The beginning of this week saw my start with the Botswana Council of Churches. For the most part we were briefed on what the BCC did and taken around to some of their various projects. The one that was the most interesting was "The Place of Hope", a school set up for street children in a rough area of Gaborone. Some of the children were orphaned and forced to the street, but some were there because it was profitable for them (it was explained to us that these kids were similar to our gangs…just not violent). There were about 40 of these kids, varying in age, and many were affected by or infected with HIV. Fortunately, this program was doing really nice work and had turned around many of their lives, getting some of them jobs and even sending a few to Universities. I decided this was the perfect place to distribute some of the T-shirts I had collected from Pitt. I handed them out to the one class that was in session while we were there, and from the looks of it they were really thrilled. The kids were hugging me and rocking their Pitt wear proudly, even joining me in a “Let’s Go Pitt” chant. I got a good amount of pictures for those who donated T-shirts (thanks again!) and also so that Chancellor Nordy can use them to plug Pitt (I can see it now…”Carl Krauser wasn’t the only street child we saved”). The kids enjoyed me so much they asked me to join their futbol team, which I accepted, as I will any chance I get to dominate small children (actually the soccer team competes in a city league and has kids as old as 25 on the team...the head of the school says he’s won championships with interns before and expects nothing less from me). All in all, that was the most fulfilling day I've had thus far.
The first few days with BCC were to show us their programs, but today was the first day that we got involved with a specific program within the Council. I chose to work with a Hospice which deals with HIV and cancer patients. They only employ one nurse and one nurse’s aide so they were very happy to have me and within an hour we were on our way to an extremely poor area to see some home-based clients (usually the patients who were too ill to come in to the hospice). The truck we were driving in was very small so I rode in the back (its legal here). While driving, a number of small children in the area started screaming Lekgowa (white person) and running after us (smiling, thank god). For just a minute, I felt like Paris Hilton or Lindsey Lohan when they are being chased by the paparazzi...unlike them however, these kids didn't drive me to cocaine, rehab, or even alcohol). Most of the patients we saw were just check-ins, but I did see some thing I’ll probably never see in the States. One patient's disease had progressed significantly and she was clearly in her last few weeks. When we arrived at her house, she was so bed-ridden that she had developed intense open bed sores all over her body, which at first I thought was gangrene, something the people I was with had never heard of. The nurse was ill-equipped to treat such a condition and only used a saline wash to cleanse the wounds. Additionally, she was suffering from a uvular cancer that was extremely gruesome and had completely taken over her pelvic area. When asked why a doctor was not being consulted, the nurse said no one would operate because of her HIV positive status and that she wanted to die in peace. Unfortunately from what I saw, there was no way this woman would get what she wanted.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Beating a Kenyan in a Race
This week has been rather uneventful. The weather has been amazing, as it really never gets too hot here. It reminds me of the period of time when all the girls Pitt has to offer decide to start dressing up and lying out even though it's only like 70 degrees. The only difference is that here all of the people are wearing winter jackets...it’s a bizarro Pittsburgh! My friends from UNC are out living with the Bushmen and we've been stuck in repetitive lectures the entire week. Most of them have talked about the same thing as our textbooks (to sum up: the country of Botswana is screwed), although one WHO doctor was really interesting. He agreed with me on the fact that all HIV positive people should be quarantined and testing should be mandatory for everyone, but we disagreed on the fact that a cure is coming. I think I'll thank him in my Nobel Prize speech.
Today, all of the organizations we could work for presented to us. It wasn't looking too good for me as all of them were counseling or human rights things, which I'm not really in to and I thought I was going to spending quite a bit of time in the Harvard Research Lab. Then the Botswana Council of Churches presented and blew me away! They work in prevention, supporting orphans, and in providing medical care to those with HIV. Plus, spending three weeks with a Council of Churches can’t hurt my standing with God. So now everyone gets to hear about my adventures with BCC for the next three weeks! Stay tuned.
Finally, I beat a Kenyan and a Batswana in a race. I've been playing soccer with a large group and after a pick up game one day, the Kenyan decided to challenge me to a race. Bad idea. Although I may have pulled a Jerry Seinfeld, for one day at least, I returned to the glory of my high school days, and pulled out a definitive victory. After the race while the others made fun of the Kenyan and Batswana for losing to me, I looked around for an American flag to run around the track with. Unfortunately, there wasn't one available. Oh well, maybe next time.
Today, all of the organizations we could work for presented to us. It wasn't looking too good for me as all of them were counseling or human rights things, which I'm not really in to and I thought I was going to spending quite a bit of time in the Harvard Research Lab. Then the Botswana Council of Churches presented and blew me away! They work in prevention, supporting orphans, and in providing medical care to those with HIV. Plus, spending three weeks with a Council of Churches can’t hurt my standing with God. So now everyone gets to hear about my adventures with BCC for the next three weeks! Stay tuned.
Finally, I beat a Kenyan and a Batswana in a race. I've been playing soccer with a large group and after a pick up game one day, the Kenyan decided to challenge me to a race. Bad idea. Although I may have pulled a Jerry Seinfeld, for one day at least, I returned to the glory of my high school days, and pulled out a definitive victory. After the race while the others made fun of the Kenyan and Batswana for losing to me, I looked around for an American flag to run around the track with. Unfortunately, there wasn't one available. Oh well, maybe next time.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
End of Week 1
Our orientation week of “hakuna matata” has come to an end. I had written a very impassioned post earlier this week but I decided to hold off on drawing such harsh conclusions about American media until the end of the trip. Anyway just this week I have learned so much about America, Botswana, and myself from the numerous excursions we have taken. In the last few days, we visited their national museum, a battered women’s shelter, and what they call the “Main Mall”, a place where they sell hand-made crafts and, for some odd reason, American college sweatshirts (the one on display was WVU…I almost threw up). I really enjoyed a visit we took to the local hospice, in which they explained that 95% of their patients were suffering from HIV. In America, our hospices are usually reserved for cancer patients, but here they are filled with patients dying of AIDS. I was fascinated to here that this hospice, which is supposed to be providing end of life care for people, did not have one physician on staff, or even have a doctor they were affiliated with. It seems to be a common theme in the places we visit that the people and government of Botswana are not supporting the efforts of non-profits, which is a shame because for the hospice it must be very difficult for them to provide adequate end of life care without at least a physician on call.
The impassioned post I have held off on had to do with our visit to the wealthy and poor areas of Gaborone. Our program director took us out of our way in order to visit these places, and I found our presence extremely disrespectful as we basically used these people’s houses as a tourist attraction. When driving through the ghetto, we saw many of the reasons why Westerners consider all African people to be so poor. Their living conditions were very sad for us, but the people really didn’t seem to care. They all smiled and waved to our vans, and a bunch of small schoolchildren even jumped up and down screaming “Legkowa” which means white people in Setswana. Even though some African people are extremely riddled with poverty, I realized that maybe they don’t want our help, that their primitive life styles suit them just fine. We later visited a rich area, where houses were worth hundreds of thousands of US dollars, houses that never get shown in the magazines documenting Africa. Gaborone remains an anomaly in that sense to me, as there really seems to be no middle class…the people are either very wealthy or extremely poor. I still haven’t figured out if that’s a good thing or a bad thing for the city.
The last two days of our orientation were a lot of fun. First, we visited a traditional village, where they showed us how the people of Botswana used to live (and how the people of that village still live). I was even married to one of our guides in a traditional wedding ceremony. The ceremony was very intricate, as the two hours we spent there were dedicated to my new bride and I, with traditional dances, chants, and such. The people of the village talked of how before the wedding, the bride and groom would go to their significant other’s parents’ house and confess as to whether they had been cheating. The villagers felt this method stemmed the spread of HIV because of the belief that if one lied to their in-laws, they would die. Well I completely disagreed with their assessment and thought that the belief demonstrated the fact that if Botswana ever wants to curb its HIV problem, its culture needs to evolve.
We then went on a safari that was pretty sweet, but not as exciting as I thought it would be. We saw zebra, rhinos, and elephants, but I felt that it was basically a glorified zoo, as some of the animals (the elephants and cheetahs) were led out to us with workers next to them. I’m much more excited for Kasane, the small village in Chobe National Park, that we will be staying in at the end of our trip where the animals will be seen in their natural environment. After the safari, my Kenyan friend George and I went to the National Stadium (also the place where I was able to get a gym membership) where we saw the Botswana National Soccer Team play Mauritania. African soccer is extremely graceful and Botswana, who has quite a bit of potential to make the 2010 World Cup, ended up winning 2-1. I was really disappointed in the turn out of the local fans, as already a small stadium by international standards, was only half full. The ones who did show up were very passionate though, as at one point one fan threw a bottle onto the field, hitting one of Mauritania’s players. Well obviously this occurred right in my section and a mini riot erupted. I decided that the center of the riot wasn’t the best place for seemingly the only white person at the match to be, so I did the man thing to do and ran. I’m not ashamed.
I have really enjoyed the company of my two Kenyan friends on the trip who have taught me a lot about Kenyan culture, even giving a tribal name (Carioke, meaning the one who never dies…that sounds pretty sweet to me). With such diversity on my trip (besides the Kenyans, there are people from Japan, South Korea, and the Caribbean), I have learned about more cultures than just those present in Botswana. From discussions with all these people, I have come to the conclusion that America does a very poor job in teaching us to go anywhere other than…well America. All the people in Botswana and those from a foreign country in my program with me are fluent in English, as well as their native language. They know how to deal with the over-friendly people who are proposing marriage to the white girls in our group because they understand that these people are not as threatening as we perceive them to be. They also know how to deal with not having the technology of America (my Kenyan friend was extremely skilled in hand washing my clothes…I failed pathetically in my first attempt and instead enjoyed watching him). It seems much harder for my fellow Americans and I to adapt to these cultural differences than the foreigners…so Ke a leboga, America (that means Thank you, America in Setswana)!
Next week is really the only week we have classes, as after that we go to work with our HIV organizations. I haven’t quite decided what organization I’d like to help, although the hospice was very desperate for people, and it seemed like I would be doing things very similar to the work I do at home. My research with Harvard will probably begin next weekend, although I’ve been talking with a girl from Harvard who works there and stays in the hostels we are in, who says I should try and avoid it at all costs…so we’ll see. Until next time…
The impassioned post I have held off on had to do with our visit to the wealthy and poor areas of Gaborone. Our program director took us out of our way in order to visit these places, and I found our presence extremely disrespectful as we basically used these people’s houses as a tourist attraction. When driving through the ghetto, we saw many of the reasons why Westerners consider all African people to be so poor. Their living conditions were very sad for us, but the people really didn’t seem to care. They all smiled and waved to our vans, and a bunch of small schoolchildren even jumped up and down screaming “Legkowa” which means white people in Setswana. Even though some African people are extremely riddled with poverty, I realized that maybe they don’t want our help, that their primitive life styles suit them just fine. We later visited a rich area, where houses were worth hundreds of thousands of US dollars, houses that never get shown in the magazines documenting Africa. Gaborone remains an anomaly in that sense to me, as there really seems to be no middle class…the people are either very wealthy or extremely poor. I still haven’t figured out if that’s a good thing or a bad thing for the city.
The last two days of our orientation were a lot of fun. First, we visited a traditional village, where they showed us how the people of Botswana used to live (and how the people of that village still live). I was even married to one of our guides in a traditional wedding ceremony. The ceremony was very intricate, as the two hours we spent there were dedicated to my new bride and I, with traditional dances, chants, and such. The people of the village talked of how before the wedding, the bride and groom would go to their significant other’s parents’ house and confess as to whether they had been cheating. The villagers felt this method stemmed the spread of HIV because of the belief that if one lied to their in-laws, they would die. Well I completely disagreed with their assessment and thought that the belief demonstrated the fact that if Botswana ever wants to curb its HIV problem, its culture needs to evolve.
We then went on a safari that was pretty sweet, but not as exciting as I thought it would be. We saw zebra, rhinos, and elephants, but I felt that it was basically a glorified zoo, as some of the animals (the elephants and cheetahs) were led out to us with workers next to them. I’m much more excited for Kasane, the small village in Chobe National Park, that we will be staying in at the end of our trip where the animals will be seen in their natural environment. After the safari, my Kenyan friend George and I went to the National Stadium (also the place where I was able to get a gym membership) where we saw the Botswana National Soccer Team play Mauritania. African soccer is extremely graceful and Botswana, who has quite a bit of potential to make the 2010 World Cup, ended up winning 2-1. I was really disappointed in the turn out of the local fans, as already a small stadium by international standards, was only half full. The ones who did show up were very passionate though, as at one point one fan threw a bottle onto the field, hitting one of Mauritania’s players. Well obviously this occurred right in my section and a mini riot erupted. I decided that the center of the riot wasn’t the best place for seemingly the only white person at the match to be, so I did the man thing to do and ran. I’m not ashamed.
I have really enjoyed the company of my two Kenyan friends on the trip who have taught me a lot about Kenyan culture, even giving a tribal name (Carioke, meaning the one who never dies…that sounds pretty sweet to me). With such diversity on my trip (besides the Kenyans, there are people from Japan, South Korea, and the Caribbean), I have learned about more cultures than just those present in Botswana. From discussions with all these people, I have come to the conclusion that America does a very poor job in teaching us to go anywhere other than…well America. All the people in Botswana and those from a foreign country in my program with me are fluent in English, as well as their native language. They know how to deal with the over-friendly people who are proposing marriage to the white girls in our group because they understand that these people are not as threatening as we perceive them to be. They also know how to deal with not having the technology of America (my Kenyan friend was extremely skilled in hand washing my clothes…I failed pathetically in my first attempt and instead enjoyed watching him). It seems much harder for my fellow Americans and I to adapt to these cultural differences than the foreigners…so Ke a leboga, America (that means Thank you, America in Setswana)!
Next week is really the only week we have classes, as after that we go to work with our HIV organizations. I haven’t quite decided what organization I’d like to help, although the hospice was very desperate for people, and it seemed like I would be doing things very similar to the work I do at home. My research with Harvard will probably begin next weekend, although I’ve been talking with a girl from Harvard who works there and stays in the hostels we are in, who says I should try and avoid it at all costs…so we’ll see. Until next time…
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Dumela from Botswana (That means Hello from Botswana)
We have finally arrived here in Botswana after a hellacious flight which totalled 24 hours by the time all 4 of them were done. We stopped off in Akon's hometown of Dakar, Senegal where everyone, including women, were over 6'5. After departing we flew over most of Africa, which did little to dispel the idea that Africa is nothing but a barren desert. After 8 hours of those incredible views, there was a quick layover in South Africa, where I still was not in the minority race. After flying Air Botswana from Johannesburg to Gaborone and sitting next to a well established doctor for the CDC, I crossed my fingers that my luggage would arrive. Luckily, mine did. Unfortunately, the bags belonging to five members of our group did not, and only recently have they received their bags (with some items missing). Depressed and exhausted, we arrived in our Graduate Student Village to find...AMERICANS!! Apparently we have taken over the Village, as students from BU, UNC, Kansas State, as well as Med Students from Penn are all staying in the same place as our group. I even met one girl who stays in Ocean City for the summer. No matter where in the world I go, it seems I can always rely on finding someone who vacations at the Shore.
The first night we were so incredibly jet lagged that we did nothing but find our flats, which was a chore in itself as our guide (an Alton from the Real World/Road Rules challenge look alike) and our pretentious Batswana professor (who drives a brand new Jaguar and has suits tailor made for her) barged in and out of rooms looking for three together. We finally found one which housed Ressaho, a Batswana who is studying Computer Science and is a huge Michael Jackson fan (whose music is played everywhere here). He has been extremely helpful in teaching my two roommates and me the culture and language of Botswana. In exchange I have taught him "The Heizman" and "Snap Ya Fingers" dances, which he immediately performed better than me.
Our first day we drove around getting to know the city of Gaborone a little better. Apparently, getting to know Gaborone better entitles going to the Westernized shopping malls. The city is extremely interesting, as many of the people are very poor, however the endless supply of shops have prices comparable to those in the States. There are also brand new Beamers, Mercedes, and Audis all over the place. According to Ressaho, they can be bought for as little as 40,000 pula (less than $8,000) and everyone who gets a decent job immediately buys a nice car. The people here for the most part are very friendly, however they are constantly staring at us (or at least I think they are constantly staring at me) and many have approached our group and asked us about America. I even got a "whitey" call from a teenage group in the mall the other day. I was so proud.
Today we visited the SOS Children's Orphanage, where we got our first look at the devastation caused by HIV in Botswana. There were 200 orphaned children in a rather small village, many (the "father" of the village said about 75%) losing their parents from HIV. There were also 18 who were infected with the virus. Our group spent about an hour there playing with the kids and talking to the (surprise, surprise) American teachers! There was another group from Pitzer College in California teaching at the kindergarten in the village for a month. Apparently the Westernization of Africa is a little more advanced than I thought.
So far, everything has been incredible. We have a decent place to stay (it's about the size of a Tower C Single), hot water that occasionally works, and incredible weather. It’s very funny because the mornings and nights are in the mid 50’s while the afternoons go up to about 80, but the natives think it is so cold and that we’re crazy for walking around in shorts. The food is also really good. They feed us frequently, and it really hasn’t been so bad (we have had delicacies like chicken liver and sorghum). All in all it has been a great 3 days!! Keep the emails coming!
The first night we were so incredibly jet lagged that we did nothing but find our flats, which was a chore in itself as our guide (an Alton from the Real World/Road Rules challenge look alike) and our pretentious Batswana professor (who drives a brand new Jaguar and has suits tailor made for her) barged in and out of rooms looking for three together. We finally found one which housed Ressaho, a Batswana who is studying Computer Science and is a huge Michael Jackson fan (whose music is played everywhere here). He has been extremely helpful in teaching my two roommates and me the culture and language of Botswana. In exchange I have taught him "The Heizman" and "Snap Ya Fingers" dances, which he immediately performed better than me.
Our first day we drove around getting to know the city of Gaborone a little better. Apparently, getting to know Gaborone better entitles going to the Westernized shopping malls. The city is extremely interesting, as many of the people are very poor, however the endless supply of shops have prices comparable to those in the States. There are also brand new Beamers, Mercedes, and Audis all over the place. According to Ressaho, they can be bought for as little as 40,000 pula (less than $8,000) and everyone who gets a decent job immediately buys a nice car. The people here for the most part are very friendly, however they are constantly staring at us (or at least I think they are constantly staring at me) and many have approached our group and asked us about America. I even got a "whitey" call from a teenage group in the mall the other day. I was so proud.
Today we visited the SOS Children's Orphanage, where we got our first look at the devastation caused by HIV in Botswana. There were 200 orphaned children in a rather small village, many (the "father" of the village said about 75%) losing their parents from HIV. There were also 18 who were infected with the virus. Our group spent about an hour there playing with the kids and talking to the (surprise, surprise) American teachers! There was another group from Pitzer College in California teaching at the kindergarten in the village for a month. Apparently the Westernization of Africa is a little more advanced than I thought.
So far, everything has been incredible. We have a decent place to stay (it's about the size of a Tower C Single), hot water that occasionally works, and incredible weather. It’s very funny because the mornings and nights are in the mid 50’s while the afternoons go up to about 80, but the natives think it is so cold and that we’re crazy for walking around in shorts. The food is also really good. They feed us frequently, and it really hasn’t been so bad (we have had delicacies like chicken liver and sorghum). All in all it has been a great 3 days!! Keep the emails coming!
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Thoughts Before Leaving
This coming Saturday I will be leaving for the University of Botswana in Gaborone where I will be staying until July 23. My purpose there will be two-fold. I will be working with a non-profit organization to further educate the people of Botswana about the devastating HIV/AIDS epidemic currently affecting the country (38% of their population is infected) and also attempting to get some scientific research on HIV done with the Harvard-Botswana AIDS Institute. Along the way, I will be blogging whenever I can find a computer with internet access to anyone who would like to listen (probably only my mom) about the adventures I partake in, including safaris and a trip to Zimbabwe to see Victoria Falls, the largest waterfall in the world.
Preparations for my trip have included getting vaccinated for every possible disease (including some that don’t even exist) and watching a “Man vs. Wild” episode in which Bear gets trapped in the middle of a savannah and has to escape elephants and rhinos. Quick sidenote: Does anyone else think that a more practical episode for the show would involve Bear getting trapped in an inner-city Compton ghetto and proceeding to show viewers how to escape by pointing things out like “Look over there, it’s a Crip gang member. You can identify them because they wear blue flags on their left side. If you are ever in a situation where you encounter one of them, it’s best to give them everything you have and run.” This would probably apply to more people than the 1 in 1000000 who get trapped in Africa or on a volcano, right?
So, today I finally finished all of the extra precautions and running around (such as getting my hair did) necessary for leaving, even finding time to get some packing in. My favorite items in my suitcase have to be Message in a Bottle, flight reading material written by the author of The Notebook, and sunscreen that can be attached to your belt. Who would send those kind of things in a care-package to a MAN leaving for Africa, you ask? No one in their right mind that’s for sure.
I told myself brevity would be the greatest asset of this blog and thus far I have failed miserably. My two inspirations for doing this are the blogs of Emmy Mandel and the emails of Ashley LaFata, which is probably why I am having so much trouble being brief. The next time I write I will be in Botswana with no cell phone or laptop, so if you would like to contact me, send an email to tdsports@gmail.com, something I'll check every chance I get at internet cafes. I hope everyone stays safe and enjoys America, with its sanitary water, malaria-free mosquitoes, and cell phones.
Preparations for my trip have included getting vaccinated for every possible disease (including some that don’t even exist) and watching a “Man vs. Wild” episode in which Bear gets trapped in the middle of a savannah and has to escape elephants and rhinos. Quick sidenote: Does anyone else think that a more practical episode for the show would involve Bear getting trapped in an inner-city Compton ghetto and proceeding to show viewers how to escape by pointing things out like “Look over there, it’s a Crip gang member. You can identify them because they wear blue flags on their left side. If you are ever in a situation where you encounter one of them, it’s best to give them everything you have and run.” This would probably apply to more people than the 1 in 1000000 who get trapped in Africa or on a volcano, right?
So, today I finally finished all of the extra precautions and running around (such as getting my hair did) necessary for leaving, even finding time to get some packing in. My favorite items in my suitcase have to be Message in a Bottle, flight reading material written by the author of The Notebook, and sunscreen that can be attached to your belt. Who would send those kind of things in a care-package to a MAN leaving for Africa, you ask? No one in their right mind that’s for sure.
I told myself brevity would be the greatest asset of this blog and thus far I have failed miserably. My two inspirations for doing this are the blogs of Emmy Mandel and the emails of Ashley LaFata, which is probably why I am having so much trouble being brief. The next time I write I will be in Botswana with no cell phone or laptop, so if you would like to contact me, send an email to tdsports@gmail.com, something I'll check every chance I get at internet cafes. I hope everyone stays safe and enjoys America, with its sanitary water, malaria-free mosquitoes, and cell phones.
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