Student Blog Takeover Part Two

Wildlife Conservation in Gaborone, Botswana - Session 1 - Week two blog - 

On Friday, June 21st, we went to a local private school in the city. Legae Academy is a secondary school covering forms 1 through 5 (ages 12-18, equivalent to American grades 7-12). At the school, we met some of the other students and played games like musical chairs and icebreaker questions. Many of the questions were either funny or getting to know us, ei: 'What is your favorite color?', 'Barbie or My Little Pony?', 'What is your favorite book?', 'Regular Show or Amazing World of Gumball?', 'Call of Duty or Roblox?', etc. Later in the day, they walked us around their campus. For me, in the Midwest, it was very different from my current high school. The campus was much more spread out, with a courtyard and many different, separate buildings for their classes, compared to most American schools where you are inside all day long. They showed us the tuck shops, where the students could buy lunch, snacks, and drinks, and they made recommendations for their favorite foods. After our small break, we got to experience a bit of what their school day would be like. We met their marimba team and heard them play. They were absolutely incredible and definitely much better than us. They taught us some of their songs, which made us appreciate it even more because now we know how much work and effort they put into their music. After the short music class, we had a traditional dancing class, which was very different from the dancing we learned earlier in the week. They had a person playing the drums as they all were all in a horseshoe shape, at different times, different people went into the middle and performed their dance, before rejoining the circle, allowing different people to join the center. They taught us what they had just performed. We had an amazing time laughing, joking, clapping, and dancing. After learning and performing our new dance, we joined the students in games of basketball, rugby, and net ball. We played for hours and had a lot of fun. Sadly, it was time to say goodbye, but before we left, we got numbers, Snapchats, and Instagram so we could continue having these international relations. And it wouldn't be long before we got the opportunity to see them again.

The next day, Saturday, June 22nd, we got the opportunity to visit homestay families, spending the day with them to learn about their culture and daily life in Gaborone. We were all split up in pairs and each pair was given a different homestay. Since I wasn't there for everyone's visit, I'm just going to talk about my own. I was paired with Hudson and a 15-year-old (but in form 4) named Wedu. They picked us up and took them to their home outside the city. It was very typical for people to work and go to school inside the city, but live on the outskirts because rent in the city was too high. I asked them about their lives on the way to their home and they were happy to share a bunch of information. For example, Vincent, Wedu's father, talked about how their lives were in three parts: there was a time to live/work in the city for jobs, and time to go home to spend time with your family, and a time to go to the farm to take care of their livestock. A lot of people in Botswana own their own livestock. They'll typically keep goats, sheep, chickens, cattle, and impalas. When we got to their house, we sat outside and continued to talk and play games, like charades and ping pong. After that, we got to meet the rest of their family that was there: Wedu's younger sister, Ludo - which means "Love" - her cousin, aunt, uncle, and other family members who just sort of walked in and out of the house. Once we met everyone, we sat outside and got ready for "a feast fit for kings". All of the food was absolutely amazing and I was full for the rest of the day. After our wonderful meal, we went to their farm, which was about an hour, 60 kilometers, from their house. Another interesting thing I learned is that they will tell the distance between two places by kilometers, compared to America, where we typically measure in time. Once we got to their farm, we met the farmer, who was from Zimbabwe, that worked there full time, so they didn't have to leave their village every day. We got to meet their goats and sheep and even hold the babies, which were absolutely adorable. Finally, we realized that it was time to say goodbye. After getting everyone's information, we packed into the car and drove back to the school, where our groups were waiting. There was so much I learned about the people here and their culture. I loved meeting all of them and wished I could've spent more time with them. They were very hospitable and welcoming in showing us their culture and if I ever visit Gaborone again, I know I have a safe place to stay. Until we meet again, sala sentle.

Student blog report of daily life in Gaborone, authored by Rachel Samuelson