Sunday was rough
Over the weekend I was not in a good mood. I was sick of pretty much everything here. It was not good to think that I have another three months here. The heat was almost unbearable on Sunday. Like one of those days where its so hot that it is inescapable. Even the tile floor in my room was only a bit cool. The warmth in the air had warmed it. BUT, on Sunday night the temperature dropped enough that I actually slept with this really thin sleeping back the Scotty Matthews gave me before I left. I was a new man on Monday and nothing that had bothered me over the weekend. Basically I never sleep a full night and even when I do sleep its not that great because its so hot most of the time. I think thats what was driving me crazy and the heat just added to it. So after one good night of sleep all my problems melted away. Last night it was cool again and I slept well again. Such a good feeling.
Last night we had bootcamp again (aerobics) and I had so much more energy because I slept well. Then after I stayed back with some of the national dudes that I have met. I did a couple sets with them and then ended up walking home with a Vincent. He is a cool guy. I think I am going to start spending more time at the gym with these guys. However, because I didnt want to go to the gym five evenings a week, Oats, one of the guys told me to not be lazy. I found this ironic as overall Botsawana is a fairly lazy culture. Back home no one thinks I am lazy but when I go to the lazy country, one of the energetic people calls me lazy. ha.
I went to the Mochudi Resource Centre for the Blind again last evening. This time I stayed with the younger children. What a gong show. It was so funny to watch the vision impaired children. We were playing the game where you pass the ball around the circle until the music stops and the one holding the ball when the music stops is out. The children were all very into the game, including the ones who were vision impaired. Because their sight is poor they would ram the ball into the other person because they wanted to stay in the game and get rid of the ball as quick as possible. So basically they were punching the person beside them in the stomach the entire game but the children beside them didnt seem to mind.
I found out that the Reformed Church started the Resource Centre for the Blind and now the Government has stepped in to help with funding stuff. So in some ways the Centre is doing well but they have inadequate staffing which is a huge deal. It is hard enough to work properly with children who do not have special needs when staffing is inadequate. Also the room where we meet is a cafeteria with no sound buffering. The noise is just unreal when everyone is talking/screaming and one persons voice cannot speak above another. This also creates disciplinary problems.
Many of the girls have been speaking in the schools this week on self esteem. After one session the teacher got up and affirmed everything they said by giving an example of how she went through the same thing. After another session and insecure teacher came in and basically gave the kids a perfect example how low self esteem causes you to hurt others and make fun of others to empower yourself. He diminished the kids, the YFCB staff and himself, all in about 5 minutes. So he undid some of the work the YFCB staff had just done and the YFCB staff could not defend themselves or the students without humiliating the teacher so they had to keep quiet.
I also learned yesterday that the teachers want more money and the government will not give it to them so they are not helping the students in class so that they will fail. When the children fail, they will present their case again to the government that they need more money to be able to help the children properly. How sad is that.
Jennifer got offered a child the other day. She was walking back from the store and a man said; "Do you want this baby? Its a gift, a gift from God." The mother was right beside him and did not object.
On a more positive note, we will all be going to a Botswanan wedding in two weeks. That should be a good time! The last wedding Twila was at, the groom was almost late because they could not find the cow in the field the night before so they had to go out in the morning and find it to kill it for the wedding meal. So then they hung it in the tree all day, in the same yard as the wedding.
Last night we had bootcamp again (aerobics) and I had so much more energy because I slept well. Then after I stayed back with some of the national dudes that I have met. I did a couple sets with them and then ended up walking home with a Vincent. He is a cool guy. I think I am going to start spending more time at the gym with these guys. However, because I didnt want to go to the gym five evenings a week, Oats, one of the guys told me to not be lazy. I found this ironic as overall Botsawana is a fairly lazy culture. Back home no one thinks I am lazy but when I go to the lazy country, one of the energetic people calls me lazy. ha.
I went to the Mochudi Resource Centre for the Blind again last evening. This time I stayed with the younger children. What a gong show. It was so funny to watch the vision impaired children. We were playing the game where you pass the ball around the circle until the music stops and the one holding the ball when the music stops is out. The children were all very into the game, including the ones who were vision impaired. Because their sight is poor they would ram the ball into the other person because they wanted to stay in the game and get rid of the ball as quick as possible. So basically they were punching the person beside them in the stomach the entire game but the children beside them didnt seem to mind.
I found out that the Reformed Church started the Resource Centre for the Blind and now the Government has stepped in to help with funding stuff. So in some ways the Centre is doing well but they have inadequate staffing which is a huge deal. It is hard enough to work properly with children who do not have special needs when staffing is inadequate. Also the room where we meet is a cafeteria with no sound buffering. The noise is just unreal when everyone is talking/screaming and one persons voice cannot speak above another. This also creates disciplinary problems.
Many of the girls have been speaking in the schools this week on self esteem. After one session the teacher got up and affirmed everything they said by giving an example of how she went through the same thing. After another session and insecure teacher came in and basically gave the kids a perfect example how low self esteem causes you to hurt others and make fun of others to empower yourself. He diminished the kids, the YFCB staff and himself, all in about 5 minutes. So he undid some of the work the YFCB staff had just done and the YFCB staff could not defend themselves or the students without humiliating the teacher so they had to keep quiet.
I also learned yesterday that the teachers want more money and the government will not give it to them so they are not helping the students in class so that they will fail. When the children fail, they will present their case again to the government that they need more money to be able to help the children properly. How sad is that.
Jennifer got offered a child the other day. She was walking back from the store and a man said; "Do you want this baby? Its a gift, a gift from God." The mother was right beside him and did not object.
On a more positive note, we will all be going to a Botswanan wedding in two weeks. That should be a good time! The last wedding Twila was at, the groom was almost late because they could not find the cow in the field the night before so they had to go out in the morning and find it to kill it for the wedding meal. So then they hung it in the tree all day, in the same yard as the wedding.
