My smile is my offering; eating is my portion

Waiting for the bus to go to church!

Always in the mood for a diversity of experiences, I hoped in a taxi (convi) with Leslie, Andrew, Maren, Mallory, Kameron, and Lebo to go to the Christ - Citadel Internationl Church of Botswana located at Plot 36126, Mmamekue Street to fill me up with some gospel music.

Colorful laundry and flowers outside a house on our walk to the church. 

I've been to a Southern Baptist Service in New Orleans and found that was a good primer: joyous singing and dancing; greeting your neighbors with handshakes, high fives, and hugs; testimony by selected members; donation - immediately followed by more joyous music; ending with a sermon with scripture. June is the month/season of spiritual rains (which is ironic/fitting since it hasn't rained a drop since we've arrived here) and the theme was repeated with imagery of a showering of blessings to fall upon us - adding value to our lives.

The church was covered with blue and white cloth on the rafters, supports, and walls creating a comfortable flowing atmosphere, especially with light streaming through the fabric.  Initial music selections were pulled form a small blue spiral bound book called Hymns of Faith.

Apparently Lebo takes singing lessons; look at those furrowed eyebrows.

When asked for donations I almost fell over on the gigantic guilt trip the pastor pulled on the congregation.  "Holding back your offering is stealing from the church," he said. Then he asked for the congregation to call back response, "I am not a robber, I am a giver ... I add value where ever I am." 

I was unconvinced by the trip, but that didn't stop me from donating.  I appreciate what congregations can provide for a community: a central location to gather and share love and music with new and old friends; a sense of security and safety.  I see church largely as social tool - herding people to a focused mindset and allowing them to pick between narrowly defined hyperbolic alternatives while asking them to ignore the nuanced positions in between.  However, I think atheists and non-church goers miss out on the collaborative element of a service that can bring power to ideas.

I don't need an afterlife to love the life I got.

In the New York Magazine article "Do Atheists Need A Church of Their Own: If God Is Dead Who Gets His House," Tim Gorski, a Texas physician, who started the North Texas Church of Freethought, is quoted: “[Church] binds people together and relates them to one another and gives them each a personal, private, and, of course, quite subjective understanding of themselves and their world.” [1] From my two hour service, I can say the C.I.C. certainly performs this duty.

The sermon was focused  on the phrase "Eating is my portion" and was alluding to digesting the word of Christ. This part of the sermon came at a time when I was remarkably hungry and the message resonated within my belly. 

Today I have been working on my final report and tonight we are going to have a BBQ hosted by Andrew Wang.

~

Reference:

[1] http://nymag.com/news/features/46214/index1.html

Botswana v. South Africa

Shapa Zebra Shapaaaaa!!!! = Beat Zebras Beat ... which I guess means Score Zebras Score

Fortunate to have a stadium within a 10 minute walk from our dorms, all the US students and many of the Botswana students ponied up the 50 Pula (50 / 7 = $7.14) to watch Botswana and South Africa duke it out for qualifier points toward the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.  South Africa which hosted the 2010 World Cup is a strong opponent and is a tough rival to Botswana.  South Africa's team is called Bafana Bafana, a name that came from the team formed post-Apartheid which affectionately translates to: little boys, little boys [citation: Lebo].  Botswana are the Zebras, with uniforms that match the flag and the scene at the game: all black players dressed in blue and white with a clear blue sky. South Africa is a mix of white and black players.

Traditional dancers entertain before the game.

Botswana came out strong, working lots of quick passes and moved up and around the field quickly as the fan screamed for every successful pass and cross.  At 13 minutes, Botswana became silent as when Morgan Gould popped a header in past the Botswana keeper - who honestly had been sleeping since the starting whistle. 

This shot was saved by Botswana and was probably my best shot of the game. 

Despite an early disappointment, the Zebras kept pushing and tied up the game 1:1 in 38th minute when Ofentse Nato scored as South Africa tried to clear a rebounded shot.

Happy fans willingly posed for a photo after the game

The game ended up as a tie at 1:1 giving both Botswana and South Africa one qualifying point. "The result means that Group A is now led by the Central African Republic on three points, while South Africa have two and Botswana share bottom spot with Ethiopia on a single point." [1]

Proof that I was at the game

Reference:

[1] http://www.goal.com/en/match/77962/botswana-vs-south-africa/report 

Dumela!

Smile. You are about to read my blog!

The smiling guy doing a self-shot portrait with water buffalo in the background,  that's me: Brian Broom-Peltz. I've decided to gather the scraps of notes and pictures I've taken of the last couple of weeks during my visit to Botswana and mold them into something similar to a coherent blog. 

To start it off: a quick feature of Botswana and why I've been here for the last couple of weeks.

Botswana is a land-locked nation the size of Texas with a population of ~2 million. I am staying at the University of Botswana located in the capital city of Gabarone that hosts about 10% of the total population [wikipedia: Gabarone].  The weather is dry and generally cloudless during the day, chilly at night (Pro tip: it is winter).

UBots - as we affectionately have been calling it - was founded in 1982 after a successful national fund raising effort known as One Man, One Beast was able to raise ~1 million rand (South African currency) in donations of cattle, cash, grain, and other donations [learned this by asking students from UB and by checking out the wikipedia: University of Botswana]. Statues of farmers with cattle branded UB are found in front of the library and by the University stadium.

I get to walk past this statue on my way to lab (white building in the background)

A couple months ago, I applied and was invited to join the National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) hosted by Case Western Reserve University at the University of Botswana named: "Sustainable Energy Research in Sub-Saharan Africa".  Not being one to turn down all-expense paid intercontinental travel, I accepted the invitation and have been having a blast ever since.  

For the past 3+ weeks I have been working under the guidance of Cosmos Muiva, a physics PhD candidate at the University of Botswana synthesizing and characterizing indium-doped zinc oxide thin films.  His dissertation is focused on the synthesis and characterization of conductive thin films for electrode applications.  Below, I am am posing with him in front of an XRD (X-ray Diffraction) machine located in the geology department. 

Quality time with the funniest man in the department

Throughout my research, I have partnered with the kind and brilliant Karabo Nikkie Ditsala, a student from the University of Botswana. Nikki has been attending the University of Botswana for the past two years and will be heading off to Canada to complete a degree in manufacturing engineering with scholarship.

Nikki holding a bouquet of red and orange bougainvillea that grows on campus. 

Together, over the course of three weeks, we have managed to familiarize ourselves with prior research literature, synthesize and characterize indium-doped zinc oxide thin films, present our initial findings to the other research students, and draft up a final report. We will complete our final report by  the end of our fourth week and will post it here.

In addition to academic research, I have also been exploring the country, culture, and language (Setswana); but I'll post more about those things in another post. 

P.S. Dumela means hello.  You just learned your first word of Setswana!