Hey all! Well, the trip has concluded quite successfully and, despite some delays, everyone seems to have arrived home safely. It has been a wonderful trip, and one that myself and others are convinced we will remember for the rest of our lives. The perspective we have gained in this trip is absolutely invaluable wherever it may present, in job interviews or in stories told years down the road. I would like to thank the professors Marc and Judy Dawson for organizing such a wonderful and enriching experience. Additionally, a warm thank you goes out to all the family, friends, and teachers who followed and supported us through this trip.

Hey all! Well, now that the term here is coming to a close all-too-shortly, the main focus of the group is final papers, presentations, and projects. It's true, it is not all misting waterfalls and sunrise game-drives, but, this aspect of the program, as we all know, is equally valuable. We are finishing the unit with quite a bit of interesting history and cultural nuances as well as academically probing assignments. The final project for the course on HIV/AIDS seems to be the biggest buzz around our current residence halls. In two separate groups of four students each, we are tasked with forming a plausible and agreeable  hypothetical policy that would help to lower the prevalence of HIV and AIDS in the country of Botswana. Our presentations are coming up quickly on Wednesday, but all the students seem as though they will be more than prepared by then. In the mean time, the group of us has been visiting various places such as the Ministry of Health. In the cultural aspect of our studies, we are learning more and more about the small aspects, as well as the large, that make up a culture. Naturally, this is being conducted both through classroom learning and real-life observations. 


Will report back before leaving the country. Until then, there is work to be done!

The Sun, Setting on the River between Botswana and Namibia

Greetings all! The group has made it back safe and sound from the weekend trip to the regions in and around Kasane in northern Botswana. This amazing trip began almost immediately after our arrival to the Toro Lodge with a sunset boat ride on the Chobe River. Besides the beautifully tranquil scene of watching the sky explode into an array of orange and red, we were afforded a couple other interesting sites on the ride. Ranging from crocodiles to the vaguely indicated, but rather protected, borders at the four-corner meeting of Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

A Crocodile Leaping from the Coast of the Chobe River

On Saturday we crossed the border into Zimbabwe to see one of the seven natural wonders of the world: Victoria Falls. Stretching over a mile wide this water falls over a hundred meters to meet the river below and earn this spot its rightful local name "Mosi-oa-Tunya", which translates into: 'the smoke that thunders'. As we walked along side the fall on the opposite coast, it would be these waters raining down on us in an otherwise clear day.

Victoria Falls

The morning of our return, before the sun had even risen, we left the warm beds of our lodge to brave the cold of an open-top truck headed towards the Chobe Game Reserve. Eventually the sun came up to meet us as we watched eagerly for any type of animal from giraffes to elephants. As we continued to drive around, all sorts animals came out. Rafts of hippos and herds of buffalo cover the waters and the plains.

A Group of Giraffes

Buffalo... So many of them...

We have all arrived safely back at the university, now digging into the classes. Will write soon!

Loud chanting- swirling dusts, and many dancing. This weekend the group of us were treated to a display of Tswana heritage. Parking the van, we were immediately reached by festive songs and the stamping of dancing feet coming from just outside the village walls. Quickly we saw the whole gathering, from grandparents to grandchildren, awaiting our arrival.  We were welcomed into a village specifically designed to represent many of the country's original and unique traditions, ranging from home remedies for illness, to the daily routine of preparing the morning sorghum meal.

Women in Some Traditional Dress Grinding Sorghum, Picture by Adam Cruz

More recent happenings include our visit to a local secondary school, a Kgotla, and a few Non-governmental organizations. It was wonderful for us to be able to visit a local school. Sometimes it is amazing to see how a seemingly small detail can stay with our group; for days after coming back, there were some of us still commenting on the Art program and how beautiful the student pieces were.
It was inspiring to hear, first-hand, from organizations like BONELA (Botswana Network on Ethics, Law, and HIV/AIDS) and BONEPWA (Botswana Network of People Living with HIV and AIDS) and how much they are doing to help the people around them.
To visit and see a local Kgotla, a judicial building for members of a community to settle disputes in, gives a new and definite sense behind everything we are learning about each piece of this country's culture, especially considering the importance, as well as uniqueness, that resides within this facet of the nation. This may appear as a consistent theme in this blog, as it should be, because it truly is why we are here: to witness the life behind each word, fact, and statistic.


Will write more soon. The group is really looking forward to visiting Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe this weekend!

The Students and the Guides (far left and middle) at Dikgosi Monument, Picture by Marc Dawson

When first arriving in a city, it can be interesting what is seen as one of the most crucial or important places, the place to see first, one that truly serves as an introduction for the entire trip. That could certainly be said about our first visit here in Gaborone. After settling in to the university, our first trip was to see the Dikgosi Monument, with figures and depictions representing many facets of the country's rich history, it set the scene for the city and country we are about to experience.
In our travels through the city, we came to visit one incredibly significant place, especially in these times of change and advocacy. We visited a place known as Ditshwanelo, a group advocating for more rights in various areas including, children, immigration, homosexual rights, and the death penalty, along with many others. Knowing that our country is similarly issues in our own respects, it is extremely eye-opening to see the universal nature of these issues and the way another country is viewing them.

Kids in Tlamelo, Picture by Fallon Lapan

While it is a true and unique experience to visit another culture and comment on the differences, it can be one of the biggest comforts to find a similarity. Yesterday, our group went to Tlamelo to see and help out residents of Old Naledi, an impoverished part Gaborone. The one experience everyone in the group seemed to cherish was just making the children smile. Part of it seemed to be that comfort in that, thousands of miles from what we know, one thing still seems the same: the joy it brings just to make a child smile. Kids from all over the area would come in and crowd around us just to have their picture taken, and they loved just to see how they looked through our cameras.

Zach showing kid's their picture, Picture by Fallon Lapan

The group is traveling around on tours tomorrow, you will hear from us shortly!

Eight students along with two professors from Western New England University made the journey to travel, live, and study in the region of southern Africa. This blog is designed to record the events of this group, for both the purpose of helping other's follow our doings and whereabouts as well as, perhaps, the students' own later reflection. It was on June 1st, 2012, that this group arrived in the expansive city of Johannesburg, South Africa.

The President's Office in Pretoria, South Africa,  Picture by Adam Cruz

We spent the first couple of days after our arrival on this continent touring Johannesburg and various cities close to it, such as Pretoria, Soweto, and Alexandra. Through these guided tours, we have seen parts of these cities that are drenched in the culture of the country. These aspects have ranged from the governmental significance of seeing the President's house in Pretoria, visiting historical monuments like the Voortrekker Monument and Freedom Park, experiencing the local cuisine in a small restaurant in Soweto, and witnessing the issue of poverty present in Alexandra. There is a seemingly large difference in the style of knowledge gained of a country when comparing the experiences of walking through the haunting halls of the Apartheid museum, learning the history of a national struggle, and standing among the herbs and hearing about the treatments offered by witch-doctors. Yet, both provide an  equally unfathomably enriched type of knowledge, the kind that comes from direct first hand experiences, the exact kind that we are here to take part in.

The Voortrekker Monument, Picture by Adam Cruz

Freedom Park, Picture by Adam Cruz

After spending these glorious two days leaning about this rich an unique cultural, the time came to pack up and head to our main destination, Botswana. We are now well set up in the University of Botswana. You'll hear from us again soon.

Alexandra, Picture by Tara Smades