Camp!

WOW this week.

Its Saturday and I am so tired in every way. This week was demanding! My life was literally work, eat, sleep, repeat. I had NO free time!

In a nutshell, this week was camp followed by Teen Club. Luckily I didn't end up sleeping at camp (because of sketchy accommodations, a sleeping bag mixup, a mattress shortage, a water shortage, and some questionable meal-making), but that meant that I had to commute to the camp each day. I got up at 5, was out the door by 6, at work at 7, and didn't get home til 7pm or later at night. SUCH long days. And this morning (Saturday) was Teen Club. I am sooooo wiped out.

Camp:

- The camp was in Artesia, a 40 minute drive from Mochudi. It really was in the middle of nowhere, but the compound itself was pretty decent and BIG! Its usually a boarding school but since its the winter break at the moment they use the space as a camp. There were dorms, a large hall, some classrooms, a kitchen, and even a little shop with some small things for sale. There were roughly 250 kids at this camp, all Mochudi youth. They weren't kids from Stepping Stones though. I only knew one girl there, the only Stepping Stones participants to go to Artesia. I appreciated the familiar face!

- I spent the first two days helping or facilitating art therapy sessions. This was actually a blast! Basically we got the kids to think of their own strengths and weaknesses, and then asked them to choose an animal that best represented their own qualities. So if they were a deer, their strengths would be that they are fast, alert, and friendly, but their weaknesses would be that they run from threats and follow others . We then gave them balls of clay, and they sculpted and painted their animals. They turned out super cute!! After the art was finished, everyone presented the animal that they made and how they were similar to it. It was super interesting because the smaller primary kids jumped right in and made their animals super quickly. But the older ones seemed to think so much more, and were really perfectionist with their artwork. The discussions were a lot deeper with the older kids as well. The smaller ones were like "I'm like a cow because a cow has legs and so do I" or "I'm a cat because cats drink water and so do I", but the older ones got a lot deeper with their explanations and did some serious reflecting. It was lots of fun. I made an elephant but squished it shortly after- there wasn't a lot of clay to go around.

- For the rest of my time there, I was support staff for some random sessions, although I was mostly useless because almost everything was in Setswana. Some of the sessions were about alcohol, leadership, empathy, abuse, how to deal with personal challenges, and personal branding.

- I don't think my whiteness has ever been more apparent than at camp. I spent the first couple days at camp without Kate, so I was literally the only "lekgoa" (white person) out of 250+ people. Someone actually commented that my last name, LeBlanc (literally the white in French), couldn't be more fitting. I thought that was pretty hilarious. One kid wanted to touch my hands. A few others wanted to touch my hair. Or they just stared at my fluorescent white skin. The kids here also LOVE my lip piercing, although by love I mean that it BIG TIME grosses them out. They are fascinated. At Stepping Stones last week one of the most adorable kids was like "Shila, if you don't take that out and move it to your nose, I won't be your friend anymore." Its okay though, she made Kate and I a card that melted our hearts this week. Anyway, camp was also pretty funny because some of the kids are from Mochudi, and even though I hadn't met any of them until this week, they were like " Nice to meet you. I saw you carrying your groceries outside of Choppies on Saturday" or "I remember you, I saw you walking down by Diabalola's the other day." In Canada that could potentially be creepy, but here I guess its kind of hard to forget our pasty white skin.

- There were some pretty entertaining/interesting aspects to camp. There wasn't any toilet paper, so the first day I was there I went to pee and realized I'd have to air dry. WAY out of my comfort zone! Kate says I'm on my way to being a tree planter. The camp also didn't have dishes, so on day one we all scrambled to find whatever we could for plates and cutlery (lids from containers, a large cooking pan, you name it). The camp was also MAAAAJORLY on Botswana time. Lunch was scheduled for 12. Lunch ACTUALLY happened at 3:30. Botswana time is SUCH a thing! And lunch was always a big mystery. One day was delicious. The other days… not so much. And the worst part was, everyone was like "Ohhhh this is _____, its traditional Botswana food! You haven't tried it yet?! Have some you'll love it!" and would then intently watch me eating. I always ate with a smile and a compliment, but man. Some of it, no way.

- Apparently electricity isn't the only thing on the lam here. Botswana is facing water shortages, so at camp we had an entire day without water. The government has scheduled water cuts over the winter season. No flushing, no taps, no water period. I didn't realize just how often I use water. Especially when working with clay! If I had any germophobe tendencies, they died weeks ago. I literally went from handling clay and playing in the sand to eating with my fingers. Who am I?! Interestingly, I haven't gotten sick yet. Immune system of steel? I just knocked on wood.

- The camp also had pretty unreal DJs playing in the morning and during meals and free time. Like, full on DJs. They were playing mostly African house, which I'm pretty sure is now one of my new favourites genres (along with Botswana gospel music). It was like Canadian remixes with this added layer of cool African beats! Plus, if there is one thing people rock at here, its dancing. I LOVE IT! Everyone dances. Like, you can be 5, you can be 60, as long as there is music, everyone grooves. Even if people are just standing and talking, they are still feeling the beat. Its the BEST! EVERYONE has rhythm. And their moves are just so GOOD! I feel like the worst dancer on the planet here.

- I had a HILARIOUS run in at the tiny shop. On my last day, the lunch left much to be desired, so I went to get a smokie/hot dog thingy. I walked in, asked for a hot dog, and the lady starting preparing it. Then, another staff who I'd had a previous run in with (when I was trying to get change for my 100 pula bill… another gongshow) walked in and realized I was taking the last normal size hot dog. The rest were all gigantic Russian hot dog things, 5 pula more expensive than hot dogs. He started asking the lady all of these questions. Finally, he turned to me, and was like "Look, did you book this hot dog?" Did I BOOK it?! You have to BOOK a hot dog? No, I didn't book it, I just walked in and ordered it!!! Apparently someone had "booked" it earlier, but hadn't paid. So the two of them stood there for ages discussing whether or not I had the rights to the hot dog. Eventually I just laughed and left. It was soooo funny! Can you imagine?! "Yes, I'd like to book a hot dog for tomorrow at 3pm please!" Kate and I laughed our heads off.

- Last night I couldn't sleep because the camp chants were soooo stuck in my head. I kept singing them (chanting them?) when I was making dinner and Kate was threatening to kill me

- Overall I enjoyed camp. I just feel really exhausted from the lack of sleep and super high energy levels. I also SERIOUSLY miss my SSI kids. The kids at camp were pretty cool, but by the third day I was like okay… I miss my pals. At one point these kids at camp were plugging their noses when they were talking to me, and everyone found it really hilarious. I eventually got them to spill what that was all about, and apparently thats what we sound like to them. Siiiiiiigh. The SSI kids have better manners.

- A major shootout goes to the staff at Stepping Stones!!! It was mostly our team facilitating the camp, and the SSI people are incredible at what they do! Their ability to get the attention of a gigantic mob of kids and KEEP it is nothing short of amazing. I'm so lucky to work with all of them! And a few of them even braved sleeping at camp, although one of them cracked and ended up getting someone to bring his tent. If a tent is better than the dorms, I sure am glad I didn't stay! But yes. Stepping Stones International has one hell of a team!

So. I finished camp last night (Friday), and had Teen Club at 8:30 this morning. I CANT EVEN WAIT TO SLEEP IN TOMORROW MORNING!!!!!

Ten minutes after I arrived at camp... a LITTLE daunting!

The one familiar face I knew!

I squished him shortly after- there wasnt a lot of clay to go around!

This beautiful overhead trellis thing they had

Making their fantastic power animals

Oh hey, you're precious (AND creative) !

Some of the finished animals!

Setting up chairs for a session

The leaders were PROS at getting the kids engaged

Follow the leada, leada, leada

Playing a mingle game

Well, thats one way to get a badminton birdie down

Painting!

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Teen Club:

Man. My most heavy experience to date, and I still feel raw from it. I will write about it, but its awful, so skip this if HIV/rape is a trigger for you.

Teen Club is this excellent program organized by Stepping Stones for HIV positive youths in Mochudi. Arounnd 40 youths came today. The purpose is for the kids to come together and discuss their lives and support one another. The group meets once a month, so I had been preparing myself for it since I got here. I knew it would be tough but I'm really interested in the HIV/AIDS epidemic and how it relates to education, so I was happy that I could be a part of it. But my godddddd. Its called Teen Club, so I was expecting teenagers. I was NOT expecting such tiny and young people to show up. Some of them as young as 11 years. And the absolute worst part: seeing a handful of my beloved kids from Stepping Stones, some of them my readers, walk through the door. I knew some of the SSI kids were HIV positive but I didn't know who, so it KILLED me to put faces to it. I was devastated. The session itself was actually very happy and fun, but I was two seconds away from a total meltdown the entire time. With each SSI kid that walked in, it was like god no, not them. Its so hard for my heart. So yeah. I don't know. Its just awful. These kids are amazing to keep on going. It certainly puts my own life in perspective. But there is nothing more unfair.

Sooooooooo

I ate a lot of chocolate today and Kate and I had a much-needed life chat (thanks again Kate), and I'm sure I'll feel better in the morning.

But yeah. Brutal times.

Siiiiiiiiiiiiigh.

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Moving on from depressing things, and because I dont want to end on such a sad note, here are some other things I've noticed:

- I can't even believe I didn't write about this before, but OMG! Bras!!! Bras the are key to life here. And not for support reasons, although thats a great thing too. Bras here are the MOST WONDERFUL purse you will ever need. I brought a purse and haven't even used it once because of the risk of theft. Every single day, my money and I.D.s are kept on one side, and on the other side I often have a phone or a camera. Its the beeeest, especially with cold weather since the layers mean no one even notices my lopsided boobs. Even with a t shirt I can successfully hide my money and cards no problem. Sometimes even my cell. So yes. An entire paragraph is devoted to the amazing wonder of bras as purses. Actually, now that we're talking about bras, Under Armour sports bras deserve all the trophies on the planet. Just an FYI if you're on the hunt for a magical sports bra made by the bra gods in heaven above.

- Keys are really cool here. They're really old looking.

- Hygiene. So as you have heard, I am deeply missing showers, and initially I was like !!!!!! I AM SO FILTHY! Well, I have settled into my greasy life better than ever these days, and LITERALLY don't bathe for five whole days. FIVE DAYS people! The latest hygiene trend? Baby wipe showers. Yes. It's exactly what it sounds like. It's so funny too, because if there was ever a time where I NEEDED to bathe, it would be here. At camp, for example, I was soaking in sunscreen all week and it was a sandstorm almost everyday. Sticky skin + sand? I am griiiiiimy! I wore the same outfit the entire week. Aaaaand I don't even care anymore. YOLO! Africa livin!

- We are settling into the new place, and although there have been a few challenges to the new set up, it has been decent! AT LAST I have an outlet in my room, so my quality of life has improved dramatically!!! I can actually lay in bed and watch things and charge things to my hearts content (as long as we have power)! Hoorayyy! Its the small things in life. Like electricity!

So thats all for now. Oooh and exciting news: Kate and I will be traveling next weekend, so you probably won't hear from me for a little while. We'll be away from the 12th-16th. The 15th and 16th are public holidays. We'll be heading out to see some ANIMALS! Woooooo!!!! Details when I return :)

Peace and love!!!

An example of the crazy converting we do to use our stuff. This is in Kate's room. Botswana has THREE different kinds of plugs! Aaaaand none of them work for us.

Cows often travel RIGHT in front of our house! This was on the walk back from work

Cool keys!