A Sense of Accomplishment

I don't make beautiful things, I'm not exceptionally skilled at any athletic endeavor, and I am not gifted with unbelievable artistic ability .
The one thing that I feel that I am quite good at is writing intellectual papers and projects. Nothing terribly impressive or that earns me laud but it is a skill that brings me pleasure and it does have its rewards.
As such, I get a great deal of pleasure from completing a well-written essay. The pride I feel as I hold it and look at its clever font and proper construction is nice.
Since I have been in Botswana I have completed two projects that gave me such a feeling. The added benefit being that these two pieces of work taught me something about Botswana while I researched and wrote them.
The first was a group project in my economics class. We were told to make groups the first day of class and as there were three international students in the class we joined up and asked two of the only Batswana we knew to join us. It wasn't until about four weeks later that we were given our assignment. Each group had a different topic. We were assigned: “Review Vision 2016, the long term plan for Botswana. Suggest twelve pillars for Vision 2016, and justify the five additional pillars that you have suggested.” Of course three fifths of our group didn't have a clue what Vision 2016 (V2016) even was. A couple of weeks later we finally got around to asking and found out KT had a copy that he let us have. V2106 is simply a long term strategy for the future of Botswana that sets goals and general strategies for the betterment and development of Botswana. With very little background we set out. I volunteered to make myself the compiler and editor of the project for a very simple reason, I wanted control. The paper was worth 60% of our grade and I only trusted myself to handle such a major issue. We each decided to take a portion one existing pillar to review and one new pillar to recommend. The math didn't work out perfectly so Matt did a few short ones. Each of us chose issue we thought should be added and ended up with the five requested: a growing, longevenous, and attractive nation (my suggestion based on things I had learned in my population policies class), a gender equal nation (we made our titles match the titles in V2016 thus the ".... nation" pattern), a well housed and well lit nation, a sustainable and enviromentally friendly nation (again my idea, I was to write two suggestions and Matt wrote three reviews), and an economically independent and vibrant nation. We were each to write our section and submit them to me for compiling and editing. Inevitably there were some problems and I ended up writing one of the Batswana's sections ("An Educated and Informed Nation") due to his refusal to do so. Once I had it all in my hands I will admit I did some serious editing. I reshaped some sections and reformatted all of the sections including cutting useless information and adding important pieces. To be fair I probably did more than I was entitled to simply because, in my unconcious arrogance, I thought I knew better. I did submit the final work to my groupmates for final review and Matt and Arnhild were very pleased with the final product and the two Batswana never really responded. The three of us internationals thought it was quite good work and I was very proud taking more ownership than perhaps I was entitled to simply because I spent a lot of time in the compiling and editing stages working without the assistance of my groupmates. I was dissatisfied with the grading because there were no comments and no remarks, I couldn't even tell you the grade we got, but to me that was immaterial. What was important was that together we had created a piece of work that taught me about Botswana and of which I could be proud.
Download and read it here:
http://www.dump.ro/download.php?id=66857&act=KxB95wDqr6iqEUTl

The second piece of work that made me proud while I have been here has been my independent study. Near the beginning of my time here the most valuable thing Ross ever did for me was to tell me the name of his advisor. Dr. Mulinge. I met with him in that first week and asked him about my project, he agreed and we discussed a topic. I said I wanted to do something about how AIDS relates to the economy. He said that that topic was totally unrealistic and suggested we narrow it down. He knew of an organization called Tebelopele that he thought I might be interested in. I agreed that I would look into it and set about setting up an internship. As it turned out several weeks later, they had no available positions but Dr. Mulinge told me that an internship wasn't neccesary, just an interview. I set about setting up an interview but things weren't easy. I called several times to set up appointments and got them, arrived and had no one there to meet, or the person in question not even working where I was told to meet them. I finally got Onky to help me and he made a few calls but even he had no more luck. Finally I did get an interview set up. I met with the regional manager named Setswhano Aerwa. She gave me a good interview and additional literature on the organization. This whole process took a very long time. I only got the interview about two weeks before Whitney arrived and I completed the rough draft of the project the day before she arrived. I submitted to my advisor at that time. In early January I got the revision back and finally submitted the final draft. By the time I had finished I had learned a huge amount about the AIDS Situation in all of Southern Africa and Tebelopele a specific attemtpt to address the issue through the service of Voluntary Testing and Counseling. I really enjoyed the project and upon completion was really proud of my final product.
Download and read it here:
http://www.dump.ro/download.php?id=66863&act=yCVIT0eZU0N9wBbb

Happy New Year...

More like melancholy New Year for me. This year New Years was different. There was no countdown, no party, no friends, no fake champagne, no fireworks no revelry. Just me sitting in my dorm room, watching the clock on my computer roll from 11:59 to 12:00. Nothing exciting, no cheering, no singing and it kind of makes me think, this night it is not that special really, it is the people, the moments, and the hope this night give us that are special. While I had no people and no moments this night, I have no shortage of hope. 2009 will be a good year, I have no doubt.
The whole holiday season was that way, I suppose. While I worked my tail off to make Thanksgiving a taste of home it wasn't the same. Christmas in Swaziland with Whitney was awesome, but not the same, and New Years was a shell of its normal revelry. These moments, these gaping holes in my normal routines and traditions serve as glaring reminders that "I don't think I'm in Kansas anymore." (Ok, so I mean Michigan but that just didn't work.)
The people here acknowledge the season, how could they not with their unrequited love affair with America, but it is nothing compared to home. The malls have decorations with Santas, trees (all fake of course) and tinsel but these are only a consumer ploy. The people don't buy into the spirit in the same way. No one's house is decorated, most people don't go to church on Christmas. The biggest celebrations are usually casual meals which may be just a a little nicer than normal, in many houses this means that the children get to eat meat, a right offered reserved for the adults, and in poor households only the man. The first Christmas song I heard was at a very nice, and of course overwhelmingly white, mall in South Africa on the 23rd of December. Ironically enough it was "Feed the World." The song sports the lyrics, "Do they [Africans] know it's christmas time at all." The irony of hearing that song in Africa absolutely cracked me up. They do know. In fact, a taxi-man in Maseru said to me, "May I ask you a question? Is Christmas on the same day everywhere, like in America?" I told him it was and his eyes filled with a little wonder. I told him that where I'm from there was snow on the ground (yes they know what snow is, actually Lesotho even have a ski slope.) I missed the snow. A once in a lifetime experience to see a different side of things, and a wonderful reminder of where I come from, and where home is.

If you're interested in more of my thoughts on the New Year check out this link.

All the best in the New Year.
Love,
Tommy