When Africa came to town
Florence Radull | Friday June 13, 2014 15:03
You would be giddy with anticipation and restlessness, barely able to contain yourself until the guests arrived.
Those are the same feelings that washed over many of us as the long awaited opening ceremony of the much anticipated African Youth Games finally began.
Exhilaration was in the air, long before the ‘talking’ orb fascinated us, way before the 53 colourful teams touched down in Gaborone, certainly before the dignitaries entered the stadium and definitely before President Ian Khama uttered his near-perfect French monologue.
For the 10 days the African Youth Games were staged a carnival-like atmosphere engulfed Gaborone and its environs.
The city came alive. If the University of Botswana was its pulse then the National Stadium was certainly its heartbeat.
The festivities at the opening ceremony set the tone for the ‘celebrations’. The well-choreographed traditional dancing, colourful Zebra performance and the explosion of colour during the fireworks display teased the senses and stimulated the minds.
Outside of the games venues, shouted greetings of Jambo and Bonjour, salaam a laikum filled the malls as the athletes took a breather from their schedules in their colourful tracksuits or traditional garb to sample Gabs. Everywhere you’d care to look there were volunteers in white and blue tracksuits, the every present neck tag on full display.
Gaborone reverberated with the sounds of Africa.
The tented ‘village’ that had been set up outside the Stadium was always buzzing with activity. The varied vendors were out to please every potential customer that passed by their tables. They would call out with the names of their specials and even offer you the chance to change their cooking methods to suit any foreign or local palate.
“We are enjoying fried fish and paleche,” explained George Oyoo, one of the Kenyan officials who hailed from Western Kenya, where those living on the shores of Lake Victoria eat fish on a daily basis. “I thought I would not get my usual menu here, but I was wrong, this is delicious. These guys have really catered for everyone, that’s impressive,” he said.
On the other end of the little ‘village’ sat three Madagascar officials waiting for their fried pork. “Back home we smoke it and then fry it. We have sampled a lot of food from Botswana but today we thought we would have something similar to what we would have at home,” one of them chimed.
Next to the loud music at the noisy end of the tent, two officials from the tiny island of Comoros sampled a steaming plate of seswaa.
“We have never eaten meat cooked like this before, this is really something different and delicious,” said the male official who only identified himself as Eddie. “We’ve eaten biltong as well which is definitely my favourite,” he added as his female companion nodded her head, while she continued to tuck into the seswaa.
Across the road leading to Gaborone Sun Hotel, stalls had been set up as well, offering all sorts of snacks, fruits, airtime, cigarettes and related products. Despite the fact that they claimed those in the tents were getting most of the customers they still agreed that business was not bad.
“I usually make about P400 a day selling by the main mall but yesterday and today I made over P2,000,” said street vendor Gaone Segalo. “I hope the flow of customers will continue because I heard that there won’t be games at the Stadium every day,” she said.
The Sothos came with their traditional hats that resemble an upside-down basket, while the Egyptian and Tunisian girls were easily identified with their ever-present scarves over their sports gear in respect of their religion. Other nationalities were more noticeable by their lack of mastery of the Queens language and there was a lot of gesturing taking place to give or get assistance.
The restaurants in the more upmarket malls like Riverwalk and Airport Junction were mostly crowded in the evenings when officials would take ‘time out’ to see the city of just for a change of scenery from their offered accommodation.
The young athletes were also out on the town, whenever they had some free time or after competing in their respective disciplines.
Despite the closing of some roads due to the cycling competitions tempers did not flare. The public took the inconvenience in their stride as everybody was aware the hassle was for a positive cause.
Jackson Dube, a secondary school teacher at one of Gaborone’s international schools waited patiently in his car from the Btv circle to Airport Junction on the Sunday when the cycling competition started.
“We’ve been sitting in the car for the past hour, Dube said, as he and his daughter sat sucking popsicles being sold by the side of the road by an innovative semausu owner, who did not want to miss out on the increased slow traffic passing by her establishment.
All in all, a great time was had by all. The country excelled on and off the pitch and the visitors returned home with a new impressed view of Botswana.
There is a Kenyan proverb that loosely translates as “being small is not a disablility” and Botswana despite its small population proved that to Africa and the rest of the world.