Third-World Prison

Imagine living in a third-world country with virtually no economy and few resources. Then imagine living in that country’s prison. To some people it might seem the roughest place in the world to live. In reality, the living conditions of prisons in Lesotho are not much worse than many rural areas. Regardless, a third-world prison is a harsh setting for any man. (There are no female prisoners in the Qacha’s Nek prison where I work.) The problems and challenges faced by Basotho prisoners are, I assume, similar to jailed inmates around the world: lack of opportunity, lack of resources, desperation, perpetuation of risky/illegal behavior, brutality, etc. However, I believe these challenges increase significantly in an impoverished country where there is little opportunity for anyone, but especially marginalized groups like prisoners and “rehabilitated”, or former, prisoners.

There are two Rehabilitation Officers at the Qacha’s Nek Prison, or teronkong in Sesotho. One of them suggested I bring the Life Skills Program to the prisoners at Qacha’s Nek. I have worked at the prison before, giving presentations about HIV Prevention and condom-use with PSI Lesotho. The prisoners, most of them entirely uneducated, did not respond well to my limited Sesotho so I let the local Peer Educators continue without me. Still, the challenge of teaching Life Skills outside of the education system intrigued me. I agreed under the conditions that the group was small, the prisoners young, and we would meet in a separate room with a translator present. The Rehabilitation Officer rounded up some inmates, and with the help of her and the on-site nurse for translating, I began a modified Life Skills Program for five male prisoners between the ages of 20 and 25. My goal with these young men is to show them how to live a healthy life during and after prison, more so once they have been released. Also I want to give them some hope and encouragement because most prisoners feel dejected and useless to society once they have been incarcerated.

So far I have introduced the idea of Life Skills to the men, discussed why it is important and useful to them, and talked about their Role Models and admirable qualities. The prisoners have responded well so far, although a couple of them have expressed feelings of hopelessness. We will talk about Communication Skills, Decision-Making Skills, and HIV Prevention in more detail throughout the next months. I hope to see some positive change in these young men before the end of my Peace Corps service in Lesotho.

To Vote in America

Living overseas during election time has given me a fresh, outside perspective on American politics. I still hate it, especially discussions surrounding it (you reading this, Dad?), but I have a newfound respect for it as well. In the United States, elections are expected to run smoothly, and for the most part, they do.

Post-election, most Basotho and other Africans express to me their elation and satisfaction that a black man has been elected President of the United States (really Kenya? A national holiday?). But the more thoughtful Africans can barely comprehend the smoothness of the election itself. They ask in disbelief, “You had the results after only one day?” Shocked, they question the incumbent party, “Obama’s opponent actually congratulated him?” and “You mean to tell me Ntate Bush peacefully gave up the Presidency?” In southern Africa, these events seem unattainable and nearly impossible. American politics seems squeaky clean compared to Mugabe’s despotic rule in Zimbabwe and the ANC’s audacious removal and replacement of Thabo Mbeki (South Africa’s former President) without consent from the people of South Africa.

In addition to my excitement about Barack Obama’s future Presidency, I am grateful for American democracy. I dislike and disagree with many things about American politics, but it’s hard to complain after living in Africa. At least our voices are heard and change is not uncommon in the States, even if only at the local level. Most people around the world do not benefit from such opportunities.

So let us be proud of our nation and grateful for our freedom.

Cheers to America!

Make us proud, Barack Obama!

Joys of Painting

Even in Peace Corps, being an artist has its advantages and disadvantages. It’s obnoxious when people ask me to paint their portraits—for free, of course. And every other time I visit Maseru, Lesotho’s capital, someone in Peace Corps nonchalantly asks me to draw or design something for them like it’s a small, effortless task. Depending on the situation, the project, the person asking, and my mood, I’ll accept or refuse. Lately, people want me to make a card which I often refuse to do.

Luckily, Becky, a PCV in Teyateyaneng (or TY), got me on a good day. She asked me to paint a mural on a wall at her high school, and I agreed because all the supplies were purchased and some of my favorite PCVs live in TY. I only had a week to design it before I started painting so I kept it simple and flexible. It took about 5 days to paint with the help of some friends. I painted during the school break so there were no kids on campus, but busloads of Basotho “Anglican Mothers” showed up one day for a convention. That kept things interesting. The day they arrived I was painting in my soccer shorts with a male PCV so I’m pretty sure all the old women thought I was a slut. I wore my paint pants for the remainder of the week though (yup, still got ‘em!).

After a week of painting I was exhausted, but it felt amazing to finish something. Projects move unbearably slowly in Lesotho, and that can be discouraging. For example, introducing Life Skills into the high school curriculum in my village is still in progress two months after school started. Having a project with a tangible end-product in a reasonable amount of time has proved to be uplifting as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I’m grateful to be an artist in that respect. After completing the mural, I returned to Qacha’s Nek with renewed vigor and motivation. Although I’m still working with the high schools, the Youth Club in my village will be my main priority for the rest of the month. I think they can help to keep my spirits high. I’m also going to start working with a new youth group in a nearby village. Nothing like a little painting to get me back on my feet!

Handout Mentality

I’m writing this blog in response to some distressing news from fellow PCVs discussed during an HIV/AIDS Committee Meeting in the capital last week. The World Food Programme, or WFP, in Lesotho is responsible for handing out free food (mostly maize meal and oil) to impoverished Basotho. Recently however, WFP has altered their guidelines—food is now only given to Basotho who are HIV positive, TB positive, and/or malnourished. While I don’t disagree with the new policy, reactions to it need to be considered. Volunteers are now seeing mothers purposefully starving their children or friends coughing on each other so they can be on the WFP list. This sort of thinking , the “handout mentality” in some third world countries, is incomprehensible to the Western world. (Although I have heard comparisons to the welfare junky, I refuse to place them on the same level.) Nurses are seeing healthy babies’ nutrition dramatically drop after the new WFP policy was introduced. There’s little they can do, though, without hard proof or contact with WFP Headquarters (who get their orders from an office far away in Europe).

WFP is an organization that I thought could do no wrong as far as services and mission. They aim to feed the hungry—what could possibly be wrong with that? I don’t mean to solely attack WFP, but I want to use this situation in Lesotho to support a theory that throwing money at problems (including hunger and poverty) DOES NOT WORK. Basotho don’t need handouts, they need skills and knowledge that will empower them to help themselves. I am witnessing a country’s dependency on foreign aid. In my mind, it is worse to make a poor country dependent on a rich country’s aid than to do nothing at all. I urge people to rethink the way they view charity. Is it really beneficial to give people free food when they are hungry? Will a people stop spreading HIV if they are given the treatment for free? These are tough questions that do not have simple answers, if any. These are the kinds of questions I ask myself every day.

Starting Young

Kids grow up fast in Lesotho in a lot of ways. They have a lot of responsibilities in the household, some of their parents die young leaving older children to care for siblings, abuse is more common, and the threat of HIV is all-encompassing. However most kids in Lesotho never learn the basic skills of life they need in order to be healthy and successful. These basic skills are taught in a new subject being introduced to Lesotho called "Life Skills." I've talked about Life Skills before in my blog, but I want to elaborate on exactly what Life Skills education entails and why it is necessary.

In Lesotho, families don't communicate very well with eachother. Men don't talk to women, women don't talk to men, adults don't talk to children, children don't talk to adults. When I say "talk", of course, I mean discussion of important things like emotions, dangers, self-awareness, self-esteem, sex, poverty, HIV, etc. People tend to talk about small things like weather, chores, activities, etc. Not only are some of these topics taboo (like HIV), many children have lost their parents to AIDS and thus lack any sort of immediate role model. Without the self-esteem to resist peer pressure and the information about the risks in life, many young Basotho turn to drugs, alcohol, or unsafe sex. Yet other children in Lesotho get caught in the cycle of abuse and lack the tools to recognize the problem and seek help. Life Skills was introduced into Lesotho's school curriculum because it was obvious that Basotho children were not learning these basic skills in their homes. Children don't even know how to do something as simple as identifying their strengths and weaknesses, or likes and dislikes.



Because I think these basic life skills are so important to empowering the next generation of Lesotho, I have made it my main objective for the remainder of my Peace Corps service. I will be teaching life skills in the schools in my village, a primary school and a high school, and then I hope to refine the Life Skills syllabus in order to make it more user-friendly for teachers. Now the manual is in English and doesn't really educate teachers on the new subjects they are supposed to be teaching. Life Skills includes basic psychological topics like self-esteem, dealing with stress, self-awareness, dealing with emotions, effective communication, interpersonal relationships, and assertiveness. Important preventative information is also included like HIV/AIDS prevention, sexual and reproductive health, abstinence, early pregnancy, sexual abuse, and where to get help for these problems. Other topics like creative thinking and problem solving are also included. As you can see, a teacher has to be an expert in psychology, biology, health, and counseling in order to teach Life Skills. Hopefully I can better equip Lesotho's teachers to teach the next generation to take care of itself. The education system seems to be failing a lot of these kids, but maybe they can help to fix it if they're given the proper tools to believe in themselves and stay healthy.

Happy Birthday Madiba!

All over South Africa people of all colors and races are celebrating the 90th birthday of legendary human rights activist Nelson Mandela, or Madiba as he is lovingly referred to in South Africa. Racial tension and violence remains high in South Africa, but still everyone celebrates this man who dedicated, and in a sense gave up, his life to equal rights and fair treatment for all South Africans—black, white, Indian, colored, different tribes, different origins, etc. Nelson Mandela had a vision of a harmonious existence between all peoples in South Africa, and worked hard to make his vision a reality.

I encourage anyone who wants to be inspired by a truly great human being to read about and research Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first democratic president. Happy 90th Birthday, Madiba! I hope there are many more to come.

Despite the celebrations for a man of peace and quiet strength, in another part of southern Africa a man of hostility and despotic power is repressing his people. Mugabe created in atmosphere of civil war when he refused to step down from power, and even though he is agreeing to talk about “shared power” he should not be allowed any power at all after refusing free and fair elections to the people of Zimbabwe. I realize the situation is complicated. However, Mugabe obviously and defiantly puts his own power and riches ahead of his people’s well-being and thus should not be permitted to decide Zimbabwe’s future. I am sorry to say that Lesotho’s Prime Minister Mosisili has come out in support of Mugabe after many other African nations have expressed their shock and disgust at Mugabe’s actions. In my opinion, this shows that even a peaceful nation like Lesotho suffers from the corruption and power-mongering of an egotistical leader. Controversy surrounded Lesotho’s elections last year when Mosisili was re-elected Prime Minister of Lesotho, and many opposition supporters still believe the election was corrupt and unfair. Most nations and people regard Mugabe’s “victory” in this year’s Zimbabwean elections a step back for Africa as a global player. How in 2008 is an African leader able to blatantly strip his people of basic human rights, and use violence, threats, and corruption to keep himself in power?

Women in Lesotho: Gender Inequality

Many women in sub-Saharan Africa suffer relentlessly due to gender inequality in addition to other major underlying crises like poverty and HIV/AIDS. Unfortunately the gender roles and rituals attached to most African cultures are so strongly ingrained, it's difficult to convince people (including women) that they are unnecessary and even harmful. Gender inequality not only affects individual women, but negatively impacts families, communities, countries, and even national and global economies. In Lesotho girls receive more education than boys, generally, but still they often fall into the gender-specific role of wife and mother after finishing school, stifling their chances at a higher education and/or career. Therefore the husband and father of the family will look for work and pay even though the wife is likely better-equipped to find and hold a job with decent pay. (Note: the unemployment rate in Lesotho is unbelievably high so it is difficult for anyone to find work). Also women with absent husbands (whether he's at the bar, or a mine in South Africa, or a girlfriend's house) end up having to make money on their own somehow to support their families until their husbands return, if they return. Even if a woman is essentially the head of the household, final decisions and power will always go to the man in traditional households in Lesotho, or the husband's family.

Despite these more subtle, deep-seated gender issues in Lesotho's culture, some gender discrimination is more tangible. For example, culturally in Lesotho a married woman is considered the property of her husband. Men justify this action by saying they have paid "lebola," or a bride price, to his wife's family. Under this assumption, women needed their husband's permission to do almost anything (own land, open a bank account, wear pants), and unmarried women needed permission from their father or brother. A married woman could be beaten or raped by her husband, and nobody would ever help her because it was her husband's right.

In recent years Lesotho's government has created laws to protect women from such maltreatment, but they are slow to be implemented. Married women in Lesotho gained equality to men in 2006 under the Legal Capacity of Married Persons Act. Legally now any woman can own land, receive inheritance, and make her own decisions. Prior to 2006, women in Lesotho were considered legal minors. In 2003 women were given more respect and help with the Sexual Offenses Act which officially defined all forms of unwanted sexual penetration as rape, not just vaginal penetration as it was prior to this Act (This also gives legal rights and validity to men who are raped).

I applaud the government (prodded by certain aid organizations) for making these changes, but the reality is Lesotho’s culture still promotes the discrimination these laws are trying to forbid. Nobody in Lesotho knows these laws exist. Also Lesotho has not changed their Constitution to reflect this new standing of women. The government has made no effort to spread this information throughout Lesotho, particularly to rural areas. Many Basotho people strongly hold to their traditional values, keeping women at home in fear of their husbands' retaliation. Women need to know that they have rights, and citizens need to know that they should help promote these rights. Sadly (and pathetically if you ask me) most women still act like second-rate citizens because they are too afraid to break the cycle of abuse. The vast majority of these women are not aware of their legal rights, but still I doubt they would do anything to promote their rights anyway. Like many people, they are afraid of change. However, there are a handful of strong, confident women who are working for women's rights in Lesotho. They don't have a Women's Liberation Movement like we Americans did, but they work hard to help their fellow countrywomen nonetheless. Whether they are a few young women in a rural village in Qacha's Nek or a women lawyers group working with other countries in southern Africa, some women are making a difference and paving the way for the next generation of women in Lesotho.