Life in Maun

Since coming to Africa, I have had more sick days than you can imaging. I knew that there would be a few new bugs in my system and that I should expect a few days of feeling under the weather, but it seems to never end. Over the past few years I seem to be sick about two days a month with flu or general stomach issues.

I thought maybe it was just me and that there was something wrong, but alas no. Most of the friends I have here that are expats tell me they experience the same thing and that this is just part of living here. I guess there are many different bugs and germs around here than back in Canada and my system is still encountering new attackers.

So my resolution is this, just deal with it with as little whinning as possible.

 

B

Life really goes by too quickly.
I post a blog entry and the next thing you know months have gone by and I have not added to it. Well I know that life is busy, bt today I got shocked and I realize I have to slow down and appreciate what I have and every day that I live.

I was sitting with Willis last night reading when we heard over our 911 emergency radio (this is a system here in Maun that was established so that if there is any trouble, you call on the radio and your neighbours run to assist) that a mokoro ( a type of boat like a canoe) had been attacked by a hippo. As WIllis and I listened, he commented that this was not something we were likely to hear back in Canada.
Right in next door to where we live there is a mokoro launch and we also have a resident hippo in the river just infront. I ran out of the house to see if I could assist, but when I got to the river I could see no one. I realized the attack must be further up the river.
We listened a while longer and it became apparent that there were some missing people, but also some people had made it to shore.

In the morning, after dropping Willis at school I got to work and my assistant Reuben came in and asked me if I was ok. I asked why wouldn’t I be? He informed me that our good friends OMG (pronounced Oh-Ma-Gee), Zhie and Buddha wer on the mokoro that had been attacked and that both Buddha and OMG didn’t make it out of the water. To say the least I was stunned.

Since I have arrived in Africa I have really reached out and tried to make friends with the local population. For reasons I don’t understand, this has been very difficult. It may be culture or language or some other reason, but it is hard for me to build a friendship here with Motswana. There are a few exceptions.

I have a good friend about four hours from Maun whom I really enjoy spending time with. And then I have OMG and Zhie.

I met Zhie through work and we hit it off. She is switched on and is full of life and just a little crazy. She introduced me to both OMG and Budha. Budha was a great guy who went from Botswana to Florida to study Aviation Engineering and came home and was ready to light the world on fire. OMG was a tall skinny Rastafarian dude who worked as a professional guide and a young caring father.

OMG and I struck up a very unlikely friendship. We really had nothing in common, but I think there was a mutual admiration for each others knowledge. OMG would take me out to the bush camping. It was not uncommon for him to jump out of the vehicle to examine the tracks of some animal we were tracking. He was always willing to explain to me what he was looking for. He knew every bird and every mammal he saw. He knew the bush like the back of his hand and he loved being out there.

Last year OMG, Zhie and I took a group of Inuit kids who were visiting from Canada, out to Nxaii Pans camping. At night, under a 3000 year old baobab tree we had a fire going and then OMG starts to sing some Botswana drinking songs. These were then followed by Inuit throat singing and then pretty soon we had ourselves an Botswana/Inuit mash up that I will remember forever. It was a gret night.

This past summer, when Robin came to visit us, OMG lent us his land rover so that we could see the rough terrain and bush of Botswana. It really made the trip amazing.

A couple times a week OMG would pass by my office for a cup of tea and we would chat about business. I have been building his website for the past few months and just recently came by with all sorts of pictures for it. Amazing pictures.

So this morning, when I heard that OMG had drowned after a hippo had upended his mokoro, I was shocked and deeply saddened. I worry that his young children will be all right and I am reminded of how special life is. It makes no sense. In a country where men regularly walk away from family responsibilities, OMG was always there for his kids. It makes no sense.

I am thankful Zhie survived the tragic events, but I worry for her as she has to deal with her two best friends, her support, being snatched away.
After the mokoro was flipped OMG had made it to shore and was seen by Zhie and Ashley (the other survivor). It is assumed that he returned to the water to help Budha, who was a non-swimmer. from what I knew of OMG, this is probably true. He was just that kind of a guy.

During Robins visit we went to the Chobe River near Kasane. this is about 5 hours drive from where we live and is rich with animal life. During this video you will see one continuous shot with hippos, croks, monitor lizard, Cape buffalo, Ibis, Letzwe.

A few days back on a vacation to Vic Falls with Jude , Willis and Robin, who is visiting form Canada, we were lookng into the gorge which is awe inspiring. Robin felt it would be a good idea to jump into it. Crazy. Crazy. Crazy.
I will upload more picts and stories about the trip but check this out for now.

In July 2010 Judith and Willis and I went to Nxaii Pans with or friends the Suttons (Jo, Gareth, Mahli, Oli and Louis). It is a spectacularly alien landscape dotted with massive Baobab Trees. The wildlife is also spectacular.

One of the things that I really like about our life here in Botswana is that we are very connected to our food source. Back home it is pretty easy to forget the effort that goes into producing our food and the sacrifice the  animals make for our dinners. (I always love the thought that the chicken is committed to breakfast in a totally different way that the pig has committed.)

Anyhow, as I was saying, here in Maun, we are very connected to our food. We know Jill who grows all the lettuce and peppers and herbs that we eat. Gavin and Nickie grow our tomatoes. The beef we eat is roaming the streets of Maun and the fields around us and is slaughtered and butchered at Joos Butchery, There is no antibiotics or any hormones or preservatives. The fruit doesnt look as perfect as it does in Lablaws, but man does it ever taste good. Remember as a kid how when you bit into a peach the juice dribbled down your chin? I had forgotten that because back home the fruit looks terrific and travels well from the factory farms in California, but tastes like nothing.

Well to get on with the story, this past few weeks we have been getting really connected to our food. Willis for some reason has decided that he wants to try hunting. I don’t know where this comes from because I have a real aversion to hunting. Not that I am opposed to it or think it is bad or evil, I just don’t like killing. Actually the killing isn’t the tough part, its the dying.  The times that I have taken a life, the animal has ended up suffering and that is what I struggle with. But I don’t want to hold Willis back from his desire to snuff out a life for the sake of a meal, so I stuffed my own squeemishness and facilitated his bloodlust.

I also don’t want Willis to be traumatized if he is to go hunting and a large Kudu is killed. I felt he needs to work his way up to an actual hunting expedition, so we agreed that he would first slaughter a chicken, then a goat then if all goes well we will go hunting Kudu at a farm that raises them for this purpose.

A few weeks back I talked to my friend Zhee to see if she would assist us in killing and preparing a chicken. No problem. The next day Willis and I went to Zhee’s place and found a chicken running around her yard. Willis caught it, thanked it for its sacrifice, then proceeded, with Zhee (dressed in a mini skirt) assisting, to cut off the head, pluck and then prepare the chicken. We went home and had a delicious chicken dinner.

Well  this past weekend Willis graduated onto a goat. Again with Zhee, we went out to the north of Maun to a small village called Thsetsubeka. This is rural africa like you would imagine, small huts in the middle of a scrub bush with families eaking out an existence from the land, raising goats and living a very traditional life. Zhee knows this village well and we were all greeted like we were family.

We walked down a path away from the village and found two men, one whos name I have forgotten, and the other who insisted, in Setswana, we call him Uncle. These two older men were in the midst of carving out a mokoro, a traditional wooden canoe. They had an enourmous tree carved out and we could see the boat taking shape as the swung homemade axes. Uncle was particularly robust and filled with laughter. His effort was remarkable considering he has an artificial leg and is missing an eye.

Zhee asked Uncle about a goat and he happily responded that he would get us one. So off he went, I assumed to a crawl nearby while we wandered to the village to wait. In the village Michael, Zhee’s son and Willis started playing with th kids while I sat down and chatted (with translation) to an old woman who was weaving a basket. She claimed to be nearly blind but her work was intricate and very beautiful.

After an hour or so we wandered down to the river. This didn’t seem to be such a big deal except that the river has only been there three times in the past 70 years or so. The water in the Delta is so high this year that water is making its path along areas it has not been in many years. It is beautiful, clear and devine.

After two hours we wandered back to see if Uncle was back with the goat. No such luck. We hoped into the car and drove to find him a few Kilometers away still trying to find the herd. He told us to return to the village and that he would be along with the goat in a donkey cart he had nearby.

Back at the village I started playing with the kids and taking pictures. The Botswana are very playful and love to pose for pictures. So after taking some shots and looking at them I noticed some kids gathered on a mat. a boy about 14 years old took a bag and carefully administered medicine to about 6 kids. This is the reality of Africa. The rural population has been devastated by HIV/Aids and the ARVs that these kids were taking is what keeps them alive. A week without them is a death sentence.

I was getting nervous because the sun was going to set soon and we were still over an hour from a tar road, so we decided to head off and return the next day for the goat. We said good-bye and headed off. About 2 minute down the road we ran into Uncle with the goat bound in the cart. THis caused a dilema because I thought the goat would be in the cooler box by the time we headed back, but we didn’t have time to slaughter it. So the cooler box got moved to the kids laps in the backseat, and the goat, bound and alive, got put into the back of our 4 x4. The goat was calm and settled and everything was fine as we said good-bye and thanks to Uncle.

Driving to the tar road was fairly uneventful except that whenever we hit a bump the goat would nay and kick and scare the crap out of us. We did however make it uneventfully back to Maun where we deposited the goat at Zhees house.

Sunday morning, we got up and went to do the dirty deed. I won’t go into detail too much except to say that Willis did the deed, cut the neck and skinned the animal. Every bit of the goat was used, from the stomach to the hooves. In fact, as I write this, I have goat curry cooking on the stove.

Life in Africa is different from London Ontario, but you know, its not better or worse, just different. I am loving this journey.

On Friday June 4th I (Jude) celebrated my 40th birthday and what a day it was. The only thing that could have possibly made it any better was if my mother (we share the same birthday, June 4th) was with me. On a side note my father celebrates his birthday on June 5th. ( for more pics click here)

On to my most amazing birthday. I started the day driving Willis to school for 7:45am start and Friday Assembly (assembly every friday). Every week the school sings happy birthday to the past weeks birthday people…so guess what…I started the day with Matshwane Primary School singing happy birthday to me. Pretty sweet. Then off to spinning class, I’m teaching now 2 spinning classes a week. Fun, fun, fun. Quick trip home to take a shower and get ready for a Birthday horse back ride with a picnic lunch with my very good friend Helen Apps. The ride ended up being 3 hours long.
Then off to my other very good friend Leeann’s home on the Boro River for a quick rest before Belly Dancing Class. Leeann is our most amazing Belly Dancing Instructor (by the way in the morning I was instructed by Blair that I was not to come back to the house until after Belly Dancing, 6:45pm or so.)

I arrive home to a lantern lit (paper bags with sand and candles) path leading to the back of the house where there are another 50 or so lanterns – From the roof top patio I see that it reads ” I ‘heart’ mom” – Willis had spent the afternoon placing the lanterns just right. A local Batswana choir serenades me in to the house with traditional songs and dancing. We had amazing Indian curries for dinner followed by Karaoke. Oh my gosh! What fun! I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time. Once again I get serenaded to- you know it – Hey Jude – the worst rendition of Hey Jude I’ve ever heard. It was absolutely awesome!

My friends Leeann, Yolanda and Amber had gotten together and made the most amazing Barbie Doll Cake – A Goth Fairy Barbie Doll Cake. Her dress was made with black and purple icing and sparkles, lots and lots of sparkles. It was the very first Barbie Doll cake I have ever had and it was the most beautiful cake I’ve seen. It was awesome!!!!!! I soooo did not want to cut into my cake. Finally I bow to peer pressure and cut the cake. There must have been 50 people at the party and Blair organized everything! I was and am still blown away… I will never forget it.

Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice — and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.

I do have a great position here in Botswana. My work with the Ngamiland Council of Non Governmental Organizations is very rewarding. Most days I spend working with different NGO’s assisting them to address various issues that are troubling them. Most of the groups I work with are HIV/AIDS focused and have terrifically dedicated people working for them. Without exception all of them have projects which in a first world country would be demanding, here the barriers to success are overwhelming.

In order to get a complete picture of the situation, I went on a trip throughout Ngamiland and interviewed all of the NGO’s and Civil Based Organizations. I took along my asssistant Reuben who is a great kid who is an absolute sponge when it comes to learning new things. Willis was on a school break, so he and Jude came along as well.

We travelled North from Maun to Shakawe, then down the Okavango River to Seronga. We stopped in at Tsodillo Hills where the Tocadi Trust, headed up by a friend of mine Galefele, administers the park where there are 4500 cave drawings dating back 3000 years.

It was a great trip. I will write more when I have time.

Please check out the pictures.

Our internet has been great the past few days so I took advantage and uploaded some pics. Check them out
click here