Dancing the night away
Four strong women – From Left to Right-- the former head of the Home-based care department, my boss – the district AIDS coordinator, the Kgosi of our village (the only female paramount chief in Botswana), and the lovely Kopo
Our winning couple flanked by the MC
Valentine’s Day
Some holidays are quite international and Valentine’s Day is one that is celebrated in Botswana in much the same way as it is in the States. We decided at last year’s planning session to have an event that we called “Love Fest” to celebrate couples, faithfulness, and to encourage couples testing for HIV. It has been really interesting to watch this event develop from just an idea, to planning, and eventually to implementation. As you can see from the pictures below, it was a real success. There were 175 people in attendance and approximately 40 couples. We had inspirational talk by a Reverend who is also a radio personality, music for dancing with a DJ, gifts for the couples and a competition to discover “The most Honored Couple in the Southeast District.” I emceed this part and had all the couples stand. Then depending on how long they had been together, each couple sat down until the longest lasting, most faithful couple were the only ones standing. Because I wanted to make sure that a couple from Botswana won the competition, I kept Kopo and me out of the running. As it turns out we wouldn’t have won and would have come in second, as the winning couple had been together for 41 years compared to our 39+. We gave the lady a dozen roses and a man a red Valentine tie. They were simply overjoyed to receive the recognition and cheers of the Kgosi, their friends and neighbors. We finished up with a meal and more dancing. It is an event that will surely be repeated in the coming years.
Culture Collage
Sometimes a single day’s activities can encompass many aspects of a country’s culture all in one. Our trek this weekend with the teachers from Maureen school did just that.
About three weeks ago it was announced by the staff development coordinator at the school that there would be a trip to visit the National Rhino Sanctuary on February 18. While this sounded like a great idea, at least for Kopo and I, it was met with a lot of scepticism since in over a year and a half there had never been any successful activity off the school grounds for the staff (Unfortunately the Ministry of Education is one of the most disorganized and underfunded departments in the government, and funding for anything that is not absolutely essential is as scarce as hen’s teeth).
Nevertheless earlier this week (only two days before we were supposed to leave) the trip was confirmed and the details announced:
We were to leave school at 3 PM on Friday for the six hour trek to Serowe where the Sanctuary is located. The departure time was a bit strange since school was in session until 4:30 but nonetheless, we arrived at the school at five minutes before three. We sat and sat with a number of other teachers mostly between the ages of 25-40. There was a 16 seat minibus parked there, but no one knew where the keys were because no one could find the driver. Even if the keys were located this bus would not be able to accommodate the 23 people who were supposed to attend.
From past experience, the following odds were now in effect:
40% that we would cancel the entire trip for lack of transportation
40% that we would attempt to squeeze 23 people into a 16 person bus
20% that some miracle would occur to provide other transportation
Lo and behold at four clock on a Friday afternoon the administrative assistant managed to obtain another 16 passenger minibus and a driver to work overtime. Will wonders never cease!
Now the only problem was there still were no keys for the first minibus. The organizer of the trip, Mr. Moseki wanted to call the driver but the driver did not have a cell phone. He eventually called the driver’s wife who said she also could not contact the driver because he did not have a cell phone. She suggested that the driver’s mother be contacted so Mr. M. drove over to the mother’s house who directed them to a neighbor where the driver was located. It is still mysterious as to why the driver was totally across town with the bus keys one hour after he was supposed to start driving the group.
Eventually two minibuses and two drivers left the school grounds at 5:20 with the expected two hour and 20 minute delay from the announced departure time. It now became apparent that we also had to pick up several more teachers in various towns along the way which further delayed us. Oh yes, I forgot to mention the plan was to stay one night in Serowe, visit two game parks and return via another six-hour drive the very next day.
Even though we were supposed to have a braai (BBQ) awaiting us in Serowe, several of the teachers insisted on stopping for food and proceeded to queue up for Nando’s chicken which took approximately 45 minutes. We eventually arrived in Serowe at 15 minutes to midnight at which time the braai started with steaks on a wood fire.
Patrick, the student intern from a local university had started to hit the sauce in the other bus very soon after departure, so by the time we arrived in Serowe, he was several cans on the wrong side of two six packs. He decided that we were one of the only couples who would talk to him so he came over and began a relatively nonstop one-sided conversation. He said that although he was teaching business skills he really wanted to start his own business in Sales and he could sell anything including “selling a fridge to an Eskimo.”
Several of the patrons of the establishment where we were eating were also somewhat under the influence and decided to come over and pick up one of the female teachers. Gallantly, Patrick went to defend her honor and they had a somewhat heated conversation after which the two fellows went away. Patrick look quite pleased with himself and I told Kopo “I think Patrick sold them a refrigerator.”
We all eventually had steak, paleche (a white starchy, rather tasteless blob and chockalacka (a spicy vegetable mixture). As usual, there were no utensils and we ate with our fingers somewhat hurriedly as the establishment needed to close in order to not violate national alcohol laws. We eventually vacated and went to our sleeping accommodations at 12:30.
As is usually the case, Kopo and I were treated exceptionally, almost as dignitaries and instead of the dormitory accommodations; we were taken to Mr. M’s family residence to sleep. Mr. Moseki’s mother dutifully woke up and warmly welcomed us to her home even though she had obviously been sound asleep. We were scheduled to have our game drive at the Sanctuary beginning at 6 AM and had to leave the house by 4:45 so we got about four hours sleep. Again, Mr M.’s mother was up to see us off and obviously delighted to have us.
Apparently, we had been advised that we also had up to bring our own transportation to ride around the Sanctuary so a third school vehicle made the trip. It was a flatbed truck with 18 inch high side panels and a steel framework which served as both a roll bar and a place to hang on so we wouldn’t fall out. We all stood in the back of the truck for the next three hours as we bounced over rough roads and watched animals in the wild. It was truly inspiring to see the animals in their natural habitat. We saw many of the 37 rhinoceros in the park as well as giraffes, elands, oryx, warthogs and zebras.
We got back to our various locations in town about 10 AM and many of the teachers were insisting on “bathing.” It was also now noticed that the two minivans were shortly to run out of diesel fuel and since they were government vehicles they could only be refuelled at government stations. When it was discovered that the government station in Serowe had no fuel, Mr. Moseki. decided that the 2 Buses Should drive to the next government fuel station which was an hour and a quarter away and then come back to pick up the passengers who would have by that time ”bathed.” Somehow it never seemed to be a good idea to have people ”bath” in 20 to 30 minutes and then drive in the buses back to the fuel station which we had to pass in order to return.
In any case, the buses took off and we went back to Mr. Moseki’s house where we crashed for a 30 minute nap, “bathed” and spent a delightful morning talking to his parents. Mrs Moseki had been a primary school teacher who had been rewarded by the government for her 38 year longevity in the school system. His father was a farmer who worked the lands not far from Serowe. From the house and furnishings, it was clear that they were above average means. They spoke and understood English excellently and were obviously quite proud of their son who was our tour leader. The buses, now refuelled, returned three hours later and we ultimately left at 1:30 in the afternoon, supposedly to visit another game park and make the six-hour return trip.
Our flatbed truck had started on ahead several hours before. Some two hours into the journey to the second park, we came upon the truck pulled over to the side of the road at a police roadblock and the driver in a heated conversation with several police officers. It turned out that the police officers had pulled the truck over to the side in a random check and demanded to see the government log book which every government vehicle has to have, documenting each trip no matter how long or how short. The truck’s logbook was unfortunately incomplete as the driver had not sought out Mr. Moseki to sign it for the drive from Serowe and therefore was in the eyes of the police, quite illegal and perhaps even stolen. Mr. Moseki. got out and as he described it “had to beg” to ultimately get them to release the truck.
We continued the journey stopping for lunch approximately 3 PM. We all piled into a small “take away” establishment and ordered the only food they had --which was a Styrofoam plate of Seswa and fat cakes. Seswa is spiced shredded and pounded beef which is actually quite tasty (Think Arby’s without the sauce). Fat cakes are snowball sized masses of deep-fried dough which are very tasty but travel immediately from your mouth to those locations on your body where you would least like to have them reside. Kopo and I had a Diet Coke along with our finger-fed meal and not surprisingly, the beverage cost as much as the entire rest of the lunch.
Fortified, we moved on and arrived at the park destination at 5:30, an hour after it closed but Mr. M. was determined and send there would be “hell to pay “if he did not show up for the appointment he had made with the park rangers. So after some haggling it was agreed that we could go out to the park. We drove approximately 8 miles on back roads to reach the park, met the rangers who were heading back to the office, but turned back. We then transferred into a small Jeep- like vehicle with an open bed in back and again a steel framework onto which we could hold to keep from falling out.
Patrick, who had continued his drinking ways on the return trip, asked the park rangers if they had a beer. They looked at him as if he was a refugee from Swaziland and piled us all into the vehicle. Obviously they were not happy at having to work at this hour so they took off like a bat out of hell with us standing in the back of the vehicle. The park itself was a large ranch which was enclosed by a high fence and we travelled the perimeter at breakneck speed often rounding the corners skidding through the sand and dirt, most of the time on four wheels but sometimes seemingly on two. I won’t say it was terrifying, but I did on two occasions try to text Liberty Mutual to see if I could reinstate my life insurance policy.
As we careened around the park, we would have to duck very 15 or 20 yards to avoid being scraped by overhanging Acacia trees. One female teacher at the front of the enclosure where we were standing kept demonstrating the roller coaster “Look Ma no hands posture”. One of the other female teachers kept saying “I like the spirit, I like the spirit.” Patrick looked somewhat ashen and as if he needed another beer. On several occasions the drivers would stop short to avoid driving into a pothole. There was no warning of course, so all of us standing in the back would pile into each other in a mass of humanity looking like clowns in the circus. For this ride, the total viewing experience consisted of five ostriches and a 15 second view of some gemsboks which are a grey antelopes that were supposedly only present at this location.
Having circumnavigated the entire park we returned to the flatbed as a beautiful African sunset of blue, orange and salmon was gradually sinking over the horizon. It was a beautifully warm African evening and we all were giving thanks for having survived the Jeep ride. Patrick decided to climb onto the front railing of a truck and do his best “standing –on- the- prow- of- the- Titanic” imitation but Mr. Moseki scolded him and he sulked back to the rear of the truck like a forlorn puppy.
We arrived back at the buses as the sunset and we began the rest of the journey home. Although none of the teachers besides Mr. Moseki would ever conceive, plan, or implement such a journey, they could be heard grousing about his organizational abilities behind his back. Eventually, we arrived in Ramotswa about 11 PM—tired but filled with many tales of a memorable experience.
No comments:
Post a Comment