Downs and Ups

   This has been a very emotional week, both sad and happy moments.  I will end with the happy to leave you in better spirits.  First my sad moment.  On the right is Mameliso, she was just brought to our school on Monday.  Although she doesn't technically have a disability, she can barely walk and is extremely malnourished.  She lost both parents and was left with an uncle who could not care for her and locked her inside.  She is actually 14 years old and she only weighs 35 pounds.  Now that she has been found and treated at the hospital and received basic medicines she was needing a home. They brought her to our school because they felt like the orphanages here could not handle her special needs.  Our principal had no notice, rather people showed up with her in the back of a truck and asked her to please take her.  How do you say "no" even though there is no bed and technically she should go somewhere else.  Of course the teachers  met and we agreed to have her stay.  The school will be able to feed her without a problem and take good care of her.  I found an inexpensive mattress in town and the house mothers have made space for her.  Everyone is working to make sure she eats well and has some positive social interactions.  I have started bringing my seated yoga DVD to her on my laptop, she can only do little bits but she seems to like it.  Even being here, amongst a very vulnerable population, I couldn't believe how neglected this child was.  When she arrived it brought tears to many eyes and I was thankful for the strong teachers who knew they had to take care of her.  I want this blog to be a nice thing to read, but I have just been so consumed by this over the last few days that I had to write about it.  Welcome to this school Mameliso!

   On a more positive note, I also had some happy tears this week.  This is Me Mase who works at our school as a secretary right now.  She also has taken on the challenging role of being my language tutor!  I am really not good at learning languages so it is quite a challenge.  She recently graduated from Agriculture college and last Sunday she invited all of us to her graduation party.  I went with my supervisor and co-teacher out to her family home in a rural village.  After getting lost several times, we finally found it by seeing the large tent and gathering of many people.  Here when there is a graduation party the graduate asks all of her friends who have also gotten degrees to attend in their graduation robes and caps, there were not too many, maybe 8 other people.  I did not have mine, but she included me with the group. Little did I know that there would first be a special mass followed by speeches about the graduate.  At first they had someone translating for me, but then I told them to stop because I felt like it was distracting for everyone else.  So I didn't notice at first when everyone was looking at me expectantly, then the person next to me said it was my turn to get up and speak!  I was not prepared at all, but come up with something, in English of course, but sufficient.  Finally my friend, the graduate spoke, I could tell that she was thanking all of her family, teachers, etc.  It was very moving and a good example of a "village" raising a child.  She then spoke about me and what I was doing here and how happy she was that I attended her party.   I was feeling so happy to be included and welcomed and also embarrassed by too much attention.  After the formalities we had quite a feast and it was fun to see all the older women of the village go into a back room together. I asked "where are they going?"  I was told that they were going in there to drink some shots!  The women do celebrate here, just more privately.

       This is the last week of school before a week vacation for Independence Day.  Everyone is busy finishing up craft projects for the upcoming environmental fair.  Others have been busy building a new home for the pig and harvesting some of the plants.  I have continued to help out wherever I can and have had a lot of fun learning some new skills in farming and building.  I am just continuously trying to show how all the students can be included. Otherwise I am still trying to learn new words and names to communicate better.  These are pictures of us working on making trays out of empty tomato boxes. It is not easy to teach someone how to use a hand saw!                                  
                                                             

Peace Corps - 50th Annivesary

Last week all the PC volunteers in Lesotho traveled into the capital to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Peace Corps. We had a special lunch and reception a the Morija Museum, one of the earliest learning centers in Lesotho.  The new volunteers were sworn into their service by the US Ambassador Bond and the King of Lesotho, Motlotlehi Letsie Oa Boraro (King Letsie the 3rd).  One of the Ministers in Lesotho who was taught by a Peace Corps Volunteer donated 5 cows to our feast and a catholic priest who hosted us at a monestary type place donated  beer and wine for our evening.  Overall it was very nice to meet all of the other volunteers and to honor 50 years of Peace Corps.  It was overwhelming to hear about the positive impact of volunteers in the development of Lesotho.  The people here are very appreciative and they have such a positive view of  Peace Corps and the United States overall.  We were asked to dress formally for the event so I had a seshoeshoe skirt and head scarf made.  Wearing the seshoeshoe material is important at special occasions.  Another teacher at my school made the skirt for me and I received many compliments.  The whole event was filmed by Lesotho television and I have had several people in the last few days telling me they saw me on TV!!

One of the other PC volunteers had students from his high school perform at the celebration.  The girls are doing a cultural dance with bells and metal pieces under their skirts to make noise, the dance is called Mokhibo.  The boys did a very impressive dance called Mohobelo with a lot of high kicks and stomping.  Behind them other students were singing and drumming.  It was all very cool to see with the backdrop of the American flag and pictures of JFK etc.  It was fun to spend a few days away with a large group of Americans, but I was also happy to return home to my round house. 

Yes, it does feel like home now.  The rest of the weekend  I kept busy with washing, reading, cooking, yoga, etc.  I actually cooked a lot and I have decided  to try to make as many different recipes as I can from my cook book (without an oven and limited ingredients).  So far I have done pretty well and I am slowly finding out that there are lots of spices and other ingredients hidden in the backs of stores here.  Sometimes you just have to ask.  I managed to make my own tortillas, yogurt, mexican rice, beans and veggies for a yummy feast!  Who knew you could have a mexican dinner in the mountains of Africa! I also spent some time preparing for my week at work.  We are focusing on teaching the students crafts made out of recycled materials and I am specifically trying to show teachers how all students, even the most severely disabled can participate in some way.  Many of the students who cannot do just sit and watch, but easy adaptations can be made to include them.  We will see how it goes.  Next week I will write more about school and the people with disabilities that are slowly revealing themselves to me. 

This is a picture of some of the students and teachers making paper machete and working on other projects.  I will include some pictures of the finished products in next weeks blog.

Gum Boots

        Last Week I traveled out to another PC volunteers village.  We had a big plan to get started early and spend our day hiking through the beautiful Tsehlanyane National Park.  I told her I would leave my place at 6:30 and she would then wait for me by the junction of her village, around 7:30.  As it turns out I got to a deserted taxi rink around 7, didn't leave town till 8:30 and then got to her at 9:30, oh well!  When you get in a taxi here, a small van than seats 18 people, or 26 if it is a school day, you don't leave until the entire thing fills up.  If you are one of the first it can be overwhelming trying to decide where to sit.  Do I want to be next to a window?  Where will I most likely not be sat on by someone else?  Where are the older people going to want to sit?  Where will I be noticed less?  Anyway my decisions were made and after moving a few times to accommodate everyone I had a surprisingly amazing ride out to Maggie.  I couldn't believe that the scenery would get even more beautiful.

 It took us almost 3 hours of hiking / walking just to get to the park.  Our plan was to try and hike within the park for around 5K then turn around and head back, but we were running out of time in order for me to get all the way home before dark.  It was amazing though.  Several mountain ranges and river valleys. Passing through villages and meeting people who wanted to sing to us along the way.  There is also a 5 star resort in the park that we stopped into for a yummy glass of wine (on the way back)!  It is called the Maliba Lodge, look it up, it will make you want to come visit.  It is very pricey, but they contribute a lot of resources to the nearby villages and community programs.  Anyway it was an amazing day and the scenery was breathtaking!

        As I mentioned last week, my school had visitors from a special education class at the Lesotho University.  Unfortunaley they were a few hours late, kind of normal here, so the program had to be shortened.  There were about 30 students and they wanted to visit the school, play with the students, ask questions etc.  It was great to see so many people very enthusiastic about special education.  Our students performed a song, they performed a song, our teachers performed an amazing song (which I was part of, just pretending to sing in the background!) and then there were a lot of presentations.  They asked me to speak and I was kind of put on the spot, but did say a few words about the importance of special education and disability rights.  After I was asked about 50 times to take pictures with the students.  It is funny how people who don't know anything about you want pictures with you.  Remember Southeast Asia and India Amy! 

       

            The picture below is of our students practicing a "gum boots" dance with their teacher.They were supposed to perform this during the visit, but since it started so late we ran out of time.  I figured I would give it some attention on my blog!  It is almost like "Riverdance" or tapping but with big rubber rain boots on and lots of slapping your legs!  Overall It was a really nice day and the school and students felt proud of themselves. 

        An unpleasant thing that has happened at school is an outbreak of Chicken Pox.  Although this is very common, here it can be harsh.  People who are HIV positive (which is close to 1 in 4) can't afford to get sick.  Also we are a residential school and that makes it very contagious.  Right now we are up to about 6 cases, but I imagine it is going to be more.  The kids also get very frustrated because the school tries to quarantine them in a seperate room and they just don't understand.  They are very unhappy and they sometimes succeed at escaping out the window!  Hopefully it will not be too bad. 

       All for now.  Next time I will write about seeing the KING of Lesotho at the Peace Corps 50th anniversary celebration!

Winter - Summer

  Spring is here.  Actually here people don't talk about spring or fall.  On August 31st it was winter and then the next day they said it was summer!  I was really confused at first because a few things changed at work on the schedule and then I realized that we were now operating on the summer schedule.  The tree to the right is my Peach tree, in my yard with beautiful pink flowers.  I took this picture at twilight when the light is so nice here, but the picture doesn't really reflect it so well. Another sign of summer is that I have taken off a layer of clothing.  Now I just where one layer and a jacket.  It goes from being around 40 degrees here in the mornings to around 80 in the afternoons.  It is very confusing to me, but I am slowly adjusting. It is also extremely windy right now and there have been a couple of days that feel like dust storms.  People here just go about their business, but I have to hide in my jacket and then run for my house because it is so dusty.  The dust just never goes away here. I should have brought a Netti Pot.

Another PC Volunteer just moved nearby, about a 45 minute walk between our houses.  She is very nice and it is fun to have a friend in the area.  The picture on the left was taken on the walk to her house.  It is amazing how just walking to town or a friend's home is like going hiking here.  The views are amazing and the terrain is rough.  I am kind of sad that I did not bring hiking boots, my sneakers are getting worn out quickly.  On our walk to her house we passed through several villages, climbed through a ravine, and came across many herds of cattle and sheep.  Some days I get stuck behind large herds of sheep and goats and usually someone will come by and say "I didn't know that you were here to take care of the sheep!"
 

This week at school has been very busy.  I was able to travel to the capital to meet people at Sentebale, the charity that provides a lot of funding to our school.  Sentebale was founded by Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso who were overwhelmed by the plight of vulnerable children in Lesotho.  This school has really benefited from the charity and they have made great improvements in the kids lives.  One thing they did for the school is build a usable kitchen, ramps and better dorms for the students to use.  On the left two of our students are washing dishes in the kitchen.  It actually has hot running water!
     Besides going to Maseru, I have been helping the teachers prepare for visitors on Friday.  The students and staff have been cleaning the whole school and practicing music and dance routines.  They are having visitors come from National University of Lesotho, the only higher education in the country.  Their students studying education will visit us tomorrow to see what happens at the center.  I will put some pictures from that visit in the next blog.  The students continue to work on improving their vocational and self help skills.  I continue to work with the teachers on adding strategies to their teaching and ideas for using materials they can get easily.  We are making a lot of TEACCH tasks (for those special educators!)  I am also working hard at trying to speak more Sesotho, I have never been good at learning languages, but I am getting the basics down at least.  All for now

Food and Kids

The food here is pretty good, but pretty basic.  I get a nice hot meal at school everyday.  The picture on the left is the typical meal.  The white stuff that looks like mashed potatoes is called papa.  It is thick and sticky, made out of maize meal.  You break off pieces with your hand and then use it to pick up the Moroho, greens or cabbage.  It is really finally chopped up greens (spinach, kale, mustard, etc.) or cabbage cooked with oil and salt.  I really like it.  The egg or meat is a special treat and usually only served on special occasions.  Some people here will eat this everyday for all meals.  Some variations include adding beans (stewed or baked) or instead of papa having samp which is also white and made out of corn, but a little more creamy??  Overall I think it is a pretty healthy meal that is cooked fresh for all school children and staff everyday at most schools in the country.  They have us beat in that way.  I have to say I don't miss seeing microwaved chicken nuggets and burgers typical of our schools at home. This food is also grown right at school so the students learn the process of cooking, growing, etc.  The picture on the right above is the students at school teaching me to chop Moroho.  This is an educational goal for many of the students so I figured I should learn how to do it too.  They need some bigger knives and butcher block counters!!
      The children here are very beautiful and fun.  Notice the two in the picture below, Moliehi and her baby brother live next door to me.  They like to come over and look at pictures in my books.  They are very nice and the children actually speak English quite well so I have no problem communicating with them.  Today I walked to school with a pack of kids, all very excited to keep me company and talk in English.  Children as young as 4 walk to school all by themselves, and they walk far.  Probably a few kilometers at least.  For several days now I have passed the same little girl, 4 or 5, crying while walking.  The first day I stopped to make sure she was ok, which she was.  They after a few times I figured out that she was probably having the same seperation anxiety that I have seen in many Kindergarten students at home.  The difference was that she managed to still walk herself to school all on her own!!
      My school is getting busier and busier.  This week I met with the teachers to talk about using visual aides with their students.  I showed some simple examples and they were thrilled.  I hope this means that they will start making and using them!  They are so used to lecture style teaching, which really doesn't work with kids with disabilities, that they might have a hard time breaking their habits.  I also found out that our school will be closed for a week at the end of September.  There is a lot of vacation time built in here.  I think at least 2 of my 10 months here the school will be closed!!  I will make the most of it.  Excited about traveling and seeing some more of Afrika!!

People love having their photos taken here.  Last week I took photos of all students and staff and manage to print them.  Everyone was thrilled and nobody complained about how they looked.  I even saw one of the teachers in town later that day showing off her picture.  I might need to get some real prints done for gifts before I leave.