By Caroline Foster, Carleton College
September 30th marked the 51 years of independence for Botswana, which had originally been a protectorate of the UK. According to Sixteen last year, for the 50th anniversary, the whole country started celebrating on September 23rd. We went into the town of Khwai to participate in some of the celebrations.
On our way there we saw two lions (Panthera leo) sleeping by the side of the road. Apparently, these two brothers have begun to push into the area of NG18 where already two prides are located. There were no females with the males which is not unusual since the males were likely marking new territory while the lionesses stayed behind or hunted on their own.
When we arrived, a game of netball was finishing up. From what I can see, it seems to be a combination of basketball and handball. After the game, everyone headed over to the kgotla (pronounced ‘hote-la’), to hear the President’s address. The kgotla is the village center. In order to enter the kgotla, women are not allowed to wear shorts or sleeveless tops and men are expected to wear long pants and preferably a button up shirt. When we arrived in the kgotla, we first greeted the chief of the village. We then greeted many of the village elders.
Before hearing the president’s speech, a prayer was said and then a speech was given by the chief. The chief of a village is determined by blood, through the mother. He/she is in charge of leading the community and settling disputes. He/she is allowed to give out punishments for certain civil and criminal crimes. They are like a mayor and a judge combined.
A woman from the district commissioner’s office read the speech from the President first in Setswana and then in English. The district commissioner oversees multiple villages in a set area and the chiefs would report to the district commissioner on certain issues. In his speech, the President spoke about how it had at first been doubtful whether Botswana would succeed as a country but now they have become one of the strongest nations on the African continent. Of course there is still much for the nation to work on according to the President but that Botswana should be proud of how far they have come.
After this we went to get ourselves some snacks. A cold soda is particularly delicious in the midday heat here. We returned to the kgotla and helped with some of the meal preparation. I have never seen that big a bowl of beans before in my life. It was all delicious.
The best part of the day was when we got the children of the village to start playing with us. Sam brought out his hackiesack and Addison brought his Frisbee. Although many of the kids were a little nervous to interact with us at first, it did not take them long to warm up to us. Handclapping games were a particular favorite given that it’s easy to cross the language barrier. The kids found it very funny, our attempts at speaking Setswana, especially since many had excellent English skills already. One little girl’s English name was also Caroline and the kids found it quite funny that I was also named Caroline.
The final event of the day was a big dance party. The kids marched us over, holding our hands. We exchanged many dance moves although the kids themselves were way better dancers than us. It was so exciting to interact directly with the community and to get to participate in a celebration like Independence Day.
Photo by Samara Muller.
Photo by Caroline Foster.
Photo by Samara Muller.