Happy Birthday Zach!

Me & 16 year old Truth (the literal translation of his name) aka Stacks, one of the teen leaders of Teen Club Gaborone

I have yet to sleep in on this trip. Everyday there is something going on that I don't want to miss so yet again I sacrificed my weekend possible sleep in time but it was worth it! We met at Baylor at 8:30am to get ready and do some ice breakers. When everyone was standing in a circle it hit me that all of these young people are infected with HIV. I would like to say that I wasn't scared but there was a part of me that really was. I realize that the treatments are much more sophisticated

and that a number of these teens were not expected to live past their childhood and yet they are emerging into adulthood but the thought of living with this kind of disease is still very frightening to me. Eventually we headed to a nearby park and played sports with the older kids. Clare came, which was great because I had another athletically challenged person with me lol We chose to be on the tennis courts with some of the kids and played tennis (no net though), badmitton, and hula hooped. The kids were definitely better than me but that's not surprise! We got to meet some of the other volunteers and the Lindsay (the psychologist) who was very nice but super busy! We would love to work with her more but it's understandable that there is just too much going on at this moment. She said she will be out of the country again on Tuesday/Wednesday but hopefully we can discuss the group cirriculum when she gets back. I'm having difficulty finding information on HIV/AIDS Caregiver Support that I feel would be culturally appropriate. I'm hoping that they have some resources I can look at next week to get a better idea.

After teen club, Clare and I were worn out so we decided to nap. Unfortunately there were a dozen or so people in our apartment cooking a big birthday dinner for our roommates sister so it was a bit loud, even with ear plugs. I talked to Andrew for a little bit before finally falling asleep..I got about an hour in despite the noise so I can't complain too much. After I woke up I did some laundry the old fashion way and then got ready for our big night out. It was Zach's

birthday so most of the group headed to the Grand Palm casino. The place was AMAZING as we pulled up! I wish I could have gotten a picture but it was kind of dark and I

was in the back of the bus. We gambled for a little bit before one of the best meals I've ever had. Andrew asked me if was better than the Hacinda Sisel in Cancun, but I'm not sure I can really compare the two because it was different cuisine. Since the Gand Palm buffet didn't offer mexican which is a fav of mine, I will have to say Hacinda ranks first and Grand Palm is second lol Nonetheless, I stuffed my face...I included the pictures to prove it below lol I'm almost embarrassed to have these on here but what can I say, I wanted my P135 (a little over $25 dollars) worth haha I'm pretty sure I had 5 plates of food and thought my stomach was going to explode! After all my delicious desserts (apple pie a la mode, eclair, ice cream with sprinkles and chocolate chips) we went back to the casino while we waited for the bus. While we were there this Chinese woman came up Clare and asked her where she was from, then told her she was very pretty and insisted that she meet her husband. She literally drug her around the casino for a few minutes. She was a bit overbearing but I know she meant well. She did eventually get her husband and introduce them to Clare. It was kind of funny but I know Clare was a little thrown off!

After we left the casino we headed to Fashion Lounge. I liked how the bar was set up but there weren't very many people there initially. The bartenders said that people don't show up until 15 after midnight. Kind of late to pay the kind of cover they were charging! We've come to the conclusion that the 20 of us bring the party wherever we are anyway so it didn't make much of a difference. I was so exhausted from being up all day and running around but I got pretty tired so I had sit down for a little bit. It was still a lot of fun to take Zach out and he seemed to be having a really good time! Below are some of the other pictures I have from the night.

Zach's bday cake at the Grand Palm Casino restaurant and birthday shots with friends!

Meg & I at Fashion Lounge and the whole kombi on the way back from Zach's bday celebration

Linga Longa

Botswana-Baylor Children's Clinic Centre of Excellence

The last couple days have been basically the same. Wake up at 6:45 or 7, sometimes shower.. other times just get ready for work and hop online to read whatever message Andrew has sent me and write him back before UB blocks facebook for the day lol then we head to breakfast from 8-8:30 and walk to Baylor during which my feet are usually nearly frozen. Note to self: when they say its winter it's probably smart to bring shoes that cover your feet at least for the mornings and evenings! After dodging several lanes of traffic and probably almost getting hit by kombis because I continue to look the wrong way before crossing we make it to the clinic and head to the Visiting Scholar's room. We've been continuing to compile information for the Caregivers Adherence Brochure and were almost done. We just need to meet with Mmapula to make sure we got all the info she wanted and edit out some of less important info and decide how to best articulate the concepts. Bakani (the social worker) and Lindsay (the psychologist) have been wanting to create a couple different groups. Kate and I are try9ing to determine what we cand o to assist in this process and have decided to focus on the Caregivers Support Group and Child/Adolescent Grief and Breavement group. We hope to create a cirriculum that they can use once they set the group sup as the screening process has yet to be completed.

Some of the art from inside the conference room at Baylor

In the mornings we run the play group which is basically just hanging out with the little kids and playing games as they wait for their appointments. Yesterday I hula-hooped with a little girl for awhile and then played some soccer with the boys. Two young girls taught me some hand clap games they play. One was called Shakah and the other they sang to the ABC's song. Today I played badmitton with a couple different groups of kids and then sat with one of the boys who seemed pretty tired after only a few minutes of activity. He told me was 10 years old and about to turn 11 in a few days. I would have guessed he was 6 or 7 based on his size, his language on the other hand definitely gave way to his older age as he spoke nearly perfect English to me. He told me all about his family: his younger brother and two younger sisters. Apparently his one sister was bitten by a snake but said it wasn't that bad lol He also said that they don't live with him and that he is currently not going to school because he wants to go to a better school but has to wait for his parents to have the money to send him. He told me he had 4 dogs and 2 cats (which I found surprising since most people in Botswana do not like pets and especially not cats) but that his neighbor killed his dog as revenge, but he didn't say revenge for what. He said that some bad men came into his house and stole his television and that his father had to call the police. His mother was with him at the clinic and came out at one point. He told me she said that he could stay and talk to me until he was done. We probably talked for another 15 minutes and then I encouraged him to meet up with her because I felt bad that she has been waiting. I walked him up to meet her and she was very nice. I told her what a nice young boy he was and she seemed to appreciate the compliment. I wonder if I'll see him again since most of the kids only come in once a month. After that some of the older girls sat down with me and I helped them make some bracelets out of this random string we had laying around. They were pretty excited about them and I have one too! Some of the other girls in my group were saying that the little kids love their hair and run their hands through it all the time which I hadn't previously experienced but today while we were making the bracelets they kept touching my hair and going on and on about it in Setswana...finally one of the girls told me that they were saying I had smooth hair and they really liked it haha

Wedneday night we decided not to go out and watch the game and to just hang in instead. Kind of a bummer considering the U.S. upset Spain in futbol. Probably would have been really fun to watch with a bunch of the locals and other international vistors but we played some catch phrase, which of course I enjoyed. I got to call Andrew from skype and talked to him for about 12 minutes so that was nice. You never really realize how much you miss a person's voice until you hear it again! He's been good about sending me little messages every chance he gets so that's definitely helped but nonetheless it was nice to talk to him!

Last night (Thursday) we went to Linga Longa at Riverwalk to watch the Brazil/South Africa game. Josh and J.W. from work came also so it was a good time. It was a pretty crowded place so we had to stand the whole time ugh but we were only there til 10:45ish. Everyone wants to try and get tickets the U.S./Brazil game this Sunday so we'll see what happens with that!

The only thing different about today at work is we went out to lunch at Main Mall..there were actually quite a few of us: Me, Kate, J.W., Josh, Ed, Stu, Lisa & Maryah so it was nice to get to know a few other people. We went to KFC lol and it tasted pretty much like it does in the States. I particularly enjoyed their mash & gravy but was slightly disappointed that they didn't have mac & cheese or even some kind of variation. They do not seem to eat cheese here at all which I find disturbing because to me,

cheese is its own food group separate from dairy lol

1st Pic: Roommates (Kate, Mandy, Me & Clare) at Linga Longa

2nd Pic: Baylor Scholars (Me, Josh, Kate & J.W.)

I'm not really sure what the plan is tonight but I know we cancelled dinner...people were talking about going to get pizza (we all miss it!) or maybe I'll eat the P&J I had originally packed for lunch lol Clare had said something about going to see a movie (the Hangover, which I didn't get a chance to see before leaving) and some other people mentioned going to Bull & Bush again or somewhere similar. Whatever the case, I'm sure it will be fun. Go siame! (Goodbye: pronounced Ho see-ah-may)

5 Cow Special

I had my first day at BIPAI and it started off a little rough. We all loaded on to the bus and began to get dropped off. The advisors dropped us off and came into to ensure we were received. Unfortunately, the current program coordinator didn't know that we were specifically coming and was a little thrown off. He was really nice though and kept saying it wasn't out fault but that it does cause some problems because they have certain protocol that they follow pretty strictly. He took Kate and I into a conference room to ask some questions about our education background, experience, goals for our time there, interests, etc. He was really nice and helpful and seems to feel confidently that we can find some way to get involved. The staff psychologist and social worker were both out of the office today. The SW came back later and we met with her briefly before we headed home and will meet tomorrow afternoon to do paperwork and other logistical tasks.

After meeting with Dr. Ryan we met Ed who is in charge of a lot of their work with teenagers invited us to work with him and to go to their Teen Club meeting this Saturday. http://botswanateenclub.wordpress.com/ They get together once a month with adolescents and play sports and offer educational information about HIV/AIDS and provide life skills training. This Saturday they will be doing football drills (remember, that's soccer in the States) and doing a crime prevention lesson. Kate and I are going to attend and Clare said she's interested in going too so I hope it's a good experience.

Stu took us down the play group area which is typically outside in a decently open space that also has tables so kids can play with blocks, legos, read books, color, etc. But when it's colder or raining they have the group in under the stairwell which is a pretty small space. It would be great if they could somehow get a covering for the outside area and an outdoor heater to keep it warmer. I spent most of my time helping a little guy build a lego house. He was so adorable. I taught him how to give me five and he would just get the biggest smile on his face every time I put out my hand. It was a little weird knowing that all the kids we were with had HIV or AIDS, not because of the disease itself but because they seemed so lively and smart. A couple of them knew very good English which seemed surprising since they appeared quite young and we were told that English isn't usually taught until they are 6 years old. They helped teach us some words also so it was a learning experience. I need to write down some common sentences so that I can refer to it and communicate better with them as Setswana is mostly the preferred language of the kids.

We went to the "Visiting Scholars" office with Stu (another intern from Michigan State) and we were able to get on the computer and read some more material about the organization. We also met a few other interns: Josh, Lisa, JW and a new employee B2. I was reading about these Hero Books that they have children create which seemed really interesting but also seemed like they would take a long time to complete. http://botswanateenclub.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/making_a_hero_book.pdf But I really like the concept of them and it reminded me of the Lifebook Shawna (another intern at OU's Counseling & Psychological Services) had told me a lot of Social Workers utilize with adopted children.

By the time we ate lunch, I was absolutely starving. I felt like I had a hearty breakfast and I'm still amazed that I get hungry for meals because of how much I eat during them but apparently I'm just burning right through the calories! Stu, JW & Josh took us out to the Main Mall area to get some food. I didn't catch the name of the place but it was traditional Botswana cuisine and really good. After that we headed back but it was pretty much time for us to leave. We lucked out because we are only about 5 minutes from our organization so we can walk to and from and avoid the long bus ride others have to take. Everyone was really friendly and seem like they do a lot of stuff together, they already invited us to hang out this weekend so we might go do something fun, it will just depend on everything else we have going on. The name of this post actually comes from lunchtime.. as we were walking to Main Mall, Stu was telling me how on a number of occasions mothers have offered him their young daughters because they want them to marry white men. A lot of families still use a dowry system which is why they would tell him you can have my daughter for 5 cows...this is a special price as the traditional village we went to said that 8-9 cows was standard, hence, 5 cow special.

We got back at like 3:30 in the afternoon and I decided to take a little nap. It was realively short lived as most of my naps here have been. I swear I can hear every little thing, and it probably doesn't help that I'm the room closets to the outside hall because I hear everyone coming in and out of their apts. After some other people got back we attempted to go to the bookstore but it was closed. Everything closes really early here. Then we headed to our first meeting to discuss how everyone's first day and first week has been. A couple people shared moments that really made them uncomfortable while they have been here. I'm grateful that they did share those stories even though it seemed difficult for them because it really helped put some things in perspective for me and will force me to keep remembering that being the minority carries certain implications unfortunately.

One of the downfalls of this place is that because it is a clinic there are a lot of regulations and we cannot take pictures or anything like that. It's was kind of a bummer to see other peoples pictures with the kid and how cute they look and to just see all the stuff they do and know that I can't really offer that for my friends and family. They do have awesome art work everywhere and the clinic tends to not to have very many clients after 3pm so I'm going to run around with my camera and get some snap shots of the things I like which I can post.

Well that's about it for today... I'm going to go over to the boys room and watch a movie and organize some things for tomorrow!