Monday, May 7, 2012

Baithaopi ba dira eng? (What are volunteers doing?)

I can hardly believe I haven't written an update in 2 months already! The time is really passing here. I've been meaning to write something about what volunteers do in Botswana, so I think I'll start there...

First, let me list the 3 goals of Peace Corps:

1. Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.
2. Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.
3. Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

This is very broad, which is why what Peace Corps Volunteers do in one country is not necessarily what they would do in another - the program is designed around each countries' needs. The Peace Corps-Botswana program is a good example of this. Volunteers first entered the country in 1966 (shortly after independence) and continued coming until 1997, at which time Peace Corps withdrew based on Botswana's economic success. At the request of the president, the program re-opened in 2003 and volunteers began to serve with the specific focus in HIV/AIDS. This is the goal of Peace Corps in Botswana to-date, though volunteers serve in different roles, e.g.:

1. Life-Skills Volunteers - these volunteers are placed in schools
2. Community Capacity Building Volunteers - these volunteers are placed with a clinic or a social work office
3. District-Level Volunteers - these volunteers are placed with a District AIDS Coordinating Office (DAC Volunteers) or a District Health Management Team (DHMT Volunteers).

For those that don't know, I've been placed with the DHMT for my sub-district, Kweneng West. This office currently oversees 25 rural health facilities (clinics and health posts) and reports directly to the Ministry of Health every month. This is called my "primary assignment" and it is where I spend 3-4 full days working each week.

So you probably want to know what I really do? As a Peace Corps Volunteer in Botswana, my role is not to do a 'job' (i.e. I am not fulfilling a position a host-country national could have); rather the intent is to assist with work and train where possible. For the DHMT as a whole I try to improve organization and management, and I assist individual members with using the computers, improving presentations, writing reports, compiling monthly data from the facilities, etc. - whatever I feel I can help with.

To be honest, this is not the role I expected to have - I don't think any volunteer imagined working in a government office when they signed up for Peace Corps! But I have a good opportunity here -- a greater opportunity to learn than to teach, really, because 11 months into service I still feel like I'm trying to figure out the way things work! And I cannot fix the systemic problems I see but simply focus on the small-scale help I think I can offer.


In case you're interested...

Here is more about what volunteers do globally -
What do volunteers do - Peace Corps website

And here is more about volunteering in Botswana -
PC Botswana Program
PC Botswana WIKI



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