Shila Travels: It's really, really hot here.

… did I just have a boring week in Botswana?

Well this is new!

Maybe boring isn't even the right word. Maybe just uneventful? Considering we've been here for 4 and a half months, I'm surprised it hasn't happened sooner. And it isn't like I have nothing to write about.

I'd actually like to write about one of my readers, we'll call him O. In some ways, O has been the most important part of my work here. Even though I still have a decent amount of time left before returning to Canada, I've been reflecting a lot about things, and I think I've learned the most from this one kid.

When I first met him, it was like O was in a bubble and that I couldn't QUITE break through. Although I'm far from a professional, I would say that he has some severe ADHD tendencies. I dont know if I've ever met a kid so all over the map. He's one of those kids that CAN'T sit still, that ALWAYS moves around, that struggles with tasks and focus, that doesn't seem to grasp activities. When I found out that he would be one of my readers, I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little apprehensive about working with him. I was preparing myself for a huge challenge.

WOW, did he EVER prove me wrong.

Yes, there were some initial hurdles. When we started he only knew half the alphabet, and he wasn't a big fan of sitting and reading period. It was a delicate balance of me keeping an unchanging structure to our sessions everyday, while still having enough flexibility to find ways that help him learn. I tried to make things as tactile and hands on as possible. It was hard to get into the swing of things.

But now that we ARE in the swing, IT'S AMAZING! Our work together is hands down the most rewarding thing I've ever ever ever done with my existence in my whole entire 23 years of being alive. I look forward to our sessions every single day. O is now able to read and write complete sentences. He can read all kinds of English words, and knows what they mean, and can sound out simple words that he doesn't know. He knows every single letter, and all the sounds they make. He can basically run the sessions himself now, we have it down to such a science. He's always 100% up for reading with me, and HE finds ME in the afternoons when he arrives. It's just the most incredible thing. He is EXCELLING, his progress is GIGANTIC! He is picking things up at lightning speed. He is FLYING! And we're even pretty good pals these days, jamming out to songs on my iPod after sessions.

I was discussing his progress with one of our counsellors who works in our psychosocial support department, and she couldn't even believe how far he's come.

So, there have been MASSIVE lessons in this. I think it's fair to say that everyone kind of viewed O as a lost cause, one of those behaviourally challenged kids that no one could get through to. I think there may have even been some questions about his cognitive abilities to learn new information. And fair enough. When time/resources are already thin, there are a zillion other kids who could use some attention that are leaps and bounds easier to deal with. BUT! With some collaboration, a lot of patience, and tons of trial and error, O is engaged and learning new things at lightning speed. He's no longer being left behind. There is no question that he is in fact extremely intelligent, he just doesn't learn well from rote-style classrooms. Plus, he has all kinds of hidden strengths, like impeccable rhythm, a knack for soccer, and an ability to find fun and humour in any situation. All he needed was someone to take the time to figure things out.

Soooooo, leaving O is going to be an emotionally difficult thing, but I have high hopes to pass on our reading modules to another volunteer so the reading can continue. The beauty of teaching literacy is that a) it's SUCH an insanely important skill to have, and b) you can't really undo it once you've learned it. And I still have weeks and weeks to work with him so I'm excited to see how far we can get before I head back.

So, I now see a lot of potential where I might not have seen it before :)

This is us from a while ago

O and I learning the word "scissors"

In other news:

- HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I almost completely forgot about it since it doesn't exist here. I hope everyone back home is enjoying the fantastic feeling of a turkey hangover. Even though I'm sad to miss the celebrations, I have a LOTTT of things to be grateful for <3

- On Monday afternoon there was a storm! Some very random and threatening clouds came around, and all of a sudden it poured, and then HAILED! HAIL in Botswana! It was so unexpected! There were even a few lightning flashes. SO COOL! After the storm, the temperature dropped lower than it had in months and months and it felt incredible.

- This week Milena made chicken tikka masala, my all-time fave Indian dish (and Indian is my ALL TIME fave kind of food) and ohhhhh my GOD it was SO GOOD! So so so delish. I miss having access to a variety of things to eat. When I get back to Canada, the top things on my list are: Pictou County Sam's Pizza, mom's lasagna, and gelato from Humani-T. Plus like every coffee drink ever made.

- Speaking of good things to eat, the heat is negatively (…positively?) impacting my chocolate addiction since everything melts. Womp womp.

- Milena and I have been experimenting a lot with music while practicing yoga everyday. It has been suuuuuper interesting, it makes such a difference in the feel of everything. We're trying everything from classical to Jessie Ware to José Gonzalez to Enya to Feist to Tycho.

- Friday was another income-generation day, this time painting the beads the kids made. It was such a great thing to hang out all afternoon and paint/chat. I did some fun reading with a few kids I don't normally get to read with, and it made my heart so happy! It's the best thing when kids are like "Shila! I want to read with you!!!" Enthusiasm for reading is the best! Oh man and three girls and I read "I Love You Forever" and my eyes were leaking at the end of it. Gahhhh what a precious story!

- I had to use my first aid skills this week to clean and bandage a severe burn on one of the kid's fingers. The burn happened at home on a fire and it was BAD! I was surprised at how well I could handle the gore. Usually things like that throw me right over the edge, but somehow I kept my cool. I'm so happy I could take care of the wound before the weekend.

- I know I keep writing about bugs, but it's SUCH a thing here. Every single day something big and juicy pops up and gives me a heart attack. These days it's mostly spiders and these big jumping beetles. It could be worse, at least we don't have bedbugs/fleas (sending my love to the Coady kids in Ethiopia) but it's still so scary. I'm so thankful I have Kate and Milena to rescue me all the time. We try and kill as few spiders as possible, but sometimes they are SO big and SO fast and too close for comfort! It's just a constant worry. I feel like I have an irrational fear of finding a spider in my bed. I'm twitchy as hell when I'm in my room. And I'm not so sure about the exposure theory. In our bathroom there'sa huge spider on the wall, he's been there for a week and is probably two inches across, and even though I'm trying to get used to him hanging out and watching me bathe, it never ceases to send shivers down my spine.

- 37 degrees in the afternoons. Heat and sweat, all the time. I can't believe people live here all the time! HOW do people do things period in this temperature?! On our hitch to Gabs this weekend, I got sweat stains BEHIND MY KNEES. Attttttractive.

- This weekend: Friday was wine, cooking, yoga, and Silver Linings Playbook. Saturday we saw Elysium (inteeeeense) in Gabs, and ate lots of really good things. That night, Kate braided a section of my hair and I love it! She did an amazing job, 10 thousand gold stars to her! We'll definitely be experimenting with this. I plan to pay her in Magnum bars. Sunday (today) is mostly lazy. Laundry, cleaning, trying to stay cool in this inescapable sauna. We had some company we hadn't seen in a while come in and out, so that was fun. We also watched The Lion King, a movie I adore, and the best best best part was that we could identify tons of animals/trees we hadn't noticed before. We spotted our hated guiney fowls, all these different types of antelope (red lechwe, kudu, impala) red hyena, Shepherd's trees, baobabs, and these spiky bushes we have outside our house. It was really neat!

OH and one of the kids took a totally candid video with my phone, I had no idea he was filming, but I actually kind of love it, so here it is. It also kind of shows you where I work. It's us on Friday, hanging out and painting beads

I'll be away next week to CAPE TOWN, reuniting with a handful of beautiful Coady kids who are working in other nearby African countries!!! It will be us two Bots Babes, two gals working in Zambia, and two guys working in South Africa. I CANT EVEN WAIT! <3 <3 <3 So I'll be MIA for a bit, but I'll post pictures when we're back.

Sending everyone huge peace and love vibes!

shilaleblanc@gmail.com

Shila