The National Museum

This was week three of the school holiday, the week that the kids had nothing to do but wait for Moses to arrive and celebrate Mave’s birthday. We did the latter by taking a couple of friends to Riverwalk to Wimpy’s for lunch and an afternoon showing of the new Hahnhnah Mohntahnah movie. It wasn’t bad….on Tuesday and Wednesday they were lucky to be taken to Notwane on the Lobatse Road to do a two day pottery workshop. In addition, we managed a visit to the National Museum, which also wasn’t bad. We had been there our first (and last) time in Botswana and found it to be as interesting this time around as last. It is a very small museum but tells the story of Botswana’s past, going way back, and some of the present. It is definitely worth a visit.

Gaborone's Malls

One of the Botswana travel guides asserts that today Gaborone has 'more retail shopping space per person than almost any other city in the world.' That is quite a claim! But there are indeed many malls from which the avid shopper may choose. We frequently mention Riverwalk Mall which is about one km from our flat and a very popular spot for all of Gaborone. That is where we do our grocery shopping and often pick up any clothes or household items that we need. There is also a very good bookstore, a movie theater and several restaurants and cafes, all of which are located around the perimeter and so have pleasant indoor/outdoor seating. Riverwalk Mall is only about five or six years old; same for Game City which is on the other side of town and abuts the older, more intimate Kgale Hill shopping center. Game City has all of the big South African department stores as well as a couple of grocery stores, a bookstore and movie theater. The eating establishments are inside in a kind of food court and not very inviting. Game City is far for us on heavily trafficked roads and not nearly as nice as Riverwalk; we seldom go there.

Much older are the Main Mall and the African Mall 'in town.' Gaborone was more or less built around the Main Mall and Government Enclave. The Main Mall is just east of Government Enclave, across Khama Crescent. It is a large open pedestrian mall and a place where Batswana sell their locally produced goods. There is also much foodstuff for sale as well as essentials such as airtime and sweets. There are large office buildings on either side of the mall, including the President's Hotel. Today the Main Mall appears somewhat rundown but it is a very lively place during weekdays as government and office workers create a steady flow of foot traffic. My favorite, though, is the African Mall, just up Independence Avenue from the Main Mall. The shops and restaurants of the African Mall form a square around a central car park (where one can have one's car hand washed while shopping for 25 pula). At the African Mall one will find a great Indian restaurant, great Thai restaurant and great Portuguese restaurant as well as Timba Trading for German Print fabrics. There is also the Just Confectionary and Just Bread Bakery where one can buy cakey bread and warm vetkoekies. There are all kinds of other shops and services from which to choose as well. We have come to realize that Gaborone is really a huge city and there are many other smaller malls and markets in every part of town, not to mention the industrial areas and commerce parks!

The Weather

For months now we have noted how hot it is here in Botswana. I have seen something here I have seen nowhere else in Africa - and that is people carrying umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun. That is quite common here. And of course we had a very rainy rainy season, with many torrential downpours and terrific thunderstorms. Well, now, if you have seen the pictures of long lines of South Africans queuing to vote in the election yesterday, you will have noticed how warmly dressed they were. Here in Botswana also, winter seems to have arrived! Indeed, we have been told that since there was so much rain and it rained late into March we are in for a long, cold winter. As soon as the sun goes down it gets quite cool with nights being downright chilly. The past couple of days have also been windy and overcast. Yesterday, it seemed that all Batswana had hauled out their winter coats and scarves!

Botswana Society Lecture

The Botswana Society is another gemstone here in Botswana. It is a membership organization formed shortly after independence that encourages research and scholarship on Botswana. They publish an annual journal, Botswana Notes and Records, and an occasional paper series and sponsor public lectures and larger symposia and workshops. They have an office out at Kgale Siding where I have been able to peruse all of their past publications.

Last night Mary, Leloba and I went to a Botswana Society lecture held at the National Museum with the intriguing title: 'Lady Ruth Khama, Barack Obama and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?' delivered by Neil Parsons, longtime history professor at the University of Botswana. Two decades ago, when researching the Seretse Khama biography, Parsons was apparently told by Lady Ruth that the above named film was based on her story with Seretse Khama. During a recent sabbatical leave he followed up on this tip and the lecture last night presented his findings. Indeed, he learned that the author of the filmscript did know the Khamas in London as well as Peggy and Joe Appiah another British/African (Ghana) pair. To make a long story short, Parsons found some credence to Lady Ruth's assertion though the four main characters were based on slightly different individuals, with Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy based on Peggy Appiah's aristocratic parents and Sidney Poitier's character based on a Sierra Leonean diplomat and parent of one of the private school friends of the author's daughter. Parsons played some clips of the film including the prophetic one in which the young man is asked about the couple's children. He replies that she thinks they will one day be President of the United States while he sets his sights slightly lower at Secretary of State. In 1991 a film called 'A Marriage of Inconvenience' - definitely the Khamas' story - was released.

Sitting in front of me at the lecture was Muriel Sanderson, sister of Lady Ruth Khama. For many years she lived and worked in Zambia, then eventually relocated to Botswana where she has lived ever since. She told us about her parents' reactions to Seretse and Ruth's marriage - that her father never accepted it (let alone the children), though her mother, from much the same background as her father, was able to embrace the marriage and family. She also told us that one evening, long before the film, she, Seretse, Ruth and Sidney (who had taken an interest in the Seretse-Ruth story and wanted to meet them) had a delightful evening together in London.

Fashion Design in Kanye

A couple of weeks ago at Family Day at the Thapong Art Centre we met Nono, fashion designer and maker of Herero dolls. Well, I had been looking for someone who could make me some German Print skirts and it turns out that Nono could do that for a very good price. So I went to Timba Trading in the African Mall and purchased some fabric, one brown and one blue, and met Nono one day at Kalahari Quilts at the Craft Market in Broadhurst where she sells some of her merchandise. Nono lives in Kanye and I thought it would be fun to go there and pick up the skirts when they were finished. Then I was talking to Sethunya who needs a German Print skirt for a wedding and whose aunt Anna lives in Kanye. So on Saturday we and Sethunya and Motswedi and Moroka headed for Kanye. It is only about 80 km away but took well over an hour with traffic and the usual driving conditions. It was a familiar road, the one we had taken recently to Gabane and longer ago to Thamaga. Once at the junction to Kanye, when we saw the huge sign for Jwaneng and Windhoek, we realized that we had passed that way before a few years ago on our way to Namibia. In the end, we did not see that much of the very large town of Kanye, rather spent most of our time at Nono's house or Anna's house or climbing the tree that grows out of a concrete block. Mave had been a little concerned that we were traveling to yet another village - given that they all 'look alike.' But Kanye is much bigger than that. We didn't leave till about 5:30 and it was nearly dark within half an hour. That is a lovely time to be traveling with the sun setting, the cows heading home, the children running home, the fires burning and everyone thinking about settling in for the evening. Once back in Gaborone the usual heavy traffic and city life!

O tsogile jang?

I am very excited to be taking a Setswana class. I had heard of a course earlier in our stay but just did not know how I would manage it on top everything else, especially as it is offered on Fridays at 5 pm! I am in a Beginning class for the next several weeks and may even have time to join an Intermediate class before we leave. I feel much better knowing that I will soon be able to say more than 'dumela mma' and 'dumela rra' and 'tankie.' The classes are held at the Alliance Francaise, a very short distance from our flat. I have seen them all over English speaking Africa (and of course the US). They often bring the arts and culture from Francophone West Africa to Anglophone counterparts. They always offer French classes and local language classes. There are five of us in the class with Phemelo, our teacher: a Mostwana who appears to have grown up in the US and returned home recently, an Australian, German, Tanzanian, Zimbabwean and myself. The kids have conversational Setswana at school once a week and Kuno has long had a notebook where he keeps a growing list of all of the Setswana words that he has learned.

Postscript: the image above is from our night out at News Cafe after our last class!

King's Camp

The primary and secondary school year in southern Africa is much different than in the USA. As we have noted, the school year is the calendar year and basically the kids are in school for three months, out for a month, in for three months, out for a month, in for three months and out for a month. So, around Easter, Mave and Kuno began a four week school holiday! Lucky for us there is a camp for them to attend. It is called King's Camp and is run by a local foundation; indeed, the two week camp raises most of the money that they use during the rest of the year. The camp is held during the first two weeks of the break, daily from 8-1. It is held this year at Northside School, one of the other private primary schools. Fortunately, the kids love it! They are in two different groups, determined by age. They swim every day, do other sports, art and music. The counselors are extremely enthusiastic! We are not sure what we will do for the third week and by the fourth Moses will be here and we will be off to Namibia. When we return from Namibia the kids will be back in school for term two - and be there right up until we leave at the end of June. Interestingly, we have seen several other schools in Gaborone by now and after visiting each one we reconfirm that we definitely like Thornhill best of them all. It seems almost everyone I interview has sent their children or is sending their grandchildren to Thornhill School!

Visit to Gabane

On Saturday we were very busy. We left early in the morning for Gabane, a nearby village, where I had two interviews to conduct with two sisters, one an officeholder with the Botswana Caucus for Women in Politics and former Gaborone city councillor (turned hi tech tomato farmer) and the other a candidate for parliament. Some weeks ago I had been invited to attend a BCWP workshop for members from all political parties and to give a presentation, which I did. The workshop was sponsored by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and held at the President's Hotel on the Main Mall. There were several presenters and I found it all to be highly interesting, although much of it was in Setswana. At the workshop I had made these contacts, among many others. The kids went along and played outside for hours while we conversed inside. Of course, we did not leave without having a nice lunch of roasted meat, salads, rice and potatos. From there we returned to Gaborone and passed through to Tlokweng to visit Imelda with whom I had also scheduled an interview. She was the facilitator of the workshop and most recently has held a leading position with Emang Basadi, the women's organization. There Kuno was delighted to play soccer in the street with the grandchildren. We ended the day with homemade pizza and chocolate Easter eggs at Mary and Bruce's house.

Easter in Botswana

Easter seems to be a big holiday in Botswana. The government, the University, many businesses and shops are closed on Friday and Monday or, in the case of the latter, at least have limited hours. It is not clear to me how pervasive organized religion is in the country. There are certainly several large churches and many smaller ones in town, as well as a large mosque just across the traffic circle from UB. I am told that in Botswana people have succesfully blended imported religions with indigenous practices. Interestingly, in Botswana the chiefs were among the earliest and most successful converts to Christianity.

Over the Easter holiday, many Batswana go to 'the village' to see their families. Thursday the streets and town were very busy as people were preparing to leave. On Friday things were much more quiet. We did our grocery shopping in the morning before the shops closed since we were going to be away all of Saturday. As usual we went first to Pick n Pay for the majority of our groceries and then to Woolworths for our Trader-Joes-in-Botswana shopping experience. For weeks we had seen lots of Easter candy - aimed at the expatriates - but by the time we got there on Friday it was all gone! So no jelly beans and chocolate Easter bunnies for us this year.

Our Lemon Tree

As we noted earlier in the year, we have a lemon tree in the backyard and it seems to be the fruit bearing season just now. Our friend and neighbor, Mary, also has a lemon tree and she has been making lemon poppy seed cakes for us of late. She inspired Mave and Kuno to collect lemons from our tree and they have been making fresh lemonade daily. Many people seem to have fruit trees in their gardens. When we went to Jose and Leps' house in January we admired their many fruit trees: avocados, oranges and limes, mangos, figs, pomegranates, and more. Leloba has given us guavas from her garden. We are being spoiled by all of the fresh and flavorful produce, even from the grocery store.

National Botanical Garden

Right here in our neighborhood you will also find the National Botanical Garden, behind the Gym Activ complex, run by the National Museum. We had heard about it and then last weekend set out to find it, right off of Maratadiba Rd heading out of town and toward Tlokweng. Today we decided to stroll over and have a look. Truthfully, there is not much there. It was apparently upgraded about five years ago but does not appear to receive many visitors. It has nice walkways and lots of granite rock to climb on, as well as many well marked cacti and trees. There is a small museum, in the building that once housed the original Gaborone Hotel. There are wide benches and it was very peaceful!

Family Art Day at Thapong

The Maitisong Festival is coming to an end this weekend and one of the last events was a free Family Art Day at Thapong Art Center - Botswana's only art center - located right on our corner. Very sadly, hardly anyone showed up and I cannot really figure out why. At many of the other events, I suppose, at least the family and friends of the performers were there. But at this event the audience were to be the performers. Kuno drew a color pencil self-portrait and was interviewed and photographed by the government newspaper, the Daily News. We bought a Botswana-style Herero doll (they are much larger here than in Namibia) and made arrangements with the maker of the dolls for the sewing of some German Print skirts. We admired the clay pots being made and we took a tour around the current exhibit at Thapong. Kuno is hoping to do some art classes at Thapong during the third week of the upcoming school break.

Txtng w the wmn mps

So you would like to interview someone in Gaborone? All you need is a mobile phone, an eight digit number and some airtime (and of course your respondents' phone numbers; that is where some research or connections may come in). When I first met some of the women MPs they advised me that I would best be able to reach them by texting, not calling. The implication was that their constituents call and I would be better able to get through by texting. And so I have. And it does not matter where they are. I have texted back and forth with them while they were in the US, Nigeria and South Africa. A typical 'conversation':

GB: Dear hon xxxxxx may i interview u for study on women mps in bots have already spoken w 4 others regards gretchen xxxxxx
BT: M IN S A WL BE HME ON FRDY
GB: [very keen to seize upon an immediate reply and apparent willingness] Perhaps we can meet one morning next wk thanks gretchen
BT: OKAY DEAR

I have not noticed many 'blueberries' and think that mobiles definitely predominate. I read recently in a newspaper that mobile coverage in Botswana has now reached a 'saturation point.' I do email with colleagues at UB, those in the donor community, NGOs, the regional and international organizations, and some people in government. (I am liable to text or call them too.) With the one male MP I have so far interviewed I made a phone call, facilitated first by someone else.

Maitisong Festival

Every March-April in Gaborone (since 1987) a performing arts festival, called the Maitisong Festival, takes place. This year the festival started in mid-March and runs into early April. It seems to rely heavily on national talent, though some regional and international acts may be brought in as well. The office and many of the shows are at Maru a Pula School, one of the secondary schools in Gaborone, where a hall was built for Maitisong more than two decades ago. Other performances are at other schools, the National Museum, Alliance Francaise, Gaborone Sun and various other venues. So far, we have enjoyed three of the shows. The first, Circus of Dreams, was produced by the Drama Department at Maru a Pula. It was a somewhat abstract show with a slightly morbid overtone, but many different acts that the kids and the audience really enjoyed, including song and dance, juggling, unicycling, and an amazing 'magic trick.' On Tuesday we ventured out on a school night to see a performance of the World Dance Academy, based here in Gaborone, and a tribute to Michael Jackson, again produced by the Maru a Pula students, that was quite stunning - both at Maitisong Hall at Maru a Pula. Last night we attended a Choir Festival, as part of Maitisong, at Thornhill. This show brought together choirs from several of the primary schools - and a very nice guest adult choir - Maikano Serenaders - for a very enjoyable evening. Mave and her friends were pressed into being ushers to help seat the hundreds of family members who came out for the festival.

Maru a Pula seems to be the Cab Calloway of Gaborone (in terms of arts, anyway), though it is not officially an arts school. It was founded in 1972 to serve as a model of non-racial education in southern Africa and today has about 600 day and boarding students. It has a progressive and holistic approach to education and a rich tradition of caring for the community. Unfortunately, Mave missed going there by one year as it begins with Form One (grade seven). It is reputed to be one of the premier academic institutions in Africa; indeed, my understanding is that it consistently has the best test scores among secondary schools in all of southern Africa! It seems like an incredible school.....