Judy. I am constantly amazed at how God opens possibility after
possibility for us. Probably the most obvious to us is the people connection.
I originally
became interested in Botswana—yes, I admit it—because I read Alexander McCall
Smith’s The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective
Agency series. Precious Ramotswe’s love for her country just made it sound
way too cool. Then my friend Morgan joined the Peace Corps and was sent to
Botswana, so we made plans on this trip to go to her village. Unfortunately,
Morgan became ill and had to leave. Still, we had already made plans to go to
Kasane and Chobe National Park, so the die was cast. The day before we left, I
messaged Morgan that we’d be in Kasane (she’d also told me about how much she
liked it there). Immediately she asked if I’d like to meet another Peace Corps
Volunteer, and virtually introduced me to Linda.
Linda (are you
still following?) offered to meet us in Kasane and asked if we’d be interested
in a river cruise and game drive, as she had a friend Christine at Iswiza
Travel Agency who had the best prices. Why not? And we plunged ahead.
We arrived in
Kasane from Victoria Falls (after a close call with three water buffalo on the
road, for which our driver stopped and waited) at noon, and the receptionist at
our B&B said, “I understand you’ve scheduled a river cruise at three this
afternoon and a game drive in the morning?” Moments later Christine called to
say her husband, “Uncle George” would pick us up at the B&B. I asked about
the price (MUCH less than what we had found online), and told her we’d not had
time to get pula, the local currency.
“Don’t worry about that; we’ll take care of that tomorrow. I’ll take you to an
ATM.” Moments after we hung up, Uncle George arrived to introduce himself and
assure us he’d be there to drive us to the jetty.
Ted will tell you
all about our experiences on the cruise and drive. That’s another story.
Uncle George was
there as promised, and filled us in on local lore. After our game drive the
next morning, Christine stopped by to meet us and ask if all went well. Then she took Ted to a bank and helped him
calculate how much money he’d need till we left.
Christine is
married to Uncle George, and they have been establishing their tourist business
since she was let go from a large tourist company. It’s thriving, which is well
deserved, as their customer service and the tours are outstanding. They are
applying for micro loans and grants to buy their own vehicles, which will
increase their income considerably.
One of our guides
had asked, “How do you know Christine?” I answered, “I don’t. She was introduced to me by Linda, whom I
also don’t know, who was introduced to me by Morgan, whom I know.
That afternoon,
Linda came to meet us.
Sometimes you meet
someone you immediately know will shake up everything you think and open your
eyes to a world you can’t imagine.
We sat down to
lunch about one o’clock. At four, she suggested we walk around the “town”. At
six, we went back to the B&B and ordered drinks. At eight thirty, Ted and I
finally had to go to bed. The afternoon and evening had flown by as we shared
stories and ideas and learned about her family, about her choice to join the
Peace Corps, about frustrations and joys, about the HIV/AIDS work that is a
part of every volunteer’s work, about the kids she works with, and about the
day-to-day attitude of many of the Botswanans. She’s working with youth to look
toward a future, something their parents don’t do. We learned about the
schools, and that many of the teachers are students who failed the exams and
had no other university options, about the English exams that even she couldn’t
follow.
We walked through
the town and saw entrepreneurs who were not Botswanan, but from Zimbabwe, we saw
empty shops that citizens couldn’t afford to rent, a favela-type slum that will be torn down to build more tourist
attractions and offices. We saw baboons and wart hogs wandering the streets,
and government offices and housing. And suddenly we heard her name called.
Three beautiful young girls dashed up to hug her—part of her teen club. When
she introduced me, they hugged me immediately and posed for a photo.
We went back to
the B&B to talk more, and she asked us to help her think about her next
step when her two years are up. She said, “I can’t go back to Manhattan and
makeup and boots and the world I left eighteen months ago. I’ve seen too much
to return to first-world problems.”
I get it.
Uncle George came
to pick her up in his taxi, and promised me he’d be there to take us to the
airport the following day. Linda and I hugged and said we’d see each other
again—somewhere. I need to make that happen.
