Botswana Bulletin #43
“Back in Bots!”
October 3, 2010
Greetings one and all from a sunny but dry
Gaborone, Botswana! Yep, it finally
happened…I left! After a failed attempt
at the US border it was a nice change to be able to freely travel from one
country to another. So I’m glad to
announce that there were no unpleasant surprises during my international
journey this time around, save one (more on that later). So without further ado, let me get right into
exactly how things have been for me the last month or so.
Before I get into my trip I should share a
cool story about something that happened to me before I left Canada. Promise Keepers had organized a golf
tournament called “Bless The Clergy Open” which was being hosted at Eagle Rock
golf course east of Beaumont, AB. To
play in the tournament you had to sign up a team of 4 players with one member
being active in full time ministry (Pastor, Missionary, etc). The original plan was for the associate
pastor of my church (Craig Cadwell) to be the clergy on the team. However, Pastor Craig got busy enough that he
felt he could no longer participate in the Open. So another friend of mine at church (Wayne
Land) invited me to take his place. Now
before I go any further I should mention that I rarely play golf and for good
reason…I’m just not good at it! Anyway,
Wayne said I didn’t need to be good and that it would be a lot of fun so I
agreed to go. The fact that it was free
for clergy was also a major factor in my decision. J I mean come on, how often does one get the
chance to golf a great course for free!
So anyway, off we went to the open the morning of August 23rd. The weather behaved for the most part and we
had a great morning of golf. I even made
some half decent shots from time to time which was a nice surprise. After 18 holes the plan was to have lunch
with the 30 teams that had come.
However, before lunch started they announced that they would like all the
clergy to meet on the 9th hole for a 60 yard closest to the pin
challenge. Considering that my golf game
was quite weak I hesitated in going because I figured my odds of embarrassing
myself were a lot higher than my chance of winning. I spoke with one of my team members about it
(David Ness) and he encouraged me to give it a try so off we went.
Now I’ll admit I was glad that it was only
a 60 yard competition because my best club of the day had been my pitching
wedge. If it was a long drive they were
looking for I’m sure this story would have ended in a much different manner. Wanting to simply get the competition over
with, I volunteered almost immediately.
I figured there wasn’t much use in taking a few test swings since I
didn’t really know what I was doing so I simply dropped my ball and swung at
it. Almost immediately I could see that
I hadn’t hit it straight as the ball began to fly left of the pin. My disappointment in the shot turned to glee
however when I noticed the ball would at least hit the green. For a rookie like me I considered that a
decent attempt. But things didn’t end
there. Cartoonishly, the ball landed on
the green and began rolling straight towards the pin. We all watched in amazement as the ball got
closer and closer to its goal. A rising cheer
began to form from the crowd as the ball inched closer,
“Ooooooohhhhhh…Whhhooooaaaa!” The ball
stopped about 12 inches short of its destination. I was speechless. The others there began to dish out high fives
and back slaps and various positive verbal comments. Needless to say I couldn’t wait for the other
26 competitors to take their shots.
Sadly, I silently celebrated when competitor after competitor failed to
get any closer than my shot. After all the other competitors had competed I was miraculously left as the champion. As we wrapped up the competition I was amused
at the conversations that took place afterward.
A few guys came up to me and said, “How often do you play? That was a great shot!” I had to be honest, “Hardly ever.” Upon hearing this, one player said, “Do you
think you could ever reproduce that again?” I
simply stated, “Well, luckily I don’t have to.”
After we had lunch the organizers began to
hand out the various prizes for the winners of the different competitions. When my turn came to collect my prize I was
surprised by the luxury of the award. It
was a gift certificate to the Hotel MacDonald.
Now for those who don’t know, the Hotel MacDonald is one of, if not, the
best hotel in Edmonton. It’s a very
historic and luxurious building that has stood at the top of the river valley
for almost 100 years. So, suffice to
say, it’s a really nice place. So then
the difficult part came, what do I do with it?
Well, it didn’t take long to think of something. For my “last supper” in Edmonton before I left
for Botswana I treated my parents to a meal at the Hotel MacDonald. It was absolutely divine. Everything tasted fantastic and the ambiance
couldn’t have been better. If this was
God’s way of giving me a treat after a tough month of uncertainty and
disappointment, it was a very fair trade.
So with the taste of the delicious food the
night before still fresh in my mind I said my final good-byes to my parents and
boarded my Air Canada flight and left Edmonton the morning of August 30th. I had to admit it though. I wasn’t particularly looking forward to the
marathon I was about to put myself through.
Typically when I plan a trip too or from Botswana I’ve planned layovers
in Europe. It always helps you adapt to
the time change and it also gives you a chance to shower, change, clean up and
generally attain a better level of hygiene.
Also, since beginning work with Flying Mission I’ve met a number of
people from Europe so it’s always fun to stop and see them along the way. However, this time around time was not really
on my side. I needed to just get
to Botswana and get started on my internship, so the decision was to fly
straight there without stopping. I’ve
done this once before so I knew what I was in for, and it wasn’t going to be pretty. So with mixed emotions we took off from Edmonton
and 4 hours later arrived at my first destination, Toronto. After a short layover in Toronto I boarded my
British Airways flight for London. If I
were a wise man I probably would have slept on this flight. However, being the fool that I am I decided
to stay up almost the entire time and talk to the cute German girl sitting
beside me. As if that wasn't enough to make the trip great, we also had
great seats. They weren’t emergency exit
seats but they had just as much leg room if not more. I could lift my legs all the way up without them
bashing into anything. For those who are
interested in these seats on a future flight they were the first row of seats
in economy class on the right side of the plane. I’d highly recommend them although they
probably wouldn’t have been as good if the cute German girl wasn’t there. J
Anyway, after arriving in London I had an
extremely long lay over (10 hours) so I decided to make the most of it and do a
little sight-seeing in London. I took
The Tube (the subway) to Picadilly Circus which for those who don’t know London
very well is basically London’s version of Time Square in New York. If you look it up on Wikipedia and see the
neon signs you’ll know what I mean.
Anyway, from there I walked to the Thames and took in the glorious
architecture that surrounds the river. I
walked to the London Eye and saw that a boat tour was about to start so I
decided to board. After 45 minutes on
the river Thames I decided that it was time to get something to eat. And in my opinion your best option for lunch
when in Britain is of course…Fish and Chips!
The tour guide actually recommended a great fish and chip place just off
the river which I decided to check out.
It wasn’t the best fish and chips I’ve had in England but it was
definitely satisfying. After looking around
a little bit further I decided it was time to get back on the tube and head
back to Heathrow for my flight to Johannesburg.
By the time I got back to Heathrow fatigue had started to set in. I could tell I was tired just by the fact
that I was able to fall asleep in my uncomfortable plastic seat as I waited for
my gate to be called. Finally, my gate
was announced and I was back on a British Airways flight bound for South
Africa. Mercifully, the 2 gentlemen
sitting beside me weren’t too interested in talking with me so I actually slept
quite a bit on the gruelling 11 hour flight.
So, upon arriving in Johannesburg, South Africa I was feeling pretty miserable. Thankfully I only had to wait a few hours and
then I was off to Gaborone on my South African Airways flight. I was surprised by the type of plane we were
boarded on. Usually the flight between
Johannesburg and Gaborone is on a plane called a Dash 8 which is slower and has
2 propellers for engines. This time we
were on an Airbus 319 which has turbine jet engines and is much quicker. So before I knew it we had landed in
Botswana. It was an incredible feeling
to be back. I had really missed it. Having the chance to speak some Setswana at
immigration was a welcoming and familiar feeling. It was like I was home. And then the reality of international travel gave
me a gentle tap on the shoulder. Well,
perhaps it was more than a tap. J
As I went to pick up my 2 bags I was
relieved to see my cool knew “spinner” suitcase had made it. Then I began to wait for my second bag. And then I waited some more. And then to my horror I realized I was
watching the same 6 bags rotate around the baggage claim area. The second bag hadn’t made it. So, without many options at my disposal I walked
into the main part of the airport and was greeted by two familiar faces. The ICT Manager for the last number of years
at Flying Mission, Richard Wheatley (who just happens to be my boss) greeted me
with a smile and a hug. Also, my old
roommate, Luke Saffarek was there to greet me.
He is now involved in his own photography company called “TellMe Ltd”
here in Gaborone and also does some guided fishing tours into the Okavango
Delta. It was good to have familiar
faces there to meet me. As great as it
was to see both of them, there was still the matter of my second bag. So off to the South African Airways counter
we went. After the South African Airways
employee went to confirm that no more bags had arrived I filled out the lost
baggage form and was simply told that my bag should arrive on the next
flight. I said a small prayer for my bag
and off I went with Richard to my new home.
I am currently living at what they call the “Short Term Guys House”. I’ve stayed in the house before as Flying
Mission has owned the house for many years.
The only edit has been the addition of a wall to break the master
bedroom in half to allow for more single rooms.
The room I have is small but adequate.
There were already 2 other guys living there, 1 whom I had already
met. The one I know is Andrew Anstey who
is from Toronto. He’s a Flying Mission
pilot and has been here for nearly 2 years.
He’s relatively close to my age so I was glad there would at least be
one “peer” in the house with me. The
other person living at the house is Andy Robinson. Andy was born in England but moved to New
Zealand a number of years ago so that is where he considers himself from
now. He’s 19 which is a typical age of
our short termers and is the age I’m expecting most of my roommates to be.
Some of you may be wondering how I’m
getting around these days. Well, with
the uncertainty of my stay here I decided it was best that I keep the car I had
bought in Canada. The only problem in
doing that is now I don’t have enough money to buy a car to use here in
Botswana. So, I figured I’d just do what
I did when I first arrived. Get a
motorcycle! I ended up discovering that
there was a person within Flying Mission that had bought 2 identical
motorcycles and may have one I could borrow.
The guy’s name is Dan Parlane and he is an instructor at our newly
re-opened Aviation Mechanics school. He
let me know that I was welcome to use his bike but that it was in need of some
repairs. We agreed that if I fixed up
the bike that he’d let me use it for free.
I was happy to see that my old motorcycle mechanic (Leo) still had his
motorcycle shop in Gaborone. After
putting about $125 into fixing the bike up it was good to go. It stills needs a little bit of work (front
fork seals and exhaust gasket both leak) but it’s running really well. For those who may be interested the bike is a
2001 Yamaha RX100. It’s only a 100cc
bike so it doesn’t have a lot of power but it gets the job done. However, as big of a blessing as the bike is,
I do know that the roads here are dangerous.
Please pray for safety as I ride the treacherous roads of Botswana.
Some of you have been asking about my US
visa situation so I’ll give you a little update on that. My application has officially been submitted
after some delays getting paperwork organized.
At this point it is simply a waiting game but unfortunately I can’t wait
long. Flying Mission wants me to know my
status by November 1st so we can plan the remainder of my internship
in Botswana. I’m hoping I’ll hear from
SIM International by then. If nothing
happens by early November I’ll likely have to abandon the idea of going to
South Carolina for my internship.
Perhaps I’ll have another chance to work there later. At this point all we can do is wait and pray.
I began working at the Flying Mission
office on September 6th and it didn’t take long before something
major happened. I don’t remember exactly
which day it was, but on one of the first few days back at work I arrived in
the office in the morning to find that the telephones and the internet were not
working. Having dealt with this before
my first instinct was to suspect cable thieves had cut and stolen our cable
again. To confirm this I checked with
Kia Motors to see if there phones were down as well. They were.
I decided I better go check to see if the cable was in fact stolen. However, as I walked to the area where our
cable runs into the building I noticed there was some construction happening a
short distance away. As I walked towards
the construction to see what they were doing I couldn’t believe my eyes. An excavator was digging a large trench in
the ground to lay sewage pipe and had cut directly through our cable! There was a large crew working around the
trench but I spotted a Chinese guy that I figured must be in charge (a lot of
construction work in Botswana is done by Chinese owned companies). So I walked up to him and asked him the
obvious question, “What are you doing?!”
The guy basically ignored me. In
fact, as I spoke with him he rudely decided to just turn around and face his
back to me. Frustrated, I went and spoke
with an older Motswana gentleman who said he was the crew foreman. He informed me that they had already notified
the telephone company (BTC – Botswana Telecommunications Company) and were told
someone would come later in the day. Not
satisfied with that answer I decided to call the Maintenance Manager at BTC whom I’ve gotten to know over the years.
Thankfully, his cell number hadn’t changed and he also informed me that
someone would be coming as soon as possible.
In fact, it must have been a Friday when this happened because I
remember thinking that nothing would happen because a lot of workers take off
early on Fridays. However, I was
pleasantly surprised when I found out that a crew arrived on Saturday morning
and had the problem fixed by Saturday afternoon. When I went to inspect the work on Monday
morning I was very pleased with the work they had done. It’s good to see that even after 4 years of
living in Botswana it still has the ability to surprise me. J
My last little tidbit of information is
regarding the band I’ve been involved with as their drummer called “Audience of
One”. The band is still going strong and
we’ve even picked up some new people since I left which is exciting. Anyway, we are planning a worship night on
November 12th and we’d appreciate prayer as we plan and prepare for
this. Our desire is to see the people of
Botswana lift up their voices in praise to God and we’re hoping that we will be
able to lead them in this next month. Thank you to those who already pray for me on a regular basis. I appreciate it a lot.
Speaking of prayer, let me run through the
prayer requests I mentioned earlier throughout the letter:
1)
Praise for the awesome “last
supper” I experienced with my parents
2)
Praise for the safe arrival of
me and my luggage in Botswana (better late than never!)
3)
Praise for the provision of a
motorcycle. Pray for safety as I travel
on the dangerous Botswana roads.
4)
Pray for my US visa situation. Pray that US immigration will be swift in
delivering its verdict on my worthiness in their country. Pray for acceptance of their verdict,
whatever that may be.
5)
Pray for the Audience of One
worship night we’re planning on November 12th. Pray that many would come and encounter God
through the music we play.
Thank you so much for your love and support
that enables me to continue to serve the Lord here in Botswana. You guys are the best! God bless you all!
Peace and prayers,
Graham Crawford <><
For more info on SIM Canada visit: www.sim.ca.
For more info on Flying Mission visit: www.flyingmission.org
The opinions expressed in this blog are
my own opinions. They are not
necessarily the opinions or views of my employers, SIM or Flying Mission.
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