Odds and Ends

Here are some things I ve been meaning to post for a while now. The first being the pictures of the traditional doctor. The one below is of the doctor wearing his “uniform”, which consists of several strands of beads that went over both shoulders and around his neck. Also there is his horse hair whip which he uses to brush away evil spirits. Behind him you can see some jars against the wall which contain his herbal remedies and cures. At his feet there is his cat skin bag where he keeps his bones. The other picture is a close up of the bones he reads. They are goat and cow bones but the weird thing is there is also a seashell (Botswana is landlocked). Its hard to tell but each bone has its own design carved into it, making each piece unique. During my visits the doctor would usually just throw the bones at random, read them, look at me and laugh. He would never tell me what they said though so I hope it wasn’t anything bad about me.


The picture below is of me and my host mom from Manyana named Bogadi .We are posed next to the families corn stalks which were in our yard. She had just gotten back from a funeral and wanted a picture of the two of us.

Finally these last two are of my neighbor Karabo (means 'answer') form Manyana. He would come over from time to time for food to eat. Id ont think his home life was a very stable one. He was always very quiet and reserved but very kind and photogenic.


Travis

Old Molepolole

The past weekend a Zimbabwean Army Refugee gave me the honor of seeing old Molepolole. This was where the village began hundreds of years ago but is now deserted. The chiefs of Molepolole are buried there with the oldest grave dating before the Civil war. One of the original chiefs home's still stands but sadly has been ravaged by thieves for building supplies. Old Molepolole is beneath a ridge and is covered mostly in trees and bushes. There are a few hut foundations around but no much left over from the original village.

My Zimbabwean friend led me through the bush cutting down the obligatory huge spider webs and pointing out anything dangerous or poisonous to what is called Lekadiba. Lekadiba is simply a cliff that drops off into a river. Back in the day, if you were accused of a serious crime like witchcraft, they would push you off the cliff into the river.



If the village didn’t feel like the cliff that day, they could take you to a neighboring cave named Logaga la Kobokwe. This cave is in the necter of this rock face/cliff and is surrounded by foliage. Supposedly once you enter you will never return alive. Thankfully, I made back from the cave alive and in one piece. After David Livingston came to Botswana it became illegal to accuse anyone of witchcraft and therefore no one is pushed or thrown in to anything anymore.



Both Lekadiba and Logaga la Kobokwe are considered to be “bad” places which are haunted and frequented by witches. On a cab (khumbi) ride back our driver was visibly surprised when we told him we had came back from there and proceeded to lecture us on why we shouldn’t go there again.
Sala Sentle
Travis

Mr. Mothusi's Standard 6 Classroom

Here is a picture of me and my classroom. Not the best picture but I hope it will do. Been teching a lot of English, Math, Social Studis, and Science. Did some poetry the other day in my class. I thought I would share one i was particularly impressed with.

Mosquito

At night
When I’m tucked in bed
You wine and dive
Around my head

You walk and stalk me
Up the sheets
With stick legs
Bent up into feet

There isn’t any way you please
With elbows
Where you should have knees
And here is the last horrid thing
You’ve got a sting

By Refilwe Mopako

Thats all.
Sala sentle

Travis

A Botswana Wedding

This past week-end, I had the privelage of attending a Botswana wedding. Over the years the weddings have become increasingly westernized but still maintain many of their traditional elements. Instead of giving a ring to the bride, the groom performs what is know as labola or 'brides price', where the groom gives cattle to the brides family. He does not "pay for the bride", it is seen as a gesture of good will or thanks towards the brides family for raising their daughter. Sadly, with the increasing western/capitalist influence and the importance of cattle in Botswana, labola has become unregualated and is now determined by 'the worth of the woman', causing tension between some families.

Everyone who wants to can attend the wedding, and it has been explained to me that the families want as many people as possible to come. At the wedding, men will usually sit together under the shade of a tree and drink traditional beer made from sogom, while the women cook and sing. The bride and groom are seated on a platform above the crowd, and everyone will be seated around them to eat. Throughout the wedding you will here high pitched wails from the women which are a display of happiness and celebration. After everyone has ate, the bride maids and grooms men will line up in two rows and perform some semi-traditional dance. The dancing here i would describe as "jerky" but stationary, with the majority of the movement in the feet. While dancing the bride and groom will ralk in between the two rows towards there car and drive off to their new home together.

Tastic Rice, Poverty, and HIV/Aids

So it was bound to come up. Unless you dont read the news or watch tv, you should already know Africa has huge problems with poverty and HIV/Aids. I saw this add the other day for rice and found it unusually profound. Thanks to a stable government and strong economy, Botswana has recently become known as the "Mirracle of Africa." However, Botswana is severely plagued by both HIV/Aids and poverty. In Botswana, unemployment ranges from 27-40% and in rural areas more than 62% of the population lives below the poverty line. In comparison with the almighty United States, over 40% of the population lives off less than a dollar a day. Meanwhile, HIV/Aids daily becomes a bigger and bigger problem. It's estimated around 33% of the population is HIV positive, causing the overall life expectancy to drop to just above 40 years (When I tell people I'm 21, some say im already an old man). While in rural Manyana, there were as many as 3 funerals a week. These deaths were usually explained to me as the result of the "long sickness". Today, the government spends around 52% of its total budget on HIV/Aids prevention alone.

The ad above is for Tastic Rice, and shows elegantly dressed African family eating huge bowls of rice on an expensive dinning room table. If you look below the billboard, there is a display of tombstones for sale, of various prices, sizes, and styles. I think this images is a haunting metaphore for Botswana. We have a picture of wealth and afluency over the collection of graves below. Botswana has both a promising future and a harsh reality it needs to face. No one is sure what will happen.

Lewis Primary

Dumela

First full day of teaching at Lewis Primary School. It’s a public school, and begins every day at 7 with an assembly of prayer and singing. I took a short video of it and hope to post the singing and dancing someday. After the assembly I was literally given a classroom and told “teach English.”. (I know, the thought of me having to teach a foreign language, especially English, is scary) Luckily they all already new enough English that is wasn’t a problem.
Sala Sentle

Travis

Day 2

So today turned out to be crazy than yesterday. Instead of just telling me come in and teach an hour of English, they gave me an entire class for the day, dropped the text books in my hand and pretty much told me "teach". went very well though. The kids are extremely well behaved (sadly as a result of being punished with beatings) and we all had a great time. Sadly, there was only one text book for math, science and english, which is hard to imagine when at home usually everyone can at least share a book.
Take Care

Mothusi (in english 'helper')

In Molepolole

In Molepolole now. It is one of the biggest villiage sin Botswana with a population of around 60 thousand people. Im living with a family of four, 2 grandpaarents, their son, and grandson in a traditional style home similar to the one pictured below.

While in Molepolole I will be working at a local Elementary School of 888 students. The classrooms are sadly overcrowded, with as much as 60 students in one class or two classes sharing the same room. The biggest problem is the toilets, there are only 6 for 888 students and the faculty. While here I hope to help teach and complete their library. It is only about 10' by 16' and is mostly empty. Corporal punishment is still leagal in Botswana, and its not unusual for students to be punished by being beaten.

I hope to post more soon with pictures of family
Travis

Back From Manyana

Dumela

Made it back from rural Manyana. A whole month of bathing in tubs, smelly outhouses, donkeys, cows, dirt roads, huts, traditional doctors, witches, cochroaches, and lots of rain. I will pot some pictures soon and something more discriptive of my time there.
Travis

PS. I have been given a Setswana name by my Manyana family. You can now call me Mothusi (mo-two-see) if you want.

INFORMATION ON MANYANA

Manyana is a small rural villiage of around 6 thousand people. There are no paved roads but are plenty of donkey carts and trucks. Everyone gets their frood from either the local co-op, tuck-shops (a kind of 7-11 out of someones house or a shack), or small gardens. The only commercial buildings there are the Co-Op, a couple of bars, and the post office. Everything else there is homes in a traditional mud,straw roof style or concrete/tin roof homesteads. There is no indoor plumbing and electricity is a luxury. While in Manyana I was previlaged enough to have electricity and a refridgerator. Baths are usually done in a tub with a bucket of warm water. Your toilet is usually infested with cochroaches and is just a concrete whole.

About Traditional Medicine
Manyana is a villiage that is juxtaposed between the traditional and the modern. People here go to church regularly but I was suprised to find many still had deep beliefs in the Botswana traditional spiritual world. While in Manyana I did a little research on on the local traditional doctor and his patients. Very interesting stuff. If sick (or experiencing bad luck), you can go to the doctor and see if he can help you. The doctor goes into a trance and reads bones he throws on the ground. These bones tell him what is wrong with you and if you can be cured. My host mother Bogadi told me of a time when she took her sick son to the doctor. The doctor read the bones, and then proceeded to remove hair and fingernails from his stomache which were put there by witches or in Setswana "Bolowie". Afterwards, he became well in a few minutes (dont try this at home). The doctor keeps a variety of herbs and potions around his house he collects out in the desert or the bush which he uses as medicine. However, in Botswana you can now recieve medical attention from state run clinics for only about 40 US cents. The doctor can cost anywhere from 4 to 20 dollars and has become an alternative or last ditch effort to the clinic. I hope to post some pictures of the doctor and his bones soon.

Just thought you'ld like to know that

Travis