So we are officially Peace Corps Volunteers. We swore in last Tuesday with the former president of Botswana, the US Ambassador, among lots of other important people. We arrived in Shakawe last Friday night after a long two day trip. Shakawe is beautiful. We are right on the Okavango River so there are tons of trees, birds, crocs and hippos. Our house isn't ready yet, but we are staying in Matt's counterpart's house while she's on vacation. We started work at our respective organizations. Bridgette's organization had a huge fire in the pre-school/day care building and 2 of the 3 staff members are quitting, so it is an interesting time! We also went to our other organization, Pabalelo Trust this week. With them, we attended a conservation agriculture workshop that was attended by experts from Namibia, Zambia, Botswana and USAID. It was nice to be surrounded by others who are passionate about the environment and food security. It was located on a crocodile farm where there were at least 9,000 crocs! We will be spending 2 days a week there working with Pabalelo Trust.
We also attended a kgotla meeting where the president of Botswana handed out blankets to the elderly. It was a last minute decision to attend, so we really weren't dressed appropriately. Nonetheless, the kgosi (chief) saw us and rushed us in to the kgotla as the president was entering. I guess we can't just blend into the crowd! It was really neat, the head kgosi gave a speech as well as the president. Then, they handed out the blankets to the elderly. Afterward, we were all served food and tea. There were performances by a traditional dance troupe and a choir.
Overall, we have had quite the eventful week! We look forward to finally moving into our house and truly settling into Shakawe.
