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.