Student Demonstration Update

As I only have an hour on campus before I leave to our off-campus lodging, I will keep this brief.

Starting on Friday, students upset about their failure to receive their student allowances from their sponsors began a student demonstration. It remained quite peaceful until their court case was dismissed against the Ministry of Education. After the decision, students marched off campus, which is where they ran into resistance from police.

I must emphasize two things: I am perfectly safe AND the information I have is only second-hand.

What is actually happening is not entirely known to me, except from what I can glean in newspaper accounts and student rumors. While we were still on campus the library closed and evacuated students when protesters neared the building; several classrooms of students were forced out by demonstrating students; and hundreds of students were chanting and marching around campus.

Beyond this, I am not quite sure about all of the details. Thank you all for your concerns, and I just want to reassure that CIEE (my program) has taken every precaution, including housing off-campus, until things are resolved on campus.

The possible outcomes are two: a settlement is reached and classes resume in the next two days OR more likely, the university will close and send all students (except us) home. This is only a temporary closure and will last an indefinite amount of time.

My thoughts on this are mixed, although as you will see, we have used the free time to see more of Gaborone.

Till I can write more, "Go a siame!" (Good-bye)