2 Sept 13: Sarah Meets the VP of Botswana and Hugs Kids at the Special Olympics

There's a saying in Peace Corps: "You're not a real Peace Corps Volunteer until you've pooped yourself." Well, folks, I am pleased to tell you that I ALMOST became a real Peace Corps Volunteer on Saturday. Almost. There's still time, another year in fact. Before I tell you the story let me back up...
Last we left off I was preparing for the national Vision 2016 event at the end of the month, getting ready to start PACT Club at school, looking forward to my trip to Maun for the Special Olympics, and musing on being in country for nearly a year.

I started PACT club the second week of August and it has been a huge success. The 5th and 6th grade teachers hand picked 16 kids who they thought would be best suited for PACT Club. To remind you, PACT stands for Peer Approach to Counseling Teens. I was worried that the club would be boring because, to be honest, it is really boring teaching kids how to be counselors for their friends. We are on week 4 and so far we have discussed communication skills and leadership. I'm falling asleep just talking about it. Of course the kids are thrilled to come each week no matter what we do. They feel extra special because they are the chosen few! I decided that to keep them motivated I would implement a badge system similar to the Girl/Boy Scouts system. At the end of each meeting I give everyone a paper "badge" that reflects what we learned that week, i.e. "I am a good leader!" They are given colored pencils and encouraged to decorate their badge. When they're finished, they get to paste it to their very own poster board with their name on it. At the end of the club, each child will have a poster full of these colorful badges to take home with them. I try to teach them through games and "dramas" and they seem to enjoy it.

Yoga and health talks at prison are still going strong! Today I said goodbye to one of my favorite guys, a former college teacher who has been in prison for many years. He is being released tomorrow and I couldn't be more thrilled for him. The last few years he has been taking more college courses and he is graduating with another degree at the end of November. He invited me to his graduation so it looks like I'll be taking a trip to Gabs at the end of November to attend! Lots of my guys have been released lately and the local ones love to stop by my house and visit. I have no idea what they were incarcerated for and I don't ask. I enjoy seeing them around the village free as birds. It occurred to me the other day that through this process I have become the least judgmental version of myself that I've ever been. That's a testament to the power of yoga and meditation!

demonstrating yoga at the Special Olympics health fair

Becky does the best condom demonstrations!

The Crew! Unfortunately, I missed the photo because
I was busy poopin and pukin my brains out.

At the end of August, Ashley, Pam, and I hitchhiked up to Maun to help with the Special Olympics. One of the PCV's in Maun works at a rehabilitation facility for people with intellectual and physical challenges. She single-handedly organized a sporting competition for kids from all over her region. What a feat! Me, Pam, Ashley, and another PCV named Nyako taught yoga at the event's health fair! By far the best part of participating in the two-day event was the chance to give free hugs to all the kids who were competing. At the end of each race, every kid got a hug. All of the PCV's (there were like 12 of us) stood at the finish line cheering the kids on and when they'd cross it was hugs all around!!

Hugs for everybody!

The first night of the event I got sick. Imagine: I'm trying to make a good impression and fellowship with all these PCV's who live up north, who I've never met, and fate decides to smack me in the gut with some diarrhea and vomiting. By the following morning, I had a fever and ended up in a private doctor's office on a Saturday trying to get seen. After waiting two hours to see him, all the while having my eardrums assaulted by Botswana's Christian evangelism channel blaring, the doctor diagnosed me with an intestinal infection of unknown origin, pumped me full of antibiotics, and sent me on my way. I picked up a 2 liter box of guava juice, some banana sorghum porridge, and went back to the event. By the time I arrived, I had missed the whole second day of the competition. We went back to the PCV's house and I went to bed. Everybody else went to a party while I recovered. The next day, me and Pam hitch hiked back to our villages and that was that.

So after seeing all of these beautiful children, completely uninhibited by their disabilities, I got to thinkin about how people tend to live in their victim mentalities. Especially Americans. Don't we all have some kind of victim complex? "I can't have normal relationships because I didn't have a good relationship with my parents as a child...I have trust issues because my husband cheated on me...blah blah blah." If a child born in Africa with Downe Syndrome with parents that can't even be bothered to attend a sports competition in which he is participating...if he doesn't act like a victim then who are we to act like victims? Who are we to act like the world owes us anything when we've already been given the potential to do anything we want to do? Continuing to stew in our victim mentality is easier than getting over it I guess but who wants to live in a stew forever? Simmering all the time? Ludacris had it right when he said "drink some prune juice and let the shit go!"

Pam and I demonstrating yoga!

Setting up giant tents takes 1) forever, and 2) a lot of people.
It's really fun until...

...they fall down and you have to do it all over again.

So after I got back from Maun, I started preparing for the Vision 2016 event. Me, Pam, and Ashley decided that we would have a booth focusing on yoga, stress management, and Peace Corps. Pam went to Gabs and picked up a Peace Corps banner with JFK's picture on it. Ooh la la! Ashley and I made book marks and signs about yoga/stress management. My village was buzzing all week with people from all over the country. On Friday, the event officially started. We set up our table in the Ministry of Health's tent, fully equipped with handouts and a "Free Hugs" sign! Over the two days the event lasted, we demonstrated yoga, talked about the mission of Peace Corps in Botswana, and gave out lots and lots of hugs. My kids from school came to the event and were given free pencils, hats, and other school supplies. The Botswana Defense Force Medical Corps performed safe male circumcisions and dental cleanings free of charge! It was quite a sight! Best of all, I got to meet the vice president of Botswana! He came to my booth wanting information about yoga. In that moment, shaking the hand of the VP of the country, I was so proud to be a PCV! I was also a little tempted to ask him what he could do about my furniture situation but I took the high road...

Vision 2016 booth! Free HUGS!

Pam and I at the Vision 2016 march

On the second day of the event (Saturday), I woke up early, ate two eggs and drank coffee like I do every morning. Then my stomach started gurgling. I thought I had heartburn so I popped a Gaviscon and went on with my day. I met a bunch of people at the kgotla at 6:45am to participate in a march to the show grounds. People here just loooove them a march. I was glad when Pam showed up; I wouldn't be the only PCV in the march. The VP showed up but he didn't have to walk. As the guest of honor, he got to ride in a horse-drawn cart. At least they had horses and not donkeys! After we got to the show grounds, stomach bubbling, I ran to the booth to setup quickly in case the VP came by. He did indeed show up and not a moment too soon! As soon as he left, I took off in search of a pit latrine. After finding one and doing my business, I decided that I needed to go home for a little while to get my diarrhea situation under control. I took off walking to the house. Fortunately, somebody picked me up just in time to keep me from becoming a real PCV. I stayed home for a little while until I felt sure that I wouldn't need a change of underwear and then I went back to the event. I felt fine for the rest of the day. In the late afternoon, we called it a day and I walked home. I spent Saturday evening and most of Sunday sleeping off the effects of all my recent digestive distress.

the Vice-President of Botswana actually asked for yoga information!

Always leave em with a joke!

my guys from prison doing traditional dancing

I have no idea what's up with my guts lately. I thought maybe I had become gluten intolerant so I stopped eating gluten, a feat of epic proportion in this country. But continuing to have problems after the fact, I have no freakin clue. Pam suggested that I might have giardia, which is quite common here. Unfortunately, as long as the new volunteers are in training, the Peace Corps Medical Office refuses to give current PCV's medical appointments. Bullshit right? Right. So I might be able to get an appointment some time at the end of October. Nonsense!

teaching ladies to bake cupcakes

Oh oh! I forgot something. There are two ladies in my village who make rolls and fatcakes (fried rolls) and sell them around the village. That is their livelihood. I told them a couple of months ago that if they wanted to learn how to bake cupcakes to sell, that I'd be more than happy to teach them. On Thursday morning, they showed up at my house asking if I'd teach them to make some cupcakes to sell at the Vision 2016 event. I sent them on their way with a list of ingredients to make carrot cupcakes and chocolate cupcakes. That evening, me and Ashley went to their "bakery" and taught them the ins and outs of cupcaking. I gotta admit: I was more than a little nervous about how the community would react to vegetables in a cake. The next day, taking a break from teaching yoga, I went to their booth to see how things were going. They had stayed up all night baking cakes and bread. By the time I got to their stall they had SOLD OUT. Not only were they able to sell all the cupcakes they had made, but they were able to charge a lot for them. They did the same thing on Saturday, selling completely out. I am so so so happy that I was able to help them diversify their business. I hope that they keep learning new recipes and become the best bakers in Botswana.

making money!!!

So that was August. September promises to be just as exciting. Tomorrow I'm going to find out who will be coming to shadow me next week. Fingers crossed that it's my friend and mentee, Marshall, aka Tshireletso in Setswana. We have big plans to put on our bathing suits, sit in the bathtub, and drink wine like we're at a pool. Also, we're supposed to search for the cave that's guarded by a magical snake that supposedly exists somewhere in the salt pan. So yeah, I need him to come for shadowing. After shadowing, most of the people from my group will travel up north to camp/swim in a watering hole to celebrate our anniversary. One year in country in less than two weeks! Woot woot! After that, Ashley and I are doing workshops at various primary schools throughout the region. Busy busy!

Apparently it's still winter here. We had some really nice days last week and I was genuinely convinced that we had made it out of winter. But when I woke up on the day of the march and it was 45 degrees in my house and I could see my breath, winter bursted my bubble again. I had put up my sleeping bag and everything! Dang it! It still feels like I'm living inside a tornado too. As soon as it warms up and the wind dies down, I'm gonna plant lettuce, herbs, onions, tomatoes, and peppers in my garden. Can't wait!

Expect my next post to be deep and anecdotal, as I wax philosophical on my first year in country. For now, I'm going to whip up some lentils for dinner. Eating gluten-free has made me feel pretty darn good but I'm not sure how long I can live without bread. Thanks to my healthy diet and daily yoga/meditation sessions I am down 20 pounds from when I came here. I can't encourage people enough to give yoga a try. It changes your brain folks! It is also said in the ancient yoga texts that enlightenment gives you mystical powers. Who doesn't want to be able to shape shift or become invisible? I hope that fall finds you comfortable, happy, and well-fed.

Namaste,

PS-Yesterday I discovered that one of the chicken ladies from next door has made a little nest in my yard. There were 3 eggs in it, then 4, and now there's 5. I'm waiting to see which lady is the mother of the eggs: is it Wynona with her crazy hairdo? Wanda, Millie's mother? Ruby the white and black speckled lady? Or Donald, the lady that I thought was a rooster? I can't wait for her to start sittin on em so we can have some babies around here! Very excited!

PSS-You can see that I don't have any drama in my life now. Good and bad. My daily excitement revolves around the comings and goings of the neighborhood chicken flock. This.Is.Africa.