By August Tolzman of the University of Montana
Our first community engagement day was my favorite day of the program so far. It started like any other day – we woke up with the sun, did our transect, and came back. There was no rest after the transect this time, we got to work immediately making lesson plans and organizing camp. We were all teaching community members of Mababe how to use different devices that we use regularly on transects. I was teaching the GPS. This is a useful tool to know how to use for many reasons, but the certificate we give them after learning the tools can be useful them when applying for jobs with safari companies. Wildlife tourism is a major contributor to the local community, so giving so many people the tools to get themselves a job in that industry could be a big benefit.
When they arrived, it was chaotic and exciting. We offered snacks and began our introductions. Everyone was kind and excited to be there. As we broke up into groups, they all began learning new tools. My group was trying to find a waypoint we had made on the GPS. I struggled to explain the objective and how the GPS worked at first, because I speak quickly and was using complex English words. The community members were not the only people learning. I also needed to learn to be a better communicator. Everyone started picking it up and it was fun to look out into the field and see different groups wandering around following a GPS.
Round River is a conservation organization, but at Round River Botswana we might as well be international Spikeball ambassadors as well. After the business was taken care of, it didn’t matter how hot it was, it was Spikeball time. While we are able to speak to each other pretty well it can be hard to overcome the barrier. The beautiful thing about games like Spikeball is you don’t need to speak each other’s language to still have a great time. Football (soccer) may be the world’s game, but we made Spikeball the bridge between the United States and Botswana.
When lunch came, we ate the best Seswaa I had ever had. I was trying to savor every bite, but I sat in the wrong place for that. I was sitting around some of the men that came to our workshop who were laughing at me, and I couldn’t understand why. I didn’t think I was eating weird. They finally told me that I was eating too slow. One guy gestured to one of his friends and told me he finished the whole plate in 60 seconds. I didn’t want to let them down, so I started to eat faster but it wasn’t fast enough. On my second plate I found myself in a race with System, one of our escort guides. I tried to eat as fast as I could, and I watched as he struggled to eat slow enough to let me win, but thanks to his patience I pulled through.
My favorite part about Round River so far is all the connections I have made. During this community engagement day and every other day of the program, I have made friends that I know will always want to play Spikeball with me.
