ecw-dev
Episcopal Church Women in NC
Category: The Botswana Diaries
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The hand over in the parking lot of the Choppies grocery that sits on the edge of Gaborone, Botswana’s capital city, is complete. My possessions and I leave the Mothers’ Union officers, with whom I’ve spent the past week, and join five representatives of the Anglican Women’s Fellowship. As we drive toward the center of…
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On Shrove Tuesday I shared a Lenten meditation with some friends in Botswana. It included a message that had recently been forwarded to me: Pray for the International Anglican Women’s Network as it connects Anglican women across the world, encouraging them to become influential, equal participants throughout the Communion and in their own communities.
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Since, a week earlier, Cecilia was the last person we collected on our journey into Tsabong for the annual conference of the Mothers’ Union, she is the first person to get home. Home is Moshupa, a large village with a population of about 20,000. The afternoon sun is waning as we exit the van to…
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Travel on the two-lane Sir Seretse Khama Highway (named for Botswana’s first president) is uneventful except for encounters with those animals who prefer meandering in the middle of the road. Singing, talking, eating and dozing in the sun streaming through the windows of the Mothers’ Union van help us pass the time.
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There’s a problem with the trusty, hard-working white van that will take us out of the Kalahari Desert and back to Botswana’s capital city, Gaborone. While the repair is being made I take a seat outside to bask in the morning sun and watch the village of Tsabong come to life.
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The early morning procession of the flags, where members of the Mothers’ Union carry the standard for the MU branch at their parish through the streets of the host locale, has taken place, as has the closing communion. Chairs in the meeting hall have been stacked, posters removed from the walls, the hiccuping microphone unplugged…
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At its heart, the NetsforLife campaign to eradicate malaria in sub-Saharan Africa is about the promise of the Episcopal Church to raise up the Millennium Development Goals and use them as a mission orientation. Of the eight goals, NetsforLife, an initiative of Episcopal Relief and Development, particularly focuses on goal six: “Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.”…
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There’s hazy sunshine and a good breeze the day I’m to address the annual conference of the Mothers’ Union in Botswana. In the hall are MU representatives from neighboring South Africa, clergy from a range of faith groups, the chief of Tsabong (which has been hosting the assembly), and John Toto, who represents in the…
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The organizational structure of the Mothers’ Union and Episcopal Church Women is very similar, as are the goals of some of our ministries. But in the U.S., every woman of the Episcopal Church is automatically considered an Episcopal Church Woman (the level of involvement in ECW activities is up to her) while in Botswana, and…
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It’s 8:30 p.m. and a group of us attending the Mothers’ Union annual conference in Tsabong, having finished a late dinner capped with cups of hot tea and bowls of cream and fruit (the fruit bearing a strong resemblance to what Americans know as canned fruit cocktail), are ready for the last act of the…