Well hello to all! I’ve been badgered quite a lot lately to do this, so finally I’m getting around to it. We have plenty of time here, much more than at home, but it seems to go by twice as fast. Katrina and I go to a school called The Learning Centre School. It is about 2 miles from our house and we’ve been walking in the mornings a lot and getting a ride home from a friend in the afternoon. It’s not too far and the mornings aren’t that hot, but just hot enough to make you sweaty after walking. School is very different than what I’m used to. I am in a class called IUPD, which works solely on computers – kind of like being homeschooled. We only have one teacher who is in our class and she doesn’t know any of the material so it’s all self-taught. There are only 10 of us in total, and Katrina is in that class too. It’s an international school, and there are kids from all over the world in my class, which rocks to meet everyone. At first, school was not fun at all since I didn’t really know anybody, but now that I know more people, it’s a lot more enjoyable. I still don’t like the computer system…at all, but having people to talk to makes it much better. The school day starts at 7:15 but is over by 1. We don’t eat lunch here but we have a break from 11-11:30 to eat snacks and get outside. The afternoon is completely free, which is so nice. It’s weird, I have so much time now because we don’t have homework, either, but that’s something I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of.
Enough about school. I absolutely adore our house – it’s nice and cool during the day with the windows open and we have a nice backyard and I started a garden out the back and it’s just a really nice setting. I also have my own room that is much bigger than at home, and a huge closet. Besides living with my family, I also live with other wildlife – spiders and geckos. I love the geckos, there’s one in our living room right now named Franky, but I can’t stand the spiders. These aren’t just normal spiders – they’re HUGE and hairy and extremely fast – one used to be living in my room (before I killed it) and it ran into me twice when it went crazy.
Not too much else exciting has happened. Katrina and I have been youth-group-hopping and haven’t picked one yet, same with church. I’ve been meeting too many people to count. Everything here is different from the states. It’s such a different culture and I was in major culture shock for the first few weeks, but now that I’m getting used to it life is much better.
Ok, this is long enough, I’ll just close by saying this: life ROCKS!!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
IMMIGRATION AND A POOR ZIMBABWEAN WOMAN - JOLENE
A week & a half ago we needed to go to immigration to get our visitors permit extended, since our residence permits hadn’t come through yet (as of last Friday, they finally came through). We had gotten in for 30 days as visitors, but then needed to get our passports stamped so we could stay longer. We didn’t even have to wait in a line (very unusual!).
We were talking to the immigration lady in front of us, and the immigration woman next to us asked me if I could help her. I had no idea what she needed me to help with, so I said I will if I can. Then she gave me a passport and asked me to look at the picture in it, and then look at the woman standing next to me and tell her if that picture was the picture of the woman standing there. I noticed immediately it was a Zimbabwean passport. So I looked at the picture, and I looked at this woman, and it was quite obvious that the picture was NOT that woman.
Now, what to do?? If I say it was not that woman, of course they send her straight back to Zimbabwe (actually regardless of what I said, I’m sure she was probably going back). But neither could I lie and say it did look like her – well, I just couldn’t lie, even though I wanted to. So I kind of stuttered around and said I’m not sure, but it doesn’t really look like her. Then the immigration woman said they do this all the time – bring in passports that belong to their sister or whoever, and try to pass as them. She said immigration tries to help them, but they just lie to them. Well, who could blame them, really?
We are hearing more & more about what is going on in Zimbabwe, and meeting more & more people from there. It is just beyond comprehension that President Mugabe is still in power and is doing what he’s doing to the people there. They have nothing. When we drove into the immigration place there were lots of people sitting under trees waiting, we weren’t sure for what. But there was also a big truck/bus there that we figured brought people there from Zimbabwe, and would be taking back those that didn’t have the proper documentation.
We were talking to the immigration lady in front of us, and the immigration woman next to us asked me if I could help her. I had no idea what she needed me to help with, so I said I will if I can. Then she gave me a passport and asked me to look at the picture in it, and then look at the woman standing next to me and tell her if that picture was the picture of the woman standing there. I noticed immediately it was a Zimbabwean passport. So I looked at the picture, and I looked at this woman, and it was quite obvious that the picture was NOT that woman.
Now, what to do?? If I say it was not that woman, of course they send her straight back to Zimbabwe (actually regardless of what I said, I’m sure she was probably going back). But neither could I lie and say it did look like her – well, I just couldn’t lie, even though I wanted to. So I kind of stuttered around and said I’m not sure, but it doesn’t really look like her. Then the immigration woman said they do this all the time – bring in passports that belong to their sister or whoever, and try to pass as them. She said immigration tries to help them, but they just lie to them. Well, who could blame them, really?
We are hearing more & more about what is going on in Zimbabwe, and meeting more & more people from there. It is just beyond comprehension that President Mugabe is still in power and is doing what he’s doing to the people there. They have nothing. When we drove into the immigration place there were lots of people sitting under trees waiting, we weren’t sure for what. But there was also a big truck/bus there that we figured brought people there from Zimbabwe, and would be taking back those that didn’t have the proper documentation.
Friday, February 20, 2009
BACK TO THE VILLAGE LIFE - JOLENE
Tuesday February 17th
I got back yesterday after spending the weekend in a village about 5 hours north of here. I went with Tina Kort, who is a long term missionary here –she’s been here 30 years. We knew her from before. Anyway, she had lived in this village a long time ago and the sister of a friend of hers there was killed in a car accident so she wanted to go to the funeral. She asked me to go along because we are trying to find a place for Nicole to stay when she comes this summer for SST from Goshen. (SST didn’t work out for her with Goshen’s normal placements, so she’s doing it independently- a whole other story!) So, we went and stayed in the village with her ‘mom’ here – Mma Oreeditse. It was a super experience – I forgot how much I like the village! There are numerous things I could write about, but I thought I’d write about the funeral.
We arrived at the house of the parents of the woman that was killed (Annie) at about 6 am Saturday morning, and it was already packed with people and the service had started. There were two tents outside, and people kept coming and many were standing. We got a seat – Tina isn’t afraid to walk to the front!! Women all wear skirts/dresses, with something on their head – a hat or scarf, and something around their shoulders – a shawl or jacket. All the men wore jackets. It was cool at 6 am, but by 10:30 when it was finished, it was HOT!
There was about an hour or so of various people talking about Annie – a sister, uncle, friend, someone from where she worked, etc. (I only knew who they were because Tina told me) Then the preacher preached but it was only about 20 minutes which surprised me – I figured it would be another hour. A lot of flowers had been given (mostly plastic) and the cards with those were read. And then it was time to go to the gravesite. EVERYONE went, either walking or piling on the backs of trucks or in cars, since many people had walked to the service. We stood in the hot sun for at least an hour, while they put the casket in the ground and filled the hole, singing all the while. This was an expensive casket so they actually cemented it into the ground. Apparently sometimes the funeral home folks will come back and dig the casket out of the ground and sell it to another person, especially if it was an expensive casket. So that took quite awhile. The men took turns shoveling the dirt in the hole, and piling it way high. Then on top of that they put the flowers, and then a canopy thing, which is how all the graves look here.
The singing is quite interesting. Someone will just lead out with the first line of the song and then everyone joins in, but the person keeps doing that with every line – singing it first and the people singing it after them. A lot of the songs were hymns that were familiar to me, just in Setswana. (missionary influence)
Then everyone again goes back to the house for the meal. Tina and I originally sat on the ground with some of her friends, but it wasn’t long until chairs were brought for us. We said we were fine, but they insisted. It’s amazing how they can sit on the ground – legs straight out in front of them and backs straight. They can do that for hours, or else squatting down when there aren’t chairs. It was a big meal – samp (corn – don’t know how they fix it actually), seswa (meat cooked and then they pound it), cooked pumpkin and some gravy over it. They also had palache and goat, but I didn’t get that. I’m thinking they gave the ‘better’ stuff to us. Quite good. They fed probably about 500 people, and it was very organized. Young guys filled the plates and carried them to the people, men mostly got fed first, but I’m not sure how that all worked. As soon as we were finished our plates were washed to be used again for the next people.
The next day (Sunday) we went to visit Tina’s friend (Annie’s sister) at her parents house. We went in the house and all the furniture had been moved out of the living space and there were blankets on the floor, and there were probably 8 or 9 women sitting on the floor – aunts or other women relatives, there to grieve with the mother of Annie. They had come at the beginning of the week and stayed there with her (her husband died before). It was amazing to see these old women sitting/lying on the floor, but that’s what they’re used to.
They know how to grieve here. We had gone to the gravesite in the car and two men went along that knew Tina. They asked how different it was from where I’m from. I said only the family or close friends would go to the gravesite, and not everyone stays for the meal either, and it’s usually just sandwiches, not a big meal. They couldn’t believe not everyone would go to the grave and eat together – you need a lot of people with you to grieve, and that just wouldn’t be right. Like Tina said – relationships here are everything.
It was great to be in a village again and it brought back lots of memories of when we lived in Maun. Although then we had running cold water but not electricity, and this woman had electricity but not running water! The stars were just as beautiful now as then too!
I got back yesterday after spending the weekend in a village about 5 hours north of here. I went with Tina Kort, who is a long term missionary here –she’s been here 30 years. We knew her from before. Anyway, she had lived in this village a long time ago and the sister of a friend of hers there was killed in a car accident so she wanted to go to the funeral. She asked me to go along because we are trying to find a place for Nicole to stay when she comes this summer for SST from Goshen. (SST didn’t work out for her with Goshen’s normal placements, so she’s doing it independently- a whole other story!) So, we went and stayed in the village with her ‘mom’ here – Mma Oreeditse. It was a super experience – I forgot how much I like the village! There are numerous things I could write about, but I thought I’d write about the funeral.
We arrived at the house of the parents of the woman that was killed (Annie) at about 6 am Saturday morning, and it was already packed with people and the service had started. There were two tents outside, and people kept coming and many were standing. We got a seat – Tina isn’t afraid to walk to the front!! Women all wear skirts/dresses, with something on their head – a hat or scarf, and something around their shoulders – a shawl or jacket. All the men wore jackets. It was cool at 6 am, but by 10:30 when it was finished, it was HOT!
There was about an hour or so of various people talking about Annie – a sister, uncle, friend, someone from where she worked, etc. (I only knew who they were because Tina told me) Then the preacher preached but it was only about 20 minutes which surprised me – I figured it would be another hour. A lot of flowers had been given (mostly plastic) and the cards with those were read. And then it was time to go to the gravesite. EVERYONE went, either walking or piling on the backs of trucks or in cars, since many people had walked to the service. We stood in the hot sun for at least an hour, while they put the casket in the ground and filled the hole, singing all the while. This was an expensive casket so they actually cemented it into the ground. Apparently sometimes the funeral home folks will come back and dig the casket out of the ground and sell it to another person, especially if it was an expensive casket. So that took quite awhile. The men took turns shoveling the dirt in the hole, and piling it way high. Then on top of that they put the flowers, and then a canopy thing, which is how all the graves look here.
The singing is quite interesting. Someone will just lead out with the first line of the song and then everyone joins in, but the person keeps doing that with every line – singing it first and the people singing it after them. A lot of the songs were hymns that were familiar to me, just in Setswana. (missionary influence)
Then everyone again goes back to the house for the meal. Tina and I originally sat on the ground with some of her friends, but it wasn’t long until chairs were brought for us. We said we were fine, but they insisted. It’s amazing how they can sit on the ground – legs straight out in front of them and backs straight. They can do that for hours, or else squatting down when there aren’t chairs. It was a big meal – samp (corn – don’t know how they fix it actually), seswa (meat cooked and then they pound it), cooked pumpkin and some gravy over it. They also had palache and goat, but I didn’t get that. I’m thinking they gave the ‘better’ stuff to us. Quite good. They fed probably about 500 people, and it was very organized. Young guys filled the plates and carried them to the people, men mostly got fed first, but I’m not sure how that all worked. As soon as we were finished our plates were washed to be used again for the next people.
The next day (Sunday) we went to visit Tina’s friend (Annie’s sister) at her parents house. We went in the house and all the furniture had been moved out of the living space and there were blankets on the floor, and there were probably 8 or 9 women sitting on the floor – aunts or other women relatives, there to grieve with the mother of Annie. They had come at the beginning of the week and stayed there with her (her husband died before). It was amazing to see these old women sitting/lying on the floor, but that’s what they’re used to.
They know how to grieve here. We had gone to the gravesite in the car and two men went along that knew Tina. They asked how different it was from where I’m from. I said only the family or close friends would go to the gravesite, and not everyone stays for the meal either, and it’s usually just sandwiches, not a big meal. They couldn’t believe not everyone would go to the grave and eat together – you need a lot of people with you to grieve, and that just wouldn’t be right. Like Tina said – relationships here are everything.
It was great to be in a village again and it brought back lots of memories of when we lived in Maun. Although then we had running cold water but not electricity, and this woman had electricity but not running water! The stars were just as beautiful now as then too!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
KGOTLA MEETING – Roger
Every village in Botswana has a Kgotla where the Kgosi (Chief) listens to disputes and makes a ruling, and where all community meetings are held. That is where all the decisions are made that affect the village. If the village is large it will be divided up into wards each with a Kgotla. In a Kgotla meeting any person who wants can speak and share his or her view, and the others listen politely (usually) while that person is speaking. The Kgotla is the center of village life and is recognized by a partial semi-circle of tree trunks “planted” in the sand forming a fence of sorts, usually near a large tree. A person charged with an offence may have to go through the traditional court at the Kgotla or through the civil courts (a system very similar to ours) depending on the nature of the charge. Sometimes the person is allowed to choose, again depending on the offense. One means of punishment in the traditional court is lashes – and believe me that is not a pleasant sight to behold. I watched it once.
The city does not have Kgotla’s, but the police in our neighborhood notified all the residents and drove around with a speaker announcing a meeting to be held one evening this past week. They jokingly said that is now our Kgotla, and about 40 or 50 people showed up for the meeting. I was surprised to see Jolene and I were the only lekoa (white people). We desperately wanted to live in a village when we returned, but since I have to be at the airport within 15 or 20 minutes when a mercy flight is called, we could not find a suitable location. It was good to know we are living in a neighborhood that is mostly composed of Batswana.
The meeting was to be held at 5:30PM so I came straight from work, and since everything is on Africa time it got going around 6:10. The meeting reminded me very much of some of the Kgotla meetings I attended in the past. It took until 8:00PM to make a decision – just to decide that a neighborhood watch is a good idea and to form a committee to have some ideas before the big group met again. It is frustratingly slow for someone with a western-type mindset, but everybody has a voice and only then can things be decided. The one police officer was trying to get me to be chairman of the committee, but I refused any position as an officer on the committee. I did agree to be an additional member, so it will be interesting to see how it all develops. It will be a great way to get to know some of the neighbors – something that is very hard to do with electric fences, high walls, and large solid steel gates. I would guess about 25% have high walls with electric fences (all of them have a fence of some sort) and ours is one of them. It is hard to get to know one’s neighbors that way.
The statistics the police gave on crime was an eye-opener. We live in an area called Block 5 (a small part of the city), and in Block 5 alone in the week prior to our meeting there were 167 reports of crime. 2 armed robberies, 8 vehicle thefts or break-ins, 5 house break-ins and numerous other attacks and thefts. I guess that is “development”!
One encouraging thing to see was the way the role of women has appeared to change since we last lived here. The chairperson position on the committee was open to any gender, and several women were asked to head it. In the end a man accepted it, but women are some of the other officers, and some were asked to be chairperson, but they refused. That would not have happened so quickly when we were here before. The dress code for women (at least in the city) has also loosened up. Many women wear pants now, and one even sees shorts on some of the younger women. Unfortunately the dress code for men seems to be more restrictive. I do not feel comfortable wearing shorts nearly as much as I did when we lived here last, and believe me this country is meant for shorts J. I am stuck in long pants much of the time!
The city does not have Kgotla’s, but the police in our neighborhood notified all the residents and drove around with a speaker announcing a meeting to be held one evening this past week. They jokingly said that is now our Kgotla, and about 40 or 50 people showed up for the meeting. I was surprised to see Jolene and I were the only lekoa (white people). We desperately wanted to live in a village when we returned, but since I have to be at the airport within 15 or 20 minutes when a mercy flight is called, we could not find a suitable location. It was good to know we are living in a neighborhood that is mostly composed of Batswana.
The meeting was to be held at 5:30PM so I came straight from work, and since everything is on Africa time it got going around 6:10. The meeting reminded me very much of some of the Kgotla meetings I attended in the past. It took until 8:00PM to make a decision – just to decide that a neighborhood watch is a good idea and to form a committee to have some ideas before the big group met again. It is frustratingly slow for someone with a western-type mindset, but everybody has a voice and only then can things be decided. The one police officer was trying to get me to be chairman of the committee, but I refused any position as an officer on the committee. I did agree to be an additional member, so it will be interesting to see how it all develops. It will be a great way to get to know some of the neighbors – something that is very hard to do with electric fences, high walls, and large solid steel gates. I would guess about 25% have high walls with electric fences (all of them have a fence of some sort) and ours is one of them. It is hard to get to know one’s neighbors that way.
The statistics the police gave on crime was an eye-opener. We live in an area called Block 5 (a small part of the city), and in Block 5 alone in the week prior to our meeting there were 167 reports of crime. 2 armed robberies, 8 vehicle thefts or break-ins, 5 house break-ins and numerous other attacks and thefts. I guess that is “development”!
One encouraging thing to see was the way the role of women has appeared to change since we last lived here. The chairperson position on the committee was open to any gender, and several women were asked to head it. In the end a man accepted it, but women are some of the other officers, and some were asked to be chairperson, but they refused. That would not have happened so quickly when we were here before. The dress code for women (at least in the city) has also loosened up. Many women wear pants now, and one even sees shorts on some of the younger women. Unfortunately the dress code for men seems to be more restrictive. I do not feel comfortable wearing shorts nearly as much as I did when we lived here last, and believe me this country is meant for shorts J. I am stuck in long pants much of the time!
DIFFERENCES – SOME GOOD, SOME BAD - Roger
It some ways it almost seems like a foreign land, returning to Botswana; even though we lived here for seven years – definitely the most life-changing years of our lives. After returning to the US and living there for 15 years before having the opportunity to come back to visit the land where three of our children were born, and a country that means a lot to us, it is almost surreal that I have returned to this land for the 5th time in the past 18 months – this time to move here for a season.
Some of the nostalgic times I recall will not be re-lived however. Since we left “progress” has occurred. The city we are returning to is now a real city, and has lost the “small town” flavor it used to have. The village we used to live in now seems more like a town as well. It is hard to imagine a little over 40 years ago there was nothing at Gaborone except a small village. At the time of independence a decision was made to build a city and make it the capital of Botswana. When we arrived the city had a good start and just prior to our arrival the first two robots (traffic lights) in the country were installed in the downtown “mall” area. The day we arrived a Motswana (Botswana citizen) took us to show us the new robots. She explained how she figured out what the red and green meant, but still couldn’t figure out what the yellow was for. She was so proud of this new addition and asked us if we had anything like that in America. We told her we did have them, and she gave us this doubtful look as if to say “yea right” – I knew she really didn’t believe it. Today there are robots everywhere, four lane highways and a bypass, and of course traffic to fill them up with long lines of cars. After we left Gaborone became (and still may be) the fastest growing city in Africa, and be some accounts in the world. Times have changed. At this point it appears things have not slowed down, although the entire economy is based on diamonds. If diamonds had been discovered before Independence this country would have a vastly different history, but since nobody thought the country was of any value it was never colonized. After Independence some of the richest diamond mines in the world were discovered, and the government went into a 50/50 partnership with DeBeers – the big diamond company – and formed a company called Debswana. The country was fortunate to have elected an amazing Chief as the first President, and the second President was also an amazing person (the president when we first arrived). This country is a shining example for Africa – it is not a “typical” African country. The politics and the race problems, interconnected with the British Empire and apartheid in South Africa makes for a very interesting history, however. If you want a good book to read about the founding of this country (there have been several written) – one of the first ones written was titled “A Marriage of Inconvenience”. It is a fascinating story!
It is hard to wrap our heads around the changes in the 15 years we were gone. At the retreats and country meetings in our past life, we used to discuss the way urbanization is affecting the country – and now returning one can see some of those effects, although I don’t think we ever imagined we would see some of the things we see now.
A few observations of things I wish had not changed, and things that have changed for the better.
Oh for the good old days:
1. No high walls, electric fences on top of the walls, steel gates, house alarms, watch dogs
2. No armed robberies, car hijackings, violence, house break-ins
3. Expecting to hear a greeting when passing someone on the street
4. No traffic jams, waiting at robots, getting “cussed” out by other drivers
5. No TV – only one station was available from 7:00 to 9:00 PM
Boy I’m glad the good old days are over:
1. Wow you can find just about anything in the shops (if you hit the right day) and there are stores EVERYWHERE – malls, grocery stores, petrol stations, fast food, restaurants, cell phone shops
2. Tar roads – it takes hours to drive where it used to take days on sand tracks
3. Cell phones (from no phones, to cell phones), internet, - maybe this should be on the list above?
The list could go on in both columns. It feels great to be back – a bit like returning home only to discover it has been completely remodeled and unrecognizable in many cases. We will continue to moan about missing the “good ole days”, while we count our blessings when we find things in the shops we can’t believe.
Some of the nostalgic times I recall will not be re-lived however. Since we left “progress” has occurred. The city we are returning to is now a real city, and has lost the “small town” flavor it used to have. The village we used to live in now seems more like a town as well. It is hard to imagine a little over 40 years ago there was nothing at Gaborone except a small village. At the time of independence a decision was made to build a city and make it the capital of Botswana. When we arrived the city had a good start and just prior to our arrival the first two robots (traffic lights) in the country were installed in the downtown “mall” area. The day we arrived a Motswana (Botswana citizen) took us to show us the new robots. She explained how she figured out what the red and green meant, but still couldn’t figure out what the yellow was for. She was so proud of this new addition and asked us if we had anything like that in America. We told her we did have them, and she gave us this doubtful look as if to say “yea right” – I knew she really didn’t believe it. Today there are robots everywhere, four lane highways and a bypass, and of course traffic to fill them up with long lines of cars. After we left Gaborone became (and still may be) the fastest growing city in Africa, and be some accounts in the world. Times have changed. At this point it appears things have not slowed down, although the entire economy is based on diamonds. If diamonds had been discovered before Independence this country would have a vastly different history, but since nobody thought the country was of any value it was never colonized. After Independence some of the richest diamond mines in the world were discovered, and the government went into a 50/50 partnership with DeBeers – the big diamond company – and formed a company called Debswana. The country was fortunate to have elected an amazing Chief as the first President, and the second President was also an amazing person (the president when we first arrived). This country is a shining example for Africa – it is not a “typical” African country. The politics and the race problems, interconnected with the British Empire and apartheid in South Africa makes for a very interesting history, however. If you want a good book to read about the founding of this country (there have been several written) – one of the first ones written was titled “A Marriage of Inconvenience”. It is a fascinating story!
It is hard to wrap our heads around the changes in the 15 years we were gone. At the retreats and country meetings in our past life, we used to discuss the way urbanization is affecting the country – and now returning one can see some of those effects, although I don’t think we ever imagined we would see some of the things we see now.
A few observations of things I wish had not changed, and things that have changed for the better.
Oh for the good old days:
1. No high walls, electric fences on top of the walls, steel gates, house alarms, watch dogs
2. No armed robberies, car hijackings, violence, house break-ins
3. Expecting to hear a greeting when passing someone on the street
4. No traffic jams, waiting at robots, getting “cussed” out by other drivers
5. No TV – only one station was available from 7:00 to 9:00 PM
Boy I’m glad the good old days are over:
1. Wow you can find just about anything in the shops (if you hit the right day) and there are stores EVERYWHERE – malls, grocery stores, petrol stations, fast food, restaurants, cell phone shops
2. Tar roads – it takes hours to drive where it used to take days on sand tracks
3. Cell phones (from no phones, to cell phones), internet, - maybe this should be on the list above?
The list could go on in both columns. It feels great to be back – a bit like returning home only to discover it has been completely remodeled and unrecognizable in many cases. We will continue to moan about missing the “good ole days”, while we count our blessings when we find things in the shops we can’t believe.
Monday, February 09, 2009
Hello Botswana
February 3, 2009
Well, this will be our first blog entry since arriving in Botswana. We should have started it right away because now it will be hard to catch up on what all has happened so far. We arrived on Wednesday, January 14 after two long night flights – Philly to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Johannesburg, and then Johannesburg to Gaborone. Everything went well, except that none of our 11 (two of those were for Flying Mission) bags made it through with us. However, they did arrive later that same day, so that was pretty good.
Our house wasn’t ready for us, so we stayed at the Mennonite Guesthouse for 4 nights before moving into our house. It still wasn’t totally ready, but we moved in anyway, after giving it a thorough cleaning. It’s a very nice three bedroom, two bathroom house, nice sized kitchen with lots of storage space in closets and cupboards. The floors are all tile which is a challenge to keep clean, but we’re not complaining! Since we’re here for such a short time, Flying Mission had this house for us and had basic furniture and appliances here. Most of the folks that come have to find their own houses and buy all their appliances and stuff. So that is really nice. We brought a lot of our own things along, but we’re supposed to outfit this house while we’re here so when we leave it is furnished so other folks that come short term have a place to come to. So part of my job is trying to find bargains, sales, etc., for kitchen things, towels, sheets, etc. There is even an auction once a month for furniture and household things, which will be this coming Saturday that we want to go to. One thing we don’t really like, but is a reality here, is security is a big issue. We have a wall around our house with electric wires on top of that, and we have a pretty elaborate alarm system in the house. That is just so unlike what we were used to when we lived here before, and a bit hard to accept, but I guess those are the things that come with urbanization and “progress”.
Renae started school on Friday the same week we arrived, and then Katrina (niece living with us), arrived Sunday evening. She had quite a harrowing experience of missing her flight in Johannesburg – she had a tight connection and her flight was late getting in. After Roger made numerous phone calls, he finally found someone that was helpful and they got her on the last fight of the day on Air Botswana, instead of South African airlines. They were going to put her up in a hotel, but thankfully they didn’t need to do that. We are still not sure how it happened; as that flight was overfilled and initially he was told there was no way for her to get on it. He used the word “child” over and over and finally got them convinced to put her on the flight. Her phone wasn’t working there either so there was no way to contact her –it was quite an experience for her!
She started school then on Tuesday. I should let them write about school. They wear a very cute uniform (they wouldn’t’ t say so!) and school is very different to say the least. I think they’re getting used to it, but they like their old schools a LOT better! It’s pretty much all on computer, and no classroom discussion, or much interaction at all with the teacher. Schools here teach VERY differently – mostly rote learning, and the teacher is very strict and certainly not a friend to converse with. We thought since it’s an international school it would be different, but the teacher is a Motswana, so that’s all she knows. They’re doing it on the computer because it fits in a lot better with the American system – here it is the British system, and isn’t compatible with the American system at all.
We’ve attended the same church for three Sundays, but want to visit a couple others before we totally decide what we’re going to do. The church we’ve gone to was pastored by Jonathan Larson (he preached at our church a couple months back and we knew him when we lived here before – a Mennonite). The church is about 30% white ex-pats, and 70% Batswana or ex-pats from other African countries. It’s pretty lively, and we’ve met some really great people there. Renae played viola in the worship band last Sunday, so she’s expanding her horizons! She & Katrina also went to a youth group function at another place – a good way to meet some other kids.
We had an orientation to Flying Mission last week, and learned a lot about what they do, and how they work here. It’s very different than when we were here before. Then there was no HIV/AIDS program, only the flying side, but now HIV/AIDS is their main thing really. The AIDS situation here is a lot better than it was several years ago, but only because the government is giving free ARV medications, so people can live a full life with HIV/AIDS as long as they stay on the drugs. Lifestyle issues are still the same problem they were then – Fm works on those kinds of things. Multiple partners (at the same time) are very common, and that’s the main way it spreads here. One day we went to Old Naledi, which is sort of a squatter/slum settlement, where they have a feeding program for orphans & vulnerable children (OVC) at noon every weekday, run by the Open Baptist Church. I actually had to leave before they fed them the meal, but I want to take Renae & Katrina there to help, and there are other places too to get involved in things like that. At another location they play sports with the kids in the afternoon, or help tutor them.
I think this is way too long for a blog, but now we’re sort of caught up. Of course there are many other things I could write, but that’s good for now!
Jolene
Well, this will be our first blog entry since arriving in Botswana. We should have started it right away because now it will be hard to catch up on what all has happened so far. We arrived on Wednesday, January 14 after two long night flights – Philly to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Johannesburg, and then Johannesburg to Gaborone. Everything went well, except that none of our 11 (two of those were for Flying Mission) bags made it through with us. However, they did arrive later that same day, so that was pretty good.
Our house wasn’t ready for us, so we stayed at the Mennonite Guesthouse for 4 nights before moving into our house. It still wasn’t totally ready, but we moved in anyway, after giving it a thorough cleaning. It’s a very nice three bedroom, two bathroom house, nice sized kitchen with lots of storage space in closets and cupboards. The floors are all tile which is a challenge to keep clean, but we’re not complaining! Since we’re here for such a short time, Flying Mission had this house for us and had basic furniture and appliances here. Most of the folks that come have to find their own houses and buy all their appliances and stuff. So that is really nice. We brought a lot of our own things along, but we’re supposed to outfit this house while we’re here so when we leave it is furnished so other folks that come short term have a place to come to. So part of my job is trying to find bargains, sales, etc., for kitchen things, towels, sheets, etc. There is even an auction once a month for furniture and household things, which will be this coming Saturday that we want to go to. One thing we don’t really like, but is a reality here, is security is a big issue. We have a wall around our house with electric wires on top of that, and we have a pretty elaborate alarm system in the house. That is just so unlike what we were used to when we lived here before, and a bit hard to accept, but I guess those are the things that come with urbanization and “progress”.
Renae started school on Friday the same week we arrived, and then Katrina (niece living with us), arrived Sunday evening. She had quite a harrowing experience of missing her flight in Johannesburg – she had a tight connection and her flight was late getting in. After Roger made numerous phone calls, he finally found someone that was helpful and they got her on the last fight of the day on Air Botswana, instead of South African airlines. They were going to put her up in a hotel, but thankfully they didn’t need to do that. We are still not sure how it happened; as that flight was overfilled and initially he was told there was no way for her to get on it. He used the word “child” over and over and finally got them convinced to put her on the flight. Her phone wasn’t working there either so there was no way to contact her –it was quite an experience for her!
She started school then on Tuesday. I should let them write about school. They wear a very cute uniform (they wouldn’t’ t say so!) and school is very different to say the least. I think they’re getting used to it, but they like their old schools a LOT better! It’s pretty much all on computer, and no classroom discussion, or much interaction at all with the teacher. Schools here teach VERY differently – mostly rote learning, and the teacher is very strict and certainly not a friend to converse with. We thought since it’s an international school it would be different, but the teacher is a Motswana, so that’s all she knows. They’re doing it on the computer because it fits in a lot better with the American system – here it is the British system, and isn’t compatible with the American system at all.
We’ve attended the same church for three Sundays, but want to visit a couple others before we totally decide what we’re going to do. The church we’ve gone to was pastored by Jonathan Larson (he preached at our church a couple months back and we knew him when we lived here before – a Mennonite). The church is about 30% white ex-pats, and 70% Batswana or ex-pats from other African countries. It’s pretty lively, and we’ve met some really great people there. Renae played viola in the worship band last Sunday, so she’s expanding her horizons! She & Katrina also went to a youth group function at another place – a good way to meet some other kids.
We had an orientation to Flying Mission last week, and learned a lot about what they do, and how they work here. It’s very different than when we were here before. Then there was no HIV/AIDS program, only the flying side, but now HIV/AIDS is their main thing really. The AIDS situation here is a lot better than it was several years ago, but only because the government is giving free ARV medications, so people can live a full life with HIV/AIDS as long as they stay on the drugs. Lifestyle issues are still the same problem they were then – Fm works on those kinds of things. Multiple partners (at the same time) are very common, and that’s the main way it spreads here. One day we went to Old Naledi, which is sort of a squatter/slum settlement, where they have a feeding program for orphans & vulnerable children (OVC) at noon every weekday, run by the Open Baptist Church. I actually had to leave before they fed them the meal, but I want to take Renae & Katrina there to help, and there are other places too to get involved in things like that. At another location they play sports with the kids in the afternoon, or help tutor them.
I think this is way too long for a blog, but now we’re sort of caught up. Of course there are many other things I could write, but that’s good for now!
Jolene
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