IECD Resource Pack In Action

For nearly a year, I have been working as part of a technical team to develop a resource pack to train educators and communities about integrated early childhood development (IECD). In my final days working at PCI, we finished the IECD Resource Pack and received approval from the Government of Botswana for it to be used as part of a curriculum to certify pre-school teachers from rural and remote communities. This was a huge feat for us and something we were very proud to achieve because of its potential positive impact for these most at-risk communities.

This week we started our very first training using the IECD Resource Pack. My counterpart in the effort called me to thank me for all of the great work I did and to let me know that the training was going exceedingly well and she was so happy. Yesterday, the US Embassy in Botswana posted about this training (and, subsequently, my resource pack) on their Facebook page. It is wonderful that our project is getting accolades and visibility in this way. I am so proud to have been a key player in this project and am excited to see where it goes from here.

Published: A Toolkit For Better Life Skills Education

Behold! The very first printed draft of the Adolescent Life Skills Toolkit I put together!

After meeting last week with relevant heads of all Botswana's Ministries and other pertinent stakeholders, it has been confirmed that the final draft of my toolkit will be adopted by the Botswana Government and used to strengthen the country's current national strategy for life skills education! Booyah! Now that's a Peace Corps win!

IECD and LS Technical Working Retreat

Much of my work at PCI has been focused on integrated early childhood development (IECD) and life skills (LS). I have been working very hard to improve the lives of young children and adolescents in Botswana by creating better systems and resources and enhancing the access to and understanding of programs for the most rural and vulnerable communities. As part of this effort, I have conducted focus groups on effective facilitation of LS material (LS topics include communication, self-esteem and awareness, critical thinking, and so on), lead workshops for single teenage mothers, met with stakeholders and partners from across the country, providing technical assistance to civil society organizations working in these areas, and drafted and compiled concept notes and resource books set for publication on both IECD and LS.

This last project is of particular note because it was a catalyst for a workshop eleven years in the making. Yes, eleven.

In 2003, the Botswana Government partnered with UNICEF to analyze the IECD and LS programs. They found both to be lacking and called for a technical team to be constructed and a way forward agreed upon. To date, nothing of substance has been done to address this mandate. They have, however, created "frameworks", which essentially are merely outlines, of what the desired outcomes would be for IECD and LS programs for children and adolescents. There were many MANY gaps left to be filled in and the right players had not stepped up to the plate.

Our week-long "technical working retreat", as we called it, brought heads of Government Ministries and stakeholders together to accomplish a handful of very important objectives. Of note: finally addressing the challenges and gaps with IECD and LS in Botswana; determining who is responsible for various components of these programs; reviewing the documents PCI and I proposed (which should act as the "filler" for the frameworks); and making technical, policy, and advocacy recommendations for national program revisions. We wanted people to understand what was going on, to take ownership over the situation and their roles, and to create a plan for what our ideal "model" would be for IECD and LS. This was an invariable who's who of leaders in their fields and they were poised and ready to tackle these hard issues. After eleven years of waiting, we made it happen.

Without going into too much detail about the five days (for fear of boring you with jargon and nitty gritty), I want to say that the retreat was an overwhelming success. The background was given, the studies were read, and a greater understanding was reached. The people became instantly motivated to make a change. We were able to have the conversations with all the right parties present and really hash out the intricacies of what works, what doesn't, and what we would like to see in IECD and LS education, especially for those most marginalized populations. And we did it in front of each other, meaning there should be accountability as we move forward. Basically, the environment was right. We now have task forces set up to deal with smaller issues and we have a larger plan for tackling the entire project. We are on the same page.

In the months before I close my service and finish my time with PCI, I will be packaging the ideas for our model program into something that can be discussed, marketed, and implemented, as well as meeting with all of the task forces to monitor their progress in addressing the key issues agreed upon at the retreat and finalizing the documents I have been working on and beginning to train partners and stakeholders on how to use them. There is still so much to be done but we are on the right track.

And what a beautiful place to be doing this all in...

Young Single Mothers Workshop

We all too often take for granted things that shape who we are. Things like upbringing, presence of supportive caregivers and adults, nutrition, and friends. But what if these things didn't exist in our lives? Or if they were offered in fragments and then taken away from you? What if you were an orphan and raised yourself? There are lessons learned in life that naturally happen in so many of our homes and schools that we don't even recognize. What happens when people don't learn how to communicate effectively or care for their basic needs? I am now much more conscious of that reality, as it is the basis for much of the work I have been doing in the past months. This has given me the opportunity to delve deeper into the issues facing the youth of Botswana, in particular, young women.

Twenty-three young single mothers turned up for the two-day workshop run by one of our implementing partners in a nearby village. I was invited to attend to support the partner and assist in facilitating sessions on self-awareness, self-esteem, and communication. I was joined by two other members of the PCI team and some nurses from the local clinic, who were scheduled to discuss sexual reproductive health and topics on caring for young children.

The workshop was designed to be participatory, encouraging the young women to search for their own solutions and to create a sense of community among those in similar circumstance. As such, activities were collaborative, involving a lot of group work and discussions, and the women were challenged to work through differences in order to create viable options for their collective future. This meant focusing on problem solving, planning, and critical thinking - all of which are often neglected in a country that prides its education system on rote memorization.

Overcoming the challenges of the workshop model was met first with argument and then, in time, with laughter. The latter lead to dialogue that brought great results and the girls began to prosper. It wasn't long before the women were opening up and starting to acknowledge some of their commonalities (something we believe will unite them and give them strength). It was empowering to witness.

In the end, the women made great strides in both their approach to examining and addressing issues, as well as in creating a team among one another. They were able to learn from one another and, thereby teaching them lessons long deprived. What's more, the partner organization gained the experience in facilitating a workshop of this nature and have vowed to follow the women and support them as they work towards implementing some of the activities they decided, as a team, to go for. They are no longer orphans, alone, trying to overcome hardship and raise children. They are together.

This is the sort of sustainable development that we always hope for - the kind where people learn how to help themselves and local organizations gain the skills necessary to support those efforts. I am going to be mentoring this organization for the final months of my contract but I am confident in their ability to continue in this manner. I am just proud to be there to witness it.

"Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are.

When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you."

“There is some good in this world, and it's worth fighting for.”

Even among employees and organizations that are qualified, passionate, and maintain strong values, apathy and atrophy tend to set in from time-to-time. It is a disheartening truth that impacts the quality and amount of work that is able to be done. Sometimes, when these infect a single (but key) person, the ripple effect can be great. These negative attributes, then, can lead to an under-utilization of motivated human resources or a withdrawal of those resources altogether. This is the reality I have been facing.

I have spent the last few months as a stunted version of myself. I have felt somewhat ineffectual in carrying out significant meaningful work within my primary assignment and have struggled to find a way to make a contribution within the confines outlined to me. Simply, I didn't have the freedom to create the change I wanted - and have become accustomed to - and I saw myself falling into professional doldrums.

That is not to say I have been stagnant. Besides my work for Peace Corps (as a Volunteer Leader), I have, in fact, been working on a couple large scale projects that stand to be extremely influential in the future. These include a Life Skills Toolkit and an IECD Resource Pack, both to be published and adopted by the Government of Botswana to strengthen its current National Strategies. Unfortunately, despite my dedication to these efforts, my work was constantly being put on hold in favor of, what seemed to be, waiting around for others to get motivated and involved enough to sign off on my (finished) work. This has caused me great frustration. I hold myself to a certain standard of giving back and helping others and have dedicated myself to that. Not being able to achieve to my full potential is a difficult pill to swallow, especially when you want it so badly.

Something had to be done. And now.

So I had a few conversations - conversations with colleagues that led to conversations with my superiors at Peace Corps that culminated in some very staunch heart-to-hearts with my counterparts and supervisors at my primary assignment. While the conversations were difficult, I am optimistic that positive change is on the way. Why am I so optimistic? Because I am no longer directly tethered to others within my agency so what happens next is up to me.

I am now taking over and managing a number of fairly high profile national projects and have been granted independence to build capacity of implementing partners across the country. This means I can go out in a technical capacity and work directly with the providers in the field to help them integrate and actualize programming, as well as strengthen systems and organizational capacity in order to improve service delivery. Working directly with the implementing partners is a resource and valuable experience both for me and for the organizations I now have the authority to work with. And the quality and level of my involvement is mine alone to determine, with the support of my counterpart, her supervisor, and the agency as a whole. Hallelujah! I am finally free to start making an impact  in a much more meaningful way again! Good news all around!

Virtues Project Workshop A Success!

Buddha said: "Just as treasures are uncoverd from earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind. To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue." It was with this sentiment in mind that a team of us brought The Virtues Project to Botswana to host its very first skills workshop (which I discussed in an earlier post).

I am very proud to announce that the workshop, which was held earlier this week, was a huge success! Nearly sixty people were trained on the Five Strategies of The Virtues Project, which emphasize love, patience, and compassion. The material, which was geared at educators in rural Africa, provided a fresh way to work with children and youth and offered new ways to address the key issues of punishment, boundaries, and relationship-building. All of these being vital to growth and progress when working with this demographic, and issues that need to be refocused in Botswana specifically.

Positive feedback from all participants gives us confidence that the lessons will be implemented across the country. Acclaim for the workshop came from Peace Corps Volunteer participants who work in youth development, primarily within the school system, and from their host country counterparts: "A lot of us wanted to bring these methods to our schools but didn't know how. This is a great way to do that. Even better, my counterpart liked [the training] too!"

I want to congratulate everyone that was part of the team that brought this workshop to Botswana and thank all participants for their willingness to examine a new approach to these issues. I was honored to be a part of this workshop and hope it's something that will continue on in the years to come... And I know the teachers I spoke with afterwards would too!

The Problem With "Progress"

When we think about progress, most people envision the digital age. They see computers and databases and systems that make everything run quicker and easier. The problem with this in the developing world is that electricity is sometimes out for days or weeks, making it difficult to keep things updated electronically. Most organizations get along fine by having hand-written hard copies of all records too. While this is cumbersome and means doubling the time to do things, it is the only way. Even still, in the name of progress, people are eager to learn how to use computers and get everything online.

Gabane Community Home-Based Care, the organization I spent the majority of my service with, was no exception to this desire to enter the technological world. And, after getting eight computers donated, I helped them scale up operations using them - teaching courses and building systems specifically designed to move them in that direction. We spent tireless hours on typing and then building capacity to create and update financial systems (QuickBooks) and program databases. It was an effort that was bringing new skills to the staff at the center. They were learning so much and being able to do everything on their own. We were excited about our progress. It felt limitless.

A few days ago I received a phone call from the center coordinator. After the customary greetings and small talk, she informed me that she had bad news - "Kamogelo, I have something very sad to tell you." I braced myself. No one likes hearing these words and, within the context of the work I was engaged, it can be scary to hear them. She went on to tell me that a thief had broken into the computer lab I had put together and that all eight of our computers had been stolen. GASP! She said that they had just finished updating all of the systems and that, after so long, they had finally gotten everything organized into QuickBooks from 2010 to present. Be still my heart! I was at a loss for words. On one hand, I was impressed that they had kept up all the hard work in my absence (YAY sustainability!). On the other hand, I was devastated that nearly two years worth of work had been taken from us, just that easily. And taken from such a good-hearted charitable organization no less. How could this be happening?!

After some time in silence, I assured the coordinator that I had some records backed up on my personal hard drives and she confirmed what I already knew - they didn't have a digital backup of anything but they had been hand-writing a hard copy of some things and would have to continue in that manner since the computers were gone. Phew! In that moment, I was so grateful they had not completely discontinued their tedious hand-written work in favor of the more progressive technology. Had they, everything would have been gone. Losing the computers and all the databases and digital files created over the passed years was bad enough.

Crimes of this nature are increasingly common. It is a tragedy and it breaks my heart. But this is the reality in much of the developing world. Sure, it could happen anywhere, but the prevalence rate is much higher in some places. It is something that we, as development workers, need to be conscious of when imparting our perceived notion of "progress" on others. Yes, it may be true that this is the way forward but, at the same time, we have to keep these external factors in mind. I am relieved that we didn't completely do away with the common way of record-keeping in the village in our pursuit of progress. And, the coordinator assures me, when they eventually get computers again, they will be ready to use their new skills to go at it again... as a second means of documentation.

PC/Botswana Project Advisory Committee

Being a Peace Corps Volunteer opens up many doors for unique experiences. This takes shape in the work we do, the people we stand to meet, and the places we get to see. Every day can be an adventure if you are open to it. I have been fortunate to seize many such opportunities. I am delighted to say that, in my third year, they continue to present themselves to me.

On 29 July 2013, my Country Director called to invite me to be a member of Peace Corps Botswana's Project Advisory Committee (PAC). The PAC is new to our post but has already made a significant impact on the work we do in Botswana. Essentially, PAC is comprised of Peace Corps Botswana's key project stakeholders, who are among the highest level officials in the country (having representatives from the heads of key Ministries and the National AIDS Coordinating Agency (NACA)) and acts as the voice that helps Peace Corps ensure that it develops credible, realistic, and responsive projects and training programs. Additionally, the PAC provides input and guidance to Peace Corps and helps to ensure stakeholder coordination and serves as an advisory body to the post's Program and Training Teams. My role on PAC, my CD explained, would be to represent the 102 volunteers currently serving in country and to shed light on what is happening on the ground. This offer was an honor and an opportunity I jumped at.

As I expected, my first PAC meeting was well attended and impressive. The stakeholders were outspoken, energetic, and eager to discuss the issues before the committee. Included in the topics were: the new project frameworks, preliminary results and a sampling of volunteer activities, administrative matters pertinent to the Ministries, site development, the incoming group of trainees, and projections for the upcoming year.

I was most taken by the collaboration between these groups and their passionate and keen interest in furthering and supporting the Peace Corps projects. This working group felt productive and I believe a great stepping stone towards enhancing the work we do around the country. It is no secret that I feel strongly about the potential of Peace Corps Botswana to make a real impact. PAC is a move in the right direction to get everyone on board and working together to ensure that our post can achieve a higher level of functionality and have a profound effect on the communities we reach. I am grateful to be a part of it as we move forward.

In The Field: Single Teen Mothers Workshop Series

Last week, PCI was asked to go to a small settlement called Olifants Drift to conduct a workshop for single teen mothers. The workshop was in response to the high rates of teen pregnancies, including a 12-year-old "falling pregnant" and a 14-year-old who had recently murdered her infant baby. In settlement communities like this one, where opportunities are few, this is a fairly common occurrence.

When PCI asked me to attend and help facilitate the workshop, I was overwhelmed and excited for the invitation. It would be my first official activity since starting with them and it would be my first workshop addressing this topic. We planned to discuss challenges of rural living and then train the teen moms on long-term planning (and the value of education), critical thinking, healthy relationships, risk reduction, and women's empowerment.

Seventeen single teenage mothers were in attendance. Their giggles and coy eye glances gave away the fact that they were nervous to be there. Introductions told me that the average age of the girls was eighteen and their highest schooling was the American equivalent of seventh grade. Most were mothers of more than one child.

As they warmed up to us (myself and the two other staff facilitators from PCI), they told us of their struggles - about being tricked into sex, about their perception of gender roles, about poor rainfall leading to few crops and less food, about the men who promised to marry them and feed them and care for them before running to the next girl, about the difficulties getting to villages with schools to continue their education, and about a mine coming into a nearby village (potentially creating even more problems). In between stories, they made jokes to cut the tension of the subject. They were coping the best they knew how.

After some time, the team of facilitators began working through the challenges one by one. Our team, made up of the Education and Gender Advisors, were a dynamic duo and the girls were soaking up the information. They were engaged in role playing and dialogue, utilizing PCI's GROW Model, which is geared at empowering them and helping them see their own value and strength.

One of the activities the facilitators had the girls do was to tell the room the one thing in their life they wished they could have. Saying it aloud was a form of personal commitment but also a way for their small community of teen moms to help each other achieve it. Almost all of the girls wanted to go back and finish school. Together they discussed the realities of that dream and how to make it happen. The girls seemed to be getting the information and were excited about the potential for the futures.

The two hours each way in the car through almost impassable earthen roads and the ten hour workshop seemed extremely valuable. If we could only reach a few of those girls, it would be worth it.

On our way out of the village, we watched as some of the girls rushed home to be with their children while others made their way to the local shebeen for a drink and to see what "their men" were up to. Behavior change takes time.

The one-day workshop will not be enough on its own. But at least someone had started the ball rolling - someone had taken the time to show they care about them and believe in them and want them to live better and more fulfilled lives. That was PCI, that was me, and that was the community who called to bring us there. In time maybe they will see it too. It requires a commitment from those girls and the support of the community. PCI has committed to doing more of these workshops to drive home the information and to empower these girls. I cannot wait to see it happen.

And, In The End, There Were Emotions

I have exactly twenty-two days left in my comfortable little village and only thirteen days left working at my NGO and with the ladies that have become my family in Gabane.

This is an emotional time. 

It just doesn't seem possible that my two years here are up and I am having a hard time wrapping my brain around leaving here. Even though my ticket to America is booked for my home leave and I can see the upcoming date on a calendar, it still doesn't feel real. It is as if my brain has employed a defense mechanism to keep me from feeling the anxiety and heartache of leaving something I love so much. Even if it is just to start something new nearby. I have to consciously remind myself to cherish each moment with the ladies of my NGO, to take the time to do the "secret handshake" with each kid in the pre-school, and to greet each person I meet on the dusty paths around Gabane. In a matter of days it will all be a memory. When I think about how fast two years went, it is overwhelming (even heartbreaking) to think how fast these last few days will likely go.

This is also a time when I am pushing to get projects and things finished but also trying to disconnect from the work in a more meaningful way. This is something I have blogged about a lot - the idea of true sustainable development. Of course, I have things I want to get done and see through here before I go. For example, the house building project is complete but the sanitation component - the pit latrine - is not quite finished yet. Same goes for some aspects of my organizational development project at the NGO. But, at the same time, I need to back away and make sure the ladies can do everything on their own. I need to observe them and support them in their own personal development if the things we have worked so hard on are to be sustainable. And, so far, they are.

I have watched the ladies take ownership of projects and work diligently to get the financial systems in place or to improve the teaching curriculum and our reports. The Board of Governors has finally been elected and they are taking an active role in helping scale up our operation. The members are coming to the office and conducting their own mini trainings and helping the ladies network with local people who can assist them. Local people helping local people to help the local community. This is a huge accomplishment. I have always said that, as a capacity builder and development worker, if I am able to make my job obsolete and unnecessary because the staff and community are able to do it on their own, then I have done my job well. Being able to witness this happening first-hand is bringing me peace and soothing some of the sorrow of leaving as I hesitantly look forward to the end of this chapter.

Saying goodbye is probably one of the hardest things anyone can do. This is a time filled with that - goodbyes to my fellow Bots 10s as they embark on their next adventures (on their own), goodbyes to my village and my work, and goodbyes to a life where I could be anything I wanted on any given day of the week (a farmer, a social worker, a teacher, a consultant, an accountant, a youth leader, an artist, and so on). Goodbyes are made harder when you deeply love all the things you are bidding adieu. And that is where we stand now.

For me, this goodbye is also met with some exciting hellos - to a new life, to a new job, to new challenges, to new faces. There is glory and elation and vitality in moving forward from something achieved and towards the great unknown. It is, after all, how I got to this place in my life that has become so special to me.

I am going to try and take the next twenty-two days to "hug" this world I am in now and shower it with all my love. I want to feel the emotions of it all and embrace them. I want to leave all of who I am right now in the sand of my village and with the people who have helped me grow here so that I can start this next chapter in Botswana anew.

"Terrific Tuesday" Tales

I entitled this post "Terrific Tuesday Tales" because today's "tales" (i.e. updates) are terrific... and it is Tuesday. Self-explanatory, I suppose, but I felt it warranted pointing out. This is most likely because I felt a desperate need to use an alliteration but wanted to let my readers know there was a reason for it and not just because I'm a great big dork (which I am). (Don't judge me: I worked at a summer camp, I make friendship bracelets with every kid I know, and I hang out with children every day - it's practically a prerequisite to like alliterations and other goofy things!) Honestly, I called the post this because I wanted to very simply "shout out loud" that life in the village is moving ahead terrifically!

For starters, I was awoken this morning by a phone call from my Country Director. He called specifically to discuss my application for extension. He clearly stated that our post is still waiting for funding approval for future extendees from Headquarters in DC and therefore cannot officially issue offers for third year extensions to anyone yet, but that he wanted me to know that my application was very well done and that I am "a highly qualified candidate" for my proposed extension. He went on to say that discussions about placement for all volunteers who are selected will begin as soon as the funding is approved. Knowing more about the process and the stages makes a huge difference for my mental well-being as I approach our COS Conference and look towards the next year. I feel like I can breathe a big sigh of relief knowing that I will likely be continuing the great work being done in Botswana for a third year. (I hope!)

Next, an update on my house-building project. As things so often go, costs of materials have fluctuated (mostly on the upswing), which has caused some delay in purchasing the last of the pieces we need for the house. That being said, we are moving forward with the project and should only be delayed about a week. The cement has been laid for the walls and floors, the windows went in today, the doors and locks (extra heavy duty) should be purchased by Thursday and installed over the weekend, and then all we have left to do is link the pre-existing single-room structure to the newly built home. We are doing this by putting a tin roof cover between the buildings and laying concrete between them. We are also going to construct a small outdoor kitchen in this section. This is a significant improvement for the family, as they have currently been preparing all meals over an open flame outside. Also of improvement, I was able to get mattresses donated for the family. That means that each of those children will have their very own mattress in their new home. Far cry from the blankets they share curled up on the floor right now! Finally, as I mentioned before, the hole for the pit latrine has been dug out and we have purchased the bricks and cement to build the structure. We have manpower together to construct it over the weekend as well. So, barring any further delays, we are hoping the entire structure (sans electricity at this point) will be ready for "handing over" by the end of next week. Wow.

Some months back, I wrote two proposals to a local foundation. I hadn't heard much since submitting them, despite many attempts to follow up with the foundation. That is until this afternoon when my phone rang (yet again) and I answered to find a representative from the foundation on the line. She was calling to inform me that the selection team met earlier this morning to discuss the first of my proposals, which requested a combi (van-like vehicle) to transport the children and patients that are enrolled in programs at my NGO. She went on to state that, after much discussion on my center, they were awarding us our request! This means that my NGO will be getting a shiny new (BRAND NEW) combi! This will help us so much. Not only because our current combi is ancient and costs us a lot in repairs, but also because we have created an income-generating plan for our old combi. Although it has "old car" problems, it's still operational. We are hoping to rent it out for a small daily fee, renters paying for petrol and maintenance, which would be able to go back into programs and increase our sustainability. But, no, the greatness of this phone call does not end here! The foundation representative that called went on to say that a visitor I had hosted at our center spoke highly of our work and our proposal was so well done that they are going to move it to the top of their list to review at their next meeting in May. She insinuated that they already wanted to approve it! The foundation needs to clarify some of their policies on their funding but, if this does happen, my NGO stands to get operational costs, including staff salaries (everyone is unpaid and works voluntarily right now) and two additional staff positions to alleviate the burden and scale up services. Now wouldn't that be a huge leap forward for our center?!

Finally, I am helping to organize an international public service program for a distinguished businessman who contacted me specifically because of the work I have done and asked for my assistance. Although I can't get into the specifics quite yet, the program will be aimed at educating people on grassroots development and hands-on service and hopefully create a global environment for giving back. Stay tuned, especially other PCVs because I may be calling you to host a small gathering or talk at your organizations to discuss the work you and your centers do!

In the words of my NGO's coordinator... "We just have to sing and dance and make a joyful noise!" Today's been a good day!

Capacity Building Gone Right!

The whole point of capacity building is to transfer skills to others so they can do their jobs better and, in the case of NGOs like mine, scale up their systems and better serve their constituents. So, if you have "students" that are actively trying to learn and you are a dedicated "teacher", doing the job well should mean you are no longer needed. After all, if they learned the skills and can use them properly, then your constant presence is unnecessary. That is the goal.

True capacity building is terribly difficult and, often times, Peace Corps Volunteers feel like they are constantly hitting their heads against a wall. Basically, you're asking people to do things above and beyond their preexisting work and they often don't see the rationale or what benefits might come in working extra hard for a while. Plainly, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." And our response to them is that, "just because they can't see the cracks, doesn't mean they don't exist". Try convincing someone to follow you with answers like that! It's TOUGH!

I decided early on in my service that I was going to be steadfast to Peace Corps' approach to development: "helping people develop the capacity to improve their own lives". This meant focusing on the development of people and not things. And it also meant that I wasn't going to do things on my own just because it would be easier (and much faster) that way. I was going to take the long road and do everything step-by-step with the people that I work with to ensure they learned what they were doing. Even if that meant spending hours going over and over and over the same things and taking the time to hand-write instruction manuals for even the simplest of tasks. (Yes, I even put a "ON/OFF" sticker on the power button on the computer and everything moved forward from there...)

I have had relative success in capacity building at my NGO, mostly in terms of systems strengthening. I think that is due, at least in part, to the fact that I have been patient in explaining things to the staff and have demanded they participate in every single thing that I do there. They are learning the skills to do everything from typing to drafting reports to financial management and administration and they are gaining the confidence in themselves to carry out their tasks. (I make a big fuss over them when they remember how to "align right" or enter something into QuickBooks. They laugh and cheer themselves on and feel proud of themselves for their accomplishments. In turn, I believe it also inspires them to keep trying.)

Just this week, there have been a number of huge examples of the success of capacity building at the center. I am like a "proud mom" because I can see how much all of our hard work (theirs and mine) is paying off. So here we go:

The ladies at the NGO successfully put together their very first financial report. This meant going through an entire year's worth of receipts and bank statements, organizing them by category and entering them into the computer, tabulating results, and building charts.

The center had its very first Annual Meeting where the staff presented their very first Annual Report. Although I helped with the report, the ladies presented it on their own and fielded all of the questions from the Executive and General Committees. (We spent days prepping for every possible question and brainstorming solutions. The ladies took the initiative on this end and even worked extra hours to get ready.) 

The Administrative Officer at the center installed the ink into our new printer, typed up multiple letters, and printed them off all on her own. I wasn't even present for any of these actions. This may not seem like a huge deal but, less than a year ago, she couldn't even turn on a computer.

They have learned the definition of "promptness" and are using it in their lives. This is no small feat. "African time" is very real and has been a frustration of mine throughout my service. Today, when I told the ladies I would be at the center "around 8am", which in the past would have allowed me to stroll in any time up until 10am, garnered me a phone call at 8:01 because I wasn't there yet and they were ready and waiting to get started on projects.

When I first arrived at the NGO in February 2012, I recognized a need for better communication among the staff. I started bringing the staff together for meetings. It was a time, I explained, to share about projects, successes, and problems; to brainstorm; to discuss policy changes; and so on. I was informed by the Center Coordinator today that she had called for a staff meeting. She apologized because it would be during a time when I was scheduled to be at one of the schools but assured me that she could facilitate it on her own. She then handed me a typed agenda for the meeting. I scanned the agenda and asked her if she felt confident in bringing up and explaining some of the policy changes she was calling for. She said that she was because she understood the reasons for them and was sure that she could tell the staff in such a way that they would understand as well.

Whoa! What a week worth of successes! Now that's capacity building gone right! It's such an awesome thing to see your need slowly start to fade away... And it definitely makes it easier looking ahead to leaving. It's a relief and such an amazing feeling to finally feel like they are getting it! :-D

Hard Work, Final Push, and a Break

I am in the home stretch, so to speak, of my work in Gabane. Our Close of Service Conference is just over a month away and then begins our final "lockdown" period. From that point, we are supposed to be observing our agencies utilizing the skills we have taught them and closing down our projects, rather than implementing new things. As capacity builders, this is important for us to ensure that we have successfully imparted skills to our host country counterparts. I have discussed this eventuality with the staff at my NGO at great length, preparing them and encouraging them to keep striving to learn.

Yesterday, the NGO's coordinator and I talked about this looming date once again. I think it was a big eye-opener for her, realizing that the date is fast approaching. We set to work outlining all of the things we still want to accomplish before then. It is a daunting list with more than a few big picture projects left on the agenda. To keep us focused, we decided to make a wall-sized calendar and work plan -constant reminders of the things we have set out to do and a timeframe to do them in.

This morning, I came to the office bright and early with large pieces of paper to make into a floor-to-ceiling wall calendar. I had drafted priority lists for our programs (utilizing our new strategic plan!!) throughout the evening and was set to get down to business. The ladies, as they slowly trickled into the center, were curious (and speculative) about my determination and the project before them. Hadn't this been discussed yesterday and agreed upon? I continued on, explaining as I went what I was doing, why I was doing it, and how we were going to accomplish everything (or at least get started) in the next six weeks. The ladies sat before the new calendar and nervously chuckled and spat words of apprehension.

Before long, we were talking together and solidifying the plans. They kept asking if I could stay with them at the center longer to help them get through these lists. I constantly reassured them that they had many of the skills to do it themselves but that I would be here for some time still to guide them. We then set to work on the first of many tasks...

About three and a half hours later, after tireless work (i.e. no tea break), the ladies stopped and looked at me and said "Kamogelo, we are working too hard. I think you should go home so we can take a break." Yes, ladies and gentlemen, my calendar of objectives and deadlines put stress on the ladies to the point that they realized the kind of work they wanted to do so they did not pause for tea (an oversight due to diligence and earnest on all of our behalves) and became so overwhelmed that they felt I had to actually leave the center in order to get a breather! Whoops! But, before I left, they were sure to sit down with me and discuss what needed to be done next. And they want to get started as soon as the doors open tomorrow.

In the end, I consider it a success. It is important to look ahead and make a plan and that is something that has been lacking here. So, in putting up the calendar and showing them exactly what needs to be done, I issued them a challenge and it's one they have accepted. I truly believe that, in seeing the work that lay before them, the ladies will accomplish more and feel more confident and successful. Plus, I got an afternoon off guilt-free! :)

Effort Breeds Success: A Computer Class Update

It has been a long time since I have mentioned my computer class but I thought, after an unprecedented class today, that I should share.

This week we were working on typing actual documents. This is a step up from the usual typing tutor programs and practice sheets we have been doing. The way I set up today's session was that I sat with each person yesterday and we hand-wrote a letter or worksheet that they needed for a project they were doing. The type of document we were going to create obviously depends on what they are working on or the nature of their individual work but all was actual things that needed to be completed. Basically, we were "scaling up" the quality by learning how then finalizing the work on the computer (which could now be printed on-site because my Mom brought the necessary cables that we were missing before - thank you Mom!).

Each person who signed up for today's class (three people) signed up for time slots so I could work with them individually. The first slot was at 11:30am, the second at 12:30, and the final at 1:30. That gave me an hour with each person to show them the formatting (since this was their first time working without a template) and help them through the process. Here is where things to a turn for the exciting...

I sat down with the first person and she informed me as she turned on the computer that she had studied the reference material I made and wanted to show me without guidance (unless, of course, she got stuck along the way). She was able to go through the entire sequence - opening Word, changing alignments and font and the like - without my saying a word! We were done within 30 minutes with huge smiles on our faces!

To my surprise, the second person was already at the center with her hand-written document ready to be transferred to the computer! She was early! This was a historic day, as finding someone that "keeps time" is difficult to say the least, let alone e-a-r-l-y! We sat down and worked through her document - an Excel sheet - with relative easy considering its complexity. Her being ahead of schedule even allowed us to go over a few other things that I hadn't showed her before. She stayed beyond her session to practice.

Finally, the last person showed up for her session. She had a goofy grin on her face and told me that she was very proud of herself. She opened up the "My Documents" folder and proceeded to her individual folder when I went to correct her that we were starting a new document and needed to open Word first. She ignored me, giggled, and continued on. Double click and up comes a Word file with a completed document. I looked in surprise and saw that she had already finished typing up her document intended for today's session! I was speechless. She went on to tell me that she came in to the office early today because she was eager to try the exercise and that she decided to be brave and try it. She confessed to needing to use the reference material a lot (which I explained is why it's there) but that she was able to do it!

Three computer sessions, three different students, one unbelievable result. They have gotten to the point where they are able to do the work themselves. Yes, they often get nervous and lack confidence in their abilities but they are there - they can do it. And what's more is they are motivated to learn and grow (and be on time). I was quite literally exploding with happiness and so proud of them for their accomplishments and for the effort they put forth. This is a Peace Corps win in my book.

Successes!

I have been on cloud nine lately. My successes have become plentiful and my joy abounding. Things have truly come together for me in a really positive way, both in terms of my life and my projects, and I couldn't be happier. The latter, in particular, is what I wish to share: project successes!

Scouts

The Scout troop that I am working with has reached a new high. First, our normally small group of 25 kids has grown to over 60 kids attending each meeting this term with many more pounding the pavement to sign up. The kids are not the only ones who are excited to participate - we have had six new teachers ask to participate in one capacity or another! This is a far cry from our initial months, where the other PCV and I felt like we were pulling teeth just to meet with a single teacher to get things off the ground. And, as if to reward our troop for its efforts, we won a prestigious award for the school. The award totaled BWP 12,000.00 (a ridiculously huge sum in Botswana!) and our troop has also been invited to compete against other troops from the area next week in two categories: marching and entertainment/drum-line! The kids and teachers have been meeting every single day after school to practice and are looking ready to strut their stuff! This is huge for our troop, which only started this past term! Go Segoditshane Scouts!

Gabane Community Home-Based Care

As I mentioned a few days ago, my NGO in Gabane was selected as one of only ten organizations as part of the Southern African Development Community's HIV/AIDS Fund, which aims to strengthen CBO/NGO organizational capacity for the HIV response in Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. I did not confirm to the blog-o-sphere but we did receive the official invitation from SADC and went to the welcome banquet and continued assessment interviews yesterday in Gaborone. These interviews went swimmingly! The women from my NGO also were invited (as part of this event) to attend an introductory workshop led by notable experts from Southern Africa on a variety of topics, including: leadership and governance, financial management, and aligning programs to Botswana's National Strategic Framework.

Today, when I came into the NGO, the women that had attended the workshop were already elbow deep in the notes and powerpoint slides they received yesterday. They were going through the papers and "studying". I sat with them to help clarify some of the details and translate some of the jargon. After some time, the women stopped and looked at me with a sense of urgency then proclaimed: "We are going to work very hard to learn everything and prove to these folks that we are the best out here - that we want to learn and we want to do more. That way, when the training portion is over and they are looking to help with funding, they will know they can trust us to get the job done and do our best." My heart skipped a beat - this is every Peace Corps Volunteer's dream come true. And, the best part about it, I know that they mean it and that they truly will do everything in their power to make the most of this opportunity.

BOCAIP Tumelong Counseling and Childcare Center

It has been a long time since I have mentioned my old NGO in Kumakwane. As you can probably recall, it closed many months ago. This was devastating, not only because it meant that I had to move from a village that I loved so much but also because it meant hundreds of children would be going without the care and services they desperately need. Not wanting to see this happen, I continued working on proposals up until the minute I left but, sadly, had not heard anything from those submissions. Well, yesterday I received a call from a friend from Kumakwane that I used to work with who informed me that Tumelong was being repainted and cleaned up. I immediately asked for more details. It turns out that one of the proposals that I had written before moving had finally come through! The NGO now has funding to run the daycare center and the afterschool program for an entire year! (Note: the funding will carry them through June 2013, my expected end-of-service date! Hooray!) The facility is getting polished up and ready to re-open next month! That means, once again (and finally), that all my Kums Kids are going to have a place to go for food, psychosocial support, and fun! We did it!

Basically, what all of this means is that all of my service's key projects, even those that I thought were long gone, are having a banner month and I am reveling in their success!

Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.  ~Nathaniel Hawthorne

A Crucial Meeting, Progress Achieved

When I first arrived at my new site, I was taxed with putting together an organizational profile and strategic plan. This profile would include everything from the community needs to our goals, response, and programs and then information on the NGO and its financial and programmatic future. The document totaled 22 pages. I sent the finished report to someone at a national organization that oversees projects for NGOs and CBOs like ours, mostly in an attempt to set up a meeting to discuss networking and to show that our organization is doing great work.

Yesterday, I received word that this same national organization wanted to come do a site visit at my NGO and that they would be bringing representatives from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to evaluate our organization and assess our needs. This was to be done in the belief that, if they liked what they heard and saw, they would partner with us on projects and provide capacity building tools to help us grow.

This afternoon, three representatives from my NGO (the Coordinator, the Administrative Secretary, and the Board's Vice Chairperson) and I had the opportunity to sit down with four representatives from SADC and the Program Manager from the national organization to discuss my NGO. For nearly two hours we discussed our organizational capacity in terms of governance, finances, and programs. They stated their interest is in helping build strong foundations for organizations making a positive and long-standing contribution by providing expensive programs (like Quickbooks) that NGOs like ours would not be able to afford and then intricate training on these systems to help them thrive. They also stated that they have internal access to future grant funding that they would help secure on the organization's behalf. Essentially, what this means for the organizations chosen is that they will provide the materials and training to develop strong financial systems and then grow from there by assisting in funding programs. Unfortunately, they explained, they had to pick only ten organizations in all of Botswana to offer such assistance. They told us they have spent the last two weeks touring the country to meet with and assess different organizations and that we are the last one before they will make their final decisions.

After our long discussion, I made a plea on behalf of my NGO to receive this assistance, stating that the staff is among the most dedicated and hard-working people I know, that they have a passion and a desire to learn, and that I will be here for a year to help support them in their endeavors and to help ensure sustainability of their efforts - plainly: their choosing our NGO would not come to naught (I would make sure of it).

On their way out the door, one of the SADC representatives from Zimbabwe pulled me aside and said that my presentation of the organization and my appeal to the committee has surely secured us a spot as one of the ten NGOs across the nation to receive assistance. He informed me that our acceptance packet will be sent to my email address tomorrow and that we will be honored at a "welcome banquet" next week Thursday. He then shook my hand and followed the others to the car.

After everyone left, I excitedly told my colleagues from the NGO what had been said to me and we all jumped up and down, gave each other great big hugs, and did a happy dance! This is a big day in Gabane, folks! A really great day! Hooray! :)

Project Updates

As we approach the one year mark (2 days away!), I thought I would share a short update on a few of the main things that I am working on:

Computer Basics Classes: I continue to teach computer classes to people from my community. So far, classes consist mostly of staff from my NGO and the Clinic. Classes are held once per week and I am offering review sessions two afternoons per week. In an attempt to help make the classes more applicable to their jobs (and so they can better understand the importance of learning how to use the computer), I use these review sessions (and independently scheduled time as requested) as a time to give the computer lessons a practical application. What this means is that I invite the class participants to bring their handwritten reports and/or paperwork in and we convert them into digital files together. Often this means I show them how and then they repeat the effort or, in some instances, I create a framework and they fill in the details. We are lucky enough to have enough computers so that each participant has "their own" computer in the computer lab that they can save their files to so they can continue to modify/work on them as they get more comfortable and gain more skills. For one student who has been exceptionally dedicated to learning, this means she is starting to be taught the very basics in Excel. Among the biggest accomplishments of this class, in my opinion, is that every single person who signed up for the class continues to come each week. They are getting comfortable with typing and with doing basic things in Word. They are motivated and so happy to learn. Success!

Segoditshane Scouts Troop: The Scout troop that I lead, along with another Peace Corps Volunteer and two teachers from Segoditshane Primary School, is going very well. We have approximately fifty scouts aged 9 to 14 that meet once per week to learn a variety of skills, including: practical outdoor activities (camping, hiking, backpacking, sports), environmental conservation, morals/ethics, community service, etc.

Renetswee Happy Home Care Center: I have been rewriting a Constitution for an NGO in a nearby village and helping the Coordinator come up with strategies for programming and recolonization of the new facility once all of the pertinent documents are filed and approved.

Gabane Community Home-Based Care: This is my primary project, so the majority of the work I am doing right now is here. Briefly, I am working in a variety of functions.

• Pre-School Program Curriculum Development: I have been observing classroom activities and teaching styles to help the teachers develop new ways of imparting knowledge onto the children and revise current curricula and/or activities to do with the children (ages 3 to 6). This includes examining end-of-term and year-end exams for the primary schools (where the children will graduate to) and designing projects that help achieve the necessary results for the children's success in accordance with those requirements. The hope is that by providing better curriculums the children will flourish and have a better chance of being successful. Research shows that a child's success in school directly correlates with the dropout rate and therefore their HIV status later in life. If we can get these children, the most vulnerable in our community, to enjoy school and become dedicated to their success while they are young, then we have a better chance of keeping them that way into junior school and beyond.
• Organizational Development: For the first few months at this new site, I have been conducting an analysis of staffing and organizational needs. In doing this, I have put together documents such as job descriptions, forecasting of staffing needs, designing current and forecasted organizational charts, an organizational profile, program leaflets, and a marketing kit.
• Financial Systems/Planning and Budgeting: I have been discussing and training staff on the importance of budgets, record keeping/monitoring expenses and income (payments), and balancing the books. This has included creating a very simple payment database for immediate use by staff while creating and implementing a thorough financial system. I have trained the Administrative Officer on how to use this program and she is getting comfortable using it. In the meantime, I have worked to design and digitize financial systems by creating frameworks and a database to track profit and loss and by putting together program and organizational budgets. (No expenses have ever been tracked at the NGO before so this means researching numbers, gathering receipts, and finding out real costs.) 

Sadly, I also have to report a death of someone I have blogged about. Remember a few weeks ago when I told of my home visits? I discussed a mother who was devastatingly sick with AIDS and in the final stages of her life. I also told that her daughter had recently tested positive for HIV. Well, the daughter has passed away. Immediately after her test, my NGO helped get her admitted to the hospital in Gaborone for treatment. Within a week, she developed TB. On Tuesday the hospital released her to go home because there was nothing else to be done. My NGO planned to visit her yesterday but she died during the night, only hours after returning home. In discussing the loss with the Clinic and NGO staff, it seems the young girl waited too long to test and the virus was too far along. This is a very sad loss of someone far too young. I will continue going on home visits and encouraging people in my community to test early and often.

These are the projects that are currently filling my days and that will carry me into this second year in Botswana.

Update: First Computer Basics Class

As I mentioned a few hours ago, today I held my first Computer Basics class for the staff at my NGO. I am oh so happy to report that every single staff member, including the cooks, came to the class! Everyone was eager to learn about computers.

We started the class with the absolute basics: how to turn on the computer. I realize this seems mundane to my readers from the developed world but you have to realize that, for many in Botswana, this is life. They are just starting to understand technology and most people that are much older than school-aged have had very little or no education on computers etc. They are excited, however, and asked many questions that led the class much further than the simplicity of that. After covering an array of topics from locating "My Documents" and seeing the materials I am starting to put together for them to opening and saving files, I introduced the class to their new best friend: the typing tutor. I had installed Keyblaze Typing Tutor to all of the computers in the new lab a few days ago in preparation for the class. The last half hour consisted of getting acquainted with the keyboard. Most just learned their basic finger placement but a few made it through the first two lessons ("index finger letters" and "middle finger letters"). What makes this even more exciting and makes me smile with joy is that the staff stayed after class to continuing practicing their typing skills. They were so happy to be learning how to use the computer that they were laughing and squealing and smiling and high-fiving each other with each accomplishment. I was overjoyed seeing how this simple lesson was really impacting their lives. And, music to my ears, was when they asked if it was okay for them to practice in the computer lab even if I was not there. Yes, folks, this is a joyous day in the life of a PCV!

It May Not Seem Like Much Buuuuut...

Yesterday, while I was in Gaborone at my Scout Troop meeting (have I mentioned that I'm leading a Scouts Troop with another PCV? Well, I am), I received an sms from someone at my NGO. She asked how to log into the computer - where to type in the password and how to get it to accept the password. I quickly responded to her message and returned to my troop meeting. After a while, she messaged me again and then a few more times with simple questions, like where to find the "documents" folder and which program she should use to type a letter (Word vs Works). After my meeting, I checked in with her to make sure that everything was okay and to find out if she needed me to come into the office when I got back to Gabane. She informed me that nothing was the matter but that she wanted to get acclimated to the computer and play around with things in preparation for our first computer class (which is this afternoon). OH MY GOODNESS. (Was I really hearing this?) She was excited to learn, so much so that she wanted to prepare herself for the class. Motivated, planning ahead, enthusiastic... this was music to my ears. It has been a while since I have had the opportunity to work with people like this. This is yet another thing that is making my days all the better. Truly amazing. And, with that, I'm off to teach Computer Basics!