The Chickens Live in Trees: Reflections on CBT

The last two months have gone by in a heartbeat.  Training is wrapping up, so I thought I would take some time to mention some of the things I have done or discovered while living in Ha Sole.  They are in no particular order or hierarchy:
-As the title suggests, my family’s chickens roost in the tree outside of my house.  I had written this off as the eccentricity of African domestic fowl until some of the other volunteers in my village came over around sunset and were amazed by the sight of a dozen chickens in the tree.
- Sesotho is a very hard language.  For any incoming volunteers who stumble on this blog (I know the new Ed. Group is getting their invitations now) you’ve been warned.  You will try to find patterns in Sesotho—there are virtually none.  Reasons why a certain pronoun takes a certain form are often “because that’s the way it works.” But aside from all of the difficulties, it is a beautiful language to hear spoken, and the first time you manage to have a conversation (however halting) is a big milestone.
- Kids are great.  Early on in training, one of the current volunteers told us that one of the things you miss most being an American in Lesotho is casual physical contact.  While there is very little personal space here, intentional contact is generally only shaking hands.  Hugging is a strange thing here, and little things like a friend’s hand on your shoulder when you’re having a bad day don’t really happen.  Enter the kids.  As creepy as it may sound (and it really isn’t) hugging and playing with the kids here does meet that need to show affection we have culturally.  The volunteer was absolutely right.  I like the kids alright in the states, but here they are the highlight of my day.
- I know I’ve already touched on this, but the diversity of backgrounds and personalities in the training group really took me by surprise.  I came in expecting a certain type of person, but after two months there is nobody that is the clichéd “Peace Corps Volunteer” Personality.  And yet it’s absolutely clear and right why each one is here.
- Joalla (the local home-brew) is awful.  And awe-full.  Enough said about that.
- Peace Corps Diet = Good for male body-image issues.  South Beach has got nothing on us.  Most of the guys in the training group are cinching our belts a little tighter these days.  Something about male metabolism.  I’ve started poking my holes in my belts and (vain creature that I am) I’m looking forward to the prospect of spending two years hiking around the mountains.
- We are very fortunate both to be in Lesotho and to be here now.  The staff here is without exception superb, and the country director and APCD set the tone of the organization.  Based on what I’ve heard about some other countries, we are lucky indeed.
- Form an image of Africa in your head—what it looks like, what it sounds like, what kind of animals are there.  Got it?  Now forget all that and you have Lesotho.  Here the Bo-N’tate ride horses, there is frost most mornings and the most exciting wildlife I’ve seen (and the only) is… a rock rabbit. (In case you are wondering, it’s a lot like a woodchuck).  Even with that, this is a beautiful country.  The government here is trying to expand tourism, and it really is paradise for any kind of outdoor activity.  If anyone wants to visit, the flight is a little pricey, but the exchange rate is very good and the experience one of a kind.  Plus, you have a tour guide already living in the country.  Just a thought.
- This is a really, really big job.  The problems here are huge, and in two years we won’t make a dent, or even register in the big picture.  There are older folks here who will tell you about the PCV that taught them when they were a kid, and how it changed their life.  That’s what we need to measure success by.
- Writing letters is high entertainment.  All the issues about the postal system aside, sitting down to write someone, and imagining them reading it, is a good way to pass an evening here.
- Urinal discussions.  Co-ed  discussions regarding the use and etiquette of  the urinal.  Three other trainees are reading this and laughing, but the rest of you will have to use your imaginations.

Through a weird sequence of events (see previous post), I am in Maseru through August 6.  If anyone has any questions, comment on this post or shoot me an email.  I’ll try to get them all answered before I leave for my site.

CRS

CRS

July 22,
As my very hurried post from last week mentioned, my host organization for the nest two years is Catholic Relief Services.  I knew of them in the states, and here in Lesotho they have a great reputation as a very good grassroots organization doing work in the rural part of the country.  The opportunity to work with them is a huge one, and I am very excited to start.
Unfortunately, we have begun with a bit of a scheduling hitch.  This coming week we were all supposed to spend at our sites, seeing what resources we had and what we needed before coming back to Maseru to swear in.
In one of those completely unintentional scheduling conflicts, CRS is holding their national conference in Maseru this coming week. Everyone from the organization will be in the city, discussing what is being done at each CRS site and where the organization is going in the year to come.  As such, there will be no CRS staff in Bobete when I’m supposed to be visiting the village, so myself and the other volunteer placed with them will be in Maseru attending the conference this week.  It will be good, but it’s a bit of a bummer we don’t get to see what our sites are like before we move ourselves out there.

Placekeeper 1

Well, I spent an hour last night typing up two long blog posts.  Unfortunatly, the internet cafe I can hook my laptop up at is down for the day, so the posts will have to wait until tomorrow.  As a quick summary:

CBT is over, and I’m back in Maseru.

Scheduling = the bad, and instead of visiting my site this week, I will be attending the CRS national conference in Maseru.  It’s a good chance to network and get to know the people I will be working with and how Peace Corps fits into the larger picture.  I will be in the city through August 6, when we swear in.

As fun reading until tommorow’s update, here’s the project I will be working on. Peace Corps Lesotho is one of the implimenting partners in the MOVE project, and according to the project materials the other CRS placed volunteer and I got, the Peace Corps’ role is the following:

“The Peace Corps has been in Lesotho since 1967 and has a ready cadre of trained, able-bodied volunteers who are willing to work at the grassroots level in order to promote sustainable development.  In year 1 of the project, there will be one Peace Corps Volunteer working alongside Caritas to implement food and nutrition security interventions.  Based on the project needs, CRS will request more PCVs to be involved in the out-years of the MOVE project.”

Yep, that’s us.  Able of body and sound (maybe?) of mind.  More tomorrow.

…What you wish for

During my first interview with the APCD for our program, I mentioned that I wanted a remote mountain site, and that I was comfortable working with both faith-based groups and other NGOs, possibly working with the intersection between the two.  Today (3 days early!) I was given the following assignment:

Village: Bobete

District: Thaba Tseka [The so-called heart of the mountains in Lesotho]

Village Stats:  Highlands, small-medium size, rural village, closest camptown is Thaba Tseka.

House:  Traditional rondavel, thatch roof, tap nearby, no electricity.

Previous PCV Site:  No.  This is a new site.

Host Organization: Catholic Relief Services (CRS) [Though there is a Partner's in Health Clinic in the village I will be working with as well].

Work may include:

Promote HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention activities.

Assist the CRS to advocate for people living with HIV/AIDS and Orphaned and Vulnerable Children.

Assist the district CRS rep to develop activities that are in accordance with local needs and consistent with the national strategic plan on HIV/AIDS.

Develop strong and effective relationships with community leaders, counterparts, and community members.

______

So.

What isn’t listed is that Bobete is in BFL (Bum-edited-Lesotho).  I’m being assigned a horse for outreach assignments, and will (at least part of the time) be flying in and out of the site, as that is the easiest means of transport.  Flying entails a small 4-person prop plane flown by mission aviation (look them up, they’re a cool organization doing a lot of good work in Lesotho).  Oh, and the PIH Clinic has internet access. This is all super exciting, which almost eclipses the other big news this week:

MAIL! Holy Crap!

Yesterday I got a letter from Cathy, one from Karlynne, and letters 3 and 6 from dad.  Hopefully this means the damn has broken.

Out of time, so I won’t be able to check my email.  Mom and Dad, if you are reading this, please call tomorrow at the usual time.

Pictures! (Hopefully)

So I’m going to try to upload some pictures of life around Ha Sole.  I’m not sure how well it will work, but it’s worth the attempt:

Picture 1)  The village of Ha Sole, seen from the valley below.  My house is towards the right, the first house to the left of the big stand of trees.

2)  The view from my house.  This was taken on a rare cloudy day.

3)  Walking to school, another very cool sunrise/cloud formation

4)  The various kids that are some relation to my host mother.  Most are her grandkids.  This is the usual scene at my house after dinner– the kids will come over, music starts, dance parties commence.

One other note.  In the form that you just have to expect living here, our trip to Bethel got called off two days before we were supposed to leave.  Such is life in Lesotho.  So I’m in Maseru for the day, buying groceries and posting pictures.  Hopefully we’ll get letters this week.

June 29-July 11

June 29, 2008:

In a lot of ways, I am a hopeless romantic.  I know we are supposed to have no expectations coming into this job, but I did have one.  I wanted to have an adventure.  I don’t know what qualifies as an “adventure” these days, but surely sitting in a village writing by candlelight is the start of one.

There have been days here, and I’m sure there will be more, when I have asked myself just what I was thinking when I started this whole process.  For every moment like that though, there is an afternoon spent playing with kids at a volunteers site, or stars so beautiful and numerous they light up the whole landscape.  Best are the conversations with the other volunteers, hearing what makes them who they are and why they picked up their lives and began this journey.

There’s Merrill, an older volunteer who recently went back to school, got her degree, and joined the Peace Corps.  She has had some experience volunteering in very poor areas (the slums in Brazil) and hearing her talk about the power of a single photo to bring people emotions and thoughts they wouldn’t have had otherwise is to understand that there each of us has something driving us though this experience.

Tom, Indiana born and bred, who has spent most of his life in the midwest, and is on his first trip outside the country.  Not a day goes by that we don’t get a smile from his humor and way of looking at the world.

Barbara, an older volunteer in her second tour with the Peace Corps.  Ten years ago she was beginning a three year stint in the Pacific, and as a grandmother of seven decided now was a good time to go back.

Lorian, a recent graduate of SPEA at Indiana University, who is here getting field experience for a career in Development.

The list goes on, 23 of us, each with completely different backgrounds now coming together every day to train and talk about our adventures– from the amazing cultural experience of Public Transportation in this country to the shared gastro-intestinal adventures (King Moshoeshoe’s Revenge) that come with adapting to new food and water.

July 8,

As much as this blog is becoming a series of cliches, many are cliches because of some truth.  The look on a child’s face when they have discovered something new that they enjoy can be the highlight of a whole week.

As I’m writing this [in the notebook I am transcribing in a internet cafe], a four year old who I think is my niece is sitting next to me, eating her first plate of American-style spaghetti.  Little Itumetsi showed up at my door as I was cooking, and I gave her a plate of the leftovers I was heating up.  Judging by the several helpings she’s inhaled, I’d say it was a hit.  Her brother Khatiso was just over to check on where she was, so I promised him dinner some time before I left. [Ed. note:  He came by the next night, and omelets are also a big hit]

July 11,

Sitting in an internet-cafe in TY, on one of the field trips that make training go by all the quicker.  As of this week, we have passed the halfway point of training.  One week from Monday we are given our final sit assignments, which is causing a lot of guessing and anticipation here.  Regarding the letter situation:  I don’t really know what to say.  It sounds like my letters are getting through for the most part, so I’m expecting to get a flood when the post office gets it’s act together.  We did here from one of the trainers that the Maseru post office, not the most efficient outfit to begin with, had computer issues last week which may have also held up letters getting in the right PO Boxs.  Eh, it’s life in the Peace Corps.

All the best to everyone reading this.  Hope you’re all enjoying the summer.

So… not so much with the Taxi Strike

Things in Maseru kept going on, without huge disruptions.

As usual, no time for a long update.  Highlights recently have been a big July 4th Braai (BBQ), and climbing Thaba Bosiu, the place where King Moshoeshoe defended Lesotho against all challengers.

On a more personal note, there seems to be problems with the mail.  Nobody in our training group has recieved letters so far, and we’re trying to track down what the problem is.  For now, you might try putting “Southern Africa” under Lesotho in the address.