This week included UB classes, interviews, a few mango and moringa seedlings planted, a litter clean-up and a spectacular show of national pride. On Monday I met with Charity of Botswana Network for Mental Health. My goal was to learn about the work she is doing to support in-school youth, out-of-school youth and unemployed youth. Like so many young Batswana, Charity has a passion and a strong work ethic, yet little to no funding for her work. Specific to the Botswana setting, youth struggle with mental health issues related to HIV/AIDS, gender based violence, test anxiety (exam scores determine secondary school access and government sponsorship for post-secondary education), and job seeking. Charity’s awareness raising and advocacy work aims to reduce stigma associated with mental health issues and to improve mental health education in order to build psychological resilience in youth. Charity began our conversation by sharing her personal struggle with depression. In her words, she shares openly because she has found that “we are motivated by people with a story”. I also connected with Katherine, a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer now serving her fourth year. Her first three years were spent in the village of Ramotswa and as a fourth-year extender, she is now assigned to the Botswana Ministry of Health. Botswana is considered a “middle income country”, so Peace Corps work here is focused strictly on HIV/AIDS issues. We talked specifically about an assessment of government-sponsored Youth Friendly Family Planning Clinics that she has contributed to. Have It All (linked below) is an excellent video produced by the U.S. Embassy about PEPFAR and Botswana’s “Treat All” program. On Tuesday I interviewed Tshepo of the Botswana Student Network. The Botswana Student Network connects youth to government, business and community organizations to network and serve. Tshepo is also someone with a story that motivates his work. He scored poorly on his exams at the end of Form 5 (equivalent to U.S. grade 12) and therefore did not qualify for Botswana government sponsorship of his post-secondary education. His family sponsored him to go to Cyprus for university, where he excelled in a setting less focused on memorization and more focused on application and had his eyes opened to a wider world. Due to financial constraints he returned home to Botswana after two semesters dedicated to helping youth who may have difficulty passing exams, but do have skills and talents that they can develop to find purpose in their lives and support themselves economically. Tshepo explained that young Batswana who do not move on to Senior Secondary school or university may become discouraged, not see a path to life success, have children at a young age and continue a cycle of poverty. Tuesday I was also at the United Nations building in Gaborone’s government enclave to interview Boago of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). This was a connection that I was able to make thanks to Rebecca Kubanji of the UB Population Studies Department. As a United Nations fan, it was fun just to be in the building! UNFPA work in Botswana focuses on family planning, maternal health and HIV/AIDS with a special concern for gender equality, human rights and youth. Our discussion focused on demographic dividend and U.N. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) issues, in particular populations that continue to have an unmet need for family planning (low income, rural, teens and HIV/AIDS infected), Botswana’s stubbornly high maternal mortality ratio and the need for alignment of data collection and storage so that consistent analysis can be done at the global, regional and local scale by the United Nations, African Union, Southern African Development Community (SADC) and Botswana government. As a Human Geography teacher, it is interesting to be in a place where people and organizations talk consistently and positively about population policy and development partners. As far as I know, the U.S. does not have a “population policy”, just partisan bickering about family planning, abortion rights and immigration. The U.S. and Russia are the two countries doing the least to implement the SDGs at the national level. In the Trump era, some states and cities are stepping up to fill the federal void. Friday was the weekly Banabakgwale Association's SDGs Seminar for kids. Tebatso brought mango and moringa seedings for the kids to help plant as a 2019 Global Youth Service Day activity. On Saturday, he and his Banabakgwale colleagues organized speakers and a litter pick for high school and college aged youth. The spectacular show of national pride was Saturday’s Botswana Defence Force (BDF) Day at the National Stadium near UB. President Masisi and former President Ian Khama were in attendance and it was quite the event. Marching bands, dancers and singers, canine, horse, tug of war and obstacle course competitions between military branches, a “drama” in which the BDF saved the day, soldiers rappelling from the huge stadium light fixtures and flyovers by military helicopters, cargo planes and combat planes. Pictures below, courtesy of Botswana government photographers.
2 Comments
Susanna Halliday Miller
4/23/2019 11:27:32 am
Wow! It's been so interesting to read through this experience in Botswana. Thank you for your thoughtful blogging!
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Gretchen Damon
5/5/2019 10:15:03 am
I agree that having a story is powerful in reaching people listening to your cause. It's very true with survivors of gun violence when we go to the capitol and talk to lawmakers, as part of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense. Speaking of Service Day, Matt and I were at Battle Creek Regional Park, picking up trash on April 27 as part of Earth Day. It's appalling what people leave around in a park.
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About MeA 9th grade AP Human Geography and Global Studies teacher at Stillwater Area High School in Stillwater, Minnesota, USA, living and learning in Gaborone, Botswana from January to June 2019 as a Fulbright Teacher. Archives
June 2019
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