Days 57 thru 63

(Dan’s comments are italicized)

As conference time drew nearer, Dan and I spent our time wandering around Main Mall, a part of Gaborone that has become very dear to us. The friend I made on our first day here (the spices and natural potions vendor) was sad to see us go and said she would pray for our return. I’ll miss seeing her beautiful face! We’ve found the people here to be wonderful, kind, and authentic. Oh Main Mall, how ye shall be missed 😔

On one of the days, we decided to walk to find Zebra Way (a road that features in the novels about The Number One Ladies Detective Agency.) We’ve found Botswana women to be strong, powerful, and extremely entrepreneurial so the novels make even more sense now! There are currently 24 books in the series, and I have only read the first one. We walked through a beautiful neighborhood on the way to Zebra Way; sadly, the houses were surrounded by high walls so their true beauty is hidden.

We both felt a bit maudlin for the last couple of days before the conference because we’re going to miss Botswana, the people, the culture, the animals, the sunsets, and the quirkiness. There is so much here to explore, and so many people to meet. We definitely need to return soon.

But then the conference was upon us and there was no time to feel maudlin as these were three busy days! This first African Reading Conference (AFREAC) is the brainchild of one of the greatest go-getters I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting! Teacher Bonolo is the founder and director of Lowapi School (that’s been discussed previously) and does things like organizing an international reading conference, getting book donations for local government schools (40,000 this past year), setting up a mobile library at a local park (and finding volunteers to work it) etc IN HER SPARE TIME! I don’t think this lady will rest until every child can read! The conference was full of great presentations that were very enlightening! Our days ran from around 7:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Here, attendees don’t complain that the days are too long or that there are too few breaks, but rather that there wasn’t enough time for questions! The conference was amazing, even for us non-teachers. Rhia was so well received! Sadly, people were turned away from her breakaway sessions because there was not enough seating. On the second day, people snuck in extra chairs from the hallway so they would not miss it.

One of the most impactful things about Motswanas for me is that these people can sing! And they harmonize beautifully. I think that the Motswanas and the Welsh come from the same stock! The dinner on the last day of the conference showed two things very clearly; Motswanas know how to dress up and they know how to have fun! Thank you, Bonolo, for inviting us here. The evening was listed as a black tie event, but I only had my khaki shirt and Carhart work pants. I felt so underdressed and out of place 😳

But now it’s over. Today we moved into a guesthouse near the bus terminal as tomorrow at 6:00 a.m. we start the last phase of our African odyssey. After much umm-ing and ah-ing we’ve decided to go to…you’ll find out in a couple of days 😁