A Warm Welcome in Gamadubu

On Saturday morning, the 7 of us woke up to head to Gamadubu, a village outside of Gaborone, with Anna, Jessica, and Teacher Shirley, the preschool teacher at Naledi. About 5 years ago, Teacher Shirley started a feeding project for the children there. Teacher Shirley, Anna, and Jessica invited us to join them. Including Teacher Shirley's son and the Old Man (which is what he is referred to as), the 12 of us crammed into the small Toyota to make the hour journey to Gamadubu. Quite the tight squeeze, but we made it and it was quite memorable!

Yes, 12 people fit in that!

Once we got there, Teacher Shirley made sure that we were served tea and biscuits before we started working. What a sweet hostess! We then started chopped cabbage and peeling and grating carrots for lunch.

Anna, Jessica, and Leslie peeling and grating carrots

A social worker came, too, and told the children Bible stories and explained their rights as children. We then circled up and played some games with the children. Afterwards, we were taken on an African taxi --- a donkey-drawn cart. The village is truly out in the bush and is fairly spread out, so African taxis are their source of transportation in Gamadubu!Quite the ride!

The 7 of us were graciously given a goat, which is a very nice gift here! Being in a traditional African village, the men brought in the goat and the men then killed the goat there. Boys help at a young age and learn by watching their elders. It is a right of passage once a boy slaughters a goat for the first time. At K-State, I took an animal processing class, in which I learned hands-on how to process cattle, hogs, and sheep, and I never imagined that it would come in handy here in Africa! But, as I watched the men skin the goat and go through each step of processing it, that class gave me a very good foundation to explain to my teammates what was going on. The men that slaughtered it were very experienced and did an excellent job! While it was a little gruesome for some of my teammates to experience the slaughtering process, being given a goat was a very gracious gift!

Our goat before... I'll spare you the after shot!

We continued playing with the kids until it was time to serve lunch. Lunch included beets, rice, cabbage and carrot salad, and intestines. However, us adults were served the liver from the goat that was just slaughtered. It was a very good meal and very filling! Who knew that goat liver could be so good? This was my first true African meal experience!

My plate...very colorful and good, too!

The children eating under the shade

We then continued to play with the kids. They taught us some Setswana and played games with us. We cuddled with the little babies, too, which I must admit was one of my favorite things to do! After most of the children had gone home, Jessica and Anna taught us how to make papatas, which are similar to English muffins but better!

The papatas cooking on the fire

As it was nearing the end of our stay in Gamadubu, the chicken that was given to Anna and Jessica needed to be killed and cleaned. The knife was handed to me and I was told to kill the chicken! I was a bit hesitant, but then said, "I can kill a chicken," which has now become one of the many quotes that my team laughs about! So, with help from Teacher Shirley's son, I chopped a chicken's head off! Even though I was raised on a farm, that was a first for me! Teacher Shirley then plucked the feathers and cleaned it.

We were teased that as Americans we don't eat the feet or the head or any of the internal organs. Batswana (the people of Botswana) eat every edible part of the animal, whether the goat or the chicken. They gladly kept those parts that we don't eat, though, for their own eating enjoyment!

We then returned home. This time with 13 people in the truck and a slaughtered goat and a chicken in a bag tied to the roof of the truck! We stopped by a butcher on the way home so he could cut the goat into retail cuts of meat and soon we home after a very good day in Gamadubu! Quite a few firsts for many of us and quite a different lifestyle in Gamadubu than any of us are accustomed to, but a very memorable day!