Y Care Pt.1 - bonding up on Kgale Hill

When I first found out about Y Care, I only knew about its neat name and the 150km desert walks. After this weekend, I realized apart from raising money to help organizations in this country, Y Care is also playing such an important role in empowering and supporting young leaders.

On Saturday, we have been invited to join a team building event with the youth from the Old Naledi Secondary School to climb the Kgale Hill, one of the highest in Botswana. It was not the easiest climb – some had trouble getting to the top. But with everyone’s encouragement and support, we all made it. When we got to the top, we just hung out and enjoyed the breathtaking view overlooking Gaborone. After everyone is well rested, it was time to get to the real purpose of the climb - team building. The youth were asked to share how they felt after climbing the hill and what they’ve learned from this experience. One after one they told the group how they never thought they would have been able to climb that hill but they were proud of themselves that they did. We then played games, we sang, we danced, and we laughed.

All of this was organized and ran by the Y Care YLP (Youth Leadership Program) team. Two years ago, after the success of the walks, Y Care has decided to start an YLP program to get more youth involved. They recruited students from the University of Botswana (UB) and put them through 4 modules: a Journey of Life workshop, psychosocial support counciling, leadership training, and an Outward Bound excursion.

The YLP team we met today included Sharon, Mel, Rubin, Thabo, Cynthia, and Warona. Each of them is instilled with energy and passion, cares deeply about people and the world around them, and aspires to succeed as both an individual and as a team. They not only inspired the kids – I was close to tears at one point in time when Mel told the kids, “I hope you take the lessons you learned today and applied it to school work. You are going to feel like you want to give up, but at the same time there are other people you can depend on for support. When you go back to school on Monday, I want you to remember these lessons. Don’t be lazy anymore and give excuses like I have no pencil and no paper. If you don’t have them, I will get them for you. I will push you. I won’t be around forever, but then you guys have each other.”

I told them, that I believe every single one of them is special, that I know they all have a dream, that they can all be somebody. I also tried to pass along the wise words Joanne used to tell us all the time, “I know there are times when you feel what you do don’t matter. But it does. Your life matters if you make it matter.”

Ever since I got back from the climb, I have not been able to stop thinking about how I can continue to stay involved with them after I leave Botswana. How can my icare team be involved in this? Do you think we can bring ycare to Canada? Across the world? Wouldn’t it be cool if we have ycare chapters across nations, and bring everyone together to an annual conference every year? This Christmas, how can I do something with ycare? I have so many ideas yet no idea.

I learned as much as the kids did. Not only did I get to know true leaders who aspire to become more, I also witnessed them inspiring others to become who they want to be. I feel so privileged to be a part of this with them, and I feel so fortunate yet again to have build friendships with so many incredible people.

Botswana is relatively safe and well-off in comparison to other countries in Africa. Water is safe to drink from the tap. Education and health care are accessible and free. In many ways, it cannot be considered a “third world country” anymore. But that doesn’t mean we can stop there. I wholeheartedly believe Botswana has the potential to become so much more. The infrastructure is in placed. People need to step up, believe in themselves, and know that they can build the future of this country with their own hands. I’m so proud of YLP, now we just need more of them. I cannot wait until the 150km walk to meet more Y Care people.

climbing to the top

team building and bonding

global citizens

In the middle of it all

Everyday is a test, everyday is a new lesson. A little overwhelmed indeed. Dealing has taken up all my energy and time. Bad, bad idea – because doing is only half the experience, reflecting is the other half. I haven’t written for so long - feeling very out of shape now.

Living…

I moved out from Oratile’s house 2 weeks ago. We were the first batch of volunteers in Gaborone that had the chance to live with a host family, and for that, I’m forever grateful. How else could we have integrated into the culture so quickly and made friends in a foreign land? I definitely miss our Milo and Pick n’ Pay fries moments.

I now live with Maryam and Spojmai, also volunteers from Canada. I must admit I underestimated the power of having like-minded caring people by my side. They laugh with me, cook with me, see through me, break me down, yell at me when I’m unreasonable, hug me when I’m weak, teach me important lessons, and push me to become the person I want to be. We didn’t always get along, but everyday we are here for each other, everyday we love each other for who we are. Being here with them is one of the best things that could’ve happened to me. Sometimes I wonder how I came to be so lucky in life.

We also met some volunteers who were here and I cannot say their contributions have always been positive. Sometimes I couldn’t understand why they were here in the first place. But Maryam insisted that we shall not judge. We are here for the people, be it the Batswana or whomever. Maybe people need to find their worth, maybe people want to feel a sense of belonging, maybe people need to feel appreciated. Everyone has a story behind them.

We have not been sick at all. On the contrary, all of us have been eating and gaining weight like crazy. Perhaps it’s one of our many coping mechanisms. The harassing is still very annoying and upsetting – on my way home, at NGO events, oh and by a cop. Although it is a little better now that I don’t need to take the kombi anymore. No more “Emahoo Stoppel” (that’s how we stop the mini-buses) and cracking people up.

gotta love having an older sister like Oratile (and the brother-in-law Nico)


cooking & eating have become our way to cope, stay sane and wind down

Working…

Work is fine, making progress, slowly. I’ve setup a framework for an activity calendar, now waiting for the other environmental officers to fill in their parts. I have drafted a new volunteer description for next term, now waiting for our director to approve it. I want to print educational material, now waiting on cheques for donor funds that were approved since March. Notice a pattern here? It’s a lot of waiting. You wait this week, you wait one more week, and then you wait some more.

You see, NGOs here rely 100% on donors - nationally, regionally or internationally. Spojmai wrote in one of her emails back home, “Working with an NGO here in Africa is making me doubt the saying ‘Money is not everything.’” When an organization is completely dependent on someone else, of course money is everything, of course you have to wait forever, of course results matter more than understanding (via Kristina’s blog).

This is why I really want to support Y Care. I don’t think my previous post about the Y Care walk did the organization justice. Yes, Y Care is still a charity fund, it’s still using a handout approach, but at least it’s mobilizing local resources. Plus, I see a lot of potential in them helping to train young leaders, build capacity, foster collaboration, and transform NGOs into self-sustainable organizations. Other than diamonds and HIV/AIDs, a lot more can happen in Botswana. I was at a "Journey of Life" workshop with Holy Cross Hospice last Saturday. These kids have big dreams. People in this country need to believe in themselves more.

Ending on a more positive note, I had my midterm review meeting with the WUSC coordinator and our director, both of them seemed very happy with the progress and contributions I’ve made. It’s always nice to get some reassurance and validation, especially at a time when I’m doubting a lot – in my ability, in my approach, in my contribution. I don't want to do the work for the people, I want to do it with them.

kids at "Journey of Life" workshop; sharing dreams and being taught what it takes to reach their dreams

I'm walking 150km for Y Care

Hi everyone, hope life is treating all of you well. Today I’m writing to ask for your support for a fundraising walk I will be taking part in this July. This walk is an initiative of a charitable trust called Y Care, started from an inspiring dream of Dr. Nomsa Mbere to raise funds for organizations in Botswana after seeing the challenges they face when donors restrict how the funds could be used. Y Care Charitable Trust aims to support community projects by empowering local leaders to determine how the money could best fit their needs.

I will be doing this walk with the other Students Without Borders volunteers from WUSC: Spojmai who is working at Cancer Association of Botswana, Maryam from Holy Cross Hospice, and Matt from Stepping Stones International. My best friend is also visiting from Hong Kong and spending part of her annual vacation to do this walk with us. The 5 of us, along with 40 other participants, will be walking 150km on the Makgadikgadi Pans (Kalahari Desert!) over 3 days. Each of us is required to raise CAD 1000 to participate. I would really appreciate your sponsorship for me to do this walk and so the people can continue to do the amazing work they are doing in this country. The name of my personal blog is “I care”. I truly believe if everyone cares a little more, we will have a better world. “Y Care” – together we can show the world that somebody does indeed care.

If you’re interested in being part of this, you can click on the ChipIn widget below and donate via PayPal. Alternatively, I can give you bank information for direct deposit. If you’re unable to donate, please still leave a message and say hi. Messages from back home mean the world to me. Thank you for reading and take care.

Fundraising with ChipIn

OK, about work this time

I have been at work for almost 2 weeks now. So it's time to talk a little more about what I do and the real reason why I'm here for the summer. The organization I'm working for is called Somarelang Tikologo (Translation: Somarelang = conservation, Tikologo = environment). Its mission is to educate and encourage people in Botswana to protect their environment hence improving the quality of life. It is a member-based NGO, with an approach to empower local communities to take ownership and responsibility managing their waste and resources.

Our office is located within an Eco Community Park at the centre of Gaborone, the capital city of Botswana. The eco-park is the first of its kind in the country, integrating urban planning principles on uses of public open space and showcasing our various green initiatives under one roof. We have an organic garden, an eco-café, the country’s only recycling drop-off centre, and a Green Shop, where we sell locally made products from recycled material.

ST has been an important player working to transform Gaborone into a greener city. They fought for the plastic bag legislation, run the city’s only recycling centre, hold waste management workshops with community members in villages, build eco-schools, and just had their first annual fashion show.

Main "buildings" of the Eco-Park: Green Shop & Eco-Cafe

Children's playground and our office at the back

I was originally assigned to work with the PR and fundraising department. However, having been here for 2 weeks, I found myself getting involved in all areas, especially with developing educational material and a better communication strategy. I finalized my work plan last week and here are some of my key objectives:

1. Conduct a survey study to understand people’s awareness of ST ‘s programs and attitude towards environmental protection
2. Develop an online communication strategy to ensure ST is leveraging the web effectively to reach a greater audience
3. Work with Matt and other ST officers to deliver a junior version of workshop to kids at Stepping Stones International
4. Assist with planning community outreach (+ fundraising) events including a photo exhibition, a cycling competition, family clean up days, eco-film field trip for high school students
5. Look to see if ST may benefit from using a wiki

If anyone has worked in any of the above areas, please contact me. I would love to learn from your experience and leverage resources I have back home to help ST grow.

I am only here for a short period of time. Whatever I do, I always try to keep in mind that the most important thing is to build capacity and transfer skills. At times it’s hard when I just want to take the easy way out and implement my own ideas. So everyday before I start my day, I say to myself: listen, understand, and collaborate.