The morning was very cold, even for July in Botswana. Most teenagers I know would not venture out of bed early in morning on a Saturday, especially during their mid- term break, for any reason, so I was not expecting to see many teens when I rose early to catch a bus for the capital city to arrive in time for the monthly Teen Club where I have been volunteering.
I too was reluctant to wake up early again since I had been away in the bush on vacation for the week and had to awaken very early to catch a bus to Gaborone. When I arrived at the Baylor Clinic around am, there was a large number of teens already there.
As I predicted, more teens arrived within the next hour or so as the weather warmed up. This is very understandable since many of the teens have no heat in their homes and no funds to buy warm clothes. Instead they usually rely on standing in the sun whenever possible to keep warm. Then, because Teen Club has grown to now over regular participants with attendance growing each month, the members are divided into two groups.
This day the younger teens year olds walked over to the very elegant Gaborone Sun Hotel, where a wonderful Kenyan performer, Momo, plays Afro-Caribbean music regularly.
Momo, a renowned musician, had arranged with the hotel owner for his band to play for the group outside on the lawn where weddings are usually held. He taught them some dance steps while the band played with loud amplifiers, just like they perform for wealthy hotel guests in the evenings. However, on this day, I stayed behind with the older teens year olds to begin a new life skills series on sex, love and dating.
