A Trip to Siviya

Yesterday (Sept 30, 2007) was Botswana's 41st Independence Day. Everyone was very excited to celebrate the history of their peaceful country. In 1966, the government of Botswana obtained independence from England. 41 years later, there seems to be much to celebrate, including a stable government, a growing economy (centered on the diamond industry), and an increasing response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In honor of the occasion, I visited Clearance's village called Siviya in northern Botswana, about an hour northeast of Francistown. She was very excited to show me her village and to introduce me to her family.

Our trip began early Saturday morning, when Clearance picked me up and we traveled to the bus station. She was surprised that the station was not packed of Gaborone residents on their way to their respective villages surrounding Francistown. There were several bus companies, and Clearance has opinions about all of them. One of them is apparently prone to accidents so she will never take that one, even if it is the only one at the station. It was a pretty uncomfortable 5-hour ride, the seats are tiny, but we were able to sit together. The bus stopped several times to pick people up, to let people go to the bathroom (sometimes right there on the road), and then we arrived in Francistown. Francistown is a big city like Gaborone. We ate lunch there and then went grocery shopping for her family. Her family lives about an hour from the city and they don't have transportation so they shop rarely. Then we took a cab from the grocery store to a place where combis (white minivans) pick us up and take us to the village. Unfortunately the combi we wanted had just left so we were stuck waiting for about 2 hours. Then the combi finally came again and we squeezed in, and it started driving on dirt roads. It dropped us off at the main road in her village, where I had the good fortune of meeting Clearance's mom, who is a typical Motswana woman. She stands very proudly and says little at first. The three of us carried the groceries to her house, which was about a 15 minute walk along a dirt road. Many of the people in Clearance's village speak three to four languages, including Kalanga, Ndebele, Setswana, and English. Clearance's mom balanced the groceries in a basket on her head, while Clearance and I struggled with the handles. Their yard has the main house with the bedrooms and living room, a latrine, a hut where the cooking occurs over an open fire, and another house where clearance's grandmother stays. I was introduced to Clearance's father, paternal grandmother, younger sister, and cousin. They all welcomed me and made us dinner, which consisted of chicken and maize meal. Then we sat around and watched tv, but Clearance and I were so tired from the trip that we went to bed at 8 pm.

The next morning, Clearance's cousin made me tea and gave me slices of bread for breakfast. I showered, which means I sat in a big empty tub and used another small tub of warm water to wash. We then went to the courthouse where they celebrate Independence day, and everyone called me a white woman. Apparently there's 3 types of people - black, colored (mix of black and white), and white. So if you're not black or colored then you are white. I was introduced to the chief of the village. The chiefs achieve their positions through inheritance: if you are the first-born of a chief, then you inherit the position. There are now female chiefs, including in Ramotswa. The celebrations were very nice, there were speeches and singing and dancing. One matron read aloud the speech recited by President Festus Mogae. Then they served us food. They had killed a goat and cooked the meat right there. It was funny because Clearance wanted us to take the food and bring it back to her house to her mother and her grandmother. I realized, however, that the people there would have liked for me to eat the food they made, and I was hungry anyway. So I stood on line and then ate with my hands, and everyone was so happy. The food was wonderful! We then returned to her house, where there was more food. I really enjoyed watching Clearance's cousin cook, because she did everything over an open fire.

On our last morning, I woke up to Clearance's mom and sister sweeping their yard. I started sweeping with them, and everyone just stopped and watched. Clearance's mom said I was a very nice lady, because every time I was given food I said "thank you very much" and every time I started to eat something (a banana, peanuts), I always offered it to others first. She liked that I ate whatever they were eating and didn't complain. We then left for Gaborone, and endured a long bus ride. It was a wonderful trip, and I am excited to return to the village soon.


For more pictures with captions, feel free to check out the set "Trip to Siviya" on my account with flickr.com.