A Study In Contrasts

The Hardest Job You'll Ever Love

2009-07-08T10:23:00.000-05:00

Some days, Peace Corps’ tagline, “The Hardest Job You’ll Ever Love,” seems like a huge joke. Love? LOVE?!?!? What was there to love? Like, maybe, but love? But you know, it’s true. Even on the worst days being a Peace Corps Volunteer is something I was proud of, something I was glad to be doing, something I maybe even loved, just a little bit.

After much soul searching, I've decided that my journey with the hardest job I’ll ever love has come to an end. I’ve not come to his decision easily but I feel in my heart it is the right one to make.

Many factors have contributed to this decision, things that aren’t all that important to explore here. I will say that over the past 13 months I have grown in ways that will take years to fully appreciate, lost things that I may never stop grieving for and gained a perspective I will carry with me forever.

Thank you to my loyal readers, friends and family who have supported me along the way and helped make this journey one of the seminal experiences of my life.

Now it comes to the end. And how exactly end something like this? Well, let’s try a quote.

“Fare forward, travellers! not escaping from the past
Into different lives, or into any future; 
You are not the same people who left that station 
Or who will arrive at any terminus,”
- T.S. Eliot, The Dry Salvages

Accomplishments Or Feeling good about learning how to cook without a microwave

2009-06-09T11:24:00.003-05:00

It's official, I've hit the half-way mark of my Peace Corps service. It arrived last Saturday, actually, accompanied by all the expected feelings: surprise (at how fast time seems to have passed), nervousness (about how much I've changed and how much change is left to happen), panic (do you know how much I have left to do? And everything takes so long here!) and euphoria (only a year left and then back to the real world. And showers!). But where, where was the feeling of satisfaction? What have I done over the last year?

I decided I'd better answer that question, for my own sanity if nothing else. Taking a cue from K2 (the other PCV named Kelly in Mafeteng district) and Maria's (our former Assistant PC Director for CHED Volunteers) infinite wisdom, I decided to make a list of everything – and I do mean EVERYTHING – that I've “accomplished” this past year. But why just make a list, as much as I love them, when I have so much time, creativity and wall space at my disposal? I turned the list into a collage, a visual reminder to me of what I've done here...and what's left undone. Since I can't upload a picture of this visual masterpiece right now, here's the list in no particular order, other than clockwise from the top.

Serving in the Peace Corps
The CV
Visiting Qacha's Nek district
Learning to knit
Stigma workshop in TY
Discussing Obama and the election with Basotho
Visiting Thaba Bosiu
Mafeteng Speak Aloud 2009
Cross-cultural exchanges
Visiting Swaziland
Visiting Mozambique
Writing a PEPFAR grant application that is now the Lesotho standard
Visiting Berea district
Visiting Cape Town
Trying (persistence!) to teach lifeskills
Visiting Leribe district
Anna
Encouraging Basotho to get tested for HIV
Participating in Training-of-Trainers (TOT)
Ke bua Sesotho hanyane! (I speak Sesotho...a little!)
PSI Lesotho – Outreach; Post-test Club; Stress workshop; Newsletter
Pre-Service Training (PST), Phase Two Training and In-Service Training (IST)
Visiting Ts'ehlanyane National Park
Serving as District Security Representative (DSR)
Visiting Kruger
Penpal exchange with IKM-Manning Middle School
Visiting Istanbul
Miscellaneous South Africa trips (so far on the list: Wepener, Bloemfontein, Clarens, Ficksburg, Ladybrand and Nelspruit)
World map at Tsa Kholo High School
Blogging
Member of the Gender and Diversity (GAD) committee
Flat Stanley project
Marketing with Likaledi (Ashley's ausi who makes really great bags. I'm helping her with some basic marketing instruction.)
Facilitating Volunteer Reporting Tool (VRT) training
Visiting Quthing district
Living without the comforts of home
Mafeteng Handicraft Fair
Practicing yoga
Teaching myself how to cook
Visiting Maseru district
Swearing-in as a PCV
Visiting Malealea
Hand-washing clothes
Visiting Stellenbosch
Living in the Teng (a little bit rougher than most places!)
One year in Lesotho

You might have noticed – in addition to all those acronyms – three very important omissions from that list: the Mafeteng Hospital Library, ECCD playground installation and the Thaba Tsoeu HIV/AIDS and Health Day. The reason for this is that, well, I don't feel that those projects are quite “accomplished” just yet. Just as new accomplishments will be added as my service goes on, so will these projects when I've reached a point where I feel they are more complete.

I'm not quite sure if this new addition is good or bad. Sometimes I look at it and think, “Man, that's right, I have done things here,” and others, well, I feel the list should be much longer. But either way, there it is, my first year of Peace Corps service boiled down to a list. Just the way I like it.

Maps, Books and Flipcharts

2009-06-03T06:28:00.002-05:00

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!)

June Pen Pal Letter

2009-06-03T03:22:00.003-05:00

Dear Mr. Diersen and students,

It's great to hear from you! I'm glad the weather is warm and you are looking forward to summer break. It is indeed approaching winter here and is now quite cold at night and in the morning. It usually gets down to the 30's. I am thankful that, during the day, it warms up into the 50's and 60's but am still surprised by how quickly the temperature drops once the sun goes down.

A trip home in the middle of Lesotho's winter will be very nice. I'm looking forward to both the summer weather and seeing family and friends again!

I am glad you have been able to continue reading my blog. The Flat Stanley Project was fun and I'm flattered Kayla thought of me. The third goal of Peace Corps is to promote awareness of my country of service among Americans, and this is probably my favorite goal. I really enjoy participating in exchange projects like Flat Stanley and pen pals with you.

The map project was also a lot of fun. That was the first map I've helped paint in Lesotho, though it's something I've wanted to do since I arrived and hope to do again. It is a very popular project with PCVs and maps have been painted at primary (elementary), secondary (junior high) and high schools all across the country. That map took us two full days to complete with about 10 PCVs working the first day and six the second day.

The map was created by first taking a paper wall map of the world and drawing a grid on it. Then, a section of the wall was painted blue and, after it dried, an enlarged grid was drawn on the wall with chalk. After that, each of us took a section of the map and drew freehand (it would be much easier with an overhead and projector, but those aren't available in Lesotho) the appropriate country boundaries in each square being sure to check that our boundaries met up with those of the person drawing next to us. Some sections (Europe, for example) take more artistic ability and time to draw than others.

On the second day we began painting. First, we marked each country with the color it was supposed to be painted. Then each of us selected a different color to be responsible for and painted all our corresponding countries. We continuously checked our work against the paper wall map to be sure the boundaries were correct and that we didn't accidentally leave any countries out.

The finished map you see on my blog is still missing labels for each country, which the PCV who is working at Tsa Kholo High School finished the next day. Unfortunately I wasn't able to stay and assist with that part.

It has been several months since I have seen Anna, however, when I last visited her I told her that many people from my home, including school students her age, had heard about her story and were asking about her. She smiled her huge smile at that. I can tell you she very much appreciates your caring about her! She lives in a village about an hour outside of Mafeteng camptown where Anne Marie, a PCV friend of mine, also lives so I get regular updates through her. Anna's finger has completely healed and she is going to school. Anne Marie tells me she often sees Anna on her way to the village shop or when she comes over to read some of the children's books Anne Marie keeps at her house.

The books for the hospital library actually arrived in Mafeteng yesterday! They have been in Maseru for about two weeks now, but it took some time to arrange for the hospital to send a vehicle to collect them. I have many pictures of us picking up the books and bringing them to the hospital which I hope to post on my blog in the next few weeks. This Saturday some of the hospital staff and I will sort the books into categories (by topic and reading level) and then catalog them. We're hoping to have the library up and running by August. I can't thank you enough for all your help with this project. The hospital staff and I are so grateful for your generosity, and I know the patients who will benefit from this will also be very thankful!

The playground equipment is now fully installed at three of the four ECCD schools (preschools) that were set to receive them. The equipment was ordered through a company in Bloemfontein, South Africa, and a shop in Mafeteng collected the equipment and delivered it here. Since it did not arrive until the end of January, the PCV who started the project (she finished her service in December 2008) asked me to oversee installation of the equipment. On my first trip to each school we dropped off the equipment and explained to the teachers that the larger pieces needed to be secured by cement or stakes. I then re-visited each school to be sure they had completed their obligation. Most of the schools chose to secure the swings and slide with cement but leave the other pieces free-standing so they can store them inside the locked school building at night. The schools don't have much money so cementing each piece would be difficult for them. Also, many of the teachers felt that storing the equipment inside would mitigate the risk of theft.

Every school was incredibly grateful for receiving the equipment. Very few schools here have playgrounds so it was exciting for me to see the children get a chance to play in a way we Americans take for granted. You are right, the safety regulations here are very different than those in the States. Here, there are really no laws, oversight or building codes in regard to things like playgrounds. People generally use good common sense, though.

I have really enjoyed hearing from you this year! I will miss writing to you too and wish you all the best next year. Have a wonderful summer and, hopefully, I will see some of you around Manning while I'm home visiting.

Khotso! Pula! Nala! (Peace! Rain! Prosperity! – a traditional Basotho salutation)
Kelly

Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace

2009-05-19T09:31:00.001-05:00

Hopefully the Foo Fighters don't sue me for copyright infringement, but I thought it was an apt title for this blog post. That and I've been listening to them a lot lately.

I know it has been a very long time since I posted a real update about what I've been doing here. There are several reasons for it, pretty much the same reasons that have justified my past posting gaps. The main reason, though, has been my state of mind over the past few weeks.

As PCVs we're constantly reminded that Peace Corps service is a rollercoaster of emotions, extreme highs and lows. I've been going through another tough time, something to be expected but hard to take none the less. When one can't pinpoint the exact causes, reasons or solutions to the problem, it makes it even worse. And that seems to be my experience here. Nearly every one of my PC lows have occurred for seemingly no real reason, nothing out of the ordinary has happened, there has been no dramatic change from the usual pattern of life.

The end of April and the beginning of May were marked by days where I didn't really want to deal with Lesotho. I watched a lot of movies, t.v. shows and read. I cooked. I chatted online. I moped around and felt sorry for myself. Thoughts of home, those I miss, things that I'll never get back echoed in my head.

In one of those cosmic coincidences Kelly (aka K2), a Volunteer who arrived with the last education group and lives about 45 minutes from Mafeteng camptown, was having a rough week too and came into town for a visit. We read Vogue, ate chocolate, watched chick flicks and drank wine. We shared moments of understanding silence, moments of anger. It helped. Her friend Vic came down from the mountains of Thaba Tseka district and hung out with us for a couple of days also. We decided it was time to leave Lesotho, if only for a short time. After meeting up with Megan and Allison (two PCVs from my group) in Maseru we headed to Bloemfontein, South Africa for movies, shopping and a night in a guest house with clean showers and cable television. It was a treat to feel normal again, if only for a day.

Allison, Megan and I returned to Maseru in preparation for a week of training-of-trainers (TOT). Each year, a few PCVs from the previous CHED group are selected to work with Basotho language and technical trainers to develop training sessions for the new group of CHED Volunteers arriving in early June. This week of planning is called TOT.

I was happy to have been selected to participate in TOT but was nervous, afraid because I could still feel the sadness. The thing is, no matter where I was, last week was going to be a tough week. And TOT was probably the best place I could've been, surrounded by good friends from my training group (Nick, Eric and Kristan were also at TOT) and busy with all the work of planning and organizing. I closed my eyes every night and wished for patience. Patience to know that this too would pass, patience to wait it out.

TOT was very successful, and I'm excited about all the trainings developed for the incoming group. Hopefully we're able to use our experiences here to prepare the new Volunteers as best as possible for their service in Lesotho.

TOT was also bittersweet (beyond my own internal struggles). Maria, the Associate Peace Corps Director (APCD) for CHED Volunteers in Lesotho (basically my PC boss and mentor) is leaving at the end of the month. TOT was one of the last opportunities I will have to work with her before she heads back to the States. I will miss her sage advice, caring and positive spirit, hugs and open door. Your shoes will not be easily filled. Best of luck Maria!

I have returned to Mafeteng and thankfully this low point seems to have passed, disappearing almost as suddenly as it arrived. My counterpart at the hospital, 'M'e Vikile, and I have been categorizing and logging books for the library and are eagerly awaiting the shipment from America (which is currently being held at the border but should be let through soon). Keletso and I continue to work with the PSI/New Start support group. In early June my fellow PCV Trish and I will present a workshop on stress-management to my co-workers at New Start Mafeteng. Ashley and I are working out logistics for our PEPFAR-funded event, the Thaba Tsoeu HIV/AIDS and Health Day, and will be giving a presentation about the project to her clinic staff and community health workers before I leave for the States.

I have learned that I must face each low point with grace, experience the feelings as they come. I cannot keep it from happening, but I can appreciate that the low times allow me to be grateful for what I have left behind and all that I have here.

Flat Stanley in Lesotho

2009-05-14T15:17:00.006-05:00

Over the last week, I've had the pleasure of showing a new friend around my little corner of Lesotho. Flat Stanley made the journey from Carroll, Iowa to Lesotho to learn more about my country of service, its culture and its people.

For those of you not familiar with the Flat Stanley project, here's some background from the official Flat Stanley web site, which you can access by clicking here:

In 1995, Dale Hubert, a Grade 3 teacher in London, Ontario, Canada, began the Flat Stanley Project. He invited other teachers to take part by hosting flat visitors and to encourage their students to write their own Flat Stanley journals.

One of the many advantages of sending flat visitors is that they can visit friends by travelling in an envelope. Students' written work goes to other places by conventional mail and e-mail.

Students make paper Flat Stanleys and begin a journal with him for a few days. Then Flat Stanley and the journal are sent to another school where students there treat Flat Stanley as a guest and complete the journal. Flat Stanley and the journal are then returned to the original sender. Students can plot his travels on maps and share the contents of the journal. Often, a Flat Stanley returns with a pin or postcard from his visit. Some teachers prefer to use e-mail only. Especially creative hosts send the Flat Stanleys back with pictures, souvenirs, stories and reminders of the visit.

Kayla Venner and her class are participating in a Flat Stanley project this year. Thank you Kayla for sending Stanley to Lesotho! I hope your class and you enjoy hearing about his visit!

For my loyal blog readers, you can check out pictures of Flat Stanley's adventures by clicking the "Kelly's Photos From Lesotho" link to the left and then the album titled "Flat Stanley."

What's for dinner?

2009-04-30T04:50:00.004-05:00

Before I came to Peace Corps my idea of cooking involved boiling pasta, heating up jarred sauce and popping frozen breadsticks in the oven. That life was not allowed to continue here, where such pre-prepared standards are unavailable. I remember a time back in training when I had to ask another PCV how long to boil an egg to ensure it was hard-boiled. Oh, how times have changed.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still no chef and eat my fair share of rice and fill-in-the-blank, ramen and many things I'm embarrassed to mention. But I have also learned how to bake just about anything in a dutch oven and a million ways to use stir-fried vegetables. I decided I would share a few of my favorites with you all. They're really easy and, I'm sure, taste even better in America where so much more variety of ingredients is available. Bon appetit!

Baked Ziti
A Kelly Original
250g (8.8 oz. or ½ bag) pasta – preferably penne rigate or macaroni
.23kg (½ lb.) hamburger
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, minced
1 can (approx. 400g or 14oz.) chopped and peeled tomatoes with garlic
1 small can (approx. 120g or 4.2oz.) tomato paste
1 small can (approx. 155g or 5.5oz.) dessert cream OR 2/3 cup ricotta cheese
1 package (approx. 300g or 10.6oz.) Mozzarella cheese, grated
Italian seasoning
garlic salt
ground black pepper

Cook pasta in boiling salt water for 7 minutes, drain well.

While pasta is cooking combine minced onion, minced garlic cloves and hamburger and brown until meat is completely cooked. Add Italian seasoning to taste while browning. Drain well.

In a large bowl combine can of chopped and peeled tomatoes, tomato paste and dessert cream (or ricotta, if you're lucky enough to have some). Add in meat mixture and stir well. Add Italian seasoning, garlic salt and ground black pepper to taste. Add in cooked pasta and stir until well-coated.

Spoon pasta and sauce mixture into a well-greased baking pan (I use a small, square bar pan that fits into a dutch oven). Top with grated Mozzarella until completely covered. Bake uncovered until bubbling and brown at the edges (approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour in a dutch oven on high heat or 30-45 minutes in a 350° oven).

Serves 3-4.

Lemon Pepper Tuna Noodle Stir-Fry
Special thanks to Nichol and Lizzie for this one!
1/3 500g (approx. 167g or 5.9oz.) bag of pasta – preferably macaroni or corkscrew
2-3 tbsp. oil
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bell pepper, sliced
1/3 500g bag (approx. 167g or 5.9oz.) fresh green beans, sliced
2 large carrots, peeled and sliced
3 tomatoes, sliced
1 can tuna, drained
lemon juice
garlic salt
ground black pepper

Boil pasta in salted water according to package directions. Drain well.

While pasta is cooking pour oil into small saucepan and add onion and garlic. Cover and let cook while slicing bell pepper. Add pepper, stir well and cover. Repeat with green beans and then carrots. Stir occasionally until vegetables are desired tenderness. Add more oil for cooking as needed.

Add pasta and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes on low heat. Add in 3 tbsp. lemon juice, tomatoes and tuna and stir constantly. Add garlic salt, ground black pepper and additional lemon juice to taste. Continue cooking on low heat, stirring constantly, until skins begin to peel off tomatoes.

Serves 2-3.

Thai Noodles
Adapted from "Where There Is No Chef," the Peace Corps Lesotho cookbook
250g (8.8 oz. or ½ pkg) cellophane noodles or spaghetti
2-3 tbsp. oil
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 hot chili pepper, minced OR ½ tsp dried crushed chili pepper
1 bell pepper, sliced
1/3 500g bag (approx. 167g or 5.9oz.) fresh green beans, sliced
2 large carrots, peeled and sliced
Any other veges as desired...broccoli is good if you can find it
½ cup peanut butter
½ cup lemon juice
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup soy sauce
ginger
cilantro
basil
garlic salt

Boil pasta in salted water according to package directions. Drain well.

While pasta is cooking pour oil into a small saucepan and add onion and garlic. Add minced chili or dried crushed chili pepper. Cover and let cook while slicing bell pepper. Add pepper, stir well and cover. Repeat with additional vegetables. Stir occasionally until vegetables are desired tenderness. Add more oil for cooking as needed.

In a medium saucepan combine peanut butter, lemon juice, sugar and soy sauce. Stir over low heat until all ingredients are well-mixed. Add in ginger to taste. Add in cooked vegetables and season with cilantro, basil and garlic salt to taste. Pour sauce and vegetables over cooked pasta and stir until well-coated.

Serves 2-3.

Thanks to Maseru internet...

2009-04-23T02:59:00.003-05:00

I've posted new photos to my Picasa account! Red hair and all. Just click on "Kelly's Photos From Lesotho" under Links to the left, then click on the album titled "January-May 2009."

'Attempt to kill' Lesotho leader

2009-04-23T02:50:00.004-05:00

'Attempt to kill' Lesotho leader
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/country_profiles/8013432.stm
BBC News
18:32 GMT, Wednesday, 22 April 2009

Lesotho's PM Bethuel Pakalitha Mosisili has survived unhurt an apparent assassination attempt in the capital Maseru, the government says.

Communications Minister Mothetjoa Metsing said several gunmen opened fire on the prime minister's house early on Wednesday morning.

He says Mr Mosisili's guards fired back, and some media reports say at least one of the attackers was killed.

The identities of the attackers were not immediately known.

Two gunmen were reportedly arrested and others are thought to have escaped.

Mr Mosisili became prime minister of the tiny country, which is surrounded by South Africa, in 1998. He was was re-elected in 2007.

Lesotho - a former British protectorate - has a history of coups and political unrest.

Seeing Red

2009-04-21T06:52:00.002-05:00

Easter weekend was a good opportunity to get out of Lesotho for a few days, relax and enjoy things like coffee, Italian food and shopping. It was also a good opportunity to make a change. I guess I was a little bored. Or perhaps I'm in the midst of a quarter life crisis. Either way, I decided to dye my hair red. Dark red. Rockstar red. It might go away when I come home for my visit, but for now, I'm enjoying the change. Redhead Kelly definitely has a bit more attitude than the blonde version. :)

Two of my projects have been keeping me busy as of late. The first is Speak Aloud, a one-day workshop put on in each district addressing issues of gender and development. I organized Mafeteng's workshop, held this past Saturday. Fourteen high school-aged youth attended the workshop, exceeding our attendance goal. Masoabi and Mary, two Basotho who I've worked with in the past at PSI/New Start and Kick4Life, facilitated the workshop. They led discussions on gender equality, rights and relationship dynamics in relation to Basotho culture. Feedback after the workshop was positive, and even though it was only one day, I hope we've given these youth something to think and talk about with their friends and families.

Plans are also wrapping up for the Mafeteng Handicraft Fair which will be held this coming Sunday. We have ten groups (HIV/AIDS support groups and school clubs) signed up to sell crafts ranging from wallets to jewelery to grass baskets. Others will be performing dramas, dances and singing. I'm still concerned attendance may be low as it has been difficult getting some members of the planning committee to complete tasks they were assigned. As a result, not many people are aware that the event is happening. We had our final planning meeting yesterday afternoon, and I hope that everyone pulls through in the end. If nothing else this is a good start and, best case scenario, the groups involved will see the potential and consider planning more events like this in the future.

Tomorrow I'll be heading to Maseru to attend the COS (Close of Service) banquet for the CHED (Community Health and Economic Development) Volunteers who arrived in Lesotho one year ahead of my group. It's sad, scary and surprising to realize the people who were our mentors when we arrived are going home. It's even more shocking to realize that I've been in Lesotho for almost a year now, that my service is almost half over. Time is really going much more quickly than I ever imagined it would.

No, I can't believe I just said that. Ask me just a couple of months ago and I would have told you this thing couldn't go fast enough. And on their own, some days still seem to drag on endlessly. It is true what “they” say, the first few months are the absolute hardest. I don't know if it's because I've gotten used to a new definition of “busy,” or because I finally have projects moving forward or because I'm going home to visit soon, but whatever it is, I'm glad for it. I think back to training, to those first few weeks in Lesotho, and in some ways it feels like a lifetime ago, that I was a totally different person. But then when I realize that new CHED Volunteers will be arriving in a little over a month, that WE will be the mentors and that in a little over a year this journey will be done and I'll be on my way back home...well, it's strange. My hope is that this new-found appreciation, acceptance and sense of limited time will help me squeeze every last drop of opportunity out of the rest of my service here in Lesotho.

Yet Another Update

2009-04-08T14:45:00.001-05:00

So, I haven't written a real blog post in awhile. There's no good reason; I suppose I've been waiting to have something to say. Strange, but it seems that the craziness of life in Lesotho has finally become the norm – I feel like I'm just living my life. Is that good or bad?

A brief, and I'll warn you, pretty boring re-cap of what I've been up to.

As I reported in an earlier post, the PEPFAR project I'm working on with my fellow PCV Ashley (the HIV/AIDS and Health Day event at her clinic) was approved for funding. Last Monday we had a workshop in Maseru to go over reporting procedures, and I was VERY pleased to learn the PEPFAR committee was so impressed by our application that they asked to use it as the sample grant given out to applicants. I was pretty proud of us for that one – it's nice to receive some recognition of a job well done.

The project has encountered a hick-up, though. We anticipated the grant funds would arrive in March giving us a little over a month to set-up everything by May. Well, the money is, as of today, not here and we now expect it to arrive mid-to-late April. As a result our event is getting moved back to September. I was looking forward to getting it done before going home and am frustrated it didn't work out, but the more I think about it, this might be for the best. It gives me something to come back for, something to throw myself into, hopefully lessening the pain of return from the States.

Plans also continue for the handicraft fair (where area HIV/AIDS support groups will be able to display and sell crafts they make) to be held at the end of April. I'm a little nervous about how this is going to work out as plans seem to be taking a long time, and a lot of pushing and effort on the part myself, Lena and Ashley, to get done. But I guess I should be used to that my now.
The hospital library is still moving along. We should receive the books from the States in May and already received a donation of medical books and Sesotho-language books from two different organizations in South Africa. The old hospital administrator, an amazing woman who really supported the project, was transferred to Quthing in January. I'm working with my library counterpart, Vikile, who will function as the librarian and 'M'e Mosele, the site manager at PSI Mafeteng, to get the new administrator up to speed before things really get going next month.

Last week I also did a bit of traveling in Lesotho. Seeing fellow PCVs at their sites really provides a new perspective on people. I have to admit, I love seeing everyone's unique system of organizing the maze of bucket-living! :)

After attending the PEPFAR workshop in Maseru, I journeyed to TY (a camptown just north of Maseru) to visit Andre, one of my fellow CHED '08 PCVs. It was really great to catch up with him, check out his site and see how he lives his life here. The next morning he took me to visit the weaving group he's working with and I ordered a weaving to bring home. It's not often you can order something like that, one-of-a-kind, handmade, specifically for you!

After TY it was on to Leribe, farther to the north. There I stayed with Trish, another PCV from my group who is also working with PSI. As an additional project she's been working with Help Lesotho, a Canadian NGO in her area. I was able to attend one of their youth HIV/AIDS clubs and learn more about the projects the are working on. We were also able to meet up with the Canadians at the hotel for dinner and drinks. Tara, another PCV from my training group who lives just across the field from Trish, had us over for dinner as well. It was great to see her – a two-for-one visit! I promise, we did do some work too. Trish and I drafted curriculum for the first in a series of mini-workshops we're presenting to PSI staff, hopefully in May.

I guess that about wraps it up for now! Until next time, salang hantle!

As Seen On TV

2009-03-29T03:31:00.002-05:00

Or, in my case, an old issue of Readers Digest. This is too amazing not to post. I just want to know, why didn't anyone tell me about the Wonder Washer before I came to Peace Corps?

The Blessing

2009-03-20T07:50:00.003-05:00

'M'e Mathakane (pronounced Maw-ti-kan-a) is an amazing woman I've had the pleasure of getting to know through my work at the hospital in Mafeteng. Her daughter, Blessing, was born HIV-negative because of Mathakane's adherance to a program designed to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

She now works with Mothers2Mothers, an organization which teaches HIV-positive women about the importance of adhering to treatment, how to deal with stigma and how to adopt good breastfeeding practices.

Check out a short YouTube video of Mathakane's story by clicking here.

Want to see me?

2009-03-19T07:45:00.004-05:00

Well, now you can...sort of. I've uploaded pictures from vacation! Just click on "Kelly's Photos From Lesotho" under "Links" to the left. The vacation pictures are in the album titled "Kelly and Jenny's African Adventure."

Also, I've added photos of delivering playground equipment to the "January-May 2009" album.

March Madness

2009-03-19T05:24:00.000-05:00

3-18-09
I apologize for my recent lack of correspondence. As I mentioned in my previous post, part of the problem has been a lack of activity. The bigger problem, though, has been a lack of internet service. My modem has been down for almost two weeks now. Each day I am promised it will be fixed in a few hours, but predictably, it still isn't done. Additionally, PSI's internet service has also been down (an unrelated issue). I try to remind myself that it is a blessing that I have internet access at all. Patience, patience, patience.

So, what exactly have I been up to the past few weeks? You mean besides watching entire seasons of Grey's Anatomy, Flight of the Concords and Star Trek, several movies, reading and cooking (and, the bigger problem, eating all that stuff I cook)? Well...

Two weeks ago my PSI/New Start counterpart, Keletso, and I held our first meeting with our HIV/AIDS support group. As you may remember from previous posts, PSI has funded a project for each New Start site to select two active, already-existing groups to work with on developing psycho-social support skills (emotional and psychological support; most support groups here focus solely on income generation). Keletso did a wonderful job of leading the session and, though it was in Sesotho so I couldn't understand exactly what everyone was saying, the members were actively participating and contributing. That's a big victory. We will be meeting with the group each Wednesday for the next six months, with the exception of the past two weeks as a national holiday fell on Wednesday last week and Keletso is gone at a workshop this week. When she returns on Monday I'm going to work with her to bring our three Educators (New Start employees who do HIV/AIDS education, Q&A sessions and condom demos at outreaches) up to speed so that when she is gone in the future, they can take over and we don't have to cancel the meetings. Keletso and I are also continuing the search for another active group in Mafeteng that would be interested in participating in this project with us.

Almost every day for the last few weeks, I've stopped by Kingsgate High School to talk to the principal about teaching Life Skills classes (a subject “required” by the Ministry of Education that isn't being taught in most schools in Lesotho because of a lack of staff and enforcement). I've been talking to her about this since November. Each time I stopped by she would promise that she'd call me later that afternoon or the next morning, once she had a chance to talk to the students, to let me know what day I could start. She even gave me class lists. But, no call, just excuses. At this point I've given up. In Basotho culture it is considered rude to outright refuse something or to tell someone no. To get around that, the tendency here is to accept project ideas, tell you they want to work on them, but just never do it and/or avoid you. I've done everything I can and, if the principal isn't interested, I can't force it. It's very frustrating to waste time and effort planning something that, if you'd just known from the beginning wasn't wanted, you would've avoided.

Some of my time has been occupied trying to wrap-up the playground project that I took over for Nichol, a fellow PCV who finished her service in Mafeteng in November. The playground equipment arrived at the end of January, but the four ECCD schools (comparable to pre-schools in the States) that received it weren't prepared to install it. Everything came pre-assembled, but the schools needed to stake or cement everything into the ground to make sure it doesn't tip when the children play on on it. When I delivered everything, some of the teachers were asking me for funds to pay for the cement. Since I didn't write the grant and there was no money left to give (I wasn't supposed to handle the money, just ensure everything got delivered and installed), I was left in a precarious position. Just before leaving on vacation with Jenny I met with Clement, the Associate Peace Corps Director for Education Volunteers, to let him know the situation. While I was gone he contacted Nichol's former counterpart, Blossom, and she remedied the situation. I suspect she had the schools come up with the materials on their own, but whatever the case, three of the four playgrounds are now finished. However, getting photographs of the finished project has been predictably difficult.

Blossom and I have had a hard time connecting, setting dates and times to meet and go to the schools that she then cancels or doesn't show up for. Last Friday morning we did go to the school in Thabana Morena, the farthest one from town, and were able to take a few pictures. On Monday we were to visit the other two playgrounds, but when I arrived at her office at the appointed time, Blossom wasn't there. I texted her to find out where she was, and after asking me to call her (people here never seem to have airtime and always ask me to call them, the assumption being that I have more money, and therefore airtime, than them), she said I should go to one on my own and she'd contact me about when we could visit the other. I went to Ha Ramohape, the village where Nichol lived, and got some good pictures of the children there enjoying the equipment. I have yet to hear back about visiting the third school or get an update about when the fourth and final playground will be finished.

Mafeteng district will host Speak Aloud, a day-long workshop for high school students focusing on gender and development, on April 18. Since I have plenty of free time and am interested in the topic, I volunteered to organize the event. It has been pretty painless. Masoabi, an incredibly dedicated and impressive person, co-facilitated the workshop last year and has agreed to do so again. Last week I met with Mary, a counseling intern at New Start in Mafeteng who also agreed to facilitate this year, and him. We discussed some broad topics to be addressed (our main focus will be gender roles in relationships), and I've asked them to develop the outline for the workshop their own as they know much more about the challenges and issues facing Basotho youth than I do. We will be meeting again at the beginning of April to go over the final curriculum for the day and draft a pre- and post-test for participants. I've asked each of Mafeteng's PCVs to select one male and one female high schooler from their area to bring to the workshop and have secured a location and catering for the day. For once, something seems to be going smoothly.

Yesterday, finally, I was able to collect the Sesotho-language books for the hospital library! Biblionef, an NGO located in South Africa, donated the books which arrived at the Mafeteng Post Office at the end of December. In order to collect them, the hospital had to pay R57 in postage fees. A new hospital administrator started work in January and though the old administrator briefed her about the project and let her know she needed to give us the money to get the books from the post office, it proved to be an incredible undertaking. Several times a week I'd meet with my library counterpart, Vikile, and ask her if she'd received the funds so we could collect the books. Each time she'd say no. We'd find the administrator, ask her about it, and she'd tell us she'd get back to us, which she wouldn't. Repeat ad nausium. Late last week I finally figured out that either the administrator or the accounting department had lost the postage slip and that was why we weren't able to get the money. On Monday I went to the post office, obtained a copy of the slip and yesterday received the funds from the administrator. Since Vikile is on vacation until the end of the month, I collected the books myself and will be logging and sorting them today. When Vikile returns we will be setting up a meeting of the library committee (the hospital administrator, the district medical officer, 'M'e Mosele from PSI/New Start, Vikile and me) to go over the library action plan (discussing what each persons' on-going role in the library is) and issues of library placement, staffing and use. Hopefully this will get us prepared for the arrival of the books, donated by IKM-Manning School and my friends and family back home, in May.

Speaking of those donations, I want to send a HUGE thank you to everyone who donated books, money and/or time to the project. I am blown away. At final count, more than 1,000 books and close to $1,000 (which covered the cost of shipping books to Lesotho) were raised. I've tried to put my gratitude into words but am unable to do so. I just feel blessed and grateful. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I hope that someday I am able to pay back the generosity you all have shown. And to my mom, I can't thank you enough for all the time and effort you spent making the book drive such a success. I couldn't have done it or any of this – couldn't have found the strength to keep going on this journey – without your support.

Another project I've been working on is a joint-venture with Lena, a German student doing research in Mafeteng, and her co-workers at Mothers2Mothers, an organization that educates HIV-positive pregnant women on how to prevent transmission of the virus to their children. Lena had the idea to hold a handicraft fair in Mafeteng, giving HIV/AIDS support groups in the area a forum to meet, exchange ideas and sell the craft items they produce as a source of income generation. We're still trying to get the logistics set, but it looks like we'll be holding the fair the last Sunday in April. We anticipate great interest among support groups and will be inviting members of the Ministries, ex-pat community and tourism industry to attend.

That's about all for work. Wow, when I write it all out, it sounds like I'm actually doing a lot. :) But don't worry, I still am making time for fun.

On Saturday I went with Yan and Anita (a couple who work with the German volunteer organization DED and moved to Mafeteng at the beginning of March), Lena and Ariam (a German medical student who is interning at the Mafeteng Government Hospital for five weeks) to Clarens, South Africa. The original plan was to go to Rustlers Valley, a South African hippie haven, but when we arrived we found out that the backpackers (hostel) was closed and the only accommodation available was at a rather pricey lodge. We continued on to Clarens, a little town that is home to several art galleries and curio shops. It reminded me a great deal of ski towns in Colorado, just with much smaller mountains and, well, no skiing. Though a little yuppie, it was nice to have a good coffee, an Italian dinner and a fun evening relaxing with friends. Before heading back to Mafeteng on Sunday we stopped at a game reserve north of Ladybrand and took a walk around. We saw plenty of zebra but didn't spot any of the reserve's giraffe.

And now for a couple un-related news items. Fall has come to Mafeteng. For the first time since August, I woke up this morning and put on a sweatshirt. Just Monday I was wearing a tank top and shorts. I still haven't gotten used to the dramatic temperature and weather changes here. I guess soon I'll be breaking out my sleeping bag and thermals. All summer I was wishing the cooler weather would return, but now that I can feel it coming, I'm beginning to regret it!

Last, but certainly not least, I'm coming home! Not permanently, of course, but for a visit. And yes, I'm counting down the days. I'm flying from Jo'burg to Dallas via London, arriving June 18 (exactly three months from today. Told you I was counting!) and departing July 11. I'll be in Iowa for most of the trip but will spend a few days at the beginning and end in Texas. As the time gets closer I'll have more specifics, but if you will be around Dallas, Manning or Des Moines during any of that time and want to meet up, let me know. I will, of course, be at the Ferneding Family Reunion this year and know I will see many of you there.

That's it for now. Thank goodness because I'm sure many of you are tired of reading. Hopefully the internet situation will be fixed soon and I can return to more frequent, and less lengthy, posts. Until then, salang hantle!

Top 10 Favorite Things About Lesotho

2009-03-19T05:19:00.000-05:00

3-11-09
I have today off for Moshoehoe's (pronounced Mow-shway-shway) Day, the Lesotho national holiday honoring the country's first king. Not that it really means much of anything different from my regular days here, except that I can go to South Africa today without taking any vacation time. It's the middle of a particularly uneventful week, and honestly there isn't much for me to blog about. I decided to relieve some boredom by making a top ten list. And since I'm trying really, really hard to be positive these days, I decided to make a list of my ten favorite things about Lesotho. So, here we go.

10. Children – Ok, I really have to be in the mood for this one. Most days the children would be listed on my top ten least favorite things about Lesotho. But, every once in awhile, they're nice to have around. Talking to children allows me to practice my pitiful Sesotho without fear of being laughed at. The children will eagerly carry heavy bags, fetch water and listen to stories. And every once in awhile, they're just cute.

Earlier this week I was walking home from buying groceries, and a group of children, maybe 5 or 6 years old, were playing on the side of the road. They started off with the typical, “Good morning! Good morning! Hello! Hi! Hi! Hi!” I replied with a greeting in Sesotho, which usually makes young children stop yelling because they are confused by a foreigner speaking Sesotho. A couple of children, however, were just encouraged. “Be my friend! I want you to be my friend!” I usually ignore this, because “be my friend” generally means “give me money and candy.” But this day, I simply said, “Sure. We're friends.” I continued down the road to a background chorus of “Hooray!” I couldn't help but laugh out loud. Very rare, but good stuff none the less.

9. Plates – Basotho food is generally bland, starch-heavy and doesn't include much variety. The “plate,” the typical Basotho meal, consists of beef stew or chicken (usually fried); moroho (greens finely chopped and cooked with a lot of oil and MSG); papa (corn meal and water cooked until stiff), samp (a type of corn dish), rice or bread; and salads (beet salad, pumpkin, which is like sweet potato, and/or cooked veges).

When I arrived in Lesotho, during the first week of community-based training (CBT), we were required to eat with our host families. I liked the steamed bread and learned to make my own version of moroho (minus MSG, cooked in a minimal amount of oil, chopped into larger pieces with the addition of carrots, onion and other available veges), but beyond that, I never thought I'd learn to enjoy Basotho cuisine. I was wrong. I find myself actually craving a plate some days. I've gotten used to papa, really like samp and buy steamed bread from the bo-'M'e outside the hospital. While many of the ingredients used in Basotho dishes are available in the States, I know that I'll never be able to re-create it exactly, so I'm making sure I get my fill while I'm here.

8. Kombi rides – Like many things on this list, kombi rides would probably also be included on the top ten list of things I least enjoy about Lesotho. They are cramped, can take hours to fill (the kombi has to be full before it will depart) and usually leave me drenched in sweat (Basotho refuse to open the windows because some here believe that being exposed to the breeze causes tuberculosis. And, of course, there's no air conditioning) with ears ringing from the blaring Basotho accordion music.

But kombi rides are also some of my favorite times here. There are rare moments when it hits me, when I think, “Wow, I'm here, living in Africa. I'm doing this.” And those moments usually occur on the kombis. I don't know what it is, maybe something about being up-close and personal with Basotho, their music playing, their language being shouted, their countryside passing by the window. But whatever the reason, I appreciate those moments of clarity, those moments of appreciation, those moments where I feel accomplished, in a deeply personal way.

7. Fresh fruit and veges – I didn't eat nearly enough fruits and vegetables in the States. And when I did, they usually came frozen, canned or as part of a larger dish ordered at a restaurant. I had no idea what I was missing out on! Almost all the fruits and vegetables here are grown locally and, though only available seasonally, have incredible flavor. In the summer, fresh peaches, mangoes, guavas and plumbs are available at every street stand. Almost every dish I cook here includes fresh vegetables (onions, tomatoes, green beans, carrots, peppers, squash, greens) from my 'M'e's, or a local person's, garden. The frozen and canned stuff is actually more expensive. I know this new appreciation of fresh fruit and vegetables will be something that stays with me long after I've left Lesotho.

6. Mountains and Thunderstorms – I don't get to see them as often as I'd like, but the mountains here are amazingly beautiful. I am stunned each time I get the chance to visit the highlands or places like Malealea Lodge. I often forget I live in a really unique, gorgeous country. Visiting the mountains brings me back from the cynicism, provides peace, helps me forget, for awhile, the things that I struggle with every day.

The thunderstorms are also incredible. They roll in quickly, thick, dark clouds rushing over the mountains in the distance. Thunder rumbles, racing towards town. Everything is completely still. And then, in an instant, the wind rushes in and the rain pours down. Lightening appears in brilliant flashes across the sky. And then, as quickly as it arrived, the storms moves on and the clear, blue sky returns.

5. Free time – Yet another good and bad thing about my life here. To be quite honest, I'm bored a lot, and I hate it. I'm the type of person who'd rather be working 80 hours a week, getting no sleep, having no time off, than be bored. But here I've had to make the curse into a blessing.

I've had to get creative, try to find new interests, been forced out of my comfort zone. While I do waste plenty of time watching movies or episodes of t.v. series' (and am infinitely grateful for my laptop!), I've also been able to do things that I just never seemed to have time for back home. I am able to spend hours each day reading. I have time to hand-write letters and notes to friends and family. I've visited almost every shop in town, talked to people that I otherwise would've ignored, become friends with people who I never would've otherwise met. I have time to devote to studying for the GRE (guess that means I better do well), to travel, to pondering life. I'm doing my best to use this time to “stop and smell the roses.” Perhaps in the end this will also provide me with a better balance, an appreciation of both having important things to do and also slowing down enough to enjoy them.

4. Wine – South African wine is really good...and cheap! The SA wine that is imported to the States, at least the stuff I had before coming here, was not so good. But for R26 ($2.60 U.S.) I can get a bottle, here in Mafeteng, that is as good or better than decent U.S. wines. And in South Africa you can get a pretty high quality wine for just over R50. The trip to Stellenbosch helped too, giving me an idea of good wineries and introducing me to Pinotage, a variety made only in South Africa. I have a feeling I'll be importing some bottles of my own when I come home.

3. Germans – Outside of other PCVs, my closest friends and social circle consists of German volunteers and students. The ex-pat community in Mafeteng is just them and me, and I'm infinitely glad to have them around. We all experience the same challenges, frustrations and successes. Having people close by who can understand what I'm going thorough really makes a difference. And every single German I've met in Lesotho has been really cool. :) Maybe I should forget about learning Sesotho and try German?

2. Travel – This isn't so much a great thing about living in Lesotho, but it is one of my favorite parts of being in the PC. I love to travel and want to experience as much of the world as possible. PC is allowing me to not only experience Lesotho on a much deeper level than most people will ever experience a foreign culture but also spend significant time in southern Africa. The “expensive” part of traveling here is the plane ticket. And since the PC took care of that part, I intend to continue to make the most of it!

1. Mail from home – Again, not really about Lesotho, but certainly my favorite part of my life here. Letters, packages, cards - whatever the form, mail lifts my spirits and makes my day. I've enjoyed interacting with people in my life, some of whom I've known literally forever and some who have just come around in the last few years, through a medium that isn't used very often anymore. It seems that both they and I are a little more candid that normal, more willing to say how we really think and feel. There are people in my life whom I've come to know in a totally different way just because of this experience. That's something that I will value for the rest of my life, and a blessing that would've never occurred were I not to have come here. Easily, that deserves the number one spot.

Kelly and Jenny’s African Adventure: Part 3 – Beaches and Kombis and Kruger, Oh My!

2009-03-05T09:40:00.005-06:00

Jenny and I encountered surprisingly few problems at the Mozambique border. Despite rumors that visas were no longer being issued there, we got ours pretty quickly (something like 30 minutes). The heat, however, made it seem like an eternity. I'm not sure I've ever sweat quite that much before. My shirt was soaked through; beads of perspiration dripped into my eyes, smearing my glasses and making it hard to see; I had to take the money belt off my waist to keep the cash in it from getting completely ruined. And we were just standing around. In the shade.

After receiving our visas, Jenny and I marched out into the dreadful sun and looked for a kombi to take us into Maputo. We quickly found a taxi willing to take us into town for a fair price. The driver spoke decent English and there were a couple of other passengers on board. The only thing out of the ordinary was that it was half-filled with shop supplies: boxes of detergent, frozen chicken, canned goods, bags of potato chips. We hopped in the front, Jenny getting stuck riding on the middle counsel and, after the driver finally got his paperwork straightened out with customs (patience!), we were on our way towards Maputo. This was not to be a quick ride, however. We were stopped by police twice on the way to the capital, each stop resulting in the following scenario:

Kombi driver gets out, shoots the shit with the officers for several minutes. Officers approach the kombi and ask Jenny and I our names, where we're from, where we're going in Mozambique. Jenny and I oblige (though sometimes give our Sesotho names because it's fun to see the reaction). Officers ask us for our phone number. Jenny and I say we don't have a phone. Officers persist. I explain that I'm a Peace Corps Volunteer, I "don't have any money for a phone." Officers do not understand what Peace Corps is but do get the Volunteer concept. Officers ask us to take them to America (or for something of the sort). Jenny and I laugh politely. A good fifteen minutes after initially stopping, the police allow us to continue on.

Though the ride to Maputo took at least twice as long as it should have, we could finally see the city on the horizon. The taxi driver promised to drop us off at the bus station after he unloaded one of his passengers and some of the cargo. We turned off the main highway and began winding down dirt roads, red dust flying up behind us. It was obvious we weren't in a good part of town, but being the middle of the day, I wasn't too concerned as long as we could stay inside the vehicle. I asked again where we were going and he informed us that, after making his deliveries, he'd drop us off at "the market" where we could catch a taxi to our backpackers.

"What about the bus station? That's where we need to go."
"You can get a taxi to where you are staying at the market. No problem."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. You can get a taxi at the market. They will take you the rest of the way there."

We pulled up in front of a shack/house and, slowly, one of the women on the taxi began reconstructing cardboard boxes and filling them, one bar of soap or box of detergent at a time, before passing them to a waiting child to cart off around the corner.

Jenny and I discussed our options. This could take hours. We still had plenty of daylight left but wanted to get to our backpackers, hit up an ATM and grab dinner with time to spare. When the driver returned I told him we were meeting someone and needed to be dropped off next. Not now, now now.

Side note – I think I might have explained this before, but just in case... The word "now" means something very different here than it does back in the States. Now means, "Oh maybe I'll get to that sometime this week, if I feel like it and if you're really, really, really nice to me." Now now means "now" in the western sense. Well, the closest I can ever hope for, anyway.

We drove up and down more narrow, red dirt roads, stopping at yet another shop to unload some of the frozen chicken.

"Now now Ntate?"
"Now now, I promise. Just after this stop."

Eventually we pulled into the market, which consisted of a clearing in front of a decrepit high-rise building crammed with kombis and people. The driver told us this was our stop and that his friend (one of the other guys on the taxi with us) with us to make sure we got on the correct taxi to our backpackers. He even gave us a few metical (Mozambique's currency) to pay our fare since we only had rand on us. Then he disappeared.

So there stood Jenny, bright orange Iggy, the driver's friend and me, in the middle of a throng of Portuguese-speaking taxi drivers (though they all knew enough English to tell us they could take us to our backpackers and we should ride in their taxi) pulling us in every direction. Jenny gripped Iggy tighter and I tried to create a plan from the chaos. The driver's friend was of no assistance, inciting a fist fight among two taxi drivers almost immediately. I yelled (in English...ha...) at the drivers to back off, stop touching us and to let go of Jenny's suitcase. Not that it scared any of them, but I've found that men here are not used to assertive women and, at the very least, freaking out a little catches them off guard. Though I'm sure they understood very little of what I was yelling, they backed off enough for us to get a hold of Iggy and began dragging it towards a guarded parking lot across the street.

As we made our way to the street, I spotted a police officer on a motorcycle and waved him down. I tried to explain our situation and showed him the address of where we needed to go. Though he didn't speak English, nothing was lost in translation. Two female foreigners surrounded by a restless crowd of taxi drivers requires very little explanation. He began speaking with the drivers while they (presumably) argued with him about which one of them could bring us to our backpackers.

Just then, our saving grace appeared. The man who owned the parking lot across the street came over to Jenny and asked us to come with him. Anything to escape the madness. The police officer followed and, after much discussion, debate and yelling (at the taxi driver's friend, presumably for dropping us off in such a bad area), the man had one of his employees drive us to our backpackers, free of charge. We tried to offer him all the metical we had on us (a pitifully small sum) but he refused. Escorted by the police officer, we received a private ride right to our door. Something I love about Africa: even in the most desperate situations, people's capacity for caring never ceases to amaze me.

After checking in, figuring out where the nearest ATM and food shops were, Jenny and I scrambled out to get supplies before taking much needed showers. Too bad we started sweating again the second we stepped out of them. We reserved our spots on the 5:30 a.m. shuttle to Tofo and, after a great dinner of curry prawns and a few drinks, turned in for the night.

When considered in the context of African public transport, the shuttle to Tofo could have been a lot worse. The minibus picked us up right at the backpackers, and since our group was the first on, we were able to pick seats by the windows. Our luggage was stowed (Iggy had to be strapped to the back of a seat) and we headed to the taxi rank where the minibus picked up local passengers. As we waited for the shuttle to fill.

An hour and a half later, we were on our way to the beach. Cement buildings painted with blue, yellow and red advertisements streaked by as we sped through village after village. Every time we stopped to let a passenger off, people selling everything from soda to cashews to honey to kabobs pressed into the windows of the bus. Each stop supplied us with a new collection of goodies, many of which we'd never seen before. The conductor (the man who lets people on and off the taxi and collects money) was kind enough to explain to us what many of the unfamiliar items were used for.

Mid-afternoon we finally arrived at our oasis. Sand at our doorstep, ocean wave crashes audible from our beds. A couple of men from the bus kindly lugged Iggy to our room and, after checking in to Fatima's (our backpackers), Jenny and I headed to the market to pick up drinks, snacks and bargain on sarongs and souvenirs. Sweaty and tired of being harassed by boys selling shirts, pants and necklaces, we changed into swim suits and took a dip into the ocean. Salt stinging my lips, the warm Indian Ocean water was just the thing I'd been waiting for.

Jenny and I took our beach time easy, lounging and playing fetch with a local dog on the beach. Hans, a guy from the Netherlands who lives in Jo'burg and who we'd met on the shuttle, invited us to join a group for dinner at the place he was staying.

Around 7 p.m., bottle of cheap rum in-hand, Jenny and I strolled down the beach and met Hans at the market. Once at his place, we met Nick, a Brit working at Tofo Scuba. After an AMAZING dinner of grilled prawns and chicken, rice, salad and potato pancake-type things, we headed to Fatima's for drinks. Jenny regaled Nick with tales of her SLR camera and chased crabs across the sand (which Hans did a mighty good impersonation of) until we were all too tired to keep going...or the bar closed. Not sure which, but I'm guessing the latter.

We also had the opportunity to take in a snorkeling excursion at Tofo Scuba. After signing wavers and being fitted for fins, we piled into a jeep and headed to the boat launching area. On the beach, a marine biologist explained to us what we'd be looking for during the excursion (whale sharks...huge, but they eat plankton) and the procedure for boat launch, getting into the water and returning the the beach. We pushed the boat into the waves, jumped on and began speeding over giant crests in the open ocean.

For those of you who don't know, I get terribly motion sick. Planes, trains, cars, boats, doesn't really matter. I should have known better. But how could I pass up an opportunity to snorkel in Mozambique with a whale shark? At least I wasn't the first or, by any means, the only person to get sick. The waves were wicked; the marine biologist actually fell off the boat! Of course it was at this point that Jenny looked at me and said, "You know, in the States, there's no way in hell we'd be out here like this without life jackets." I hung on tighter.

After what seemed like an eternity, the guides spotted a whale shark and into the water we jumped. I swam in the general direction the guide was pointing, sticking my face into the blue, seeing nothing. I checked again to be sure I was looking in the right place and, validated, looked once more. There it was. A giant, smiling mouth, bigger than me, straight ahead. I've never been in the water with such an enormous animal before and got the heck out of its way as quickly as possible. After it swam slowly past me and out of view, I took my face out of the water and noticed Jenny hanging on to the side of the boat, looking ill. At this point, being in the water had not made the motion sickness any better and I decided to check on her and get in the boat. At least there I could feel sick without the added stress of swimming.

The rest of the ride seemed to last forever. I'd guess a good third of the people on the boat got sick. Finally, everyone piled back in and, having no luck spotting another whale shark, we beached the boat and were free to go. Apparently sea sickness is something people just get used to...though not without a lot of pain.

Too few hours later, at 4 a.m., Jenny and I climbed on to the shuttle back to Maputo. The shuttle arrived around 1 p.m. and after fishing Iggy's spare key out of my pack, Jenny and I took a metered cab to the rank and boarded a kombi to Nelspruit. It wasn't filling and, after several hours of waiting (and arguing with men about the metical to rand exchange rate) we finally departed with just six other passengers.

This kombi ride was legit, and much faster than our trip in, but still ended up arriving in Nelspruit long after dark. We called our backpackers to get the number of a metered taxi and, on the advice of the owner, went to the police station to be picked up there. It was nearly 9 p.m. by the time we reached the backpackers and, of course, there weren't many options for food. There were no nearby restaurants and both the pizza place and metered cab company weren't answering the phone. Though obviously unhappy about it, the owner of the backpackers said he would make us something. "Something" turned out to be a full meal of cooked veges, steak, beets, salad and chocolate cake. Though he did it grudgingly, we are forever in his debt. We went to bed exhausted, but at least with stomachs full.

We left the backpackers at 4:15 a.m. to ensure we were at the gate to Kruger when it opened at 5:30 a.m. Mission accomplished; we were even a little early. That being said, our safari had a very slow start. We drove (un-caffeinated...bad idea!) for a good hour or two without seeing a single animal. Then, finally, we came upon an elephant standing next to the road, seemingly oblivious to the cars stopping to snap photos. The rest of the day was slightly more exciting with many more elephant sightings, what seemed like thousands of impala, several herds of zebra and a few giraffe, monkeys and buffalo. I managed to spot one hippo, far in the distance, and Jenny thought she saw a cheetah or leopard. Unfortunately, our excursion didn't include any rhino or lion, but all in all, it wasn't bad for one days' work.

Possibly the most productive part of the day was Jenny's driving tutorial. As I mentioned earlier, I don't know how to drive a stick shift. We decided Kruger was a great training ground (little traffic, relatively flat roads, slow speed limit) and I took the wheel. I stalled more times that I care to admit and peeled out almost as much, but it was a good primer. Hopefully my new skills will get some practice again soon!

Jenny and I celebrated (or lamented) her last night in Africa with dinner at an Irish pub (yeah, random, I know) and a bottle of champagne we'd purchased in Stellenbosch.

And, before I knew it, it was over. After shifting items in and out of Iggy several times, Jenny's luggage was allowed on the plane (though still slightly over the weight limit). We said our goodbyes and she disappeared behind the check-in desks, on her way home.

It's always hard to say goodbye to a friend and, I've found, even harder here. But I know I'll see her again soon. Maybe it was that, maybe it was knowing I had work to come back to, maybe it was that I hadn't left Africa, but this return to Lesotho was much less painful that the last. But that doesn't mean my time spent with Jenny over our crazy vacation meant any less. She's the first person from my "real life" to come here, see where I'm living, what I'm doing, experience my life as it is now. That's something that means so much to me. But I guess it also helped me realize that my life as it is now is pretty real too.

Kelly and Jenny’s African Adventure: Part 2 - Lesotho or Life on the Left Side of the Road

2009-03-03T04:46:00.002-06:00

After a few days in Cape Town, it was time for Jenny to see a different side of Africa, a side that I live.

After a short flight to Bloemfontein (thank goodness for Mango Air’s cheap flights) we picked up our rental car and prepared to head to Lesotho. Most cars here have manual transmissions, and since I don’t know how to drive a stick shift, Jenny got to experience driving on the left side of the road. I think she did a pretty amazing job, considering how nervous we both were about the situation. Actually, driving on the left was not the most difficult part. Our little VW Chico had no power steering under about 5km/hr, reverse was very tricky to find (but could also be found on accident!) and the blind spots were hard to adjust to. Add to that scores of people walking in the road, kombis passing on curves and people erratically slamming on their brakes, and you can begin to imagine the type of situation we were in.

We made it to the mall where we picked up some groceries and grabbed lunch before leaving town. While still in Cape Town, Jenny realized she’d made a bit of an oversight when packing and knew there was no way she’d be able to fit her growing number of possessions into the one checked bag she’d brought. After visiting a luggage store, she settled on “Iggy,” a giant, florescent orange suitcase that, honestly, she could’ve fit into. I should have known better, really. I should have told her it wasn’t a good idea. But at that point we still thought we’d be in rental cars, not public transport, for almost all of the rest of our trip. So it shouldn’t have been a problem. Yet another lesson learned. Iggy certainly has a personality all his own and made his presence known.

Our shopping excursion provided some much-needed relaxation and we were ready to drive to Lesotho. Jenny did a great job navigating South African highways and we arrived in Mafeteng just before dark. We parked the car in my compound, I introduced Jenny to my ‘M’e, hauled water and started dinner. I whipped up one of my favorites, Thai noodles (that’s right, I’m cooking Thai food in Lesotho) while we calmed our nerves with some wine and episodes of “Flight of the Concords.” Thanks to Jenny (and Will for burning them) for bringing me some new shows and movies!

The next day I took Jenny on a full walking tour (the only way to get a real idea of my day-to-day life) of Mafeteng. We started off at PSI/New Start where I introduced her to my counterpart Keletso and my supervisor ‘M’e Mosele. From there we visited the hospital and my library counterpart, Vikhile. We also stopped by Kingsgate High School, where I will hopefully be teaching life skills classes. Before doing some shopping in the taxi rank to get Jenny a Basotho blanket, we sampled makoneya (a traditional Basotho food; basically fried dough balls) and visited the Chinese food shop and Shoprite. For lunch, I took Jenny for a “plate,” a traditional Basotho meal of chicken or beef; papa (corn meal and water cooked until stiff), rice or samp (corn); beets; and carrot salad with ginger drink.

Despite rain off and on, we decided to try to drive up to Malealea Lodge during Jenny’s time in Lesotho. We made it, thank goodness, despite the poor condition of the road. It was nice to show Jenny the beautiful part of Lesotho, the part of life here that I don’t see very often but reminds me that this can be a great place to live. We spent time enjoying the scenery and took a pony trek with beautiful views of the mountains. Our guide spoke very good English and did a great job of pointing out the sites and villages during out tour.

Before we knew it, it was time to head to our next destination: Mozambique. But in typical Lesotho fashion, all did not go smoothly. Ever since my phone got wet earlier on in our trip, the battery had been losing charge quickly. My electricity went out for no apparent reason (usually it just goes out during storms or load shedding) leaving me with no phone and no way to charge our camera or MP3 player batteries.

We woke up very early, loaded up the car (Iggy and all) and began our long journey to Maputo, Mozambique. After experiencing driving in South Africa, we abandoned our original plan of renting a car in Nelspruit and driving to Maputo in favor of taking public transport. Brave souls, we are. At our final destination before the border, we unloaded Iggy, trudged through the gravel and up the road towards the taxi rank, visions of Mozambique beaches in our heads.

And that’s where I’ll leave you for today. Look for the exciting conclusion to Kelly and Jenny’s African Adventure: Part 3 – Beaches and Kombis and Kruger, Oh My!

Kelly and Jenny’s African Adventure: Part 1 - Cape Town, etc.

2009-03-02T08:24:00.004-06:00

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted and I have to warn you, this is going to be a long one. Apologies, my loyal readers. To make it a bit easier on you, I’ve decided to detail my last few weeks in three parts. My own little trilogy.

So what exactly have I been up to? My longtime friend, “big sister” and travel companion, Jenny, came to visit for two weeks. We packed in as much of southern Africa as possible…probably a little more than is actually possible. But what’s a Kelly-Jenny trip without too much to do and not enough time to do it? :)

Jenny and I met in Cape Town and it was immediately apparent to her that I’m not around people very often. At least not people I can really talk to or who understand me. I didn’t notice, but she pointed out that I was talking a mile a minute. We took a shuttle from the airport to our backpackers (hostel), unloaded our luggage and got ready to go out for the evening. I have to admit, I’m not used to being outside after dusk and our first night in Cape Town, a very European-esque city, took a bit of adjusting. We had an amazing dinner (Italian!) and stayed out until 4 a.m. catching up and grabbing drinks.

Our first tourist stop? We headed down to the Waterfront, a complex of shops, local crafts and restaurants right on the oceanfront. After much searching and debate, Jenny purchased a wedding ring. Sorry to Will, Jenny’s fiancé, that he had to miss it, but I have to admit she picked out a very beautiful and unique one (hers was the first of that design to ever be made). Plus, we both got to drink free wine while she did all the paperwork. But, while it was fun looking at all the South African diamonds, I think I’ve had my fill of ring shopping for quite some time.

Up next was a tour of the Cape Peninsula. The first stop was Hout Bay where we took a ferry out to see a colony of seals. The bus then wound its way down the peninsula to Boulders Beach, home to African penguins. There were hundreds of them, black dots in the white sand in every direction. The wind was very gusty, blowing the sand so hard it hurt, but it was an amazing site none the less. After plenty of time for photos of the penguins, we continued into the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve where we had a picnic lunch before getting on bicycles and pedaling the rest of the way to the Cape of Good Hope. The scenery was amazing, clear blue waves crashing on white sandy beaches. As we neared the cape, a group of baboons crossed right in front of our bikes. We were warned that they like to steal anything not tied down, and it was a bit disconcerting having one just a couple feet in front of me, eying my camera. Of course, that didn’t stop me from taking pictures. We finished the ride at the Cape of Good Hope and took lots of pictures (hair being whipped in every direction by the ferocious wind) before hiking up to Cape Point.

The weather was more perfect than we could have hoped for. The skies were clear and the wind calm. We were privy to rare and amazing views of Cape Town, Robben Island (the island has served as a place of banishment since the 17th century but is most well-known as the prison where Nelson Mandela was held for 27 years) and parts of the Cape Peninsula from the top of Table Mountain.

We then headed to the aptly-named Stumble Inn in Stellenbosch, where we took part in a four-vineyard wine tour. We started off at the Simonsig Wine Farm where we took a cellar tour and learned about pinotage, a wine exclusive to South Africa. We received a short tutorial on wine tasting and, before starting in on our samples, our Simonsig guide gave us a traditional welcome by opening a bottle of South African champagne with a sword. The next stop was Fairview Wine Estate where we were able to sample several different cheeses along with our wine. For lunch we stopped at Franschhoek where I had bobotie, a traditional Cape Town dish of curry-flavored beef with dried fruit, banana and coconut served on rice. We finished up the tour with more samples at Dieu Donn and Boschendal Wine Estate, one of the cape’s oldest wineries. Jenny and I closed out our trip to Cape Town with a bit of a splurge on dinner at the Spier winery’s Moyo restaurant, modeled after a bedouin tribal camp. Our table was set on a wooden platform amongst the trees (almost like a tree house) and our faces were painted with African designs. Throughout dinner, a buffet of African dishes, a troupe performed beautiful, traditional African dances and songs.

That’s all for now but stay tuned for Part 2 – Lesotho or Life on the Left Side of the Road.

February Pen Pal Letter

2009-02-10T11:17:00.001-06:00

Lumela Mr. Diersen, Mrs. Sparling and students!

I'm glad to hear from you all! I hope everyone had a great holidays! It is wonderful you are able to read my blog and keep up with what I have going on here.

The playgrounds were delivered about two weeks ago but still haven't been installed. The schools need to secure the equipment into the ground before the children can play on them, but they are saying they don't have any money to pay for concrete or stakes. 'M'e Blossom, who works for the Ministry of Education and whom I'm working with to get the playgrounds installed, and I are trying to find some solutions, but it may be a month or two before all four are ready for children to play on. One of the big problems is that ECCD teachers (preschool teachers) in Lesotho are not paid by the government, they collect school fees paid by their students' parents. Before the teachers can take their pay, they must deduct expenses like rent for the school building and supplies and food for the students. Often, parents do not pay the school fees but many of the teachers will keep the children on anyway. This means the teachers end up with very little money for both school improvement and their own expenses. Lesotho is in the process of including ECCD schools into the government system, but this is going to take years.

Turkey was wonderful! The pictures just don't do it justice, the architecture and mosques are beautiful. Istanbul is hard for me to describe, but it is a very interesting city unlike any place I've ever been before. The people were friendly and in the tourist areas I was fine getting along speaking English. Thankfully my friend Josh speaks Turkish so most of the time he communicated for me. The dog stayed in the area when we left on the ferry. There are many stray dogs and cats in Istanbul, and apparently the city tags them but then generally leaves them alone. She seemed very healthy and friendly so I'm sure she is continuing to help guide visitors up to the castle! :)

It is still summer here, in the 80s and sometimes low 90s, but I can tell it will come to an end soon. As I live in the lowlands it stays warm here longer than in the mountains, but it will start cooling off in March and the cold will be here in force by May. I'm not looking forward to winter but am ready for it to be fall; the hot weather gets really old when there is no air conditioning and you have to walk everywhere! The rain was late this year, but now it is raining every few days making Lesotho very green and beautiful. I agree, it looks so nice right now.

I will be celebrating St. Patrick's Day with other PCVs but Lesotho doesn't celebrate that holiday. On March 11 Basotho will celebrate Moshoeshoe's (Ma-shway-shway's) Day. This holiday honors the first king of Lesotho. Easter is a national holiday in Lesotho and businesses and government offices are closed on Good Friday and the Monday after Easter. The holiday is celebrated similarly to in the U.S.A.

I am really glad to hear the basketball teams are playing well! Are either going on to the state tournament? Unfortunately I did not get to see the Super Bowl. I did miss the food and commercials! American football is not popular here so the game was only shown on American cable channels, which most Basotho who can afford a satellite dish don't subscribe to. Basotho love soccer, which is called football here. The bo-ntate gather every weekend to watch matches held all over the world.

I actually just saw Anna today for the first time in a few months. She is living with her mother in her village, Thabana Morena, and seems to be doing well. Her finger is still healing but it no longer bandaged. She is back in school and seems happy and healthy. Another PCV and I are still hoping to get her some assistance with school uniforms, clothing and food but the process is hard and slow here.

I have found some candy here that I like, mostly chocolate, but I have to be careful not to eat too much! There aren't really candies like Starburst or Skittles here but I've also had to be careful about asking for too much of that from home as well. Now that it is summer there are many fruits available, including peaches, tangerines and mangoes, which I really enjoy. It is sad that they are only available a few months a year!

It is hard to say exactly how much time I have left in Peace Corps. I can COS (close of service), meaning I've finished my service and can receive all the benefits of being a RPCV (Returned Peace Corps Volunteer), as early as May 2010. I can also stay as long as September 2010 without extending my service into a third year. When I COS will just depend on what projects I have going on and when they finish up. I will have a better idea of this in November or so.

People here are very excited about our new president and have been talking a lot about him ever since the elections. Many people in Africa would like him to fix the problems here, so most of my conversations have been about realistic expectations and also explaining how our government works. Since the inauguration I've been hearing less about Obama, but I think many Basotho are watching our country very carefully to see how things change under his leadership.

It was good to hear from you all again and I look forward to your next letter soon! I am leaving for vacation in a few days as a friend from Iowa is coming to visit and we're spending some time in Cape Town, Lesotho and Mozambique. I will be able to tell you all about it in my next letter!

Take care and I hope the cold Iowa winter ends a bit sooner than the groundhog predicted!

Khotso! (Peace)
Kelly

Getting Stuck in the Mud or Adventures in Playground Installation

2009-02-02T10:20:00.000-06:00

As you may remember from previous posts, Nichol, a PCV near Mafeteng, received funding though Peace Corps Partnership (a program where PCVs post projects on the Peace Corps web site and friends and family back home can donate money online) to build four playgrounds at ECCD (similar to preschool) centers in Mafeteng. Unfortunately, there was a problem between PC Washington, their bank and PC Lesotho's bank resulting in the money arriving just a week before Nichol COSed (close of service). I offered to help Nichol out by overseeing the playground installations when the equipment finally arrived. As with everything here, it ended up being a little more complicated than we bargained for.

A couple of weeks ago Lima, the store owner in Mafeteng who ordered the playground equipment from Bloemfontein, let me know they would be picking everything up on January 28 and that beginning January 29 we could start delivering the playgrounds to the schools. Nichol's counterpart, Blossom, returned to Mafeteng when school started back on January 19 and I was able to meet with her late that week to set a schedule of what schools would receive their playground on what date. Blossom was attending a conference the week we were to deliver, but she gave me phone numbers of two of the schools and promised she would contact all of them to let them know what date I would be coming and that they needed to have some adults present to help unload the equipment. I met with Lima to go over the playground locations and delivery dates. Everything seemed in order.

Last week was a week of rain in Mafeteng. No one was complaining, it has been dry here and the water is needed for the crops and gardens. But by Wednesday, the day the playground equipment was being picked up from Bloemfontein, it had been raining for almost 48 hours straight. All the roads were slop, the fields soaked, the ponds and creeks overflowing. I walked to the shop, assuming Lima would tell me that we'd need to postpone the installation for at least a few days. When I got there, however, she assured me that it would be ok to proceed despite the rain. Furthermore, she wanted to finish her inventory counts and needed all the equipment out of her shop and delivered on Thursday. Four playgrounds, one day. I told her that wasn't what had been discussed the previous week, that only one school was expecting us on Thursday. She'd have some of her people help unload, she said, it needed to be done.

I waited until Thursday morning to contact Blossom, assuming Lima would change her mind if the downpour continued. Amidst a light drizzle, I climbed into the truck along with a driver and one ntate who was to help with unloading the equipment and we set out for the most distant school in Thabana Morena.

Thankfully Anne Marie, one of my fellow Mafeteng PCVs (she is the one who originally spotted Anna in school and brought her into the hospital), lives in Thabana Morena. I had no idea where the school was located, Blossom's phone was off and this was, of course, one of the schools I didn't have a phone number for. Anne Marie met us on the road and walked as the truck drove in reverse behind her, all the way down a huge hill, until we arrived at the school. The entrance to the school was a narrow, dirt track and it didn't look like the truck would be able to fit through. But, instead of just putting on the flashers and unloading from the road, the driver decided to give it a try. The truck narrowly fit between the fence posts but began to sink into the mud almost immediately.

Seemingly un-phased, the driver and ntate began unloading the two swings, teeter totter, bouncing horse, jungle gym and slide. Several bo-'M'e arrived to see what the excitement was about and helped carry the equipment off the truck, though the teacher was absent. The driver touched up where the paint had scratched off, set up the swing set base and explained to the bo-'M'e, in Sesotho, that the equipment had to be fastened into the ground with stakes or cement before the children could be allowed to play on it. The whole process took just 30 minutes and I began to believe we could indeed get all the equipment delivered in one day. None of it would be actually installed, but at least it would be delivered. Then, the digging began.

As I mentioned, the truck had started to sink as soon as the driver backed in to the school's gate. And it didn't stop. By the time we had unloaded the playground equipment one of the front tires had sunk a foot or more into the ground. The truck was tipping precariously to the right. Anne Marie and I immediately discussed how the truck needed to be pulled out but couldn't even consider suggesting that to the driver. I mean, what do two American girls know about getting a truck out of the mud?

Some bo-ntate from the village showed up with a shovel and the ntate from the store crawled under the truck and began digging. Bo-ntate carried large stones to throw into the hole around the tire and the driver tried several times to drive out, only making the hole worse. At one point, the bo-ntate tried to lift the truck using stones and a jack much too small for that size of vehicle in an attempt to crawl further under it. Anne Marie and I sat, nervously convinced the truck was going to fall...which, of course, it did. Thankfully, the ntate under the truck was able to roll out just in time to avoid being crushed.

This went on for a good three hours, bo-ntate digging, stones being stacked underneath, even, at one point, bo-'M'e getting in on the act and trying to help push the truck out. Just when I thought I'd be spending the rest of my day watching spectacle, another truck showed up and pulled ours out. Problem, finally, solved.

I climbed back into the truck, waved goodbye to Anne Marie and the villagers, and off we went to our second school of the day, Ha Ramohape. Just before we arrived back to Mafeteng camptown, the driver pulled off onto a gravel and dirt path and began driving slowly over the small mountain. “A shortcut,” he said. Imagine, we just spent hours digging the truck out of the mud and, instead of taking the paved road around Mafeteng and over to the school in Ha Ramohape, he wanted to take the washed-out, dirt shortcut. I kept my fingers crossed and my mouth shut. Despite a few close calls, we finally made it to the school, though I'm not sure how much faster the shortcut ended up being.

Several male students from the primary school across the highway from the ECCD school ran up as soon as we pulled in and helped unload the equipment in just twenty minutes. Thankfully Blossom had been able to notify this school of our arrival and the teachers were present to receive instructions. Then it was off to the school in Ha Maklarie, where we again had plenty of help and the teachers were expecting the playground's arrival. After unloading the last playground at the ECCD office in town, we drove back to the store. It had taken almost the entire day, and none of the playgrounds had actually been “installed,” but the equipment was delivered. And, more importantly, no one got crushed.

Next Monday and Tuesday I will be going with Blossom to check back on all of the playgrounds to see that the schools have secured them into the ground. I anticipate everything being exactly as we left it, that none of the schools will do anything until Blossom repeats the instructions and that we'll have to go back to check the final product yet another time.

Just another, muddy, day in the life...

The CV

2009-01-29T08:30:00.002-06:00

Something rather miraculous happened today, completely unrelated to the rest of the days' events (which I will detail for your amusement soon). Ok, maybe not miraculous, but an apt reminder of why it is I came here and how I am sometimes my own worst enemy.

I was walking down the road from the hospital to my house, hungry and tired, looking forward to my lunch-dinner and my book, when a 'M'e came running up to me.

“Ausi, I need your help.”

I have several conversations a day that start this way. That sentence is almost always followed by, “Give me five rand,” or “Will you pay me to do your wash?” or “Ke batla lipongpong,” (I want candy). As you can imagine, it gets old fast. My solution: ignore the person, tell them I'm busy or, after hearing the rest of their request, yell at them for asking for money or candy. Today, though, for some reason, I didn't do that.

“What do you need help with 'M'e?”

“I...I...I heard on the radio there is a position for a clerical assistant and I am trying to write my CV so I can apply. But I can't write it well.”

“Ok, well, I won't write it for you but if you draft something let me know and I'll be happy to edit it for you.”

“I understand ausi. I have some written but I can't write it well.”

“You already have a draft written down? On paper?”

“Yes ausi.”

“And it's at your house just there?”

“Yes.”

Internal debate between my stomach and my brain. Brain wins.

Ok, lets go and I'll look over it for you now.”

We entered her tidy, two-room house, she pulled out a chair for me and went into the other room to get her CV. A biology textbook lay open on the bed next to pages of meticulous, hand-written notes, all in English. As she came back into the room, I asked if she was studying.

“Of course, ausi.”

Like I had just asked the world's stupidest question.

“Are you going to school?”

“No, just wanting to learn.”

Wow, just wanting to learn? Really? People do that? Huh...

She handed me her CV, written in English, containing only one spelling error. Everything was in the correct order, her education and work credentials all included.

“'M'e, this is really good. What do you need my help for?”

“I tried and tried but I don't know how to write the descriptions of my jobs.”

I asked her to describe to me what exactly she did at each job and that I would take notes. Then, she could use my notes and turn them into her written description.

It turns out this 'M'e has a high school degree, a certificate in business finance, served as a polling clerk during the last two national elections, taught Standard Two (essentially second grade) as an assistant teacher and was head teacher of business studies and development at an English medium middle school and a high school.

“I quit teaching at the English medium because I was afraid my English was not good enough.”

“But your English is amazing 'M'e. You're talking to me and I understand you perfectly.”

She shyly looked away and laughed.

After I took my notes and we went over them to be sure she understood all the words I used, she showed me an advertisement for the job she is applying for. The ad was from the U.S. Embassy in Maseru and, while it didn't list minimum qualifications for the job, it did list the tasks assigned to the position.

“Do you think I'm qualified?”

“Yes 'M'e, I think you should try! See, here it says that in addition to general clerical duties you will be taking down work orders when building repairs and maintenance are needed and coordinating with contractors to ensure the work is completed. So, if you get an interview, you of course need to highlight your business and finance education and experience. But, you should also explain that you are very good at working and communicating with a variety of people and personalities. When you were a polling clerk, you assisted Basotho from all areas, education levels and ages to ensure they could vote. When you taught school you worked with students of many ages and backgrounds. And don't forget patience! You were a teacher. You have to be patient to be able to do that.”

As I left she thanked me over and over for my help. I asked her to let me know how it goes and if she gets an interview.

“I will. Thank you ausi. Please help others just like you helped me.”

Help others just like I helped her. Yeah, in that moment, I felt really, really bad. How many people have I ignored or told I was too busy, people who just needed help like her? The annoyances of life here get in the way, sometimes, of fulfilling what I came to do. Today's simple choice to actually listen, instead of blowing her off, may have helped change a life. Who knows if she'll get an interview, much less the job, but I helped someone with her resume, her interview skills and, hopefully, her confidence. And it took just 30 minutes of my day.

Patience is a virtue. One I need a little more of.

Poverty is a tough foe in AIDS battle

2009-01-25T05:02:00.001-06:00

Thanks to my fellow PCV, Ashley, for passing this article along to me. Unfortunately, this gives an all too accurate picture of the reality of life, and fighting HIV/AIDS, in Lesotho. Ashley, who I'm working with to plan an HIV/AIDS and Health Day event at her clinic, tells me stories all the time of people coming into her clinic in wheelbarrows, too weak to walk, waiting to seek treatment at a point when it's too late, when nothing can be done.

Though not HIV/AIDS related, I think many of you remember my experience with Anna. Yet another case of someone not receiving medical treatment simply because there was no money to transport her to the hospital.

Morija, the community specifically mentioned in this article, is quite familiar to me. It is less than an hour north of Mafeteng on the road to Maseru.

Poverty is a tough foe in AIDS battle
Too many Africans can't afford to travel to life-saving treatment centres, SFU student laments
Darah Hansen, Vancouver Sun
Published: Saturday, November 29, 2008

The image of sick and dying children at the Morija public hospital in the south African nation of Lesotho is not one Sherri Brown will ever forget.

"They were on machines, respirators, with IV bags ... it's really sad," the Simon Fraser University political science scholar said, her voice choked with emotion as she described the scene.

"To see this and to know that the reason this child is failing and is going to pass away is [that] someone didn't have $4 for a taxi ride, it's just, I don't know. I do this research all the time, but it really struck me."

Brown, 32, travelled to Lesotho in October as part of her PhD studies into how life-saving anti-retroviral drugs are being distributed to the millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa infected with HIV/AIDS.

What she found surprised her.

While free access to AIDS-fighting drugs has increased dramatically in Africa since the world rushed in to try to cap the epidemic in 2006, tens of thousands of people - many of them children - are still dying simply because they can't afford the trip to a hospital or clinic to get treatment.

In Lesotho, about 80 people die every day of AIDS-related illnesses. The country has the third-highest rate of HIV/AIDS infection in the world, with roughly 25 per cent of the population - about 400,000 people - testing positive for the virus.

Yet, according to Brown, about three in four people who need treatment are not receiving it.

In many cases, the families of those who are ill said health care clinics are located too far away from home and there is no money or means to transport a patient other than to walk, sometimes for hours.
Adding to the crisis is the high number of children left orphaned by the virus, many of whom are being cared for by elderly relatives who are themselves scrambling to survive.

"I did several site visits and met lots of grandmothers who just don't have any money. They can't think of treatment or prevention when they have no money for clothing or food. And you can see in their homes they have nothing," Brown said. "It's such an issue rooted to poverty."

In 2004, following a trip to Ghana, Brown, like many researchers, believed the answer to Africa's HIV/AIDs crisis lay in the wide distribution of the powerful drugs used to suppress the virus in the body.

According to current research, consistent treatment with anti-retroviral drugs can not only extend a patient's life by decades, but can also cut transmission rates of the virus by up to 60 per cent.

Reaching out to Africa was critical, Brown said.

At the time, only about 1,000 people in the continent's hardest-hit regions had access to the necessary drugs, she said. The result was a staggering 15 million deaths and spiralling transmission rates.

An estimated two-thirds of all people living with HIV are now found in sub-Saharan Africa, although the region contains little more than 10 per cent of the world's population.

"I remember thinking, it's just a matter of getting drugs out to these countries," Brown said of the crisis.
Two years later, in 2006, the world responded to the epidemic by pouring in money and resources to establish new clinics and hospitals in several countries.

Much of the work was taken up by foreign non-governmental organizations such as Doctors Without Borders and the Clinton Foundation. But private companies also jumped on board.

In Lesotho, The Gap Inc., which operates a manufacturing factory in the capital city of Maseru, drew praise for opening an on-site HIV clinic for its employees, while a public-private partnership between Baylor University in Texas and pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb resulted in the creation of a cutting-edge pediatric facility, known as the Baylor Medical Centre.

The world push - championed in large part by Canadian Stephen Lewis - has resulted in tens of thousands of people now receiving treatment, including more than 21,500 people in Lesotho, said Brown.

Of that number, at least 3,966 pregnant women with HIV in Lesotho received anti-retroviral treatment to prevent mother-to-child transmission of the virus in 2007.

"There are truly some amazing success stories," she said.

Yet, despite all the money and global goodwill, poverty continues to block the majority of HIV-infected patients from getting the drugs they need to stay alive.

Too often, Brown said, people sick with the disease arrive at hospitals too late to be helped, among them the children she met in Morija.

"There is a very low rate of HIV infection among children [in Lesotho] and that is because a lot of children have passed away. Children do not fare well with HIV," she said.

Brown is now convinced the world must refocus its energy on developing long-term strategies aimed at ending poverty and promoting gender equality in Africa.

Many African governments also need help to build up their own capacity and resources - including graduating more doctors and nurses - to deal effectively with the health crisis.

In Lesotho, for instance, "there are only 50 doctors in the entire country," Brown said, adding that last year, 40 per cent of foreign aid to the country had to be returned because "it simply can't be spent."
As she gears up for a return trip to Africa in the new year, Brown worries Canadians may think the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa is over.

Unfortunately, that's not the case, she said.

"There are far too many people I saw on their deathbeds in their villages who can't afford a taxi ride [to the hospital]. It's still an overwhelming issue that needs to be addressed by supporting countries."

dahansen@vancouversun.com

Hooray!

2009-01-23T13:13:00.002-06:00

Photos from Istanbul, and a few from the last couple of weeks, have been added! Just check out the "Kelly's Photos From Lesotho" link to the left.

Yes We Can

2009-01-20T13:29:00.003-06:00

Until now, I've avoided discussing politics here, mostly on purpose. I didn't want this to be a referendum on my ideology, didn't want this to become a discussion of one candidate versus another, didn't want to evaluate my Peace Corps service through the lens of political dogma. But tonight, I feel it's worth touching on.

No matter who you voted for, how you felt about it back in November, Barack Hussein Obama is now the 44th president of the United States of America. It is a historic moment for all the reasons we know, the list we've heard a million times. And as much as I don't want to be cliché, I have to admit I've never felt hope like this before.

I've had the unique pleasure, and responsibility, of experiencing this moment in Africa as a Peace Corps Volunteer. America's influence on the developing world does not come only through pop culture and foreign aid, but through leadership and action. People here watch our country's every move, and they want to know why America changed. They are disappointed in us, question why we're isolating ourselves, ask how we can turn a blind eye to massacre and suffering, want to know, frankly, just who the hell we think we are. I'll readily admit that these opinions are generally uninformed and not representative (at least in Lesotho) of the actual policy and action of the American government, even during the past eight years. None the less, it is chilling to hear.

But these same people still believe in hope. Even before the election, I met many Basotho who wanted to go to America because they still believed that is is the land of opportunity, a place where anything is possible, where anyone can do anything. And Obama has proved them right. We know he is a symbol of the American dream. But he's also a symbol of the African dream, a dream that through hard work, a free man or woman can achieve great things.
I got goosebumps tonight, sitting in my 'M'e's living room in Africa, watching via satellite my country inaugurate a president who echoes my belief in hard work, public service, compassion and freedom. I held a mini civics lesson with my ausi, explaining to her how our elections are conducted, how Congress works and how that compares to government in Lesotho. Her response: “You mean you voted for a man who looks like me?” Leave it to a kid to boil it down.

I'm quite sure that, for the rest of my service, I will continue confirming that yes, our president is African American but has a very diverse heritage, which is quite representative of what America is about. I will keep explaining that no, Obama was not born in Kenya but his father was (and here they will insist that that makes him Kenyan too). I will keep clarifying the role of our president, that he is not some mythical creature, that he cannot perform miracles. But I will also say that I believe in what he stands for, that together, we can.

Whew!

2009-01-19T10:13:00.001-06:00

For the first time in my service, I can honestly say I've been busy. That's right, busy doing work! Getting things done! And it's a nice feeling. So here's an update, by project, of what I've been up to lately.

PSI HIV/AIDS Support Group Project
My counterpart, Keletso, returned from vacation last week and we finally spent some time creating a list and timetable of deadlines for all the things that need to get done before she begins facilitating weekly sessions with our selected support groups. Yup, passing my love of list-making on to the Basotho.

We also met with LENEPWA, an organization that tracks and provides support for all HIV/AIDS support groups in the district, to check their progress. They had already selected members for the two groups we'll be working with! We updated them on admin issues, our target start date and asked them to set a date and time, within the next two weeks, for Keletso and I to meet with each group and go over the project plan, goals and objectives. After those initial meetings, the next step will be to meet with each group once more to conduct voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) and have each member sign a contract committing to participating in the project. After that, the weekly sessions can begin, hopefully the week of February 16.

Keletso is also responsible for facilitating sessions (the first month's worth of information that will be presented to the support groups) with New Start Mafeteng's two field educators before the actual support group meetings begin. By practicing with the field educators, Keletso will be comfortable and well-prepared for the support groups and the field educators will understand the project and be able to step-in if Keletso ever has to miss a meeting. Getting them to schedule these sessions with each other has been a challenge but it seems like they are now on the calendar.

Mafeteng Hospital Library
Again, a HUGE thanks to everyone who helped collect and/or donated books and money for shipping. The response has been overwhelming. My mom and some friends and fellow teachers are undertaking the task of sorting all the donations and preparing them for shipping to New Orleans. From there, the books will go on a container, along with books for all the other African Library Project libraries being started in Lesotho this year (more than 20 – and all through PCVs) to be sent via ship to Durban, South Africa. We're looking forward to their arrival in May.
Just before the holidays my counterpart at the hospital, Vikhile, and I received confirmation we were awarded Sesotho-language books for the library from Biblionef. They arrived from Cape Town last Friday and are waiting for us at the Mafeteng Post Office. Once the hospital gets the purchase order processed to pay for the postal fees (that will likely take several weeks) we can begin the process of sorting and logging them.

My fellow PCV Becky, who heads up the African Library Project here in Lesotho, (and just extended for a 4th year of service!) called me Friday afternoon to let me know she was on her way back from Johannesburg with about 100 books, all on medical topics. I have no idea where she found these books or who donated them, but am quite excited and thankful to receive them. Tomorrow the hospital is sending Vikhile and me to Maseru to collect the books from the Peace Corps office and bring them back to Mafeteng. More sorting and logging!

Most impressively, Vikhile has continued to really step-up. When I returned from Istanbul, without any prompting from me, she had a list prepared of things she wants training or more information/direction on before the library opens. She is eager to begin writing the library action plan and continues to meet every deadline and complete every task I assign. I can't tell you how nice it is to work with someone who is self-motivated and committed.

Thaba Tsoeu HIV/AIDS and Health Day
Grant writing...what can I say. Many hours of research, writing and re-writing later, Ashley and I are almost finished with our President's Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) grant application. Receiving funding from PEPFAR is integral to making this event happen. I feel confident our application is strong and will be approved, though the timing is not what we'd hoped. Applications are due at the end of January and we will hear by the end of February if it's been accepted. Assuming ours is, we'll get the money some time in March. We were wanting to hold the event in April, but one month is simply not enough time to plan, purchase and organize everything. It's looking like this thing will finally happen in May, with our final reporting due to PEPFAR in June. No biggie, we've only been working on this since August! :)

I realize I've talked a lot about applying for the PEPFAR grant but haven't described much about the project itself. Here's a little snippet from our application which I think explains things well:

Village clinics are at the forefront of the battle against HIV/AIDS in Lesotho. The Thaba Tsoeu HIV/AIDS and Health Day, hosted by the Thaba Tsoeu Clinic, is a creative approach to providing HIV/AIDS education, prevention, testing and healthy living tactics in an interactive learning environment. A collaborative effort of community health workers, clinic staff, area non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and local government organizations will contribute to improving the standard of living for both HIV positive and negative Basotho. A secondary result of this project will be increased collaboration and partnership between the Thaba Tsoeu Clinic, local government and area NGOs.

This event will be held in the village of Thaba Tsoeu located in Mafeteng district. The Thaba Tsoeu Clinic, primary school and community council have donated space to hold the event. These organizations, along with local government entities and area NGOs, will be donating their time and resources to provide event activities that focus on HIV/AIDS education, prevention and treatment.

Event activities will include HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and opportunistic infection education, question and answer sessions, voluntary counseling and testing (VCT), condom demonstrations, healthy living and HIV/AIDS activities geared towards youth and entertainment containing HIV/AIDS and healthy living messages.

Odds and Ends
I have several other little things going on here and there, keeping me busy. Today was the first day of the new school year in Lesotho, and I went to Kingsgate High School to follow-up with the principal, 'M'e Mina, about teaching life skills classes there. I will be starting around the first week of February (the Form E students – equivalent to grade 12 in the U.S. – just received their exam marks and won't begin class for another week) teaching three classes a week on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. We agreed that I'll stick to Forms C-E as their English is much better than Forms A and B. Besides, those three forms alone account for more than 250 students. They'll be divided up, but I'm already wondering how I'm going to control classes of 80+ students. I have a feeling it's going to get interesting.

As you may all remember, my former fellow Mafeteng PCV Nichol was getting ready to COS when she received funding through the Peace Corps Partnership program to build playgrounds at four area ECCD (preschools) schools. The money took so long getting sent from PC Washington to Lesotho that she didn't get to see the project completed. I offered to help out by supervising install and completing a last bit of reporting paperwork. I received word that the equipment will be picked up in Bloemfontein on January 28. I'll be spending the following week or so traveling with Nichol's counterpart, 'M'e Blossom, to the schools and making sure everything is received and set-up.

And then there were visitors!

The new group of PCVs, education Volunteers, were sworn in at the beginning of the month and headed to site about a week and a half ago. We have two new Volunteers in the Mafeteng district, Janice and Kelly (PC must know all Kelly's are awesome and, therefore, deserve to be in Mafeteng). I haven't yet had a chance to get to know Janice as her site is up in the mountains, but I look forward to talking with her at our Newbie Party on January 31. Kelly is teaching high school math and science in Tsakholo, a village about an hour from Mafeteng camptown. She came to town last Thursday for the grand tour (ice cream at the Total station, locations of toilets that can be used for free, the Chinese food shop, GoHo and Mafeteng Hotel). I definitely enjoyed hanging out with her and hope we get many more chances to meet up.

Anne Marie, a Mafeteng PCV who's just extended for a 3rd year, returned from her trip home last week and we met for a few hours to catch up. It's good to have her back!

Lena, a PhD student from Germany who's doing research here, invited Ashley and I to her house on Friday afternoon to enjoy some traditional German Christmas cake and spiced wine. German Christmas at 90 degrees – yet another thing I can add to the list of things I never expected to experience in Peace Corps! I also met four German medical students who are interning at the Mafeteng Government Hospital for a month...but they already knew me. Apparently they stumbled across my blog before they came to Lesotho.

Eric, a fellow PCV from my group, got evicted from his house up in Butha Buthe district and has been relegated to hanging out in Maseru until PC gets his new house ready. He used the opportunity to visit us here in Mafeteng this past weekend.

And I think that does it. Whew! I guess I'll wrap it up as I've been getting crap for writing long blog posts (sorry guys). Guess I should just up my posting frequency!

Until next time, salang hantle!

Peace Corps Lesotho version 4.0

2009-01-14T09:07:00.002-06:00

I often find myself thinking about my Peace Corps experience and what it would have been like to be a PCV in the 1960's...or even five years ago, for that matter. I think about coming here when there were literally no paved roads, when Volunteers lived only in the lowland districts because the mountains were unaccessible by any means, when the trip from Mafeteng to Maseru took one day instead of one hour, when mail arriving at all was considered a miracle.

I also think about my Peace Corps experience compared to others in my group. Take my friend Rachel, for example. She lives in a small village way up in the mountains of Mokhotlong. To get to her site from Maseru she must catch a 6 a.m. bus which she rides for 7-10 hours, speeding through the lowlands before spending arduous hours crawling through mountain passes, until she arrives in Mokhotlong camptown. Since it takes several hours to reach her site from there, she usually spends the night in town on the floor of the remote Volunteer Resource Center (VRC). But at least there she can use a computer (and soon, internet, thanks to modems purchased by PC) and has time to stock up on supplies. Though the “supplies” available in Mokhotlong consist only of absolute basics and in-season; no Doritos or Snickers here. The next day she boards one of the two daily kombis that go to her area, rides for a of couple hours, then hikes another couple to her village.

Rachel hikes an hour or so from her site for a few bars of cell phone reception. Things like electricity are not even a possibility. Most people in her village don't speak a word of English. She has left her district just twice in five months, both for PC-mandated events (though she also took vacation during one of the trips down), because transport is so difficult and expensive.
I haven't visited Rachel, though I hope to during my service (but only during the summer – it's nearly impossible to get to her site when there's snow) as I want to get a taste of the life she lives. It's hard sometimes to believe that we live in the same country, much less one which only the size of Maryland! Thinking about my life, with its Shoprite, electricity, computer, 24/7 cell phone service, pizza at the hotel and proximity to a mall and movie theater, versus hers, I know what Peace Corps says really is true: each and every Volunteer will have a completely different experience, an experience all his or her own.

On Monday, I embarked on the fourth incarnation of my Peace Corps experience (or the communications aspect of it, anyway).

Version 1.0 – Letters, fèla (only; to end or to finish). Occasional use of a public phone. This lasted about a day.

Version 2.0 – Cell phones and email! The world of cross-continental text messaging, something I'd never considered, blew me away. We quickly discovered Maseru's internet cafés and learned that, when we finally left the lowly ranks of “Trainees,” we could use the internet at the Maseru VRC for free. While we were here for about a week before we were able to take advantage of this, it was evident almost immediately that this was not our parent's Peace Corps.

Version 3.0 – I leave for site, a newly minted PCV, no more T! Electricity! Internet I could use for free at work (though only occasionally)! More text messaging! And then, one day, the impossible happens. Vodacom Lesotho gets their stuff together and introduces affordable, reliable mobile internet service, right on my cell phone. Just like that I could check email, news and weather. Merry Christmas to me!

Version 4.0 – Upon my return from Turkey I discovered the Vodacom store in Mafeteng was selling modems that utilize a sim card (just like my cell phone) to provide fully-functional, pre-paid internet service for computers. At All-Vol Conference, Deepak (the PC Lesotho IT miracle man) and Shafiq (the chair of the Technology Committee) explained the details of the modem's usage and touted its reliability. It turns out there are two modems, one that provides service slightly faster than dial-up and another, which costs twice as much, that provides high-speed internet. Being on a PCV budget, I opted for the first. After a surprisingly painless set-up at the Vodacom store on Monday, I entered the world of real, actual internet in my home. In Lesotho.

Just like all things, there are some limits. Since usage is charged by the MB downloaded, just like on my phone, I really have to watch how long I'm online. To keep from destroying my budget I allow myself 7MB of usage per day, which is plenty to check email, Facebook and do a little chatting, but is also very easy to burn through quickly. I've also set my web browser to not show pictures, which means I download less MB per page but also have limited ability on some sites. I won't be downloading any music, movies, photos or files from home. Gmail chat doesn't work (though AIM Express and MSN Messenger do).

Despite all that, this is pretty cool. It makes life, and most importantly, staying in touch with friends and family, a lot easier. I may not be living the remote existence I imagined, but I am living my very own Peace Corps experience.

And so, welcome to the first of many blog entries posted directly from my house in Mafeteng, Lesotho!

Photos from Istanbul

2009-01-08T03:47:00.004-06:00

I will post them soon, I promise. The only place with a fast enough internet connection to post is Maseru, but since All-Vol is going on today, I can't be online very long. Sorry, I was looking forward to sharing them probably as much as ya'll are looking forward to seeing them. Hopefully I can get back to Maseru in the next couple of weeks.

Istanbul

2009-01-08T03:31:00.001-06:00

1-7-09
This has been the hardest blog entry to convince myself to write. Not because I don't want to share my trip, all the amazing things I experienced and the incredible time I had, but because I knew that writing it would mean re-living it all, something I wasn't ready to do for a few days.

Let me explain. My last month or so in Lesotho was a little rough. I was feeling really bored, lonely and, honestly, pretty worthless. While there are things I'm working on here, projects I'm really hoping will make an impact, I spend most of my time alone, sitting at home. This means I spend way too much time thinking about what I expected this experience would be, all the things I thought I'd be doing here, the job I had envisioned. That inevitably leads to thinking way too much about what I could be doing were I not here, a life that wouldn't be so boring or lonely, time I could be spending with friends and family. I hoped that my trip would make it better, that time spent in a new place with a great friend would renew me, let me return eager to try at this again.

My two weeks in Istanbul came and went much too fast, time spent with someone I adore gone too quickly. The whole trip, I kept telling myself that by the end I'd be ready to get going. The thing is, as time passed, all I wanted to do was stay longer or, knowing that wasn't an option, go home. To the States.

Making myself board the plane back was hard, painful. I just wanted to run. I didn't want to be alone again, I didn't want to leave my friend, I didn't want to go back to spending several days at a time without having a real, meaningful conversation. I greeted my arrival into Johannesburg with tears, fought waves of panic as the kombi took me to the taxi rank and eventually back to Lesotho.

I spent my first day back in Mafeteng weighing my options, and as much as everything in me wanted to hide and stay in bed, I convinced myself to do some work on the PEPFAR grant for the HIV/AIDS Day event to keep my mind occupied. I cried some, sulked a lot and wondered how I was going to do this for another year and a half.

But yesterday it seemed there was some hope. I went the PSI to give them the “eye” (traditional in Turkey, it's a blue glass medallion that looks like an eye and is said to protect from evil) I brought back from Turkey as a gift for the office. And, to my shock, I actually felt happy – happy to talk to my co-workers and catch up on the latest news. And they were happy to see me too, saying that they'd missed me, that they were all really glad I was back. 'M'e Mosele, the site manager, promptly hung the “eye” in the waiting room after giving me a huge hug and saying that I looked just as beautiful as always.

Good days and really bad ones make up this experience. While my return from vacation marked the worst few days I've had here so far, it also made me see that in a while, even though I'll never stop missing friends and family, I'll get used to this life again.

So on to the Istanbul recap!

The day of my departure, I left Maseru around 8 a.m. to ensure that I made it to Johannesburg in plenty of time for my flight, which departed around 9:30 p.m. The trip to Jo'burg is supposed to be just five hours by road, but knowing how often kombis breakdown or stop, I didn't want to take any chances. I made my way through the border crossing at Maseru Bridge and walked to the taxi rank on the South Africa side, asking which kombi would take me to Jo'burg. After stowing my bags I found the driver and asked him if, when we arrived at the Jo'burg taxi rank, he would drive me directly to the kombis for the airport (the Jo'burg taxi rank is notorious for theft so everyone I'd talked to advised me to tell the driver to drop me at my connecting kombi so I wouldn't have to walk in the rank). After we discussed my final destination, he decided it would be better for me to take the kombi heading to Pretoria and that the driver of that kombi would take me all the way to the airport, no transfers, no extra fee. Of course I agreed!

It took us seven and a half hours to get to the airport. We stopped in Ladybrand, just a few kilometers from Maseru, for petrol and food. We stopped again an hour and a half later for food and water. We stopped not long after that for a bathroom break. And just 30 minutes later the driver, who'd been acting a bit strange, pulled over again, proceeded to recline his seat and take a nap. I was really confused about what was going on, but none of the other passengers seemed concerned so I let it go. About an hour after resuming our drive we stopped yet again for food and a bathroom break. The driving was somewhat erratic after that, gradually slowing to a crawl and then, all of a sudden, speeding up, the driver taking off his shirt and pouring water over himself.

After dropping some of our passengers we continued on towards Pretoria and the airport. Though I'd never driven there before, I knew we were getting close as the roads improved and lanes and traffic increased. After nearly driving off the road and hitting a bridge, at which point I yelled at him and told him to pay attention and be careful, the driver pulled over again, on the side of a four-lane highway, to take another nap. Thirty minutes later, after driving at a crawl, he pulled off again at a rest stop so he could sleep. At this point there were just three of us left, myself and two bo-'M'e who were headed to Pretoria. I asked one of them what was wrong with him. Was he drunk? The answer was no (though it wouldn't have surprised me), that he'd been driving Maseru to Pretoria round-trip runs for a few days without sleeping. I was quite concerned about making it safely at this point but didn't see any other options. I didn't know how much farther the airport was, there was no way to hire another ride from the rest stop. After 45 minutes, we woke the driver, one of the bo-'M'e gave him a drink of her Coke and we moved on.

It turns out that, after the last stop, we weren't very far from the airport. The 'M'e who had explained to me what was going on sat in awe as we wound around an exit and hurtled down a road much like an interstate. She'd never been to Pretoria or Jo'burg before, never seen roads like these. I just hoped we made it safely as I wasn't convinced the rickety kombi could withstand the speed or maneuvers our driver was employing. After trying to drop me off at the exit ramp to the airport (I had to explain that it was NOT safe for me to walk up) the driver pulled into the International Departures terminal and out I jumped only to come face-to-face with several gawking South Africans. “What is a white girl doing in that thing?” was painted clearly on their faces. I thanked the driver and told the bo-'M'e to have a safe trip to Pretoria. And off they went.

Even at seven and a half hours, I was early for check-in. A nice, elderly gentleman in line chatted me up, asking if it was my first trip to Turkey and what I was planning to do there. After he left to grab some food, I sat down with my book and was joined by a 20-something Jo'burg resident who was flying to Morocco via Istanbul. She had lived in the States and we spent the rest of our wait talking all about Peace Corps, the challenges of a South African living in U.S. and vice versa, her job in Jo'burg and our respective trips. Not a bad way to pass the time.

The flight was nice, the food decent and before I knew it we were landing in Istanbul. At 6 a.m. After a trip through Passport Control and recovering my bag, I walked out to a huge crowd of people waiting, greeting friends and family with hugs, kisses and lots of pictures. It felt like a throng of paparazzi. Not remembering which direction Josh had told me to meet him, I fled to the right (which seemed less packed with people) and settled down on a chair to wait. Luckily, even though he had told me to go left, Josh found me quickly. I felt instant relief seeing him, my first familiar face in more than six months.

We took a subway, tram and bus through the city and to the where we'd be staying. It was chilly and rainy, but it didn't matter, I was just happy to be there. We began the climb up the never-ending staircase (I had no idea I was so used to walking on flat ground) to the house, which belongs to an American ex-pat for which Josh was house-sitting. The climb was worth it, though, as the house boasted amazing views of the Bosphorus and one of the two bridges connecting the European and Asian sides of the city. Absolutely nothing to complain about, with the exception of the owner's three cats (and the reason for Josh getting the house-sitting gig). Mass consumption of Benadryl began.

After I took a long, hot shower (I will never, ever take showers for granted again) we both agreed it was time for a nap. Josh hadn't gone to sleep the night before as his only option for meeting me at the airport when my plane arrived was to take a 4 a.m. bus. I also hadn't slept much, spending the previous two nights at the Peace Corps Training Center and on a plane, respectively. After some rest and recuperation, we headed to a mall where I got my fill of window shopping and Burger King and we took in a movie.

Sightseeing began in earnest the next day. Josh explained the public transport system and took me to visit my first mosque. We began with the "Blue Mosque," which sits opposite the Haghia Sophia, and is named for the blue tiles within. He narrated the history of the mosque and answered my questions with detail and enthusiasm that can only come from someone who's studied the region in-depth. I realized then just how incredibly spoiled I was, staying for free at a place with a great view, being shown the city by my own personal tour guide.

We continued touring the area, Josh helping me get my bearings and telling me the history of each spot, stopping by another mosque, tombs of sultans, the Grand Bazaar, book market, Spice Bazaar (which I was informed, emphatically, is actually called the Egyptian Market) and the most beautiful mosque I saw, the Yeni Cami or “New Mosque.” We weaved through narrow streets, perusing shops and vendors and enjoyed my first taste of traditional Turkish cuisine. A good day. We ended with a ferry ride across and north up the Bosphorus before walking back to the house and relaxing with some television and the only English-language movie we could find on.

The following day, Christmas Eve, we visited the Islamic Art Museum, which featured stone, metal, mother of pearl and wood pieces along with brightly-colored, intricately painted books and scrolls. The highlight, though, was the rugs. Hundreds of years old, the patterns and colors were amazing. We then made our way to Taksim, an area full of shops, restaurants and bars, via a walk from the museum, over the Bosphorus and up a rather large hill. I was a bit grumpy about the hike at first, but we stopped by a gorgeous tower and the view made it well worth it. For dinner Josh took me to an iscandir (totally guessing on the spelling) restaurant. Iscandir, which basically consists of chunks of bread topped with lots of butter, tomato sauce, meat and yogurt, turned out to be my favorite Turkish dish. After dinner we visited a pub with cheap beer and then a bar with a live band playing Balkan music. Around midnight we headed back through Taksim square to catch our bus home and it began to snow. It didn't last long and it didn't stick, but it snowed on Christmas.

On Christmas Day Josh and I headed north and crossed to the Asian side of Istanbul via ferry. We walked up to an old castle overlooking the Red Sea. Istanbul has a fair share of stray dogs and cats, and this area was no exception. A friendly, surprisingly healthy-looking dog greeted us at the pier and escorted us all the way to the castle, stayed with us while we took it all in, then walked back down with us. The sun was out, the air was crisp and the views were amazing. In the evening we headed back to Taksim to meet up with a group of Josh's friends for dinner. We joined in a traditional feast beginning with tons of appetizers, bread and salad followed by grilled meat and veges. The dinner, which usually lasts several hours, also included Raki, a potent liquorice-flavored alcohol that is drank diluted with water.

The next day Josh needed to do some work so I headed out on my own to visit the Topkapi Sarayi, a palace near the Haghia Sophia. The cold and rain put a bit of a damper on my visit as the palace is largely open-air, but the architecture and tiles were beautiful. Large rooms displayed imperial treasures, from ceramics imported from Asia to dazzling jewels to collections of robes and rugs. One area displayed religious relics including the purported staff of Moses and footprint of Mohamed. Another included paintings of sultans, many of which were commissioned hundreds of years after their reigns and of whom no one has any idea what they actually looked like. After finishing my tour I stopped by a Starbucks, sipped on a latte (oh how I miss them) and read until Josh met me and we went for dinner and drinks.

The next few days were spent relaxing and enjoying things I can't do in Lesotho, like visiting the mall, going to the movie theater, watching television and taking advantage of a washing machine and unlimited, fast internet access. Mostly, I enjoyed just having the company of a good friend. Josh and I took strolls down the Bosphorus, watching boats and fisherman, chatting and hanging out. One day we visited Ortaköy and ate loaded baked potatoes (awesome), another just walking by the water, taking lots of pictures and eating more iscandir.

The second week of my visit also marked Josh's birthday, which we celebrated with dinner at a manti café (manti is sort of like a meat ravioli topped with butter, garlic, yogurt and herbs) followed by drinks with some of his friends and dancing to live Balkan music. The following day we rang in the new year at a party thrown by one of Josh's friends. His friend lives on the Asian side of Istanbul, directly on the water, near one of the two bridges traversing the Bosphorus. We greeted 2009 sipping on champaign, gazing at the bridge's ever-changing colored lights and enjoying private fireworks displays going off up and down the waterfront. It is a moment, a new years, I will never forget.

And then, all of a sudden, I had little time left. On my last full day in town I visited Istanbul's most famous landmark, the Haghia Sophia. Unfortunately my camera battery died just as I walked in, so I don't have nearly as many photos as I'd like. Josh and I went to Taksim and splurged a bit on dinner and drinks. As we rode the bus home I stared out the window, trying to sear each site into my mind, and contemplated leaving, going back to Lesotho, how much I would miss everything I was experiencing. On my last afternoon in town, Josh accompanied me back to the Grand Bazaar and helped negotiate a decent price for some souvenirs. We walked around, my last chance to take in the mosques, shops and buildings, had manti for dinner and headed to the airport.

I held back tears as we said our goodbyes and promised to see each other again (relatively) soon. After one last hug he waited for me walk through Passport Control and to the terminal, both of us waving goodbye over and over again. When I couldn't see him anymore, I sat down and cried. I cried until I boarded the plane and forced myself to sleep.

So there it is, probably a lot more detail about my trip, and my current mental state, than you wanted to know. I'm so glad for it all, though. I had the trip of a lifetime in a city that has won my heart. To Josh, thank you for everything! And to everyone else, don't worry, this low point too shall pass. Tomorrow I head to Maseru for All-Vol Conference, the yearly meeting of all Peace Corps Lesotho Volunteers and staff. When I return there's the PEPFAR grant and HIV/AIDS Day event to plan, the PSI support group project to launch, the library to prepare for and I begin teaching life skills classes at Kingsgate High School on January 19. The sun is out and the weather is wonderful. There are things to be happy about here too.

Waiting Game

2008-12-20T06:55:00.001-06:00

12-15-08
Life in Lesotho never ceases to catch me by surprise, remind me that as much as things are different, we are all much the same. A good lesson to remember.

What did I do today? Well, after waking up, boiling water for my daily cup of coffee (courtesy of the french press Julie, another PCV in my group, kindly re-gifted to me and grounds sent by wonderful friends and family who probably realized subjecting Lesotho to a caffeine-deprived Kelly could easily result in an international incident) killing a sinister-looking millipede with a generous spray of DOOM and peeing in what is essentially a glorified hole in the ground, I crawled back into bed and checked my email. And I ask myself for the millionth time, “Where am I?”

You read that right, checked my email. Way back in June Vodacom Lesotho introduced wireless internet service via its cell tower network. This being Lesotho, it finally started working (somewhat) reliably a few weeks ago, just as Nichol was COSing and selling her internet-capable cell phone. I bought it from her not knowing all of this but happy to walk a few minutes from my house and check email using South Africa cell service (I can't get SA signal in my house, but she could). When I returned to Mafeteng after Phase III training, a new Vodacom “3G” (the name of their internet service) store had opened, so I stopped in to check it out. After realizing that they were now offering pre-paid internet service (from June until now you technically had to have a contract to get their internet service, though a few people who are much more tech-savvy than me got around it some how) and that, thanks to Nichol, I had an internet-capable phone, I was in. They called my sim card number into customer service and told me that I'd be able to connect within two hours.

That was Friday. Saturday it still wasn't working, so after a few calls to customer service, (they told me just two more hours...two hours later, it was just two more hours, and so on) I went back to the Mafeteng store. I had been waiting to load the data bundle (you load a certain amount of airtime and then are charged by megabyte downloaded) until I knew the service was working, but the salesperson/technician told me to load M10 and see if that fixed the problem. I tried, got a server error and, when I tried to load it again, an error saying the airtime code was duplicate. Basically my airtime was lost in technology space. She then tried calling customer service but, being Saturday, they naturally weren't working. They'd call me on Monday, she said.

I kept trying Sunday hoping by some miracle it would work and, of course it didn't. So this morning, after no call from anyone at Vodacom, I tried one more time before heading off to pester the poor store employees some more. And it connected! Success! Instant, 24/7, relatively cheap communication with home!

As amazing as it is, there are obviously some limits here. Since I'm typing on a phone, I won't be using it to post a blog or long email. Also, the service still has a lot of kinks and, for example, doesn't currently support any mobile chat programs (so no Gmail, Facebook, MSN Instant Messenger or AIM chat for now). Since I'm charged by the MB, I won't be using it to download any attachments, photos or documents. But even all of that could change. The phone has Bluetooth, and Nichol also sold me a USB Bluetooth adapter for my laptop, so if I'm ever able to figure out how to get it to work, I can use my phone as a modem. Volá, internet on my computer. Vodacom is also supposedly working on getting the chat programs to work, so hopefully my IM's will be coming to a computer near you soon.

Yet another contrast in life here, more advanced technology than I had on my cell phone back home in a place where most live below the poverty line. And now I'm off to bathe out of a bucket and check the news on CNN.com.

12-19-08
This week has been a week of waiting. I always get anxious before a trip but generally I'm too busy to focus on it. Not true this time around. To keep from dying of anticipation, I made myself a to-do list (ok, I do this all the time, I love lists, as mentioned in an earlier posting) of things to complete before leaving for Turkey. The usual: “clean the house, clean the latrine, do laundry” type tasks were there but I also included items to pass the time a bit more enjoyably. My favorites include: read every issue of Time I have (there were seven, the most recent issue being the one published just after the election. I saw Obama's acceptance speech thanks to Nichol's family's satellite, but the photos gave me goosebumps all over again.), read two books and ration myself one episode of Pushing Daisies a day (my fellow PCV Maya got it sent from home and gave it to me at Phase III training. I never watched this show in the States but it's so cute! I hope it isn't/doesn't get canceled).

I did do some serious work too. Early in the week my counterpart at the hospital, 'M'e Vikhile, and I received an email from Biblionef saying they have accepted our application for Sesotho-language books for the Mafeteng Hospital Library. Vikhile and I met on Wednesday to fill out some additional paperwork. I also took the opportunity to give Vikhile a tutorial on business communication basics (she has an email address but doesn't use it much and, until now, never for business purposes). In addition to things like using proper English (not the slang or text-shorthand English many people here use with their friends) in business emails, we discussed how to fill out a contract, the structure of form letters and appropriate salutations.

Speaking of the library, I need to take a minute and send a HUGE thank you to the staff, students and parents at IKM-Manning School. My mom's been keeping me updated on the book drive progress and I can't tell you how touched I am by your generosity! Together, this group has already raised a large chunk of the money needed for shipping and many, many books. Irwin Elementary had the great idea of creating “Pennies For Postage” jars, my pen pal classes at IKM-Manning Middle School have been busy bringing in both book and cash donations and, according to my mom, several teachers asked their students to donate money for shipping instead of bringing them a Christmas gift. When my mom first told me this all this, I teared up. There are so many things I have to be grateful for and at the top of that list is the incredible support of my hometown. Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart, for helping make this project a reality!

In addition to working on the library, I've also been writing a draft PEPFAR grant application for the HIV/AIDS day event my fellow PCV, Ashley, and I are hoping to hold at her clinic in April. Applications are due January 30, so I wanted to get the basics down before leaving for vacation and then focus on the missing details when we are back. Grant writing is always a bit tedious but it has made me really excited about planning this event and the possibilities for the clinic staff and the NGOs we're partnering with (PSI and Kick4Life) to carry it on once we are gone.

So here I am, packed and ready to go. Just one more event in Lesotho before vacation. Francis, Nichol's fiancé, is having a going away party in Maseru tomorrow (Saturday) as he's leaving for the States in late December. I'll head up there to wish him goodbye, spend the night at the training center and leave early Sunday morning for South Africa, arriving in Istanbul Monday.

Since this is likely my last post until I return from vacation, Happy Holidays to all my friends, family and readers! I hope you are all able to spend time with those special to you and have a wonderful start to the new year. See you in 2009!

Hooray!

2008-12-11T03:25:00.003-06:00

I've added lots of photos! Check out the "Kelly's Photos From Lesotho" link to the left and then click on the "August-November 2008" album.

Books

2008-12-10T03:31:00.006-06:00

11-25-08
The time has come to ask for your assistance. As you know from many past blog posts, I am trying to establish a library for patient use at the government hospital here in Mafeteng. We are finally ready to start gathering book donations! Check my photo link to the left for some photos of the Mafeteng Government Hospital. Here's a little background on the hospital and the project:

Mafeteng is a peri-urban town of approximately 25,000 residents, located in west-central Lesotho, southern Africa. The Mafeteng Government Hospital is the only hospital in the district, employing five doctors and 66 nurses. Each month, more than 2,686 patients visit the hospital for medical treatment, consultation and medication. These patients travel from across the district to receive services not available in their villages. Several NGOs (non-governmental organizations) also reside on the hospital compound, providing a variety of services from HIV/AIDS counseling and testing to ARV medication to pre- and post-natal support for new mothers.

Those visiting the hospital on an out-patient basis must endure hours of waiting in line, with nothing to occupy their time, before being seen by a nurse, physician or receiving medication. Unlike hospital and doctor's waiting rooms in the U.S.A., there are no televisions, magazines or books available for their use. Patients admitted to the hospital are in a similar situation with no television or reading materials available to help pass the time. The Mafeteng Hospital Library will help fill this need by supplying books for patients and their caretakers to use, free of charge, during their visit or hospitalization.

Library patrons' first language is Sesotho but most are able to read and speak varying amounts of English. Books including photos, illustrations, charts and graphs will be of great use, in addition to easy-reader fiction and non-fiction books for those with a slightly greater English fluency. English-language materials received will be supplemented by a limited number of books available in Sesotho.

Books of several types and reading levels are needed to launch the Mafeteng Hospital Library. I am hoping to gather a minimum of 250 and a maximum of 500 new or gently used books from the following categories:
*Baby books
*Children's picture books
*Children's bibles
*Recent atlases
*Science, Geography and Health textbooks
*Easy reader fiction and non-fiction (young adult English reading level):
*Historical topics
*Inspirational or religious books appealing to adults – exp. Chicken Soup for the Soul
*Books about nature – plants, animals, etc.
*Issues of National Geographic magazine
*Medical books geared towards the general population (not medical text books or professional literature), specifically those discussing:
*HIV/AIDS
*Tuberculosis
*Diabetes
*Hypertension

My mom, Jean, and Zane Diersen and his class have graciously agreed to gather all donations and ship them off at the end of January. If you are near Manning or Manilla, Iowa, book donations can be dropped off at IKM-Manning school buildings or at Zion Lutheran Church in Manning. Additionally, you many ship donations to my mom (please be sure to ship them no later than January 15, 2009). Please email me if you'd like to do that and I can give you her address. We are also looking for monetary donations to pay for shipping the books to Lesotho. I don't have information just yet on what that amount is or how money can be donated, but I should know more about that in the next couple of weeks and will post info here as soon as I do.

Thank you in advance for all your help with this. I am eternally grateful and I know the people who will benefit from your generosity will be grateful as well!

12-05-08
Wow, it's been a long time since I last wrote. I can't really say it's because I've been too busy; I've been in a bit of a funk lately and figured it would be better to not broadcast my frustrations on the web. But I'm in a good place today, so I figured it was safe to update.

Let's rewind to a week and a half ago. Monday Nichol took me to meet 'M'e Mina, the headmaster at Kingsgate High School in Mafeteng where I will be teaching life skills starting in mid-January. She seems like a really smart woman, and though most of our discussion revolved around our mutual elation over Obama's election, I also got her consent to teach next year. The new school year starts January 18, and since the class schedule won't be created until then, I have to go back that week to find out my timeline. I guess I have plenty of time to do lesson plans!

Nichol also took me to Motsequea (pronounced Mot-say-coo-a), a village about 15 minutes from Mafeteng on the road toward Maseru, to meet her friend Itumaleng (pronounced E-too-ma-lang). Itumaleng opened a shop with her sister, a good role-model for young Basotho girls as most shops are owned by men.

Wednesday was our second workshop at PSI headquarters in Maseru to discuss our support group project. The days' training focused on helping our counterparts (Keletso, in my case) learn techniques for leading group discussion on sensitive topics. We each had to practice leading an eight minute discussion with the rest of the groups on topics including homosexuality, gender-based violence and rape. It was shocking to see how uncomfortable some of the counterparts (who are trained counselors) were with topics they deemed morally offensive. There was no concept of keeping their personal judgements separate from their professional obligations. As a result, Trish, the other PCV from my group working with PSI, and I decided to work to develop a workshop on gender and sexuality and present it to all PSI counselors. The thought is that by making the counselors more comfortable with these topics, they will be able to understand how their biases effect their clients. Yet another project for January.

Then came Thanksgiving. It was hot, windy and rainy, not the weather I'm used to this time of year. We found a frozen turkey and, though none of us had ever made one on our own, it was cooked to perfection. A HUGE thanks to Nichol's mom, who sent ingredients from home so we could have proper green bean casserole, stuffing, cranberries and pumpkin pie! We also made mashed potatoes and gravy and mac and cheese. For a few minutes it honestly felt like home.

Saturday Ashley (one of the other PCVs from my group in my district) and Trish came into town from Ash's site at we met up with Nichol, her fiance Francis and a few German volunteers and headed to Wepner, just over the boarder in South Africa. Because the German volunteers are allowed to have cars, they gave us a ride there and back (it's only about 30 minutes from Mafeteng), so much nicer than hitching or taking public. Wepner doesn't have much, it's a very small town, but it does have Lord Fraisers Guest House, a little piece of cheeseburger paradise close to home. In addition to amazing burgers, they have milkshakes, fries and a real bar. The courtyard is very green and feels slightly European, a great place to hang out and feel normal for a few hours.

Bright and early Sunday morning Trish, Ashley and I got a hitch to Maseru so that we could claim beds and not get stuck sleeping on the floor of the training center. I think I have post-traumatic stress disorder from training because the sight of the place makes me want to crawl into the fetal position. But only 10 days of Phase III training, I can handle that, right? Well, we got good beds (spots, there is no such thing as a decent mattress at the training center) at least and spent the rest of the day catching up with other Volunteers from my group, many of which I hadn't seen since August.

Don't get me wrong, I did actually miss my group. But hanging out with nearly 30 people (not only is my whole group of 23 in town for training but the five people COSing this past week and the PCVs doing training for the new group of Ed Volunteers also have to stay at the training center) in a compound for over a week is hard to do, especially when you're used to being alone. The trainings have been useful and the atmosphere is much more relaxed than during our first two months in Lesotho. We've spent a great deal of time sharing, and learning from our experiences, both shared and unique, has been the most helpful thing, realizing that we're not all alone and most of us are going through the same things. We've had a lot of fun too. Tonight we're heading to the Ambassador's for a pool party and tomorrow Allison and Oscar are going head to head for the first annual Iron Chef Lesotho competition. Sunday we're getting a projector from the Embassy and having girls night (there are only six guys in my group so they get out-voted pretty easily) watching the Sex and the City movie and drinking cosmos. We have a workshop Monday with our counterparts and then Tuesday we wrap-up our Phase III training. I'll head back to Mafeteng Wednesday after Trish and I meet with Andréa, the RPCV who's working on the support group project at PSI. Then it's only a week and a half until vacation. Not that I'm counting...

12-10-08
Patience. I feel like that's something I've lost a lot of here in Lesotho and I'm not proud of it. I've felt myself getting angry about things I shouldn't and reacting in ways that aren't like me.

At our workshop on Monday we had a session where our counterparts could ask questions of the PCVs (why do we do certain things, say certain things, act a certain way) and vice versa. What really hit home with me was the reminder that the things that bother me the most (the children asking for candy, the adults asking for money, everyone shouting "lakhooa" and asking where I'm going and what I'm doing) are things that are part of the culture here and that aren't meant to be offensive.

The children ask for candy (usually) because they just want to talk to me and don't know what else to say to a white person. They've been conditioned to it because, in the past, missionaries would come to Lesotho and drive around throwing candy out to children to entice them to come to church. Seriously. So why should they know better? But instead of calmly explaining that I don't have candy and hopefully changing their behavior in the future, I get angry and either ignore them (one of the rudest things to do in Basotho culture) or yell at them.

Adults ask for money because Lesotho has been awash in international aid for as long as it has existed, that people have constantly come in and built things or handed over large amounts of money and then left, asking for no commitment or accountability. When your only experience of white people has been aid workers and rich whites in South Africa, of course you are going to assume that every one you meet is going to give you something. But instead of explaining that I'm here to share my knowledge and skills I again get angry, I ignore or I yell.

Lakhooa is annoying, I hear it a million times a day. And in America, I can't think of many things more offensive than classifying someone by their skin color. But in Lesotho, it's a term of respect, a term for someone who is rich and successful. Basotho call rich Basotho Lakhooa. There are Basotho who's names are Lakhooa. But I let it get to me, I roll my eyes and want to scream every time I hear it, I think about how much I want to tell them to shut up. I don't remind myself they aren't meaning to offend me.

At least I'm realizing it and I'm thinking about it. And I'm grateful for our workshop, for the reminder that I need to change my perspective and look at things in a different way, that I need to focus on the intent of the behavior and not my gut reaction. Another thing to add to my ever growing list of things to work on.

The holidays are here, even if it is 90 degrees

2008-11-25T06:01:00.001-06:00

11-23-08
The the holidays have officially arrived here in Lesotho. It seems that the Mafeteng Post Office is no longer sorting incoming mail and almost all work has ground to a halt. For my part, in the past week, I've watched the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy (twice), along with several other movies, and almost every one of the 41 episodes of South Park I was able to download off the computer at the VRC (Volunteer Resource Center, at the PC Office in Maseru). I have a feeling I'll be re-watching the first four seasons of The Office (for the second time in Lesotho) soon. I'm on my third book this week, have read several issues of Time, a couple of editions of a newspaper sent from home and have slept about 12 hours every day. If I knew how to knit, I'd probably have made a sweater by now too; Nichol is cleaning house in preparation of her departure and gave me some knitting needles and yarn. Maybe I can get someone in by group to teach me during Phase III training.

So maybe I haven't been doing a lot of what one would traditionally call “work,” but I like to look at is as a little experiment in self-preservation. What does one do to keep from going crazy when left with WAY too much time on their hands and very limited resources for entertainment? Thank God they brought a computer, for one. If only there were parks or something here, I'd have spent more of this past week outside. But I'm pretty sick of guys constantly yelling, “Lakhooa, I love you!” and children screaming, “Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi!” in that horrible, nasally voice. Hanging out outside would cause the usual scene. So I've become a bit of a hermit. Yup, time for Kelly to take a vacation.

Ok, I have done some work this past week. I worked with Keletso, my counterpart at PSI/New Start, to develop a communication plan (something new to her) for our HIV/AIDS support group project, in addition to a project work plan detailing what needs to be done, and who is responsible for doing each task, over the next few weeks. We also met with Andréa, the RPCV who's working with PSI Lesotho in Maseru to launch the project, on Wednesday to go over some logistical details.

A few weeks ago Keletso and I secured a support group affiliated with LENEPWA, an organization of people living with HIV/AIDS, to participate in the project but were still looking for our second group. Thursday I met with two women who work with a youth group that meets at the hospital to see if the group would be interested in participating. The bo-'M'e were really excited about it so I'm going to the group's weekly meeting next Saturday to pitch the idea to them. Hopefully they will be just as receptive and our search for feasible groups will be over.

This next week should, fingers crossed, be a bit busier than the last. This is Nichol's last week here in Mafeteng, so Monday or Tuesday she's taking me to meet with the principal at Kingsgate High School, where I'm hoping to teach a life skills class when the new school year begins in late January. She and I will also be going over the details of her playground project, which I'll be helping her counterpart, Blossom, finish up. Nichol received funding to construct playgrounds at three area ECCD schools (like pre-schools in the U.S.) but due to a glitch between PC and the bank, she didn't get the money from PC until this past week meaning construction won't be finished before she leaves. I've offered to help by going with Blossom to visit the sites once the equipment is installed to make sure everything that was promised was actually done.

Wednesday I head to Maseru for another workshop for the PSI/New Start support group project and Thursday I'll be celebrating Thanksgiving at Nichol's. Her mom sent Stove Top stuffing, ingredients for pumpkin pie filling, French's Fried Onions and canned cranberries. We even saw frozen turkey at Shoprite in Maseru, meaning we don't have to slaughter our own. Interesting as it would've been, I'm rather relieved we don't have to deal with all the work that would've involved.

Next Sunday I head back to the PC training center in Maseru, along with the rest of my group, for 10 days of Phase III training. I'm not sure what is all on the agenda, but I am looking forward to learning about grant opportunities (so Ashley and I can finally write the PEPFAR grant application for our HIV/AIDS Day event), cheaper, faster internet and seeing everyone in my group again, at least for a little while. Ten days together will be a lot, but now that the weather is warm and the sun is up longer we'll be able to spread out more than we could during training.

I want to wish you all a happy Thanksgiving, enjoy the cool weather, food and company of family and friends for me! Until next time...

November Pen Pal Letter

2008-11-25T05:59:00.000-06:00

11-17-08
Dear Mr. Diersen and classes,
It's always great to hear from you! Thank you for your latest letter and photos. It's nice to put a visual with your questions and see who it is that I'm writing to.

I am glad to hear you've been able to keep up with my blog. I have been having trouble emailing or posting photos as the internet connection in Mafeteng is slow and expensive. I hope you were able to view the pictures from my trip to Qacha's Nek in September, some traditional Basotho dancing and Anna. I thought her story might be of interest to you as she is the same age as some of you. I haven't been able to see her for the past few weeks, but Anne Marie, the PCV who lives in her village, tells me her finger seems to be healing slowly. We're still trying to get her assistance with food and clothing, but the process is quite slow. Next time I see her I will show her your pictures and let her know there are students, not so different from her, back home thinking about her and wishing her well!

As winter approaches there, summer is coming full force here in Lesotho. The temperatures are around 80 and 90 degrees during the day, but it cools off considerably at night. The Basotho have been waiting for the rains to come so they can begin planting, and they seem to have finally arrived. Last Sunday it rained all day and Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday it rained, like clockwork, every night at 5 p.m. Farmers here mostly plant corn, but almost every family has a garden where they plant vegetables for personal consumption. I do not have my own garden, but my 'M'e has a very large one that she lets me get fresh moroho (greens, usually spinach or swiss chard) from. This past week she planted beets, carrots, onions, pumpkin (which is not pumpkin but what we call squash in America) and potatoes in addition to more moroho. There is also a peach tree in her garden. I will be sure to send you a picture of it once things begin to grow!

Congratulations to the Wolves athletes! My mom, who is the art teacher in Manning, let me know the volleyball team made it to state and that the football team plays their first state game today. I hope they do well! I'm sure you are all very proud of them!

It is good to hear you have been working on goal-setting. I did indeed set some goals for myself as well. I have not yet been able to find a school to paint world and Africa maps at, but have been able to work on some of my other goals. I have been working to establish a library at the Mafeteng Government Hospital, a goal that I am grateful to have your assistance in meeting! I will need your help collecting new and used (as long as they are in good shape) books for the library. My goal is to gather 250-500 books. Hopefully you will be able to come up with some creative ways to ask people in your school and area to donate!

I've also been working with a fellow PCV, Ashley, on planning an HIV/AIDS Day at her clinic. We're still in the planning stage, but hope to hold the event next fall (spring in America). Additionally, I am talking to a high school near my house where I hope to teach a life skills class starting at the beginning of the next school year (the end of January). If that works out, I might be able to do a map painting project there.

I haven't seen Bob or Bill lately, but have been spraying my house weekly with bug spray. There certainly are many more insects around now that the weather is warm, compared to when I arrived in June. The biggest pest are flies, but there are also millipedes, crickets, biting ants, cockroaches and some PCVs have problems with silverfish and bedbugs. Thank goodness I haven't had to deal with them! I haven't seen any snakes, but I know there are many around. We don't have rattlesnakes here as far as I know, but there are a couple of poisonous snakes in Lesotho, usually seen up in the mountains. After the rains I always see a lot of frogs around and there are also huge, beautiful grasshoppers. I'm still trying to get a photo of one and will be sure to send it to you if I do.

So far the holidays I've celebrated in Lesotho have been much different from celebrations in America. Usually PCVs get together to celebrate and try to make it as much like holidays back home as possible. My first holiday here was the 4th of July, which is of course not celebrated by the Basotho. I was still in training, but our group held a braii (BBQ) to celebrate. Halloween is also not celebrated in Lesotho, but a PCV in my district held a costume party at his house; I dressed in a toga. Thanksgiving will be coming up next week, again not celebrated by the Basotho. My fellow PCV Nichol received canned cranberries, pumpkin pie filling, Stove Top stuffing and fried onions from home, so we are getting together for a Thanksgiving feast at her house. We thought we might have to buy a live turkey but have been able to find a frozen one. A good thing as I'm not sure who would've slaughtered and prepared it!

The next holiday will be Christmas, which is celebrated in Lesotho. It is tradition during the month of December for the Basotho to take everything out of their house and clean very throughly, much like the tradition of spring cleaning in the States, before the holiday. Christmas Day and Boxing Day, the day after Christmas, are recognized as national holidays. As of yet I haven't really seen Christmas trees or lights, but there are some Christmas decorations for sale in Shoprite. New Years Day is also a national holiday in Lesotho, just like in the United States.

The next national holiday in Lesotho is Moshoeshoe's (pronounced Mow-shway-shway) Day, celebrated March 11. This commemorates the birthday of the first king of Lesotho, King Moshoeshoe. Good Friday and Easter Monday are also national holidays in Lesotho. Workers' Day on May 1, Ascension Day and Africa Day/Heroes Day on May 25 are all also national holidays.

The current King's birthday is another national holiday, and right now that is on July 17. A huge festival of singing, dancing, food and speeches is thrown in celebration and is hosted by a different district each year. In 2008 it was celebrated in Mafeteng. October 4 is Lesotho Independence Day, which is also a national holiday.

While there are police in Lesotho, they are only in the camptowns and don't patrol or function in the exact same way as in the United States. Outside of camptowns especially, villagers watch out for each other and will help apprehend criminals. The village chief serves as a sort of mayor, police chief, judge and negotiator. The chief settles disputes, grants land and property rights, approves and announces village events and pitsos (pronounced peet-so, means “meeting”) and may send a group of people to apprehend a criminal or contact the police, if needed. The chief can be a man or a woman and is not elected; chiefs are appointed by birth and are usually from a family line that is decedent of King Moshoeshoe I. Mafeteng camptown also has a chief, but in camptowns the chief does not perform as many of the safety and court functions as those in more rural areas do. Lesotho is currently working to decentralize its government, meaning there is an effort to move government offices and employees out of Maseru and into camptowns and, eventually, larger villages. The intention is to make government services more accessible to the people but is also resulting in conflicts of power between chiefs and the government.

Lesotho has a King, Queen and royal family, along with a national parliament. The parliament is elected by the people. There is also local government, as I mentioned above, in each district in the form of ministries. There are many but the ones I have interacted with include: Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, DA's Office (District Administrator, somewhat like a state governor in the U.S.) and Ministry of Agriculture. The government of Lesotho is quite stable. There has been only one major political conflict which resulted in riots after elections in the 1990's. Peace Corps has a plan in place, which all PCVs receive training about, to keep Volunteers safe or evacuate us from the country in the event of political, social or environmental upheaval.

I have visited a few schools with PSI/New Start when doing HIV/AIDS education and testing activities but do not yet have a great deal of familiarity with the school system in Lesotho. As I mentioned, I'm hoping to teach a life skills class next year, so I will probably be able to tell you more of my personal observations then.

Lesotho's school year starts at the end of January and ends in early December. The year is divided into four quarters, none of which is exactly a quarter of anything. The first ends with a break at Easter, the second with a winter break starting in June and ending at the beginning of August, the third with a week break in October for Lesotho's Independence Day and the fourth with the conclusion of exams in the beginning of December. All schools require students to wear uniforms.

Primary schools have seven standards (like grades). Children can enter Standard 1 at age five but many do not start until they are seven or eight. Until 2000, primary school students had to pay school fees, meaning many children never attended school because their families couldn't afford it. Now that primary education has been opened up, there are sometimes teenagers in primary classes along with children of six or seven. Children also repeat standards quite frequently, so most classes have a wide age range.

At the end of Standard 7, students have to write a graduation exam. If the students don't pass, they repeat Standard 7 and re-take the exam, which does not have a fee. The level at which a student passes the exam, or their grade, is called a 1st class, 2nd class or 3rd class pass, and determines whether or not the student can get into a high-achieving secondary or high school. If the student doesn't pass the exam, they cannot go on to secondary or high school.

After primary school, students in Lesotho have five more years of school, called forms (also like grades). If a school teaches Forms A-C it is called a secondary school, if it teaches Forms A-E it is called a high school. Secondary and high school attendance requires students pay school fees, which range anywhere from 500-3,000M (equivalent to $50-$300 in the U.S.) a year not including uniforms or boarding fees. Most families cannot afford this, so many students do not receive an education beyond primary. At the end of Form C students must write another graduation exam and it costs them 400M to take it (equivalent to $40 in the U.S.), which is quite a lot of money here. They must pass this exam to go on in school. At the end of Form E students must write a final graduation exam, which costs 985M ($98.50 U.S.) to take. Students must receive a very high pass on this exam to attend college or university. There is one university in Lesotho and a few vocational or trade colleges.

In theory, starting with Standard 4, all classes are to be taught in English but the implementation of this varies from school to school, depending on the English-speaking ability of the teacher and the administration's enforcement of the policy.

There are not really parks or recreation areas in Lesotho. The Ministry of Youth has been working to establish youth centers, much like rec centers in the U.S., to give kids a place to gather and play when they are out of school, but the initiative has had problems. There are not youth centers in every district or camptown, much less out in villages. Very few schools have playgrounds, but many PCVs have done playground projects where they ask for donations from the U.S. and then build playground equipment at a local school. There are NGOs, like Kick4Life and OYAP, trying to work on the problem of a lack of entertainment and activities for youth in Lesotho. They use mainly sports programs to try to keep kids busy and out of trouble. Some PCVs have also started youth groups or after school clubs at local schools to give students a place to meet and something to do after school and during breaks.

There is a national curriculum detailing what is supposed to be taught each year in each standard or form. The difference between this and what is actually taught can be quite drastic, depending on the school. Main subjects include math (called “maths” here), English, a class much like home economics, science and Sesotho. There are not music, P.E., art, creative writing, etc. classes in most schools. Students do play sports, mostly soccer and net ball (somewhat like basketball) but I'm not sure exactly how the teams are organized as it is much less formal than in the States.

I am going on a trip to Turkey in late December-early January. I will be visiting a good friend who is currently doing research in Istanbul. He invited me to visit during my PC service, and timing and plane ticket prices worked out for me to visit over the holidays this year. I am indeed looking forward to the amenities of a metropolitan area along with experiencing the city, which I've never visited before. Hopefully I will have much to tell you (and pictures to send) about it when I get back after the new year!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy the last of the fall weather before winter moves in. I look forward to hearing more about what you are learning and what is going on back in Manilla and Manning again soon.

Salang hantle (pronounced saw-long han-t-lay, means “stay well” in Sesotho)!
Kelly

Another week in Mafeteng

2008-11-20T02:32:00.001-06:00

11-17-08
This past week has been pretty quiet. I feel like I'm doing a great deal of preparation and waiting for January, when things will really get into swing.

I received confirmation that my application to African Library Project (ALP) for the Mafeteng Government Hospital Library was received. In the next few weeks I will post information here about how you can donate books for the library. A big thanks to Mr. Diersen, his classes and my mom for heading up the book drive in the States! The real work will be falling on them over the next couple of months to collect all the donations and get them sent off to ALP for shipment to Lesotho. Beginning in January I'll be working with 'M'e Vikhile at the hospital to create a library action plan, detailing how the books will be organized, the responsibilities of the hospital librarian (which is currently her) and how we will promote the library and encourage its proper use. I'm still waiting to hear from Biblionef, the organization I've contacted for Sesotho-language books, so keep your fingers crossed!

As for the PSI/New Start support group project, Andréa held a workshop for Trish and I, the two PCVs working with PSI/New Start offices in Lesotho, and the Outreach Coordinators from Mafeteng, Maseru, Leribe (Trish's office) and Butha Buthe. Since psychosocial support is not a concept widely known or used in Lesotho, the workshop focused mainly on its basics and importance. We did an exercise where Andréa read off a situation (for example, “A client tells you they have multiple sexual partners.”) and we were to stand in a certain part of the room based on our comfort with the subject. It was really interesting to see how Trish and I as Americans answered versus our Basotho counterparts. Since beginning work with PSI/New Start, I've noticed counselors here tend not to separate out their personal beliefs while in counseling and testing sessions. There are many consequences, the main being that people will not share all pertinent information in a counseling and testing session, or are afraid to test at all, because they don't want to be judged, lectured or berated. If we don't have time in future workshops to focus more on this issue, I plan to hold a training at my site about it; I think it's something all our site employees could benefit learning more about.

The workshop was good, and I feel like we covered important topics and information, I'm just still concerned how this will translate to the Basotho culture. If we are unable to alter the habits/attitudes/practices of PSI-trained and employed counselors, how will they impart knowledge and best practices to our support groups? But I guess if we don't try, we won't know. If nothing else, I'm getting a good look at how western policy and practices are mandated and translated into a very non-western culture.

On Saturday Nichol had her going away party. Several PCVs met up at Mafeteng Hotel to hang out by the pool for the afternoon and then headed out to her house for a braii (BBQ) and party. Nichol's 'M'e and her counterpart, Blossom, cooked papa and moroho for the occasion and her host father gave a very nice speech. I'm pretty sad to see her go, but am happy and excited for all she has to look forward to in Denver, including her fiánce, Francis, coming in late December.

This week I am working with my counterpart, Keletso, on a work plan for the support group project as well as creating a communication and teamwork plan for our site. I'm also hoping to get out to visit Anna, trying to gather last-minute information and contacts from Nichol before she leaves and tying up loose ends before leaving for 10 days of Phase III PC training in Maseru November 30 – December 10. And after that...VACATION! Yeah, I'm counting down.

And I know I say this every so often, but I really want to send a HUGE thank you to everyone who has written, emailed, sent packages, called or texted. There are some days where I really wonder what I'm doing here, and honestly, knowing that there are so many of you who care about me and believe in what I'm doing here keeps me going. I love you all, and not just in the Basotho men “Ke rata...marry me and take me to America!” kind of way! :)

I promise to write again soon...

2008-11-14T01:12:00.002-06:00

but in the meantime, I've posted some pics in past blog entries about Anna. I've had trouble getting photos to upload to my Picasa account, but I have tons to share with you all, so look for them to finally get posted at the beginning on December.

Much love!

A New Project and Bloemfontein

2008-11-11T02:39:00.001-06:00

11-10-08
I have a new project! Last Wednesday morning my counterpart, Keletso, let me know that we'd be meeting later that day with someone from PSI Lesotho about a new project grant they had received to work with support groups. Each PSI/New Start branch in the country will select two existing, motivated support groups to work with over the next year. In addition to helping them focus more on the “support” aspect of the group (support groups here are primarily exist to generate revenue, which tends to disappear or be squandered, and don't follow the traditional emotional and psychological support model common in the U.S.), the grant will also allow us to fund some community outreach and beautification projects.

Much to my surprise and enjoyment, Andréa, a RPCV who finished her service a couple months ago, turned out to be the person who will be working with us on the project. She's currently looking for a job with an NGO here in Lesotho but is working on this project in the meantime. During our meeting we discussed the basic parameters and outline of the project. Keletso's and my job is to first identify two support groups we'd like to work with and then meet with them once weekly for six months. During the first month, Keletso will facilitate sessions on the importance of psychological and emotional support, confidentiality and the basics of facilitating a support group session. During the following five months the group members themselves will present sessions on various HIV/AIDS and positive living topics. The idea is that when we are finished, the group members will not only have gained emotional support and knowledge but will also be able to use their newly-found facilitation skills to replicate the program with another group.

Throughout the six months, we will also allow the group to apply for money to fund community outreach and beautification projects. I'm planning to create an application form and present a short session discussing the basics of applying for funding. Since our grant expires in August 2009, the groups will need to know how to go about applying for funding from other sources. My hope is that by making them fill out an application, the groups will think through their proposed projects in detail and we will have some control over exactly how the funds are spent. Money has a way of disappearing here, and I am a bit nervous about the amount of oversight there will be. All in all I am excited to have this project to work on with PSI/New Start, one that I feel like I can actually sink my teeth into. Keletso and I will be attending a workshop in Maseru on Thursday, along with staff from all the other PSI/New Start branches, so hopefully things will be clearer after that.

Ashley came into town Thursday afternoon, and Friday we headed out for Bloemfontein, South Africa. We made it door-to-door in just under three hours, thanks to a hitch from Mafeteng to the border and another from the border to Mimosa Mall. I expected to feel pretty out of place, going from five months in Lesotho to a mall, but that didn't really happen (I'm not sure if that's good or bad). There were some distinct, shocking differences, however.

Bloem attracts PCVs for three main reasons: shopping, food and nightlife. It's not really a tourist destination, not near the water or full of wildlife. But, it's good when you just need to feel “normal” for awhile. Our first stop was Mug & Bean for some coffee. I had three cups and my ensuing caffeine buzz and speed-talking was amusing to all (Karrin, a PCV from my group, arrived with Nichol and Francis, Nichol's fiánce, about an hour after Ashley and I. Trish, another PCV from my group, came in a few hours later). The rest of the day was spent checking out the stores and eating, of course. I had my McDonald's, which I never eat in the States but, I have to tell you, tasted pretty darn good. I found tortilla chips at Woolworth's and Pick-n-Pay, a grocery store chain, had pretty much everything else imaginable. Almost like home...almost.

I feel the need to insert a random observation here. Some white Afrikaners, who live mostly in the Free State, have a habit of not wearing shoes. Most do, but every few minutes I would spot one barefoot. In a mall, restaurant, club. Doesn't matter. I'm not really sure where this whole “shoes not needed” thing came from. Honestly, it's pretty gross, I think. It's not that they can't afford them, these are the rich people! Anyway, moving on...

Friday night we went to Cool Runnings and Mystic Boar, two bars in town. It was nice to get dressed up, put on makeup and feel like normal me for once. Around midnight we were all craving food so we made a McDonald's run (I know, my cholesterol has got to be disgusting at this point) where we proceeded to walk through the drive-thru. I'm pretty sure they don't let you do that at home, but they simply asked that we “wait in line like a car.” I think the guys behind us in line were pretty entertained. Trish engaged them in political talk while Nichol, our “driver,” made sure we knew each time the line moved ahead. Francis, Ashley and I were busy getting our groove on. If only we had a video camera! We called it a night around 3 a.m. and I stayed at Francis' sister's house with Nichol and him while Ashley, Karrin and Trish stayed at an amazing guest house that offers great discounts to PCVs.

Saturday was much the same, shopping and eating during the day and going out at night. We had a nice dinner at the Waterfront Mall, seafood and Brazilian cuisine. We also met up with Dion, one of Nichol's friends who lives in Bloem. He was incredibly friendly and generous and let Nichol, Francis and I stay the night at his place. We did end up turning in early, around 12:30 a.m. I think only having three hours of sleep finally caught up to us.

Sunday morning I made the ten minute walk from Dion's to the taxi rank to head home. I could immediately sense the difference. Literally, just from crossing the street, it changed to something much like Lesotho. It was strange how obviously segregated the city is, how much the remnants of apartheid still exist. At the malls and the bars, the crowds were almost totally white. Here, I was the only white person in sight. It wasn't unsafe, people were just as friendly and helpful as anywhere else, it was just that I was, quite obviously, an oddity. I've become used to it in Lesotho, but to have it be so distinct from one side of a city to another was a little disconcerting. As our kombi made its way out of town and back towards the border gate, we passed by the townships that surround this and every city in South Africa. Littered with tin shacks held together with I can only imagine what, they are a shocking reminder of the fact that this is, indeed, still a third world country. The disparity between rich and poor was the real surprise to me. I mean, Lesotho is poor, but there isn't much of an ultra-rich class, there isn't as much contrast. As we rolled towards home, I thought a lot about these issues, things that are easily ignored when you are the one sipping a latte, maybe not so easily ignored when you are the one serving it.

Things to be thankful for, things that need to change

2008-11-03T00:49:00.001-06:00

10-29-08
If nothing else, this experience will teach me to be thankful. If nothing else, I will come home from Lesotho just a little more (hopefully a lot more) appreciative of the life I've been blessed to live.

Yesterday, Nichol and I went out to see Anna. Anne Marie, the PCV who lives in Anna's village and brought her to the hospital in Mafeteng, had returned to her site early Monday and was brought up to speed on Anna's progress by a teacher. Anna had missed school Thursday because she was at the clinic getting the dressing on her finger changed but had come on Friday morning. The teacher sent Anna to the clinic Friday after lunch to have it changed again, but the clinic, which is supposed to close at 4:30 p.m., turned her away when she arrived at 2:30 p.m. because it was “too late.” Hearing this, Anne Marie went to assess the situation for herself and was greeted by a grinning Anna, sprinting down the road to give her a giant hug. Anna's wound had a fresh, clean dressing, evidence she had made it to the clinic that day. Things seemed to be finally looking up.

Nichol and I were able to get away for the afternoon and texted Anne Marie to let her know we were coming out. It was good timing because she was going with Anna to the clinic to talk to the nurse about setting a daily time Anna could get the dressing changed. It seemed that on the days that the clinic had changed the dressing, Anna had missed school because they made her come in the morning and then sit and wait. We arrived around 2 p.m. and waited about 45 minutes for Anna to come down the road from school. We received the same warm, excited reception from Anna, big hugs and even bigger smiles. But the dressing on her finger was not fine. It was dirty and coming unwrapped. We walked with her into the clinic to find no one there. Not a single nurse or village health worker. It was deserted. Hoping the nurses were just late coming back from lunch, we walked to the shop up the road. No luck. As we debated our options, a counselor who works at the clinic happened to walk past us on the road. She told us that the clinic was “closed” for the day, that one nurse was on leave and the other was in another village for the afternoon. No one had keys to the supplies except the nurse who was gone. No one there knew how to dress a wound. There was nothing to be done except bring her back in the morning. As Nichol, Anne Marie and I tried to explain to this woman that someone, anyone, had to come help this child, that a dirty bandage meant the finger could be re-infected and that could lead to her losing her hand, as we pleaded, begged, yelled, demanded, she showed not a single flash of emotion. Not the faintest hint that she understood that something had to be done, that this was not acceptable.

With no other options, we decided to take Anna back to Anne Marie's house and tape the dressing further so it wouldn't fall off. We fixed her up as best we could and sent her home with strict instructions to meet Anne Marie at the clinic at 7 a.m. the next day. After Anna left, the three of us just sat, shocked. Why was it that no one in this village seemed to care about this girl? There's supposed to be this great cultural thing about the Basotho, that they take care of each other, they watch out for their neighbors, that they take in their orphans. Where was that culture now? We'd seen it in people like Nichol's counterpart Blossom, my 'M'e and precious few others, but why was it that her community, the ones closest to her, seemed to be abandoning her?

This morning, Anne Marie texted me with the news that the visit to the clinic had not gone well. Apparently the staff blamed Anna for not coming in, said they needed “time for themselves too,” explained that the early clinic closures were a product of only having one nurse on staff. They complained that they had other tasks to do, that Anna had never told them she was supposed to come in every day, that her fingernails were too long and someone should take better care of her. But change her dressing, which takes just a couple minutes, first thing every morning so Anna could make it to school? Well, that seemed like a lot to ask.

As they finally unwrapped Anna's finger, Anne Marie grew concerned at what she saw. It looked open, bloody, oozing. She passed this information along to Nichol and I, all of us unsure of what to do. Nichol and I tried to track down social services, the hospital administrator, the hospital matron, all of whom were busy or gone. We finally tracked down one of the head nurses who said we should have Anna brought in for the doctor to check over, just to make sure the infection hadn't returned. She called the hospital driver, who was at the village clinics collecting the blood samples, and told him to pick up Anna at her clinic. I called Anna's principal and told her Anna needed to go to the clinic “now now” (“now now” means “right now” while “now” simply means whenever you feel like getting around to it...you can only imagine what happens if you say something like “soon”).

The hospital truck pulled up around 2 p.m. and out jumped Anna. She alternated between smiles of excitement at seeing us and tears, fearing she would have to stay at the hospital yet again. One of the nurses who had been working in the women's ward when Anna was admitted saw us and helped us figure out where we were supposed to go to see the doctor. Except he was at lunch. We took Anna over to the PSI/New Start office, bought her an orange and steamed bread for lunch and waited until it was time for the doctor to return. We flipped through her medical record book, trying to discern what the doctor had written, what the clinic was really supposed to be doing. But then we came across that horrifying word, written in her medical record book in blue ink, the one word we'd all suspected but never uttered. Our worst fears confirmed. Things are so wrong about this situation, things that make me sick to my stomach. With nothing else to do, we just sat and waited for the doctor.

As the doctor glanced at her records, he tried to ask Anna a few questions (thankfully he spoke Sesotho) to calm her down. She cried, fearing more needles. He asked Nichol and I to leave the room. This initially caused her to wail even louder but she quickly calmed down. After a few minutes he walked out of the room, past us and out the door. We could hear Anna in the room, sniffling but under control. Then came her little voice...“'M'e Thato?” I didn't answer at first, but after her calling me several times I asked her what she needed. “I want to go home!” More wailing. Ok, so talking to her was not such a good idea. But what do you do? A few minutes later the doctor returned with a bundle of gauze and brought Anna out to us. He told us the wound was ok and the infection was still clearing. She could go home.

As Anne Marie, Nichol and I walked Anna towards the taxi rank we debated our decision. Are we really helping anything? Is our interference making things worse? Are we overreacting? Should we just do what we all really want to do but know we can't, take her away from everything horrible and wrong and shelter her, teach her, give her everything she deserves?

As we walked we crossed a dirt road in the process of being paved with some piece of road construction equipment, beeping as it backed up. Anna started crying; she'd never seen road construction equipment before. We stopped at Nichol's office on our way and Anna stared in wonder at the staircase leading to the second floor. After much encouragement, she sprinted up to the top and hung her head over the railing, big eyes and giant grin staring back down at us; she had never seen a staircase before. Before we put Anna on her kombi home, we took her to the Total petrol station and bought her a soft-serve ice cream cone. We demonstrated how to lick it; she had never had soft-serve before.

Are we really helping? I hope so. Are we making things worse? Well, could things really be much worse? Are we overreacting? Maybe. But for a girl who has next to nothing, next to no one, who has endured neglect and other, even more horrifying forms of abuse, maybe an overreaction is due.

Social services is aware of the situation and is going to visit her village, assess her living situation. A World Vision staff person stationed in Anna's village knows about her case and has vowed to check in on her and provide assistance. Red Cross has asked what they can do to help. Teachers have inquired about her case, wanting to help her get the education she needs (she's several grades behind her peers, possibly due to a learning disability and no doubt due to trauma and the fact that she wasn't sent to school until just a few years ago). Maybe Anna's community isn't doing anything to help but hopefully these others will.

I walked home tonight, wanting to fall on the ground crying and scream at the top of my lungs. But I also felt thankful. So thankful to have friends and family who care. People who I know would do (and in many cases have done) anything for me. People who have protected me, kept me from ever having to experience anything even near the life Anna has lived.

To you, to family who are always there no matter how far away I go, to friends who are never too busy to laugh, cry and complain, thank you. I hope I am passing along a little of your love to someone here who really needs it.

11-2-08
Holidays aren't the same in Lesotho. Friday was Halloween but for the first time, probably ever, I didn't dress up and I didn't go to a party. Kids still asked me for candy, but they do that every single day, not because they are trick-or-treating.

Shafiq, an education Volunteer in a village in Mafeteng, hosted a Halloween party at his site last night. I'd never been out there before because the trip involves a 45 minute bus ride from town and a 45 minute walk once the bus drops you off at the road. Ok, so not really that far, but I can be rather lazy. Our group of six piled into the bus to the typical public transport jams of rap, house and Basotho accordion music. As we got off at the road, storm clouds gathered to both the east and west with a small, clear strip in the middle...a strip that luckily lead directly to Shafiq's house. While long, the walk was quite pretty, a mix of Nebraska-flat land and random, almost alien looking red mountains that sprout up periodically without rhyme or reason.

We arrived just before the rain and, thankfully, the braii (barbecue) pit was covered. Shafiq made roti and curry and we grilled chicken, which was perfect with the addition of some Cookies BBQ Sauce sent from home (THANK YOU!!!!). The night was pretty low-key and relaxing, just nice conversation with a few fellow PCVs.

This coming week is my last on lockdown and Friday I'm heading for my first weekend in South Africa, to Bloemfontein, a city about two hours from Mafeteng. There isn't anything particularly touristy there, but that's not why we're going anyway; we're after the mall, the coffee shop, the movie theater, the restaurants. And yes, I do plan to stop at McDonald's. I know, I know...

Anna Part 2 and A Couple Irish Filmmakers

2008-10-28T04:16:00.001-05:00

10-26-08
Monday came and Nichol and I arrived at the hospital promptly at 8 a.m. to ask the doctor about Anna's prognosis. Surgery in Maseru or Mafeteng? Full amputation or partial? After waiting for a few hours, we finally found out that a decision would be made later in the day by the hospital's head doctor and she would either have surgery Thursday in Mafeteng or the following Monday in Maseru. We were looking at at least another week of Anna having to be in the hospital. Her hand with the IV in it was also terribly swollen and our attempts to try to find out why that was happening were futile. To make matters worse, someone had told Anna she was going home. We had the nurse break the news to her and she was, of course, quite upset and crying.

Nichol and I left around noon to take a little break and get lunch. As we were walking back to the hospital for an afternoon visit with Anna, a truck pulled up to the hospital gate. It was full of white people we didn't know so, of course, we had to investigate. They turned out to be a few of the Irish volunteers in the area for two weeks building an orphanage just outside Mafeteng camptown. Two of the group, Mark and Rory, were filming a documentary of the orphanage build for Irish television and came to the hospital to try to get some interviews about HIV/AIDS in Lesotho and its impact on orphans. Nichol took them to meet with the hospital administration to interview staff from the Know Your Status campaign, a government-funded HIV/AIDS testing organization. I talked to my counterpart at PSI and, after calling my boss at a conference and the Maseru office for permission, was able to get permission for the guys to film our outreach the next day. We also brought them to interview Nichol's counterpart, Blossom, who works with children under 5 and could talk about the importance of testing that age group. It all went surprisingly well, except Mark lost his phone at some point and we weren't able to find it...presumably someone saw it on the ground and took it.

Tuesday started off with Mark and Rory meeting us at the hospital and interviewing my boss, 'M'e Mosele, and my counterpart, Keletso, before coming with us to the outreach at a village just outside Mafeteng camptown. Unfortunately the guys had to go back to the orphanage build before the testers showed up, but they were able to film the education portion and condom demos...and presumably my horrible Sesotho introduction of myself to the villagers.

Nichol and I went back to the hospital to see Anna after the outreach and found that there was still no news about her amputation. The IV had, at least, been removed from her hand and put into her arm but her hand was still swollen. She was starting to have more spunk and we could see a little more of an attitude appropriate to a 13 year-old girl. Despite her saying, “Ke kopa lipongpong!” (“Give me candy!”) every time I walked in and the inevitable pouting every time I said no, it was good to see her feeling a little better.

Wednesday turned out to be quite hectic. Upon our arrival at the hospital we discovered that Anna was not having an amputation at all (apparently it had healed enough on its own and the infection had cleared) and was actually being sent home that day. Except there was no one there to take her. And there was no one there to explain her medication schedule to. There was only the prospect of sending Anna back to the situation that had led to all of this happening in the first place. Nichol and I tried to speak to Social Services about what we should do, but the head of the department was gone at a workshop and we weren't able to find anyone else to help us. The nurses and doctor told us she couldn't be released until she got her medication from the pharmacy, but without speaking to Social Services we couldn't get that either.

Between debates about how to get Anna home, who to call, if we should just keep her with someone in Mafeteng until we could talk to Social Services about her family situation, Mark and Rory stopped by to interview Tsepang (pronounced Say-pong), an expert patient at the Karabong ARV clinic. Expert patients are HIV+ people who help counsel those who have recently tested positive and show that living a long, healthy life with HIV is completely possible in Lesotho. After the interview the guys took us out to lunch as a thank you for our help and we invited them to meet us out at Nichol's for dinner.

Upon our return to the hospital, Nichol was finally given a letter saying Anna was not able to pay her hospital bills and that she could be given her medication for free as well. It was 3 p.m. by this time and as we rushed to the pharmacy to get her medication we contemplated if it was a good idea to put her on the taxi this late and have her get home potentially after dark. As Nichol called Blossom to get her advice, I talked to the pharmacy staff. It turns out that there are specific hours (two hours a day, to be exact) that you are able to turn in your prescriptions. The rest of the day people just sit and wait, for hours, for them to be filled. Obviously we didn't know this and 3 p.m. is well after the scheduled filling time. I pleaded complete ignorance, begged the woman to help us because we were just trying to help this little girl get home and she had no family to take responsibility for her. Though rude and obviously annoyed, the pharmacist helped us out and we got Anna's meds in record time (though they were hid in her medical records book to make sure none of the other patients saw that we had cut the line). And that was it. Anna was out and ready to go home. After having the nurse explain to Anna in Sesotho that she must, must, must take one of each kind of pill three times a day and visit the clinic each morning to get her finger re-wrapped (and Nichol and I hoping that Anna will follow through since there's no one at home to make sure she does) I said my goodbyes. I gave Anna one last big, long hug outside the hospital gate, promised to visit and told her for the millionth time that if she needed anything, ever, to find a phone and call Nichol or I and we would get to her. She sniffled but, in true Anna fashion, did her best not to cry. As she and Nichol walked down the road I couldn't help but think about what waits for her, if what we've done really helped or if it will just make things back home that much harder for her to face.

Mark and Rory picked me up around 7:30 p.m. in a taxi and we headed out to Nichol's for much needed chilling. I introduced them to the village bar (we stopped in to get some quarts of beer for dinner) and made it to Nichol's just as she was finishing up Thai noodles. It was a really good night of hanging out and watching movies and learning that, apparently, everything we say about the Irish is offensive. Sorry about all the leprechaun jokes guys! :)

Thursday and Friday were pretty uneventful, but I really needed it after dealing with Anna for the past week. Keletso and I tried to go to the taxi drivers association to schedule an outreach but they weren't around. She also took me to the office that hires workers for the mines in South Africa. Many Basotho men work there, coming home at the most once a month, in dangerous conditions because it pays better than anything they could do in Lesotho. The office was crowded, with lines out the door, and towards one side of the waiting room sat about ten men in wheelchairs. As we were leaving Keletso confirmed my suspicion...those were men who had been hurt working in the mines and were collecting money for their injuries. Ten men, in the Mafeteng office, on one day.

Friday afternoon Nichol and I met up with Tsepang and headed out to the orphanage dedication. In true Lesotho style it started late, but there were some great Zulu and Basotho dancers and the orphanage is really nice. It will house 20+ children, the worst of the worst cases, a facility that is badly needed here. Mark and Rory promised to try to meet us out later (the build crew left at 8:30 a.m. Saturday to get back to Jo'burg to catch their flight home) for goodbyes and Nichol, Tsepang and I went to the Golden Hotel in town to meet with a couple of Welsh teachers (they have been teaching in Mafeteng for a year and will head home next month) for pizza.

There you have it, the weekly Kelly in Lesotho update. This next week Nichol and I are planning to go visit Anna to make sure she's getting along alright back at her village, and the head of Social Services promised us she is going out to visit as well to assess her living situation. And a fond farewell to Mark and Rory, best of luck on the documentary!

The other piece of news I have to report involves my holiday plans. After stumbling across a reasonably-priced plane ticket, I've made plans to spend a couple weeks in Istanbul in December/January. My friend Josh, who's there doing research for his thesis, graciously invited me to visit and I figured, no time like the present (or two months from the present). So, vacation in Turkey in just two months. I can't wait!

Anna

2008-10-18T05:30:00.001-05:00

10-17-08
I met Anna Tuesday, just a few hours after writing my last blog post. In the three days that I've known her and been involved in trying to get her the treatment she desperately needs, I've been both appalled and amazed at the character of those all around me.

Early Tuesday afternoon Alissa, an education PCV living in Mohale's Hoek camptown about 45 minutes south of Mafeteng, came into the PSI/New Start office and asked if I had a few minutes to help her out with something. Since I was spending my time doing really important things like reading about Durban and dreaming of vacation, I was happy to oblige. She took me to the women's ward in the hospital where Anne Marie, an education PCV here in Mafeteng district, was sitting on a bench in the hall next to a beautiful, way too skinny, terrified 13 year-old girl trying her best to hold it together. Her name is Anna.

Anna is from a remote village in Mafeteng district and had never been to Mafeteng camptown before, never been to a hospital. So how did she end up here? Well, the story is a little sketchy, mostly pieced together from information that Anne Marie and Alissa were able to gather from Anna's teacher and the local clinic. But generally, this is what we know:

Several weeks back Anna hurt her finger on a rock and the wound became infected. A nurse saw Anna on the road and, noticing the infection, gave her some antibiotic and told her (and, possibly, her mother...we're not sure on that) that she needed to go to Mafeteng to get it treated. It seems that Anna's mother is not around very much, there is no father and she has been basically left to raise herself...and possibly a sibling or two. No matter the case, the wound didn't get treated. When Anne Marie and Alissa were out visiting primary schools on Tuesday morning, one of the teachers pulled them aside and asked them to look at Anna's finger – puss-filled and green. They immediately took Anna to the clinic, where they were told about her first diagnosis and that it had now become so infected it would have to be amputated by the doctor in Mafeteng. After Anne Marie insisted to the clinic staff that someone go to the village and find Anna's mother, she was finally tracked down and brought in. “I don't have the money to take her to Mafeteng,” was the response. Not, “What can I do to get her there?” not, “Can you help me find the money to pay for the ride?” just “I don't have nine rand.” Ok, so that may be the case, but really...wouldn't most mothers do anything they could to raise the money to get their seriously ill child to a hospital?

Anne Marie and Alissa immediately offered to pay for the four of them to take the kombi ride to the hospital. On the way they stopped at Anne Marie's house where she made a peanut butter sandwich for Anna to have for lunch and picked out a few children's books to take along. As they waited for the kombi to come, Anna's mom reached over and took the peanut butter off the sandwich to eat for herself.

Once in Mafeteng the doctor confirmed that the infection was indeed very serious and that she would lose part, though not necessarily all, of her finger. As Anna was being admitted, Alissa came to get me. Anne Marie had to go to Maseru for a workshop and couldn't stay with Anna. Since Nichol and I are near and in town, she asked for our help to look after Anna and visit her while she was in the hospital.

Through the admittance process Anna just sat, tears rolling down her cheeks, shaking, but doing her best not to break down completely. When the doctor took her in to insert the IV we could hear her from the hallway, screaming. She's never seen an IV, isn't used to needles. But when she came out, she again tried to do her best to be brave.

Anna's mother left after getting money from Anne Marie to take a kombi home. She took Anna's school uniform with her promising to send a dress back with the hospital nurse who was making a trip to the village clinic the next day. We aren't sure if the hospital staff told her she couldn't stay because she really couldn't or because they sensed that things might be better without mom around, but either way, Anna was on her own again.

The last three days have been a constant refrain of phone calls between Nichol, Anne Marie and I trying to get Anna help from the nurses, clothes or visits from her mother. Here mom didn't send clothes back with the nurse so a teacher who Nichol and her counterpart, Blossom, know gave Anna a skirt, shirt and sweater of her daughter's. We also bought her a pair of shorts to sleep in and clean underwear. Blossom noticed Wednesday that Anna hadn't been bathed so came Thursday morning to do it. My 'M'e got up with me at 6 a.m. this morning to do the bathing.

Anne Marie has kept in contact with Anna's principal, who found Anna's mother yesterday and gave her money to come visit. None of us saw her mom, but she did apparently come by. Some staff at the hospital and the ARV clinic on the hospital compound have also taken an interest in Anna, paying her visits. We've sat with her through X-rays and IV changes, each time trying to convince her that it'll be ok, that the giant machines and needles and vials are meant to help her get better. We've brought in children's books, a stuffed animal that was gathering dust in my house and, of course, candy and cookies.

When the doctor put Anna under on Wednesday to examine the finger, he found the tip so deteriorated that it fell off. This morning the doctor told me they will make a decision Monday about the amputation as they have to wait for the infection to go down. They may have to send her to Maseru to have the procedure done. Can you imagine, a girl who had never left her village now having to be taken into Maseru?

I've seen nurses be kind and comforting, putting up with all the lekhooa (white people) questioning and answering us as best as possible. I've seen nurses yelling at Anna, telling her to stop crying immediately, and let her IV sit empty and bloody for hours. I've seen bo-'M'e who don't know Anna or have any reason to care, like Blossom and my 'M'e, step in where her mother or hospital staff should have taken responsibility. I've seen principals and teachers do everything in their power to give Anna something familiar, to come and visit. I've seen a mother disappear on her daughter.

The contrast of “good” and “bad” has been both completely blurred and starkly obvious to me these past few days. I never thought, or wanted, to come to Africa to do the “hug an African child and go home feeling better about yourself” thing, never thought (and still don't think) that's the way to make a difference. But it's hard to not get personal, not want to scoop her up and try to fly her to America and give her everything she doesn't have here. For better or worse I wonder if I've become one of those “dollar a day” infomercials. But right now I guess that doesn't matter so much, it just matters that we are doing our best to help and that no matter how trivial it seems, giving her just a little happiness is better than doing nothing at all.

Just Another Update

2008-10-15T08:02:00.000-05:00

10-12-08
Here's my latest letter to my pen pals back at IKM-Manning Middle School!

Dear Mr. Diersen and students,

I'm glad to hear that you are enjoying your fall and that both the volleyball and football teams are doing well! I'm sure you are all really excited and are doing a great job of cheering them on. Did you know I was a cheerleader at Manning when I was in high school? I'm glad to see school spirit is still strong and you enjoyed your homecoming.

Thank you for the update on things that are going on in Iowa right now. I miss the sights and smells of fall. It is spring here and it is hard to get used to that the Basotho are thinking about planting and the trees are blooming instead of changing colors. The temperatures here now are in the 40's and 50's in the morning but get up to the 80's during the day. Your paragraphs were great, they gave me a good idea of what things are like in the new combined school district. I bet it is exciting to meet new friends and be the first to attend IKM-Manning Middle School. It would be great if you ever had a chance to email or mail me some pictures of your class or some school activities!

I am happy to hear that you have been able to read from my blog as well as my letters. My trip a few weeks ago was a bit of an adventure for me, the first time I've visited the mountains here in Lesotho. The country is divided into three geographical areas: the lowlands, which is on the western side of the country and is where I live; the foothills, which is in the center of the country; and the highlands, which is on the eastern side of Lesotho and where I was visiting my fellow Volunteer, Megan, in Qacha's Nek.

The landscape of the lowlands is much like Iowa, pretty flat, and many people farm the area growing mostly corn and garden vegetables like cabbage, spinach, onions, tomatoes and potatoes. The biggest difference between the landscape here and in Iowa is that the lowlands have a lot of large rock formations, that look like mini mountains, scattered throughout the land. The soil here is also a reddish-orange, not black. It usually doesn't ever snow in the lowlands, but every few years there might be a winter storm (winter is June-August here) and there will be snow on the ground for a day or two.

The foothills are mountainous, but the mountains there are not nearly as large as the ones in the highlands. The foothills is also at a lower elevation than the highlands. The mountains in the foothills do not have any snow on them for most of the year but do during snowstorms every winter.

The highlands are full of large mountains and are at the highest elevation of all of Lesotho. As a matter of fact, Lesotho is the highest elevation of any place in Africa! In the highlands it snows quite a lot in the winter and there is snow on the ground for most of the season, even in the valleys. As you read on my blog, there is even snow in the spring sometimes. The tallest mountain peaks in the highlands have snow on them all year.
I realized after I wrote that blog post that it is kind of confusing to understand exactly where all the places I talk about are located in Lesotho. I hope to find a map to send you that will help make it a little clearer. Maseru (pronounced Muh-sair-ooh) is the capital city of Lesotho and is located in the far west central part of the country. Mafeteng (pronounced Ma-fuh-tang), the town that I live in, is located to the south of Maseru. Quthing (pronounced K-ooh-ting), the district I visited with PSI/New Start to do HIV/AIDS outreach is located to the south and east of Mafeteng. Qacha's Nek (pronounced Kaw-cha's Neck), where I visited Megan and saw the snow, is located on the opposite side of the country from Mafeteng, to the east and slightly south. There is one main paved road that connects all the districts. Since Maseru is the capital, the paved road starts there and then runs north through the districts of Berea (pronounced Burr-ea), Leribe (pronounced La-ree-bay), Butha Buthe (pronounced Boo-ta Boo-tay), Mokhotlong (pronounced Mow-hoat-long) and ends in Thaba Tseka (pronounced Ta-bah Say-ka). The paved road also runs south out of Maseru through the districts of Mafeteng, Mohale's Hoek (pronounced Mow-hall-ee's Hook), Quthing (pronounced Coo-ting) and ends in Qacha's Nek.

Each district also has one camptown, which is the largest town in the district and would be comparable to a state capital city in the U.S. Most camptowns have the same name as their district. The main, paved road from Maseru runs through all the camptowns. There are other paved roads in Lesotho but they are limited in number. There is just this one major highway that connects all the major towns to each other.

I'm glad to hear you have been reading and learning about life in southern Africa. Soweto is a township, sort of like a suburb in America, of Johannesburg. Jo'burg is about 400 miles from Maseru and Mafeteng is about 60 miles south of Maseru. Life in South Africa is in some ways very similar and in others very different from life in Lesotho, even though Lesotho is completely surrounded by South Africa. I will be visiting South Africa over Christmas and New Years and will write to you after my trip about the comparisons and contrasts. One of the things they, sadly, have in common is a very high rate of people who are HIV-positive. It's really great that students in America are trying to help stop the disease's spread here in Africa. A lot of my work here in Lesotho also revolves around HIV/AIDS and trying to encourage Basotho to get tested. Right now I am working with my host organization, PSI/New Start on a campaign to test kombi and 4+1 drivers, a group that has a high risk for being HIV-positive.

I moved to Dallas in 2005, and the last two years I lived there I worked for the City of McKinney, a suburb north of Dallas with about 120,000 residents. My position was Marketing Coordinator. I had many tasks but one of my main jobs was to write brochures, reports, flyers, newsletters and anything else that the City would send out to residents, visitors or potential partners. I also created and carried out marketing plans for City events and projects; my job was to make sure as many people as possible knew about the event or project by placing advertisements, sending out flyers and posters and working with other people in my department to have the information included in local newspapers and on the television news.

I really loved my job, the people I worked with and my friends in Texas so it was hard to leave. Joining the Peace Corps was something that I'd thought about doing for years, ever since I was in college, and so when I was accepted, I felt like it was just a good time in my life to go on this adventure. I'm not sure yet what I will do when I'm done with Peace Corps. I really loved Dallas and would be very happy to go back. It will depend on what kind of job I can find when I come home. Right now I don't think I would go back to the same job I did before I left, but I could see myself working in marketing for a non-profit organization or the government.
Do I think I will be changed as a person? Most certainly, yes. The how is really hard for me to answer. I know I have already been changed but I don't think I will realize how until I am back home. I do think I will have a much better perspective of how the United States influences the world and will be more patient, compassionate and appreciative of all the things we are lucky to have as Americans.

To answer your questions about the photos:
In the winter I will use a gas propane heater to heat my house. I cannot leave it on at night, though, so I will have to buy more blankets. The Basotho are known for their blankets and the traditional ones are made of mohair (sheep wool) and are very warm. I also brought a sleeping bag with me that is made for camping in cold weather and keeps me very warm. It was winter when I arrived in Lesotho in June and we stayed warm during the day by wearing lots of layers, thermal tights and tops under our pants and shirts and then wearing winter coats, gloves and hats. In the winter, at night, it gets below freezing, even in the lowlands, but usually warms up during the day into the 50's or 60's. The temperatures here are almost like being in a desert...it gets really warm during the day but as soon as the sun goes down it gets cold quickly.

I will still be able to use my water tap during the winter as it does not get cold enough to freeze the water pipes. My house will also stay warm enough to keep water from freezing in the buckets. I will continue to dry my clothing out on the clothesline, although they won't dry as quickly as in the summer.
I feel very safe in my home and in the community, but I do not go out of my house at night as a precaution. Most of the Volunteers here feel very safe as the Basotho are welcoming and friendly and have taken us in as their sons and daughters. If there is ever a safety issue, communities most always come to the protection of the Volunteer and Peace Corps has a Safety and Security Officer who inspects our sites regularly to ensure our safety. The biggest security issue, I would say, is theft. As Americans we come to Lesotho with things that aren't available here or that are worth a lot of money, like laptops, iPods and cameras. Since I stand out here, I just have to watch my surroundings, not be flashy with things people might want to take and do my best to make friends with people I live and work with. I am the only one in my compound that has burglar bars but there are many homes in Mafeteng that have them. Peace Corps requires Volunteers to have them as they help deter people from breaking into our homes. There are police here and they are very helpful but it is not like America, there is no 911, and they do not have stations in every town. Mostly they are located only in the camptown and go out to the villages if they are contacted about a problem. People here rely greatly on each other, their friends, neighbors and village chief, for safety.

I get my money from an ATM, believe it or not! Peace Corps sets up bank accounts for us with a bank in Lesotho and then deposits our living stipends into them. We then go to the bank branch in our camptown and get the money out at the ATM. We are paid every three months in loti, the national currency of Lesotho. Right now eight loti is equivalent to one U.S. dollar. We receive about 1,400 loti, the equivalent of about $200 U.S., a month from Peace Corps to pay for food, clothing, transportation and anything else we need. It doesn't seem like a lot of money, but it is plenty to live on. Our host organizations pay our rent. My rent is equivalent to about $45 U.S. a month.

Unfortunately, things are getting more and more expensive here all the time. I've noticed food prices rising particularly. For example, two weeks ago I bought a bag of green beans for 10 loti. Last week that same bag was 12 loti. A loaf of bread is about 5 loti and a bag of powdered milk, which will last me about a month, is about 30 loti. A bag of tomatoes, onions or potatoes is 5 loti and one piece of fruit (an apple, banana, orange or pear) is 1-2 loti. A 4+1 ride costs 4 loti and a trip on a kombi from Mafeteng to Maseru is 25 loti each way.

It's hard to find out exactly how many people live in Mafeteng camptown as there isn't regular census information available here like in the U.S., but I've been told the number is somewhere around 20-30,000. There are about 210,000 people who live in Mafeteng district and the population of Lesotho is a little under 2 million.

The cans on the floor of Shoprite are cans a paraffin, which are used in paraffin lamps. I have one in my house for when the electricity goes out and people who don't have electricity use them as their main source of light as they are much brighter than candles. The orange box by the shopong is an old pay phone booth, but there is no phone in it anymore. I'm not sure why it was taken out but the box was left. The large, dirty barrels are where we dispose of organic waste. My 'M'e has three pigs and she feeds the organic scraps to them.

Thank you for writing again, it was really good to hear from you all! I enjoy all your questions and updates. You ask such great questions! I look forward to hearing from you all again soon. Until then, have a great fall!

Khotso!
Kelly

10-14-08
Things have been really quite lately, hence my lack of blog entires. Life here just goes on life always...I'll try to hit the high points without boring you too much.

Last Tuesday morning I met with the District Administrator for Mafeteng. The DA is the head government official in the district and the person who has to give approval to major projects or initiatives. When discussing who should write letters of support for the Mafeteng Hospital Library book applications 'M'e Vikhile suggested approaching the DA so we could show support from both the hospital and government communities. Vikhile was supposed to attend this meeting with me but there was some sort of transport issue and she couldn't make it. I've had this issue before; it seems most people here don't like to walk places, even if it is relatively close...

Anyway, I went into the meeting alone and had a good hour conversation with the DA. He has lived in the UK and Canada so we were able to relate very well and compared our experiences studying in London. He was supportive of the library project and agreed to write a letter of support. But, in order for him to write this letter, I had to go back and have the hospital administrator write a letter to the DA's office requesting him to write a letter of support. Yes, that's right, he could give me a verbal agreement to write the letter but couldn't actually do it without receiving an official letter of request for the letter of support. Government in action.

Saturday we had our quarterly Peace Corps Mafeteng District meeting at the Golden Hotel in town. We discussed business from the DAR (District AIDS Representative), Security and VAC (Volunteer Action Committee) members. We also discussed establishing a Volunteer Resource Center (VRC) in Mafeteng, basically a place in town where PCVs can drop their things or use the facility for working on projects without having to go to the VRC in Maseru. Looks like I'm going to take on getting that set-up since Jason and Nichol have been working on it and are both COSing (Close of Service...done with their PC service) in November. It was nice to get together with everyone and was a little bittersweet as it is possibly the last time this group will be together. Jason, Janeen, Nichol and Sasha are all COSing and Darrin is extending for a third year but moving to Maseru, leaving only Karrin, Ashley, Shafiq, Anne Marie and myself in Mafeteng district. Here's to hoping we get some awesome newbies when the education Volunteers come to site in January!

After the meeting I left for a short trip to Roma, home of the National University of Lesotho, with Nichol, Sasha and Clare. Francis' , Nichol's fiance, family moved to Roma about ten years ago as his father is a professor there. The campus is really beautiful, full of trees and landscaping. We got some soft-serve ice cream at a vendor (who cares if the chocolate tasted like strawberry, I haven't had soft-serve since leaving the States!) and then watched Frances playing in a basketball tournament before going to his family's house on campus. His father was incredibly welcoming and let us have free reign of his satellite dish...SNL, the latest Harry Potter movie, Golden Girls, CNN, NYPD Blue and Pamela Anderson's reality show, of course! Ok, so it wasn't the best use of our time, but...

We went out Saturday night to one of the college bars for a few drinks, but it was unusually quiet (apparently everyone was waiting to get paid on the 15th). None the less, it wasn't so different than college bars back home. I guess early 20-somethings everywhere are all about the same.

And now it's Tuesday. I'm spending the week wrangling together the last stats and letters needed for the library book applications and waiting for Paul and Keletso at PSI/New Start to find out where the Taxi Driver's Assoc. office is located so we can meet with them about doing an outreach for drivers. Tomorrow I'm headed to Maseru after a staff meeting at PSI/New Start to cast my ballot for Obama. Only a few weeks left before election time and, as much as I'm happy to miss all the petty fighting, commercials and phone calls, it is hard being so isolated from U.S. news. I just hope that, whoever you are for, you get out there and vote. During my time here I've come to appreciate more than ever the blessing that is living in a country where we are free to vote, where our vote is actually counted and not tampered with and where term limits actually mean something.

Arachnophobia, consumerism and good days

2008-10-07T04:14:00.001-05:00

9-30-08
The spiders have arrived. I expected it, moving to Africa and all, envisioned myself fighting off spiders the size of my head with nothing but a broomstick and a torch (you know, for dramatic effect). So when I discovered that Lesotho, at least in the winter, is a spider-less utopia, I was pretty stoked. Have I mentioned that I HATE spiders?

But then, a couple weeks ago, I spotted one in my latrine (of course while I was not in any kind of position to defend myself). It perched there, to my right, taunting me, threatening to hop down and make its home on my lap. I finished my business as quickly as possible and ran like the wind so as to keep it from jumping on me. Crisis averted. I got into my house and calmed myself. It was, after all, a spider of normal size and was just hanging out in the latrine. It's not like it was in my house or anything. And how much do I really need to use the latrine?

Well, when I really needed the latrine again, I returned with a giant gob of toilet paper, ready to smash him (I've determined that only a male would hang out in a latrine) into oblivion...but, of course, he was gone.

Last night, at approximately 8 o'clock, his friends staged another attack. I was getting ready to cozy up in bed, read a little and then go to sleep (because, in PC, staying up until 9 p.m. is the equivalent of 3 a.m. in America) when I made the mistake of looking at the wall above my bed. There sat not one but two, TWO spiders, both of the same general color and look of Mr. Latrine spidey. Except these were his much larger, older brothers, each the size of a (please excuse me for this comparison, I've spent too much time at the PSI office) condom wrapper.

So what to do? Well, I could try to smash them. Yes! Brilliant! But wait, there are two, they could stage some kind of sneak attack. While I go after Bob, (yes, they have names) Bill could jump onto my face and scurry around until he has hid himself in my hair. While I'm distracted by Bill, Bob could then crawl into my bed, undetected, lying in wait for the next round. When Bob is safely out of site, Bill could swing by his little spiderweb string from my hair and find safety in one of the cracks in the wall. No thank you, not taking any chances of that happening! Smashing is out. Why haven't I bought bug spray yet?

After assessing the situation for a few more minutes I took the only logical action. I proceeded to create an impenetrable fortress, stealthily closing up the mosquito net above my bed (which, until now, mostly just served as a decorative canopy that also catches random pieces of ceiling that fall every few days) using some 20-odd clothes pins. Try to get me now!

And, somehow, that provided enough comfort to allow me to go to sleep rather quickly. Bob and Bill were, of course, no where to be seen this morning. But, as a precaution and because something tells me there will be many more creepy crawly visitors to come as the weather gets warmer, I bought a giant can of DOOM at Shoprite today.

So I'm pretty sure Shoprite is owned by Wal-Mart (nice segway, huh?). I have no way to substantiate this, other than the fact that they use an “Always Lowest Prices” slogan and have the creepy smiley face guy all over the store. And while, like most twenty somethings, I in theory hate all that is corporate evil Wal-Mart, Starbucks, etc., I still like getting things cheap and easily. Yeah, my generation isn't always so good at practicing what we preach, myself just as guilty. And in Lesotho I can't really be picky. I mean, I like having a frozen foods section, a bakery and Doritos and there aren't really options for other places to get those kinds of things. But today, today Shoprite went too far.

I rolled in, headed directly for the insecticide/soap/air freshener/car supply (not really sure how many car supplies they sell) aisle, not to be distracted by chocolate or ice cream, on a mission. But I was stopped in my tracks. In September, in Africa, there they are, tiny gold reindeer hanging from the ceiling. In America this is to be expected, stores start the Christmas racket in July. But here? In September? After further investigation I discovered the reindeer are not alone. There are Santa Claus costumes (maybe I can wear that for Halloween?), garland, lights. And this is just the beginning, they're clearing space for much more.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Christmas. It's the most wonderful time of the year. Stores full of Christmasness, as long as it's after Thanksgiving, make me happy. I mean, I'd go to Target just to wonder around the holiday aisles (yes, I'm lame) and look at all sparkly goodness. Christmas trees make me smile. I enjoy driving the neighborhoods to look at lights on all the big houses. Stockings, presents, Santa, candy, snow, the whole thing, it's wonderful! But here...all that, now, so soon, so pre-packaged? Of all the things to import from the Western world, why has consumerism been the one to succeed?

Don't answer that, I know the answer. Just let me be annoyed. At least I got my DOOM and can now take my disappointment out on Bill and Bob, whenever they are brave enough to return.

10-5-08
I really meant to write this on Thursday or Friday, really I did. But I guess I got busy with all the exciting things that take up my time these days. Anyway, Wednesday and Thursday were, officially, two of the best days I've had here so far.

Wednesday started off like any other, I walked to work and arrived at the office at 8 a.m. After the usual singing and prayer (all in Sesotho with me sitting in the corner quietly pondering what kind of reaction that routine would get in an office in the States) my boss, 'M'e Mosele, began to discuss some of the issues that had been brought up at the site managers' meeting in Maseru the day before. Due to budget issues, some of the more remote outreaches are going to have to be scaled back until January. It's sad news because the remote areas need the outreach more than the schools and organizations in and close to the camptowns; most NGOs (PSI/New Start does do a good amount of remote outreach, going to places that many other organizations can't or don't) visit easy-to-access communities with decent frequency while the other areas are rarely, if ever, visited because of the logistic challenges of getting to them. As a result, those areas have less knowledge about HIV/AIDS leading to increased transmission and little if any treatment for those who are HIV+. For me, though, increased focus on outreach in and around Mafeteng is a plus because it means I finally have an opening to try to get some help with my ideas for outreach projects. I used the occasion to explain to 'M'e Mosele and the rest of the staff (it was a holiday week, Lesotho Independence Day is October 4, so unfortunatley there were several people on vacation) that I have many ideas for local outreach but I cannot set them up myself, I need a PSI/New Start staff person to go with me. 'M'e Mosele gave me the go-ahead, finally, to take whoever I wanted from the staff to set-up these meetings and get things rolling. No more having to wait around for an appointed person to decide to work with me, no more having to worry about causing problems because of politics within the staff!

After this small victory I went to 'M'e Mosele's office and pitched another idea. PSI/New Start Mafeteng hasn't done outreach to the prison in about 6 months, and the prison population is very high-risk, an obvious target for another outreach. However, there is a hole with most HIV/AIDS education here in Lesotho, one that is extremely important to cover, especially in this context. In Basotho culture, homosexuality is not generally recognized, it “doesn't exist.” Men are with men but they aren't homosexual, it isn't sex and they don't talk about it or recognize it. As a result, HIV transmission from male to male is not discussed or even hinted at. I've been waiting for an opening for awhile, and seeing it, pitched the idea to have Men As Partners, an organization that discusses the issue of homosexuality in the context of Basotho culture, come to PSI/New Start Mafeteng to do training with the staff. Then I braced myself for the rebuke, the expected, “What? But that doesn't happen here.” To my surprise and excitement, it didn't come. 'M'e Mosele completely agreed that it's an issue, one they've had a hard time tackling. She says when clients get into counseling sessions none will ever discuss it, and she sees the benefit of having Men As Partners help the counselor/testers learn more about the issue and perhaps find ways to help those being tested open up about it. This next week I'm working with another PCV who is working with Men As Partners to set up training as soon as possible!

Ok, so not a lot of “work” accomplished, but many barriers to work broken down. How could it not be a good day? And then it got better...

After our staff meeting and talking to 'M'e Mosele it was time for me to meet with Vikile, my counterpart with the Mafeteng Hospital Library project. I met her in her office, which she shares with two other women, and we walked to the conference room for our meeting. It happened to be occupied so we “couldn't meet” and she asked me to come back in the afternoon. While this didn't surprise me, there's a big importance placed on formality here, it did annoy me. Why couldn't we just meet in her office? But, with no other choice I handed her the draft applications for English books through African Library Project and Sesotho books through Biblionef and told her I'd come back after lunch. Bracing myself for disappointment, for her to give me excuses for doing none of the things I'd asked her to, I arrived promptly at 2 p.m. (lunch here is at 1p.m.) and we again went to meet in the conference room. To my shock and elation, Vikile had not only done everything I'd asked in the last meeting, securing a letter of support from the Hospital Administrator and working on setting up a time for us to meet with the district's library administrator (government official), but had also filled in most of the blanks I had left on the applications to fill with hospital statistics. I hadn't even asked her to do that, had just left the drafts with her in the hope she'd at least read them over. Amazing! Just when I'm being cynical, thinking I'm going to have to carry every project I do for the next two years all by myself, I am taught otherwise.

I left our meeting on cloud nine, almost skipping to the post office. And what do I find there but my first two pieces of mail to arrive in Mafeteng, letters taking only two and a half weeks to arrive from the States, a huge improvement on the two-month time table I've been working with getting mail from Maseru! Grinning like an idiot I climbed onto a kombi to head out to Ashely's site in Thaba Tseou (pronounced ta-ba sway-ooh) where we were going to meet with her boss on Thursday to pitch our plans for the Health Day event at her clinic. I think the Basotho on the kombi really thought I was crazy, or maybe drunk, because I just kept giggling and grinning...really, I couldn't control myself. It's the simple things, let me tell you!

On Thursday Ashley and I spent the morning writing out our plan, discussing possible time-tables, listing organizations we want to invite, what we want them to do, what kind of promotion we need and what kind of funding to go after. We met with her boss in the afternoon to pitch our ideas and she was positive about the whole thing. She told us to just go ahead with all our plans and let her know when and how we will need her assistance. We're looking at holding our event on a Saturday during the first school break after the holidays (there are more children around during breaks as some, especially high schoolers, attend school away from the village) which will be in March or April 2009. We want to use both the clinic and at the primary school across the field from it, so as soon as Ashley is able to meet with the principal to make sure we can use the school buildings (hopefully this coming week), we'll have an actual date and the plan will roll into action.

So there you have it, two really great days in Lesotho. Yesterday wasn't too bad either, I met Ashley, Karrin and Julie (Karrin and Julie were both in my training group along with Ashley...Karrin is in Mafeteng district with me and Julie is in Quthing, her site about 3-4 hours away from me) in Morija, a village about 45 minutes from Mafeteng on the paved road towards Maseru, for the annual Lesotho Arts and Cultural Festival. It wasn't quite what I expected and there were a lot less attendees than I anticipated but it was a good time none the less. We saw some traditional Basotho dancing, several groups performed dramas (support and youth groups here LOVE doing plays and skits) and there was also some singing, although we have our doubts about whether it was live or lip sinking. There were also vendors selling Basotho crafts, everything from weavings to pottery to beaded jewelery to baskets to paintings, all really beautiful.

Here's to hoping this next week will be as good as the last!

Snow in September

2008-09-27T03:53:00.002-05:00

9-25-08
This past week has been a bit of a whirlwind and I'll do my best to recount it for you all. I just hope it doesn't turn out too disjointed.

Last Wednesday I left Mafeteng to head to Maseru for dinner with Michelle, the head of PSI Lesotho. I arrived in town around noon after catching a hitch with one of PSI/New Start's condom vendors (I know. When I write things like that I think to myself, “Where the hell am I?”) and headed for the Peace Corps office to check email. What I didn't realize was that the COS (Close of Service) Conference for the group of education Volunteers who will be leaving in the next few months and Reconnect (a conference for the CHED Volunteers who have been in Lesotho for a year and are half way through their service) had both ended the night before. This means that at least half of the Peace Corps Volunteers in the country were in Maseru, all fighting for free internet time on four computers. Needless to say I got the “newbies need to get outa here” vibe quickly and scrammed. Plus, I haven't been around that many Americans since I left the states and it was really overwhelming.

I headed to Shoprite and stocked up on goodies (avocados for guacamole, popcorn, peppers, cheese and, of course, chocolate, including REAL M&M's from Fruit and Veg [they don't have the peanut butter kind, though, dang it]) for my visit to Megan's site. Background: Megan, one of my good friends from training, lives in Qacha's Nek (pronounced Kaw-cha's Neck). Qacha's is in the mountains (like, really in the mountains) and the shops there don't have a lot. Last time I'd talked to her on the phone she was eating some kind of rice and bean and corn thing. I was worried. I felt like she really deserved the “care package!” Plus, someone had sent her taco seasoning from home, so we were definitely making Mexican food...she just can't get a hold of peppers or cheese up there.

Anyway, after shopping I headed to the training center where I was spending the night since the T House was booked with COSers. I got to see Nick, one of the Volunteers in my group, for the first time since swearing-in and spent the afternoon hanging out with other Volunteers staying the night in Maseru. Promptly at 7 p.m. the car from Security Unlimited (the security company PC uses) showed up to drive us to Michelle's. Christina (another PCV who works with PSI/New Start and was going to the dinner also) was armed with directions and we were ready to go. The thing about Lesotho, though, is that there aren't street signs or names or house numbers. Directions consist of things like “head north on the paved road, turn left when you see the building with the green roof, take the second fork in the road, my house is at the end of the third hill next to the broken down truck.” So, we got a little lost. It was pretty amusing to us, but the poor driver was getting constant calls on his radio and cell from his boss wondering where he was; apparently there was an emergency somewhere and they needed him to report. But he couldn't just dump us off in the middle of Maseru so he continued driving us around, up and down roads and cursing under his breath. Two calls to Michelle later we found the place and driver was able to get on with his work.

Michelle was incredibly nice and made an awesome dinner! She seemed to really wanted to get to know us and asked for feedback on our work so far, where we saw ourselves fitting in with our branches in the future and told us about some of her goals for the PSI/New Start program in Lesotho. We were also joined at dinner by a RPCV (Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, someone who's completed their service) who served in Burkina Faso and now works for PSI Lesotho and a guy who is in Lesotho on a Fulbright scholarship (who did his undergrad in Grinnell, Iowa...weird!). It was interesting to hear about their experiences of living in Lesotho.

The thing is, I felt really awkward the whole time. It was the first time I've been in a house that could easily exist in America, eating hors d'oeuvres, trying not to clank my fork too loudly on the china, drinking wine out of wine a wine glass, in a really long time. In short: existed in an environment in every way like home. The awkwardness was in no way a reflection on Michelle, she made us feel really comfortable. It was completely a product of being yanked out of everything normal and put in a new world, with no glimpse at the outside, for four months. I realized all of a sudden that everything I've been excited about because it was “American” wasn't really even close. For godssake, I can't even function properly at a dinner party...I caught myself gawking at things several times. This is not good. I mean, what kind of social misfit am I going to be two years from now?

Bright at early (4:30 a.m.) Thursday, after “sleeping” for just three hours on a couch at the training center, I headed to catch the Sprinter to Qacha's Nek. Sprinters look basically like the “short buses” in America and are preferable to taking the actual bus. They cram less people in them and, as such, don't stop as often to pick up more passengers. Since it takes anywhere from 6-10 hours to get to Qacha's from Maseru, the only transport available is the Sprinter that leaves anytime from 5:30-7 a.m. and the bus that leaves shortly after. Six hours, one pee break and close to 15 people standing in the aisle because the seats were full (who cares if that's legal or safe?) later, I arrived in Qacha's. The trip was not nearly as bad as I was expecting as the views were amazing and the ride much shorter than it could have been.

Megan met me on the road and we went immediately to the primary school where she is teaching two days a week. She was teaching her two afternoon classes HIV/AIDS basics, all in English of course. I was really interested to hear what they had to say as, when I am in those sorts of settings with PSI/New Start, I never know what the kids are saying because it's all in Sesotho. Hearing their responses gave me a gauge for what students that age know, and hopefully I can use that to help my PSI/New Start branch tailor their education sessions a bit more...they seem to just throw out the same info, regardless of the age range.

After her classes, we dropped my things at her house and headed into town for grocery shopping. When we came to the top of the hill and saw Qacha's Nek camptown, I was in awe. I'd seen pictures, I'd heard it was amazing, but man, it looks like a little ski town, so beautiful! We hit up the Chinese shops to gather the last of the ingredients needed for our Mexican feast and grabbed mokeyena (mow-kwen-ya...fried dough balls, an amazingly good [not good for you, in any way] traditional Basotho food) at the taxi rank before heading back to her house, spending the night catching up and eating way, way too much food.

Friday, Megan took me back into town and we spent several hours at the Qacha's Nek hospital, which is her host organization. We went on rounds with the doctors, a strange experience...I mean, could you imagine if you were in the hospital and these two random volunteers came in with your doctor and just stood there as you discussed your prognosis? Yeah, confidentiality doesn't mean the same thing here. The doctors aren't Basotho (there was a married couple, both doctors from Nepal, and the other from West Africa) so they speak in English to the nurses who then translate to the patients. Obviously a lot gets lost in translation, even when the doctors are giving instructions to the nurses about what medicines to give patients. With all its problems, it makes you grateful for the health care we have in America.

After touring the hospital, Megan and I walked into town to get lunch. As we were walking to the internet cafe, a Basotho man came up to us and started yelling things in Sesotho. Neither of us could understand him so we just greeted and kept walking. As we passed, the guy whacked Megan across the back of her leg with his herding stick (boys and men who tend animals carry these big wooden sticks, the size of walking sticks). She turned around and started yelling at him but he just stood there. Several school children and a few bo-'m'e and bo-ntate also saw it happen and quickly came to her rescue, getting the guy to leave and watching over us the rest of our walk. It was one of the strangest things I've seen happen, but people told us the guy was “crazy,” so I'm sure it was such a freak occurrence. Nice to see the Basotho have her back, though, a great example of the generous nature of the people here.

Friday afternoon the weather started doing some weird things. In the morning we headed to town in short sleeves and jeans, no need for a coat. Later in the day, though, the clouds rolled in, the wind picked up and it got really cold. Shortly after we got to Megan's house it started raining and was still doing so when we went to sleep. I rolled out of bed around 7 Saturday morning and, hearing no rain, went to the window to see if it was cloudy or not. I was greeted with a thick snowfall, several inches deep. I believe my exact words were, “Megan, have you looked outside yet?” Megan, being from Corpus Christi, Texas, was really excited about the snow. We made a Basotho snowman and snow angels (I'm so glad I had those skills to pass on!) and took copious amounts of pictures. This was serious, dead of Iowa winter, snowfall. In September. We spent the day in the house (not really anywhere to go in that kind of weather here), under lots of blankets, chatting, reading and, yes, eating a lot. There aren't too many people I could be locked in a house with all day long without electricity (i.e. no watching movies) and not want to kill...but we made it. Guess Megan's a good friend. :) Sunday involved watching lots of movies (electricity finally came back on so she could charge her computer at her 'M'e's house) and taking a nice walk with gorgeous views of the snow-capped mountains.

I headed out early Monday morning to go to Quthing (pronounced Coo-ting), about a four-hour trip back in the direction of Mafeteng. I didn't make it in time to get on the Sprinter (you have to get on transportation heading to Maseru and just get off early...no transport from Qacha's ending in Quthing) so I had to take the bus. It wasn't too bad until we stopped in Mount Moorosi for the pee break. The bus was then packed fuller than anything I've ever seen (people standing in the aisles literally couldn't turn or shift), making the trip from my seat near the back to the door in the front arduous. As most of the passengers were heading all the way to Maseru very few got off in Quthing and, being so packed in, couldn't exactly move to let me off. After some maneuvers bordering on acrobatic, I was able to make my way off and catch a 4+1 (local taxi...a car that fits four passengers plus the driver) to my final destination just outside the camptown.

Quthing is quite mountainous and some areas are pretty remote though it is lower than Qacha's. The district doesn't have its own PSI/New Start branch so the Mafeteng office covers it. Some of the staff were in town for the week for outreach so I asked to join for a couple days to get a sense of the difference in HIV/AIDS awareness in remote vs. more urban areas. The staff stayed at a guest house in town but, because I asked to go only the week before, they weren't able to pay for me to stay with them. Instead Clare, an education Volunteer who lives in a village just outside the camptown, was nice enough to let me stay with her. Probably a good thing anyway, it was nice to have the separation and be able to relax at night.

On Tuesday we did outreach at a primary school in a village that cannot be reached by public transport...people here have to either walk (a very long distance) to get to town or hope to catch a lift whenever the very rare private vehicle comes to the area. Our drive involved crossing two small creeks (no bridges) and, for the most part, driving on “paths” rather than roads. I noticed much less of a difference than I expected, though, when it came to the student's knowledge. They seemed a lot shyer than at other schools we've visited, but for the most part, they seemed to know (or, more accurately, not know) the same things as the students in more urban Mafeteng. The school we visited on Wednesday was not quite as remote, as in there was an actual road to drive on to get to it, so the outreach was pretty much the same as I have experienced in the past.

This morning I caught a hitch with the police (amusing) from Quthing to Mohale's Hoek (pronounced Mow-hall-ee's Hook) and then another with some guys going to Bloemfontein, South Africa, from Mohale's Hoek to Mafeteng. Not so bad considering it turned a 2-3 hour trip into about an hour and a half. I restocked at Shoprite, had lunch with Nichol (she's leaving town for the next week on vacation) and have never been happier to see my bed.

So there you have it, a way too detailed account of my adventure in the mountains. Now, I've GOT to get some sleep! :)

9-27-08
I wanted to just write a quick thank you to everyone who's written letters, emails, read and commented here on the blog and sent packages. I can't put into words how much it means to receive your correspondence and goodies from home...it literally makes my week getting mail. And this isn't meant as a guilt trip to those of you who haven't sent anything, I promise! :)

Mafeteng is officially now accepting and sorting mail, so feel free to send stuff to the address to the left. Packages will take about a month to get to me, but that's better than the 2+ it's currently taking through Maseru. Also, I've been warned that the post office won't really sort mail in December, so if you want to send me anything and have me get it before Christmas, I'd suggest mailing it by mid-October.

Again, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU and I send my love to you all!

Pen Pals

2008-09-17T05:53:00.002-05:00

I though I'd post my most recent letter to my pen pals, Mr. Diersen's classes at IKM-Manning Middle School. They asked some really great questions and I thought my answers might be of interest to some of you too.

9-16-08
Hello Mr. Diersen and classes!

I was so happy to hear from you all! I am glad to hear you enjoy my blog and were able to see some of my pictures of Lesotho. This country is very diverse and hopefully my pictures and stories help convey that.

Here's the answer to some of your questions.

Landscape: I agree, Lesotho is VERY beautiful!It is unique among African countries in that it has mountains and has a climate much like that of the Midwest in that it has four seasons, snows in the winter and is hot in the summer. Mafeteng, the town I live in, is in the lowlands meaning it is flat. But as you can hopefully see in some of my pictures, the foothills are just outside town. The mountains are further inland and I will be visiting them again later this week. Hopefully I can send you some pictures from that trip with my next letter.

Housing: My house is very small but I like it. I am lucky to have gotten electricity as Peace Corps does not require that Volunteers have electricity. I would guess that less than 1/3 of the Volunteers in Lesotho have it at their houses. Since I live in a camptown (the largest town in the district where people who live out in villages come to do major shopping and conduct business; also where government offices for the district are located) it isn't surprising for me to have electricity as most houses in town do. Some surrounding villages do as well, and many people who live in villages without electricity have solar panels. Volunteers who do not have electricity at their houses usually charge electronics at their family's home (the family who serves as their landlord and/or who's compound they live on), at their work, at the local clinic or at a local shop. My latrine is located outside my house and I have included a picture of the outside of it with this letter.

Housekeeping: I do not have running water in my house so I get water from a tap (maybe 10 yards from my door) and store it in large buckets in my house. I take bucket baths in a large tub inside my house. I heat water in a kettle on my gas stove and add it to cooler water before bathing with a cloth. I also wash my hair in the bucket by pouring water over it with a pitcher. I wash dishes using a large basin of soap and water to wash and another of boiled water to rinse. I also hand wash all my clothing in the same tub I bathe in. I pour soap and water into the tub and clean the clothing by scrubbing the fabric together with my hands. I then rinse the soap out in another tub of water and hang them on a clothes line to dry. Once I am done bathing or doing dishes or laundry, I dump the dirty water into the grass in the back of my house.

Food and water: I can drink the water here but it must be boiled for at least three minutes first. Most Basotho drink the water without boiling but it is not really safe to do as the water is not cleaned, treated and filtered like in America. I bring my water bottle with my own water every where I go and if I run out I must buy bottled water in a store to drink. Most shops here also have Coke, Fanta (orange, grape and pineapple flavored pop) and juice which are also fine to drink. As for food, I am pretty lucky living in a large camptown with a Shoprite. Shoprite is almost like Hy-Vee or Fareway! That means I can get, for the most part, any kind of food I want. We also have small shops, called “shopongs” in Sesotho, that carry basic items. Volunteers who live in more remote villages or districts rely on shopongs for all their food and can get other items only when they go to the capitol, Maseru, or a larger camptown like Mafeteng. So I on occasion I can eat things like Doritos, Oreos and Snickers. I also have available a wide variety of vegetables and can get apples, oranges, bananas and pears. I can also get meat like hamburger, chicken and steak but don't often buy it as I don't have a refrigerator to keep it in. I have cooked things like Thai noodles, tuna casserole and even made tortillas for burritos.

Some examples of traditional Basotho food, which can be made with the basics found at shopongs, are:
*Moroho: greens, like cabbage, spinach or swiss chard, finely chopped and cooked
*Papa: corn meal mixed with water and cooked until stiff
*Mokenya: dough balls, deep fat fried in oil
I don't usually cook this for myself but eat it at special events or sometimes get it at shops in town. I will try to get some pictures for you.

Travel: Peace Corps Volunteers don't have cars, so we walk to take public transportation to get around. This is common in Lesotho, very few people own a private vehicle. When traveling in town I usually walk as I live a 5 minute walk from work and a 25 minute walk from the shops in town. If I am carrying too much to walk home or am traveling to a village just outside town I take a 4+1. A 4+1 is a car with a yellow stripe on the side. They are called 4+1's because they can accommodate four passengers plus a driver.

If I am traveling to another district or to a village more than a few miles outside of town, I take a kombi. A kombi is something like a cross between a small bus and a van and accommodates around 20 people. If I am traveling a great distance I take a bus.

Buses run on regular schedules. When taking a 4+1 or a kombi, you must wait for them to fill up before they leave, so you may sometimes have to wait a long time before you leave for your destination. Also, if someone gets off before the vehicle's final destination, the kombi or 4+1 will often drive very slowly or stop frequently to fill back up.

I also sometimes hitch to get where I am going. It is safe to do here and most of the private vehicles here are in better shape than the public ones.

Language: The official language of Lesotho is Sesotho. During my first two months in Lesotho I was in training with Peace Corps where we had daily Sesotho lessons. I wish I knew more Sesotho than I do and being able to speak the language well would always make work and life here easier. That being said, I know enough to get by. I know how to greet people, explain basic things about myself (where I live, where I work, where I'm from, etc.) and ask basic questions. All of my co-workers speak excellent English and since I live in a camptown, many people in town also speak some English. This is not the case, however, in the rural areas and Volunteers there usually find someone to translate for them. I hope to pick up more of the language the longer I live here.

Religion: Lesotho allows freedom of religion and according to statistics, most Basotho are Roman Catholic. In my personal experience, however, most Basotho I've talked to are protestant Christian. I have not been to church here yet but I am allowed to attend if I choose. There is also a mosque in Mafeteng and many people in my area are Muslim. I have not experienced any religious tension here, but Basotho are not shy to ask you, even when they don't know you, what church you go to and invite you to theirs.

Basotho titles: Here are some common Basotho titles and the best I can translate them for you.
*'M'e – literally means “mother.” 'M'e is a title of respect given not only to your own mother but to any woman who is married, in a professional setting or position of honor. It is kind of like Ms. or Mrs. My 'M'e is my landlord and also the woman who's compound I live on.
*Ntate – literally means “father.” Has the same usage as 'M'e but for men. Is kind of like Mr.
*Ausi – literally means “sister.” It is a title of respect given not only to your own sister(s) but to any girl or young woman who is not married. It is kind of like Miss.
*Abuti – literally means “brother.” Has the same usage as ausi but for boys or young men who are not married.

I've also included some pictures of a few of the things you asked about. I will do my best to get pictures of the other things you requested as the year goes on. I look forward to hearing from you all again soon!

Go Wolves!
Kelly

Baby Steps

2008-09-17T05:46:00.000-05:00

9-14-08
Today I finally had a meeting with the OYAP (Olympic Africa Youth Ambassador Program) volunteers here in Mafeteng. I met David, one of the volunteer coordinators, three or four weeks ago in town and have been trying to schedule a meeting since, the timing just never worked out until now.

OYAP is an organization similar to Kick4Life, but instead of focusing on HIV/AIDS education through sports, they focus on life skills and promoting an overall healthy lifestyle for youth. Today's meeting was supposed to be with all of OYAP Mafeteng's volunteers (officially 30-something people) but when I arrived the only people present were David and Lineo (De-nay-o), the other volunteer coordinator. David told me that they have a lot of trouble recruiting volunteers who will actually be active and do what they say they will. Case-in-point: no one ever showed up for today's meeting.

Part of the issue is a cultural one. Basotho are never on time, ever. If you set a meeting for 1 p.m. it is expected that people will show up around 2 or 3. It is also not considered rude to tell someone you are coming to a meeting or “on your way” even if you aren't. Actually the opposite is true, it can be considered rude to outright refuse an invitation or meeting.

The other issue has to do with employment...or the lack there of. Many people in Lesotho volunteer because they see it as something to add to their resume, not something to do out of social duty, or something to do as a means to getting a paid position with the organization. This causes problems because almost all organizations have only one or two paid positions and with unemployment at 50+%, people don't give those up very often. Volunteers also receive money from their organization for things like transport, and since almost all of them don't have a job, they say they are going to a village to do an activity, take the transport money, and use it for their own needs.

David is from South Africa and is very frustrated with these cultural norms (I can relate) and sees them as impeding the organization's progress...but hasn't found a way to change it. Lineo is Masotho and just accepts it but also has no ideas of how to work within it to be successful. So, in today's meeting, I tried to help them brainstorm some ways to recruit volunteers (the only thing they are currently doing is asking current volunteers to bring friends) and reward those who actually work and show up to meetings and events.

Even though many things in today's meeting reminded me of all the frustrations of working here, I left encouraged. David and Lineo seem truly motivated. We will see. I will follow up on my promise of providing them with contacts...the test will come when I see if they actually do anything with that information.

9-16-08
My library project is officially underway! Monday I met with the hospital administrator, and she was really excited to hear about my idea. It seems they already have a library started and she just assigned a woman to look after it, but they need help sorting through the books and getting everything organized. She asked me to come back this morning to meet with the woman and discuss the project with her.

'M'e Vikile the woman that I will be working with on this project. She is graduating this coming weekend from Lesotho Natl. University in Roma (the only university in the country) with an education degree and is excited to promote reading among patients and staff. She took me on a tour of the library, which it turns out, is currently only for staff use and is full of medical books, not something patients here would want to, or probably could, read and understand. We discussed what types of materials she thinks patients would use and how to go about getting the hospital to purchase another bookshelf so that the books for patients can be kept separate from the resource materials. We also wrote out a timeline for the project and she had me write down the things she needs to do before our next meeting. She is going to talk to the hospital administrator about the bookshelf and about writing a letter for our book donation application. She is also going to approach the district library administrator about writing a letter for the application and helping us set-up a shelving and tracking system...Dewey Decimal is too complicated for this. My job between now and our next meeting is to write the first draft of our book donation applications. I'm going to be working with African Library Project to secure picture and English-language books and Biblionef to hopefully secure some Sesotho language books.

And don't worry my loyal readers, I will be asking for your help with this in the coming months! Assuming my application to African Library Project is approved, I will have info on here (and will also be sending emails to some of you specifically) on what types of books are needed and how you can contribute.

In meeting with Vikile I also ran across another project idea. It seems that each December some government officials bring in Christmas presents for the kids in the children's ward at the hospital. It's a great thing, but when the kids go home, they take the toys with them. Vikile and I discussed getting a supply of toys that would stay at the ward so all the children would have something to play with, no matter the time of year. I have a lot more research to do on this one before I decide if it's a go, but if it is, I'll be needing your help.

I know all this sounds simple, but it's the most progress and enthusiasm I've encountered so far. After weeks of feeling like I've been spinning my wheels, sitting and waiting for nothing to happen, this simple thing has really helped renewed my spirits.

And now I'm off for a week of travel. Tomorrow I am going to Maseru to have dinner with Michelle, the head of PSI Lesotho, along with Christina and Trish, the two other PCV's that work with PSI. Thursday morning I board the 6:30 a.m. bus for an eight-hour ride from Maseru to Qacha's Nek to visit Megan. I haven't been to her site yet and am excited to see the mountains, a more rural area and, most of all, her! There are plans for Mexican food already in the works! :) Sunday I will head back in the direction of Mafeteng but stop in Quthing, a district much more remote than Mafeteng and still in the mountains. Quithing doesn't have its own PSI/New Start branch so the Mafeteng office serves the area. Some of my co-workers will be there doing outreach, and one of the education PCV's, Claire, is being great and letting me crash at her place until Thursday so I can go along with them. After all that, it'll home sweet home again. Hopefully I'll have some great stories (and photos) to share!

Another title

2008-09-12T02:23:00.003-05:00

I now officially hold the title of Mafeteng District Security Representative. Sounds like a big deal, right? Not so much, but I did get to come to Maseru for training and now have a PC-issued phone. I just can't use it for anything but PC business and emergencies.

Every district in Lesotho has a security rep who receives communication from PC Lesotho about safety and security issues and incidents in the country. My responsibility is to pass that info along to the Volunteers in my district and be available for them to contact in case of an emergency. There are also some other responsibilities should we ever be asked to consolidate or evacuate the country, but be assured, that is not going to happen.

How was I chosen for such duties? I'd like to say it was because I'm a big deal or because I have all that NIMS ICS training from when I worked in McKinney or because I look like I could really keep things under control if push comes to shove. However, I was selected because live in town and have electricity. Nice, huh? :)

At least I got free internet for a day and crashed at the T-house, a house PC owns in Maseru where PCV's can stay while in town. It was nice to get away for a short trip, eat some good Chinese food and hang out with Lizzie one last time (she is leaving the country for good today). I also met Joseph, a PCV from Austin, and we talked ad nausium about all things Texas, especially Chuys. How I miss Mexican food...

Lists

2008-09-08T03:32:00.002-05:00

9-2-08
I love lists. I've always lived by lists. Things to do at work, things to do at home, things to remember to pack, things to remember to throw out. Perhaps it's the antithesis of my mother coming out it me, a reflection of my neat-freak, crazy organizing and aligning self. Here I have a lot of lists too. A list of who I've written letters or postcards to and how many I've sent, a list of who I need to write to (yes, it's long, I'm sorry, I'm working on it I promise!), a list of books I've read (I'm only on number seven) and a list of what I need to buy next time I go to my favorite place in Lesotho - Shoprite. I also have another list, a list of projects I would like to work on during my time here. It's sadly a somewhat short list at this point but I'm sure will be ever expanding once I'm able to get started on some of it. So while I'm observing and waiting for the time to come when I can finally get the ok to do some work, the list helps keep me sane. I thought I'd share it with all of you, to give you an idea of what I hope to accomplish while I'm here.

Primary Projects (things that apply to working with my host organization, PSI/New Start Mafeteng)

Assist in establishing post-test clubs for both HIV-positive and HIV-negative clients - I'm hoping to get a list of existing support groups from the National AIDS Commission and visiting some of them to learn best-practices. Hopefully I can identify some of them to work with and help strengthen instead of starting new groups from scratch. I also would like to use the list to refer clients to groups in their area instead of just one that is in town.
Host annual partner conference - PSI/Mafeteng would like to start an annual meeting with all their partner organizations in town (World Vision, Red Cross, Lesotho Planned Parenthood, etc.) to discuss how they can more effectively collaborate.
Assist PSI/New Start Mafeteng in identifying and providing effective voluntary counseling and testing services to high-risk and under-served populations - There are many groups of people in Lesotho who really need the service but are really hard to target. Some of the groups I'd like to focus on are teachers (students have many opportunities to test but teachers are a high-risk group and, I've found, many times don't have all the correct info about HIV/AIDS), taxi drivers, prison inmates, heard boys along and very remote schools and clinics.
Promote couple's testing at area high schools - This was one of Nichol's ideas and I hope to get to work with her on it before she leaves. This is a great idea because it not only targets teenagers but will help them to build trust with their partner...something that can be really lacking in relationships here.
Increase cooperation with sporting event organizers to provide counseling and testing at their events - Sports are huge here, which means there are assembled groups of people who can be targeted. PSI/New Start already does this at many events, I just want to help them expand the reach.
Conduct a coloring contest, sponsored by PSI/New Start Mafeteng, at area primary schools - This sort of thing happens all the time in the States, but I've not seen it done here. I want to have primary (elementary) age children participate in a coloring contest where the topic will be HIV/AIDS awareness. PSI/New Start Mafeteng will pick a winner (maybe one from each grade level or something) and the winner will get a small prize. I also want to talk to Shoprite (really, it's the hub of town) to see if they will hang the winners' drawings in the store.

Secondary Projects (things that are community or personal-interest projects)
Start a creative arts club with area youth - Kids here don't have things like art, dance, drama or creative writing in school. Having a creative outlet (writing, in my case) has always been really important for me, both as a teenager and now. I'm not totally sure how I'm going to organize this just yet, but it's something I'm really passionate about trying.
Paint Africa or world maps at area schools - Ok, not really a good artist, but there's a project in one of our PC books on how to do this. Knowledge of geography here is so lacking...my ausi and abuti couldn't even find Lesotho on the world map in my house.
Teach a life skills class at an area school - I'm not sure if I'll actually do this one, but I found the workshop at Becky's school really rewarding...
Provide rubber gloves and/or First Aid kits to schools - I've had a few teachers tell me they need more rubber gloves at school. I mean, they're kids, they get hurt and with the prevalence of HIV here, it's really necessary to protect both students and teachers. Ashley had the idea of going one step further and trying to give each school a First Aid kit. I am going to try approaching Red Cross about this one.
Establish a library at Mafeteng Hospital - Since PSI/New Start Mafeteng's office is in the hospital compound, I see every day the lines of people and children waiting, with not a thing to do, for hours. I want to approach the hospital administrator about establishing a small collection of children's books (mostly pictures), magazines like National Geographic, health books and books in Sesotho for people to check out while they are waiting. If I can get them to go for it (and have a staff person who I can train to keep up with it), I want to try to get a cart donated so that the staff person can also take the library "mobile" a few times a week to the patients who are staying there. I just remember how boring it was spending hour after hour sitting in hospital rooms...and that was with cable t.v.
Contact the Baylor Clinic in Maseru to see if there's a way for the Mafeteng ARV clinic or PSI/New Start Mafeteng to work with them - Baylor Medical School has a clinic in Maseru where they do work with HIV-positive children. Mostly I just think it's an amazing thing and want to learn more about what they have going on there, but if I can also promote better cross-cooperation between medical facilities, that's even better. And they're from Texas. :)

9-7-08
What have I been up to lately? Honestly, I haven't updated the blog because there just hasn't been that much to write about. Things at work are slow so I've had some time to go around town and learn more about the community. Last Wednesday St. Gerard's, a secondary school where Lizzie helped set up a garden, had a ceremony to show off six sets of uniforms they were able to purchase for in-need students with the garden's profits. It was great to see a successful PC project and Lizzie was honored at the ceremony for all her hard work. I'm going to check up on them monthly now that Lizzie is leaving and I hope I can encourage them to keep up all the work she started. I've also gone to another Kick4Life session and actually participated in some of the activities this time. While I feel really uncomfortable (my participation usually causes crowds of students to stand and gawk) it's better than just sitting and watching.

On to my social life, which is much more exciting to talk about. The last weekend in August Lizzie threw her going away party...a sad occasion but a great time! Andre, a PCV from my group who is working with weavers in TY, came down on Friday for the party and it was great to see someone from my group and just catch up. On Saturday Julie and Lorian, two other PCV's from my group who are in Quthing and Mohale's Hoek respectively, came into town for the party too. The party was great time with PCV's from all the groups in the country, good food and lots of dancing!

This past weekend Trish (in my group and working in Leribe) came to visit Ashley and they both stayed here in town with me Friday night. Trish also works with PSI/New Start and it was good to hear about the projects they've had her working on. Apparently her branch has a youth group with a radio station in Ladybrand, South Africa that she's been working with. She's also been working a lot with students on HIV/AIDS education and helped out with a debate at schools in her area. My branch doesn't have any of those activities but that doesn't mean I can't start them! :)

On Saturday I went with Nichol to a going away braii (bbq) for Lizzie thrown by her fiance, Max's, family here in Mafeteng. Traditionally here, when people get married, the man's family slaughters a sheep for the woman. I guess this happened a couple weeks ago but there was still half the sheep left, hence the braii. While I'm not a huge fan of Basotho food, the papa and moroho were amazing thanks to Lizzie's American spices! Nichol and I got a ride home with one of Max's co-workers, but before coming to my place he asked if we could stop off briefly at a “club.” I use that term VERY loosely. This club was sort of like a house with a bar and blaring house music (everyone here seems to love that stuff!). Nichol and I were dancing but the rest of the people there (except for the guy who drove us and another Masotho who had come with us) just sat in chairs staring. Guess I should be used to that by now, but at least I found the situation much more amusing than annoying. The weather here is finally getting warm and all in all it was a good weekend of sitting out in the sun and spending time with Lizzie. I've only known her for a month but am going to miss her so much. Best of luck hun!

So that about does it, bringing me to week 5 of work and hopefully beginning some projects. Yeah, life here is a lot like home sometimes, just the day-to-day which just isn't that exciting for you all to read about. As always, I miss everyone back home and send all my love to you!

I have an address!

2008-09-07T08:41:00.002-05:00

Thanks to Nichol, I have an address in Mafeteng! Please see my updated address to the left and use it often. :) If you send things to the old address at the Peace Corps office in Maseru, don't worry, I'll still get it, it will just be super slow.

Miss you all and I promise a real blog update soon!

You know you've been waiting for it

2008-08-27T07:04:00.002-05:00

I was able to get more pictures posted, hooray! Check them out by clicking my photo link on the left. I added a few more to the "Training" album and have also added an album from Swearing-in and for the next three months...including my braids, 80's hair and Malealea. :)

Hitching and other things that are awesome about Africa

2008-08-27T02:13:00.006-05:00

More free internet, hooray! I'm at the Volunteer Resource Center (VRC) here in Maseru on my way back to Mafeteng and couldn't pass up an opportunity to use free, non-dial-up internet to update everyone on my last few days.

After spending Friday night with Ashley, Nicole and Denni, a PCV visiting from up in the mountains in Mohotlong district, Ashley and I headed off to Malealea, a lodge in the mountains about an hour from Mafeteng. We stopped by Shoprite to get some food and another PCV who was in town happened to see the lodge owner in the store and introduced us. He was nice enough to give us a ride to the lodge, saving us both an hour on a kombi and 14M. Score! He turned out to be this nice guy from SA who's wife's family started the lodge. The place was AMAZING...gorgeous scenery, trees (which there are too few of here) and a great bar/restaurant. Strange to say, but I felt much more "normal" being in a tourist setting than I have the entire time I've been here.

Barb and Karrin, two other PCV's from my group, met us up there, and after great debate and despite the ominous looking clouds, the four of us decided to take a pony trek out to see some cave paintings. I haven't ridden a horse since I was really young and even then it was only maybe a short ride in 4-H, so it took me a bit to get my bearings...and they gave me the pregnant horse. Poor thing! Half way out to the gorge where the paintings were located, it started to storm. I have never experienced storms like the ones here. From absolute quiet the wind will start to blow like crazy, whipping up dirt and creating a thick haze. Then the rain starts to pour. No sprinkles, just immediate downpour, usually with hail. And as quickly as the storms come up, they dissipate and head off into the distance.

So there we were, out on the middle of a plateau, definitely the highest objects for miles around, and the rain began to pour down on us as the wind pushed it sideways into our faces. Hail started to form but luckily it was small and didn't last for long. When the torrent let up, we discussed heading back but were almost to the gorge and decided to keep on. We descended part way on horseback and then proceeded down the rocks on foot. A guide took us down the steep sides, stopping along the way at an echo cave, where our shouts echoed all around the gorge. Once we reached the bottom and crossed a small stream, he lead us back up a vertical wall (I've never rock climbed, but this would be an amazing place to learn) and into a cave where paintings made more than 1,100 years ago are still quite visible. It was amazing to see and even more amazing that they remain in-tact even without any real protection. Thunder rumbled in the distance and the dark sky gave it a surreal feel. During the climb back up we stopped at a few more places where additional drawings were placed. Just as we reached the top of the gorge, an amazing rainbow appeared stretching across both sides. It was breathtaking, I didn't want to blink and miss even a second of it. I just kept thinking to myself, "When I have bad days, this is what I need to think about." I haven't felt that at peace in a really long time.

We made it almost the entire hour ride back on our horses, but just as we got into town another downpour hit us and we were soaked to the bone. Luckily a warm shower and change of clothes fixed things up. We spent the evening in the lodge's main building near the fire pit and met some people from Spain who were studying English in Cape Town and four guys from the U.K. who visit trekking lodges to ensure the horses are properly cared for. I guess that's another great thing about visiting touristy places, meeting other travellers from around the world.

The next morning as we were preparing to go our separate ways, Ashley noticed a car leaving and asked where they were headed to. They were going to Maseru and gave Barb and I a hitch into town. Turns out they were two girls from France, one of whom is working in SA and studied in the U.S. Total saved on transport so far: 44M.

After wandering around the taxi rank and getting my first KFC meal since I arrived (yes, the willpower is strong with me, at least when it comes to fried chicken. Not so much with Doritos or chocolate or banana bread or...) I took a kombi up to TY to meet some other PCV's who were putting on a workshop about stigma and HIV/AIDS. Becky, a third year PCV who's school we did the workshop at, invited me to help out since my work here in Lesotho will revolve around HIV/AIDS education. It was an incredible two days and I'm so thankful to her for inviting me up. We facilitated six sessions, three Monday and three Tuesday, talking to students in Forms A-E (equivalent to grades 8-12 in the states) about stigma, its impact on their lives and on the HIV epidemic here in Lesotho. The classes were really receptive and asked some great questions. After the last session on Tuesday all eight of us who were facilitating met in the hall to answer students' questions about HIV/AIDS and condoms. Andrea lead the group demos and then we each had students line up to practice on their own.

But I think my favorite part of the whole experience, and the most surprising, came after we finished demos. A group of students were asking me questions about where I was from, why I came here, etc. and then asked what I had gone to school for. I guess journalism majors are not found too frequently here, and the group asked me question after question (and good, in-depth questions) about things like journalism ethics, freedom of the press and interviewing. I was able to have an actual conversation with these kids about why the balance of power between the government and journalists is so important and how libel and open records laws in the states ensure that balance is kept. And they understood. And were interested! It was amazingly fulfilling to be able to talk to people, people who where interested, about something I enjoy and know so much about.

We capped off our two days of hard work at Becky's, eating her AMAZING chili, cornbread and cookies and watched hours of episodes of Heroes. Who knew I'd get addicted to yet another show while in Africa? But I do have to tell you, t.v. is so much better here because there are no commercials (since all the episodes we have access to come from DVDs or online) and, well, it really feels like home.

This morning I caught another hitch with a guy coming into Maseru from Butha Buthe and here I am at the office. And I hear PC is heading to Mafeteng later today so hopefully I can get another ride home. Frugal Kelly, saving 83M in four days. :)

And yet another bit of good news, several cards and letters and my first package (thanks Mom!) were waiting for me here at the office.

Things are well here, but I miss you all more than I can even put into words. Until next time, salang hantle!

Mail Update

2008-08-19T05:16:00.001-05:00

So it seems I will be getting my mail in Maseru a little bit longer. The Mafeteng post office is currently under renovation, which apparently means they are not accepting mail going to or from the U.S. I'm not even sure they are actually delivering anything right now...when I went in there were bags and bags of mail just sitting around many of the PCV's in Mafeteng haven't gotten mail for awhile. I don't really get it, but these are the things about Africa...

Until the post office re-opens and I can get a PO box here, it is just best to continue sending me things to the Maseru address here on my blog...it's the same one I've had since the beginning. It goes to the Peace Corps office and they will hold my mail until I can come in to get it or there is a PC car coming this way and they can deliver it. At any rate, it could be awhile before Mafeteng has postal service again, so don't hold off on sending any letters or anything.

And I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE getting mail! Thank you all!

25

2008-08-19T05:14:00.000-05:00

8-8-08
I've been here in Mafeteng for two days now, setting up for my life for the next two years. There have been a few, very short-lived moments of panic, lots of walking and, thanks to Lizzie and Nicole (two PCV's who live in a village just outside Mafeteng), great food.

On Wednesday, my training group was sworn-in as the newest crop of PCV's in Lesotho. Speeches were given by our training director, the PC Country Director, our Associate PC Director, the Ambassador and a representative of Lesotho's Ministry of Health & Social Welfare. Kristan, who scored the highest in our group on the Sesotho test, gave an amazing speech in Sesotho and Kevin gave a great (campaign-worthy) speech in English. After pledging an oath of office (apparently it's the same one the military takes...or so I'm told) we received our signed certificates and officially became Peace Corps Volunteers. My counterpart at PSI, 'M'e Keletso, came to the ceremony, which was really nice as some Volunteers didn't have anyone from their organization there.

After the ceremony was over, it was time to chow down. The cooks out-did themselves and we all ate very well – rice, chicken, sausage, beef, veges, potatoes, papa, pudding and cake! Then, it was time for me to go. I think I'm the only one it my group who didn't stay until Thursday, but I also was one of only two who hadn't moved their things to site. 'M'e Keletso was kind enough to stay with me until Steveo, PSI's driver, showed up to pick up all my things. It's amazing that in two months I've gone from two bags of belongings to having enough stuff to fill up an SUV! 'M'e Keletso lives in Maseru, so she stayed behind, but Lizzie was able to grab a ride with us back to Mafeteng that way, and it was nice to have her company.

PSI once again completely came through and had everything ready for me when I arrived at my house (many Volunteers were missing some of the furniture their host organizations were required to provide). While Steveo unloaded the car my new 'M'e, 'M'e Maphole, showed me around the compound, including my brand-new, personal pit latrine. After my things were unloaded, she took me inside her house (which is like America...microwave, George Forman grill, satellite dish, etc.) and asked about my family back home and what work I was going to do here. She speaks excellent English and is a very sweet woman. She also decided that she wanted to change my Sesotho name. I really liked Neo, but she told me that Ausi Thato (taw-toe) was better for me...supposedly it means “beautiful” in Sesotho (although I've heard from some that that might not be an exact translation). Who can argue with that? :)

I spent Wednesday night unpacking and settling in with the help of my 'M'e's two grandchildren, a 7 year-old girl named Libuseng and an 8 year-old boy named Thuleli (two-ley-de) (she is raising them as both of her children have passed away). Despite asking if they could have my watch, phone and frisbee (because I can “just buy another one”), they weren't in the way too much. I ended the day with my first meal in my new home: Ramen. Guess some things never change.

Yesterday was pretty productive as well, I spent the day finishing unpacking and went into town to buy odds and ends for my place. Ashley, one of my fellow trainees who is living close to Mafeteng, came by to pick up some bedding I had brought from Maseru for her the day before and it was good to see a familiar face. We also saw Nicole and Lizzie in town and they invited me over for dinner. They made an incredible Thai noodle dish and we even had apple pie with ice cream for dessert! It's nice to have a little taste of home now and again.

And that brings me to today. Ashley is coming back into town this afternoon to do some shopping for her house and then spending the night as tomorrow we have our first all-district meeting where we will meet all the PCV's in the Mafeteng district. I'm really excited to get to know everyone here, absorb their wisdom and start my new life here.

8-13-08
Yesterday I celebrated my 25th birthday in Africa. Weird. I do not feel a quarter-century old, that's for sure. The day was both good and hard all at the same time. I started off the morning by running to Shoprite (the grocery store in town) to buy a cake to take to work as I found out at 4 p.m. the day before that it is a tradition in the office for the person celebrating to bring a cake. Of course by the time I discovered I didn't have baking soda or powder, it was after dark, and so I couldn't make anything from scratch. My co-workers sang “Happy Birthday” which was very sweet and then some went out on an outreach while I stayed behind at the office to learn about some record keeping procedures.

At noon I left to meet up with Nicole and Lizzie and we spent the afternoon hanging out and eating “American” food in celebration. I got a few phone calls from friends and family, lots of texts and a birthday card (way to think ahead CoCo!), which really helped me get through the day. I have to admit, though, that it just didn't feel the same as birthdays back home. I suspect it's a combination of being older and being here, but it was a little tough. I've had moments of homesickness since I arrived, and while they can be kind of intense, they usually come and go quickly. This is the first time I really felt, all day, that I was missing something back home. And I imagine that was only the first of many days like that to come.

8-17-08
I've finished my first week of work here in Mafeteng and thought an update was in order before I try to post this. I spent all last week observing, seeing how New Start Mafeteng (what PSI is called in Lesotho) does their work and writing down ideas of how and where I can help.

Monday and Wednesday I went with some of the workers on outreach, which means two educators and two counselor/testers go out of the office and to a site to do HIV counseling and testing, bringing services to the people so that they are more likely to test than if they had to come to the office to do it. Both of the outreaches I went on where at schools, but they also do outreach to villages, special events, etc. to bring services to under-served populations or places where people live too far from town or cannot afford the transport costs to come in and get tested. The outreaches generally go like this:

We start by introducing ourselves...in Sesotho, of course. “Lumela bo-'m'e le bo-ntate. Lebitso la ka ke Ausi Thato. Ke haeso America, empa ke lula Mafeteng. Ke sebesta PSI/New Start. Ke moitaopi oa Peace Corps.” (“Hello ladies and gentleman. My name is Ausi Thato. I am from America, but I live in Mafeteng. I work at PSI/New Start. I am a Peace Corps Volunteer.”) Everyone claps at the funny white girl speaking Sesotho. I sit down. After the rest of the staff introduce themselves, the two educators lead a session where they discuss why it is important to be tested for HIV, what to expect during a counseling and testing session, facts and myths about HIV/AIDS, do condom demos (depending on the age group they don't always do this) and answer questions from the audience about HIV/AIDS. Of course this is all in Sesotho so I can't understand it, but people seem really engaged and ask a lot of questions. And my co-workers are great at translating things for me so I can at least understand what types of questions people are asking.

After the education and Q&A session, the counselor/testers go into private rooms and anyone who would like to be tested for HIV has the opportunity to do so. At both outreaches last week the lines were incredibly long...they couldn't get through everyone so will have to go back to finish testing at a later date. Since the counseling/testing sessions are private, I cannot sit in on one. Generally what happens though is the counselor/tester will as the person who wants to be tested about not only their medical and sexual history, but also about their support network, what they plan to do if they find they are HIV+ and what behaviors they can change and steps they can take to reduce their risk of becoming infected or to keep from infecting others if they are HIV+. After all these questions and discussions, the person must decide if he/she is ready to be tested for HIV. If they are, the counselor/tester will administer the test and then provide any referral information necessary. For example, if the person is HIV+, he/she will be given information about area support groups, nutrition tips and information on a local clinic and doctor where he/she obtain his/her CD4 count (the level of T helper cells in the body...T helper cells are the immune system cells that HIV attacks and destroys) to determine if he/she needs to go on ARV's (drugs that help slow the progression of HIV).

While people are in line to be tested, the educators will play games and sing songs with the children (as I've mentioned before, Basotho are crazy about singing), usually incorporating some kind of healthy living or HIV message. I mostly watched these as I don't know any of the games or songs and when I do participate, the kids gawk. I suppose I'll get used to it, but I'm not really just yet. On the positive side, my sitting out from the games meant that many of the teachers would come up and talk to me. School in Lesotho is taught in English, so the teachers are usually quite eager to practice their language skills. I was surprised by many of the questions I was asked, though. Myths about HIV/AIDS are rampant here and I had to answer some very creative “scenarios.” One I've got more than once is the question about a cure. It seems many people here think a cure exists and that Europe or America won't give it to Africans or that we are lying and saying we don't have it. Generally I explain that people in America have HIV, and die from it, just like in Africa, but that doesn't always seem to convince people. At any rate, the questions gave me the idea to work with some of the PC resource teacher Volunteers (they train Basotho teachers) to have New Start do an outreach with teachers only, to help answer some of these questions and make sure the people who are ultimately giving the students the answers have the correct info. We'll see if I can get it off the ground, but at least it's a place to start.

On Saturday I went with some of the New Start educators to a Kick 4 Life event out in a village about 45 minutes from town. Kick 4 Life is a program that uses soccer to introduce positive living and HIV topics to kids...you know, the old trick them into learning thing. It was the most fun I had all week, which is really impressive given that I'm not huge into sports and I have never played soccer in my life. What impressed me was the incredible amount of enthusiastic participation by the kids. I mean, kids in the states usually just sit around at stuff like this, thinking they are too cool for games or anything that's not a “serious” sport. Hundreds of kids showed up at this village and all of them were laughing, participating and actually able to recite topics that they had learned. After the games and a ceremony for the kids who had completed the program, the coaches (New Start educators and some Kick 4 Life staff that had come from Maseru, along with two local people from the village who had been running the program with the kids for the last six weeks) played a soccer game. They asked me to play but I had to decline since I know nothing more about soccer and have never actually played it. Plus, I think the kids just wanted to laugh at the white girl trying to kick the ball. Instead, I joined the bo-'M'e who were preparing sandwiches for the kids and coaches. While sound may seem boring, and I'm certainly not the domestic type, I enjoyed hanging out with the women and they were very appreciative that I would help them, because it's not something that young people or men (and some how being white here gives you the status of a man) ever do. Some even spoke English, so while the others rattled on in excited Sesotho, they would translate so I could answer their questions. In all seriousness, I really think the women in this country are totally in charge, they just let the bo-Ntate think the opposite. It was a trip!

Besides work, I kept busy this week spending time with Nicole, learning more about Mafeteng and what she's done during her service here. She's been so sweet helping me meet people and keeping me from spending every spare minute alone in my house. On Thursday my counterpart, 'M'e Keletso decided that my hair needed to be braided and proceeded to spend nearly 5 hours putting my hair into tiny braids. Yes, I have a picture. :) I also went to visit Ashley at her site on Saturday night. Her village is beautiful and we even had chocolate cake after dinner! This morning she showed me the clinic where she's working and it seems like a great place where she will really be able to help out a lot.

And here I am, getting ready to go to bed after spending 3 hours taking out all those braids. Yes, I have pictures of that too. I'm looking forward to next week being a little more productive...now that I know generally how things work, I have a list of questions I want to ask and projects I want to look into. Things are off to a slow, but encouraging, start.

Kelly Ferneding, PCV

2008-08-06T01:05:00.003-05:00

Today is the day. After two long months of Sesotho sessions, scenarios, forced-wearing of skirts, 2 a.m. wake-up calls from the fighting dogs and WAY TOO MUCH togetherness, I've made it. At 11 a.m. today my training group will pledge the next two years of our lives to Peace Corps. Then I will load all my possessions into an SUV and leave for my new life.

I will try to upload pics from swearing-in in the next week or two, but no promises as internet access in Mafeteng is really expensive (like 3x the cost in Maseru). Some of you have asked about my mailing address, and I will post on here if I get a Mafeteng address, but go ahead and keep sending things to the Maseru address in the meantime. That address is for the Peace Corps office, so any mail going there for the next two years will get to me, either when I'm in town or when PC has a vehicle coming my way and delivers it.

Also, on the mail front, I've finally been receiving letters! They've been taking about 2 months to get to me, but I appreciate them none the less. Please keep writing, getting mail is the ultimate boost to my day.

Love and miss you all!
Kelly Ferneding, (finally) PCV

We Passed!

2008-08-04T01:59:00.004-05:00

It's official, our entire training group passed their Sesotho exams! So, in just two days, all 23 of us will be sworn in as PCV's.

I didn't think that I did very well on my test, the questions I was asked were things that I didn't have a very big vocabulary in...I was ready and able to talk about and describe my family back home, my living situation in Ha Sole and my host family there and where I was going to live and work in Mafeteng. Instead, the tester asked me about my flight here, my host ntate's job (he does odd jobs here and there, nothing steady really) and how to cook bohobe (bread). Apparently I said enough to get by, though.

This morning Maria, our Associate Peace Corps Director, came by to go through the assignments we will need to work on while at site the next three months. They are designed to help us integrate into the community and identify key resources and possible projects. Later this morning we will go over PC policy and money procedures. Tomorrow I have my one-on-one interview with Maria, Ted (country director) and 'M'e Jimmie to address any issues or concerns I have from site visit.

And that's it, Wednesday I will officially be a Volunteer. Not a bad early 25th birthday present!

Home is where the bucket is.

2008-08-01T06:41:00.005-05:00

This week I departed for site visit, to see the place that will be my new home for the next two years.

Monday afternoon we met a representative from our counterpart organization for a workshop to discuss our expectations and needs over the next two years. 'M'e Masoetsa (Ma-sew-sa), my new supervisor, is the head of the Mafeteng office of PSI and represented them at the workshop. She was extremely funny, outgoing and welcoming, giving me a hug as soon as I walked in (not something I'm used to here but was very glad to get). She really seems like she is committed to me being happy in my work in Mafeteng, helping me find areas where I can be of the most help to the organization and the community, and that she will help me out in navigating life in this country.

Bright and early Tuesday morning 'M'e Masoetsa and the PSI Mafeteng driver, Stevo (I don't remember his real name but that's what everyone at the office calls him) picked me up at the training center. As we drove off, I experienced another one of those surreal moments of PC that I won't ever forget. I was so ready to go, to get off on my own, but driving away I felt a bit of panic in my stomach, a bit of “What the hell have I done?” in my head. The nervousness left quickly and I enjoyed the scenery as we took the hour drive from Maseru to Mafeteng. This country really is beautiful once you get outside the city.

Mafeteng is a dusty little city. There are two main roads, the one that leads to Maseru and one that leads to South Africa in one direction and Mohale's Hoek in the other. Our first stop was Mafeteng Hotel, where I was put up for the week since my house wasn't ready. It was quite nice, complete with a television and bathtub. Next, we stopped by my new house. It is in Mafeteng, not a village outside the town, but it just down the road from the hospital, where the PSI office is located, so I can walk to work. The door handle was broken, the burglar bars not yet installed and my new latrine lay on its side in the yard, but it was nice to at least have a home to visualize. My landlord, apparently a very nice woman who speaks English fairly well, lives in a huge house across the yard from mine. She was in Maseru for the day so I didn't get to meet her, but am very excited to do so. Out of my front window you can see her large garden and off to the side is her chicken coop (she has around 1,000 chickens...I'm investing in stock in an earplug manufacturer). My house is quite small, just one room. But, I'm thinking of elevating the bed dorm room-style to get some more storage space. There was a good surprise though, it has...ELECTRICITY! I was so excited to discover this and it means I will be able to watch movies on my laptop and listen to music pretty much whenever I choose. Such a luxury! The house is not free-standing, it is connected to two other “apartments” by a common wall. Mine is the far-left apartment, and the one next to me is let by a woman who owns a Chinese shop in town but lives in Maseru permanently and doesn't stay there much. I'm not sure who lives in the far apartment, but hopefully they will be quiet too.

After surveying the house, we went to the office where I met my new co-workers. I am terrible with names in the states, so remembering names I have a hard time pronouncing is going to be a challenge. Everyone seems very nice, though, and eager to talk to me. I also met my counterpart co-worker, 'M'e Keletso (Kel-ate-sew). The difference between supervisor and counterpart is that 'M'e Masoetsa is my “boss,” approves time off and gives reviews and that sort of thing. 'M'e Keletso is the outreach coordinator and I will be working with her primarily day-to-day on projects. She was quiet but friendly.

After being introduced, I headed back the the hotel and met up with Lizzie, a current PCV who lives near Mafeteng and will be ending her two years of service in September. She showed me around town, where to find the internet (it's even more expensive in Mafeteng than Maseru, so I don't know yet how often I'll get access), the grocery store (it's like the one in Maseru, pretty much anything is available!) and the gas station where you can get soft-serve ice cream. The highlight, though, was the Chinese food store. The shop is full of sauces, noodles - everything really - direct from China...and tofu! Looks like I'm going to be investing in a wok. She also took me to the taxi rank and we had ginger drink (it's insanely popular here...good, but hard to describe the taste) at this “kitchen” on the main road. Basically, it's a round, metal shack where a 'M'e cooks a plate for 10M. Seating arrangements consist of an old bus seat with no stuffing left in it. Apparently it's very good, but the whole set-up really amused me as I'm certain NOTHING about it would pass health code in the U.S.

On Wednesday morning I met up with PSI and 'M'e Keletso took me around town to meet the partner organizations that they work with, including Red Cross, Lesotho Planned Parenthood, World Vision and some government offices. The World Vision visit was especially interesting, as when I was being introduced, one of the ntate working there informed me that, “I have two children but it is sad that you arrived so late. You could've been their mother.” Yuck. And in a work environment. Welcome to Lesotho. I spent the afternoon hanging out with Lizzie again, talking about Iowa (she's from Colorado but went to school in Cedar Rapids) and living in Mafeteng. I'm definitely going to miss having her around!

Yesterday was a really interesting day as I went with PSI on an outreach to a village just outside Mafeteng. I was surprised at how many people came to be tested for HIV (the counselors were there until almost 5 p.m.) and that many of them were willing to ask questions about HIV/AIDS, even in front of a lot of other village residents. PSI staff are amazing, great at answering questions and dispelling myths as the Basotho asked them. All the conversation was in Sesotho, so I didn't understand most of it, but the staff helped translate for me.

So now I'm back here in Maseru, getting ready for the big Sesotho exam on Sunday. We have to achieve a score of Intermediate Low to be sworn-in as a PCV, so I will be spending most of my time the next couple days studying. Next Wednesday, August 6, I will finally become a PCV and begin my service, what I came here to do. The adventure continues...

The end and the beginning

2008-07-27T02:43:00.009-05:00

7-20-08
Having grown up on a farm, I have always felt like I was one of those people who really”knew their food source,” understanding that meat doesn't magically come pre-packaged in nice, round patties. My dad used to raise hogs, I had 4-H cattle, I got it. I've never slaughtered an animal for food but feel like I generally understand the process. It's not pretty, but I would argue also not totally inhumane when done properly. The system here, though, is quite different.

This morning, five men gathered at Megan's host family, across the dirt path from mine, to round up two pigs for slaughter. They caught the first one within a couple minutes, bound its back legs and tied a rope around its neck like a leash. The men drug the pig, squealing, over to a cement platform. Instead of hitting it over the head, they chose to slit its throat.

Ok, so in theory this isn't a bad way to go...if you know what you're doing. The knives used in this instance were small, maybe the size of a large Leatherman blade. Based on the amount of hacking – rather than cutting or slicing – that was done, the blades were much too dull for the job. After the initial cut, the pig struggled, wheezed, bucked and squealed, still tied up, for several long minutes. The men held it in place, every so often subjecting it to more jabs at the throat.

After it had bled what seemed a rather significant amount and had begun to give up some of its fight, the men drug (between the pig's stumbles in a failed attempt to flee) the animal across the yard to a shallow pit (about 2 feet deep) filled with dried corn stalks and topped with old feed sacks. At this point they poured some boiling water on the pig (not sure of the point of this) and stood on its chest. The pig's twitching, gurgling and occasional cries finally ceased nearly 30 minutes after the initial cut was made. What was done once the pig was dead in order to prepare it for market, I do not know. I had to leave for fear I might try to abscond with rest of the pigs to save them from a similar fate.

I understand where my food comes from and I understand it's not pretty. But thirty minutes of an animal choking, bleeding, suffering so that I can have bacon? That I'm not so sure about. I wish (and no, I cannot believe I'm saying this) I had learned back on the farm exactly how, step-by-step, animals were slaughtered (not packing plant-style but from family farmers who take a hog or two to the butcher) so that I could pass those skills along to the heard boys and pig farmers here. But, since I do not know, I keep my mouth shut so as not to judge, just observe, unable to teach a better way.

For all this, Megan's abuti will receive about 1,000M (approximately $145 U.S.) for each pig at market tomorrow.

7-22-08
My timing is bad, being that I'm almost done with training now, but I thought giving you all a peek at a-day-in-the-life here in Ha Sole would provide some wonderfully exciting insight into the world I live in here in Lesotho.

7 a.m. - I hit alarm and lay in bed for a good five minutes trying to work up the courage to brave the cold floor. I also spend this time cursing the roosters, dogs and drunk, yelling men that woke me up several times throughout the night.

7:05 a.m. - I force myself out of my warm cocoon of my sleeping bag and into the freezing (literally, I can see my breath) cold room. I boil water, with takes an eternity (watched pot...), and in the meantime get dressed. “Dressed” consists of Smart Wool socks, hiking boots, leggings, skirt, long-sleeve shirt, short-sleeve shirt, fleece and scarf. I will not be winning “America's Next Top Model” anytime soon. Still cursing the roosters.

7:20 a.m. - The water is finally boiled. I eat breakfast, which generally consists of corn flakes (I have a strange craving for them here) and some fruit with peanut butter. I wash my only spoon, knife and bowl and finish getting ready for school (Deodorant and body spray, check. Teeth brushed, check. Hair not totally insane, check.).

7:50 a.m. - I put my solar panel out to charge and meet Megan to begin our walk to the top of the hill. We are always out of breath when we get there. We wait for the rest of our group (Lo can always be seen by the sparkling of her skirt, Tom is generally oblivious to our questions as he jams out to his MP3 player, ever-cheery Merrill asks how everyone's doing today and Tara and Oscar undoubtedly have come great story about their host family. Love you guys!) and then head off to school.

8:20 a.m. - We arrive to school just before Ntate Paul shows up to unlock the building and hand out “gifts” from Peace Corps: oranges, matches or toilet paper. Barb strolls up about this time as well, as she lives just across from the school.

8:30 a.m. - Classes start, but first we have to sing the Lesotho and American national anthems and the Karahano song (it's about how departing is sad...we have to sing it at our swearing-in ceremony). The torture of Sesotho class ensues.

10 a.m. - Tea break! We scramble to eat all the good cookies before the other villages arrive (sorry Ha Makabe and Bokone). It gets vicious.

10:30 a.m. - Session of some type...anything from PC policy to business to HIV/AIDS to safety to culture.

12:30-2 p.m. - Lunch break. I usually go home because I want the walk, but some people bring packed lunch. I always eat WAY TOO MUCH, so perhaps those packed lunch peeps are a little ahead of the game. I also usually try to catch some news on the BBC on my shortwave and read.

2-4 p.m. - Another session.

4-5 p.m. - We walk home from school and I usually waste time by cleaning my room, visiting another PCT or some other random activity cleverly devised to kill time in the easiest way possible. I have a strict “no starting dinner before 5 p.m.” rule as I go to bed early enough the way it is.

5 p.m. - I cook dinner, which is generally rice with cooked veges and some fruit. I have been getting good at the bread-making thing, too. This is also more news listening time...god bless the BBC or I would have no idea what was going on anywhere outside my dusty little village. Then I wash dishes and boil water for – you guessed it – my bucket bath!

6 p.m. - I drag my big, red tub out of the corner and place it in front of my door (after I check for the millionth time to be sure it's locked) since that's the only place in my room that has enough empty space to accommodate the bucket bathing ritual. I've gotten pretty good at water conservation and can get all spic and span with only three pitchers full of water! I get in pj's and make sure everything is clean and put away.

7-9 p.m. - I do homework if there is any and then write letters or blog. Around 7:30 or 8 my hand gets tired (the pen indent on my index finger is quite impressive) so I move on reading. It's lights out by 9...ok, that's wishful thinking, I'm usually in bed trying to sleep by 8:30 (gotta get those 10+ hours in). And then, the roosters and the dogs start...

7-27-08
I have survived CBT. We left Ha Sole on Friday after the bo-'M'e cooked us an awesome feast of fried chicken, moroho (cooked greens), pumpkin (what they call squash here), potato salad and rice. Before the feast the village held a ceremony in which one of the bo-'M'e gave a speech, Merrill presented our thanks to the village in Sesotho (great job Merrill!), we sang the Lesotho and American national anthems (seriously...so much singing here) and our Assistant PC Director Maria extended thanks to the village on behalf of Peace Corps. After the village morena (chief) also said this thanks to us, two ausi performed a traditional Basotho dance for us which was amazing...they make it look so easy!

After we ate, it was time to say goodbye to our families. I had given my family there presents earlier in the day: a vege peeler for my 'M'e, a frisbee for my ausi, a bag of Jolly Ranchers from the states for the whole family and a thank you letter. I had to write it in English as my Sesotho isn't nearly good enough to express everything I wanted to say...since my 'M'e speaks English, I hope she could read it or find someone to translate. Anyway, when it was time to go, my 'M'e was serving food to the village, so I gave her a quick hug goodbye and then boarded the sprinter (the PC bus that transports us) to head back to Maseru.

Some people in my group got very close with their families and it was really hard for them to leave. It was a sad time, the end of our lives as we were used to them here, but also one of excitement because we are all getting ready to start something new. So, after a weekend of partying it up at the training center (we celebrated the July and August birthdays last night, so don't worry, I got to celebrate with my friends, even if it was several weeks early) we meet our supervisors tomorrow and then those of us who are somewhat close to Maseru go to our sites tomorrow night. I am going to be staying in a hotel (showers! hooray!) but they have found me a house. Apparently it's in a village close to Mafeteng and is very nice, but I can't move in this week as they haven't yet installed burglar bars. PC hasn't told me anything else about it, but I'm going to try to get PSI to take me out to at least look at it while I'm in town.

And that's where things stand, at the end and at the beginning. I've posted some more pics (located in the "Training" album once you click the link to the left) of our field trip to Ts'elyane, a national park in Lesotho which is amazingly beautiful, my host parents and our going away feast in Ha Sole. I hope you enjoy them.

I miss you all incredibly! Until we speak again: Khotso! Pula! Nala! (Peace! Rain! Prosperity!)

Next stop: Mafeteng

2008-07-18T07:54:00.009-05:00

Well, as exciting as it was to have lunch with the Ambassador (he and his wife are amazingly nice and supportive of PCV's here), something even better happened today - we got our site assignments. We were supposed to find out on Monday, but our Assistant PC Director Maria and 'M'e Jimmie BUSTED to get it done early for us. Oh, how much I love them!!!

My assignment will be working with Population Services International (PSI), a huge, well-known, well-respected and well-organized international NGO. Yes, I'm stoked. Yes, I'm surprised. Yes, I'm scared as hell. Do I know anything about HIV/AIDS testing and counseling? No. But now's the time to learn.

If you remember from one of my previous posts, PSI is the organization that came to one of our training sessions and where we did voluntary HIV/AIDS testing. I was very impressed with them then and am looking forward to working with a group that really seems to have it together and is making a difference here. And, let's be selfish for a second, having worked with them will look awesome on my resume. Maria told me she gave me this placement because of my interest in learning about policy-making, so I hope to use this to get some experience in that area, as well as the day-to-day projects I will be working with them on. According to my job description (which we were told to take with a boulder of salt) I will:

Assist in coordination of outreach activities with counselors
Assist outreach counselors with the creation of community-based post-test clubs for all types of clients
Assist in coordination and organization of educational sessions focused on the needs of people living with HIV/AIDS
Assist in identification and maintenance of HIV/AIDS related resources and referral resource guides

That's a brief of the brief job description, but it gives you an idea. And this site puts me living just outside the camptown of Mafeteng. I don't know too much about it, but it's in southeastern Lesotho, in the lowlands, and is about as urban as you get outside of Maseru. Apparently PC appreciates the city girl in me. Here's a Wikipedia link about Mafeteng...not great, I know, but the best info I could find.

I will be living in a village just outside Mafeteng, but they do not have my house placement yet...that will be straightened out in the next couple of weeks. Apparently the house they were putting me in is a place where a current PCV who's COSing (close of service...he's finished his two years here and is heading back home) is living. But, it was broken into last week, so for obvious reasons, they aren't putting me there. Good to know safety and security is taken seriously here.

So, there's the deal. In about three weeks I'll be saying, "Lebitso la ka ke Ausi Neo. Ke lula Mafeteng. Ke sebetsa PSI." (My name is Ausi Neo. I live in Mafeteng. I work at PSI.) Yup, I'm excited! :)

Not quite Bethel

2008-07-15T05:40:00.009-05:00

So, as I mentioned in my last post, we were supposed to leave for Bethel on Sunday and spend two days at the ag college there learning about permaculture and nutrition. Ah Lesotho...always changing our plans.

It seems the college double-booked their rooms with our group and a group from a ministry (department of the government of Lesotho). The ministry group was larger, staying longer and, well, a ministry. Even though PC made our reservations months ago, guess who got the boot at the last minute? So, as a back-up plan, PC brought us back to the training center in Maseru and we did our training here instead. It wasn't nearly as interactive as it would've been in Bethel, but KUDOS to Casey, Pam, Tina and Kjesse (current PCV's who lead the sessions), they did a great job despite the situation. We learned how to can and preserve foods, make traditional Basotho foods more healthy and discussed gender and nutrition issues with Basotho children and mothers.

And, in a wonderful stroke of genius, our Country Director Ted borrowed a projector from the Embassy and we pulled all the couches and chairs outside to watch a movie "on the big screen" under the stars. The feature was American Ninja 4: The Annihilation, a B-movie (that's being generous) that was filmed in Lesotho several years ago and had many PCV's as extras. It was gloriously terrible. My favorite quote: "I know he's a great bowler, but this is serious, those were ninjas!" I highly recommend each and every one of you check it out sometime, here's the IMDB link if you are interested in this cheese-fest. Alcohol consumption helps.

So, this afternoon we're back to the villages for more training. Friday morning the trainees in my village will host a pitso (community meeting) as a practice for doing community meetings at our site. My group chose to direct our session at youth and we will be discussing nutrition. After our pitso, all the trainees head back to Maseru and we have lunch at the Ambassador's house. I've heard nothing but great things about him and his family and cannot wait to hob-knob...and maybe catch some satellite t.v. ;)

That's it for now, short and sweet (for once).

Khotso! (Peace!)

P.S. I've added some more pics to the "Training" photo album. Random stuff mostly...photos of our June Birthdays/Leaving for CBT party, the concert in Ha Sole, Lesotho sunsets and dongas (giant "cuts" erosion has made into the soil here).

Visual Representation

2008-07-11T06:39:00.003-05:00

I got more photos to post today...thank goodness! You can check them out at the photo link to the left. They are in the "Training" album. Enjoy!

Scenario #268

2008-07-11T05:18:00.011-05:00

7-6-08
One of PC's favorite teaching tools is the scenario. We've analyzed scenarios about everything form safety and security to riding in a taxi to determining what illness a person may be suffering from. We've poured over questions about getting pick-pocketed, hit-on, religion and a spectrum of diarrhea-related issues. It's been so constant that the running joke amongst my training group goes something like, “A female PCV covered in gold goes walking across the pedestrian bridge at night while talking on her cell phone, dropping money and chugging a beer. What is she doing wrong?”

Ok, so their frequency makes them a bit of a joke but I do understand why the trainers use them – we are still in a very sheltered enviroment during training. Using scenarios to talk us through situations we may encounter before they happen not only serves as a great preventative but also a good window into Basotho culture and how we may be perceived and treated.

Until now I haven't really talked much about what I've learned and observed regarding womens' roles in Basotho culture. Initially, I honestly didn't notice as much blatant inappropriate treatment as I had expected. Maseru is, after all, a city and in the parts we were initially exposed to we were mostly free to be our normal, pant-wearing, independent American women-selves. Upon moving to community-based training (CBT), all the female PCT's were required to begin wearing skirts at all times. While this was annoying (and still is at times...hiking in a skirt requires great creativity), it was something to be accepted as part of showing respect to my host country. The rule exists because, in traditional Basotho culture, for a woman to show the thigh, or really any part of the leg above the knee, is considered risque. Since pants “show” the thigh, they are not worn by women in more rural, conservative areas of the country. Women in Ha Sole, some anyway, do wear pants though they are usually covered in a blanket pinned into a skirt (all the rage here), but that's mostly because it keeps them really warm.

Some slightly more subtle (at least at first) issues regarding women have started to come to the surface as I interact with more and more Basotho. For example, men can drink any time, any place in any quantity, but women who are seen in a bar or purchasing alcohol (outside of Maseru) are generally thought of as being “loose.” So, if I as a female PCT want to have a glass of wine with my dinner or a beer with friends, I must enlist one of the male PCT's to go to the shop and buy it for me. Then, I must drink it in my house, or at the house of another PCT, without any Basotho seeing me consume it (or seeing my empty bottle).

In Lesotho, it is generally believed that men and women cannot be “just friends.” If you are seen spending time alone with a member of the opposite sex, even a male and a female PCT studying or eating dinner together, it is generally believed that you are sleeping together. No amount of explanation or, “In our culture, it is acceptable for...” will change their minds on this one.
As a matter of fact, Saturday morning my 'M'e cornered me and asked (in very stern English to be sure I understood exactly what she was saying) about “the man” that she had heard in my room the night before. I most certainly am in my room, door locked, ALL ALONE, every night by dark, which this time of year is something like 5:30 p.m. This explanation did not appease her. Then, it dawned on me that she must have heard my radio, and that the voice of the BBC reporter was indeed “the man” in my room. I don't know if she quite understood me, but our language trainers also talked to her about this and I feel as if all is well again. None the less, it was a great example of how even the most innocent of actions can be greatly misinterpreted when involving cultural gender norms.

Something I've seen more of in Maseru than in village is the cat-calling, whistling and generally vulgar looks we females receive from Basotho men. Our female Basotho trainers tell us that here, the courting ritual generally involves a man professing his love for a woman, (in Sesotho, the word “rata” means both love and like...there is no separate word, or meaning, for the two emotions) even one he doesn't actually know. The woman turns him down several times until she eventually agrees to meet up with him. So, to a Basotho woman, it may be interpreted as a slight if a man doesn't toss the, “Hey baby, looking good” her way each and every passing. To an American, (or this one at least) it feels like harassment. Don't worry, I'm still not afraid to take a stand when necessary.

Despite all these things, there is still much to celebrate about women in Lesotho. Many women hold high positions in government. There is nothing like the power of the bo-'M'e to protect her family and children. Often, women are the breadwinners or, at least, are running households for months at a time while their husbands are working in the South African mines. These women are strong.

I do believe that my just being here, showing by example that women can have an education, be competent, strong and trust-worthy and live a life of their own choosing, I am helping to melt the barriers for women here. In the meantime, I'm just trying not to involve myself in any of the scenarios.

7-8-08
We've stayed busy this past week and have been getting more exposure to life in Lesotho outside of the confines of training. Last week we had our usual schedule of Sesotho, health, business, permaculture and cultural classes.

On Saturday, we took a tourist-style field trip to Thaba-Bosiu before going to Maseru for food shopping. There is a very long history behind this spot, but basically it is the mountain from which the first king of Lesotho, King Moshoeshoe I (pronounced Shway-shway), defended the country from invaders, thus ensuring its independence from South Africa. The vertical climb was quite steep but the view amazing. Our guide told us the story of the battle and Moshwayshway's rule, as well as showing us the mountain that the traditional Basotho hat was modeled after (connection permitting, I have pics of this under the “Kelly's Photos of Lesotho” link to the left). All the royalty, including King Moshoeshoe I, are also buried on Thaba-Bosiu. There were some great views, and I can definitely see how Lesotho's landscape influenced Tolken's Middle Earth. If only Lord of the Rings had been filmed here...

In a hands-on learning experience on Sunday, each village held a fund raiser. This took the form of a concert, though not in the traditional American sense. Announcing a concert in Lesotho, or any public event for that matter, consists of passing the word via the chief's messenger (he literally walks around the village yelling out the event date, time and location) and word-of-mouth from our bo-'M'e. We put a poster on the shop/bar door for good measure. On the day of the concert, the children and bo-'M'e filed in at the designated place but were, of course, late. Everyone pays an entry fee; ours was 1 rand. As fund raiser organizers, we PCT's started off by singing the Lesotho and American national anthems (which we also have to sing at our swearing-in ceremony), a couple of short Sesotho songs we've learned and “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” We had to keep singing until someone paid for us to stop and another person or group to start. For the next two hours we rotated singing with groups of children and bo-'M'e. Some highlights included Lorian's whole-hearted “Eeeeeeeeeeeeh” during “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” Oscar's impressive, operatic turn as Pumba during “Hakuna Matata,” our very speedy rendition of “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” and Megan and my Grammy award-worthy cover of “Wonderwall” (yes, our musical repertoire is quite impressive, I know). In the end a little over 400 rand was raised. The bo-'M'e of Ha Sole will decide what they'd like PC to buy for the community with the funds. All in all it was quite embarrassing but a good lesson in how to turn something very simple into a way to raise local funds for a project.

The end of this week will include more travel. On Friday we are going to the camptown of Ty (it has along Sesotho name but no one, even the Basotho, call it anything but Ty) to visit some small businesses, including weavers. On Sunday we leave for a three-day trip to the agriculture school in Bethel, where we will learn about canning, gardening, nutrition and agriculture issues in Lesotho from come current PCV's, including one who is stationed there currently. That's right, the girl who ate out for almost every meal will be learning how to grow and can her own fruits and vegetables. Oh, the things you learn in Peace Corps!

7-11-08
Hello from a lovely little internet cafe in Ty! This morning we toured some small businesses in Lesotho. First off were a group of weavers...their work is amazing and I can't wait to buy a tapestry or several here to decorate my house! I did purchase a couple of beautiful wallets though and I'm sure I'll be coming back for more of those around Christmas time. The women work everyday spinning the mohair (goat hair), dying it and then finally making the weavings. They are having issues getting their works to buyers, though, as they sell very well at craft fairs in South Africa and the U.S. but they can't afford to get their weavings there very often. Obviously most people in Lesotho cannot afford the works and most in-country sales go to tourists...and tourists are not plentiful here.

After the weavers, we stopped by a youth center that was recently built by the Lesotho Ministry of Youth. It was a great idea in theory, and the ministry put up the money to build the structure, but now the center is not receiving the funding it needs from the government to provide the services (sports, classes, computer training, HIV/AIDS testing, etc.) it was intended for. So, it stands now as a big, nice, empty building. It was a sad example of mismanagement, but who knows exactly where that problem lies. A current PCV is working with the center, though, to try to help them find ways to reach out to the youth of the community even with their limited resources.

Finally, we visited a farmer who is doing some really great work with organic food production and also raises pigs. He is currently working on a system that will compost his pig manure and will use the gas off-puts to heat his greenhouses and piggeries. Very progressive, and it was so nice to meet a Basotho who is forward-thinking, active and really working and committed to change life here for the better.

So that's about it for now, we have the afternoon to hang out and shop here in Ty before we head back to our villages for a day off tomorrow...much needed! Thanks again to everyone who's posted comments, emailed, called or texted. I miss home a lot and it's really great to hear from you all.

As for mail...I haven't yet received any but some people have, finally! It will get here, so please keep sending it as it will, I promise, be very appreciated.

Khotso! Pula! Nala! (Peace! Rain! Prosperity!)

Photos!

2008-07-05T07:05:00.001-05:00

I had a bit of success today getting some photos from staging and training at the center in Maseru onto my Picasa account today! You can check them out by clicking the link to my photos to the left. My goal will be to get village and more scenic pics (this place really is beautiful, I promise) up next week.

Mail

2008-07-05T06:30:00.002-05:00

Not much help here, but this is what I know.

We still don't have mail. We don't know why. It's Lesotho, that's probably the best explanation.

The address is correct. Please add "Southern Africa" at the bottom of my address on any future letters (I've made this addition to my address here on my blog too). I think some of your letters that have gotten returned were returned because the USPS didn't know where Lesotho is. Also, please be sure to send your letters by airmail. You will need to request the airmail rate at the post office and may have to affix an airmail sticker to your letters.

Please keep sending them, they'll get here eventually and I will be ETERNALLY grateful to have something to read!!!!

Love you all!

Ausi Neo

2008-07-05T05:39:00.014-05:00

6-23-08
Sometimes I forget that I'm in Africa. I'm here, in a village with none of the usual amenities, learning Sesotho, constantly surrounded by children yelling, "Ausi, u mang? Ausi, u lula kae? Ausi, u ea kae?" (Sister, what is your name? Where do you live? Where are you going?) and yet, I go home, eat corn flakes, listen to my iPod and text my friends. Today, however, it feels a little more like Africa.

I came home from school for lunch and, as usual, sat in my room listening to the BBC on my shortwave and eating Cheetos - or the Lesotho equivalent. I just stepped out of my house for a second to pour out my dish water and heard a house across the field blaring some traditional African music, great beat and lots of drums. It sounds a little more like Africa. The sun is out and the mid-day is warm (I can actually take off my jacket for a few hours); it feels more like Africa. Men on donkeys ride by on the road, children chase each other around a small house down the hill and I'm sitting by my 'M'e's garden writing because my solar panel takes days to charge my computer. It looks more like Africa now. Moments like this here are so rare, at least during training we're swamped and scheduled, but these are the moments I love.

6-24-08
This week's training has been a little easier than the last, maybe because I am adjusting, maybe because I am finally able to eat on my own terms, maybe because I've started taking daily walks with Megan and Tom for some much-needed physical activity. Whatever the reason, I'm thankful for it. The subject matter of our lessons, however, has been anything but easy. Besides the usual Sesotho lessons (which are vital but killer) this week focused a lot on HIV/AIDS and its impact in Lesotho. On Monday the NGO (non-governmental organization...non-profit, basically) New Start, which is part of Population Services International, came to talk to us about the HIV/AIDS counseling, testing and medical referral services they offer.

Let me digress for a moment here to explain something about PC policy. As PCV's, we are not here to physically provide a service, for example, serve as a counselor or physically build a hospital with our own labor. We are there to empower our community to create the change they seek by facilitating the process. The thought behind all our actions should be, "Who will do this when I'm gone?" If our community wants a counselor to talk to HIV-positive residents, we help our community figure out how to find that service and bring it to the village. If our community wants to build a hospital, we help them by developing strategies to raise the necessary funds, labor, supplies and staffing. You get the idea. By extension, PCV's cannot physically test people for HIV/AIDS, but if our community wants testing, New Start is an NGO we can help them to contact to bring that service to the village.

So now that that's covered...

New Start came to tell us about their services and did a condom and female condom demo so we could see what types of info they teach at their sessions (and to show us how to do demos in case we choose to do those on our own at our site). After their presentation, we had the opportunity to voluntarily get tested for HIV. Beings that I am not in a high-risk category and come from a country with a low prevalence rate, the only time I've been tested for HIV was for my PC medical clearance exam, and that was done through a blood screening with a million other tests. Not exactly high-stress. I figured, if I'm going to talk the talk, I better walk the walk and experience one of these sessions first-hand. It was a strange experience for sure, sitting in a room for 30 minutes while you talk to a counselor about your entire medical history, then waiting for 10 minutes, staring at a little blue and white piece of paper to tell you your results. Of course my result was negative, but it was a little nerve-wracking anyway. I'm not really sure why, maybe that's just the nature of "tests," maybe it's being in a country where 50% of people in my age bracket are HIV-positive. At any rate, I'm so glad that I did it, just to have the experience. After we tested, we received a blue wristband that says, "Ke tseba boemo ba ka, uena?" (I know my status, do you?) It's already served as a great conversation starter for my fellow Ha Sole PCT Tom. His family noticed him wearing it and asked if he had been tested. Because of that opening, he was able to have a really great conversation with them about the reality of HIV/AIDS here.

Besides testing and counseling, we've had sessions with our medical staff on how the HIV virus is transmitted, reproduces and spreads and drugs and treatments available to HIV-positive patients. Current PCV's lead a session on HIV/AIDS myths and misconceptions in Lesotho and the personal impact dealing with HIV/AIDS has has on them as volunteers (seeing so much death and illness, denial, Basotho friends who find out they are positive, etc.).

Speaking of dealing with though situations, the other morning my 'M'e, cheery and smiling like always, mentioned that she would be leaving on Thursday to go to her home (where she grew up and her family still lives), which is in the mountains. My response was automatic.
"Oh, that's great! Are you going for a trip?"
"No ausi, my father died and his funeral is on Saturday."
She's still smiling. My jaw drops.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry 'M'e, I'm so sorry, ke swabile, I'm really, really sorry."
"Kea leboha." Thank you.
Smiling still, she starts to hang out her laundry.

We've been warned that death is treated very differently here and that it can be very hard for us as Americans to understand and process. I think my 'M'e is probably just as effected as any one of us has been or will be when someone we love passes away. I do not know the story of her father, how he died, how old he was, how sick or for how long. But, wow, I had to take a few minutes in my room to deal with that one. I cried a little, cried because I translated the pain that I've felt in losing a father to what I imagined she must be feeling. But then, I stopped, stood up, went outside, chatted with her about the sunny morning and went to school.

I know, it sounds a bit callous even to me as I write this. But, I can't imagine a world here every single week someone I know and love - a friend, a neighbor, a family member, a parent, a child - dies. That is the world the Basotho are living in. So out of respect for a situation and a life I will never, ever fully understand, I go on with her in a way that she understands, which means no tears, no fretting about her in public. But, I study my own reaction and am preparing for more of this to come. I've been in Ha Sole for a little under three weeks now, and this is the second death I've known about. This is for real.

7-1-08
I figured it about time to explain the title of this post. When we came to village three weeks ago, our host families bestowed us with Sesotho names. These are the only names the villagers address us with; only the children, after an endless string of questions about our Sesotho name, family, where were are going and where we live, ask us for our "American" names.

When I arrived in Ha Sole that crazy afternoon, my 'M'e's niece (she speaks great English and my 'M'e, at that point, was still not using hers) informed me that my name was not ausi Kelly but ausi Neo (pronounced nay-oh). When I asked her how to spell it, I was rather excited to see that I can now claim to be part of the Matrix.

Neo means "gift" in Sesotho. I am by no means an original in this. Andre is now known as abuti Neo and there are a few ausi Mpho's in the group, which also means "gift" (I do think I lucked out with the superior spelling). These names were also selected by our families before we arrived, so don't get too excited, my arrival didn't inspire some great feeling of of gratitude amongst my family to earn the title, much as I'd like to claim so. So this is my name for the next two years, "gift." But, gift of what? To whom? I wonder, will it not be more of a gift Lesotho gives me than I can ever give back?

Internet by accident

2008-06-29T03:44:00.002-05:00

Hello all! Well, I had this great blog post all written out about my experiences at training this week, but didn't bring it to Maseru as we didn't think we'd have time to check internet. Ha!

On Friday we left for PCV site visit, meaning that we split into pairs and groups of three to visit a site of a current Volunteer, to get a better idea of what our actual service might be like. Originally, we were supposed to go on site visit Saturday and come back Tuesday, but the taxi association is planning a strike beginning Monday, which will hault all public transport in the country. The drivers are upset that the government recently purchased buses that are newer and cheaper to ride than the current privately-run ones, so that is why they are protesting. The taxi association is a very powerful group here, as almost no one here has a private vehicle. We had to be back to Maseru before that started and PC wants us back in our training villages today just in case any unrest would break out in the capital over the strike. So, our visit started a day early and ended two short.

I went with Tom and Allison to visit Casey in Ramabanta, about a 2 1/2 hour "taxi" ride east from Maseru. This was our first real experience with public transport in Lesotho. Casey picked us up at the PC Training Center in Maseru and we took a 4+1 (a car with a yellow stripe on it, a bit more like what you'd think of as a taxi in the U.S. but they cram up to 5 people in it, hence the name) to the taxi rank. The taxi rank is a CRAZY place with tons of people, buses, taxis, shops and street vendors. We got on the taxi for Ramabanta very easily and it filled up fast. Sometimes you have to wait hours for them to fill. In Lesotho, a taxi is basically a 15 passenger van that they fill with upwards of 20 people, all carrying bags, babies, suitcases and anything else imaginable. They also BLARE the wonderful sounds of African/accordion music (it's indescribable) and really bad rap thanks to the U.S. At one point in our journey into the foothills where Casey's site is located, the taxi couldn't make it up the steep incline. Half the people, including Tom (Allison, Casey and I were crammed in the back so we couldn't get out) had to walk up the hill, then get back in. It was truly hilarious.

Once we arrived at Casey's site, she gave us a tour of her village and some of her work projects. We made an AWESOME dinner of Mexican food, tortillas, beans, guac and all. It was amazing! The next day we took a hike part way up one of the mountains near her village. The view was amazing and I have some great pics...hopefully someday I can find internet connection here that will allow me to post them so you all back home can see too. At sunset, the mountains around her village burn bright red and look almost like they are on fire. If I am placed anywhere nearly as beautiful as Ramabanta, I will be a happy, happy woman.

We headed back to Maseru early this morning. We were out at the taxi stop a little after 6 but in true Lesotho fashion our ride came around 7. Nothing like a brisk morning wait! And now, here we are with some accidental free time to access internet!

So that's the update for now. Next time I get to Maseru, hopefully next Saturday is the strike is over, I'll post it for you all to read. I hear that some people have gotten my letters, which is great! I guess some people's letters from the States have gotten returned, so I'm checking on the address situation, to make sure we are giving out the right one, and will update here when I find out more.

Until I see you all again, salang hantle!

Welcome to Ha Sole

2008-06-21T02:34:00.010-05:00

6-15-08

Here I am, sitting in my bed in a rural village in Africa typing on my computer by the light of a paraffin lamp. Strange...

We arrived at our CBT villages earlier today. PC loaded all 23 of us up, along with all 23 of our bags, (plural...no one made it with just one) buckets, tubs, pots, hopes and dreams. My group was the first village dropped off, so we said goodbye to the other PCT's, acting as if we'd known each other for years and may never see each other again, and walked out into the beautiful, sunny winter day. Ha Sole is at the top of a large hill, surrounded by rocky, rolling, orange foothills. The sun seems to shine here all the time, there is never a cloud in the sky! We can see the village next to us where some of the others of my group are staying, but in all other directions it is open space, cows and sheep.

A crowd of Basotho women and children waited for us. I, along with the seven other volunteers that are in Ha Sole with me, stood on one side of the road while the Basotho stood at the other waving, smiling and staring. The bo-'m'e (village women...'m'e means mother) sang a few songs, but we soon learned why we were not receiving the traditional welcome. The chief's daughter died and the village is in mourning. A stark reminder that in the midst of such beauty, Lesotho is in deed a country experiencing much darkness. Between songs the women and children commiserated about the new kids in town, gesturing to their hair, necks, dresses as they no doubt discussed our appearance. Once our trainers consulted with the village (that's how we found out about the chief's daughter) our head trainer 'M'e Mamote (I don't think that's how it's spelled but that's my best guess) said a few words and then read off the roster of what family each volunteer would be living with. I swear, it was like being on The Price Is Right, just missing the “come on down!” as each family was so delighted to meet us. In turn, when our name was called, we met in the middle of the road with our new 'M'e and hugged as the village hooted, cheered and clapped. Once we were all assigned to our new families, our bo-'m'e came up with their children (and in my case also her own 'm'e, a few sisters and a niece as well) to help us carry our things to our new homes.

And that's when it happened, the moment that it hits you that you are indeed living in Africa, you are now a Peace Corps Volunteer (okay, trainee) and, crap, you aren't in Kansas (or Iowa or Texas) anymore. As we walked down the hill with my massive amount of luggage and supplies, I looked up to see a string of bo-'m'e, bo-ausi (female children...means sister) and bo-abuti (male children...means brother) in front of me lugging boxes and bags and buckets for their new brothers and sisters, sons and daughters. Some of the bo-'m'e artfully balanced large tubs on their heads. In that moment this experience was exactly what I imagined it to be, here I was, I am doing this. I literally had to fight back the tears...tears of fulfillment, realization and accomplishment, not sadness.

My CBT 'm'e is 'M'e Madumel and my ntate (pronounced n-tah-tey...means father) is Ntate Molato...not sure on any of those spellings. The have an ausi Boneswa. After helping me get my things to my room, 'm'e gave me a ridiculously heaping plate of rice, squash, cooked greens, some type of beans and sauce and chicken. I ate maybe a third and I was stuffed. Luckily in Lesotho it is not rude to refuse food or not clean your plate, so after eating I (as politely as I could in my extremely horrible Sesotho) told my 'm'e that the food was delicious and I was stuffed. A few neighbors and friends stopped by to say hello and I did my best to greet them, but I mostly sat looking completely confused, smiling and nodding. After spending a bit of time setting up my supplies and clothing in the room that will be my home for the next six weeks, my ausi helped me complete my Sesotho homework. In case you were wondering, yes it is very humbling to be tutored by a 9 year old.

As it started to get dark, 'M'e let me help her make dough for the bread we will have for breakfast tomorrow. Her daughter was not impressed with my mixing skills, that's for sure. I spent a couple hours with the family as ntate Molato asked lots of questions about America. He did not believe that we only really speak one language or that sometimes, the men do cook while the women rest (I said SOMETIMES ladies!). Also, when he asked if America had rivers and I told him yes, some very large, 'M'e started singing a song (in English) I've never heard about the Mississippi River...the Basotho love to sing and they are amazing at it! Ntate knows limited English but for sure enough to ask questions and understand most of my answers. 'M'e seems to know quite a lot of English but for my benefit doesn't use it much. School here is taught in English so I know my ausi knows some as well but she is very shy around me today. Since I'm not great with kids, I'm going to have to work hard at that one.

Now I sit in my bed, snug in my sleeping bag (thank you REI salesman, this thing is SUPER warm!) typing on a computer in a place with no electricity, running water or cell reception (in my room anyway; I've heard there is reception here so I'll investigate on my walk tomorrow). This is the first day I've really felt like I have arrived and it was amazing.

Until next time, salang hantle! (pronounced saw-long hank-lay...means “stay well”)

6-21-08
Well, we've survived the first week of CBT and are in Maseru for the morning/afternoon to buy groceries as starting tonight we are no longer eating with our families and are cooking for ourselves. Don't get me wrong, my 'M'e is a good cook and I'm glad I had the chance to learn from her (I'm baking my own bread from scratch!) but I've had WAY more carbs than I care to have for the rest of my life. Every meal consisted of a load of rice, papa (corn meal mixed with boiling water to make a stiff porridge) or leshaylayshalay (sort of like Malt-o-Meal), greens cooked in oil, some type of meat or eggs and bread. We got very little protein or calcium, but one of our sessions yesterday was with our PC medical staff and a current PCV who gave us suggestions on how to cook American foods with things available here and how to make sure we have enough protein, calcium and iron in our diets. So, don't worry, I will be staying healthy!

School has been long and tough for all of us as we've had at least 2 hours of Sesotho each day and two other sessions (2 hours each) every day as well. We've learned about economics and business in Lesotho, HIV/AIDS basics and our health staff talked to us about mental well-being while in PC. I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but on top of that we have had to cook three meals a day with our families (really cook...no microwaves here obviously), are constantly bombarded with questions in Sesotho (that we don't understand), are adjusting to bucket bathes, latrines and hand-washing our clothes, and have gotten very little sleep. The roosters crow ALL NIGHT and dogs fight and bark constantly. The roofs of our houses are tin so we can hear birds jumping around and when it rains (as it has the last few days) the sound is deafening.

I don't want to sound unhappy, I'm really doing well, it is just a lot to adjust to all at once. The PC staff and other Volunteers have been amazing though, they have given us great tips and, if nothing else, can empathize. My family is also very sweet, patient and helpful. I live right next door to Megan so we walk together up the hill every morning to meet with Tara, Oscar, Merrill, Tom and Lorean to make the walk to school and compare experiences from the previous evening. Megan and I are also going to start walking for an hour each day after school (4:30-5:30 p.m. so we are done before it gets dark) and I think some physical activity will be very good to have.

I only got to type one post at CBT this week as it has been raining since Wednesday and haven't been able to use my solar panel. I'm hoping the weather is better tomorrow and I can charge everything up.

Well, that's about it for now, but thanks to you all for your text messages, emails, comments, etc. I love hearing from you and cannot wait to get mail! We haven't gotten any, I think it's taking longer than we anticipated. At any rate, I'm eagerly waiting!

XOXO from Africa!