SexEd, Dinaletsana and good luck poop?!?!

Well folks...we’re almost at the ONE year mark! I’ve been thinking a lot about the fact that I’ve been here for a year now...because we’re getting a new group (Bots10) on April 3rd! Crazy to think that a year ago around this time-I was saying good-bye to everyone and trying to pack for 2 years into 2 luggage bags! Im sad to have to say goodbye to some good friends in Bots8, as they get ready to leave soon...but also excited to welcome new faces in a couple of weeks!
So what have I been up to?? A LOT actually!!

Youth Clubs: I think last I mentioned, I was struggling a bit to get my students to open up! Well, in 1 of my clubs, I still somewhat struggle...but I think Ive come to find that its just going to take some time! One of my clubs has about 20 regular kids and we meet on Thursdays; and the other club has about 60 regular students and we meet on Fridays. So far this term we’ve talked about values, self-esteem, study skills, time management, and last week I made a Jeopardy game with sexual health facts in honor of MYAA. (March is the Month of Youth Against AIDS.) While I was making the Jeopardy game, I started getting really nervous...Never thought I would be giving a presentation on SexEd! We found out from the Jeopardy game that the students wanted to learn more about the menstrual cycle...the lesson was supposed to happen last week-but didnt since there was too much going on before break. Ha looks like i’ll have many more SexEd discussions to come...
Right now the students are on a break; and hopefully in the 2nd term-we’ll get into deeper topics like relationships, substance abuse, gender based violence, hiv/aids, etc.

And this week the head guidance and counseling teacher at one of the schools asked me if I would be willing to teach a time management/study skills lesson to all the classes!! This is a really important topic that im glad the teachers have asked me to do!

SOS Kindergarten: Awhile back, one of the other volunteer’s mother was visiting from the US and brought toothbrushes and toothpaste for the kids; so we did a short lesson on the importance of brushing! This month, I decided to do a nutrition lesson with the book-A Very Hungry Catepillar. I printed off pictures of all the different fruits the catepillar eats; and told the kids to hold up their fruits when I read them aloud in the book. Than we talked about how many fruits and vegetables we should be eating; instead of sweets! Unfortunately, I dont think most of them understood my lesson, since most of them dont speak a lot of english,. But I think the enjoyed the story, looking at the pictures, and maybe...just maybe one of them got something out of it!!
I have also been spending more time, helping out in the baby class. I really love spending time with the little ones! Theres one little boy that is always singing Sean Kingston..and hes only 2!! haha he must have an older brother or sister! Even though they are SUPER cute...I have now been pooped on twice, and would greatly appreciate it if they would stop that!! haha Someone told me its good luck?! Clearly whoever said that...hasnt been pooped on before!

Baobab PS: Another volunteer and myself are teaching a service learning club at a private school in Gaborone. We talked a bit about what service-learning is; the problems our community faces; and what we can do to help. We will have a different set of students each term; and this term the students have decided to focus on children’s issues. Just last week, my class went on a field trip to Dinaletsana-which is a center for kids with disabilities. I found Dinaletsana-and ended up talking to the woman who started it-and turns out shes an OT! The students got to meet some of the kids from the center; played some sensory games together; and helped put handprints on the outside of the center for decoration. The students are also having a candy guess fundraiser to raise money for children in need. We will also be hosting a movie day event this Saturday--in which we have asked students from a remote village (without electricity) to come into Gaborone (many of them have never been) and watch a movie together. In preparation for this fun day, my students will be looking at their daily schedules; and comparing them to student’s from the other village. We are trying to get our students to appreciate what they have; to share and spend time with those who are less fortunate.

On a side note, the founder of Dinaletsana has also agreed to let me shadow her during her OT sessions!! She knows I’ll be here for a year, and so we’re hoping to work more together and see more of what she does here!

PSDN Training: A few weeks ago I also had my PSDN training! We talked a lot about different issues volunteers face and preparations for the new group! A new group of volunteers (Bots10) will be coming on April 3rd! They’ll take part in PST in Kanye this year; and I’ll get to go down a couple of times to be there for support and to answer questions; and hopefully I’ll also get to present with another volunteer on team building exercises.

I feel like I'm forgetting to mention something...mm who knows.

Also, some of you may have heard about the Peace Corps 50th Anniversary. I mentioned in an email to check out the Live Like a PCV Challenge see if you can hack it like a Botswana volutneer. www.livelikeapcv.org

I also wanted to post a video that was made about Botswana. http://vimeo.com/20912048
(I got a call from the Acting CD; asking if she could film some of my students for this video...so I managed to get it to work...but found out my kids got cut!!
:(

And lastly, I encourage many of you to check out and if possible, donate to:
www.botswanbookproject.org Im not 100% sure if places in my village will benefit from such a great project-but i do MANY other villages with PCVs will benefit. I will most certainly be helping to sort books when the shipment comes in a couple of months!!

Up Next: Celebrating my 1 year anniversary since arrival in April!! Im heading to Namibia April 10th!! Then I’ll be down in Kanye with the new Bots10 group for PST! And im heading to Takotokwane to help lead a team building workshop!