Happy Valentines Day!

I've just realized that two weeks have passed since I last wrote. Oh no. Where has time gone? We have been so busy that even finding time to head to an internet cafe is proving to be quite difficult. But today it is just too hot, unbearably hot, infact. So, I've sought refuge in a cafe and will attempt to give a few updates on what's been going on in Gabs.

We moved into our permanent residence on the 28th of January. Now we're in flats in the West of Gaborone, not-so-endearingly called "G-West." Yes, its ghetto-esque name suites its style, but this only adds flare, I suppose. One of the highlights of our time in this neighbourhood came the day we moved in and Sam, one of our housemates, introduced us to the world of street brai. It's joyous and all-too delicious. It's quite simple. You buy a slab of beef from the butcher and then you cook it on a communal fire pit in the middle of a sandy area. It's a great way to meet people and is pretty much a daily social event here. Yumm! Beef is a big deal here in Botswana. No beef, no love. When we invite locals over, we must have meat in the house. If not, they may even leave. Needless to say, my tofu-filled diet is not conducive to living in Bots. Who knows, maybe I'll be a full-fledge carnivore by the time I return.

After a few days of tiring cleaning days, we settle into our new flat. Ellan and I are sharing a room, but luckilly it's on the second floor, so we can sleep with the windows open. It's HOT here in Bots! We haven't seen rain for several weeks and the days are sunny and breezeless. Riding combis is stickier than ever but we've learned lots of tricks for dealing with the heat. We always carry an umbrella to shelter ourselves from the sun and we've found a pool close by. The batswana are very impressed by our confidence in the pool; most of them do not know how to swim and have never seen the ocean. Many of them have not seen a river or a lake either. As you can imagine, when we show them the map of Canada, they are quite impressed by all of the blue.

Another memorable moment was last weekend's African Jazz Festival. It was fabulous and just hours of dancing to great up-beat music. The best part was seeing "Freshly Ground," a South African band that was just superb! You should all buy the CD. They are HUGE down here and I'm sure they'll be hitting the North American scene in a big way in no time.

Work is going well but we are very busy in the Gender Unit at SADC. I am learning A LOT and am nervously counting the days till the end of my contract; I have a lot to do in very little time. But I'm determined to get it all done. We are also working on preparations for SADC's International Women's Day event planned for March 7th. This year's theme is "Shaping Progress" and so we've planned to have a SADC employee from each member state speak about a women from their home country that has shaped progress in terms of women's rights and empowerment. It think it will be very interesting! I encourage you all to take part in International Women's Day. Here's a link to events taking place in Canada:

So after a month in this city, we're getting a little tired of Gabs. So we've planned several trips and have lot to look forward to. We intended to go to the Ezulwini Valley in Swaziland next weekend, but our flight from JoBurg to Manzini got cancelled :( We were quite bummed seen as how we had already requested the day off work, but have decided to postpone our Swazi adventure and head out to Kang in the Kalahari next weekend instead. We'll be visiting our friend Wairimo who works with the San (Botswana's aboriginal people, commonly but mistakenly called "Bushmen"). I'm really looking forward to learning about the San people and getting a taste for Village life.

So we pretty much have something planned for every weekend until our contracts finish. We're going to go camping in the Khama Rhino Sanctuary, head up to Maun and Vic Falls for Easter week, go to Swaziland at the beginning of April..... evidently, there's lots to look forward to.

On the 14th we had a huge WUSC dinner as Paul, the executive director, was in town. What a way to spend V-day, hey? It was delicious though and really good to visit with the long-term interns and some alumni.

Some food for thought: While HIV and AIDS are part of life here, we are quickly realizing that so is stigma. We cannot even understand how the virus frames society here. If you are not infected, then you are surely affected by the number- one killer in the country. But stigma only worsens the situation and makes many peoples' lives even more difficult. We have encountered this sad reality in schools where children will not sit beside a classmate because he or she (or his or her parent) has the virus. Ellan, who is working in home-based care, recently visited a family who had moved their mother out of the house and into a carboard box outside because a) they believed that she could somehow infect the rest of the family simply by living in their quarters, and b) they wanted to hide her from their community for fear of being stigmatized. One consequence of stigma that we hear a lot about has to do with prenatal clinics and testing clinics. In Botswana, anyone can be tested for STIs at anytime for free. Moreover, pregnant women who carry the virus get free access to pre and post-natal treatment and specialized clinics that designed just to dramatically lower the chance of mother-to-child transmission. Oh, and anyone with HIV can get free ARVs. This is a one-of-the-kind and revolutionary health care system within the Southern African region. Nevertheless, stigma is causing this system to be ineffective as simply being seen entering one of these clinics, formula-feeding rather than breastfeeding, or taking ARVs, can cause someone to be socially outcasted. It certainly is an enigmatic situation, a vicious cycle, perhaps.

Ok, that's it for now, friends! Everything is going wonderfully out here and while I miss you all, I worry about how quickly my time here is flying by.

I promise to write again before we leave next weekend.

Kagiso ("peace" in Setswana),

Sarah