Political Horses

Group singing to prepare for election

Elections are upon us in Lesotho.  The scheduled date of national elections is May 26th.  Parties are in full swing with events and meetings.  On the weekends people come out and sing, hold flags, line up their horses, and urge people to vote for their party.  There are many parties here, so it is hard to keep track of it all, but there are at least 2 major parties and from what people are saying it will be a very close election.  The current prime minister formed a new party to run with and there has already been a bit of fighting (actual physical fighting) even within this one party.  I hope for the people here that all goes smoothly and there is a clear winner.  One thing that I love about this whole process is that people come out from the villages  to the towns and there is a lot of horse riding happening.  One man wanted me to take his picture and he even let me sit on his horse, I didn't ride anywhere because I didn't have a helmet on (peace corps rule).  He even came to my school the next day to get a print out of the pictures!

Political Horse, all dressed up, no riding :( 

    On Sunday the new volunteer speech pathologist at our centre called me to say that Me Mary wanted us to walk over to see her house.  She is one of our teachers, I have blogged about her before, 64 years old and much stronger than me.  She started the school and worked for years without pay.  We walked with her out to her village above the town.  We got to meet her 3 grandchildren who she raises and we had a very yummy lunch.  She wanted me to teach the kids some yoga moves and they were naturals.  I asked her how long she had lived in her house and she said that she was able to rent the land around 6 years ago and she built the house herself.  She now has a few chickens and pigs and she also has a small garden.  Her house was simple, 2 beds and some stuff for cooking, but it seemed like such a nice way to live.  Sometimes I think that we complicate our lives with too much stuff.  Mary and her kids have only what they need and day to day they seem quite happy

The rest of my Sunday was quite good also.  I spent some time playing with the kids, reading and cooking.  I think the pace of life here is really nice and I know that I am going to miss it at home.  I had a group of about 6 kids playing UNO with me till it got dark out.  They loved it, my nephews love it too!  We also played with Amu in the wheelbarrow.

Mary in front of house she built with her hands

    At school this week we have almost finished the new classroom.  We did run into some more problems with our plumber and we have decided to find a new plumber to finish the job.  I held a review meeting with the teachers last week to go over many of the concepts we have learned about and this week the Speech Pathologist, Kirby, and I are planning a workshop on literacy and books.  Always a challenge when there are no or very few books in Sesotho, we are just going to use the ones we have in english and ask the teachers to adapt.  We set our date for the opening of our classrooms for May 17th.  All for now, thanks for reading.

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Mary's Kids doing Yoga

Happy Herd Boy

It is getting cold in Lesotho now.  This morning it was around 30 degrees and then it will go up to about 70 during the day.  I love this weather, it is so nice to sleep in.  It is autum here and the wind is blowing leaves off of the trees.  Everyone is wrapped up in blankets and the mountains are turning dusty brown.  The change of seasons is nice, but it can be hard for some people.  People here spend so much time outside, especially children, and now they are getting cold.  Homes also don't always stay too warm with tin roofs and dirt floors, so people have to spend extra money for firewood or parafin for heaters to keep warm.  The free fruit, mostly peaches, are now gone and everything just feels a little bit more quiet.

The schools were closed for a few days for the Easter Break and I decided to just stay put.  I really enjoyed being slothful around my house.  I played with the kids, read a lot, and went to watch a football game with some of the boys from my school who stayed over the break.  Only the students that have family members fairly close to town go home over these short breaks, so the house mothers and fathers try to entertain them with little outings.  One day a group of about 10 girls and a house mother walked over to my house for a while and just hung out on my porch.  Although I understand a bit of Sesotho, I still have a lot of trouble communicating fully, but with the students we just kind of find a way around language and still communicate well together.  At the football game I heard one of our students yelling at another boy because he heard him call me "lekhoa" (not always a nice name for white person), he said "Me Lisa, not lekhoa"  It made me so happy that the kids were standing up for me and had fun hanging out with me.  I am really going to miss these students.

 Last week I was given a surprise birthday party at school.  It was really fun.  The teachers got cakes and balloons and we had a big dance party with all of the students.  It was really special because birthdays are not really celebrated here like at home.  Many people don't even know their actual birthday because they may have been born at home or in a village where there is no need for calendars.  After school I invited the teachers out to a hotel in town and we had some drinks and pizza, such a fun day.
  Things have been very busy at school again.  We are finalizing the new classrooms, just waiting on the plumber to finish up!  I have learned so much about plumbing, maybe a new career is in order.  Once everything is finished we will have an opening and then put the rooms to use.  The teachers are very excited about being able to teach cooking classes.  We are also trying to get things in order for our new volunteer speech pathologist from Australia.  She will be here working in Lesotho for 2 years and we are very lucky to have her based at our centre.  Finally we are getting the animals and gardens ready for winter.  This week one of our teachers, Me Mary, brought her neighbor's male pig to our school to try to get our female pig pregnant.  The pigs spent a few days together and then the male went back home.  Mary, who is 64, tied a rope around the pig and walked it all the way back to her village yesterday.  It is quite a funny and noisy thing to walk a pig.  It is not easy and she still manage, I hope I am as strong as her at that age.

Our pig Thuso

My principal's car on one of our trips to hardware store, we were so
squished we could barely drive home!!

Celebrations

Cattle Riding at Cultural festival

Boys doing a Zulu dance

   Our school was invited to participate in a cultural festival last week.  The festival was hosted by Phelisanong Lesotho, a centre for orphans, disabled and HIV/AIDS affected children.  The centre is located in a beautiful village setting surrounded by mountains.  Other schools and orphanages were invited to come and perform and it was an amazing day.  The dancing and singing was impressive and there was also a great display of animals and even cattle riding!  The women and men of the host village were honored and thanked for helping to take care of the hundreds of orphans in the area.  It was really touching to see how strong these children are despite their circumstances.  

Our girls performing in the dust

     Several girls from our school performed a traditional dance while other school staff and boys sang for them.  Unfortunately a big rainy,  windy spell started during their performance, but they still did great.  Other schools performed dances and songs and the host school cooked an amazing meal for everyone.  At the end of the day we had to hike out of the valley, roads were too rough for the vans, and then proceeded to wait another hour for our ride to show up.  Only one of 2 vans made it (flat tire) and we actually fit around 26 people into one van.  Such a fun trip!

Honored Caretakers, thank you

    At the end of the cultural festival the women of the village were thanked for their work with orphans.  They were given blankets and maize meal.  The men were also thanked and they were given warm socks to wear inside their rain boots.  The organization has a really good website if you want to learn more. http://www.phelisanong.com/

 Another celebration was for my host brother's first birthday.  He is walking all over the place now and he loves to yell to me and laugh.  His father told me that sometimes when I am not home he goes to my door and yells.  I am really going to miss him and the rest of the family.

   It is also almost time to celebrate the completion of our new classroom building.  This week we did our final shopping trips (we hope) and by next week everything should be installed.  Then we have to plan an opening ceremony and start using the rooms with the teachers and students.  I really can't thank everyone enough for donating to the project.

Posing with my teachers

My Host Brother in his new birthday track suit

Action

Girls playing Net Ball

   Last weekend I went to a rural village with for a youth group event.  One of the PC volunteers, Lauren, works with a youth group that recently got a donation.  With the money they received they had an event which included HIV testing, drama and sports.  They had a good turnout and they were able to offer some prize money to winning teams. Their drama focused on the importance of knowing your status.  Many people got tested and everyone had fun.  I had so much fun watching the sports.  The girls played net ball, kind of like basketball, but no dribbling and protected shooting once you are in a zone.  It is funny because I actually remember playing this game in gym class in high school, I never knew it was a real organized sport!  I was so impressed with the girls athletic ability and their sportsmanship.  Players are pretty aggressive when fighting for the ball and there is even some tackling, but nobody got angry or mean.  I think it is due to the peaceful culture here, people seem to rarely fight and they handle disagreements calmly.
    While the girls were busy with net ball, the boys and men stayed busy with their football tournament.  I was equally impressed with their skills, especially since they were playing in very high grass.  The tournament started out great with one whole team getting their HIV test to help to promote the testing.  It is quite a challenge to convince people to get tested, it seems even more true for young men, so this was a great help.

Footballers

  The youth group also used some of the money that was donated to get uniforms for their group.  This was good because it was easy to spot who was in charge and it made their drama and speaking stand out.  They were very proud and Lauren, the PCV who works with them, was so happy that they had such a successful day.
   I spent most of my time wandering around and taking pictures, such a beautiful setting.  I also talked with the youth group a little and tried to practice some of my Sesotho.  I had a really good day and felt inspired by the work that many of the youth and peace corps volunteers are doing here.  It is essential that HIV awareness becomes ingrained in the culture here, the rates are so high and the effects are alarming, life expectancy here is less than 40 years!

Lauren with youth group in their new uniforms

   This week I was also able to attend a forum on Autism.  When I first found out about it I was kind of disappointed that they did not ask me to participate, however I eventually understood that decision.  The presentation was all done in Sesotho, which I can't speak well enough, and it was given by parents of children with autism.  They did a great job and the large crowd that was there was fascinated by them.   I was surprised how much I was able to understand without a translator, I think it is because I know the subject matter so well.  After the presentation I met with the parents and let them know that I would be happy to facilitate further workshops with teachers or parents.  I am really hoping that they contact me because awareness of autism here is still very minimal and I would love to help increase it.  There is sometimes a belief here that children with autism and "strange" behaviors are possessed by demons.  This is extremely hurtful to families and leads to a lack of education.
   Finally, our school project is continuing smoothly.  We are still having a lot of small issues with the plumber, but we have accepted it!  I am really excited because I think everything will be done soon and that means that I will have some time to work with the teachers in the new classrooms before leaving.

Village kids posing for me

New classrooms, with windows and doors

 

Shopping

Itjareng Vocational Centre for Adults with Disabilities

   Our new classroom project is moving right along.  This week the electrician finished all the wiring and we now have working lights and outlets in the building.  We bought most of the plumbing supplies and also went shopping for furniture.
     Our plan is to have the furniture made at Itjareng, a vocational center for people with disabilities near Maseru.  This way we are supporting their school and the cost is less than most stores.  Itjareng is school that runs a  program for adults with mild to moderate disabilities.  The students live at the centre for two years and focus on learning metal work, carpentry, leather work or sewing.  Our school has sent a few students there after they have left here.  They are going to make some sample pieces and bring them out to us next week.  They might even build them right here if we can organize all of the materials in time.  The picture below is one of our former students who is now attending there, he is showing us some potential sink options.  It was fun for my principal to see him again.  All of our errands took much longer than planned and I ended up having to stay the night in Maseru.  My Principal's brother hosted us (gave me their bed, I tried to refuse but couldn't) and a yummy dinner.  Their 1 year old baby was not so excited about me and he spent the first hour or so crying whenever I was near him.  I think pale faces are scary for babies here, it happens a lot!  Eventually he warmed up and figured out that I am a lot of fun, as long as his mom was nearby!

 

My Principal's Nephew and sitter

So we got really lucky with our builder and electrician being both efficient and skillful.  The luck must run out somewhere and it might be with the plumber.  Here is how our shopping trip to the hardware store went:


Lisa:  Excuse me Ntate (respectful term) Plumber, I was wondering why the two different quotations we got have so many different items on them?
Plumber: Yes Me'Lisa, I will look at them and make sure we get  everything we need. (this was on the way to store)
Lisa:  Excuse me Ntate, don't we need to buy a cistern, top part of the toilet? (at the store after list was finalized)
Plumber: Oh yes, we also need that.
Lisa:  Excuse me, (no more polite after 2 hours in store) don't we need all of the stuff that goes into the top of the toilet?
Plumber:  Oh yes, I forgot about that.
Lisa: Don't we need something to put the basin and geyser on? (when we are in line to pay)
Plumber:  Oh yes, let me run and get some more things.
After going through line a few times, multiple receipts and one returned item, we finally finished our 3 hour shopping trip.  Each day since the trip someone has had to run out and buy another thing that is needed for the plumbing.  Oh well, it can't all go smoothly!  At least the plumber is very nice and polite.

My shopping trip

Crazy Hail storm in my yard

Refreshed

Notice Peaches drying on the line

   On Monday I headed out to Maliba Lodge, very fancy, where I did a presentation about the Get Ready to Learn Yoga program.  Sentebale was having a meeting with 12 of its' partners, organizations serving vulnerable children.  They have been thrilled with the program and they wanted me to come and present on it to others.  I was also able to be there for my Principal's presentation on our activities at the center.  Getting out there was not so fun.  I happened to be the person who got the very back corner in a very crowded taxi van.  I was so hot and feeling claustrophobic, thinking, why I am doing this?  Then I got very sweaty on the hour hike, mostly uphill, into the lodge.  Not the way you want to start a presentation.  The presentation went smoothly and Sentebale provided me with lodging for the night.  Taking advantage of a bathtub and a shower, I had a very relaxing evening.  I also had a beautiful hike out the next morning and felt renewed and refreshed.  Having access to a nice bathroom and solitary hiking did me wonders.  I was also pleased to learn about more of the organizations serving vulnerable children in Lesotho.  There are some very committed people here who take care of hundreds of of orphans with only a little support.  Sentebale is providing support for them now, but they won't be there forever.

Ntate Neo and his fans

  Speaking of very committed people, I wanted to highlight another one of our staff members.  Ntate Neo is one of our 2 house fathers.  He has been at the centre for a number of years and he works very hard.  The 30 plus boys here all look up to him a lot and he has a fun relationship with most of the kids.  He also leads our physical therapy group each morning and he always seems interested in learning and trying new things.  After school he is always organizing some kind of sport activity and sometimes taking groups of kids into town.  I have also been told that he will volunteer to stay with students at the centre if they do not get picked up for vacations.  I wish that we did not have a language barrier so that I could get to know him better, but without words, I can tell that he is a committed caretaker and hard worker.  Most importantly he is like family for the kids at the centre.
    The new building is coming along nicely and school is continuing as usual.  Next week I will spend the week team teaching in another classroom.  I keep doing this in the hopes that some of my routine and activity will rub off.  I still get frustrated with the amount of "down time" that the students have.  One day this week 3 of 5 teachers did not show up for school and those students pretty much just sat in their rooms all day, no subs here.  I am really hoping that the new classrooms and materials are inspiring to the teachers.  I know that things take time to change, but my time here is running out.  On a lighter note my principal had several of us over to her house last weekend.  She even went shopping in the next town away and got Bacon for me, so nice.  We had fun singing and dancing and eating too much!!

Dancing at My Principal's House

On my restorative Hike, Self Portrait

Kea Leboha!

Roof On

Kea Leboha (Thank You).  The Grant for our new building was fully funded by last week.  It took under one week to raise close to $3500 towards our new classrooms.  People are so generous.  Thank you so much everyone who donated.  I know some people wanted to donate but didn't make it in time, sorry, but there are soooo many other good causes in the world that will happily use your money.  In lesotho there is Sentebale and Friends of Lesotho that also help children in this community.
   As you can see our building is moving right along.  This week they are working on the roof and next week we will start with all of the electrical work.  Later today I am headed to the hardware store to do our first big purchase of electrical supplies from the money that was donated.  Next week my prinicipal will be gone for the week and I will be responsible for overseeing and purchasing materials on my own!! I am a little nervous, but I think there are plenty of people around to help me.  I wish Dan, my brother in-law, was here!

Playing Dress Up

  Over the last few weeks I have noticed many children dressed funny on Fridays.  Apparently the schools here have dress-up days sometimes.  On these days kids can dress up in any way they want, some where nice clothes, some where costumes, etc. The point is to have fun and raise funds.  For the privledge of not wearing their school uniform they get to pay 1 Maluti (about 15cents).  It has been fun to watch them and see how creative they can get.  On the right is my host sister, age 12, dressed up as a lady.  She is wearing her monther's dress and has stuffed a winter coat in to give her a funny shape.  My other neighbor, 16 year old boy, dressed up in a girl's school uniform.  We have been laughing a lot, it is well worth the 1Rand.
  At school this week I have been pretty busy working on reports and plans with my principal.  She has to report next week on the progress of the centre and work on the budget for next year.  She is pretty good at using excel for budgeting, but she had never used powerpoint.  We had fun creating a powerpoint together about the successes and goals for the school.  She was so excited about the photos and videos that we incorporated and she is convinced that she will have the best presentation at her meeting.  She was actually jumping up and down and hugging me when we finished.  I have also been preparing for a presentation on our Get Ready To Learn yoga program that we have been using.  Sentebale asked me to present about it to 12 organizations that serve vulnerable children at a meeting next week.  Too much time in the office this week and not enough time with the students.
  I have had plenty of time at home with the kids.  For the most part I have had a sort of unstated rule that the kids don't really come in my house.  For one it is important for me to have a tiny bit of my own space, and two it is just more fun to play outside nobody really hangs out inside here.  BUT I often break the rule and let kids come in briefly to look at pictures, etc.  Well this week I broke the rule too many times and now the little ones think it is a game to just stand at my door and yell.  They actually try to fit through the bars, it is really funny.  I love it because they are so cute, but it makes it hard to get my cooking, etc. done.  I know I will miss this time in a few months.
 

Let Us In

Maybe we can reach the keys