So last week was not my best. I have been feeling down since the weather is changing, it is now pretty much spring soon to be summer. It has been getting increasingly hot lately. The wind has picked up and without any rain, it has been just a giant dust storm. This is not helping with my allergies, but the good news is with summer that means rain. We get some killer thunder and lightning storms here. Which I find are very cool, however most Basotho are afraid of lightning. This is because a good portion of them get struck by lightning or their houses get struck by lightning. In fact last month my language tutor that I found in village serialong, her house we struck by lightning and burned down. Luckily no one was hurt because they happened not to be home that night. This however has brought my Sesotho lessons to a halt because she has been in town staying with family rather than being in village. Hopefully by the beginning of next month, she will have things sorted and I can continue my lessons.
I have been getting extremely busy lately. My week has been fully booked now.
Mondays: Mt. Camel High School- teaching life skills and whatever else I like.
Tuesdays: I work with CIL: Center for Impacting Lives. Educating youth about HIV/AIDS and other important subjects. Like for instance I helped teach about menstruation and hygiene. I found out from my partner that I am working with, Keneuoe, that most mothers do not talk to their children about this subject. In fact if it comes early in some girls their mothers would shame them and make them feel bad, saying that they are playing with boys and that they brought this on themselves. When in fact it does not work that way and it is a natural thing. It happens to every girl. We make a point to explain that, so that if they do get it at an early age that they know this is natural. I also found that most would talk with their teachers more because they are educated in these matters, and will not shame them.
Wednesdays: In the mornings I am doing a support group for the older members of the community, and also for the children that do not attend school, either because they can’t afford it or they became pregnant and were kicked out of school. In the afternoon I got to Ramatali Primary School where I am working with grades 4, 5, and 6. Currently I am just teaching them dance. I am hoping to get them a Library and also supplies for the preschool classes. Currently the preschool class is in this shack, where half of the room is occupied by wood or old desks, I am hoping to clear out those things and decorate the room. It needs to be bright and engaging, right now it’s just bleak. It is hard because they just don’t have the materials to really do anything about it. So that’s my goal for that school.
Thursdays: I am at Ntjepeleng Primary School. I am working with all grades, 1-7. Helping with whatever they need. Currently I have done aerobics, dance, and structures of body parts (for grade 7). I am there for the entire day and by the end I am exhausted, but I love it. I am also planning to help get them a library as well, they have some books from a program that gives them to the school, but other than that they are severely lacking the materials to really make a difference.
Fridays: Mornings I am at Mt. Camel High School again teaching life skills. Afternoons I am Mt. Camel Primary School where I am working with ages 10-12, and some 13 year olds who are in the lower classes. Currently I have 141 students, that is definitely going to be a challenge, but once I find a decent counterpart to work with, I will be able to split up the group and have more of an impact. Since I am in a very rural area their English is not very good. So before I go and teach I have been writing out things in Sesotho so that I can communicate in both Languages. This will also help me to improve my Sesotho.
Saturdays: I come in to town, Mohales Hoek, to the youth center and teach dance. This has come to stand still as the person I was working with Joyce has been AWOL and so people have not been showing up. However with the help of Taylor, he has found someone else for me to work with and so classes should again resume this coming Saturday.
Sundays: I usually do nothing.
However this past Saturday I had my first Basotho sleepover. I have become quite good friends with the people at the Clinic. So they wanted to have a little get together and watch movies. I came over and we had a good time. I was cautious because I was still uncertain of some of the people. I had my friends from the clinic and one of the inspectors from the police station, who I knew and was fine with. But at one point, the boys went to go get more beer and brought back some drunk people, which pretty much ruined the mood. Because now instead of having a nice time talking and watching with movies with them, I had this drunk guy in my face, I think trying to communicate but I could not understand a single word he was saying. Needless to say I stopped drinking and just hung out. But it all worked out, once the movie ended we kicked everyone out and just went to sleep. I was then dragged to church the next day. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s good to be seen at church because it is a huge part of the culture here. I did run into people I knew so that only helps me get more integrated. However it was 3 hours long and we left before it was even over. It was a good experience though because that day there was a special ceremony. I went to a Catholic church, part of their uniforms are these ribbons and a red flower. I guess this process goes in steps on how you get this uniform. So on this particular Sunday some women were receiving their ribbons and the men were receiving their sashes. I guess it is a big deal, because the King’s brother attended the service. I was told the King was supposed to be there but I guess a conflict occurred. I have found that the King and Queen are very involved in the country and the communities. It seems the Queen is to attend one of the GLOW Camp one of my fellow PCVS are putting on in September. Glow Camp is a program that helps to empower women in Lesotho and also give education on HIV/AIDS.
So as you can see life is getting very busy over here in Lesotho. Some of the stranger things I have found so far in Lesotho are these:
I have been getting extremely busy lately. My week has been fully booked now.
Mondays: Mt. Camel High School- teaching life skills and whatever else I like.
Tuesdays: I work with CIL: Center for Impacting Lives. Educating youth about HIV/AIDS and other important subjects. Like for instance I helped teach about menstruation and hygiene. I found out from my partner that I am working with, Keneuoe, that most mothers do not talk to their children about this subject. In fact if it comes early in some girls their mothers would shame them and make them feel bad, saying that they are playing with boys and that they brought this on themselves. When in fact it does not work that way and it is a natural thing. It happens to every girl. We make a point to explain that, so that if they do get it at an early age that they know this is natural. I also found that most would talk with their teachers more because they are educated in these matters, and will not shame them.
Wednesdays: In the mornings I am doing a support group for the older members of the community, and also for the children that do not attend school, either because they can’t afford it or they became pregnant and were kicked out of school. In the afternoon I got to Ramatali Primary School where I am working with grades 4, 5, and 6. Currently I am just teaching them dance. I am hoping to get them a Library and also supplies for the preschool classes. Currently the preschool class is in this shack, where half of the room is occupied by wood or old desks, I am hoping to clear out those things and decorate the room. It needs to be bright and engaging, right now it’s just bleak. It is hard because they just don’t have the materials to really do anything about it. So that’s my goal for that school.
Thursdays: I am at Ntjepeleng Primary School. I am working with all grades, 1-7. Helping with whatever they need. Currently I have done aerobics, dance, and structures of body parts (for grade 7). I am there for the entire day and by the end I am exhausted, but I love it. I am also planning to help get them a library as well, they have some books from a program that gives them to the school, but other than that they are severely lacking the materials to really make a difference.
Fridays: Mornings I am at Mt. Camel High School again teaching life skills. Afternoons I am Mt. Camel Primary School where I am working with ages 10-12, and some 13 year olds who are in the lower classes. Currently I have 141 students, that is definitely going to be a challenge, but once I find a decent counterpart to work with, I will be able to split up the group and have more of an impact. Since I am in a very rural area their English is not very good. So before I go and teach I have been writing out things in Sesotho so that I can communicate in both Languages. This will also help me to improve my Sesotho.
Saturdays: I come in to town, Mohales Hoek, to the youth center and teach dance. This has come to stand still as the person I was working with Joyce has been AWOL and so people have not been showing up. However with the help of Taylor, he has found someone else for me to work with and so classes should again resume this coming Saturday.
Sundays: I usually do nothing.
However this past Saturday I had my first Basotho sleepover. I have become quite good friends with the people at the Clinic. So they wanted to have a little get together and watch movies. I came over and we had a good time. I was cautious because I was still uncertain of some of the people. I had my friends from the clinic and one of the inspectors from the police station, who I knew and was fine with. But at one point, the boys went to go get more beer and brought back some drunk people, which pretty much ruined the mood. Because now instead of having a nice time talking and watching with movies with them, I had this drunk guy in my face, I think trying to communicate but I could not understand a single word he was saying. Needless to say I stopped drinking and just hung out. But it all worked out, once the movie ended we kicked everyone out and just went to sleep. I was then dragged to church the next day. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s good to be seen at church because it is a huge part of the culture here. I did run into people I knew so that only helps me get more integrated. However it was 3 hours long and we left before it was even over. It was a good experience though because that day there was a special ceremony. I went to a Catholic church, part of their uniforms are these ribbons and a red flower. I guess this process goes in steps on how you get this uniform. So on this particular Sunday some women were receiving their ribbons and the men were receiving their sashes. I guess it is a big deal, because the King’s brother attended the service. I was told the King was supposed to be there but I guess a conflict occurred. I have found that the King and Queen are very involved in the country and the communities. It seems the Queen is to attend one of the GLOW Camp one of my fellow PCVS are putting on in September. Glow Camp is a program that helps to empower women in Lesotho and also give education on HIV/AIDS.
So as you can see life is getting very busy over here in Lesotho. Some of the stranger things I have found so far in Lesotho are these:
- Glass bottles: They are very picky about glass bottles, usually you have to pay a deposit when purchasing a beverage in a glass bottle. But recently I have tried to purchase a 1L of Sprite and I went to check out at the store, they would not sell my Sprite, unless I had an empty bottle to replace it. However since I have not purchased one as of yet, I didn’t have an empty bottle to give them. Usually you just pay a deposit and then when you return it you get that deposit back, however they didn’t offer that to me and they refused to let me purchase the bottle. It was very annoying. Also makes no sense.
- Taxi rides: So the other day I was waiting for a taxi, this normal car pulls up and asks where my friend and I are going. We say just into town. They are like ok sure get in. This is what we refer to as a hitch. Usually means a free ride, however we pull into town and the driver goes ok thank you and puts his hand out like he wants money. Jen and I are like uhhh, ok. So we give him 6 rand like a normal taxi, but he wasn’t a taxi so it was very confusing.
- Another taxi: Last night Emily and I spent the night at our friend Lee’s house in town so that I didn’t have to make two trips into town. So this morning we go out and catch a taxi on the road, we get in and pay the driver, 6 rand. Which is the normal rate to go into town. We tell the driver to take us to Mount Maluti in town, he starts going on about how that is more money, and we said no we paid you. So we said ok will just get off at Cash build in town instead because he was being weird. But then he takes us straight to the hotel, we tell him to drop us off at the corner and he says no no, the hotel is fine. So were like ok. We then arrive and get out and the taxi driver starts asking us if we don’t have money, and I said no Ntate we already paid you, he keeps saying no. Were like yes, we got in the taxi and paid you. I do not know if he thought we were stupid or what. But he tried to get us to pay again. We were all like no. There is this misconception that white people are very rich. Not entirely sure why, but people try and rip us off all the time. It was very strange.
- Breastfeeding. Boobs are not a thing here at all. In fact the traditional wear consists of a skirt made of the skin from the cows and that’s it. Sometimes they paint their chests white, or some other pattern. But mothers here will just pull out their breast and start feeding anywhere, anytime. Which I think is very cool, I think this a natural thing and therefore it shouldn’t cause any discomfort or any controversy. I am hoping to shed some light on this as well and maybe create a book of pictures to share with the world.