Moving Towards Digawana

Thursday November 1

Where have the last two weeks gone?  We had a two-day workshop on Monday and Tuesday, October 22 and 23.  There we met people from the schools to which we will be assigned.  The person who came from Nthwalang Secondary School where I will be posted, is the Acting Headmistress of the school.  She is a very impressive woman in her mid to late 40s, articulate, and passionate about teaching children.  We found that we share many attitudes and values.  She will supervise my work at the school, but she is not the person I will be working with most closely.  My "counterpart" at the school will be the Guidance and Counseling teacher.  The headmistress described her as being in her 30s and "quiet but firm."  The headmistress anticipates that the G&C teacher and I will be a good match and find it easy to work together.

Peace Corps' policy is that all work attempted at your post should not be done alone but with a counterpart or with counterparts.  That ensures that when your tour of duty is completed and you leave, there are people remaining in the community who will continue whatever has been started.  One of our first tasks is to find in the community the people with whom we will be working.

The headmistress told me that the house they have arranged for me to rent is located in a family compound not far from the school.  She says it is owned by a man who has retired from being a security guard at the school where I work.  She said the logic directing the selection of this house is so that I won't be isolated.  This serves two purposes, security and helping me integrate into the community.  She anticipates that the family will include me in community events and introduce me to neighbors and people in the community.

The first ten weeks at my post is intended to be used doing a community assessment.  That means I am to meet as many people in the community as possible, introduce myself and my reason for being there, and find out how the community works and what aspirations people have for their community.  In mid-January we Bots 13 volunteers will again meet for In-Service Training where we will compare and contrast our respective community assessments.  During that first ten weeks we Bots 13ers are expected to stay at our post communities except for trips to our shopping villages to get supplies.  We can have visitors from within Botswana, like other PCVs who want to get acquainted, but we can't travel anywhere during those first weeks.  Several of us are looking forward to the change from the tight schedule we have kept since we arrived.

I think everyone in the Bots 13 group is anxious to get to their new homes and settle in.  There is a considerable amount of concern about adjusting to water shortages, and figuring out how to get food and supplies.  Some have been told that their houses don't have electricity so they're figuring out how to manage that.  The ministry of education is in charge of providing basic furnishings, like beds and tables.  However, there's no guarantee the furnishings will have arrived before we do.  So many of us are preparing to camp out in our houses if necessary until we can get everything we need and settle in comfortably. 

We had the first of our two language tests on Wednesday October 31.  The final one is on Friday November 9.  They have told us that they will use the higher of the two scores on these tests as our criteria for language proficiency.  After my test yesterday, my interviewer said, "You did well, in spite of your age."  Then he redeemed himself by saying, "When I am your age, I will be learning a new language."  So goal #1 for my Peace Corps service is being accomplished, be a good example for the next generations.

There are only two more weeks to go in Pre-Service Training.  However, I have been amazed ever since I got here how much can change in only two weeks.  So I'm anticipating things to develop, though I have no clue how they will develop, in these next two weeks.  My hope is that my language skills will get stronger and my interpersonal relationship strategies will become more and more culturally appropriate and effective.

Talk to you next time

Barb