Maps, Books and Flipcharts

I'm happy to report these past couple of weeks have been rather productive. A good thing considering every idle minute is now spent counting the days until I'm back home (16, in case you were wondering). The freezing cold weather isn't helping either. My toes are blue. That's probably a bad sign.

Map Painting at Tsa Kholo
Last Monday, May 25, was a holiday in Lesotho (Worker's Day, similar to Labor Day) so I decided to visit my fellow Mafeteng district PCV Kelly (aka K2) at her high school. I didn't know it until I arrived, but she and several other PCVs were spending the holiday and proceeding weekend painting a world map in the hall at her school.

This is something I've wanted to do ever since I came to Lesotho but haven't had the chance until now. I won't describe the whole process again (you can read that in my previous post, “June Pen Pal Letter” if you're interested) other than to say it was much easier than I expected. There are photos of us in action and the finished product posted to my Picasa account. Just click the “Kelly's Photos From Lesotho” under "Links" to the left and then open the “January-May 2009” album.

Mafeteng Hospital Library
The books have finally arrived in Mafeteng! Yesterday I went with my counterpart at the hospital, Vikile, to Maseru to collect the 15 boxes of books shipped from Iowa. A HUGE thank you to everyone who helped make this possible. I know, this is the millionth time I've thanked you for this, but I just can't say it enough. I can't describe how much it means to me to have such giving family and friends!

Vikile was very excited when she saw all the boxes and the site manager at PSI/New Start Mafeteng, 'M'e Mosele, came rushing over to the hospital to see them as soon as we arrived. On Saturday Vikile, the District Medical Officer (DMO, the head physician at the hospital) Dr. Gupta and I will spend the day sorting the books into categories (by reading level and topic) and cataloging them into the book register. Dr. Gupta (who is originally from India) is even bringing us homemade Indian food!

Last week I had a meeting with the entire hospital library committee to go over some issues that needed to be resolved. This was the first meeting that Dr. Gupta was able to attend and he has become the library's most active and vocal supporter. He understands the importance of reading and is ecstatic to have something like this available for patients. 'M'e Mosele has also lent much support to the project (and to me personally, especially on the days when we were hitting some roadblocks) and will be incredibly valuable in reaching out to the NGOs that reside on the hospital compound.

I have lots of pictures of picking up the books and of the sorting and cataloging process thus far but haven't been able to post them just yet. I will hopefully get to that in the next couple of weeks.

Thaba Tsoeu HIV/AIDS and Health Day
Yes, this was supposed to have happened in May, but as I mentioned in a previous blog post, our PEPFAR-funded project has been moved to September due to the funding arriving later than expected. Major preparation won't begin until I return in late July, but tomorrow Ashley (the PCV I am working with on this project) and I will be giving a short presentation to the Thaba Tsoeu clinic staff about PEPFAR and the event itself. The clinic is hosting the event and we'll be relying on the staff and community health workers to do much of the planning and promotion. As soon as I'm done writing this post, I'm heading out to her village where we have hours of flipchart prep ahead of us.

PSI Mini-Workshop
This week is certainly the week of presentations. Friday morning Trish (the other PCV from my group who's working with PSI) and I are holding a mini-workshop for the staff of my PSI/New Start center. We'll be discussing stress and how it relates both to them as workers in the field of HIV/AIDS and their clients, both HIV-positive and negative.

On a final, bit sadder note, last Friday we said goodbye to Maria, the Assistant Peace Corps Director for CHED Volunteers in Lesotho. Almost every one of the 40+ CHED PCVs and several of the PC staff members came to the party in Maseru (I've never seen that many people crammed into the Training Center!) for awesome food prepared by Allison (winner of the CHED '08 Iron Chef Competition) and plenty of dancing. Even though it was a good time, it was sad to see Maria go. Peace Corps Lesotho just isn't the same without her guidance and warmth. Maria, thank you for everything and best of luck!

And now I'm off to brave cold weather, public transport and poorly maintained roads. Good stuff. Salang hantle! (Stay Well!)