Last day

Today was the last day of work. Unfortunately, it was quite slow and the power was out, so there wasn't much we could do.

Thankfully, we ended up returning to the Anne Stein school for disabled children to play with the kids and say goodbye. That was a little easier than the first time, maybe because we knew what to expect. A little boy in a wheelchair was talking to me, and i heard "maitse." I said, "maitse?" And he said, "Ee." So I told one of his teachers that he needed water. She said, "That boy is a problem. He has attention deficit disorder. Just ignore him." I was shocked, but there wasn't much I could do. I shrugged apologetically at the kid.

Max was gone virtually all day, so we left his gifts on his desk. Just as we were getting ready to leave, he showed up. Wow! We're supposedly having a party tomorrow at BNLS. Headquarters is arranging transport for Kgosi and Mma Kgosi, but not for us, so we're still trying to figure out how to wrangle our bags onto the bus.

Then we said goodbye to the staff, which was pretty quiet. A quick goodbye and hug and off we went. That was the anticlimactic end to 10 challenging weeks! Hard to believe.

Yesterday I finally got a package in the mail from my dad. It included a GREAT gift for the library--finger puppets! The staff loves them and plans to use them with the disabled kids at Ann Stein, the creche (kindergarten) kids, etc. Thanks, Dad!

Today Mnjama came for our final evaluation. We had a good discussion, largely about the program itself. We talked about how the program originally started to send interns to the Rothschild libraries. Those libraries, though, are really failing. I'm sure Cara can give more detail, but Mnjama agrees. It's too bad! But Mnjama had the idea, which the three of us have discussed, that future interns could get more professional enrichment by living and working in Gabs. We'll discuss more once we're Stateside, I'm sure.

We also encouraged Mnjama--who asked what we thought--to send Max to the U.S., if anyone. He really has been pretty exemplary for what he had to work with. He has a vision for the library and a commitment, and I think he would learn a lot. Mnjama was right, saying that of the station librarians we know, Max is most willing to challenge the status quo, and that's a necessary attribute for someone to gain from a U.S. visit. I'd love to show him around.

Ashley and I also went and bought our gifts for the staff. We did end up settling on two plastic chairs for the trailer. I think the staff is happy.

While sitting with the staff having tea, as usual, we had an interesting discussion. Folks here--especially kids--like to yell "lekgoa" at us when we're walking around, which means "white person" but also "rich person" or any generic leader/powerful type. Kedi laughed and asked how that made me feel. I said I didn't like it, because I would never imagine yelling "black person" at someone. She said she understood--that it must feel like there's nowhere for me to hide. Yes! That's it. But she said it's really just excitement. I think she's very right, but it truly will be nice to blend in a little more again, back in Wisconsin. I'm used to getting unwanted stares, comments, and epithets in the U.S., too, but it's a little more subtle and I have more of a community to turn to.

One more day...

It's the first day of our last week. Wow, hard to believe.

After the usual statistics and shelving, I turned my attention back to the new books. Tattle taping is one task I've never done in a US library. It's kind of satisfying.

Angelina called yesterday and said she wouldn't be seeing us again. She's heading to South Africa to visit her daughter at boarding school. I was so confused, I ended up calling her back to confirm. Yes, that was really goodbye. I wish we would've had a chance to say goodbye properly, including some last photos and such. And it's too bad she won't be around for the evaluation/grading, since she knows most about the work we've been doing all summer. So it goes.

Mnjama, however, will be coming tomorrow to do our final evaluation. I hope he's impressed!

This morning an official from BNLS appeared. After a long chat with Max, Ashley and I were invited into a meeting. The official (I can't recall her name) apologized, saying BNLS had "failed" us this year. They were supposed to be a partner in the program, visiting us and offering professional support, but they have been completely absent from our experience. She's right, and I appreciated the acknowledgment. Then she said she hoped the apology would mean we could go back to the US and say good things about BNLS, so the relationship could continue. Aha! An ulterior motive! While the effort is good, there are clearly huge problems with how BNLS handled this summer, and I can't in good conscience change my story. After our chat, we all headed to the kgosi's house, where the official offered an apology to the kgosi and Mma. Very interesting damage control. And I don't think she planned to go visit Cara--mostly this appears to be a response to Max's letter of complaint. I hope I'm wrong, and that BNLS gives Cara the same attention.

Continuing on today's theme of politics, I've been asking around about the BDP/BMD split. See, Botswana's president is a member and the chair of the Botswana Democratic Party. This summer, the BDP has been unraveling, and a splinter group--the Botswana Movement for Democracy--has been building steam. It's hard to get a good understanding of what's going on from the newspapers, and the TV news is in Setswana. My impression is that Khama (the president) likes power a bit too much and the BMD is trying to nip his autocratic tendencies in the bud, but I wasn't sure. So last night I asked Mma to explain to me. She claimed--to my surprise--that Khama doesn't want corruption and the BMD folks are corrupt, which is why they split off. Hm! So today I asked some staff members. They completely disagree with Mma. They say, as I suspected, that Khama has been making unilateral decisions more and more, threatening democracy, and the BMD is trying to restore democracy. All in all, an interesting political environment here right now. And, I must say, it makes me a bit uneasy. I don't get a good feeling from Khama, whose administration has been vitriolic about the BMD and critical press. I hope things can stay civil, and that the situation doesn't devolve. If the debate can stay hot but democratic, it's a great example to the US on how to wage protest and share power and opinion.

Today some new books arrived again. Hooray! So we're back in the accessions grind, which is actually quite welcome, as I've felt a bit like I'm twiddling my thumbs. Unfortunately, a lot of the books are duplicates of each other or even ones we already have. Strangely, there seems to be a BNLS purchasing obsession with a series on teens with various disabilities. I think we now have six copies of each in the series.

There are some gems, though, including a donated book about a young woman's life with HIV in Botswana and a book on international human rights law in Africa. Plus, just having new covers on the shelves will be exciting.

There are a few rumors in the mill:
1) Max talked to Ashley and a bit to me. It seems he wrote a letter of complaint to BNLS for giving us so little support this year. Indeed, he's right. There has been little interaction, no official visits, and no planning. In response, supposedly the head of the public libraries department will visit Molepolole Public Library tomorrow morning. We'll see.
2) There may be a goodbye party for us next week. Max said it should have been a party for us and our host families, to thank all of us, but he's heard nothing about this. I heard about it via a text from Cara, who heard about it from Lucia. In any case, if it happens, they're thinking Thursday.

As always, we don't know what to expect and what will end up happening. I've learned to let such rumors into my mind, and then just relax and see what happens.

One week

One week from today will be my last day at Molepolole Public Library. It's ending a little strangely: very quiet! I came in today looking forward to going back to the Ann Stein (sp?) Center for Disabled Children, but the staff member in charge had gone to Gaborone for the day. Instead I hunkered into working some more on my papers, brushing up on my Botswana history, and manning the circulation desk. Monday we had new newspapers of all sorts, but none today. One user came in looking for the Daily News, but no go. I'm not sure what's happening with our periodicals!

Slowly winding down...

There's not much to report here. We're slowly winding down to the final halt. The kids are on vacation now, so no Wordworks Club. I'm focusing on wrapping up the experience by stepping back and taking a look at what I've accomplished. I'm working on a few short papers simultaneously, as well: one with Ashley about our user survey, one about my new book statistics project, and ultimately my reflection for UW.

The staff is being very sweet--we've made an impression! So far two different staff members have given us gifts. So sweet, but makes me worry about returning the favor! Ashley and I are thinking practical gifts: chairs for the trailer/staff break room. And some sugar as a joke, since the staff is constantly so horrified by our black tea drinking.

Let me know if there's anything you readers can think of that I need to do to wrap up this internship. Six days left of going to Molepolole Public!