Botswana

Each student has a unique and individual experience on their Experiment program. The following essay is a single glimpse into a program from one student's perspective.

Kate Parsons

My Trip to Botswana with EIL

I believe that travel is the true source of knowledge. This past summer, of 2008, I made my way to Botswana with EIL and a group of seventeen other high school students. In the short five weeks that I was away from home, I learned more about Batswana culture and about myself than I could have ever hoped for or imagined. I am so thankful to have traveled with EIL on this trip to Botswana and to have experienced a completely new way of learning.

It was during a three-week home stay in Otse when I learned the most. This is obviously because I was completely immersed in the Batswana culture. Being a part of the culture helped me learn so much more than I would have if I had just taken a class on Batswana culture. Instead of learning the facts, I was living them. One of the most powerful things that I learned about was the effect that HIV/AIDS had on my host family. The very first night I stayed with my host family, my host sister tried to explain that she had HIV. It was difficult to understand with the language barrier, but finally I understood. I learned that HIV/AIDS has much more of a devastating impact on the people in Botswana than those with the disease in this country. My host sister could not find a job anywhere, so she had no means to make money. In the capital city, Gabarone, there was good treatment for HIV/AIDS, comparable to treatment in the U.S, but because my host family didn't live in the city, my host sister had to find money for transportation to seek treatment, which was costly for them. This really struck me because one of the things that Americans, including myself, take completely for granted, is transportation. For my host sister, having a car would be for us, like having a personal jet.

Yet another thing that I learned from my host sister was the importance of faith. My host sister's side of the host family was very religious. They prayed, attended church, and constantly sang songs of their church. I have learned that religion truly provides for them, a hopeful path towards health, wealth, and happiness. Before meeting my host family, I never really understood the true need for faith in a religion. But after experiencing their lives and their church, I came to the conclusion that religion was such a hopeful and beautiful thing for them. I have now become more tolerant and compassionate towards people who gravitate towards religion.

This reflection can, in no way, do justice to my Batswana experiences. My hope is that people understand that learning comes from experience. An effective way to have a meaningful experience is to remove one's self from their comfort zone. This means to open your mind to completely new ways of thinking and be willing to understand different lifestyles and cultures. But also, along with this, one must appreciate the opportunity to travel, and actually learn from it. I believe that the more one learns through experience, the less ignorant one becomes regarding global issues, and more in tune with the fact that we all live in one world; that is, humankind lives in one world together, sharing land and resources. The more people can grasp that concept, the more people will understand and appreciate diversity, and live in harmony together.