Life in Gabs now has a sort of predictable routine. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I have my Demography of Botswana class at UB from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. and during those afternoons and on Tuesdays and Thursdays I get some computer work done in my office and try to make appointments to interview people. Public schools have been taking exams since March 14 and will be on break from April 5 to April 23, so no school visits again until late April. Friday afternoons I am typically at the Gaborone Public Library with Banabakgwale Association for the SDGs seminar for kids. Connecting with people to interview can be either surprisingly easy or amazingly difficult. I've taken to using Facebook to identify potential organizations and people, send a Facebook message and then if I'm lucky this leads to an exchange of WhatsApp numbers and/or local phone numbers and the communication progresses from there. A few professors at UB have been helpful, especially Dr. Kubanji, but for the most part I am left to my own devices. Once I connect with someone, say from a NGO, I ask for contact info for others that they recommend. E-mail is the least effective method of communication. A portion of my Inquiry Project focuses on better understanding efforts on the part of government, education and NGOs in Botswana to empower youth to contribute to sustainable development. The most interesting efforts are coming from the youth themselves, in particular those that have chosen to form NGOs and businesses to help fellow youth develop soft skills that are not generated by the educational system itself. This week I met with Laone of Young Minds Association. Young Minds is an NGO that focuses on youth unemployment using entrepreneurship as a tool and utilizes a three-step process: motivate, train and mentor. Young Minds will be offering trainings this week on the UB campus as part of an Entrepreneurship Week and also secured a contract with the U.S. Embassy to provide an upcoming 6-week entrepreneurship training for 50 youth. Laone explained to me the "blame game" surrounding youth unemployment, which now sits officially at 36%, but is in reality thought to be much higher. Botswana's employers say youth lack skills. Botswana's government and some members of the general public say youth are lazy and unwilling to take entry level jobs. The youth and their advocates say it is nearly impossible to be hired, even with a university degree. When youth organized a nonviolent unemployment protest in front of Parliament in 2016, they were beaten and jailed. A follow-up meeting this week with Sammy and Rati of The Botswana Youth Empowerment Projects offered further support for these ideas. Listen to their contribution to a BBC radio story about youth unemployment in Botswana. On Thursday I attended a Human Trafficking in Botswana Youth Conference organized by a group of 2018 Mandela Washington Fellows at the UB Conference Center. More than 200 youth attended the conference which included presentations by a survivor of human trafficking, representatives of the International Organisation for Migration, the Botswana Ministry of Defense, Justice & Security, the Botswana Department of Social Protection, the Gaborone City Council Mayor, the Deputy Chief of Mission for the U.S. Embassy Kali Jones, and brief comments by the new U.S. Ambassador to Botswana, Craig Cloud. The survivor of human trafficking spoke in Setswana, so I was not able to understand her story, but it was obvious from the reaction of the audience that it was riveting. The Q & A segments were thought-provoking and it was inspiring to see a room full of youth engaged and motivated to take action. On a global scale, Botswana is not a major destination or transit country for human trafficking, but trafficking is an issue of concern and HIV/AIDS orphans and unemployed youth in particular may be targets. The government of Botswana is currently assisting 31 identified victims of human trafficking. I journeyed to Gabone by combi once again with Tebatso and Motheo of Banabakgwale Association to visit the Head of School at Nare Sereto Junior Secondary School. When I visited the school last week we met with the Deputy School Head, but protocol requires that we meet with the actual Head of School before proceeding with our project. I am piggy backing on the work that Tebatso is doing with the after school ICT Club, hoping to survey those students and to engage them in a future SDGs-related Flipgrid dialogue with Stillwater students. Plans move slowly.
A wrinkle in these plans is that Tebatso was notified late Thursday that he has been accepted into the Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) Regional Leadership Center Cohort 17. I am so happy for him and all of the doors that this will open for him and as an American, proud of the Obama administration for launching this program that continues to positively impact many young leaders that I am meeting in Botswana. (As an alumnus of the U.S. Department of State Teachers for Global Classrooms program I scored 40 applications for this program back in 2014, which was fascinating.) When I asked what this opportunity means to him, Tebatso replied “It means growth”, with a big smile on his face. This does mean, however, that he will need to be in South Africa for the training from May 6th to May 23rd. So, we shall see how our plans at Nare Sereto progress.
2 Comments
Susan Dunn
3/31/2019 08:57:00 pm
I have been following along on your journey every couple of weeks. This is my first comment. Your calm approach and adaptability is such a remarkable trait! I am sure it contributes to your cultural competence. You keep finding a way to move forward! Well done Sara-keep connecting the dots. I, for one, am learning from you..
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Gretchen Damon
5/5/2019 10:05:56 am
Nice shout out to B. Obama!
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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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