'Black Friday' Botswana Style

The last Thursday in November may not be formally recognized as 'Thanksgiving' in Botswana, but the last weekend in November has definitely caught on for the biggest shopping event of the year.



The Annual Craft Fair is the place to be for Christmas shopping, fund-raising, socializing, and eating.

I attended with my roommate, Amy and ran into people from work, church, nature outings, and pretty much every group I have been a part of since my arrival in Botswana.



I had a very successful day of shopping, but I can't disclose what I bought because the people I shopped for are likely reading this blog. But take a look at that blue sky-- This may be the first year on record that I came home from shopping with my Christmas shopping done AND a sunburn.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Psalm 100:4 (NIV) Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.

The holiday of Thanksgiving is not officially recognized in Botswana, (note to turkeys, this may be a good refuge to consider for next year). When I asked one of my colleagues if there were other holidays set aside for reflecting on our blessings and giving thanks, he responded that Independence Day and Presidents Day were their official days for these practices. Several of my ex-pat friends who have lived in Botswana for many years commented that the weather in November is simply too hot to do a traditional spread of turkey, pumpkin pie, green bean casserole, etc. so they have had to modify their thanksgiving feast to include dishes that don't require them to leave the oven on all day.

I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving!

HIV Prevention Messages

This week I visited all (eight) of the junior and senior secondary schools in Mochudi and took pictures of the HIV prevention messages that were displayed on the campuses. I have decided not to provide any commentary about the messages and instead let you interpret for yourself...

Ah, to read for pleasure! (and other musing)

The pace of living here has given me the opportunity to read literature other than scientific journals and text books. My recent reading list has included The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (purchased as my major indulgence during my recent trip to Australia), The Poisonwood Bible (borrowed from a house-mate) and now I am reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (sent to me, along with a few other enticing titles, by my dear friends in the USA). Oh, and I am finishing up reading through the Bible in a year--- which I started out listening to on the Daily Audio Bible Podcast, but have had trouble downloading it since being in Botswana, so I've resorted to just reading it the old fashioned way.

Other musings:

I have decided that, given the choice between having no electricity or no water, I will always choose having no electricity. However, I get grumpy when both services are cut off at the same time.

Today my friend, Rachel, took me to her church which holds its Sunday morning service at a local (private) primary school. These giraffes (pictured) are an example of the beautiful, whimsical artwork that adorns the campus.

Also today, when I responded to a Matswana woman's question about where I was from, she responded with enthusiasm, "Oh! You are one of Obama's children!" I've never really considered the US President (Obama or any other) to be my parent, but I guess some people do.

This coming week, I will be visiting all of the schools in Mochudi collecting examples of behavioral messages targeted at HIV/ AIDS prevention. One of the controversial messages that is prominent in the schools is "HIV KILLS." I'll blog more about that next time.

Happy Days!

Sunday, Monday, Happy Days.
Tuesday, Wednesday, Happy Days.
Thursday, Friday, Happy Days.
Saturday, What a day,
Groovin' all week with you…

One of the most challenging ‘mental shifts’ I have made during my time in Botswana has been accepting the fact that, unlike in the US, where I can plan and organize my social and professional calendars weeks in advance, here I cannot even anticipate what I will be doing from one day to the next. Two very common questions I get from people (both expats in Botswana and friends/ family in the USA) are, ‘so what does a typical day/ week look like?’ and ‘what are you up to tomorrow/ in the weeks ahead?’ My typical response is, ‘I have no idea, but if you hear anything, please let me know.’ So, I thought I would provide a few snapshots of each day THIS week:


This Sunday, like most Sundays, my friend Wemmie picked me up and we went to church. Here is a picture of me standing outside the sanctuary. After church, I usually go home or do errands. On Sunday afternoons I also like to Skype with friends and family back in the US. Since Gaborone is nine hours ahead of Pacific Standard Time, my Sunday afternoons are their Sunday mornings—I usually Skype my Grandpa Joe in Nebraska first because I am only seven hours ahead of him (and he wakes up early anyway).














This is me on Monday sitting at the desk I usually use at BHP. I don’t actually have an assigned spot at the office, but Onalenna, our administrative assistant- extraordinaire, usually lets me sit here in her office. When Onalenna took this picture, the power in the building had gone out, so I was only using my laptop. Usually I use both the desktop and my laptop at the same time. Having two computers going helps me cope with the slow internet.

















On Tuesday, I met with one of the Mochudi Prevention Project collaborators at his office on the University of Botswana campus in Gaborone. This is me outside the Faculty of Health Sciences office ‘port-a-camps’ (which are what we call ‘modular’ or ‘portable’ buildings). Later that day we had our weekly Mochudi Prevention Project conference call with Boston. I wanted to take a picture of this meeting because it is one thing I actually DO attend every week, but we were cramped so tightly in a small office around the speaker phone, I didn’t dare ask someone to come in to take our picture.











This is me working from home on Wednesday afternoon. I am working on an ‘inventory of prevention messages’ as part of the Mochudi Prevention Project and earlier in the day, I had had two very successful meetings at the Ministry of Health collecting data for the inventory. Later that afternoon was our first Fogarty Scholars meeting via Elluminate Live!























I look forward to Thursdays because I am in a ladies’ Bible study that meets on Thursday mornings. The women in the study are from all over Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia and the US. It is amazing to listen to their stories about what brought them to Botswana. In addition to wonderful fellowship, the Bible study and discussions have been a source of spiritual enrichment and inspiration for me. This Thursday (before and after Bible study) I worked on administrative ‘stuff’ related to the Mochudi Prevention Project. After work, I made the mistake of trying to go grocery shopping during the afternoon rush. I got so frustrated that I was near tears when I left the store (without everything I needed and having been charged for a case of mixed vegetables when I only bought one can).




















On Friday we were having our work-load analysis done at the Mochudi site as part of the continuous process improvement effort going on at BHP. These are some pictures of the home-based counselors picking up their supply bags before heading out on home visits in Mochudi. When I came home from work on Friday we were without power and it was not restored until well after my bedtime- more about this in a future blog.




Saturday, what a day! As I work on this posting, I am doing laundry and just finished baking a tuna-noodle casserole (like tuna-helper from scratch).

I am sure next week will be slightly (or completely) different from this week just as this week was different from last week. But, at least this gives you an idea of ‘what a day/ week in the life of Katie in Botswana looks like.’ Thank you for 'groovin' all week with me!'

"Happy Days" by Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox accessed at: http://www.sitcomsonline.com/themesonglyrics.html

The rainy season has begun

The rainy season (generally regarded as October-April) is upon us. Most days, the temperatures are in the mid 30's Celsius and the skys are blue. However, during the evenings, the winds and clouds come bringing AMAZING electrical storms. Some days, however, the rain comes during the day... like this day when we hadn't quite gotten our laundry off the line (oops).