Random update

November 8^th

I went to a pitso (community meeting) in my new village, Ha Makoae. The pitso was about me moving here and the chief explained to the community my role in the village and he was sure to tell everybody I had no money. He also told them to never ask me for food either because he told the community that PC only brings me rations of food at the end of the month (which isn’t true).  But, it was a good meeting.  I even made a small speech in Sesotho and wore a long skirt and scarf on my head to be respectful to the chief and the community.

November 9^th

Today was quite the success with my organization and at my old village, Ha Machesetsa.  I still go to Ha Machesestsa every day for community development and return to Ha Makoae to teach at the school in the afternoon. We had three meetings in Ha Machesetsa today. First I met with my organization and the new Ministry of Agriculture nutritionist. The nutritionist came to introduce herself and offer help for workshops that we are interested. My group requested a family management workshop that we will hold next month.

We also had our umbrella group meeting (reps from every support group and organization) in the village. My counterpart and I started this community rep meeting three weeks ago and we meet once a week to hear about the progress the groups in the village are making. Last week we started planning an event for World AIDs day and it’s amazing to see how motivated the village is about this day. World AIDs Day is on December 1^st. It’s less than a month away, but my village is determined to make it one of the biggest events the village has ever had. We are inviting all the surrounding villages to come celebrate awareness with us. We will hold an AIDs walk from village to village and apparently even have the village police ride horses to lead our walk. There are also plans for poetry readings, songs, and speakers. Our goal is to find somebody who is open about their HIV status to come and speak at the event. Unfortunately, this isn’t an easy task…because even though Lesotho has a 23% HIV infection rate, people keep their status to themselves. Most people keep their status locked away and often times don’t even tell their families. So, this event will hopefully encourage people to support those with HIV and be a good day to remember how HIV affects the community.

My last meeting for the day was on nutrition for the woman’s group I started last month. Since I love nutrition and fitness, I picked nutrition as the safest and easiest topic for today.  The first meeting I had with the women last month scared the crap out of me when they opened up their secrets to me and asked me for advice. Their questions and concerns were far beyond anything I could comprehend at this point so I told them we can start with healthy eating, and then we will get to the more difficult topics in the future. They were really excited to hear about new healthy eating tips and they promised to start drinking more water and using less salt. Next month I’ll be presenting on contraceptives and family planning.

Overall, I’m extremely pleased with the turnout I’ve seen in this village. When I first arrived three months ago, people were flaky and were sometimes over 2 hours late (which is typical Basotho time). But now I see people showing up on time for meetings and participating in discussions. I’m not going to take credit for this though, because it is most definitely my awesome counterpart who keeps everybody in check. He makes learning and working fun for our community members and to be honest, he makes my day too.

November 12^th

Last Thursday, the Form C class had their Farewell Party which is like a graduation party before they go to high school. Of course, only a minority of the Form Cs will pass their exam (they’ve already taken it and it has to be formally graded by outside teachers), but they still had a party. During the preparation I kept comparing the differences of a party for these kids and what we would have had in America. The main difference was that the students (girls) did most of the cooking and cleaning for their own party. Whereas us American students would have been spoiled and our parents would have done it or it would be a catered event. But these students are used to working and they wouldn’t know any different.

The teachers had bought most of the food from South Africa or from Maseru because we can’t get the variety of food in our village. We ate carrot coleslaw, cabbage coleslaw, fried chicken, rice, and beetroot. The students sat with their parents in a room where we set the tables with table clothes, dishes, and forks and knives. I watched the students trying to hold their forks and knives properly – some would give up and just start eating with their hands. Then we had music (powered by a generator) and the kids just danced and danced.

Thanksgiving -  I’m super excited about it because it will be the first American holiday I've celebrated here. I’m going to have a Thanksgiving dinner at my house. I’d really - like to be with some PCVs for the day…but they are all too far for me to see since I have to stay around my site to prepare for World AIDs Day. I’m having my dinner with my Basotho friends and they’re going to help me cook. It’s going to be a huge challenge because we don’t have the things that make this type of dinner..like turkey, electricity, running water, cranberry sauce, butter.  But I’m planning substitutions like maybe 3 – 4 chickens (I’ll have somebody else kill them for me), we’ll use a 2-burner stove with gas, we’ll carry water in buckets, and maybe I can pick up cran sauce and butter this weekend while I’m in Maseru (they have a grocery store that caters to westerners).

I even plan to sew my own skirt out of red sheshoeshoe material (a traditional fabric) for T-day and World AIDs Day. I can’t make any promises with this, though.. because I have to borrow a hand crank sewing machine to make this possible.  We’ll see.

Happy in Lesotho

October 23rd

My birthday was last week and I received so many packages from my friends and family. THANK YOU EVERYBODY for making my birthday so special.  I got candy, toiletries, magazines, books, etc. everything I could ever need to be happy! Some amazing PCVs also threw me a birthday party with a chocolate cake that we dove into with our hands...good times.

I'm headed back to my site today and am excited about my projects that are beginning. My organization is growing vegetables to sell and building a veggie stand for the side of the road. I'm teaching Life Skills at the secondary school this week and also developing plans for a school library.  The Ministry of Agriculture has challenged our village to build key hole gardens, so I'm also teaching people in the village to construct their gardens.  Overall, things are moving forward and going well.

Oh, and the other day I was invited to a Basotho feast where I ate mutton, papa and beet root.  Then I danced and sang with all the members in the village while they drank 'joala' - a traditional brew.  It felt nice to be so connected with my village. 

However, my enemies are back -  BEDBUGS! So, when I get back to my house, I'm going to need to implement some strategies to get rid of them. That, or I'll just sleep on my table again because I hate them so much.

I'll end on a positive note though. I plan to run in a half marathon in Cape Town in April.  Since my site is at such a high elevation and I walk so much, I'll be able to get back into shape "no problem".

October 24th, 2011

Today I held a planning meeting with my organization and they were brainstorming about ways to generate income for the organization. I typically take a stand-back approach and just ask the group questions. So far, I've tried my hardest to let them come up with their own ideas for projects. I was very impressed with their idea today because they told me they would like to hold a party called "Stockfest" (dunno bout the spelling, but apparently its Afrikaans) where they will charge money for joala and food. With the money they earn, they will buy materials to make jewelry.

The group is trying hard and I'm very proud of them. Since I've been here, we've made over 30 garden plots and we were hoping to sell the veggies. However, there is so little rain and most of the time the pumps are dry so the vegetables are struggling. Pests are also eating the plants in full-force so tomorrow we plan to make a pesticide out of aloe plants.  When I see the gardens looking so pathetic it makes me sad, because I was the one who showed them how to make the gardens. If we can't harvest any vegetables, than we would have worked too hard for nothing.

After meeting with the organization and working in the gardens, I went over to the Secondary school where I taught my Life Skills class. The Ministry of Education had given our school some Life Skills books and the kids couldn't stop admiring the books. They were holding them close to their hearts and didn't want to give them back at the end of class. It seems so funny from my perspective, because personally I think the books suck. Primarily because they are just these flimsy books with typos and silly activities. But these kids barely get to touch books, so they were in heaven. They requested for me to teach them about page 9 - where there was an activity on "saying no" to sex. I told them OF FRICKIN course I'll teach them that section. Their reaction to the books really made me understand that these kids need a library before I leave.

October 25th, 2011

Today was the day I've been waiting for since I came to my site. Today was the day where I felt like myself in country that's not mine. I'm not going to lie, these past three months at site have been the hardest months of my life.  I've been through a lot of self-doubt, stress, loneliness, sadness, etc. and to top it off, my body is beat up with bug bites, wounds from falling, and bruises. But, as Peace Corps and Peace Corps Volunteers promised, "it gets better". So today on October 25th, I was happy...extremely happy for a WHOLE day! It was a day full of those high high moments that will keep me going strong.

Daily Highlights

·         Waking up to a goat basking in the sun at my doorway

·         The members of my organization showed up 5 minutes EARLY to work

·         My organization singing to me...even after I told them the news about my move (see next paragraph)

·         Peace Corps being on top of their game and taking care of my situation

·         Hugging a girl along the side of the road

·         The sky was beautiful today...like in Big Sky Country!

·         My supervisor bought me peanuts

·         Fetching water for a friend who was tired

·         Dancing on garbage with my host sisters

·         And...top highlight - teaching my students what the word "litter" means and by the end of the class, they were chanting "WE WILL NOT LITTER, WE WILL NOT LITTER!"

Yes, a great great day.

About my move:

I spoke with PC and they have agreed that I should move to the neighboring village, Ha Makoae. There are several reasons why I'm moving, but the main reasons have to do with my relentless bedbugs and the unreliable water in this village. Basically, I've been debating the standards at my site and realized that even though I want to be as badass as possible, I need to communicate with PC and keep myself in check when it comes to staying safe at my site. I should be moving this weekend. My jobs won't change. I will just be doing the reverse walking commute.

October 27^th

Another great day! The primary school had a party for their last day of school. The kids from my village had been practicing a play for the event and I wanted to see it. The play was supposed to start at 11 and of course, a set time in Africa means that it will happen at some point within the day. So I waited until 2:00 for the play to start, and it didn’t, so I had to walk an hour to the secondary school where I taught my Life Skills class on “caring for the environment”. I was sad to miss the play, but luckily a teacher took video footage with my camera.  I felt so good about the day because I realized that waiting for hours and missing the event would typically cause me stress…but since it didn’t, it means I’m adjusting to life in Lesotho.

After school when I was walking home, I got attacked by a dog because I went to say “hi” to his owner. It was my own fault for approaching his owner without a stick or rock in my hand. Luckily, the dog only attacked my skirt. Of course it happened to be one of my favorite skirts that he tore up! But, I still felt lucky.

October 31^st   - November 1st

I didn’t celebrate Halloween by dressing up or with any candy, it started out to be an ordinary day for me until Peace Corps came to help me move. I won’t get into the details, but there was some village drama associated with my departure to the next village. It was chaotic and I was extremely worried I would lose my job in Ha Machesetsa.  Luckily, I work with some awesome teachers in my new village and they spent the evening making me feel better and helping me move into my new place. The teachers fetched water for me, unpacked my things, and made sure my laundry lady knew of my new living situation.

The next day, Peace Corps came back to my village to rescue me from any miscommunication that occurred between my move and the two villages I work in.  I was so happy that PC didn’t waste a minute when it came to saving me from my situation. PC swooped me up in their Landcruiser and the driver sped through the mountains to a community meeting to discuss my living arrangement with the chief and my two supervisors…along with 20 community members. At the end of the day, it all worked out and I was able to keep my two jobs in two separate villages. Needless to say, I’m extremely grateful with all the support Peace Corps has given me. They truly have made a huge effort to make sure I’m safe and happy in this remote area in Lesotho.

November 3^rd

I’m all settled into my new place. I feel like my new home is right for me. I was even able to put pictures of my friends and family up on my walls. Until this point, I rarely have looked at pictures of my life back home because it made me miss everybody too much and would make my heart hurt. Now I feel content enough to put them all up and look at them every day! However, I still couldn’t manage to put the pictures of Pepper, those pictures will stay tucked away…maybe next year.

November 4^th

The thing I love about Basotho is that they love to “accompany” you places and walk you to wherever you are going.  Since I’ve never been one of those girls that needs another girl to accompany her to the restroom at a bar, I’ve never understood the point of needing company to get to your destination. But here in Lesotho, it’s nice.  The funniest part about somebody walking you from some place, is that you have no idea how far they will walk with you. Sometimes they walk you to the road and sometimes they walk with you for miles before turning around. The other night I was with two teachers. One of the teachers and I walked the other teacher home, then I walked the remaining teacher home…and then she wanted to walk me from her house to mine. It made absolutely no sense, but it was thoughtful. I know it sounds confusing, but the jest of it is…if you walk somebody home, they will turn around and try to walk you back to your home. I just haven’t learned when the “accompanying a person home cycle” is supposed to end.

Updates

Let me start by saying, I'm very sorry for not updating my blog. I thought I could be one of those people that keep a blog and journal to express their thoughts to their friends and family. But what I realized is changing who you are does not happen easily. A person can move to a different country and live a completely different life, but still not change their habits. Failing to record my life through words and pictures will be something I regret if I don't try harder.

Life in Lesotho

I've lived in Lesotho for four months now. Every day is different and has its challenges and rewards. As for right now, the challenges typically outweigh the rewards, but I'm hoping that will soon change once I get the hang of this. 

The first 9 weeks in Lesotho, I went through Pre-Service Training with 19 other volunteers in a host village. I actually loved training, but I may be one of the few volunteers to admit that. I liked it so much because we were extremely busy and there wasn't too much down time. I also loved my host family, our teachers, and the other volunteers. We learned about the culture, language, and our role requirements. I believe training definitely prepared me for life in Lesotho.

For the past six weeks, I've lived at my site in a village called Ha Machesetsa in the district of Quthing. I live on a mountain in a big rondaval (round house) with a thatched roof and a side bedroom with a tin roof. I have a big kitchen table, a 3/4 size bed, several cabinets, and a gas heater and stove. I don't have electricity or running water. The closest water pump is about a football field length down a steep hill. Every 2 or 3 days, I fill a bucket with water and attempt to carry it up the hill on my head. Half of the time, the pump is dry and I have to walk to the next pump that is about 1/4 mile away.

My daily routine consists of waking up around 8:00 and doing random shit until 10:00 when I meet with my organization. I assist the group to gather knowledge to build their skills with various projects. I've just finished teaching the group basic gardening practices and now we have over 30 plots started. Currently, we're digging over 150 holes for fruit trees that the Ministry of Agriculture is donating to us after seeing our hard work on the gardens. The goal of the organization is to learn skills like gardening, sewing, candle-making, etc., etc.  and then find a market to sell the products the members produce. The aim is to have the organization members and community be able to sustain their lives with these Income Generating Activities (IGAs).

Back to my daily routine... I work with the group from 10:00-1:00 and then I walk to the neighboring village (an hour walk) to teach Life Skills to Form A, B, and C. Life Skills is a course that focuses on HIV/AIDs awareness, life goals, and various other important topics for kids. After school, I walk home with some of the kids and we sing songs or they teach me Sesotho while I teach them English. Once I get home, I start cooking dinner which consists of the same thing every night - rice, vegetables, and eggs. Then I read, make lesson plans, attempt to clean, text message, talk to my American family on the phone, and do more random stuff. In order to use my phone, I have to prop my cell up on the window pane and search for signal. Some days I have one bar of signal, but it cuts in and out constantly. The wind makes the signal worse and some days the wind is so intense that I have no signal at all. I charge my phone with a solar panel and car battery I bought from another volunteer. The solar panel set-up was the best thing I've bought since being here.

So that's the most of my day. During the times where I'm alone...which is most of the time, I do a lot of thinking on ways I can help my organization and the Secondary school. I also think about strategies for keeping myself sane. I have a list I read every day to remind myself of my must do activities. This list includes; exercise, wear sunscreen, floss, smile, and laugh. This list may sound basic, but it's easy to stop caring about myself when I compare my life of luxury to the lives of the people in this village. And when I just can't figure out what the hell I got myself into.

My site is beautiful. I'm surrounded by huge mountains and there is a river running through the valley that I can see from my house. I hike to the closest shop (about 20 min) to purchase basic items like candles, paraffin, oil, eggs, and rice..but if I need anything special, I need to travel to Mt. Moorosi (2-3 hour bus ride) to buy it. Even then, it's difficult to find things I want, like CokeZero or oatmeal. Gum is another thing I have issues finding. Of course there is no Big Red, so my consolation is Orbits Wintergreen. When I go to a big enough town, I buy as much gum as I can. The last time I was in Maseru, I spent over $15 on gum and the cashier told me I shouldn't be buying expensive gum.

This is just a glimpse of my new simple life. However, I will be much more vigilant about my posts once I figure out how to get internet access at my site. Loving my family and friends! Hope you are all doing amazing in the wonderful US of A.

Update from Lesotho

In order to update everyone, for at least the next 6 weeks, I (Jenny's mom) will be writing on Jenny's behalf.
She does not have Internet access so cannot update this blog directly.  She does have a cell phone now so I am able to get updates...
Jenny arrived in Lesotho on Saturday, June 4th.  She traveled from Philly with a group of 22 Peace Corps volunteers.  Once in country, they split the group and she and 9 others went to live in a village named Titsa, about 15 kilometers from Lesotho's main town of Maseru.  She lives in a house with an older Basotho couple.  She loves her host family.  They do not speak any English, so communication is difficult, but there are others in the village to help translate sometimes.  Her Mme (mother) feeds her very well.  Jenny says that she cooks her huge meals.  I think that her Mme thinks that Jenny is too thin! 
There is no electricy or running water in her home.  They do have a solar "outlet" that Jenny can use to charge her cell phone. 
Jenny will be in Titsa with her host family for a total of 9 weeks.  During this time, all of the volunteers are in class most all of the day.  They are getting language and culture lessons.  Jenny says one of the hardest culture lessons to learn is that the Basotho do not have our same concept of time usage.  They do not worry about being late and in turn do not get irritated when others are late.  Jenny, being a punctual person, is struggling with the concept.
Next week the volunteers are pairing up with another person in their group and going on a field trip.  They will be spending 5 days with another PC volunteer that has been working at their job for awhile.  This will give them an idea of what it might be like once they are done with training and on their own in a new place.  Since they have to make some choices as far as what type of work they might want to do or where they might want to live, this should help out a lot.
So, for all of Jenny's friends and family, she is doing great and is really having the time of her life.  I will try to keep this blog updated as long as Jenny is not able to get to the Internet.  I will include the basic updates along with some stories that she is able to tell me.
Kgotsong (Peace)

Farewell Party

Last night I had the best going away party ever! My friends made sure to do it up big by cooking 20lbs of meat, making various side dishes, and bringing tons of alcohol to the party. Every person there made me feel very loved with all their kind words and creative gifts. We celebrated from afternoon till night with outdoor games and karaoke. Highlights included watching the boys climb a super tall tree, finishing a keg of local brew, and my friends signing a magnum size bottle from the best local winery. 

Of course, there was a little rain to deal with but we couldn't let it bring us down. People were still outside playing the games Richard made and huddling around a makeshift heater. Oh, and how can I forget how awesome the outdoor movie theater was! To top it off, I got to wake up to an amazing brunch that my dear friends slaved over! Overall, it was a great party and I cannot thank my friends enough for putting it on for me!

The hardest part was saying goodbye, and I'll have to admit that I've been tearing up all day after leaving the party. 

I'll keep in touch with all of you guys the best that I can. I don't think I'll have internet access at my training site (I'll be there for 9 weeks), but I'll try to keep you posted through letters and/or Richard. Alright, well now I'm off to do my final baggage weigh-in and get some sleep for my flight to Philadelphia for staging. 

 Richard cooking up the butt

 Nicole's spread

 Shannon surprising me with her 27 letters prepared for every month I'm gone

 Family

 Joe licking the magnum wine bottle

Richard and his party cup

How I feel about leaving for africa in a couple days.

"How do you feel about it?" That is the number one question people are asking me about my upcoming departure to Lesotho. Well, I feel mostly overwhelmed with tasks, but otherwise, excited and nervous at the same time. Over the past month, I've spent so much time with friends and family that almost every moment has been filled with fun. I feel spoiled and happy about that. 

When I'm by myself, that's when I start getting a little nervous. I don't really think too hard about what to anticipate when I'm in Lesotho, because I know it will all be new and I will be thrown into a whole different lifestyle than what I'm used to. I'm okay with that, and luckily, I love the unknown. 

Packing for Lesotho has been the most difficult thing for me. That, and tying up all the loose ends like finishing up work, volunteer work, and canceling services and memberships. I've mostly followed the suggested packing list that the Peace Corps Lesotho desk sent me. My two bags now total 100 lbs (my limit) and I feel like I'm as set as I can be. Luckily, I'm ultra fortunate to have my parents and Richard to help me out with anything I need on the home front. 

I think the main thing I've neglected to pack is stuff to support my hobbies. I can't think of what to bring for hobbies, so I'm not bringing anything. Instead I've packed my bags with just tons of clothes. Yes, I know this might be a mistake, but my hobbies include working out, hanging out with friends, and staring at the wall. So therefore, I don't need that much. Most volunteers and the PC handbook suggested loading my computer with tons of movies and music. I have yet to do that. That's where Richard will most likely come to the rescue and put a ton of media on my tiny netbook at the last minute (probably Sunday night...I leave Monday morning).  If we don't have time, then I'll just be screwed and figure it out as I go along. 

Other than, I feel set. And, to my friends and family: I want to thank you for dedicating the last 3 weeks to me and supporting me 100%. You guys are the best!  

Six Weeks Until Staging

Wow, now I'm down to the six week countdown to staging. This means I need to get my act together. Currently, my priorities involve spending time with friends and family. I'm typically not much of a planner, but considering the circumstances, I've planned out all the remaining weekends I have left in the US. (1. Winery 5K Run & Easter Beer Hunt, 2. Weekend in Sacramento to see Wendy and Nana, 3. Possible girls shopping trip to Portland, 4. In Montana with dad, 5. Mom visits Eugene, 6. Prepare to leave).

The next important thing I need to do is move out of my house. Richard lucked out and found a perfect rental house three houses down, so moving will be no problem. We'll move next week and it will be the perfect opportunity for me to start packing for Lesotho and giving away stuff I don't need. Then, I will quit my job on May 10th.

Currently, I'm just living for every day and enjoying every moment of my time in Eugene. I think the hardest part about leaving will be putting a hold on my perfect life here with all my amazing friends and beautiful family. If you guys think I'm crazy for doing this, then let me reassure you that I am! But at least I realize it, right?