The Dorans --- Boomers in Africa: Summer has arrived.

It took somewhat longer than most people expected, but summer weather has made its appearance in Ramotswa. There have been three days over 90° this week and we are attempting to cool the house at night with two fans. Can hardly wait for December and January.

I won't lie. It has really been a tough week and I'm not really sure why. In the words of my elder daughter, it was death by 1000 paper cuts. I suppose some of it has to do with being alone in the office and feeling responsible for making things go well which by and large, they did.

The best news of the week was that we got our hot water back, thanks solely to Kopo’s persistence. She said she was going to call the repair people every day until we got action. Dealing by phone with anyone here is a real challenge. She couldn’t reach the same person twice, the new person could not seem to recall any record of a problem having been reported; and of course, the ultimate excuse in Botswana: “We have no transport.”

Ultimately, when the repair person showed, a diagnosis was never made, although after a half hour on the roof, the hot water started to flow. He said if it there was any other problem, to just call. (Anyone want to make a bet?)
The most interesting event of the week was that Kopo and I went over to visit the new Ramotswa Library that is currently under construction. Although started in January and scheduled for completion last month, it is barely 2/3 done. We attended the Library Construction Committee meeting that had a number of people pointing fingers at each other. The principal construction company is a Chinese firm and two of its representatives, Mr. Wei and Mr. Chu, were there and took a fair amount of criticism from the 15 Batswana in attendance-- including the East Indian architect, the mechanical engineer, the structural engineer, the head of the electrical installers, and the client, who is the National Library of Botswana. Overall, it was a fascinating multicultural exercise which was still going on after two hours when we stepped out to get a tour of the mostly-still-cinder-block structure. It is going to be a beautiful building when completed, perhaps the nicest building in town. It will have 8-16 computers with Internet access, and will be a real asset when it is completed…… but I am not holding my breath.

We also met with Kakale Motlhabane, who is not only the librarian for Ramotswa, but is also one of our neighbors. I presented her with my initial thoughts on a secondary project I have been planning, which involves giving a series of 90-minute educational talks to the community at the new library with the title "My Life is in the Library." This will be a monthly series in which I will co-facilitate with a Botswana counterpart. I will give many of the presentations myself and focus on mental health, interpersonal relationships and life skills issues. I plan to have the talks recorded on DVD’s and distributed to all the reading rooms in the district.

A second portion of the project will be to form an ongoing group of in-school and young adult out-of-school youth called “Lifeline.” They will have ongoing discussions in a small group format, as well as form a working task force to create and distribute health-related messages to the schools and the community. In addition to health related topics, I hope to give instruction on computer skills, and spoken English.

Kakale was very positive about the project and has given the full support of herself and her staff. Unfortunately, the library has very few funds and any equipment or support that I would need for this project will either have to come from the Ministry of Local Government, or from a private donor. Next week I am going to Gaborone to meet with the national coordinator of Sesigo, which is the umbrella organization for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is the primary donor paying for library construction throughout Botswana. Perhaps they may be interested in funding some ongoing programming beyond the building phase……will see.

A few more things I have learned since being in Africa

Life without a car is decidedly inconvenient

Life in a country that values age and maturity has its benefits
when you are 63

The war against AIDS is going to be a long one

It is comforting to stay in a country where guns are banned

Here, despite the best of hand washing, black underwear stays black
but white underwear turns gray.

Sincere compliments, a smile and hard work are valued in every culture

African flies are cagey, especially when you don’t have a fly swatter
because they don’t sell them here

Sunday morning with a cup of coffee and a newspaper is pretty close to
Nirvana, even if the paper is 7 weeks old

Jacaranda trees in full Spring bloom are simply spectacular