Pula ea na!!!!

Pula ea na!! It’s raining. We had rain and hail 4 days in a row. The storms here are sudden and furious. Not a cloud in the sky, and then quickly the sky turns dark and the lighting comes every 5 seconds the thunder quickly following afterwards… sometimes so loud I can see my tin roof shaking. There were a couple of times I thought that the house was hit. Is this what it’s like in the Midwest? And then it pours rain… and it hails. At one point, I sat in my house watching the hail and I watched a herd boy with his cattle walk by, wrapped in a blanket looking wet and miserable. Ya gotta feel for the herd boys. Hopefully it will keep raining. As I walked through the village this week, I saw people planting their fields. Lets hope!

Its beginning to get hot here in Lesotho. And the tin roof definitely hold the heat in. it cold down at night, but to take advantage, you have to open the window, which have no screens- so all the bugs come in and of course are attracted to the candle light. I know many of you know how I am about bugs, so stop laughing. I’ve started using my mosquito netting while I sleep which should keep the bugs spiders and scorpions off me… I hope.

In a couple of weeks, 5 of my students and I will be training for 5 days at the LDL facility in Maseru. When we come back, we will start going into the villages to teach and look for other Peer Educators. The youth are great to work with. I love their enthusiasm. I’m really proud of them. Lesotho can change and the young people will be the ones to make it happen.

Besides learning about HIV/Aids, we also are having a little fun, sharing Basotho and American culture. I am teaching them about photography. A friend sent me a film camera and a bunch of film. I am teaching them photography 101 and letting them use the camera to take pictures of things that mean something to them. They are getting into it, and Im interested to see their pictures when the film gets developed. Thanks Denise. They have decided to teach me how to play soccer. It tried to explain to them that: 1. Im only good with sports that use hands. 2. Im old. But they insist I can learn, so Im doing my best. If my feel would only follow alongJ

When I was at another PCV’s house recently, he had these 2 quotes hanging on his wall. They made for interesting conversation. I thought I’d post them and would love to hear your thoughts.
Salang Hantle (stay well)
Merrill

Atheism:
The belief that there was nothing and nothing happened to nothing and then nothing magically exploded for no reason, creating everything and then a bunch of everything magically rearranged itself for no reason whatsoever into self replicating bits which then turned into dinosaurs…Makes perfect sense!

Christianity:
The belief that some cosmic Jewish Zombie can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him that you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your sould that is present in humanity because a vile-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree…Makes perfect sense!

We are dancing!!

Guest Blogging from Oscar:

It was great to have Merrill and Karrin here for the weekend. My site at Bobete is, as the video says, very remote, and being able to show other volunteers where I live and what I do is a treat. Even more than that, Merrill was my neighbor during training, and one of the closest friends I have in Country. It's been a privledge getting to know her, and working with her this weekend were awesome.

Of course, regualr readers of this blog probably already know how awesome Merrill is, so I'll just go ahead and post the video. One last comment though-- Sex Ed is hillarious in this country. I've never turned so red in my life.

Huh... So Blogger doesn't appear to have a way to embed youtube videos, and directly uploading it is painfully slow. You can watch it either on my blog or youtube (though I would beat my own drum and suggest my blog has interesting Lesotho Peace Corps stuff).

All the best,
Oscar Sinclair,
Peace Corps Bobete



Khotso!!
Im in the village of Bobete near the camp town of Thaba Tseka. Another PCV (Karrin) and I took the long trip from Maseru to Bobete to visit another PCV (Oscar) We were able to go with Oscar and his NGO (Catholic Relief Services) on an outreach to the only secondary school around to help teach about HIV/Aids. It was a really good day. Catholic Relief Services is an international org, and has done some great work out in the really, really remote areas of Lesotho. And Bobete is remote. Its at about 10,000 feet and the only way to get to it is by plane or 4 wheel drive. But back to that in a minute.
It was great to work with the students (probably age range of about 14-20) They were so excited and asked so many great questions. Some seemed really interested in being a part of change for Lesotho. It was very encouraging and made me feel like there was hope for lasting, sustainable change. The outreach was friday. Yesterday, we hiked to a nearby mountain and sat on the top and just looked out over lesotho.... beautiful mountains, a few rondavels and basically nothing else. Bobete is a very humbling place to be.
Even though Catholic Relief Services is in the middle of nowhere, they have internet. I don't know how, but its good to be able to post. Karrin and I go home tomorrow. Either tomorrow or tuesday Oscar will post on this blog a little video of us that we will make tonight. So if you want to see how ratty Ive become....
The trip between Maseru and Thaba Tseka was crazy. You travel on one old bus that's made for about 50 people and had about 80 on it. People in the aisles, using your head as leaning posts, armpits in the face.... hot and everytime Id reach up and open a window, a Basotho would close it. They dont like open windows on transport here because of evil spirits coming in... The road is starting from 5000 ft going up to 10000. Little 2 way roads, with the huge bus going way to fast, being way too crowed... There's one pass thats called "God help me pass." Its acurately named, as I was pretty sure that we were going to die several times. We got off (finally and happily) in Thaba Tseka, where Oscar and Ntate Mphufi picked us up in a nice 4 wheel truck for the 1 1/2 hour trip to Bobete. I should tell you that Ive never been 4 wheeling before. Up and up this one lane mountain road with the biggest rocks Ive ever seen, cliffs on one side, lighting and thunder, mud and the back wheels slipping constantly... and Ntate Mphufi laughing and saying over and over... "we are dancing, we are dancing." Ah, Lesotho:) Ntate Mphufi is actually a wonderful Basotho man who works with PIH (Partners in health) and was in charge of the outreach. Good guy. The outreach was an hour away at an even more remote place... with scarier 4 wheeling which I got to do backwards... 9 people in a 5 seater. Scared the crap out of me. Almost literally. But, I do love it up here.
So, tomorrow I go home. Ive been told the trip will be shorter, but scarier... going down hill and all. Cant wait.
Hope you are all well. I miss all of you!
Salang Hantle
Merrill

Dennis, I hear Megan is doing some great stuff!!!

Rats....again

Khotso!

At the end of the Lesotho national anthem, everyone says “Khotso, Pula, Nala.: (Peace, Rain, Prosperity) I think in the end, here in Lesotho you can’[t have peace and prosperity without rain. It’s October and it hasn’t rained yet. It usually starts raining (so I hear) mid
September. After a very, very dry winter, Lesotho gets almost all of its rain from the end of September through December. I’ve heard it comes every afternoon, very heavy. There can even be flash floods… Pula ea na! (Its raining!)But so far, no rain. All of the numerous fields are plowed, but they must wait for the rain to plant. People are getting worried. I’ve heard the word “draught” being mentioned many times. And of course, the rivers are very low and I'm sure at some point the wells (some of them) will dry up. No water for planting, not enough for washing, maybe even drinking… I’m not sure what will happen. I heard that a few weeks ago, the King of Lesotho asked churches to start praying for rain. I think that’s an excellent idea! Did you know that the number one export from Lesotho is water? Hmmm….

I received an email from someone a couple of weeks ago. The largest diamond in the world was recently found in a diamond mine in Lesotho. I wonder how the proceeds are divided up?

I’ve been working with the youth at the vocational school in Ha Mohatlane for about 7 weeks now. There’s a core group of about 6 with a few more who come and go. Good kids! (Sorry, young adults) There is a lot of cultural stuff to fight through though, so at times its slow going- i.e. witch craft, severe stigma against people with HIV, the status, power and decision capabilities of women in this society… so much! Slowly but surely, it seems like the students are starting to accept (I think) that you can’t get HIV by touching someone or by being in the same room with them, or by having a witch cast a spell on you. And, some are staring to accept (I think) that women have the right to say “no” and to insist on using condoms if they want to. We’ll see. On October 8th, my we meet with 10 of the local chiefs from the surrounding villages to ask permission for us to go and teach in the villages, and to get help from them to identify other young people who will also become peer educators. If all goes well, then the core group of youth and I will go to Lesotho Durham Link’s facility in Maseru for a 5 day training and then we will start doing outreach. A time line I'm trying not to hold my breath, but I’m excited.

I found a couple of youth who have said they will volunteer to keep the library open several days a week! And a couple of teachers are actually showing a bit of interest. So, I’m going to be working on the library quite a bit over the next few months. To get it organized and open. Plus, I’m working on a “Books for Africa application to hopefully get reference books that are less than 45 years old, kid’s fiction, picture books, etc… They teach a little bit of English from grad 1 on. After grade 7, it’s all English. They love to read when they can get a hold of books. So some good books at the appropriate age level would be great. If anyone out there would be interested (or several people) in being in charge of a book drive, that would be awesome. What you would do is gather books from people, schools, and churches… by February. $ would also need to be raised for shipping. There is a contact person who’s in charge of the project who helps with whatever is needed, guides us through the process and answers all questions. I supply a list of the genre of books needed and appropriate age levels. ($500 is the estimated cost of shipping about 1000 books, However I'm thinking that since we have some books, and limited room, I’m looking for somewhere in between 300 and 400). I know this is a huge task, but if anyone out there is even remotely interested, please send me an email… cubbiesrock2010@gmail.com

I started teaching English a couple of weeks ago. The students and teachers approached me as I was walking through the village. So far, I love it, but it’s a bit intimidating because… I’m not a teacher and am scared that I don’t have a clue about what Im doing. But the students are real eager for help with an English speaker. There have been a couple of times when students have walked me home, with a million questions about America and have helped me a bit with my Sesotho J So, here’s my next request. If any of you have any suggestions on how to teach English and not be boring to a bunch of 10th graders, I would welcome them!! I’m just there a couple of mornings a week. The students have (most of them) the basics… any hints?

An update on Willard. (My name for the rat(s)) So I haven’t seen one since last time, but I still sweep the droppings out of the pit latrine daily. Last week, I was in there and Willard squeezed under the door, ran up my leg, (RAN UP MY LEG!!!) and up the side, out of the roof. I ran out, with my pants around my hips and had to stifle a huge scream. I walked around the compound for about 15 mins, having quite a melt down, and then went into my house where I just about vowed to never come out and not to eat so I wouldn’t have to use the pit latrine. I thought, “Ok, there is death, poverty, huge differences in culture, every kind of conceivable stressor… am I really going to let a rat running up my leg push me into despair?” YES! I felt like a huge baby but I sent a text to my boss Maria (who’s awesome) and she called me back to confirm that rats running on me was “unacceptable” and greatly encouraged me. (This woman has the patience of a saint!) I’ve already tried to borrow a cat here. I’ve been told the smell of a cat will keep rats away… I’ve asked and been told “no” several times. It was finally explained to me that people don’t loan out their cats because of witchcraft. I might put a spell on it and then when I give it back…. I’m not a cat lover and I’ve resisted, but enough is enough. My students are on the lookout for a kitten or cat for sale. Ill buy food in town this week in preparation. This cat will be my new best friend. Ahh,,, Lesotho.

Lastly, a couple of weekends ago, I visited a fellow PCV who came with my group. Her name is Kaye, she’s from Sacramento and she works at St Rose’s clinic in Peka. I can’t get her blog linked to mine for some reason, but it’s worth checking out. She has some great pictures. She’s at Kayeinlesotho.blogspot.com. On the Sunday I was there, they had a big celebratory mass for their bishop. Singing, dancing with sticks with horse hair on them, and a huge feast. I got to talk with a bunch of the sisters who live there who are quite wonderful. This clinic does great work with HIV/Aids outreach plus they have a maternity clinic there (not common) And, Kaye has electricity, running water and an indoor flush toilet (no rats) It was like a vacation. I got to charge my laptop. I even got to take a bath… with hot water. At one point, my whole body was submerged in hot water. I’m sure this is what heaven will be like. Here’s a couple of pictures that Kaye took. Thanks Kaye!!

I miss you all, I’m grateful for you all. I love you all.
Salang Hantle!
Merrill

These 3 pictures were at the Mass in Peka. The 3 girls do a traditional Basotho dance at the beginning of the service. I want one of the skirts!

Rats!

I have been at my site at Ha Mohatlane for about 1 month now. It was great to get to acutally unpack. I live in a little 2 room stone house with a tin roof, no electricity or water, and Im happy to be home. Ive been hanging out with some of the vocational students and have actually clicked with a couple of them. One of them has begun tutoring me in sesotho which is good, because in order to be effective, I have to get better with the language.

Im 12 km from the camp town of TY- one combi ride away. This ride can take anywhere from 20 mins to 1 1/2 hours depending on stops, breaking down.... and so far, Im always quite amused by how many people can be crowded into one, 15 passenger combi. The highest was 27 one morning... kids on laps, all kinds of contortions to get more people in. It is rather amazing. A couple of weeks ago, I spent a few days in TY at the home of a third year PCV. The first night was a welcome party for all of the new PCVs in the district of Berea. It was great. We had a Braii (B-B-Cue) Meat is such a treat!! They had little welcome bags for all of the newbies with stuff like crystal light, protein bars, pixie stix... all stuff to make us feel a little bit of home. On monday and tuesday, 6 of us helped out at Becky's school (she teaches at a high school) teaching about stigma with regards to HIV/AIDS. Some of the volunteers had done this before, so it was great for me... good experiance and learning new stuff. Plus, many of the kids were really receptive, had great questions and answered some of my questions which helped me to understand some of the stigma here. I asked on young man if people believed that you could not ge HIV after drinkin from the same glass or by hugging them... He said people don't believe it, even when told by teachers or doctors. This is a huge problem to overcome, because ARVs are free here, but people are too afraid to be tested, so they go unused. Sometimes, I wonder if there's hope, but after talking with some of these students, I believe that things can change here
The NGO Im working with wants to train Peer Educators to go out into the surrounding villages to teach HIV/AIDS, have testing days, etc... and identify others in each village who will also train.... hopefully making the whole thing sustainable. There are a few kids already who seem excited by being trainers and making a difference. It definitely gives me hope.

The cultural differences have at times been difficult for me to adjust to. Time here (as in many developing countries) has a different meaning. If you set up a time to meet with someone, if it happens a 1/2 hour later, thats pretty good. Sometimes its an hour or not at all. Sometimes I can just accept it... it is was it is. Sometimes it drives me crazy. If my door is umnlocked, people will walk in without waiting to be told to come in. Its so different than america. 98 percent of the kids I meet tell me to "give them candy or money" within the first sentence or two. And there is absolutley nothing here for people with mental illness. You're just "crazy" and on your own. At times, this seems rather harsh
And yet, these are a people who for the most part, are very poor, hungry, dont have the proper clothing, many, many people to one or 2 room house, dying off at the average age of 37... there is much suffering, yet there is joy to be found. Children playing, adults laughing and singing and loving one another. Some times Im not sure what kind of a difference (if any) I can make here, but Im glad to be here and try. (I know, Yoda fans are saying "there is no try") but sometimes, putting forth your best effort can make a difference. I recently read a Mother Theresa quote that went something like this: "It may just be a drop of water in an ocean, but its a drop of water which would be missed if it wasn't there"

Last story, i was in my pit latrine the other day, and the biggest rat I ever saw slipped under the crack, ran up next to my leg, looked at me and let me know who was boss, ran up the wall and out a crack at the top. Think "Willard." I stifled a scream, ran out of the latrine and could hear rustling in the weeds. Welcome to Lesotho!!
Salang Hantle!!!
Merrill

Swearing in

"I, Merrill Nosler, do solemly swear that I will support and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will faithfully discharge my duties in the Peace Corps.
So help me God."

This was administered by Ambassador Robert B Nollan, His excellency to the embassy of the United States, Lesotho.

WOO HOO!!!!!

Tomorrow, I move to my site. It begins. And I know that I have all of you to thank. When I get a new address, I will post it on this blog.

Pictures again borrowed by Tara. Thanks Tara.

This is the Peace Corps country director Ted Mooney. He rocks!!!

These are all of the wonderful women trainees. While we're all ready to go to our sites tomorrow, I will miss them very much.

Salang hantle!!!!

Dennis, Check out the picture on Megans blog of her site. She's going to do great work there.

Some fun pictures

First of all, Id like to thank Tara... these are her pictures and she was kind enough to let me post them on my blog. So thanks, Tara, you rock!

This is our last day in the our training village at Ha Soole. They pinned the traditional blankets on us (men and woman wear these instead of jackets) Unfortunately, we didn't get to keep the blankets... they are a nice, warm, heavy wool. But they were cool to wear for a while. And an honor.

From left to right... Oscar, me, Barbara, Lorian, Megan, Kelly and Tara. We all lived in Ha Soole, while the rest of the trainees were split up in 2 other villages.

This is my 'M' e (Mampolokeng) and my abuti Tlotliso. Tlotliso is 6, and easily the coolest kid in the village. Possibly in Lesotho!!!! (My 'M'e rocks too!)

For the last week in the village, we brought some of our stuff to the school every day to go back to Maseru. This is Tom in my basin that I use to wash my clothes. He wanted to demonstrate that he uses his to take a full on bath....

Well, went this last week with our country counterparts to visit our sites. Im in Ha Mohatlane, in the Berea district. Its a cool rural village, with lots of hiking nearby. Yet there is a road where you can easily catch a combi to the local camptown which is only 12 km away. In the camptown there is access to fruits and vegetables... and internet. The best of both worlds. My 3 day visit was fairly uneventful. There was no access to my pit latrine of water for a day, but my counterpart fixed that, so all is well. I have a house with 2 rooms, a tin roof, no electricity, no running water, a bed, a 2 burner gas stove, a gas heater, 2 tables and 2 chairs. Its always cold (and I suspect will be always hot in the summer) Its built of stone, you can see the gaps between the wall and the ceilings.... and I love it!!!!

The NGO Im working for is Lesotho Durham Link. (I think they have a web site) This is a British Based organization with an office in Maseru, and in my village, the goal is youth outreach not only in my village, but going into the other villages. My little home is on a school compound with a primary school, a vocational school (a woman teaches welding... very unusual for Lesotho) permaculture, a church (the organization is part of the Anglican church) and a clinic which is no longer open... but England is trying to raise money to open it up again... and it's needed. After the 3 day visit (for one combi ride there were 23 people in a 15 passenger combi... I had a beautiful 2 yr old on my lap for a while) we came back to the Peace Corps training center in Maseru.

Our language trainers worked with us for a day, and then we had the dreaded language assesment tests... done by people whom we have never met. It was about 15 minutes, tape recorded, and then they went over them one by one to determine if we could speak well enough to get around. I was so nervous.. as were many people, nerves were very taut with many... and, I passed!!!!!! Woo hoo. I get to swear in on Wednesday with everyone else. Whew!!! Today and tomorrow are interviews with the country director and the apcd and her assistant to make sure every thing is all right and we are committed... (hmmm, what should I do) and then wednesday we swear in. Thursday morning, I travel to the Maseru office to meet the rest of the staff for Lesotho Durham Link, and then I make my way back to the village for the next 2 years. Thanks for all the prayers and support. If I can borrow a camera, I'll try to post pictures of my village.

I'll try and post again after swearing in. I hope all is well at home

Ahe Karohano!

Ahe Karohano. (parting is sorrowful) Yesterday was our last day of CBT (community based training) The village had a big feast. (PC threw it) It was at the chief's house. The day before we helped the bo-me peel what seemed like a million potatos, carrots, squash, pumpkin and onions. They made tons of food. We had name (meat... chicken in this case.. a real treat. I was the PCT who said thank you for the trainees in sesotho. I think they even understood me. :) We (the trainees) sang Ahe Karohano to the villagers (with harmony even) There were traditional dancing, the chief said he wanted us to stay longer, and PC presented the chief with a new wool blanket as a thank you. While Im really looking forward to going to my site, it was sad to leave. Ha kea thabile. (Im not happy... they don't really have a word for sad) The villagers went out of their way to make us feel welcome. The 8 people in our village of Ha Soole all became friends, occasionally having dinner together, huddled together for heat, eating American food and speaking english for a couple of hours. It was a hard, yet good 7 weeks.



Last week, we all had lunch at the US ambassador's home. The ambassador and his wife were wonderful. They made us a huge spread complete with meat, ice cream, electricity and flush toilets. A huge treat. A couple of hours of being in an oasis. They were very kind. After lunch, PC surprised us by giving us our site placements 3 days early. While what you actually end up doing at your placement can be totally different...(depending on community needs and motivation) Here's what my sheet says:

Trainee: Merrill Nosler

Village: Ha Mohatlane

District: Berea

Village stats: Lowlands, small- medium size (12km from TY, about 45 min from Maseru)

House: Tin roof, water tap nearby, no electricity. The house is on a compound beside the center

Previous PCV Site: Yes. There was a volunteer who left in July 2005. He assisted the school with vocational skills and agriculture.

Host organization: Lesotho Durham link Lesotho Durham Link is a local NGO that focuses on youth. You will be living near and working at a youth center which was formerly very active and which the group is seeking to revive.

work with this organization may include: (the key word is "may")- assist with the planning of training and development programs-work with the staff and provide advice where possible and appropriate on general matters relating to the revival of the center and its day to day functioning.-assist with proposal preparation, reports and training manuals for youth.-assist with determining pricing for the use of center facilities and income generating products-assist with the implementation and monitoring and evaluation of center programs for youth.-assist with the training of trainers for youth-HIV/ Aids outreach and prevention.



So now, you know what I know. I am back in Maseru, and on monday meet with my counterpart and/ or supervisor at an all day "supervisors workshop" that PC puts on. Monday night, I travel to my site and check it out until friday (make sure the housing is good..the ngo provides the housing), and then return to Maseru until August 6... preparing for the language test, passing it (hopefully) and swearing in. Im doing ok with the language when I write... but get somewhat tongue tied sometimes when I speak... Im nervous about it...and then move to site either August 6 or 7. Im excited, scared, nervous, hopefull....



Ive only been gone a couple of months. It seems like its been longer. I love Lesotho, the country, the people. There is much that I have already learned that I hope I never forget. But at the same time, there are moments that I long for home... certain food, pants... but most of all friends and community. There are moments when I am very lonely. And then moments when I am not lonely, but just alone. And sometimes it's very hard, and at other times it's very, very sweet and wonderful. This makes me appreciate all of the wonderful people in my life... all those who have loved me so well back at home. I really, really appreciate and love all of you. I am being forced to consider things that I have never before truly considered. I see some who suffer and live hard lives, and yet are kind and have joy. And I already see the way poverty and AIDS is ravaging this beautiful country, and there are times when I mourn. But there is also so much hope. All those who work for PC, both Americans and Basotho express it. The nationals here who are working towards the future express it... I can't help but feel the hope myself.



I know, its a bit mushy for me. Ke swabile (sorry) I should be able to post next week when I come back to Maseru from my site visit. I will have much to tell you about my new village, community and those i will be working with. I hope things are good in Califrnia.

Ive received a couple of letters complete with pictures of kids. THANK YOU! They were timely, made my week, and I got to show them to my fellow trainees and my Basotho trainers and show them pictures of the coolest kids in the world. They agreed!!! Someone asked me for a wish list, right now the best thing (time permitting) would be news from home. You are all in my thoughts and prayers. Thanks for your support.

Merrill



Dennis, The more I get to know megan, the more I appreciate, respect and love her. She has a really compassionate heart, and is kind to all. You should be very proud.