The Nata Blog was born as a result of a world traveler, Jon Rawlinson, passing through Nata on the way to the Okavango Delta. The tour books referred to Nata as nothing more than a dust hole and he had no intention of spending any time there. But, as coincidence would have it, he met a Peace Corps Volunteer named Melody Jenkins who is working as an HIV/AIDS educator and community capacity builder. Jon was interested in seeing more than the tourist destinations of Africa and wanted to learn more about the impact of HIV/AIDS on Botswana. After just one night of meeting the locals and hearing first hand accounts of the struggle to control the spread of the disease, Jon was hooked and wanted to help. He has since been back to Nata twice and has been introduced to the Kgosi (chief) and most of the professionals working to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. Nata will benefit from the fact that our world traveler is also a professional producer and editor as well as a website designer. Jon and Melody worked on a documentary about HIV/AIDS in Nata in hopes of bringing the story of Nata to the world. Jon discovered an incredible village filled with the beautiful Mokolane Palm trees lining the Nata River. Unlike most tourists, Jon wanted to do more than just snap a few photos of elephants and giraffes and return home. He wanted to make a difference and offered to design and administer this website.

After much discussion and the frustration of donations going to large organizations that rarely get to those that really need it, Jon and Melody decided to try and help the people of Nata with this website. Millions of dollars are pouring into Africa but people in remote parts of the country rarely get the benefits of this generosity. We hope to profile the specific needs of the village and give our visitors an opportunity to help. But, beyond a fund raising tool, we also want our visitors to meet the people of Nata, learn their stories, and get an intimate look at how they live. We will feature people living with AIDS (PLWA's), youth groups, clinic staff, social workers and others. We hope to give the visitors to this website an inside look at an African village and see how people live on a day to day basis.

Email: natavillage[AT]gmail.com