The Rest of the Story & An Ode to German Print

It has been a while since we have posted, and a few people have pointed out to us that we have left a couple of stories unfinished. So, here you go:

The Rest of the Story Part I: Campus Unrest
After they closed the campus in the middle of the week due to the violence, it was announced that the campus would stay closed for the rest of that week and the whole following week. To make up for it, the mid-semester break was cancelled, and the semester was extended by a week. Then a couple days later, it was clarified that this cancellation did not apply to graduate students or international students. Now, if you are paying attention, you will have noticed that means that if you teach both graduate and undergraduate classes, you have had your mid-semester break taken away, your semester extended by a week, AND you did not get the week off for the cancelled classes. And, if you are an international student or an exchange student, enrolled in undergraduate classes - do you have class during the off week, or do you not? None of this made much sense - totally poor "planning", if you can call it that. So, there was a bit of confusion and mild unrest on the part of the faculty at that point. Honestly, I think most faculty just made up their own minds of how they would handle the schedule situation, without broadcasting it to administration.

When students returned after the semi-closed week, the unrest actually started right back up. This lasted a couple of days, in which some classes were again disrupted, sand thrown in the face of professors, etc. At this point the faculty and staff had lost their patience with the administration and called a meeting to organize a bit of protest of their own. They confront the Vice Chancellor, took a vote of no confidence in him and called for his resignation. At that point there was some talk that the university would have to close for the entire semester.

Then...suddenly...it all got quiet again. Things for the past week have seemed completely normal. I finally asked my grad assistant what had happened, and she said that they (the govt. or the university, not sure which) had given the students money. Problem solved. (?)

The Rest of the Story, Part II: The Dogs.
Mama (the dog) had her puppies. Only two this time, not eight (thank God!). She had them in her own front yard, not ours (thank God, again). The SPCA did finally come for a visit, but it happened to be a day in which the owners had taken a tiny bit of interest and moved the puppies to the back yard, where it could give the appearance that they were being tended to. We reminded the SPCA that the reason none of the dogs were starving was that we were feeding them (not the owners), and that it is not a sustainable situation once we are gone. They took no action but promised to come back. In the meantime, we have not seen or heard the puppies in a week or so. We are not sure they are still there. If they are gone - and we absolutely hate to think of how that was done - it happened much sooner than with the last batch, and before the girls could get completely attached. So, life goes on with us having two informal foster dogs that do bring pleasure to the girls and a combination of pleasure and terror to Trey. And, they bring us gifts. Today I got a chewed-up but otherwise lovely pink slipper - just one - from who knows how far away...

An Ode to German Print:
Now, a bit of fun Tswana culture. The traditional clothing of the women here is known as German Print. The fabric comes in three colors (blue, brown, and red) and a seemingly endless variety of patterns. You can buy the fabric in any of a large number of fabric shops, then take it to any one a very large number of tailors to design you a dress or skirt. (There are some street vendors that sell pre-made dresses, but the vast majority seems to be made-to-order). This is seemingly done by even the poorest of people, and german print seems to be in style for every occasion. You see people wearing a german print skirt with an old t-shirt and slippers, or very elaborately decorated for a wedding or other special occasion. Once you figure out what you are looking for, German Print is everywhere.

Way back in November, Charles (my Fulbright colleague) and I were invited to the wedding of one of Esther's relatives (Esther is the director of the Centre). Weddings are much more drawn out affairs here, with festivities one weekend at the bride's family home, followed by festivities at the groom's family home the next weekend. The roles and responsibilities of the extended family in family life here are extensive. This includes weddings. The extended family women, on the bride's side, lets say, prepare all the food, serve it, and clean, while acting as gracious hosts to the family of the groom. Then, the next weekend, it is the groom's family's turn to do all the work (the women, that is).

The fun part is that each side picks out a specific german print pattern and all the women on that side have dresses made from that pattern, each trying to quietly outdo the others with ornateness and originality. At the wedding that Charles and I went to, we didn't know anyone but Esther, and she was busy with the extensive hosting responsibilities. So, we amused ourselves by seeing how many different interesting german print dresses we could find. I forgot my camera, but thanks to Charles, here are some interesting photos to give you the idea.
This wedding took place in the village of Molepolole (mow-lep-e-low-lee), about 50 km from Gaborone. In addition to giving you some good representations of the german print style, I hope they will give you a good feel for village life in Botswana, which to me can feel very different, strikingly different at times, from life in Gaborone.
Above is a fancier brown print. The cut of the skirt and top suggests it was made just for the wedding. It may be from the print chosen by the women of the groom's family, but I can not tell for sure.

Two good representations of the blue print. Charles and I were both in agreement that the red sash and collar on the left were quite unique, and quite striking. The one on the right is a much more traditional look.

The picture above is a pretty good representation of what I would call the "classic" german print style. A small print fabric, with some details added at the neck, shoulders, and around the bottom. The white shawl indicates she is from the bride's family, and is therefore a guest of honor at the home of the groom. The weekend before, the groom's family members would have been wearing the shawls at the home of the bride. I just love this picture, it seems like such a classic representation of Botswana village life or something.

Another brown. I call this the "button" print, just totally my own made-up term. I believe this was the print chosen by the groom's family, You will note the woman is wearing an apron, as she was probably clearing the tables and doing dishes as this photo was taken.

There are three separate prints in the shot above. The "button" style with the yellow t-shirt underneath, the blue stripe (which is a bit more unique, or at least I do not see a lot of the stripe when I am paying attention), and another brown in the background, with a matching hat trimmed in the same fabric. You do see a lot of coordinating scarves for daily wear, and hats for fancier occasions. This morning we went to a tailor (to get a pea costume made for Hope for book week - more soon on that). We found out there that you can also get shoes made with the fabric as well. I asked if you had to buy the shoes and he just covered them with the fabric, but the tailor said no, just tell him what size foot you have, and he makes the whole shoe himself. How cool is that??

Above is a member of the wedding party, in a lovely brown print mixed with a lot of white. The wedding party started out in a more Western style of gowns and tuxes. After the food and some dancing, they left. Charles and I thought that was odd. Then maybe 30 minutes later they returned. This time the women were all in german print and the traditional leather sandals with goat hair (I have been assuming it is goat - it could be any number of animals, I suppose). The pattern was all the same, but again each woman's dress was unique.

Two other members of the wedding party in their own versions of the same print, with the men in the background. They are doing what could best be described as a line dance of sorts. It was a lot of fun to watch. We were told the wedding party had been getting together and practicing for weeks to prepare for it.

And finally, a nice red. I think red is the least frequently seen of the colors, but it is a bright and fun contrast to all the blue and brown. In the background is another "button" style of brown.

The girls have become quite interested in the whole german print idea. So, we are having dresses made for each of them. I took Hope to the tailor last week, and she had such fun as the lady got a pad of paper and a pen and started sketching out ideas, while asking Hope for input. It will be a two-piece skirt and top, in a red rosette-like print as the main color, but with layers of blue and brown in the same print at the bottom of the skirt, finished off with a bit of lace. Once hers is finished, we will take Eden to do the same thing. Today at the fabric store we found some prints with elephants, others with zebras. Guess what Eden's dress will probably look like?

Ted and I seem to have caught the bug ourselves. Today at the fabric store we decided we might get some of it to bring home and recover the seats of our dining room chairs. We are thinking brown, with a variety of different prints - maybe even a different print for each of the six chairs...

Trey's World

A Ted Post:

Trey is now 3 1/2 years old. When we arrived in Botswana, he was still struggling to tell us in words about his world. Now, I often call him a chatter-box. He uses words like 'actually', 'tremendous' and phrases like, "Lets think about it." and "That is not a good idea". The last one usually right after we tell him to go to bed.

At his nursery school, they usually do a couple of pictures to take home. We have an entire wall full of his art. When I picked him up the other day, I was especially interested in his most recent work (above). Keep in mind that for over six months now, all of our laundry is done by hand in the bathtub. When I asked him what he had just colored, he answered:

"Its a TV, Dad!".

Amy and I looked at each other in confusion for a moment, then realized the kid probably has no memory, mental image, or word for something called "washing machine".

Puppies and Poop.

A Ted Post:

A long standing issue at our flat is the dogs next door. You may remember shortly after our arrival stories of the mother dog and her eight puppies. There has not been much good news to report except for the tremendous love that Eden, Hope and even Trey (at times) give to them.

Seven of the puppies left our neighborhood in November but one (by name of 'Mocha' if you ask Eden or Hope or 'Cheese' if you ask Trey) remains. The mother and son duo wander around the nieghborhood, hang out in our yard, eat some of our table scraps, hide on our front porch when it rains and steal the occational shoe or toy from us.

Amy and I are worried about what happens when we leave. The neighbors aren't showing much interest and the doghouse in their backyard hasn't been available to both dogs in months. There are too many beer bottles and trash.

We considered 'adopting' Mocha-Cheese and bringing him back to the states, but then found out the cost. For anyone considering transporting a dog halfway across the world, a full service company will handle all the details for around $7,000. Then we noticed a couple of weeks ago that 'Momma' (the dog, that is) is again pregnant. We stepped up our search for options.

To our suprise (and relief) their is a Botswana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BSPCA). Eden and I checked it out during the week.

They house lots of cats and dogs, some bunnies, three donkies, some goats, and a sheep.

Eden, Hope and I returned on Saturday to volunteer. I was thinking we could walk a couple of dogs, pet some cats, sit with the bunnies. They had different ideas...When we checked in at the office, Kay (the office manager) said she was glad to see us and asked if we were ready to work. We said yes. She had me pick from two different shovels (an odd tool for walking dogs, I thought). She then lead us to the donkey/goat/sheep pen. It was empty (they were wandering around the entire place). The shelter however, was not entirely empty. It was full of poop. Lots of it. This was our task. Good thing I wore my brand new (birthday gift) white shirt.

While I shoveled and dumped, Eden and Hope helped feed the several dozen animals at the shelter.

After feeding the animals, Eden even chipped in to help with the poop - see video below.

We came home dirty, tired, but feeling good about the place itself. We wish we were also feeling good about the fate of the dogs and future puppies next door. The BSPCA has promised to pay the neighbors a visit, but so far they have not come. We have heard the neighbors may be leaving and the dogs going to the village where the neighbors come from, but if that does happen, it almost certainly won't happen before the new litter of puppies is born. Eden and Hope have already picked out names for up to 10 of them...

Strikes & Protests & Riots (Oh My!)

Today at 1:30 p.m. they closed the university. We got an email from the Vice Chancellor at 1:00 informing us we needed to leave our offices immediately and everyone had to be completely gone by 1:30. The reason? The police were coming in to take control of the university to end the student strike. Good enough reason for me to leave. I promptly did so.

This has been building all semester. First, some background. The government pays for students to attend university here. They get their tuition paid, plus their room and board and a stipend. Obviously in most ways this is a very good thing. Many kids from the small more remote villages get to come to school that most certainly wouldn't otherwise be able to do so.

The current uprising started a couple of weeks ago. Apparently this year the Ministry of Education made a decision to not provide stipends to students who were retaking a certain number of classes, and to not adjust the stipends of students moving off-campus. Students have been upset about this. They petitioned the Ministry, filed a case with the High Court, etc. When all this failed, they went on strike. At first they just stopped attending classes, then escalated to disturbing other classes so that other students would not attend class either. They disrupted classes in session, and chased students walking to class carrying books - in some cases knocking the books out of their hands and such. They also blocked students from entering the library and in some cases the dining halls. A couple of international exchange students had their plates of food knocked from their hands, prompting their universities in the U.S. to recall them. The rest of the exchange students were moved out of their hostels and into a hotel 8 kilometers from campus. They were told not to come to campus until it is over, and they have no means of transport anyway. I am sharing my office this semester with a professor from Cornell College in Iowa who brought over a group of students. Needless to say he was a little distressed and was concerned that his students were going a bit crazy being basically locked down in a hotel.

This week it has gotten more physical. They have started using sticks and rocks, surrounding security guards, physically threatening people trying to hold class, and destroying property. I have actually witnessed very little of this. There a number of disadvantages to having an office in a place known as Siberia, but one advantage appears to be that student riots don't really make it out that far. I have heard them chanting, and on Monday morning I ran into a professor I know right after she had gotten chased out of class - she was pretty shaken up.

The worst part for me has been the disruption of classes. On Tuesday mornings I meet with a group of students who wanted to take my Monday night class but couldn't because of schedules. So, I agreed to meet with them separately. Our routine has been that they come to my office on Tuesday mornings and then we go to the conference room at the Centre to meet. Yesterday they showed up without any paper, pens, or other school supplies because they said they would have been followed if they looked like they were going to class. We went to the Centre and I asked for the key to the conference room. The woman who had the key asked if I was having class in there. I wasn't sure what the right answer was to that question so I told her I was just meeting with a group of students. She said the rioting students were sending in "spies" to walk through the buildings to see if people were holding classes in alternate locations. She told me she would open the room for me if I wanted, but that we were risking being caught and harassed. At that point I really would have held class anyway except it was very clear to me that she was uncomfortable with us being there and I didn't want to prompt students to bring their chaos and destruction to the Centre. So, we disbanded.

All afternoon Tuesday there were rumors they would close the university, but it did not happen. I teach a different class on Tuesday nights, and again I really wanted to be defiant and hold class - I HATE getting behind in my syllabus, but after consultation with the department I decided to cancel it. I showed up this morning and things seemed normal from my view from Siberia, but then while sitting in a meeting with Bagele Chilisa at 1:00, both of our phones started ringing with people telling us the news. We quickly wrapped up our meeting and I went back to my office to shut off the air conditioner and get some things. This was the first time of the whole process that I was a little spooked. There were people, mostly students, running around every which way. I wasn't sure if they were the rioters or just regular students running back to their hostels to grab their things before they left. I left through the back gate and walked home as quickly as I could. It was a bit exodus-like. I have never walked home surrounded by that many people before.

The non-rioting students are the ones I feel the most sorry for. They have to leave campus too, and these are not the kind of students who can just jump in the car that Daddy bought them for graduation and drive home. Nor are they the kind of students who can just stay in a hotel for a night and charge it to their credit cards. For many of these students home is a full day's bus ride, followed in some cases by a long walk. For others, home is in Lesotho, Swaziland, or Zambia and going home is not even an option.

So, that is where things stand. I am told that faculty and staff can go back tomorrow if they have I.D. to get past the police guards. Students are not that lucky. There is no end date, but I am told classes will be shut down for a week, possibly two. The worse news: we will have to make up the lost time at the end of the semester. That is just annoying on a number of levels.

Please note that at no time have I felt like I was in danger, and certainly now that they have removed the students, any possibility of danger is gone.

Ted asked how we ended up in Berkeley instead of Botswana.

Robben Island (a.k.a. Christmas in Cape Town pt. 2)

Note: This first intro was written by TED - not me: During our visit to Cape Town, we visited Robin Island. I did not see a single Robin. In fact, I did not see any Cardinals or Blue Jays (known accomplices of Robins). I did see a Penguin. Go figure...

Now, a more serious intro: Robben Island is just off the coast of Cape Town, in an Alkatraz-like manner. It has been home to a number of different types of things, most of them not good. The most famous is the prison where the apartheid govt. of South Africa imprisoned leaders and activists of the African National Congress. The most famous of these is of course Nelson Mandela. He spent 27 (or so) years there. The boat ride to the island is about 45 minutes long. We were on one of the boats they actually used to use to haul prisoners back and forth. After arriving, they take you on a quick bus ride around the whole island. You see the prison from the outside, as well as the mines where the prisoners worked. They worked digging limestone out of the side of a big hole every day. They were not allowed sunglasses, and the stone was so bright it was hard to look at for just a few minutes. Needless to say, it ruined the eyesight of many of the men, including Mandela.

Below is one of the more moving scenes from the island. Some years back, Mandela and many of the former "residents" of the island went back for a reunion of sorts. When they visited the mine, Mandela took a stone and dropped it on the ground, followed by the others. A makeshift memorial to so many years of pain and suffering.

Our tour guide is standing in the doorway in the pink shirt. He, and all the other tour guides, are all former "residents", which is the highlight of the experience as far as I am concerned. The room we are in here was his cell - that he shared with 30-40 other men. He talked about his experiences and how they continually worked to keep each other's spirits up and to undermine the prison authorities. One thing that stands out in my mind is that they all shared everything they had. The guards would try to divide them by allowing some more favors and books and such than others, but they were all so committed to each other that when one person got something, it became group property immediately. He referred to his fellow residents as "comrades". They also kept each other's spirits up by playing soccer. Our guide said his team was referred to as the "international squad" because they happened to have 2 men from Botswana and 1 man from Zimbabwe on the team.

All of the ANC leadership, including Mandela of course, were kept separate from the rank & file ANC members, in a (futile) effort to keep the ANC from continuing its work from inside the prison. Our guide said he saw Mandela once in the prison, and talked about how gracious Mandela was, he asked how our guide was doing and seeming genuinely concerned. Below is Mandela's cell - an individual cell in the maximum secuirty section of the prison. Unfortunately, you just had to file through and look at it quickly - not a lot of time to stand and reflect on it.

Below is the last room of the tour. Previously, it was the Study Room and Guard station for the Maximum Security portion of the prison. Mandela was able to write letters and read in this area for an hour a day during his confinement. It is now used to allow visitors to ask questions before the boat ride back.

Below is us with our guide. I hate that we never got his name. Ted would like to point out that he and Trey also met two other former prisoners when they had to walk through the prison to find a bathroom for Trey.

And, last and also least in this case: Ted's penguin. This one was hanging out inside the prison grounds. Not sure how it survives. I guess the penguin is sort of metaphorical now that I think about it.

It's Official: Centre for the Study of HIV & AIDS

Although the Fulbright award I applied for was to work at the Centre for the Study of HIV and AIDS (CSHA) at UB, the Centre was just getting off the ground over the past year, and had not officially been launched. After much work on the part of a large number of people, the Centre was launched last Friday. It was a nice big event in the library auditorium, with over 200 people in attendance. People in this country are very proud of their university, and they turn out to celebrate and honor its successes.

The Centre was developed with a great deal of support (intellectual and financial) from the University of Pennsylvania. U Penn has a major AIDS research center: The Center for AIDS Research (CFAR). The director of that Center - Dr. Jim Hoxie, is a physician who has been instrumental in helping Esther and UB develop the Centre here. He came all the way to Botswana just for the launch, and seemed genuinely delighted to have done so. U Penn and Baylor and Harvard all have medical research and direct service programs here in Botswana, but Penn seems to have the most direct relationship with the university. Their support of the Centre has been impressive to me.

The picture below is from the reception immediately following the formal speeches and such. It was nice - food and wine and my personal favorite: a marimba band. You can see the marimbas in the background. In case you were wondering, the fact that my shirt matches the tablecloths is not an accident. The director wanted the theme to be green, and told me to wear "that one green shirt that I have", so I did. I was surprised how precisely I matched...

With me is Dr. Charles Gossett, the other Fulbright who was appointed to the Centre this year. Charles is a political scientist from Cal Poly Pomona (California State Polytechnic - Pomona) - I think I got that right -sorry if I didn't, Charles. Charles also completed another Fulbright and taught at UB in the 1970s, when the University was just separating from Lesotho and Swaziland.

The CSHA banner in the middle shows the new UB logo at the top. It represents cattle (as valuable as money here), books/knowledge, and sorghum, a major crop. Can you make all that out in the abstract design? Random detail: the young woman standing up in the picture (in the orange top) was one of my students last semester.

The evening after the launch, the Centre Director, Dr. Esther Seloilwe, also hosted an informal reception at her home. It was a well-earned celebration for Esther, who worked incredibly hard to pull the launch off successfully. It was also, sadly, a goodbye party for Charles who was here on a six month Fulbright only. He is now traveling in Tanzania and Dubai before heading back home to California.

The kids adore Charles. He brought back nestle chocolate chips from a trip home to the states and made cookies with the kids - can't beat that!. Trey picks up the phone and has imaginary conversations with him. They will miss him a great deal.

The picture below is from the informal reception at Esther's place. From the left is Harriet Okatch, a chemistry professor and member of the CSHA management committee, followed by Charles. Next is Bagele Chilisa, a professor of education who has become a great colleague. She has a major (5 million dollar) NIH grant in conjunction with Penn to study HIV prevention among adolescents. She invited me to help her analyze some of the data and collaborate on an article for a local journal. That work sparked the idea for another article for a journal in the U.S. - we submitted a proposal for that one and hope to hear back in February. I am enjoying and learning a great deal from working with her.


Below is (at present) the entire staff of CSHA - From left to right is Charles (who is technically gone now, but I am choosing to not really accept that) followed by Esther Seloilwe (the Centre director). Esther is a nurse who got her Ph.D. at Univ. of California San Francisco. Coincidently, in one of those very small world experiences, my mother's cousin, Dr. Charlene Harrington, is a professor of nursing and sociology at UCSF and worked with Esther there. I think I was here about 2 months before I connected the dots on that. Anyway, next to Esther is Queen Seleka (I may be misspelling her last name) our dear secretary. Not a very big staff. U Penn has donated some money, to be matched by UB, for the hiring of a manager for the Centre - someone to oversee day-to-day operations. They have offered that position to someone, who hopefully will be joining us in March.

So, the Centre is off and running. Hooray! I am posting a link to the Centre's webpage on the right under the "Other Sites of Interest" column if you want to check it out.

Freedom for Hope

Ted here: Hope is free of her cast! It was cut away this week. Here are some pictures of the doctor's office and procedure.

They cleaned her leg up pretty well. They also did an x-ray. The doctor says she is not allowed to jump, run or participate in gym class for 30 days but she can walk and swim. After that, another check up and likely complete recovery.

To celebrate, we are going to a new water park in Gaborone this weekend. A water park in the middle of the desert... For Hope, it is certain to be better than our beach efforts in Cape Town: