CIB (Cait in Botswana)

Its always funny when my mom tells me I need to update my blog…the one person I talk to every week is telling me that the online synopsis of my Botswana life is lacking. Ha.

So – April  – the month of my one year anniversary.  Pretty amazing.
 
February wrapped up quite well – with a sigh of relief we finished the Family Fun Days and had really good numbers to show from it.  Overall we tested 722 people and  70% of those people were couples – a success by my standards for sure.

Last time I wrote I mentioned an activity I was trying to get off the ground – Teen Club. We have made significant progress from it being just an idea to a reality.  I have gotten an NGO partner on board (yay!) and we have met with Baylor and the NGO to further discuss the planning.  We are shooting to have our first Teen Club meeting the 3rd Saturday of May.

Many of you have asked if there is any way you can support me and/or the projects I am working on here in Botswana and Teen Club will be the perfect opportunity.  Baylor Clinic has just launched a website for their Teen Club as a way to not only provide more information to people at large, but also as a way for individual Teen Clubs to raise funds! Yay!

What might those funds be used for?  Good question. 

Mahalapye (My Village) Teen Club will have lunch and transportation costs covered by the Baylor  Clinic…which is great.  It will allow HIV+ teens from all over my village to come together to discuss their status, their adherence to their medications, and life overall.

Funds would help pay for special outings (pool parties, field trips, for example) and for smaller things that might be needed for activities during Teen Club.

If you'd like to start donating - which would be awesome - you can go to the donation section of the webpage...just put Mahalapye Teen Club in the notes to specify where you would like the money to go....

So, check out the website…http://botswanateenclub.wordpress.com. It will give you good insight as to what I’m doing.  I’m really excited about this project and think it has a lot of potential.  I am also really excited because I feel like I have a good team of community members who are really interested in seeing Teen Club succeed.

More on life in general later...

~Caitlin

P.S. The more clinks on the link I have - the better - I can get a free dinner out of it. ;-)