At times it seems to me that I reached my peak in my 20's and haven't progressed much further since then. After reading some of the things I wrote and perceptions I had during that time, I sometimes feel I was smarter then than I am now.
In 1973 I graduated from Sheridan College as a production potter who specialized in wood fired kilns. I had planned on setting up my own studio in Canada but a notice from CUSO looking for a potter who fired with wood to work in Botswana caught my interest and imagination. The requirements fitted me so perfectly, they only left out my name. The placement also offered me a convenient way out of a marriage which had led our interests in different directions. While life in Botswana was certainly different than anything I had experienced before, it wasn't a huge shock for me. I find that people are people wherever one goes. They laugh when they're happy and cry when sad. There are good ones and devious ones, no matter what setting or skin colour. Having been born in the former Yugoslavia, been a refugee in Germany with my family for a couple of years and then learning my third language in Canada at the age of 10 had already introduced me to quite a lot of changes. What I did with Thamaga Pottery - the conclusions I reached, changes and implementations I made - makes me wonder if I could have done the same as well today. I don't feel as smart nor as confident. Perhaps it's because I have more experience - and life has battered me about some - that I don't have the same cocky attitude to undertake something that should not have been within the realm of my competence. Whether that's a good thing or not, I don't know. I just know that I'm grateful for the whole experience. It helped shape who I am today. And that's okay.
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Add a ReflectionWhat was the lasting impact of the CUSO Botswana experience on the rest of your life? How did it change you? How did it affect your values, beliefs, actions? Your thoughts on the meaning of the experience are important to all of us and to Cuso International (200 words max). Email your reflection to: Archives
June 2019
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