Capacity building with labyrinth

The most important part of Peace Corps work is 'capacity building.' We are here to teach people how to do certain tasks, not to do the work for them. It's not as easy as it sounds. When someone who can't type asks you to type up the minutes to a meeting, it's much easier to just do so than to procure a typing program for the computer (which is often stored in a closet 'on that side'...) and try to teach them to type...

Last week I spent Easter weekend with a fellow volunteer in Kalamare, a remote village 2 hours north of the capital Gaborone. We went for a hike along the dried out river and on the way back to the village we sat under a tree watching the children run relay races. I have often thought that the red dust of Africa is the perfect place for the labyrinths that my Boston friend Mary McCusker creates. She built one in my backyard at home, and as I watched the children, I tried to remember Mary's basic design. I kept working at in the red dirt, not realizing that a crowd of children had gathered.

Susan, the Peace Corps volunteer in Kalamare, gave me a piece of paper and I drew the basic design. One of the children reached out for it, and when I looked up, they were working on recreating it in the red dust.

We stood back and watched as they worked...then stepped in to show them how to use it...

Thank you Mary--many more labyrinths to come...