Peter Craig

At last the day has arrived when we make our first contact with the schools we have come to work with. Excitement was in the air at our 6.45 am breakfast. How was the day going to turn out? What were the Botswanan students going to be like?

The normal Sitatunga transport was stretched to the limit as the camp was fairly full so they organised for us to use a tour company's overland truck to take us to Mathibe School. As we walked in through the gates we found the 1200 primary students lined up at assembly to welcome us. The Principal, Mr Noah ? , welcomed the Oxley contingent and asked Peter Craig to talk to the assembled students.

Afterwards we all adjourned to the staff room where we were formally introduced to the staff. There was an agenda and prayers at the start and end of formalities. Steve Marnoch spoke on behalf of Oxley and presented Mathibe with teaching resources and a cash gift of $1400 for their use (raised by Oxley students)..

As the Oxley students left the staff room they were welcomed by a song from a primary class. It was most unexpected and very touching!

From Mathibe we walked down the road to the adjacent Sedie Junior Secondary School. There we also met their staff and the students who we would be working with, in a format manner. The School Head, Mrs Senatla Mokobela, made us most welcome. Afterwards, Sedie students showed us around the school.

After the mid-morning break, we were taken in a bus hired especially for us to the Maun, Nhebe Museum. The curator had gone to town so we sat in the shade on restaurant chairs awaiting her return. Eventually she arrived and welcomed us with a talk about the history of the building. We then looked at the exhibits in the 3 room - birds, musical instruments (which were allowed to play) and portrait photos.

After lunch, we were taken - via a bit of a detour as the bus driver had misunderstood our destination - to the Love Botswana Centre where we watched videos of Botswanan music.

That ended our first, introductory day with the schools and we were picked up by our Sitatunga transport. Going through Maun we stopped at a Spar supermarket to stock up with water and snacks.

Back at camp there was time for a swim before dinner. Just before dinner we were joined by two guests who had volunteered to come and talk to us - Drs Jess Isden and Leanne van der Weyde. Both work in predator conservation and Leanne told us what she was doing with cheetahs and Jess her roles with lions. It was particularly interesting to learn of the alternative methods that were being used to prevent farmers shooting predators to protect their livestock. Dogs are being trained to adopt a goat herd and chase off cheetah while plastic sheeting is being used around bomas where cattle are corralled at night to confuse the lions. Oxley students found the discussion most interesting and asked lots of questions.

It was a very tired group who dragged themselves off to bed that night!Baca selengkapnya