CUSO Orientation, August 1978 This ditty was authored by several participants in the July/August Orientation Class, 1978 at Carleton University in Ottawa about our instructors. I suspect alcohol was involved when it was written. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ An Introduction to Africa It was August, 1978. We had completed our orientation at Carleton in Ottawa. There were 20 plus new CUSO’s going to different parts of the world but only 5 of us were headed to Botswana: myself, Chris Brown, Ann Colley, Deborah Bonser and Liliane Labossiere. This would be my first time flying across the Atlantic. My previous “overseas” experience was flying from Stephenville, N.L. to Toronto! (My parents relocated to Corner Brook, N.L. from Ontario during my middle and high school years). I was a total flying-overseas (Atlantic) neophyte. We departed from Montreal. Our first stop was Rome. Somehow the travel agent wrangled us into first class! We were very comfortable on our overseas flight. We had a 3 day layover. After recovering from jet-lag and cruising around Rome, we boarded an Alitalia flight to our final destination, Gaborone…this time in economy! We dropped down in Luanda, Angola, for a fuel stop. This would be my first glance of Africa. Angola was just coming out of a civil war. The airport was still heavily guarded. Coming in for a landing all I could see out the window on either side of the black tarmac was dry brown-red/tan earth, fringed by low, green bushes. Peaking out of the bushes were heavy artillery in the form of tanks and mounted machine guns. Since this was a fuel stop, all passengers were required to disembark and go into the terminal. We were escorted, at gunpoint (or maybe, just guarded by military personnel carrying machine guns!) into the terminal. The doors were locked behind us. The terminal was in bad shape. A layer of brown desert dust covered everything. The vinyl on the waiting room seats was slashed and the toilets were not functioning but that did not stop people from using them. The smell was overpowering. After about 30–40 minutes, the doors were unlocked and we were escorted back onto the plane. You could have heard a pin drop in the cabin as we took off. Our next stop was Lusaka, Zambia. All passengers disembarked and we were required to go though customs. Chris, Ann, Deborah and Liliane passed through customs and into a waiting area to re-board the plane. A customs officer looked at my passport and my health card. He said, “You do not have the proper vaccination to enter Zambia.” Apparently, my doctor did not have an official (enough) stamp for one of my vaccinations. “I am not entering Zambia” I said, “I am going on to Botswana.” “We must send you back to Canada to have your health card validated!” He continued like this for, what seemed to me, at the time, 20 minutes, saying that I would be put on the next plane back to Canada. In retrospect, it was probably only about 5–10 minutes. The plane was starting to re-board. I remember Deborah saying that if they would not let me back on the plane to go to the Canadian High Commission Office. I continued the conversation with the Border Guard: “I am in transit! I am not staying in Zambia! …Then give me another shot and sign my health card!” Finally, when the gate was about to close and Guard realized/decided that I was not staying in Zambia; he said “So, you are in transit; you are not staying in Zambia.” “Yes,” I said. And he let me back onto the plane. As previously mentioned, I was a total neophyte when it came to overseas, (especially) third-world, travel…. Finally, we arrived in Gaborone. I passed through Botswana customs without incident and breathed a sigh of relief. I was never so happy to meet Ken and Carol (Shipley). Welcome to Africa. Welcome to Botswana and to new adventures. The rest, as they say, is history.
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