The reason for lack of heat and air conditioning is
quite simple. Botswana, as with most of
Africa, has rather inconsistent electricity.
Last night I had an important Skype appointment and in the hours leading
up to that and during I just kept my fingers crossed and was using all my
positive thinking to “will” the power to remain on. Fortunately it did. Now, I will say that we haven’t had a
blackout in a while and Botswana is definitely much more consistent with power
compared to some other countries I’ve visited, such as Sierra Leone. But if you have difficulty providing
electricity to the masses then central cooling and heating systems simply are
not feasible.
Due to the lack of heat and air conditioning, buildings
are designed in such a way to be relatively cool. This is a great concept during the
summertime, but as we are still in winter this can make for a frigid night’s
sleep. Similar to the lanai in Hawaii,
construction here tends to encourage indoor/outdoor living. This is also true in our classrooms.
Directly behind my building on campus is a large
outdoor amphitheater. The amphitheater
does have a kind of tarp roof to protect students and the professor from the
elements, but there is no heat, no air conditioning, no walls, no blackboard,
and no technology available. I teach in
this “classroom” once a week. And I love
it.
Here are a few pictures of a class being held
in the amphitheater:
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