New Projects

     Lots of interesting things going on with us these days.  Part of my new schedule allows me to open a second Life Line group to 25 more community youth.  You may remember that when we started the first group, we had over 75 applications, but could only take the top 25.  I’ve had the opportunity to invite two Peace Corps colleagues from a village south of town to co-lead the group with me.  I think the rumors have spread of how much fun the first group has been have spread.  Every single one of the kids that we invited showed up for the first meeting, and several even brought some of their friends. They also seem to be much more talkative and willing to participate.  Perhaps our reputations for not being critical, being fun and encouraging have struck a positive chord.  The group will be meeting three weeks out of four on Thursday afternoons.

     Approximately 8 months after I began the process, we finally have obtained two televisions and two DVD players, which will go into the new library.  One is operational now in our temporary quarters and will be used by our Life Line groups for playing health-related DVDs until the new library is opened.  The librarian and I agreed that the second TV could be used just for fun DVDs for all library patrons.
Other news includes Kopo’s having been contacted by a faculty member at the University of Botswana School of Nursing.  They are desperately short of professors to teach mental health curriculum, and would Kopo be interested?  After some CV review and conversation, it appears that Kopo is exactly the right person to help out, as were we both at the Medical School.  However, as opposed to the Med School where the Dean is an American (and we figured asked no one at the University for permission for us to teach!) nursing is a tad…shall we say….more obsessive!  There is a giant bureaucracy at the University which may not be able to figure out how to handle a volunteer…..unbelievable as that might sound.  So, Kopo waits to hear whether this will materialize.  You would think that when a professional offers to teach a course for free in a subject that is needed, that they’d find a way, but in Botswana, you never know.

     The weather finally seems to have broken and yesterday was the first day that it was over 80.  The forecast calls for sunny days over the next week with temperatures in the high 70s.  It still gets pretty cool at night, into the mid-40s, and sleeping bags remain the order of the day.  If last year was any predictor, we will be in shorts and using fans within 2 to 3 weeks.


Only one month to go until we head for the States, San Francisco, and Meghan and Joey’s wedding.  Yippee!!

The Kalahari Khronicle, Volume 2, Number 3

Last week's “Family Togetherness" issue was a rollicking success and for the first time we sold out our entire print run

----Okay, Okay.  It was only 25 copies, and the purchase price for 17 of them had to be refunded when the readers won our promotional contest by finding the picture of "Where's Waldo."
I think next time, we won't put the picture in a front-page headline.

----All right, all right, four more copies were sold on our "Read now, Pay later” plan, but I am sure that we will be paid by Christmas.

-----Yeah, yeah and we gave three copies away to the School for the Blind to use as fire starters.

We do though want to thank our one cash customer, Akmed.  I never realized that Botswana issued a coin with a picture of a Yak on the back and an inscription that reads "Republic of Kazakhstan."  I have decided to ignore the rumors that Akmed is going to use the Khronicle to help house train his new puppy.

Do you want Mustard with that Novel?

Police in Boise Idaho think they may have solved a year-long condiment crime spree.  Authorities say they have arrested
Joy L. Cassidy yesterday at the library moments after she exited the outside drive-through having dumped a jar of mayonnaise into the box designated for book returns.  She is now labeled a "person of interest" in at least 10 other condiment-related crimes which started in May 2009.  Library employees have reported finding books in the drop box covered in corn syrup and ketchup.

Kgosi's Komments -- -- Fortunately, there will be no drive-through drop box in the new Ramotswa library.  In case Joy is released however, Kgosi is keeping the phone number of the Boise police on speed dial should some of the books come back filled with rotten Kudu meat or sheep’s eyeballs.

Amnesia can be Dangerous.

The Associated Press in Santa Ana California reports on an Orange County woman who was sentenced to a year in jail for sending hundreds of threatening text messages -- -- to herself.  Prosecutors say Jeanne Mundango Manunga had previously told police that her former boyfriend and his sister-in-law were behind the threats.  Prosecutors say that Manunga started sending threatening messages after she and her former boyfriend stopped dating in 2008.  In addition to her time in the slammer, she was placed on three years’ probation and ordered to pay $50,000 in restitution.

Kgosi's Komments -- First off, Kgosi is happy that this lady's parents gave her a first name like Jeanne.  It would have been too much, even for Africa if her full given name turned out to be something like Mandingo Mundango Manunga.


It is somewhat embarrassing to admit, but six months ago, Kgosi was involved in a similar problem with text messaging.  It really would not have turned out to be such a big issue, except at the age of 64, Kgosi is starting to have some significant memory problems.
One evening he started sending multiple threatening text messages to the Editor of the Khronicle, claiming that the editorials “stunk like a hyena feces.”  Then, in a "senior moment" at work, Kgosi began reading the texts, became infuriated that someone did not like the newspaper, went to the police and pressed charges against the perpetrator.  After Kgosi was arrested, he spent two nights in jail until he invoked the 5th Amendment and refused to testified against himself.  He was released on his own recognizance, but suggested this was a bad plan, since in three hours he might not remember who he was.



Yours Truly,

……………………..ah…………………..ah……………………. oh yeah,
Kgosi

Will you still need me?

As Paul Simon once wrote in his lyrics, "I hung another year on the line"  and turned 64 on Monday.  Therefore, the Beatles song has new relevance. 

"Will you still need me?"

"Will you still feed me?"

‘”When I'm 64?”  

Although the fact that Ringo turned 70 made me feel a little better.  

Kopo arranged a nice party for me in the office attended by some of my coworkers as you can see in this picture:

They all genuinely seem to like us and I know they enjoy eating cake. 

I got a second party yesterday when another PCV and I shared a birthday celebratory lunch for 18 of us at a restaurant in Gaborone with birthday cakes baked by two of our colleagues.  It is always fun to get together with this group…and when it’s your special day…even better.

Thanks to all of you who e-mailed or sent birthday wishes.  They are very much appreciated.

The Kalahari Khronicle Volume 2 Number 2

This week, the Chronicle is pleased to offer its first annual Family Togetherness edition with several reports of familial harmony and bliss.

This’ll Keep Your Dinner Hot.

The Associated Press reports the case of Guy Edward Jones of Sissonville West Virginia, who came home on Sunday and got angry because his wife Beverly Jones didn't have dinner on the table.  The sheriff said the couple fought and Beverly ran to a neighbor's house.  She turned back and saw flames coming out of the basement, and her husband exiting through the basement door.  Apparently, according to the charges, he set his own house on fire and is now charged with arson.

Kgosi’s Komments-- Kgosi has been plenty irritated when the butler and maid here at our house don't get the meal on the table on time.  Once in a moment of temporary insanity, he did set a small fire in the bedroom.  However, it only served to char the mattress and burn his best pair of jeans.  What was he thinking?

Precious Cargo

Again, under the byline of the Associated Press an Ypsilanti Michigan couple was arrested by authorities when found to be drunk, pushing a baby stroller holding two young boys, open containers of alcohol and a bayonet.

Kgosi’s Komments--     Now let's figure this out-- they were using the bayonet to open the cans of alcohol.  No-- maybe they had the alcohol to fill the baby bottles.  On second thought, the youngsters perhaps had snuck the alcohol into the baby carriage, fearing imminent withdrawal, if they didn't have a little hooch on board.  Then again, perhaps the bayonet was nothing more than a disciplinary tool.  Kgosi and Kopo always used to carry a bayonet in our baby carriage just in case one of our kids got a little nasty and we needed to beat them back into submission.  After a few thrusts and an occasional nick, just threatening to bring out the bayonet did the trick.

Mom and Son Deserve Each Other.

An Eastern Pennsylvania woman has been cited for harassment after her son told police she cleaned the bathroom with his tooth brush then returned it to its holder. Lower Saucon police said 52-year-old Deborah Woist decided on July 18. that the bathroom inside her house needed a good scrubbing because it hadn't been cleaned in two months.  Her 26-year-old son Justin Novack said the scrubbing was done with his toothbrush, which his mother put away after she was done.  Novack called police, claiming that his mother also applied feces to his toothbrush.

Kgosi’s Komments.  One good obsessive-compulsive relative deserves another.  Wait till Justin finds out what she used to clean the toilet bowl.

Man's Best Friend.

The New York Daily News posted the story of a Michigan man whose life was saved after his terrier bit off his big toe, alerting him to the seriousness of an infection while he was passed out drunk.  Despite his wife Rosie's pleas, a 48-year-old musician from Rockford, Jerry Douthett, avoided going to the doctor to get his foot examined.  After a heavy night of drinking beers and margaritas, Douthett passed out at home, which was when dog Kiko took his cue. “I woke up and the dog was lying alongside my foot.  I looked and blood was everywhere.  I ran to the bathroom, screamed for Rosie, rinsed it off and it was gone."  At the hospital, doctors found a bone infection and amputated the rest of his toe.  Kiko has been called a hero for helping the man realize that he has type II diabetes.  Kiko still resides with the family but is being observed by authorities to make sure he does not have rabies.  Mr. Douthett says this incident has caused him to change his drinking habits, and his sleeping behavior.  "I now wear shoes to bed."

Kgosi’s, Komments--An eerily similar event happened to Kgosi when he recently passed out intoxicated in Ramotswa.  He woke up to find a moderate sized Python wrapped around his arm.  Still somewhat inebriated, Kgosi managed to pull the thing off his arm and sent it to the hospital to be tested for type II diabetes. KgosiKgosi is not changing his drinking habits, however his sleeping behavior will be different.  "Now I’ll sweep the crumbs out the bed first and won't go to bed without an AK-47." Kopo now also thinks Kgosi's brain has been affected by rabies.

Kgosi

Last month Kopo had an unfortunate accident with an errant kudu.  The kudu escaped with minor injuries, but Kopo lost her bicycle license for three months.  This has not kept us stationary however, as we have become even more infamous in town for our newly purchased tandem bike.