The Elusive Batswana
I have often said that of all the countries on the African continent, the people from Botswana are the ones that I have never had the pleasure to schmooze with, break bread with and generally shoot the breeze with. Yes, you heard it here first, in all my nomadic wanderings (and I have had quite a few), I have never met anyone from Botswana. Granted, I have never actually visited the country so that might explain it, but I think Lauri Kubutsile explains it better in her article in the August 2012 edition of the New Internationalist:
Batsawna, unlike many Africans from around the continent, are hard to find in the diaspora. They go out to study, but come back home. Even travelling outside of Botswana’s borders is not something most Batswana find enjoyment in. But within our borders, we are a people forever on the move.
Immensely thankful to Alexandra McCall Smith for introducing us to the people of the beautiful country in the Number One Ladies Detective Agency stories, whose characters were colorfully brought to life by an impeccably talented cast led by Jill Scott and Anika Noni Rose, under the direction of Anthony Minghella. Thereby making it possible to say the phrase dumela mma to our elusive kinsfolk from Botswana.
Thoughts of Botswana ~ Lauri Kubutsile
