Dikwalo (Letters)

Do YOU like writing letters? Do you like ME?

If you answered YES to either of the questions above, you should send me a letter! Really, just a letter! I have everything I need in Botswana, but I love to hear from people back home.

Here is my address:

Diana Arper, PCV
District Health Management Team, RAC
Private Bag 003
Letlhakeng, Botswana

This is where it all comes ... it's the happiest place in town.

I love getting a parcel notification. See how happy it makes me!

By the way, my sister sent treats for my dog Bert in her last package. I needed to post some pictures for her to see how much he enjoyed them.

Here's what happened...

Sniff sniff...

Still sniffing...

Got it.

So happy. Thanks Alicia!

Tokolosi

Despite the wide practice of Christianity in Botswana, traditional practices are common throughout the country. In more rural areas of the country, like my sub-district, you don’t have to look too far or listen too long before seeing or hearing something about traditional healers. People will often consult a traditional healer regarding illness before attending the health facility, or consult both a doctor and a traditional healer at the same time. There is hardly anything secretive about this either – health promotion teams in my sub-district sometimes host workshops for traditional healers to enhance their understanding of health issues and encourage them to send people to clinics for medical help.

Aside from seeking help for health purposes, people of Botswana will go to traditional doctors to improve life circumstances… basically, they want “good luck”. But not everyone is looking to better their own life; some will see witch doctors to place a curse on someone they have a grievance with. Although I don’t know the full extent of all that can result from being cursed, one consequence I’ve come to know A LOT about is… the Tokolosi. I've become fascinated with this creature and bring it up at random. I've been told that if I keep asking about Tokolosi and writing its’ name it will bring me bad luck... I think I’ll take my chances.

So here's the deal - people have different ideas of what a Tokolosi looks like. Some have told me it is elf-like (think Dobbie from Harry Potter). Some have said it is part animal, part human. In any case, they agree it is a small creature that brings bad luck to a person until they consult a traditional healer or witch doctor to make it go away.

Here's what I believe to be an incredibly accurate sketch of a Tokolosi taking into account all things I've heard. I've been criticized because my creature is wearing pants, but I don't see why it can't have a bit of common decency in photos.

I’ve heard a variety of stories from people in my office about these little guys. Here are some examples:

• One man in a local town was thought to have been possessed by a Tokolosi. He had frequent outbursts in public and spoke in many languages.

•  After one local man’s father passed away, a Tokolosi appeared to him saying she belonged to his late father. The father had seen a witch doctor to become wealthy, and received a lifetime Tokolosi who made him have sex with it in return for financial gain.

• A local woman's sister was being troubled during sleep, right before she woke. She felt as if someone or something was strangling her while she slept and believed it could be a Tokolosi.

The tales go on and on and I giggle at all of them. People ask, since I don't believe, what my logical explanation is. I reply that there may be medical explanations… and also, that Africans just really love stories.

And actually, it would be great if the Tokolosi were real. This would explain all the problems I've been having in Botswana with breaking my headphones...

The Compound

My parents encouraged me to post more pictures of my compound .. so here they are. 

You can thank my parents for them!

This is the walk up to my gated compound. This is the left half where the main, large gateway is.

This is a photo of my main walkway. The main house is on the left, second house on the right, and my house is in the back (the edge of my house is just to the left of the car in the background).

A view of the front of the main house.

The front of the second house.

View from that car right next to my house.

Here's my house again!

Garage attached to the main house (left), my house (center), traditional round-house (right).

This is what's behind the houses - there's a shed and near the large tree (left) is a chicken coop with no chickens at the moment... actually there's geese there.

Here's the geese (ha). I have no idea why the family on my compound keeps them!

From the back of the compound, by the random geese.

 

Setswana house -- this is the traditional round house. It's used for storage, and it's where the housekeepers sleep.

The family has a lot of trucks... how American of them.

 Behind my house, another storage shed...may have been a garage at some point?

The sun sets right behind my compound.

Lwapeng (Home)

This is dedicated to all my oh-so-patient friends and family who have been waiting for me to post these photos (especially Traci!). And a shout out to my mom's class at Klahowya High School... if you've been reading I hope you enjoy!

Here's a little background:

I live on a family compound, meaning there are a few other homes on the plot owned and occupied by the same family. The "compound" style of living is common in Botswana and many volunteers end up being placed in this situation. In the beginning, it's a bit bizarre to imagine living 2 years in such close proximity to others, but there are benefits to having people closeby - it provides respite from loneliness we feel from time to time; it's extremely safe; and it's an easy opportunity to have cross-culture experiences (what we're all here for!).

Here is my little pink house! You can see how close I live to the family on my compound -- the building to the right is the main house. It's just 10 ft away!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Living room, view from the entrance to my home. The sink in the back corner is essentially my kitchen sink since there isn't one in my actual kitchen (very strange setup).

Living room, view from the entrance to my kitchen. The doorway in the background opens to my bedroom. Main entrance to the house is to the right.

Living room, view from the back by the "kitchen sink".

Living room, view from the entrance to my bedroom. The door in the background opens to the kitchen.

 

 

 

Kitchen. Cabinets and fridge.

 

 

Kitchen. Gas stove and gas tank.

Bathroom. I even have a shower! -- it's just to the right, the blue colored object is my shower curtain. The bathroom is connected to the kitchen.... again, very strange setup.

 

 

 

Entrance to my bedroom. Closet straight ahead....

My opened closet. I fit everything I brought with me here into this - I just shove it in there or on top!

My house has way too much furniture for its' size...this chair hardly fits in my bedroom. I feel like yelling the line from Knocked Up... "There are 5 different kinds of chairs in this hotel room!"

My mock aerial view, standing on the unnecessary chair in my bedroom. Admittedly, I can't blame just the chair - the mosquito netting over my bed also takes up quite a bit of space.

If you pull away the mosquito netting, you'll find a very big bed for a small girl. Yay!