, Builds Millie a Castle, and Almost Gets Kicked Out of Her House

Dumelang bagaetsho! Hello, my countrymen! I am so excited to write this email today. The last two weeks of my life have been jam-packed with authentic Peace Corps Volunteer achievements and challenges. When I last wrote I was at In-Service Training in the capital city of Gaborone at the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA). I was wrapping up my first week of training and getting excited for the second week which would take place at Oasis Motel in the city.

Dirty Dancing. Diane said that she "had the time of her life"
that night.

On Saturday, January 26th, we packed up shop and moved to Oasis. Unlike ILEA, which is located right outside of Gabs in the middle of the bush, Oasis is a hop, skip, and  a jump away from a shopping center and movie theater. Me and Diane arrived to the hotel early, checked in, and went shopping. I was able to purchase a yoga mat, a sleeping bag for winter time, and some clothes. Best of all our hotel room had air conditioning, hot water, a shower, and a mini fridge!!! For the remainder of the week we enjoyed the cool room, swam in the hotel pool, and ate three square meals a day at the hotel's restaurant. My friend, Patrick, came to Gabs and we had lunch and saw a movie. Patrick and I went to the same high school so I
really like hanging out with him. I saw ANOTHER movie later in the week.

I organized a Game of Thrones Book Club. We had our first meeting at IST. Some of  us rocked
our best Game of Thrones hair do's. I call this one "The Blood of the Dragon."

Indian night at Oasis!

The most memorable night of training occurred after the PCV's requested that the manager of Oasis, an Indian man, prepare an Indian dinner for us. When we all went to eat that evening, the staff had set up tables in a beautiful, grassy courtyard complete with American-themed table linens, a speaker playing music, and a delicious spread of Indian cuisine. It was absolutely beautiful. I feel so grateful to have had the chance to spend two weeks with my fellow Peace Corps volunteers talking about home, eating good food, and laughing.

But training wasn't all fun and games. During working hours I attended some great sessions about potential projects for PCV's. I learned how to teach teachers how to teach life skills. I spent two days learning about facilitating screenings of films dedicated to HIV/AIDS and social change. When I left training on Saturday, February 2nd, my bags were stuffed with materials, a soccer ball, about 30 DVD's, manuals, papers, and tons of soap and shampoo that I stole from the hotel. :)

Pool partaaayyy!

One of my friends had an underwater camera, so of course we had to have an underwater fancy time
tea party!!!! The person on the right is Diane (making a heart near her crotch!) Classy!

While I was sad to be leaving my friends and air conditioning, I was happy to get home and see my Millie Moo. She had almost doubled in size while I was gone! Tsene, one the cleaners from my school, took good care of her in my absence. When I walked up to my fence, bags in tow, Millie came running up to me. I missed my little feather ball!

Tsene and her son

I was eager to get to school on Monday and tell the teachers about all the things I had learned. The first thing my school head said to me was "Hi Maduo! The brigade wants their bed back." As a refresher, let me say that the agreement between the government of Botswana and the Peace Corps is that PCV's will be placed in this country so long as the ministries provide housing and furniture. I have lived in this house for three months and have only received a refrigerator (which I love, but still...) The brigade in the next village loaned me a two-inch thick foam pad to sleep on until the Ministry of Education delivered my bed, which they should have done back in November. The Ministry swears that they are delivering furniture, they are ordering tables, blah blah blah. But anyway, so the first thing I find out when I come back from training is that I am going to be sleeping on the floor until my bed arrives, if ever.

You can imagine my reaction to that bit of news. I was quite frustrated but I just went on about my day. I was sitting in my office organizing my new papers when Tsene came in and said "You have a visitor, Maduo!" I went to the school head's office and there was a woman from the Ministry of Education with a bed for me! OH YEAHHHH! So now I have a thicker foam pad (not a real mattress but it's fine) and a wooden bed frame. The best thing is that it is double bed! I rehung my mosquito net and I have lots of room to sprawl. It's wonderful.

Later that day, I had a meeting with the school head to discuss the things that I had learned at training. She asked me to present this to the teachers at the staff meeting the following day. So Tuesday morning, armed with all my new project ideas, I presented to the teachers all the different ways I could help them, from lesson planning to facilitating clubs. None of them seemed to want help but at least they know that I am available! As a side note, I have found a man in my community who is going to facilitate a club with me! No teacher needed!

After the meeting, the school head and my counterpart pulled me aside. What happened at this point defined and set the tone for my week. The school head said to me "Maduo. The council has decided that Peace Corps Volunteers are not supposed to live in council housing. We have to find you somewhere else to live." I couldn't even respond. I was confused because I know that many of the PCV's here live in council housing. As much as I didn't want to, I started crying. All I could say was "I'm sorry. But I have left my family and my job and my life to come here only for the government of Botswana to continually not fulfill their obligations. I have no furniture. One of my friends has become seriously ill because she has no way to cook and she is malnourished. And now I am being kicked out of my house? I have invested thousands of pula building a garden and putting curtains on the windows." And that was the end of the meeting. She acted very sympathetic to my situation and assured me that she would try to find me suitable housing.

I'm not going to lie. I went home after that meeting and spent the next two hours crying in my bed. What's worse is that the internet has been out so I couldn't reach out to my family for the support that I needed. I called Peace Corps and later that day they called the school head. As is turns out, there is an education officer in the next village who wants to live in my house. Rather than kick out the veterinary officer, the wildlife officer, or the police officer who are living in teacher's housing, they are trying to remove the person of least resistance, which they think is me. Peace Corps has been very supportive of me. My program manager thinks that they what they are trying to do is ridiculous and he described the situation as them "trying to discard me like a piece of trash." He told the school head that if she attempts to move me there will be "problems" for her.

Over the past 5 days or so, I have done a lot of thinking about what is happening. At first I was really discouraged because I feel like I'm not a valued member of this community. Most of the volunteers feel that they are not totally wanted by their communities because we can't hand out money and that is what these people want from us. I am blatantly refusing at this point to move. If it comes down to it, they can drag me out of this house kicking and screaming and then I will be reassigned to a new village. It is Peace Corps's opinion as well as mine, that if I am forced to move, it is in my best interest to move to another village. It would be hard to work with people who value me so little.

So as of today, I haven't heard another word about this whole moving idea. On Tuesday afternoon, I received a call from a police officer who was trying to organize a health and wellness workshop for the other officers. He invited me to come and present something related to parenting. This invitation gave me the boost I needed to get over the terrible feelings I was having. I spent the day reading a book called "Power Parents" and on Wednesday I gave a wonderful (if I may say so!) presentation about how to talk to your children about sex. Talking about sex is something that parents and children don't do here. Kids learn about sex from their peers, which is not helpful. The police station requested a written copy of my presentation, which I gladly gave them.

Thursday, I went to Jwaneng and stocked up on fresh fruits and vegetables, which has also perked me up. Friday, I helped a teacher create a health corner in her classroom. These small, daily accomplishments keep me motivated. Livin day to day.

Millie's Chicken Castle

Not only was I busy with work this week, but I am proud to announce that Millie has a new house beside the garden in my backyard. I was reluctant to start building it because of the threat of moving but after I decided that I point blank AM NOT moving, it was good therapy for me. I worked on it for over 10 hours over 3 days using left over shade netting and some gum poles. I went out and found branches, which I criss crossed to make roosting spots. She seems to really love her house and I am expecting her to start laying eggs in about a month or so! Oh yeah, and Millie likes to sit on my shoulder these days. I guess I'm becoming a pirate and she is my parrot.

Ironically enough, the day I was told that I'm being kicked out, a man showed up at my house with a truck load of cow manure for my garden. On Friday afternoon, I mixed manure into the soil, watered it, and sprinkled it with some love. Later today I am going to make a door for the garden and then tomorrow I will start planting!!!

Millie likes to have dinner in her castle

Yesterday, Saturday, my friend Ashley, the PCV from the next village over, and I had a Southern-themed evening. She spent most of her life in Louisiana so she can appreciate the finer things in life like pecan pie, bourbon whiskey, crawfish creole, etc. We drank Southern Comfort, baked an apple coffee cake, and had a nice chicken/mashed potatoes/green bean dinner. This morning, we got up and I walked her along the road until she got a hitch.

As you can imagine, my diet went to hell during training. But I'm back on the wagon! Eating clean is something that I have to do for my own mental health. I have a brief, 3 day meeting at the end of this month in Jwaneng, at which time I will probably have to eat crap again. After that though, I don't have another meeting until December.

Unfortunately, I haven't had the chance to go to the prison since before training. Phiri has transferred to a boys prison on the other side of the country. I have met the new officer in charge, David Phele, once but I am nervous about how he will react to all the things I want to do at the prison. I plan to go chat with him one day this week.

So this week has been stressful but I think that I have learned a lot from it. First thing, as Peace Corps Volunteers we always try to be diplomatic. To these people, I am representative of every American. If I am mean, they will think that all Americans are mean. If I am lazy, they will think that all Americans are lazy. There is a time and place for diplomacy and the situation with my housing may force me to be a little bit more than diplomatic. I will stand up for myself and set a precedent for how PCV's should and should not be treated. And Peace Corps is backing me up. I also learned that my mental and physical health is the most important thing. If I spend two years here, do great things, and come home a nervous wreck then what was the point? Working in my yard has proven to be something that I find very therapeutic. I am sore, sun burnt, and full of tiny thorn wounds but I am happy as a clam.

At least one person tells me everyday "Ah Maduo! You are very hardworking!" They see me in my yard, they see me walking around the village, they see me following through with my promises. It makes me feel good. It makes me feel like I have the best family in the world. When they say these things I respond "That's how I was raised." Sometimes I say "Thank you, mma. It is best to do things for yourself. Do you know what will happen if you wait for someone else to do things for you that you could do for yourself? You will be waiting a long time." So maybe when I leave here people will think that Americans are assertive, hard working people who are kind to animals, fair to everyone, and stand up for what they believe in. I think I can live with that.

Last thing: I saw the elusive and legendary Tshane camel yesterday! He was hanging out right beside the road! He is the last of a group of camels that used to inhabit the salt pan. I had never seen him up close and it was ammmmazing!