Mini Vacation III: Hukuntsi and Kang

At about the one year mark of service, each group gets back together for a mid-service training (MST).  Last month, Bots 10 convened in Gaborone for a few days of training.  We also saw the dentist and PC doctors for a check-up.  I took the opportunity to visit some friends a few hours west of Gaborone.

First, I visited John and Tracy in Hukuntsi.  They are Bots 11s, which means that they arrived in Botswana in September (5 months after me).  John officially works in a junior secondary school as a Life Skills volunteer and Tracy works at the District AIDS Coordinating (DAC) Office.  Like me, they do other things in the community other than their primary placements.

Tracy and John in front of the goats near their house

They showed me around Hukuntsi.  We attended a celebration at the kgotla that weekend for the Day of the African Child.

Traditional drama at the kgotla in Hukuntsi

Exercise class - the teacher invited a bunch of kids from the audience to join in.  They had a blast!

Tracy, John and I visited a primary school in Hukuntsi to talk with one of the guidance teachers about some projects they wanted to partner on.  There, we learned about the Circles of Support program to assist teachers in better learning how to support needy students.  We also saw a great exercise class.  They also got to perform at the kgotla.

Like me, Tracy has taught people how to play cards.  So we went to the junior secondary school and played with some of the students.  A lot of them board at the school and there isn’t much entertainment to keep them out of trouble on the weekends.

After Hukuntsi, I stopped through Kang on my way back to Gaborone for training.  I visited two volunteers there, Jan and Tate.  Jan is a Bots 11 Life Skills volunteer.  Tate had just arrived at site the week before I visited.  She is a Bots 12, and was also the trainee who shadowed me a couple months ago.

I love Tate.  We bonded so much when she shadowed me.  And we renewed our vows of friendship by re-living childhood.  We did things like making friendship bracelets and taking photos in stores and laughing incessantly.

It was a lovely mini vacation before MST!  Pictures of Kang won't load...will put them up next time.