International

Dumelang!

A little update of the activities at SOS! Every year, WUSC has a sector fund to allocate grants for activities to the partners and NGO’s in Botswana. When we heard this, we quickly thought up an idea : 6 girls from SOS and 6 girls from Stepping Stones International should meet up for a weekend. Stepping Stones International is an afterschool program where Sarah, a University of Ottawa WUSC volunteer works. They also work with vulnerable and orphaned youth. We thought it would be great if we could arrange a leadership activity, a girls only weekend where these girls could meet people from similar backgrounds, exchange and have fun. Luckily, our proposal was accepted and we were allocated funds to bring 6 girls from each organization to Khama Rhino Sanctuary in Serowe. This was the perfect location as it was the half way point between both organizations. We planned this weekend in order to be able not only to network, but to have a chance to give workshops on gender, safer sex and future goals.

March 6^th finally came and we packed up the girls very early into our SOS kombi and set off towards Serowe. The girls were ecstatic. We had chosen these 6 based on a writing contest entitled “what it means to be an SOS girl.”  We drove the 2hours and a half and when we reached our destination and met the girls from SSI, it was really funny to see. Our usually very open girls were completely shy. It took a few ice breaker activities to get them interacting, as well as a forced separation in two separate dormitories! We wanted them to mix, so we separated half the girls of SOS and placed them with half of the girls from SSI.

We were able to go swimming in the tiny, cold pool at Khama. The girls did not seem to mind but us Canadians were too cold to dip in! They absolutely adore swimming and don’t often get the chance to do so. The SOS girls were stronger swimmers as they use to receive swimming lessons at a local hotel. However, all of the facilitators were on edge and keeping a close eye on the swimmers as drowning is a common cause of death in this landlocked country. We also went on a Game Drive, where we saw some rhinoceros’. These animals are quite ugly looking, if I may say so myself!

In the evening, we had a bonfire where we roasted marshmallows. Stepping stones had brought along one of their mentors to give her personal story on how she had an older boyfriend when she was 14. This is a very common practice in Botswana, the Ma14 phenomenon. Men take young vulnerable girls as one of their sexual partners, and in exchange they will give these girls minimal payments; pula, cellphones, clothing. However, the girls are expected to do as the men please – this is quite the power relationship. When she was telling her story, in Setswana, the girls were completely enthralled. They really opened up to her and asked many questions. Although these girls hear the terms MCP, Ma14 all the time, I don’t think many of them grasp the understanding and enjeux of these words.  It was really good for them to hear and discuss these common practices, in a safe, young environment.

The same happened when I gave my Safer Sex Workshop – the girls asked tons of questions. They really participated.  They know the facts about HIV, its plastered everywhere in Botswana – you can even find it in their mathematics book “In 2003, 90 patients were on ARV treatments, 15 were added in 2004. 12 died in 2003. How many patients are there on ARV’s in 2004?”  However, not many people actually explain what HIV is, and how to protect yourself. Of course,  they will repeat condomise! They know that by heart- but they don’t understand why this is important.  We really opened up a discussion, and although it was a start, they need a lot more of these individual sessions. During our discussion on female condoms, I found out that many of these girls did not know how babies are conceived or how they give birth. Babies are cut out of the stomach, they said. This is really difficult, as the teenage mother rate is very high in Botswana, yet these young girls have no idea what is happening or could happen to them. I hope that this weekend made a difference, but there is so much more that these girls would benefit from. I’ve decided that I will turn the Friday night Girl Guide activities into Girl only discussions on the transformations of the body and sex but I am only here for another few weeks. I hope that SOS will hear our suggestions and discuss these taboo subjects on an ongoing basis with these girls.

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