Youth Trip and the Khronicle

Last weekend, we took our Life Line youth group to Mogkolodi Nature Preserve for an overnight camp and workshop. 25 students attended with 5 adult supervisors and Maureen’s brother Kevin who was visiting. It came off very well and the kids had a great time. In addition to sessions on ecology, waste management and animal protection, we went on a game drive, had team building exercises, went swimming, and played volleyball. At an evening campfire, we had small group discussions about family dynamics and parent-child interactions. Nearly all the kids have very little honest, direct communication with their parents, and every one had been physically beaten as punishment. About half would likely beat their own kids when they had them, but the other half felt they would not.They all yearned for their parents to listen more. One girl almost reluctantly spoke about how she could talk to her Mother about anything, at any time and felt quite comfortable doing so. As leaders, we tried to explore why that was so in her family and how as adults, the rest could foster that atmosphere in their own families. They all were intensely listening, and one can only hope these kinds of talks will bear fruit down the road. We ended the evening with singing, dancing and toasted marshmallows.Somewhat to our surprise, the kids actually went to sleep.

Teaching basic swimming. Most are relatively terrified to let go of the side of the pool

Bathing Beauties

The gents

Antlers on parade

Our formal pose




The New Place




I forgot last week to include some photos of our new apartment, so here they are.  It is actually quite civilized and by far the nicest place of the three that we have lived in.  Even though only a mile or so from our other two houses, it has quite a different feel.  A paved road, not a dirt one; an open field not a noisy bar across the street, but has the same clean air and school kids walking by. 
   As dawn breaks here though, there are bicyclists, joggers and power walking pairs of women.  A little later, cars speed past, going way too fast (a common occurrence on Botswana roads).  All this is mixed in with a herd of donkeys with bells around their necks, several cows with their own distinctive bell sounds, and eventually a large herd of goats eating everything in sight.  One of the donkeys has figured out how to open the gate to the apartments and stands stock still on the first floor apartment patio enjoying the shade.  It is an odd, but appealing set of contradicting sights and sounds.

Ours is second floor on the right

The view from our patio with the obligatory goats in the background


Kevin had a busy and very filled 4 days with us before he left for his safari around Botswana, despite the fasct that a wateer main broke and we had no water for 3 days.  Then he is off to Germany (where he lived for 5 years) to visit friends, and then to London to visit relatives. This picture is of the two O’Keefe’s, my boss Mma Ooke and our former next door neighbor and Ramotswa Librarian, Kakale.  Kakale called yesterday to say that goats had gotten into her yard and eaten all the blooms on the flowers that she and I had carefully dug up and hand carried to her yard when we moved.  Ugh!

The Kalahari Khronicle Volume 2 Number 7

Zsa Zsa and husband are no longer Lookers

CNN reported that Zsa Zsa Gabor’s husband Prince Frederick Von Anhalt accidentally glued his eyes shut requiring surgical repair by a Beverly Hills doctor. It apparently was dark and he grabbed his wife’s nail glue instead of eye drops. The prince is 68 years old and has been married to Zsa Zsa for 10 years despite the fact that she is now 93 and 25 years older than her husband. Zsa Zsa’s daughter reports that her Mother also suffered an eye injury when she mistakenly used “Krazy glue” on her eyelashes shortly after the marriage.

Kgosi’s Komment—It is apparent that this couple goes to great lengths not to look at each other. Kgosi cannot come up with even one good reason why people should be keeping Krazy glue on their bedroom nightstand.


Police search for Moron



KUSA TV in Denver report that Aurora police are searching for a man whom they say has a history of violence and has attacked his wife in the past. 35-year-old Joseph Moron is wanted for investigation of stalking, second-degree kidnapping, second-degree assault, first-degree burglary, and numerous counts of violating a restraining order. He is described by police as a 5’9” white man weighing about 208 pounds with brown eyes and brown hair.  They say he is known to frequent the area of Iliff Avenue in Aurora.

Kgosi’s Komment—Since grade school, Joseph has been doing his best to avoid using his last name and even pretending it is not so. Kgosi has it on good authority that Joseph obtained many of these legal charges after sequentially assaulting the post man and then his wife. The mail carrier knocked on the door and asked “Do Morons live here?” To which he replied “No we are the Smart people.” The post man replied “Are you sure you are a Smart person, because I got all this mail addressed to Morons at this address.”

“For the third time this week I am telling you I am not a moron.” He decked the postman and slammed the door. His wife witnessed this and realized she was not going to get any more mail “Joseph, you’re a Moron. You’ve been a Moron all your life and after I married you I became a Moron. Now you are not only a moron, you’re an idiot.” Shortly thereafter he pushed her to the floor and his wife obtained the first of a series of restraining orders which Joseph promptly violated. When dragged back into court the judge told him that this restraining order was plain and simple. He said only a Moron could violate an order that was this plain and simple. Joseph then assumed the court order did not apply to him and again violated the restraining order.

Kgosi hopes they catch this moron before Kgosi returns to Denver in June.