“I live in Kanye with Ms.
Koloi”
I will
use this post to provide a somewhat general introduction to my host family, my
host family’s home and then some of the acronyms I will probably use in my
subsequent blog posts.
To begin
I will introduce my host family. My host mom’s official name is Dinah Koloi,
although I have never heard her called by this name, most people call her by
nick names and I just call her Mma Koloi. She is 50 years old, a divorcee, and
an important person in the local community. She is a Chancellor/ Counselor (I
am unsure what the term directly translates to in English as I have heard
both). What this means is that she is an elected official, elected by her ward
(part of town) to serve in what is effectively a town council role. Elections
are held every five years, and she is currently serving in the third year of
her second term, thus has been in office for eight years. However unofficially
this means that she is very involved in her community in many ways including
but not limited to advising members on personal matters, speaking at ceremonies
such as weddings and funerals, driving constituents to the hospital, etc. She
is always busy. Besides these roles she is often also taking care of my host
niece, her 6 month old granddaughter.
This
leads me to my host sister, Matlhohonolo (who goes by a nickname that I am
unable to spell). She is 27, and my host niece, 6 month old ‘Natasha’ is her
daughter. She graduated from the University of Botswana with a degree in
Accounting and works for the government in the capital of Gaborone. She is
extremely hard working, working 7 days a week most weeks, leaving before 7 am
and often not getting home until after 8 am factoring in her daily 2 hour
commute. When she arrives home then she spends what precious time she has with
her daughter. The baby’s father left when he found out she was pregnant, and
thus she is raising her daughter on her own with help from her family and
community. I asked once about how child support in Botswana works, she informed
me that in order to claim child support you must file through the Magistrate
Court, similar to in the US. However when I asked whether she received child
support she said no, that it is popular belief in Botswana that if a woman
files for child support and the man does not want to pay that he can go to the
witches and have her cursed. While she knows logically this is untrue, she is
still reluctant to file for support. This will be the first of many gender
inequalities that I will write about, as well as the first of many myths that
perpetuate through society.
Secondly
I have my host brother, Thato. He is 16 and in Form Four, meaning he will
graduate high school in a year and a half. I find him the easiest to relate two
because he is often home, and his English is very good. But besides this he is
also very responsible, sweet, helpful and smart. Thato has shown me how to do
most everything at home, is the one who is sent to check up on me, and as the
youngest takes on much responsibility in the home such as cooking, cleaning,
taking care of his niece etc. He has his moments when he is what I would call a
‘typical’ 16 year old boy in the US, but for the most part children here grow
up with so much responsibility in the home that by his age they are much more
capable than most 16 year olds I knew back home.
Finally
I have two older host brothers whom I have not met. They are 29 and 32 and live in Gaborone. I
sometimes feel as though my host family is much larger though, because Botswana
is such a communal culture that the home is always filled with neighbors,
family, friends, colleagues etc. Also if you are in someone’s home and a meal
is served, you will be served a plate. From an outsider perspective this making
meal planning a bit chaotic, but somehow there is always just enough in the
pot.
To move
on to my host family’s home, it is a well built and seemingly new building on a
large plot. The ceiling is made of wood, and floor of tile and the house is
kept very clean, excluding the kitchen. While the house is set up for indoor
plumbing it has not worked since long before my arrival. Due to drought we
often do not even have water coming from the standpipe. We keep water stored
outside for washing and in a large barrel in the kitchen for drinking and
cooking. I once attempted to carry a 25 liter jug of water from the standpipe
to the house…let’s just say my attempted prompted a good laugh from Thato.
Adjusting to bucket bathing is not too difficult, the only challenging being my
hair. The advantage of living in Botswana is that tap water is generally
potable. The only times that I worry are when water is stored in unclean
containers, particularity when I get to the bottom of the barrel as there is often
a lot of dirt and debris in the water.
I am
sure that as time goes on I will speak more of my host family and I hope to be
able to post photos of my host family and their home to my Facebook, they
should be available there in the near future.
Finally I just want to quickly run though a few acronyms
relevant to Peace Corps and to development and HIV/AIDS just so I don’t end up
explaining them each time I use them.
Acronyms:
Peace Corps
CCB:
Community Capacity Builder
COS:
Close of Service
DAC: District
AIDS Coordinator
DCL: District Community Liaison
ET:
Early Termination
IST:
In-Service Training
LCF:
Language and Cross-Cultural Facilitator
MST:
Mid-Service Training
NGO:
Non-Governmental Organization
PCMO:
Peace Corps Medical Officer
PCV:
Peace Corps Volunteer
PST:
Pre-Service Training
RPCV:
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer
Development and HIV/AIDS
AIDS:
Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome
ARV:
Antiretroviral Therapy
CBO:
Community Based Organization
CDC:
Centers for Disease Control
CSO:
Civil Society Organization
FBO:
Faith Based Organization
NACA:
National AIDS Coordinating Agency
NGO:
Non-Governmental Organization
PLWHIV:
People Living with HIV
PMTCT:
Prevention of Mother To Child Transmission
UNDP:
United Nations Development Programme
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