Baby Einstein and a Heavy Dose of Reality

It rained. This was remarkable for the fact that it was the first significant rain I have seen in my almost six months here. The winds came in Thursday night, followed by lots of thunder and lightening that gave Findley a fright and mom and dad an excuse to have him sleep with us. Friday morning arrived with grey skies and a steady drizzle that lasted most of the day. I felt the same way I do in Washington DC when the temperatures rise and the sun comes through after a long winter. I resisted the urge to run outside, jump in the puddles and belt out the chorus to Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Have you Ever Seen the Rain?”

Our good friend Kate Maloney recently mailed us about the lack of new blog entries. (Thank you for noticing Kate.) Truth be told, the blog exists, and survives, largely because of the efforts of Chase. If Findley will start doing more chores around the house and sleeping another six or hours so during the day, we will write more postings. I’ve spoken with him about this and he says he will try to start pulling his own weight. Speaking of Findley, it turns out we have the smartest and cutest kid in the world. He isn’t walking yet, but he crawls with the speed and tenacity of the Road Runner, and he is into everything now. I now know what it is like to be a doting parent whose child can do no wrong. He can clap on command, wave hello and goodbye, make the sign for fan, and signal “more” when he is eating something he likes. Judging from the way mom and dad exalt in each new thing he does, you would think his accomplishments are on the level of him finding a cure for cancer or bringing about world peace. (Give him time.) We are obsessed and it's verging on pathetic.

My other news is that Chase has encountered an exciting new opportunity. Through a friend of a friend, she connected with a Peace Corps volunteer heading up a teen club for Botswana HIV-positive teens. There is an amazing clinic here in Gaborone called the Botswana-Baylor Clinical Center of Excellence. It was created through a public private partnership between the Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, Botswana’s Princess Marina Hospital and the Government of Botswana. The facility is state-of-the-art and the first of its kind on the continent. More than 1800 children and adolescents are treated there, serving a huge need in a country ravaged by AIDS. The teen club is basically a support group for adolescents being treated at the clinic. Chase approached them about volunteering time, and it turns out to be a perfect fit in terms of her background in youth development (previously with Red Cross/Red Crescent)and the plans they have to build and expand the teen club into regions outside of Gaborone.

She started last week, and will be building a curriculum and traveling to different villages in Botswana to start new clubs. Her experience will be a huge contribution to the clinic’s outreach efforts, and it gives us a chance to travel to some places outside of Gaborone. On Saturday we went to the monthly gathering of the teen club in Gaborone. Every meeting offers a different experience for the kids. Last month they were treated to a day with the national soccer team in Botswana. This month, the clinic brought in people from different professions to talk about their jobs. Sort of a “career” day where the teens heard from a doctor, police man, nutritionist, model (kind of an odd addition to the speaker panel but one that was appreciated, especially by the boys) and others talk about what they do and what it took to get to where they are. The message: don’t let anyone tell you that can’t do something; anything is possible.

It’s a daunting prospect in many ways working with this population. You see these kids, all of them HIV-positive (most born with HIV and carrying it into their teen years) and they are poor and some of them obviously suffering physically. But for a day at least they are carefree and allowed to just be themselves. We met some amazing kids during the meeting, and I am really proud of Chase for taking this on. The whole day also gave me pause to realize how lucky we are to have a healthy boy. Anyway, for all the crap that exists in this world, there is reason for optimism and it exists in places like the Baylor clinic. So take heart.