Ndiyo, tunaweza!

I think we have mentioned the Kenyan vendors at Riverwalk who sell tables of Africa-abilia, most of it from Kenya. By contrast, I am sure that most of the vendors on the Main Mall in town are Batswana selling indigenous goods - baskets, walking sticks, bowls, earrings, prepared food, mopani worms, morula fruits, grains, cooked maize on the cob, sweets, 'air time' for mobile phones, handmade sandals, old CDs and so on. At Riverwalk today we noticed that one of the Kenyan women was selling Tanzanian khangas - the pieces of cloth that Kenyan and Tanzanian women wear wrapped around their skirts. They always have a 'saying' on them in Kiswahili, as well as a picture or just a pattern. We had many of them as Peace Corps Volunteers in Kenya. Anyway, we found and bought one that said: 'Ndiyo, tunaweza' - 'Yes, we can.' And guess whose picture was on it? I was told that the Batswana and the 'whites' (later clarified as Americans) are snapping them up.

Three Dikgosi and Government Enclave

On Tuesday this week I interviewed my first woman Member of Parliament. I arranged this through my contact at the FEF. I met her at her office in the Parliamentary Annex, which took me to Government Enclave. This is where Parliament is, the Office of the President, the National Archives, the Independent Electoral Commission and the headquarters for many ministries. So I anticipate that I will be spending much more time there. Government Enclave is ringed round by Khama Crescent and is adjacent to one end of the the Main Mall. On Wednesday I was back to be introduced to three more women Members of Parliament, one of whom I will interview next Tuesday. There are currently seven women MPs altogether, all from the ruling BDP party. Four were directly elected and three specially elected.

My foray to Government Enclave made me realize that I needed to take Mave and Kuno there. Since they have a four day weekend today was a good day to go. But we started our excursion, with Mary, at another fabulous site, namely the 'Three Dikgosi [chiefs] Monument' in a part of town intended to be developed as a central business district. This monument celebrates three extraordinary chiefs, Khama III, Bathoen I and Sebele I, who in 1895 traveled to England to appeal directly to Queen Victoria to prevent Cecil Rhodes from bringing Bechuanaland under British South Africa Company rule. They were not immediately successful, though they impressed everyone they encountered. Shortly after their return another event, the Jameson Raid, prevented the incorporation into the BSAC. But this would remain an, if not the, overriding preoccupation during the Protectorate days, namely the fear of 'transfer' to white ruled, apartheid South Africa. It was largely the continued insistence by Batswana chiefs that prevented this from happening. The monument is magnificent.

From there we went to Government Enclave where we saw Parliament (though not allowed to photograph it since Parliament was in session). Nearby there is also a statue of Seretse Khama, first president of Botswana, which we visited. Seretse Khama has his own remarkable story, having been stripped of his own chieftancy and exiled to the UK - all for marrying a white woman, Ruth Williams (later Lady Khama), while a student in England. According to the British, these actions were taken out of concern for the 'transfer' issues mentioned above. The Khamas were allowed to return in 1956 and Seretse Khama played a significant role in the lead up to independence. He was president from independence in 1966 until he died in 1980, followed by Quett Masire, 1980-1998, Festus Mogae, 1998-2008, and then Seretse's son Ian, from the Botswana Defence Force, who became president in 2008. At the end of Masire's term a two term limit was adopted for all future presidents. The statue of Seretse Khama was dedicated in 1986 by Julius Nyerere of Tanzania.

Postscript: While poring through past issues of Mmegi I learned that last year the statue of Seretse Khama was cleaned AND turned around to face Parliament. For the previous 20 plus years it had been facing away from Parliament and toward the Main Mall (the center of town). Apparently this change was the source of some controversy as facing the Main Mall meant facing 'the people.' But, as was noted, trees in the intervening years have obscured the view and now Seretse Khama faces Parliament as do, apparently, statues of leaders in other countries.

Ramotswa

Today we headed south on the Lobatse road to Ramotswa. (I understand that there is a woman chief in Ramotswa; women have been more likely to be regents - holding a seat for a young chief.) According to my five year old Guide to Greater Gaborone there should have been a community-based pottery project, the Dinkgwana Traditional Village and Pottery, just before the turnoff to Ramotswa at Boatle Junction, but it appears not to be there anymore. So instead we turned right first, toward Boatle which took us along a very scenic country road, indeed a road that is better than the Lobatse Road. We passed the Metsemswaane which was full and beautiful. There were goats around and cattle being herded by young boys. After traveling some distance we turned back to the main Lobatse Road and crossed it in the direction of Ramotswa. We passed the small village of Taung before arriving some time later in Ramotswa. It is a good sized town with a few schools, a municipal office and post office, various shops and kiosks, some development projects and more. We had no particular goal in mind. We stopped at the Choppies, much bigger than ours in Village, got some snacks and drinks and then headed back to Gaborone. On the way back we saw the incredible bottle store/bar painted like a box of tea near the Ramotswa Railway Station. The painting and naming of such shops is common in southern Africa. In northern Namibia such places are often called cuca shops for the cuca beer that is sold from Angola; they will have names that you would never expect in the rural areas, usually reflecting world events. A smaller version of these shops are called 'tuck' shops in Botswana.

A Blog and a Car Wash

I finally decided that it was time to explore a blog - rather than sending long email 'missives' home. Besides I was not being very successful in sending any pictures anywhere. So I retrospectively entered much of what I had already sent to family and friends, adding some pictures. It is simple, and the entries are a little on the long side, but we hope that everyone enjoys it! Our images aren't the greatest for various reasons, though some of the best have been captured by Mave. One limitation, as I have been admonished a few times by Mave, is that with camera in hand we appear as tourists; another is a concern for people's privacy.

Our trusted Toyota Tazz had become absolutely filthy from all the dirt and dust and leaves and bird droppings. And since it has not rained for a while it was greatly in need of a washing. There are the more formal car washes at the petrol stations and then you will find much more informal ones. We chose one at our neighborhood shopping center. And for all of 35 pula (a little over four dollars) our car was handwashed inside and outside, with paint brushes used to clean the hubcaps! It took about an hour; we just left the car (and keys) with them, walked home and then back again.

Odi Weavers

It seems we have developed a Sunday routine where we try to spend a couple of hours outside of Gabs seeing some of the surrounding area. I will admit that the kids are not entirely enthusiastic though I don't know why! I think that when Moses gets here they might enjoy these trips more. Today we went to Odi to visit the Lentswe-la-Oodi Weavers, a cooperative of women weavers begun in the early 1970s. Over the years they and their tapestries have become quite well known. They will do things for custom order and they make a range of items that they sell in a small shop next to the workshop. As it was Sunday no women were weaving but we were able to see their enormous looms and works in progress. The weavings, as nice as they are, are also quite expensive. We have one at home that our friends the Kreike Martins bought for us several years ago when they were living in Botswana. We just bought some small woven coasters, a couple of them in the pattern of the Botswana flag. Odi is north of Gaborone, on the road to Francistown, not at all far from Phakalane, Gaborone's main northern suburb. The kids enjoyed the tricks played by the gleaming sun on the road, the very convincing mirages - of water - ahead of us and behind us.

Cows will lead the herd into a precipice!

So, in a very small nutshell my research is about why there are so few women (and becoming fewer ) in Parliament in Botswana – when there are so many in neighboring states. The parliamentary election is in October, so a good time to be here. There is much more to it than that simple question but I will leave it at that for now. I have read all or most of about eight or nine books since I got here and taken notes on seven of them (one was a novel by Motswana novelist, activist and first female High Court Judge Unity Dow). I have bought lots of books since we arrived! Most are Botswana history and politics, most written by longtime Batswana academics at UB, some of whom I have already talked with, others of whom I will. The UB library is great and has a terrific Botswana Documentation and Special Collection where I am spending lots of time including skimming all the back issues of Pula: Botswana Journal of African Studies. Today I was at the Botswana Society all morning, perusing their books and journal, Botswana Notes and Records. Once I feel I have all the background I need I will start formal interviews. I am embarking upon a whole new country and people and there is a lot to learn (was not able to do much before I left). I feel quite constrained at the thought of being here for only six months. I feel like I need to lower my expectations.

In any case, I was at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation last week speaking with a Programme Officer because I had read in the paper that they are doing work with the Botswana Caucus for Women in Politics. I had done a lot of work with FEF in Namibia on trade unions and thought I would see what they are doing here with women in politics. A cultural argument about patriarchal Tswana society is often advanced as one part of the answer to my research question, but I always ask whether Tswana society is that much more patriarchal than other African societies, or any other societies for that matter. Well, this programme officer told me that they have a ‘saying’ in Setswana that ‘women cannot be political leaders.’ I said ok. She said there are lots of sayings in Setswana about what you can and cannot do. Ok. I asked if ‘women cannot be political leaders’ was the direct translation from Setswana and she insisted that it was (I asked a few times). At the end of our meeting I asked her to please write down the Setswana words and she did. I then took them to Leloba who said that what she had written was part of a longer phrase, namely: ‘If they (cattle, the herd) are led by cows they will fall down a precipice.’ There is a shorter version: they are never led by cows! I am familiar with this cattle imagery from Namibia, though not in such stark terms. I am fascinated. I also have the title for my (first) paper/article that will come out of this sabbatical…..

Images above: a 'statue' in front of the UB library and the front of the UB library. I understand that that particular artwork graces the entrance to the library because that is how the building of the University was funded. According to Seretse Khama's biography, Seretse Khama, 1921-1980, a 'One Man, One Beast' campaign was launched whereby Batswana were called upon to contribute cattle, with the proceeds of their sale going to the construction of UB in the mid 1970s. As the book further notes: "In southern African English, 'beast' rather than 'cow' is the singular form of 'cattle.' Inscribed above the library entrance, 'thutho ke thebe' means 'education is a shield.' Thebe is also the name of the 'cents' in Botswana.

Manyelanong Vulture Colony at Otse

On Sunday exploring Gaborone’s environs took us to Otse, about 50 km south toward Lobatse and South Africa. There is a very nice place there called Camphill, a center for 'handicapped' children where they learn and make various arts and crafts which they then sell. There is also a lovely nursery with house and garden plants and vegetables as well as a café for lunch. We had lunch there and then headed into Oste village in search of the Manyelanong Game Reserve where Botswana’s largest vulture colony makes its home – a colony that has been dwindling in recent years. Most of the trip in to see the vultures is a gravel road, that becomes quite sandy the farther in one drives. I was a little worried whether we would make it with our small Toyota Tazz. Leloba was along with us and she saved the day as we were nearly stuck in the sand but she drove us out. We did see the vultures soaring high overhead as well as the caves in the side of the hills where they live and the guano covered cliffs everywhere. All along the way from Gaborone to Otse and back whenever we passed through a village there were lots of boys and young men out playing soccer in what looked to be municipal playing fields. It seemed to be quite organized with each side having its own shirts and so on. Oh, and in case you are wondering, Manyelanong means 'where vultures defecate' in Setswana - a reference to the white covered cliffs.

The rains seem to have abated for the moment - I am not sure whether they might actually be over – and hot is back. Over the weekend crews were out all over town repairing the roads, which desperately need it! With all the rain the grass is also impossibly high and again on the weekend there were crews out cutting the grass by hand. They don’t use machetes, rather a long instrument called a grass slasher. I realized that we have three of these at home in one of the closets and as soon as we got home Kuno grabbed one to go out and slash the grass in the backyard. It is really important for driving that the grass on the side of the road be slashed – otherwise you cannot see what is coming far ahead or what animals might be there ready to dart across the road.

Borakanelo Market

Today the kids were delighted to join me as we explored some of Gaborone. In my reading I have learned that Gaborone is only about 40 years old. In the protectorate days (Bechuanaland being a British protectorate rather than colony), there was never even an administrative center in Bechuanaland, rather it was over the border in Mafeking in South Africa! So as independence loomed they realized they needed a capital city and the small village of Gaberones was chosen. Indeed, that is where the name of our neighborhood – Village – comes from as it is the site of the original village of Gaberones. The Thapong Art Center, on our corner, housed an assistant resident magistrate. Anyway, in a couple of years they transformed Gaberones into Gaborone; where it had around 6,000 inhabitants at independence in 1966, it now has more than 200,000! But much of the remarkable growth in Gaborone has been even more recent than that. Lots of investment after the transition in South Africa in 1994 and even more in the 2000s. The two ‘modern’ malls – Riverwalk and Game City – which are packed all day and night, especially on the weekends, are both only about five years old. Anyway, I had read that at one of the older shopping centers – Broadhurst – there is a Saturday ‘flea market’ – called the Borakanelo Market, so we decided to have a look. It was very lively and there was lots of trading going on. Kuno observed that what made it a true African market was the smell of roasting meat and (delightful) loud African music blaring from the table of the vendor selling used (and treasured) old CDs. How quickly he has caught on! There were lots of beautiful brightly colored dresses and fabrics, but also, interestingly, a few tables of used clothing. I had been wondering about this. This is a curse all over Africa – the dumping of our used clothing into local markets, thereby displacing any local textile industry. It had seemed to me that Batswana, as wealthy as they are, do not wear second hand clothing. I had not recognized any used t shirts, even on kids. But there they were, shirts, trousers, and more, so perhaps that market is making inroads here too. Too bad!

Student Strike at UB

As I asked in an email home: are we in Botswana or Nigeria? The UB students – or at least some of them – have been on a rampaging strike for nearly a week now. The University is still open though classes are definitely being disrupted and there have been some incidents. The issue is their government allowances – which they get on top of attending UB for free, free hostel accommodation and food at the refectories. Apparently the last big strike was two years ago and I am told that the students only ever strike over this issue – their allowances. There seem to be two issues, one has to do with the extent to which they continue to get their allowances when they are retaking classes. Indeed, some students, quite comfortable with their university life, may have an incentive to hang on. The other issue has to do with living in the hostels or not. You get more allowance if you live off campus but you are only supposed to do that if you have a good reason. So…..I was on campus on Monday at the book store and saw hundreds of students marching by, many with sticks (branches from trees) on their way to the Parliament building where the Finance Minister was making the annual presentation of the national budget and they were going to lodge their complaints. Needless to say they were stopped by the riot police (sounds a little scarier than they appear to be; we saw them later blocking off a road). Unfortunately, this has impacted the 30 or so international (US and other) students at UB. One was apparently ‘attacked’ twice, once with stones while the students were crisscrossing campus and another time when he was eating in the refectory. He was one of four students from UNC Greensboro and now they have all been ordered back. I think it is quite a shame and quite a waste; all that preparation and acclimation time and such a great experience. I am sure UB must not be too happy about the situation.

News flash: they have closed the University as of 1:30 this afternoon and are bringing in the police to try to restore order. I am relieved since I was to go in to attend a seminar by the Sociology head of department, Godi, at 3 and was feeling a bit nervous; two people very kindly called to tell me! It surprises me that it has taken this long to get things under control. But the university security has no weapons – with sticks and stones the students are better armed than they are and so it is only apparently when they finally make a decision to call in the police that the situation can be brought under control. The whole thing is very surprising to me, I must say. At 7:30 this morning Leloba (southern African women writers scholar) and I went for an hourlong walk all around campus. But as Leloba would say: the ‘revolutionaries’ are not up at that early hour.

Postscript: they ended up shutting down the University until February 16 – and skipping spring break and adding a week at the end to make up for the lost time. Two student ringleaders have been expelled and others suspended. There are broken windows in buildings all over campus which is really a shame; apparently they also damaged some cars. Again, there is not a drop of sympathy anywhere for the students who led the strike (and attempted to coerce others to come along). It is just a shame that it took so long for there to be a response. It was really the Ministry of Education that should have responded sooner as they are the ones who make the policies regarding the allowances. Perhaps the administration should have acted sooner to close the University though that too may have been a Ministry decision.

Food in Botswana

In some respects, food here is not too different from Namibia. The staple is the same pap – from maize or sorghum (more likely millet in Namibia) - eaten for dinner with meat, a sauce and some greens, or for breakfast with curdled milk (yogurt) and sugar. Seswaa, the shredded beef, seems to be a Botswana specialty. Otherwise, rice and noodles and coleslaw are popular here for meals as in Namibia. Butternut squash and pumpkin are very popular here and to be found everywhere. I have not really seen potato salad which is more popular in Namibia. Beef is very cheap, as you might expect in a country in which there are as many cattle as there are people, about two million of each. Dinners are easy as they have great sauces at the grocery store, for example from Nandos, one of the local chain restaurants. So one can simply make rice or pasta, beef or chicken and add some sauce. They also have frozen somosas and frozen spring rolls which the kids like. All the same vegetables are here; we have had baby zucchinis which are quite nice, yellow and red peppers, green beans. One can make nice salads. The fruit (and juice) selections are much nicer here than at home: lots of mangos, apples, oranges, papayas, litchis, granadilla, pomegranate, bananas, you name it. For snacks all kinds of chips and not such a wide range of really sweet and decadent cookies. Dried fruit is big and we have been eating a lot of that, especially dried mango, peach and apricot. Bread is baked fresh daily even at the grocery store as are rolls and all kinds of other baked goods. In most stores they sell the loaves whole and you run them through the slicing machine as you leave the store.

For breakfast Kuno eats the same thing as at home: peanut butter and nutella sandwich, nutella being something that we had discovered on our 2002 sabbatical in Namibia. Mave will have a muffin with yogurt, or some cereal or toast with salami. I like to have a rusk, another southern African treat, with my second cup of coffee. The kids both pack a snack for the 10:30 break at school: juice boxes, apples, chips, dried fruit, yogurt, something along those lines. Three days a week when they have activities they buy lunch at school. On Thursday they like to buy a sausage or ‘wurst’ from a woman who has a stand (and gas heated grill) in the Choppies parking lot. It is on a roll with whatever sauces they choose, for all of a dollar (7.5 pula) each. On Saturday Kuno bought a mango, also from the parking lot. Mangos, watermelons, corn, tomatoes and more are all sold from large piles (on tables) on the side of the road. The mangos did look very inviting. And the vendor had a large (coke) bottle full of water with a small hole in the top which she used to wash individual mangos as people bought them so that they could be eaten in typical fashion – and as Kuno did. That is, biting into the whole mango, and eating the flesh straight from the mango, pulling off bits of skin as needed. Kuno declared it the best mango he had ever had. It is a bit messy, but I think with practice, one can overcome that.

Cakes are also big here, as in Namibia. The kids like to end the week at a place like Equatorial Coffee at Riverwalk where we get a pot of tea and some cake: orange, carrot, chocolate, whatever. There are many little coffee shops and tea houses to try. As for restaurants, there is also a range. We like Chatters since it serves seswaa; early on while Moses was still here we went with a group to a great Indian restaurant called Moghul. There are many Chinese restaurants, just as there are Chinese shops. There is lots of fast food – Bimbo's, Wimpy’s. There is Nandos for great chicken and chips which we know from Namibia as well as. Pizza places abound with Debonairs being quite popular. I have heard of some other good places, we just have not tried them yet. Our biggest challenge has been finding low fat milk. The only place to find fresh low fat milk is at Woolworths (clearly this is not the Woolworths of the USA), but Kuno did not like it. In the end we are drinking the low fat longlife milk which is just fine so long as it is pretty cold. We are very lucky to be able to drink the tap water in Gaborone; it is very tasty, again especially when cold. They are very closely monitoring it for any signs of cholera creeping over from Zimbabwe.