"Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens." -Kahlil Gibran
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First harvest from my garden: lettuce, green onion, and basil
for a salad!!! |
Good day everybody! I know it's cheesy but I just had to start with a quote. Why this quote in particular? Because it sums up the last few weeks of my life. I realize that I haven't written and update in almost two weeks now. In the words of my wise Uncle Carl, "Good intention doesn't always mean action."
To be honest, the week of March 5th-7th wasn't exactly action-packed so I didn't feel all that compelled to write about it. Friday the 8th I was supposed to do my first health talk at Tshane Prison. When I showed up, ready to go, the staff had no idea why I was there. As it turns out, Mr. Phele-Officer in Charge-didn't tell anybody about my health talks. I ended up having to meet with the Prison Health Committee, comprised of 15 inmates and 2 officers, to discuss the health talks. All of the men eagerly approved my schedule of topics and we decided that the first health talk would take place on March 22nd. What happened that day is typical of life in Botswana. You plan for this great thing that you are going to do and when the time comes it doesn't happen for one reason or another. Although I was a little frustrated because I had my props and I was ready to talk about what happens physiologically following HIV infection, that day marks the first day of my upswing.
For the past 4 months I have struggled with trying to start projects, trying to motivate my teachers, and trying to settle in to this new life of mine. On March 8th, as I laughed and joked with the men on the Prison Health Committee, something happened in my brain. Instead of leaving the prison pissed off because things didn't go as I had expected, I left there with gratitude! GRATITUDE! I was actually thankful that things had been a mess. I ended up getting to put in some one-on-one time with the men in the health committee, something I never would have gotten to do if the health talk had gone on as planned.
That moment of gratitude has slowly morphed into a more overall sense of gratitude for being here. I am starting to re-feel the awe that I had when I first arrived. Sometimes when I'm walking down the road waiting for a ride to here or there it hits me: "I'm in Africa right now. I LIVE IN AFRICA." During GrassRootSoccer, when I'm interacting with a 10 year old girl whose parents died during the peak of the HIV epidemic I think "Wow. This girl might insist that her boyfriend uses a condom because of this very interaction." I am starting to see the beauty in this place and the potential impact of the work I'm doing.
Speaking of GrassRootSoccer, it is going better than I could have imagined. Last week, we had two practices and they were great. In our practice, we played a game called "Risk Field" in which the kids were divided into two teams. The object of the game was to dribble a ball around rocks that represent risky behavior. The team that made it through the risk field first won. The risks included unprotected sex, multiple partners, older partners, and sex and alcohol. When the ball touched the risk, the player had to do an exercise before he could continue dribbling the ball. During the first round the consequence (the exercise) was only done by the player who touched the risk. In the second round, the entire team had to do the exercise. In the final round, the player who touched the risk, his/her team, the other team, AND the coach had to do the exercise. After the game, we had a discussion about how HIV affects you, your team (family), and the community. The kids loved the game and it was a great way to talk about how HIV affects everyone, not just the infected person.
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| Month of Youth Against AIDS march |
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| Look at all my smart kids! |
On Friday, there was an event in my village for Month on Youth Against AIDS. The event consisted of a panel discussion about various topics surrounding HIV/AIDS. Two of my GrassRootSoccer kids were chosen (by me) to serve on the panel and present the topic of Self-Awareness. We spent two days preparing for the event. The event began with a march from the prison to the Kgotla (community meeting place.) All of my GRS kids were invited to participate in the walk. We walked for Getting to Zero: zero new infections, zero AIDS related deaths, and zero stigma. After we made it to the kgotla, Lisa and Phomolo, the kids chosen for the panel, got to sit up front with the other panelists. Me, Ashley- PCV from the next village, and the other kids sat in the audience. Can I just tell you that I have never been so proud of anyone in my life? It was like Lisa and Phomolo were my own children. When they answered their questions about Self-Awareness in front of the hundreds of people in the audience I almost cried I was so proud. Tomorrow morning I am presenting them with certificates of achievement at the school assembly. Praise is something that children don't really get here so I am always eager to give extra extra extra praise.
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| A drama at the MYAA event |
I was invited to the Month of Youth Against AIDS event but I was not invited to be a speaker, which I was thankful for. I had planned to read my new meditation book, as the event would be entirely in Setswana. My plan backfired when, as I sat reading, the presenter called on me to come up and give a presentation about how to talk to kids about sex. I hadn't been paying attention and I was caught completely by surprise! Throughout the remainder of the event, the presenter would randomly call on me to respond to a questions or to "give my thoughts" on something. So awkward. Remember, I am expert...on everything.
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| Ashley making pizza! |
After the event, Ashley and I had a nice two-person party at my house. We made pizza with Mozzarella cheese!!! I had made chocolate and peanut butter ice cream, which was delicious. We drank cocktails and talked about life in Botswana.
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| Homemade pizza and cocktails! Delicious! |
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| The garden is growing! |
I continue to be amazed at the bounty that is growing in my garden. I have more lettuce and tomato plants than I know what to do with. Every morning and every evening when I water my garden I am reminded of the saying "grow where you're planted." If these plants can grow in sand, I can grow in Africa.
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| Basil! |
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| Other side of the garden |
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| My lettuce crop. |
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| Container gardening: tomatoes, basil, cilantro |
Beginning this week, I am going to be busier than ever. Monday evening marks the first aerobics class that I am teaching. It will be held on Mondays and Wednesdays from 5-6pm. Tuesday and Thursday I have GrassRootSoccer. On Tuesday morning I am giving a workshop for the meteorology staff about Anger Management, Financial Planning and Budgeting, and Stress Management through Meditation. I have been preparing since Thursday but I am still very nervous! I read a whole book about meditation and now I'm reading about how to teach people to meditate. Wednesday morning I have a meeting with someone from the youth office about organizing a women's forum. Friday I am giving a health talk at the prison. All of this and I am still doing P90X and I have just started a meditation practice! And lets not forget that hugging and kissing Millie takes up a good 15 minutes of my day at least.
So I'm getting busier and busier, which seems like stress. But I'm learning that its not what I have to do, its how I respond to it. Maybe I'm learning to cope or maybe my brain is changing, I'm not sure. Do I still get people asking me for money? Of course. Do I still find it stressful to deal with teachers who think I'm their secretary? Yes. The difference is that I'm taking it with an attitude of gratitude. I am thankful that I am able to do all of these things in my village. I am thankful that I get to interact with 45 of the most amazing tiny people every week. I am thankful that I am perceived as an expert because it gives me instant credibility. I am thankful to be here, to be doing what I came to do, and to be able to handle it with gratitude.
I started out this post with a quote so why not go full circle and finish with one? There is a Sanskrit phrase that goes "Yogastha kuru karmani." It means " Established in one-ness, perform action." It means that once you have realized that you are a part of the universe, that you are a part of everything and everything is a part of you, go out and move mountains! I have come to understand that being here, I am completing a part of my life that I was destined to do before I was even born. Through me, I can change the course of these kids' lives. With a sense of gratitude I can thrive here and be at peace. Established in one-ness, I can perform action!
Namaste.
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