Our Home for the next two Years is…

From the time we applied to join the Peace Corps we wanted to know where we would be serving for our two year service.  In October when we got our official invitation we learned the country would be Botswana.

Once in Botswana in Pre-Service training we all began to consider where in Botswana we wanted to serve.  We would look at the map of Botswana and conjecture endlessly.  There were many considerations including the size of the community, comfort, security, travel, and proximity to shopping.

Regarding the size of the community where we would serve, some assumptions were made.  Those whose job was Community Capacity Builder (CCB) would most likely be in a clinic in a very small village.  The District Community Liaisons (DCL), being assigned to a district office would be in a large village or town.  The Non-Governmental Organization advisors (NGO) could be anywhere.  The size of the community could affect how many creature comforts you may have.  The smallest villages might not have electricity or running water in the homes.  The largest communities would most likely have these things.

Regarding security, it was assumed that it would be easier to integrate into the smaller communities, which adds to the volunteer’s safety.

Some people hoped to be located near certain scenic parts of Botswana such as the delta region, or near Victoria Falls.  Some wanted to be remote and get “the Peace Corps experience.”  Some wanted all the comfort they could get and close proximity to Gaborone for shopping.  Keep in mind, Peace Corps volunteers cannot drive a car, and we are limited to taking busses from wherever we are if we want to go to a big city for shopping.

A few days before our sites were to be announced they released a list of the locations the CCB’s, DCL’s and NGO’s would be placed.  Since Tish and I would be together, we could go through the list and pick out the places that had both a DCL and a NGO (our jobs).  Our placement would have to be one of those.  There were three places with both, Mochudi, Ghanzi, and Kanye.

We did not want to stay in Kanye.  We have enjoyed our stay in Kanye, but wanted to see other parts of the country.

Mochudi is a nice village.  A little smaller than Kanye, but from all reports very nice, with more “going on” than Kanye.  Mochudi was about 30 Kilometers from Gaborone which meant easier access to shopping, but far enough away that we would feel safer.  Mochudi’s proximity to Gaborone might mean I could even have internet in the home which was something I wouldn’t mind at all.

Ghanzi was in the middle of the country near the Kalahari, but not far from Maun which was the jumping off place for the safari resorts in the Delta region.  We heard from one of our group who had shadowed in Ghanzi and she loved it.  We began to like the idea of Ghanzi.

The bottom line was we really wanted to go wherever God wanted us.  We have felt His hand in this process from the beginning and wanted to be wherever He felt was best.  So we prayed about it and left it in His hands.

The whole week before the Saturday ceremony was crazy.  Every conversation contained discussion of where people wanted to go, hoped they would not go, etc etc.  There was also talk of the after celebration party.  Most of the trainees are pretty young and still love to party.

Friday the Acting Country Director came to speak to us.  She talked about how they tried to assign everyone to the best site for the volunteer, trying to match the needs of the communities with what the volunteers had to offer, and trying to keep their preferences in mind.  She said there were always some disappointed people, and some tears, but quite often those end up being the people who loved where they went and extend for an extra year.  In other words, you really don’t have a clue what is going to be best for you.

Saturday morning we woke to rain.  It was pouring.  We got ready and headed out with our raincoats on, under my big golf-sized umbrella.  At the Training Center we were instructed to not go into the main room, but wait in a nearby room.  We were waiting for Peace Corps staff to arrive from Gaborone.  As we waited spirits were high in more ways than one.  Who knew Jell-O would be the breakfast of anxious Peace Corps trainees.  It was a party before the ceremony and was fun.

Finally we got word that we needed to move to the main room.  The chairs were arranged in two rows of a semi-circle.  In the front of the room was a map of Botswana with numbers all over it.  One of the staff gave a (thankfully) short speech about how they made their choices and then they got underway.  First they asked us to look under our chairs for a piece of paper.   Under my chair was the number 35.  Under Tish’s was the number 28.  We were going to go in that order, and since married couples went together we would both go 28^th.

As each person had their turn they would walk to the front to the applause and calls of the crowd.  They would go to a table where there was an envelope with their name on it.  Inside the envelope was a number.  You would then look on the map for your number and announce where you were going.

People would hear the location and cheer.  We would hear comments from the people around us about how they had wanted to go to that site, or they were glad they weren’t going there.  Sometimes cheers would go up when friends would realize they were going to be very close to each other.  Our good friend Carolyn had said she would be ok with anywhere BUT Kanye — she got Kanye — and we saw our first tears of the day.

Before our turn came, our friend Liles, who is also a DCL, got Kanye.  This meant that we would definitely not be placed in Kanye as I was also a DCL.  Tish and I gave each other a high five and we waited.  Then the other married couple, Jim and Jean, went up.  We assumed that since Kanye was taken, they would either get Ghanzi and we would get Mochudi or vice-versa, but they looked on the map and had a totally different location.  The Peace Corps had changed something last minute.  So we still had no idea.  We might be Ghanzi, Mochudi, or maybe someplace altogether different like Jim and Jean were being sent to.

Our turn came and we went forward, found our envelopes, got our site numbers and looked at the map.  It was Mochudi.

In the end, the Peace Corps Staff did an amazing job.  Almost everyone was very happy with their site.  A few weren’t too sure, and one or two were not too happy, but were going to make the best of it and had an open mind.

We all walked to Motse Lodge afterwards to unwind and talk, with drinks.  I had a few beers and Tish drank wine.  The weather was perfect almost everyone was very happy with their selection.  It was a very good day.

Mochudi will be our home for the next two years.  We are happy.  Ghanzi would be a very interesting place to be, but we can visit it whenever we want.  It will be very nice to be close to Gabs most of the time.

For more info on Mochudi, click HERE