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.

Raining in Cape Town

I'm recently back from a fabulous vacation in South Africa! I began by taking the overnight bus from Bloemfontein to Cape Town. While in Bloem I hung out in the mall until the bus left at midnight. Unfortunately I was a big tool walking around the mall by myself with my giant backpack on, but I got to see the new Indiana Jones which was exciting.

Once in Cape Town, I walked to the Waterfront and met my friend JJ in a big beautiful hotel called The Commodore. We hugged and sat down to chat over coffee after I cleaned up. I was so happy to be with my good friend and looked forward to our week together. Artist and photographer, JJ L'Heureux, had returned from 2 weeks on Robben Island assisting researchers with a penguin study before meeting me so we both had interesting stories to tell. We went to the museums in central Cape Town, including the national art museum--I was in heaven even though it was a bizarre museum. Soon we were off to the Addo Elephant Rserve via Port Elizabeth. There, we were welcomed by the most romantic, luxurious lodge I have ever seen. JJ and I were surrounded by couples, and nobody was quite sure what to make of us. They couldn't tell if JJ was my mom, my sister, my sugar momma, or what, haha. Only one man had the audacity to ask, and we replied, "No, we're friends!" The Nguni Lodge in Addo offered game drives twice a day which we always attended, except for one day when we went on an Elephant Back Safari! The experience was unforgettable and indescribable. When I try to describe it, my words don't do it justice, and it even sounds cliche. But I will tell you that I have ridden, walked with, and fed very large elephants. They have large molars and soft tongues; and apparently elephant testicles are inside their bodies high in their rears which I didn't learn until after I was petting them. My elephant really loved me. Afterwards JJ and I were speechless--we had done something truly magical. The next day we returned to Cape Town for a couple rainy days in the city. We mostly relaxed but walked around the historic Muslim area, Bo-Kaap, one drizzly morning (with our ponchos on). Then we said our goodbyes before JJ left for Los Angeles, and I flew to Durban before taking a mini-bus back to Qacha's Nek, Lesotho.

I received a warm welcome home from friends and co-workers. I had been away from Qacha's Nek for some time so I was happy that people didn't forget about me. Soon I'll help train the new volunteers who just arrived, then I'm gearing up for a new school year in August. :)

Traveling Lady

It's been almost a year since I arrived in Lesotho, and it feels like time is really flying. I've been traveling around the north of Lesotho for the last 3 weeks. I'm happy to be gone from site (although I miss my friends and co-workers at site) because it's freezing up there and snowing. At first I went to Butha-Buthe to paint a mural for PSI. The mural is kind of a big condom ad so it's not something I'm dying to show everyone, but it was good practice in case I want to paint some murals of my own. The mural took a week. Then their was a security threat in Maseru (that actually turned out to be nothing) so I was told I couldn't travel through the capital to get home to Qacha's Nek in southern Lesotho. I took that opportunity to visit some of my other friends in the north who I don't see very often—and some new volunteers too. It was good to get some fresh perspectives from other volunteers, particularly a new volunteer who is in her 60s and doesn't waste her time here because she left a beautiful family to come to Lesotho.

Now I'm in Maseru doing some research for a few training sessions I will be holding for the brand new Community Health volunteers that just arrived a few days ago! I'm trying to find some concrete information on the laws affecting women's equality. So far I've found out that married women gained equality to men in 2006 which means unmarried women (no matter their age) are minors according to the legal system in Lesotho. Lesotho is a strange country in that women are more educated and literate and responsible for almost all matters of the family (including financial), yet culturally Basotho men have all the power. A funny thing about this power struggle is that Basotho men are small, skinny, and often intoxicated while the Basotho women are traditionally large. They could easily physically overpower their smaller male counterparts, but because the culture states that men have the power they succumb to their husbands' and fathers' abuse.

Anyway, it's about that time again to go on vacation! JJ, my good friend and previous boss, is already on Robben Island off Cape Town working on a penguin project. I'll meet up with her in Cape Town after the project is over and explore the biggest, coolest city in Africa! More on that later! Miss you all!

Basotho Time

Patience is definitely one quality I’ve improved since arriving in Lesotho thanks to… Basotho time. Patience can include many things: patience with language misunderstandings, with kids asking for money and candy, or just slow work progress in general. These are important in developing patience, but I’m talking specifically about just sitting and waiting. When our volunteer group arrived in Lesotho we were warned about “Basotho time,” but it’s still a major cultural difference that is difficult to tolerate. Basotho aren’t just late; sometimes they are ridiculously, unbelievably, inexcusably late. I spent all of last week in a rural area of Lesotho with my PCV friend Pam in her village, and it seemed like the whole week was run on Basotho time.

I traveled to Pam’s village with PSI in the back of a covered pick-up truck. They said they would pick me up at my village bus stop at 10 or 11am. I knew this meant after 11, but like a silly American I arrived at the stop at 10:30am. I sat on my backpack on the side of the road for three hours waiting, reading a book, texting PSI with no response. After the first two hours I got a little worried, maybe they weren’t coming, and I decided I would go home at 2pm. Finally though, a little before 2pm, they showed up. Then we drove for five hours on dirt roads over mountain passes before reaching our destination—but at least it was a free ride. :)

A couple days later Pam and some other volunteers hosted a Children’s Health Day at their village clinic. HIV counselors/testers from the hospital were coming from the camptown. The event was scheduled to start at 8am. The counselors arrived at the clinic at 11am, prepared their test kits until noon, and then some of them took their lunch breaks. It was really frustrating, but we weren’t paying them so there wasn’t much we could do but wait. Hundreds of Basotho women with babies and toddlers strapped to their backs were waiting too. Somehow we managed to see almost all of the children thanks to the dedicated clinic staff.

Later in the week I went on outreach with PSI to a high school in a rural area. Outreach involves HIV/AIDS education, then voluntary HIV testing and counseling. We were supposed to start at 10am, but that’s when we left the lodge where the counselors were staying. We arrived at the high school at about 10:30, but the school wasn’t ready yet. The teachers had to gather the students, and then we could begin. An hour and a half later we started the general presentation. That’s Lesotho. While the students were lining up to test for HIV after the presentation, I did some educational activities with small groups. Then I showed them male and female condoms and how to use them. Most Basotho are sexually active by age 15 so I always show high school students how to properly use a condom.

The day we returned to Qacha’s Nek I thought we were leaving at 10am, but a co-worker showed up at my friend’s house telling me to be ready at 8am. We were leaving early? Heavy clouds were rolling in, so I assumed we were going to try to beat the rain. I met my co-worker at 8, and we proceeded to visit her family’s homes in the area. We weren’t being picked up until 9am, but my co-worker wanted me to snap photos of her and her family members. That sneaky b****. Then we actually got picked up at 9am. We didn’t leave yet though. First we went back to the lodge where the rest of my co-workers were packing. I waited until 11am, then I climbed into the back of the truck with all the luggage and a lamb carcass. Then off we went, home to Qacha’s Nek. Basotho time = lots of waiting.

Happy Birthday to Me...

Lesotho wished me a Happy Birthday with the first signs of winter. Temperatures have dropped drastically, and it even snowed in the mountains last week (while I was in Maseru--ha!). I can even see my breath inside my house at night. I'm officially wearing my mild winter gear which includes: a beanie, scarf, long-sleeve t-shirt, long dress, hoodie, fleece (in morning and night), spandex leggings, light blanket wrapped around my waist (in morning and night), a long dress or skirt, socks, and tennies. In June and July, or harsh winter, I'll graduate to fleece vest, heavy blanket, down jacket, and hiking boots.

Also to prepare for winter I've cut my hair super short. It's something like a boy-cut pixie look that I did myself--I wish I could see my sisters' faces after reading that. Although I've been curious to see what my hair would look like so short, the cut was motivated by the cold weather and lack of plumbing and electricity. The less hair to wash, the less water I have to use and fetch. And of course my long hair took hours to dry, and wet hair really sucks when it's cold--thus the super-short 'do. :)

As a birthday present to myself, I bought two new blankets: one light blanket for wearing, and one heavy blanket for my bed. Already I've received a couple birthday packages and cards in the mail--a big thank you to all my friends and family who thought of me!! I can feel the cross-continental love from here!

p.s. I posted 2 blogs today at the same time. If you want to read about the funeral I attended, read the next blog down too. I didn't want to leave you with two depressing blogs in a row.