A Village Visit Taught Many Lessons

We took a trip to Bahurutshe Cultural Village just in time before we head out of Gaborone into more rural areas of the country. The idea for this experience came from an elder in the village.  This woman wants to share her culture with the world, in hopes it will inspire dialogue around cultural understanding and preservation. She welcomed us into the homestead introducing us to traditions and customs that are still present to this day in some rural settings. The students' experience was eye opening and created a lot of good conversation. 

I wanted to share the students' perspectives so I had them finish the following sentence. In the village I learned...

In the village I learned that even in the modernizing era, the society here still place importance of culture and traditions of their ancestors and put those beliefs in their everyday life. -Sarayu

In the village I learned that young people still participate in the culture and don’t forget where they come from. -Bella

In the village I learned that dance and singing is a universal language. -Nimkii

Being at the village I learned that everyone does things differently, which makes learning about new culture and traditions interesting and exciting to know that there are things you can still learn no matter where you are. -Dallon

In the village I learned that many cultures and traditions vary heavily, yet many things remain universal across the human experience. -Nick

In the village I learned that old customs are still alive despite the rapidly changing society around them and that they are changing at their own pace despite the society change. -Kimberly

In the village I learned that they stick to their culture and traditions even with the changing society. -Madison

In the village I learned that feeding and keeping track of pet dogs is extremely important because they may kill livestock and other pets if left unattended at night. -Joe

In the village I learned that the creation of a standard currency shifted the whole system of wealth in their culture. Before, they valued natural wealth but now money has shifted priorities and motivating factors. -Karina

In the village I learned that cultures around the world are so different and to always keep an open mind about what’s important to others, even if it might not be to you. -Maddie

In the village I learned that all around the world there are still people who live and have the same culture as a long time ago, a lot of things that people think are gone are still very much alive and well, I got to see that first hand, from where they live and what they do on a daily basis, this made me realize there is a lot more to life than what I know and life is a beautiful thing. -Ricky