Maun

So now I live in Maun.

Maun is a large town, 100km north-east of my rural village of Sehithwa. It has about 45-50,000 people and is considered the springboard for all of tourism in the Okavango Delta, the largest inland delta in the world. Though there’s not much to see in Maun itself, it’s where people fly in and use as their hub to go on safaris or other areas in the delta.

Unlike the rest of Botswana, Maun has lots of expatriates and foreigners. It’s almost odd to be there just because you’ll see more white people around than in Gaborone or Francistown, especially because of tourism. There are a handful of grocery stores that are just like grocery stores in the states - with tall aisles, florescent lighting, dairy, meat, produce and frozen sections, checkout lines where the ladies scan barcodes. There are also a handful of casual dining/fast food options: Nando’s, Wimpy, Barcelos and Setswana food restaurants which are like going to a Chinese buffet/Panda Express (they’re also all run by Chinese people). The non-Setswana food options – Nando’s and Wimpy are fairly expensive (esp. on the Peace Corps Budget) and are priced on par with food in the States – a ¼ chicken meal w/ 2 sides and a drink for 60 pula (9 dollars), a spicy chicken sandwich 35 pula (5 dollars)… Other places to eat are catered mainly to foreigners: 1 restaurant bar in town called Bon Arrivee and a couple of lunch places, Hilary’s Café and French Connection. Other bars or restaurants are mainly at lodges a bit out of town, like Backpackers Lodge or Okavango River Lodge. Once in a while, Peace Corps Volunteers can treat themselves to these places, but very seldom b/c they don’t fit into the PCV budget.

Most things in Maun are in the form of strip malls. The place looks a lot like 1 block in the San Fernando Valley, except with lots of sand. There are 2 main parts of town – Old Mall and New Mall. New Mall has more of the “foreign” goods and where more foreigners shop. Old Mall is where the locals predominantly shop.

There is also a network of back alleys of China shops – shops that are owned by mainland Chinese that sell typical “random Chinese stuff” at cheap prices. I bought an electric fan for 150P, a full length mirror for 50P, a hot water kettle for 120P etc. The shops do very well at catering to local tastes and budgets. I’ve also had the opportunity to chat and haggle with some of the Chinese people who have mostly been very friendly. These Chinese people in Botswana are mostly business owners and managers – they either run shops or manage government construction contracts. The Chinese are responsible for most of the infrastructure improvements like the new airport and new roads. All projects will be run and managed by a Chinese person who employs several local Batswana to be laborers. Because of this, there is very little mixing. You will almost never see a Chinese person shopping at a grocery store and will never see them walking around town – they all have cars and go directly from home to work.

There is also an Indian community here. A lot of shops are also owned and run by Indians such as some of the grocery stores and pharmacies. These people also don’t mix often. However, lots of Indian food and spices can be found at all the grocery stores. I wish there was an Indian restaurant here, but there isn’t, so I’m trying to learn to cook Indian but also make friends with some Indians and hope to get invited over for dinner.

Because of tourism and the large foreign community, I can find a lot of things that I can find at home – most of the stuff which comes from South Africa and for a much loftier price eg. A block of Tofu is 35 pula or about 5 dollars; a bag of taco seasoning is 25 pula or about 3; 10 frozen tortillas are 35 pula or about 5 dollars, a jar of pasta sauce 40 pula or 6 dollars. Needless to say, PCV’s cook and eat mainly at home and also learn to make many things from scratch like bread, tortillas, pizza.

Since Maun is also large, there is public transportation – taxis, combis, and several busses that come in from other towns. All taxis are shared, however, you can hire your own taxi for a “special” rate usually for 17 P.

Also, wearing conservative clothing is not as much of a big deal here since most locals are used to seeing white people and especially tourists who wear shorts. However, most local people still wear long skirts and dresses and some sleeveless shirts. In Maun, it’s not such a big deal if I wear a tank top. However, if I wore one in Sehithwa, I’d get plenty of full body stares from creepy men.

Overall, one can feel spoiled by living in Maun, especially since it looks more affluent and worldly than a lot of the country. However, Maun still has all the same problems the rest of the country and small villages have. The entire Ngamiland District has about 19% HIV prevalence and 4% HIV incidence with the majority of infected people women. This disproportionate amount of people is a sign of the gender inequality issues that reside within the district. The rate of domestic violence and violence against women is incredibly high – someone once sited 50%. Intergenerational sex is also a major issue causing high numbers of teenage pregnancies. Recent statistics from Maun Senior Secondary School showed how many girls dropped out of school due to teenage pregnancies and the number that died trying to get backdoor abortions. What is very unfortunate to see is that the local community is not benefiting from tourism as much as we think they would be. Instead, it has created a larger income divide among the town’s poorest and richest, especially in the district as a whole once rural areas such as Sehithwa are included. According to the Botswana Poverty Survey, the unemployment rate within the district is about 40%.

While in Maun, I’ll be placed at NCONGO Ngamiland Council of NGOs, doing capacity building work for member NGO’s within the Ngamiland District and helping to coordinate efforts by NGO’s that serve Orphans and Vulnerable Children at a district level. I’ll also be teaching swimming with Heidi to the kids at the WAR’s women’s shelter. Once I get settled in, I’ll likely be very busy….