Cultural Charity Event

So at the junior secondary school I work at, the PACT club members wanted to plan an event to raise money for the Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) in our village.

The event was almost entirely student lead, with a bit of help from me ;) They really did a great job tho. I almost thought it wasn't going to work out with an hour to go before the event and almost nothing was ready lol But I learned a valuable lesson that day, bc with African  timing, the people who were suppose to be there 2 hours before start time showed up 30 min before. And after an hour past the scheduled start time everything was up and running! I was like "Okay, it's a little more of stretch than Hawaii time, but I get this." Haha

The event consisted of a debate on the importance of culture for the future development as a country, outstanding topic! They really love debates here in Botswana. 

We also had some cultural dances which were done by the students as well, and it was adorable and all educational for me.

Last was the beauty contest. Not really aware of this till it happened. Not to mention I was asked to judge for both the debate and beauty contest. So yah, beauty contest are HUGE here as I'm learning. I myself am not to fond of them as I believe they contribute to the objectification of women :/

Anyways, another Peace Corp Volunteer and I came up with some ideas to put a twist and more positive approach to the contest. So we asked them to perform something from their culture, since it was a cultural event lol The last addition was the judges asked them several different questions in Setswana and then marked by their responses.

All in all, it was a great turn out. There was a little over a hundred, mostly children. And we managed to raise 252 Pula, which is a little less than $30 USD. Not sure how we're going to use the money for the OVCs yet. One of the students mentioned organizing a party for them, so we will just have to wait and see!

Here's some pics from the event:

President of PACT Club

The Judges! I'm repping the kukui nut shell lei and a t-shirt that says "Aloha"... I Should have brought a real Aloha Shirt :/

Debate time

the audience

Dances 

3 things to smile about

Just had an eventful time at Peace Corps Mini Regionals in Jwaneng this weekend (thanks Christina Neo Zielke  for hosting!). 

So today, while riding the bus in 100 degree outrageous heat with no air con and all the passengers insisting on keeping every single window up, I made my four hour excursion back to Tsabong, and with impeccable timing as the scorching conditions began to mess with my head, a few things caused a smile to take shape on my face. 

One, its pretty cool to think that after being on the road this weekend I have a home village and my own house to return to. Two, the most adorable little girl who was standing on her chair, trying to tippytoe to look at everyone behind her gives the cutest-est-est smile ever! The kind of smile that makes you say to yourself "I would totally adopt her right now!" Three, seeing two teenage Batswana sitting one row in front of me with their laptop open, giggling through Ace Ventura. And then those creeping negative thoughts from the insane heat suddenly blew away :)

Some pics of my new village Tsabong, my desert :)

My African Nights With the Help of Some Modern Technology

Peace Corps journey starting to get a bit strange, which means so am I! So don't mind the randomness :))

(Jotted this down on my phone late last night, saved it, and now I'm posting it, because that's what you do in Africa. If you don't have Internet at your convenience and fortunate to have electricity (like I do!), and you want to email someone you type it out on Word, or if you want to research something you make a note of it. Then hopefully by the time you find some wifi, you remember to post it, send it, or goggle it.)

"My African Nights With the Help of Some Modern Technology"

Not always, but since settling in my new village most days after work I get the chance to rockstar-it-out on the guitar for about an hour or so (more like fumble thru a few basic chords). Shortly after, I psych myself up to work out again and either go for a jog or pop in that psycho Insanity video. Following that I cook myself dinner (with no microwave usage). Then I compliment the home cooked meal with NBCs comedy Community (thanks Dominique Freeman) by plugging my external hard drive (thank you PCVs for the hundreds of movies/tv shows) to my laptop and have a few laughs while eating. Once the twenty-one minute comedy ends (that's with no commercials, meaning everyone back home who watches Community on tv wasted approximately 9 minutes of their life), its off to cleaning up the kitchen and turning on the electric kettle thingie to boil some hot water for the glorious African bucket bath. Jump in the tub, and slowly wash the desert stench off. Then it's time for some brain stimulation, so I unlock the Kindle,

click The Help (thanks Jess Chambless for the recommendation, and again Dominique for the dl) and begin where I left off the night before. Nine o'clock slowly rolls by, this means it's time for some chocolate motogo (motogo is Batswana porridge). Swallow that up. Finally, I turn on the Kindle for the last time, read for another hour or so, and then it's bed time.

Back in the US I'd be lucky to have the chance to do one of these activities in a night. So far, enjoying this African free night lifestyle (with the addition of all the technological gadgets).

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