Last day of class, placement, and the French Music Festival

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Today was our last day of classes at UB. Next week we will begin our internships with NGOs. More on that later.

Today in class we heard a few speakers, but we first played a "game" that simulated the effects that HIV/AIDS has on the lives of the affected. We began the game with beads representing our grandmother, grandfather, mother, father, sister, brother, and best friend. As we went from table to table, we rolled a die which assigned us a fate such as "grandmother dies of old age," "sister is infected with HIV," "father dies of AIDS," "mother dies of malaria," etc. It was very difficult to put beads away or change the color of beads to indicate infection.

Sometimes, one of the numbers on the die would indicate that "life goes on as normal." This was actually the most difficult part of the exercise. Life can't go on as normal after a family member or friend dies or is infected with HIV. Even in places like Botswana, where anti-retrovirals are readily available and the lifespan of an HIV positive person is drastically expanded, taking drugs everyday that can have irritating to debilitating side-effects is not "life goes on as normal." Even with the best counseling services available, losing a family member--maybe the breadwinner for the family--is not "life goes on as normal."

Overall, the game was an excellent way to display how deeply HIV affects the lives of everyone, not just the infected.

After our classes, we had a meeting to discuss our placements for internships. Because there has been lot of shuffling around, and because BONELA decided not to participate in the program, I have been placed at the only women's shelter in Gaborone. I am looking forward to the experience for myself. However, I am concerned that I will not be able to help them enough. I hope that my experience in organization and communications along with my cultural anthropology perspective, I will be able to help them with the logistics of the shelter--even if I am not trained to counsel the women themselves.

We spent the afternoon and evening at the French Music Festival. Contrary to our initial assumptions, this was not a Festival for French Music. Rather, it was a music festival, sponsored by the French embassy, a french school, and other companies. There was a wide variety of music, as well as crafts and food for sale. The music really showed how cosmopolitan Gaborone can be: there was a heavy metal band with a black African singer and a blues band made up of white South Africans--not what you'd expect! My favorite performance was by Mogwana, a traditional dancing group. The food was delicious and I was able to buy some gifts for my family, so all-in-all, it was a very good night!

The Mogwana dancers were very intense and expressive.