I’m Transferring to Peace Corps Zimbabwe!

Every man gotta right to decide his own destiny,
And in this judgement there is no partiality.
So arm in arms, with arms, we'll fight this little struggle,
'Cause that's the only way we can overcome our little trouble
~Bob Marley, "Zimbabwe"

Ok, not really; Peace Corps does not go to Zimbabwe. But I have been fortunate enough to be placed in my number one choice of the available sites for this year. My site is about two hours northwest of Francistown (Botswana’s second largest city) and is the very last stop before entering Zimbabwe... I’m kinda far out so I might as well be in Zimbabwe. The place is called Maitengwe (Ma-ee-tang-gway). A link to a large Botswana map is here: http://www.botswanarealestate.biz/general_map.jpg. Depending on your browser, you may have to click on the bottom right of the map to enlarge it to full size before being able to see my village.

As many of you may know and many of you may not, the situation in Zimbabwe is beyond crisis proportions. It is arguably the worst political situation in sub-Saharan Africa, and undoubtedly the worst in southern Africa. President Mugabe has held on to power since Zimbabwe’s independence in 1977, making him the longest ruling leader in Africa. Many years ago he helped Zimbabwe become “the breadbasket” of southern Africa, and Zimbabwe was a jewel of prosperity while neighboring Botswana was rampant with poverty. Batswana will tell you that they used to cross the border to buy goods in Zimbabwe.

Today the tables have turned completely. Mugabe has held on to power, at the cost of his own country - silencing political opponents, kicking out all foreign expats and journalists, and ruining the economy. Inflation is OFFICIALLY at 365,000% - which I am sure has to be the highest in world history. The economy has gotten so bad that most places are not even accepting the currency, as it is less than worthless. Bills are printed with expiration dates 6 months from the printing date... seriously. Their dollar used to be worth more than ours and now notes are being printed in denominations of 250million yet are still worth less than one US dollar.

The public health situation is no better. Life expectancy is the lowest in the world, at around 35 years. Over 3,000 people are dying EVERY DAY from HIV/AIDS. Can you even wrap your head around what 3,000 bodies a day looks like? That’s a 9/11 every day, and just from HIV/AIDS. That doesn’t even factor in other health-related deaths. Thus, there has been a mass exodus from Zimbabwe into neighboring countries – hence why many Batswana have Zimbabwean helpers, as we do here at our house.

The situation is likely to improve, though unlikely until it hits complete rock bottom. An election a few months ago suggested the opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, was the victor. However, the election resulted in a run-off to take place on 27 June, just days after my arrival to the region. Some are predicting the transition to be peaceful while others are a little more weary. Radio news in Botswana stated that a shipment of machetes was intercepted on its way to Zimbabwe (coming from China, shocker…), but I have not been able to confirm this on the internet.

Anyway, part of this has been written prior to my going to visit my site and part of it is being written while here. I am visiting for a few days, securing my accommodation and taking care of other business. Because I am technically working through the government, The Government of Botswana provides our housing, in part as a ‘thank you’ for our service; so in general the quality is high and theoretically the house is to be furnished. However, since things tend to not get done in advance here, I arrived late Tuesday night to a 100% empty house… ‘electricity’ but no light bulbs (upon getting light bulbs, only some of them are wired correctly), a stove with no gas tank (upon getting the gas tank, only one of the cookers works), no bed (upon getting a mattress I had no sheets or pillows). Haha, now THIS is Peace Corps! That being said, once all this mess works out I will be living pretty well. My house is significantly smaller than most of my colleagues’ but with electricity and a gas stove I’d say I am going to be just fine. But no shower or bath, so it’s hot bucket showers for me for two years!... which I have to say, I kind of enjoy. There is something almost therapeutic about having to scrub yourself from a bucket, it’s much more deliberate and therefore meaningful.

Things that excite me about my new site:

- More north = more temperate. Thus, winters are warmer, summers are cooler (though ‘cooler’ summers will still undoubtedly be 100F+ everyday from Dec-Feb)

- More north = more HIV. While the average prevalence in Botswana is in the 30% range, the northeastern parts of the country are suffering more – due in part by the number of intersecting borders and greater poverty, but also due to the presence of a different ethnic group, the Kalanga, who have different practices and cultural norms. According to our last survey, HIV/AIDS prevalence in Maitengwe was just under 45%. I believe it – for the first time in Botswana, it has been visible to me. Many people are noticeably sick. The clinic was slammed at 7:30 this morning and didn’t settle until late. There is a lot of education to be done here. I am so excited, humbled, and privileged to be working in the region with the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in the country with the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in the world. I am literally at Ground Zero for HIV/AIDS on the whole planet. I know that sounds awfully dramatic, but it’s awfully true! I am going to learn so much more than I’ll ever be able to give, but just being part of the exchange is exhilarating for me.

- An absolute GEM of a human, my colleague and dear friend, has been placed in Francistown and I am so happy that she is ‘close’ to me. She is an incredible influence - highly intelligent and inspirational - and I will be so happy to introduce to her any of you who come to visit me. She is so positive and will no doubt help me through the difficulties of the next two years. I look forward to continue learning from her.

- Just a short walk from my house there is a river, which separates Botswana from Zimbabwe. It’s dry at the moment but the rainy season begins around November. It’s going to be purrrty.

- While I will be based in the clinic, there are many other opportunities to get a well-rounded experience. There is a home-based care center across the street from my house and an orphan care center directly behind my house. I hear the kids singing and playing every morning. J

- I am the first lekgoa (white person) to work at Maitengwe Clinic, so there is a lot of interest in my presence – and I don’t have to worry about following in the footsteps of or cleaning up the bad reputation of a former lekgoa.

- My counterpart (kind of like my supervisor), Mma Vivane (Vi-vawn-nay) is such a hoot! She is a sweet old lady who has welcomed me from the start. The rest of the clinic staff are equally kind. A few arrived at my door the morning of my arrival with brooms and mops and together we went to town on this dirty dormant house.

- My village is GORGEOUS. Wow, the north is so different. Most people live in the stereotypical round, traditional ‘mud hut’ housing, making the village seem very “African” (whatever that means). While there are apparently 7,000+ people here, you would never know it as it is very spread out and quiet. I’ll be buying a bike for sure. There is only one paved road that runs through the village, and that is simply because it is a transit route from Francistown to Harare, the Zimbabwean capital. The rest of the paths are dirt and the bush is thick. It’s winter now, but I can tell when the rains come and turn this place green, and the river fills up it is going to be absolutely STUNNING here. I am so pleased.

- The Zimbabwean influence! While my thesis was partially on Botswana, it also dealt with the HIV epidemic in Angola, a country heavily affected by decades of conflict. Angola has been able to keep its epidemic quite low, largely due to good HIV/AIDS programming for Angola’s forced migrants. I became fascinated with HIV/AIDS education with respect to refugee and immigrant populations, and so I am hoping to do some secondary projects with the presumably large Zimbabwean community in my village. Plus Zimbabwe has a fascinating history and so far the people from Zimbabwe whom I have met have been incredible humans. I look forward to being able to learn from them.

I am so fortunate to be living in this region at an exciting time in history. Mugabe is certainly Africa’s most notorious dictator and there may soon be a transition that will surely affect the whole region. If done peacefully, many Zimbabweans are expected to repatriate (millions, yes MILLIONS, are living in South Africa and quite a few in Botswana as well, though I don’t know the exact number). If we are not as lucky, there may be another mass exodus into the neighboring countries (which to some extent is already occurring, as several new “refugee camps” are popping up in Botswana, one of which is in Maitengwe. We can see temporary settlements beginning to form behind our clinic, and every day we are seeing an increasing number of Zimbabweans coming in with various health problems. I have to put “refugee camps” in quotes because Zimbabweans have not yet been granted refugee status under international law, but for all intents-and-purposes they are refugees). The exodus will obviously be hardest felt in border towns such as mine, and this will certainly continue to shape the HIV/AIDS landscape of the region. It is an important time to be here.

Things that I am not as excited about:

- I will have to learn a whole new language, again. Apparently the Kalanga are quite proud of their different heritage, and so I have been told they tend to promote their language, Ikalanga / Kalanga, over Setswana, the national language. While I’m not too far into Setswana, it’s still kind of frustrating to start over again. Not to mention that I was told today the only written text is the Bible because Ikalanga is not a written language. Great.

- I live on the clinic compound with a few other members of staff. This is good in that is much safer, as the compound is surrounded by a fence with barbed wire and there is a guard at night. It also means my walk to work is less than 1 minute. However, it removes me from the community – and the Maitengwe Clinic is a very busy one so night and day there is drama going past my house heading towards the clinic for care.

- I am pretty remote. Groceries, other than small things, are about 45 minutes away; internet is about two hours away. My nearest colleague is also two hours away, which in and of itself is no problem. But most of my colleagues are placed in villages that people pass through on their way to other villages and/or tourist destinations. Me, I am the last stop on the way to a country that we are not allowed to visit because it is currently too unstable. Therefore, no one will randomly just ‘stop by’ in passing. If my colleagues want to see me, they will have to make a deliberate effort to do so… something we don’t have much time to do. That’s why people in my area are jokingly referred to as being part of Peace Corps Zimbabwe... because we’re basically part of another country. You should see the ride to my village - I laughed the whole way. It’s just a road… thick bush on both sides… for 20 minutes… then there I am LOL. So, the next two years will be a big trial in loneliness. While I’ve spent a lot of time overseas, I’ve never been alone in this sense of the word and for this duration. I am welcoming the challenge as an opportunity for growth, though it sure is a daunting one.


By the time you are reading this, I will have returned to Molepolole for my final two weeks of training before I ship off until 2010. I’ll post my address when I have it finalized – after which I would love to receive some letters from those of you who have not already done so. For whatever reason, letters mean much more than email. I want to know what’s going on with you all. I know my ability to respond isn’t always high, but I promise I always read every word and just being updated is a pleasure.

Sleeping happily these days…