Turkey Day!

I killed a turkey! We had a big celebration for the Thanksgiving Day and I had the honor of bringing the turkey, down the mountain (1hr walk), 15 min taxi ride to Mt. Moorosi, 15 truck ride to river, 5 minute boat ride across the Orange River, 1 hr walk to Bethel, eating turkey in Lesotho on Thanksgiving Day, priceless. Check out these pics!

HIV/AIDS in Lesotho

Population: 1.8 (should be 2.1)
#of PLWHA: 260,000
Prevalence rate: 23-30%

Lesotho has the third highest prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS in the world. Before I arrived I thought I would see a lot of "sick" people but so many people are infected and they are very good at hiding it. The stigma is a huge problem here. When people die, they die of the "common cold" (AKA TB-HIV co-infection). 80% of people who have TB also have HIV. People do not talk about their status. To find these people in the community is a rarity. I see more of it because I work directly with people who are living openly with HIV/AIDS but other than that people don't talk about it. Some common MYTHS I've heard since being in Lesotho are: condoms have worms and if you put them under the microscope you can see them. Sharing toothbrushes causes AIDS. There is a billboard in Maseru that actually says this! I guess its possible, blood to blood via toothbrush but the chance of this transmission is very LOW. But this is what people here are worried about, not unprotected sex. It is very common in Lesotho for people to be engaged in multiple con-concurrent relationships. Especially with so many men in Lesotho working in the mines in South Africa. Even if one is married it is perceived that there is a side girl of some sort. But people don't recognize this as a problem. "Men have needs" is the excuse I have heard (from men of course). Traditionally the basotho were a polygamous culture. King Moshoeshoe I (founder of Lesotho) had 15 wives! This mentality is in-grained in the culture. I've also heard people say that AIDS isn't real. That it was just made up to scare people. There is definitely a lot of work to be done here and most of my "work" will probably just consist of having conversations with people about HIV/AIDS and trying to debunk myths associated with it.

PHOTOS

Sebapala Community Library

So one of the projects I worked on was to help open the first library in Sebapala Community. The PCV before me received a bunch of books from African Libraries Project but did not get a chance to finish the library before leaving so I picked up where she left off. I never knew much about how to organize and open a library until now. The official opening was 19th of October. It was a great success! We had the Director/founder of African Libraries attend as well as members of Parliament, ministries, local government, teachers, principles, students and people from the community. There was a tour of the library followed by speeches, singing, and lots of food. The library is located at Pontseng Primary School but is for the whole Sebapala Community (vast and rural area of over 21 villages). I think people are truly excited for this library because until now, books have been non-existent. Parents don't read to their children and teachers don't incorporate books into their classes (except text books). So, this is a very exciting time for the Sebapala Community!

"Work Life"

So a lot of people are asking what it is that I am actually "working" on here in Lesotho. I can tell you that the concept of "work" here is very different than back in America. People here have a very different work ethic which influences the time it takes to get anything done. It takes a VERY long time to accomplish anything so patience is key. I've been mainly working with support groups. At this point I am working with over 8 different support groups throughout the Sebapala Valley. Some are made up of only People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) and some are made up of HIV negative people but mainly want to help the Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC'S) in their community. At this point I am doing a needs assessment of each group trying to figure out what they do and where they want to go and how I can help them help themselves. This in itself is extremely difficult because the needs are obviously quite great and the groups have no money to reach the goals that they do have. Unfortunately, Lesotho has a "hand-out" mentality ingrained in their culture so it makes it very difficult to re-direct that to starting from nothing (reality) and making it into something. Most groups want to do some type of income generating activity (IGA) to help PLWHA and OVC'S. Right now I'm working on getting the group seeds so they can plant and have a good source of nutrition for PLWHA and OVC'S and to sell the remainder of the crops. One group has started making bracelets and necklaces out of scrap fabrics and materials to sell as IGA. A lot of groups want to do chicken and pig projects for sources of protein and as IGA, but these projects cost a lot of money so I'm trying to have these groups start small so they can reach these goals. I've also done some education of support groups on HIV 101 and Nutrition. It was shocking to realize the lack of facts these groups have on basic HIV/AIDS info. I've also worked a bit with Red Cross on canning and food preservation techniques. But pretty much I've just been trying to meet as many people as possible, trying to figure out how things work, and the culture of my community, and putting people in touch with the proper resources and connections that Lesotho has to offer.

Holy Cow!

Wow! Its been a long time! How is everyone? I apologize for the long delay in updating my blog but I have had little (no) access to internet since I departed the capital city of Maseru. I'm back in Maseru for some in-service trainning for 10days so I promise to do some serious blogging before I go back to site. Anyway, where do I start? Well, I guess a good place is to describe my village and my community. I live in a very small village (about 100people) at about 6,000 ft above sea-level. I am actually in a river valley so the views of the mountains are AMAZING! I will definetly post some pics while in town. I have my own rondaval on a family compound. My host family is amazing. My host father works in South Africa in the gold mines so I don't see him very often and my host mother holds down the fort at home. They have five children together (4boys and 1girl), from ages 27-6. My host sister had a baby back in August. Its actually quite an interesting story because she went into labour during the day but never made it to the hospital in time. By the time the truck came to take her to the hospital (1 hr drive in a private vehicle) it was to late. She ended up having the baby on the side of the road on the way to the hospital. The BO-Me (women) who went with her assisted with the delivery on the roadside. They had no flashlight or water, just a few blankets. She was back home a few hours later. They gave me the honour of naming the baby! In Lesotho, people have a christian name and a sesotho name, I was responsible for both. I named her Sophia Palesa. She is such a beautiful baby and she is getting so big! I will try to get some pics up of her as well. Stay tuned for more updates. I miss you all and hope the weather is not getting too cold.

PCV!

Hi all. I am happy to announce that I am finally a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV)! I passed my language test and officially got sworn in today. We had a very nice ceremony with the US Ambassodor and other embassy officials, all the trainers, the PC staff, and some of our future working partners. It was a great turn-out with lots of singing, speeches, and FOOD. I will leave tomorrow for Sebapala-Quthing for my village. I am very excited to get settled and make my thatched roof rodavel home. I am also a bit nervous to go from extreme business with a lot of structure and fellow trainees to no structure and no fellow volunteers. I am sure I will find plenty of things to do. Work already seems busy, there is SO MUCH to be done, but things seem to happen very slowly here. I have finally gotten a cell phone so if anyone wants to give me a jingle just drop me an email and I will give you my number. I hope all is well back in the states and hope the summer is going great. I will be in touch as best I can. I am not sure if my camptown has internet so I will have to investigate the closest place to log on. Until next time.

Ho joang?

Hi there! It has been too long in writing, I am sorry for this. The last time I was blogging the power went out at the internet cafe so I lost everything. This is quite common here in Lesotho. Those people who do have power often lose it everyday. Lesotho sells a lot of its power to South Africa who is also experiencing huge power shortages. Anywho, a lot has happened in the past month. I had lunch with the Ambassador, got my site assignment, and left my host village. Trainning is just about over and I go to my site this monday for a visit and then come back to swear in as an official PCV. I will be living in the Quthing highlands region of Lesotho. I am in a small, rural village. I will be working with a community based organization doing HIV/AIDS awareness/education/prevention and agriculture (permaculture, canning, and food preservation). The beauty of my job is that I can really do anything but that is the main focus. So Quthing region is in the southern part of Lesotho, close to the South African border. I will live in a rodavel (round house) with a thatched roof, no electricity or running water. I cannot wait. I will fill you all in once I visit and hopefully begin to upload pictures soon. The weather here is getting pretty hot (for winter), the days are sunny and warm but the nights still cool. We had a big feast and ceremony in my village (host) the day we left. It was great the whole town showed up. A lot dancing, talking, and eating. It was sad to leave my host family but I am very excited to begin to get settled in my home. I feel like there is a lot more to tell you all but I am running out of time. I am still trying to figure out I how can respond to individual posts, but with the power going out it is difficult. Keep in touch, talk to you soon. Khotso.

Happy 4th of July!

Hey all! So I have just finally figured out how to view everyones comments! For the longest time I thought you all were not repsonding to my blog, so thanks to all that have taken the time to post comments- I am still trying to figure out how to respond to individual comments. Baby steps- I will get there. Things here are going great. Yesterday we had a big celebration for Independence day. We had a ton of american food-burgars, sausage, potato salad, coleslaw, and apple crisp! It was all so tasty! I hope all you had a great celebration as well. The taxi strike is over and things are back to normal here and around Maseru, so all is good and well. I have been baking my own bread and cooking lots of tasty food. I have never made my own bread before Lesotho. Its amazing that I get up at about 6 oclock to boil water and begin making bread (by candlelight). Sometimes I feel like I am living in the 19th centuary. This Sunday my village is having a concert where myself and six other trainies will get up and sing in front of the whole village. All the proceeds of the concert will go to Bokone Village. Well my time is running out so I will catch you all on the flip side. Keep posting comments- I love to read them. Auntie Pat- it took me a minuate but I figured it out-glad you and John are able to access my blog now. BE WELL.

Hey All! I have just returned back from Buthe Butha in the north of the country. I stayed with a current PCV and got to see how she is living and working here in Lesotho. It was very beautiful up there with breath-taking views of the mountains. Buthe Butha (BB) is a very cool camptown with quite a large Indain population so I ate some very tasty Indian food. Jenn the PCV I stayed with lives in a village about a one hour walk from the camptown. I had to come back early because of the taxi strike that will take place on Monday June 30. Apparently it is supposed to last for four days but no one really knows so we were advised to stalk up on food and supplies in case we cannot access Maseru in the next week. I hope all is going well back in the states and I'll keep you all posted from the south side. Khotso.

le phela joang?

How is everybody? I have come to Maseru (capital) today to do some food shoping and stock up on much needed supplies to go back to my host village. I am staying in Bokone with a host family. I have my own stone hut on the family compound, but no running water or electricity. My home is equipt with a propane heater, a gas stove, a bed, a kitchen table, and a night table, and LOTS of buckets. I use buckets for everything. I have a pee bucket, a bathing bucket, a dish washing and rinsing bucket, water storage buckets, and so on. My family is very nice. My 'M'e (mother) does not speak much english and so the communication has been difficult. Yesterday I meant to say "I want to learn how to wash my clothes tomorrow" but instead I said "I want to learn how to wash dishes today". So I learned how to wash dishes right at that moment. All week my 'M'e has been cooking all my meals and so meal time is interesting because the two kids just sit and stare at me. However the two children are her grandchildren. They stay with her because the parents are in South Africa working in the mines. My meals have consisted of lesheleshele (poridge), bread, eggs, papa (ground corn), moroholo (greans), rice, soup, and chicken once. Today I begin to cook for myself which will be nice and allevate some of the pressure of having to eat and try to communicate at every meal. After breakfast I walk to the chiefs place to have sesotho lessons with 6 other trainies. We start the class by singing the Lesotho National Anthem, followed by the US National Anthem. We have class and then usually walk to the next village to meet as a whole group to have general lessons of health, medical, cross-cultural, and techniqal training. Next weekend I will go to a current PCV (peace corps volunteer) site and see what they are up too and how they are living and working. Training is very busy but I feel like I will be well prepared for my two year service in August so this is good. Oh the weather has been fine. It is the middle of the winter here, the nights get cool, frost in the morning, but the days warm up so that I have to peel the layers off. Apparently the highlands have snow, but not the lowlands. Last night it hailed and was thundering and lighting like crazy. I had a dance party by myself in my room, by candle light. I have to do something to entertain myself. Tonight, the 6 other trainies in my village will have a party for the solstice (winter) and Karrin's bday. This should be quite fun. I cannot think of anything else, there is too much to tell and I apoligize for my lack of english skills, being immersed in sesotho all the time I forget how to speak and write english, so sorry. Let me know if you are having trouble responding to my blog, some people have said that they cannot post entries, so drop me an email and I will try to get to the bottom of it. until next time- sala hantle.

Greetings from Lesotho. I hope all is wonderful and warm back in the U.S.A or America as they call it here. Things in Lesotho are going great. Training is very busy and tiring but I am learning a lot. Today I learned how to bathe myself using only a bucket of water. It was a very interesting demo to say the least. On Sunday I head out to my host village where I will stay in my own rondavel (round stone house) for 6 weeks to do community based training. I cannot wait for that but it will be very different than what I am used to at the training center, running water, electricity (most of the time), and prepared meals. I will essentially be on my own in all those matters but my host family will be near by to assist if need be. Today I went shopping for all sorts of supplies for my rondavel, lots of buckets, cook ware, candles, soap, etc. I will let you all know how the CBT goes. My sesotho is getting a little better. I speak sesotho hantle hayanne, a little bit good. Keep in touch. Khotso!

Disclaimer:

In no way is this blog related to or a reflection of the Peace Corps. Anything written on this blog is a personal opinon and not the opinon of the Peace Corps.

Lumela (Greetings)! Hello from Lesotho. I finally made it here to Maseru after a long journey from the US. I left Philly on Wednesday and took a bus to NYC to catch a flight to Joburg, South Africa via Darkar (Senegal). It was an 18 hour flight to Joburg where I spent the night at a really fancy hotel which was great because we were NOT to leave the hotel for any reason because of all the stuff going on. I then took a flight friday morning to Maseru, Lesotho on a tiny plan with propellars. We had to leave people and luggage behind because we were over the weight limit. It was a bit of a scary flight but touched down safely in Maseru friday morning. The views from the plane were amazing. Lesotho is truely the Mountain Kingdom. The past couple of days have been pretty relaxed which is nice with only a few sessions throughout the day. I am beginning to learn Sesotho, which is quite a difficult language. The weather here is nice. The days are sunny and warm, but the nights cool down with frost accumulating by morning. Maseru, the capital, is like no other African capital that I have seen before. It is quite sparse reflecting the extreme poverty of this country. Although there is a grocery store and stores to buy cell phones and such, which I plan on buying at somepoint. I hope all is well back in the US and that you are all enjoying the summer months. I will keep you all posted. I start community based training next week where I stay with a host family for 5 or 6 weeks but I think I i will be able to check email periodically. Be well, and stay in touch!