Listening to reports in TsabongThe annual conference of the Mothers’ Union, the focus of my first week in Botswana, begins each morning at 6:30 with Holy Eucharist and, according to the official “programme” I’m given when I arrive in Tsabong, concludes every evening at 8:00. The mornings do indeed begin bright and early. After lunch there’s a break of an hour. However, the timing of the evening schedule turns out to be more a suggestion. Events go on until 11 p.m., midnight, even later. And here’s the thing, younger and older alike are truly present, participating with gusto even as day turns to night and the southern hemisphere’s winter winds quicken.
Generations of Anglican womenDuring the day, especially, the women sit for hours, participating in prayers - including a “service for the aged” - and listening to the reading of reports from MU officers and MU representatives from “branches” (i.e. congregations), a word whose meaning in this context is familiar to ECW members. Given all the sitting and the fact that the people in the back of the long room sometimes strain to hear what’s being said at the front of the room, I wait for the signs of restlessness — the clearing of throats, or loud sighing, or paper shuffling, or calls to “speak up!” They don’t come. Instead, the delegates and guests are respectful, acknowledging each presenter as they finish.
Keeping the beat in TsabongThere are intermittent, unscheduled stretch breaks throughout the proceedings. These involve spontaneous bursts of singing and dancing, no surprise given the role music plays in the life of the church and life in general in Botswana. It works like this: During a natural break, say between reports or when the conference leaders are conferring, someone starts singing a cappella. Others chime in. Many times, a small group stands and dances, following a woman who in one hand holds a square, leather-covered pillow called a “beat.” She uses her free hand to drum a rhythm on the beat. Then, as quickly as it began, the singing and dancing end. Everyone returns to their chairs. Business resumes. This meeting model has possibilities!