I know I’ve made this comment before, but the time in
Lesotho is literally flying by. It seems like I always have something going
on-I’ve gotten to the point where I treasure the few weekends I have at Tiping
to myself. I’m turning into a wanna-be hermit. But I know you are all dying to
know what has been going on in the life of Sadie (have I mentioned that I have
a Sesotho name? It’s Lerato, and it means love. Fitting, I think.)
Well,
the end of the third quarter has come. We now have a week break for the Lesotho
Independence Day and then we will begin the forth and final quarter. The month
of August was spent trying to plan, organize and implement HIV/AIDS awareness
events/activities for the students at Tiping. Since I teach life skills to the
Form C class I was able to tie the events into their weekly classes. The first
event, as I’ve mentioned, was an HIV/AIDS awareness workshop. It was held over
a weekend and I’m fairly certain the only reason I was able to get students to
show up on a weekend was due to the food that an NGO, World Vision, was able to
have catered. The event wouldn’t have been successful without World Vision or
my fellow volunteers in Quthing; many thanks to Tishina, Nancy and our new
Community Health and Economic Development volunteer, Molly (she arrived in
Lesotho in June and in Quthing August 1st).
The
second event was an HIV/AIDS testing and counseling event. I was able to secure
counselors from another NGO based in Quthing, PSI—I forget what PSI stands for,
but if you’re really interested you can look it up for yourself. They came out
on a Friday morning and tested 35 of my students and 3 of the teachers that I
work with. The testing is fast. They prick the finger the way diabetics have to
check their blood sugar levels. The blood is then dropped onto a thin strip of
paper and a reactant is added. The rest resembles a pregnancy test. It is
simple and the results are revealed 2 or 3 minutes after, two lines mean HIV
positive and one means HIV negative.
So,
the PSI team wasn’t supposed to arrive until 12-noon on a Friday because we
don’t finish classes until 12:20 on Fridays—they showed up at 9 (the Basotho
usually aren’t on time let alone early—sorry for the generalization, but it’s
true). The teachers I work with were wonderful at helping me organize and work
around the unexpected change in plans. The students spent their 20-minute break
in a group counseling session and then resumed classes. Students were then
allowed out of classes 2 and 3 at a time to get tested if they wanted.
Everything worked out in the end regardless of my plans and schedule (as
usual). The saying ‘If you want to make God laugh, make plans’ never felt more
appropriate or true than it did that day.
August
was busy and I finally feel like I’ve done something outside of my primary job
description. Success! Too bad the projects aren’t sustainable. If I was not
here to organize the NGOs for the school these events probably wouldn’t happen
for the students. The next step: to get another teacher interested in
organizing events such as the ones I planned and show them how it is done.
September
has been a little less hectic. I endured a bout of food poisoning or the
stomach flu—not sure which. The next day was spent accompanying my students to
the district cultural festivities held in Quthing. It would have been wonderful
if I hadn’t been running a fever all day. Thankfully, I have another
opportunity to enjoy the cultural dances and festivities this coming week at
the National Cultural Competition. Tiping is known for getting first place in
several of the cultural dances—my students are so good!
My
supervisor has been back and forth from Quthing much more lately than normal.
She has been overwhelmed with planning for her daughter’s wedding on the 29th.
Initially, I was asked to be the maid of honor but then it was decided that I
wouldn’t be in Quthing enough to be able to help out with many of the MOH
responsibilities, so I was demoted to a bridesmaid. Even then I wasn’t present
to help with many of the wedding decisions or get fitted for a bridesmaid dress
(or pay for my own dress) so I was again demoted to the status of honored guest
(thank God). I am looking forward to seeing a local wedding but MOH and
bridesmaid were titles and responsibilities I have no place holding considering
I hardly know the bride. Anyway, this wedding is going to be a great
experience.
Apparently
the women ‘dress to kill’ for weddings and I didn’t bring anything to wear that
would kill—who knew?? There is also a dress code for weddings; you have to, as
guests, dress in the colors of the wedding. Therefore I have to look for a
white dress with a little black and hot pink accent Advice for future PCVs in
Lesotho; don’t skimp of the nice clothes and Tevas don’t always cut it. Bring
your heals!
We
started the end of the quarter testing last week but I didn’t have to give my
tests until this week so I was sent to Maseru on a mission to find a wedding
gift from the teachers at Tiping (we all went in together for the gift). I ended
up persuading M’e Lepelesana into going with me (she is the closest teacher
friend I have at Tiping—she’s always going through my Peace Corps cookbook and
picking things she doesn’t know and wants me to make. I usually end up spending
a good deal of time with her in the evenings). Great idea. I saw so much of
Maseru that we volunteers never venture into—so many places to find shoes!
M’e
Lepelesana’s sister lives in Maseru and works as a seamstress hence the reason
M’e Lepelesana agreed to accompany me to Maseru--so she could ask her sister to
make her a dress for the wedding. We had to stop by her sister’s shop which is
located in the heart of the Maseru taxi rank-I would never have found it if I
hadn’t been with M’e Lepelesana. While there talking to her sister, the sister
looked my up and down, got her tape measure out and took my waist measurement,
nodded and pulled down a seshoeshoe skirt that was hanging on the wall. I was
instructed to try it on (keep in mind everything was being said in Sesotho so I
really had no idea what was going on because my Sesotho is terrible—but I got
the gist in the end); FREE SESHOESHOE! I cannot fully express my level of
excitement at such a simple act of generosity. You have to understand that on
my living allowance of less than M 2,000 a month, and an exchange rate of
~M8.3: $1, a M500 tailored, traditional skirt is a big deal. So, my trip to
Maseru was definitely not a failure.
Matthew
10:8 says ‘without cost you have received; without cost you are to give’. I thought
that Peace Corps would be my opportunity to give back for the endless number of
fortunate circumstances I have found myself throughout my life. However, the
Basotho people I have met make that a difficult task due to their endless
giving. Not only have I been blessed to be placed amongst a wonderful local
population, but Quthing also has an abundance of generous ex-patriots. Remember
how I was complaining about how I have a metal roof that only serves the
purpose of allowing heat to escape my frigid little room? Not anymore! I now
have an insulated drop ceiling because a friend of ours, Andrew, decided my
roof was ridiculous. Andrew is a South African engineer who has worked all over
Africa for various engineering firms. Right now he is in Quthing supervising an
electrical line going out into rural Quthing (in the opposite direction to my
region). So, I continue to be on the receiving end of all sorts of good things.
The only thing I seem to be able to give is my cooking.
I
am doing well! However, I can say that the stars have left my eyes. I am seeing
my experience in Lesotho as just that, my experience. We were told in training
that we shouldn’t expect to change the world, or even change our communities.
The best we can probably expect to do is build a few lasting friendships and
share our culture. While that was a hard realization, I am coming to accept it
and enjoy it.
Finally,
while in Maseru I also stopped into the Peace Corps office to talk to one of
the staff members about a tuition assistance program for some of my students. I
walked out with plans to help in training the new group of education volunteers
arriving in mid October—only 3 weeks away! Another sign that time is flying. I
can’t believe one year has already come to a close. So, October and November
will be busy with training new education volunteers, Mom, Dad and Sharity will
arrive mid December to visit me-yay-and then the new year will be upon us.
Christmas with my family this year is a great thing to look forward to!
A
few more minor updates: I still bathe everyday and shaving the underarms is a
must. J
It was difficult in the winter but the past few weeks have been beautiful and
warm so I really have no excuse not to bathe everyday. I have also successfully
made homemade deep-dish pizza with an abundance of mozzarella cheese that I
found in Maseru. It was another cultural education for my colleagues. The pizza
places in Lesotho don’t use a tomato based sauce or mozzarella cheese so I had
to make my own tomato sauce and the mozzarella was an exciting find. My
colleagues enjoyed the pizza (I had to make several pizzas after the first one
because they liked the tomato sauce and mozzarella so much) and asked for the
recipe. Finally, I have eaten a chicken head. It wasn’t too bad; less crunchy
than I thought it would be, but it tasted like chicken!
As
always, there are more updates to come. I must close for now, but I hope you
are all doing well. I miss everyone so much! Hugs and kisses all around.
Khotso, Pula, Nala (Peace, Rain, Prosperity)
Love, Sadie
P.S. the marathon training has been put on pause due to the
preparations for the Cultural Arts and Crafts Festival on Friday. Go figure.
There go my plans, again!
**** ****
I
wrote this post the week before I attended the cultural festival and wedding
but they have both come and gone and I have yet to actually upload the post.
Both events were an adventure and as usual, all day events. The morning of the
cultural festival we left the school at 4:30 am in order to arrive in Morija on
time. I took lots of photos of my students and more than enough video. We had
to return the students’ home that same day so it was 12.30 am the following
morning before we arrived at Tiping. I was exhausted. However, I then received
a call from my supervisor, M’e Mathabo, the mother of the bride, at 5 am asking
me where I was and telling me I needed to get dressed and ready for the wedding
that was supposed to start at 10. Hell no.
The
wedding was very westernized with the bride in the white dress and three
bridesmaids, guys in tuxedos and flower girls in matching dresses. The ceremony
was all in Sesotho so we couldn’t understand most of what was being said, but
at one point, when the bride and groom were supposed to exchange vows, there was
an uproar of laughter; apparently the groom had fallen asleep. The ceremony
lasted no more than an hour and there was a reception after the ceremony. I
took over 200 photos but it’s too expensive to upload them onto my blog so I
apologize for the lack of visuals. I had hoped to see something a little more
traditional but the girls looked like they were dressed to go out to a club;
skin-tight dresses and platform pumps. Next time I’m told to dress to kill I
will keep the club in mind. Overall, it was a fun couple of days but I’m ready
to get back to a normal routine.
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