Hello all,
Today we woke up bright and early to drive to Francistown, where we met with the Ministry of Justice of Botswana, and then to a hotel in Tutume where we will be staying during our time at Dukwi Refugee Camp.
Our first bus ride, which took seven hours, consisted mostly of us all sleeping. Eventually, we turned on the music and talked a little bit, but overall it was a very relaxed ride.
When we arrived to Francistown, we first stopped for lunch–yet again consisting of chicken and fries.
At the Ministry of Justice, we met with Ms. Thobo and Ms. Stella. This meeting only happened thanks to Mr. Manolo, co-founder of Win-Win Connection, who has been working to make these trips possible and supporting us the whole time.
During a brief introduction, our group learned that many people in Botswana have a Setswana name, and an English name. For example, Ms. Thobo’s English name is Gloria. We also learned about Botswana overall, and in interesting fact is that the government of Botswana owns all the diamonds mined in Botswana, which helps to prevent conflicts.
Then, Noe and Gabriella presented our plans for the Dukwi Refugee Camp and spoke about ASB and service learning. After the presentation, Gabriella asked Ms. Stella and Ms. Thobo a few questions.
First, how did you get involved with the Ministry of Justice and Dukwi Refugee Camp?
Ms. Stella answered the first part of this question, but wanted to let the camp director, who we will be meeting tomorrow, explain Dukwi Refugee Camp. Ms Stella started by working as a lawyer, and as time went up moved up the ranks. In Botswana, if someone is on trial and can’t afford a lawyer the government provides one for them. Ms. Stella has 28 years of experience, and last April she was appointed to lead the Ministry of Justice.
This is the third year of ASB’s work with Dukwi Refugee Camp. In that time how have you seen refugees benefit from our work?
As Ms. Thobo has been working with our program since these trips first started, she answered this question. We were glad to hear that Ms. Thobo has seen a lot of positive changes thanks to these trips. Our entrepreneurship program has been very beneficial for youth in the camp, and our implementation of internet in the camp this year is going to open up a lot of opportunities for scholarships and other areas of entrepreneurship. Additionally, the donations from RefugArt have been very helpful.
This year, we have educational focuses on entrepreneurship and women’s health, and we’re are establishing a girls soccer team. In addition to these, where should ASB focus our efforts in future trips?
Ms. Stella answered this question as well, and seemed glad to have been asked it. She requested that in future years we host these programs not just for the people in Dukwi Refugee Camp, but for the youth in the host village as well. Many of the youth in the refugee camp go to primary school in the host village, and Ms. Stella said that we should open these opportunities, especially the entrepreneurship course and the girls soccer team, up to the host village as well.
Mr. Manolo, responded to this. He said that while Dukwi Refugee Camp has served as a link to ASB, one of Win-Win Connection’s goals now is to spread their efforts throughout Botswana—with the help of ASB students like this year’s.
After the meeting, we went back to the bus for another two hour drive to Tutume, which is where our hotel is located. When we got there we were happy to discover we had plenty of free time, and a pool for which to use it. The whole group hung out for a while, playing games like ‘Marco Polo’ and ‘Sharks and Minnows’.
After reviewing our plans for tomorrow, we had a nice dinner and then met up once more to stargaze. In the end there wasn’t nearly as much stargazing as there was just chatting and hangout with one another.
Overall, a great day. See you tomorrow for our first day at Dukwi Refugee Camp!
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