Seven whole weeks in
Botswana! What is this madness? The time is mostly flying and sometimes it STILL doesn't feel
entirely real.
I miss my elephant
BFF Star, I'm pretty sure she misses me too, but it's nice to be back in the Mochudi groove. I'm bathed, back in clean clothes, unpacked, and rested from our fantastic trip last week, so this week I'll start
by catching you up on all the exciting (and ever-changing) things happening at
Stepping Stones:
- First of all,
sending a MAJOR shout out to the wonderful Cherlyn, a volunteer from
Pennsylvania, who left us this weekend! She got here a week before we did. Sad
days to see her go. Cherlyn, I'm glad you went out on a desert-filled bang,
thanks for the rice, the cover, the kettle, and especially your company! We
miss you already!
- A consultant/prof from
Toronto, Beverly Jean Daniel, was at Stepping Stones for a few weeks to
evaluate our curriculum and the programs generally. Her work was SUPER helpful!
She gave us a powerful presentation about the importance of using a
strength-based approach to everything that we do. The philosophy reminds me a
lot of asset-based community development. In a nutshell, she was trying to get
us to change the way that we talk about and interact with the kids. It's easy
to come to Stepping Stones and see endless challenges: the kids are orphaned,
vulnerable, undereducated, impoverished, sometimes mischievous, and they
require a lot of energy. But defining them by what they LACK is the worst idea.
Instead, it's important to see all the strengths they possess: they are
surviving, insanely resilient, show up every single day, and even have smiles
on their faces. It's all about perspective. And the root of it all is in the
small day-to-day interactions with the kids. If a kid gives the wrong answer,
don't say "No, that's wrong." That shuts them down and makes them
disengage. Instead, say "That's interesting, that's close, that's a good
place to start, let's see if we can go further" etc etc etc. The way we
frame things makes all the difference. Another example of framing is when we
think about street kids. "Street kids" has a pretty negative
connotation. Instead, Beverly asked us to use "street-engaged youth",
and to focus on all the skills these kids DO have: they know Mochudi inside and
out, they have extensive social networks, they are street-savvy and know the
prices of a lot of things, they are independent, they are resourceful. It was
so great. Her main insights were the following:
- There are multiple VALID realities: No right and wrong, no better and worse, just "different"
- That wherever we go, we are ALWAYS learners: Once you become an expert, you shut down endless learning and growing opportunities
- Our personal versions of the story are only partial: Man, TRUUUUUTH on this one! I re-learn this fact every single day. The second I think I know something, I find out something new and it all changes
- Being OPEN to a space is very important: Sometimes we gotta toss our biases and preconceived ideas to the very best of our abilities. If you view something by what it LACKS, you are limiting potential for new and great things
- Change your perspective and redefine things: When we hear "poverty", we think of a slew of negative and sad things. But what is there to be learned? There is no questioning the fact that poverty is awful. But within poverty, people learn to be resourceful, to be resilient, to share with one another, to appreciate things.
A strength-based approach
is great, isn't it?! I'm grateful I could sit in on this presentation.
- I had another Teen
Club session, and I'm at a MUCH better place with it all. It's still hard for
me emotionally, but I would be doing these kids the ultimate disservice to only
see their HIV-positive status. The sessions themselves are wonderful supportive
and fun, and there is definitely a great solidarity within the group. This
week, we talked about the importance of adherence, of disclosure, and of the
importance of psychological well-being. These kids are really, really amazing, and I'm just happy to get to know them. There's a lot to be learned from them.
- I finally had my
first MenCare father's group session! It was AWESOME! As you may recall, I
feel less than qualified for this part of my job. I am 22, white, from Canada,
and most importantly don't have any kids. I was intimidated to even be there
period. But the fathers, about a dozen of them, were THE BEST! Some of them
were still expecting, and others had brand new babies. It was a super informal
structure, so we all just sat around and talked about everything from
breastfeeding to C-section births to sleeping routines to teething. And maaaaaan there
are SO many interesting cultural things here in relation to fatherhood. One
example: depending on how traditional a family is, a man may leave his wife for
up to three months after the birth of the baby, and he won't see them at all.
This is because of traditional beliefs that the dad may make the baby sick.
Also, again, depending on how traditional a family is, it is sometimes believed
that if a baby is born with Down's syndrome, it's because the father slept with
someone else during the three-month separation period. MenCare has an education
component, but on topics like these we have to be respectful of traditional
Setswana culture, so it was hard to stay mute throughout that whole discussion.
Some of the dads were entirely progressive though, and I appreciated their
input A LOT! They warmed my heart! Their homework was to be alone with their
kids for three hours. Some of the men were entirely on board, while others were
like … Three hours?!?!?! Baby steps though right? And as it turns out, the
zillions of hours I put into advanced developmental psychology in uni paid off.
I did in fact have some useful info to contribute. The biggest challenge is
recruiting- it's the dedicated and engaged fathers that come, not the fathers
who need the sessions the most. Seriously though, check out www.men-care.org.
It's AWESOME!
- We had the huge
privilege to visit some of the houses that Stepping Stones is building. One of
the amazing ladies at SSI has been doing tons of fundraising, and a few houses
have been completed and donated to families in need. They aren't even that much
to build since they're pretty simple structures. You can build a basic house
here for roughly $5,000-10,000 CDN. The coolest part? Some of our SSI kids live
in them! It was so neat to see where some of our kids go after Stepping Stones.
We went to two of the houses, and it was such a pleasure to meet the families
there. Prior to those houses going up, some families were either homeless or
sleeping with 5-10 or maybe more people per room. This was such a cool outing
for us! Stepping Stones is also funding the construction of a local bakery (with help from amazing donors of course), so we checked that out as well. I hope it opens before we leave! Right now they're trying to get the inside furnished.
 |
| The bakery is almost ready to open- I hope I get a chance to get some baked noms there! |
 |
| One of the houses SSI is building. It still needs a toilet and a roof on one section, but it's coming along! |
 |
| The most hilarious little babe we've seen yet. He looks like a grumpy old man! |
 |
| Rural Mochudi |
 |
| Rolling the lemons to prepare them for squeezing |
 |
| Lemons are orange in Botswana. |
 |
| Mid-process |
 |
| Hey pals :) |
 |
| Another income generating activity: soaking paper and rolling it to make homemade beads |
 |
| Cherlyn organized a lovely, lovely funfair |
 |
| A shoutout to my wonderful mother! She sent me off with a ton of small things (gum, deoderant, soap, shampoo etc) and we used the goodies for prizes. Thanks mom! |
 |
| Running some of the activities |
- My handshake fails
continue. This week was the worst one yet. Someone went to point at something.
I thought it was a handshake. I was wrong, and I shook a finger.
Shaaaaaaaame!
- We had our first
rain and thunder storm, and it was SO UNBELIEVABLY GREAT!!! Such a comforting
sound! And man, the plants must have been celebrating. Botswana is DRYYYY!
- We are STILL trying
to buy bikes. They're surprisingly expensive in Gabs and we're having a rough
time finding the time to go bike shopping. We went to pick them up one
afternoon, and all we came home with was a bike lock each, and a single (badass) helmet for Kate. Apparently I have a fat head. Siiiiiiigh! Hoping to sort this
out soon!
- We have a new
roomie: a tiny mouse, and a bold one at that! Canadian mice run away when you find them. Botswana
mice, on the other hand, hang out with you as long as they're just out of reach. I messaged my
landlord, and his reply was "R u okay with a cat cos I can get one for u, thats the remedy." Ummm… hahaha as tempting as that is, a cat is a HORRIBLE idea!
We haven't seen our little friend in a while though, so hopefully he found a
new home. Hopefully?!?!
- I had my first real
pang of homesickness. My AMAZING choir, Xara Choral Theater in Halifax
(www.xara.ca) won a national choral competition, and I was SO pumped about it! To my choir loves: I am so grateful for all of you, and I miss the Xara love INSANELY much! We worked really, really hard on the recording we submitted and I was proud of
our work. So I was soooo sad to not be there celebrating! But hey, almost two
months without being homesick? Not bad if I do say so myself.
- The kids didn't
know the Macarena, so when we tried to teach them, it became "macaroni
macaroni macaroni macaroni!"
-
Traveling in someone's truck bed? Definitely a thing I'm getting used to.
- WE WENT TO A
TRADITIONAL WEDDING!!! It was SO cool!!! Seriously, soooo cool. We met the bride-to-be
at SSI where she tutors, and we were so grateful to get an invite. Botswana
weddings are crazy, they're a whole weekend long, and the bride changes into a
handful of different outfits throughout the day. Another super cool thing: the
entire bridal party spent three months learning these group dances, so they
performed multiple times for us. And women do these high-pitched
chant/call/wail things with their tongues when they're happy, so we were
hearing those all afternoon. The bride was absolutely beautiful. We were so
happy for her! We got her pots as a present.
 |
| The wedding party waiting for the bride to arrive |
 |
| Stepping Stones represennnnnt |
 |
| Literally dancing their way in- SO COOL! |
 |
| SUCH a beautiful bride! Elizabeth, thank you so much for having us :) |
 |
| The super cool hippy tent from my dreams |
 |
| Hiiiiii! |
 |
| This is considered traditional Bots food: potato salad, yams, pounded beef, coleslaw, beet root salad, samp, and sauce. Mostly all delish! |
 |
| The wedding party doing one of their performances |
 |
| One of the coolest parts: there was a sound system glitch, so during the silence, the women gathered and started singing traditional Bots music! SO COOL! They all wear the blankets as sign of respect to the bride. |
 |
| The THIRD costume change. Craziness! |
Some other things:
- Peeing
in the bush, in an alley, wherever, without toilet paper? Increasingly a thing,
and I'm less and less phased by it all. Now I don't even blink!
- We had a
crazy night on Friday celebrating Kate's 23rd! It started out with a hitch to
Gabs, then multiple courses of desert at a lovely Portuguese restaurant, then
drinks at a random lodge, then, our first club! It was all a lot of fun, and it
went over a zillion times better than our first bar in Mochudi. We even knew
some of the songs! Yay for social scenes and dancing!!!
- I
haven't washed my hair is SEVENNNNNN DAYS. A personal best (worst?)
- We're
officially able to say some filthy and dishonourable things in Setswana. It's
hilarious to have some new swear words up my sleeve, but I hiiiiiiighly doubt
they'll ever leave my lips.
Soooo
thats about it for now! I did laundry today and it feels AMAZING to have clean
things. Back to the grind tomorrow. I'll be working from the capital for most
of the week to help restructure a lot of the leadership curriculum. Apparently
when heavy-duty writing needs to happen, staff might go to a random boardroom
or house to make it happen. SSI is just such a nutty environment, and since no
one has offices you're guaranteed to get interrupted a dozen times in a day.
Wish me luck on all the writing!
Sending my
love to Canada, I miss you all a lot a lot!
Peace and
love!
Keep
sending me your thoughts!
<3
shilaleblanc@gmail.com
 |
| A bad picture, but this is probably the first thing I've cooked (made? prepared?) since getting here: guacamole! All I can say is, I've been eating an awful lot of cereal, oatmeal, and PB& banana sammies. |
No comments:
Post a Comment