From Botswana to Bluffton: hosts become guests

Bluffton University's cross-cultural program has taken two groups of students to the African nation of Botswana, where they have stayed with host families in the village of Pitseng.

Next week, roles will reverse when the village chief, Kgosi Mafoko, and the language and culture instructor who has worked with the visiting students, Nthati Phetlhu, come to Bluffton.

Their schedule includes speaking at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 22, in Yoder Recital Hall at the university's weekly Forum, which is free and open to the public.

Mafoko manages the affairs of Pitseng, which hosted Bluffton students in 2007 and 2009 and will do so again this May, when a group of 10 students will travel to Botswana for a cross-cultural experience.

He and Phetlhu will meet with both the past and future visitors while in Bluffton, where, from Feb. 19-24, they will also speak to classes; talk to fourth graders at the Lion and Lamb Peace Arts Center on campus; and meet with university and village officials.