Lesotho - Settling into Mohale's Hoek

Nothing like a quiet Lesotho Independence Day to catch up...

Kingdom of Lesotho's Day of Independence
On October 4, 1996 the Kingdom of Lesotho was formerly granted independence from Great Britain. After losing much of the country's western lowlands to the Boers in the later 1850's, King Moshoeshoe achieved agreement with Queen Victoria for Basutoland to become a protectorate of Great Britain in 1868 thus ending the wars.  

Politics & Safety

Latest news is that the members of Lesotho's coalition government with assistance from the South African Development Community (SADC - a coalition of SA leaders) have signed a Maseru Facilitation Declaration.  They have agreed that Parliament will  reopen on Oct 17 so we'll see if there is much commotion after that. It is assumed that the Members of Parliament (MPs) will throw the Prime Minister (PM) out with a vote of no confidence.  The PM originally shut down Parliament back in June 2014 when he anticipated this action - that is what generally set the coup activities in motion.  Spirals and spirals of silly antics.  The current Parliament will be "dissolved" in December & a popular election will be held in early Feb 2015 to elect new MPs.  There has been limited violence & only in Maseru, the capital, and not involving private citizens.  The Basotho have been acting quite civilized and peaceful.  Things are very simple and quiet out here in the small camp town (district capital) of Mohale's Hoek.

We are still on a security alert that PC calls "steadfast" - this means that we can't travel anywhere outside our district or that would require an overnight stay without PC approval.  Those conditions were part of the agreement with the US Embassy & PC Washington for our return from evacuation.  Also - my cohort, the "Healthy Youth 2014", are restricted from travel anyway during our first 3 months since we are supposed to use that time to focus on integrating within our communities.  Our 3 months end just before Thanksgiving and the group will then travel back to our original host families for another week of training.   No doubt by then the "steadfast" will have been long lifted.

Life with the Kids at St. Camillus

For now - life at St. Camillus is becoming routine - even with all the little tiny tots running around.  We are down to 16 now.  One of the infants was successfully  returned to his mother (long story but all is well) by the Ministry of Social Development.  The remaining are: #1 17yrs,  #3 10-12yrs, #7 4-6yrs, #5 toddlers 1-3yrs.  The craziest times are morning when they all get up & get ready for breakfast & school (5:30am-7am) and then again after dinner & until bed time (6:30-8pm). The rest of the time the kids spend mostly outdoors laughing, playing, crying, laughing, playing.  Amazing to see all the little kids unsupervised outside but I have yet to see any accidents or injuries.  The "older" kids watch over the toddlers - at 5 yrs a kid qualifies to be "older".  I  saw one of the 5 year old girls wielding an ax & chopping wood for a fire they were all making!  I see the kids pounding on broken bottles to make small pieces of glass to play with.  Not too infrequently,  I'll take something like a size C battery out of a toddlers mouth & I have found an old razor blade among their outside toys (battery & razor blade confiscated!).  If they find something in the trash (all trash is just thrown outside) of interest it will become a toy - even if the caregivers scold them for playing with the "real" trash.  I guess the "real" trash is something icky nasty (razor blades?) and then there is everything else (cans, glass, bottle caps, batteries). Another challenge here - especially given the close quarters for sleeping (all the kids & caregivers sleep in 2 rooms) is the spread of infections - there is a constant exchange of the common cold & more serious coughs & chest congestion. Currently most of the kids show signs of healing blisters (sure looks like herpes/fever blisters) about the face.  One little girl was seen at the clinic for the worst case of oral & facial blisters & was given antiviral cream (Acyclovir).  The cream is white & thick so, once all the kids had the cream slathered all over, they looked like they were dressed up in white clown make-up!  Needless to say I do a lot of hand washing and don't touch the kids faces & hands much.  Oh - you might wonder where the caregivers are… today there was only one of four here for most of the day… usually they are hand washing mountains of clothes & cooking the meals. Today was a kids' chores day & I saw the older kids sweeping & hand waxing the kitchen floor, washing laundry at the river, hanging laundry, and helping with feeding the little ones.  Gee - guess none of them had time to play 8 hrs of video games on their computers!  And… it is so rare to hear or see the kids fighting - they are great at sharing & playing together.  Sr. Juliana & the caregivers have been successful in molding their characters; they are all extremely well-behaved,  always so sweet & respectful when around me & other adults, and they show amazing resiliency to the challenges they face.  The look so adorable saying their prayers before each meal & at bedtime.

Breakfast for the tiny tots

Sister Juliana & 'M'e Meleng with new residents

The youngest stayed home from school the day it snowed - warming up here in the kitchen

This past week all the kids had the chance to see their new home!  They were so excited to see the new bunks (their own beds!) and really enjoyed visiting the farm which is right next door.  The caregivers were thrilled to see their new bedrooms, the kitchen, & all the bathrooms!  Sr. Juliana had a smile on her face the whole time!

First climb up into the bunks

Kids are thrilled with their top bunks & new mattresses

Taking a tour of the Farm - less than 100 yards from their new home

Work

Weekdays:  The St. Camillus office is right in the house where I live but the house is separated into two units. I start my day around 8am when Rethabile & Sr. Juliana arrive and I all I have to do is just step outside and walk to the other end of the house.  A typical work  week is Monday-Friday 8am-5pm with an hour for lunch.  I work evenings & weekends as needed. Example - late one evening the Ministry of Social Development & Police delivered a new child for the Centre.  Sr. Juliana accepted the child from them in my bedroom.  They reviewed all the paperwork while I took photos of the intake.

The past 2 weeks at St. Camillus Centre since our return from evacuation in South Africa have been busy & productive!  Though my original assignment is to work with a young mothers (unwed) support group, that project is a bit on hold while we do so many other things needing more immediate attention.  We learn in PC that we facilitate the passion and drive that our community directs even if the directions change a bit.  I am really fortunate to live & work in such a great place.  My program "Healthy Youth 2014" is focused on youth and facilitating their adoption of healthy practices & mitigating risks related to HIV/ADIS but there are many paths to that end.  Right now the Centre's focus is on getting the kids moved to the new orphanage and boosting the Centre's ability to generate revenue (IGAs- income generating activities) to support the orphans while providing employment opportunities for PLWHA (People living with HIV/AIDS). 

Current "Old" Children's Home - entrance to kitchen & office (entrance to my side of the house is in background)

New Children's Home - before new sidewalks & landscaping

The Farm - chicken coop & piggery  in background, peach trees to left, lonely cow in field to right

Sister Juliana guiding the new Bishop, Ntate Joale Tlhomola, on his first tour of the Farm

The Farm staff is made up of community "people living with HIV/AIDs' (PLWHA).  Sr. Juliana has a long history of creating programs to enrich the lives of AIDS survivors.  One important aspect is to eliminate the stigma associated with the disease & to offer employment & a normal life to those affected.

Sr. Juliana giving Farm staff food to supplement their monthly wages

 Here is a summary of my projects:

1. OVCs - Orphans & Vulnerable Children:  First up I am trying to facilitate the move to the new Children's Home!!!  The orphanage is almost complete but I have been keeping track of some of the activities that seem to get bogged down & trying to give a little boost when appropriate: raising $$ to go towards the flooring, facilitating some of the communication among the leaders at the Lesotho Connection, the contractor, & Sr. Juliana to keep the momentum going for critical tasks (the flooring & getting the electricity hooked up to the main line are my 2 priorities).  I ask a lot of "what about this, what about that" questions when I find holes in the planning & scheduling.  Sr. Juliana says she has learned a lot about the American way of dealing with projects from Linda (TLC - who got the new orphanage off the ground back in January 2014) and from me;  in other words  - she has learned to be "pushy" by following-up until the thing gets done.  And, my moonlighting job, that I hope has now been completed, has been hemming all the curtains (total # plus re-work = 40 panels!! I have dreams about hemming curtains!).  Also under this umbrella is working with Sr. and Rethabile to develop cost management tools for the Farm & Children's Home.  We can build off current strengths (the farm staff do keep count of egg trays produced & veggies sold) but we will integrate all this data plus all the missing info (expenses!), plus the other businesses, into one broad perspective.  My goal is to help find a way for Sr. to save some Maluti (money!) to buy the things the Centre needs.  For example - she really wants to buy a washing machine!! Longer term my focus will shift to other priorities that come up but I imagine that the majority of what I do will be supporting Sr. Juliana in keeping the Centre running  & the kids thriving.
2. IGA - Income Generating Activities: Sr. Juliana is the queen of IGA's!  Over her years developing the Centre she has mastered the ability to raise funds for the OVC and "people living with HIV/AIDS" (PLWHA) through various small businesses.  Until The Lesotho Connection found Sr. Juliana & began offering her some assistance, the only funds that St. Camillus had were ones coming from Sr.'s own IGAs, including the Farm.  The Farm has a large set of raised bed gardens, peach trees, quite a few pigs, one cow (finally pregnant they think & that means milk sometime soon!), and about 250 laying chickens. Recently, Rethabile, the young office staff worker, and I have completed two proposals that have been submitted to the Ministry of Social Development.  One to create an Aloe Vaseline Jelly producing business and the other to fund full replacement of the egg laying chickens that have come to the end of their egg producing life cycle.  This has been a lot of fun and interesting since I have had the opportunity to think about how to create & manage small businesses.  So many expenses were not being accounted for or tracked.  We learned how to establish unit cost and project earnings (more like losses!) and once the $$ comes in we'll have the fun of starting up the Aloe business and trying to make the egg laying more profitable.  These are intended to be "sustainable" business ventures that won't rely on me but that hopefully I can help get off the ground.
3. Orphan Intake:  I have helped augment a process for documenting individual profiles for each child (biography & photos) to improve record-keeping & facilitate communication with Lesotho officials (ministry & police).  Our info should be helpful to officials when they are searching for relatives &  wayward parents.  Lesotho tries to get children into family homes and not orphanages but our kids are all here because appropriate homes have not yet been found.
4. Business skill mentoring:  I am also working with Rethabile on a daily basis and mentoring her business skills.  She is very bright and eager to learn Excel & MS Word!  She's learning (sometimes as I do) new formulas, ways to calculate unit price, and just generally how to move a business idea forward to something profitable (we hope!).  I think she'll have fun learning how we can turn our expenses/income data into graphic trends.  But - more importantly - we keep our focus on the well-being of the kids and promoting community good will toward buying the products the Centre sells. To this end we have a lot of reports & proposals to write.  A monthly status of the children is sent to the Ministry of Social Development (MOSD), a monthly finance report of the orphans expenses is sent to The Lesotho Connection, and a twice-yearly finance report of the Farm is sent to the Bishop.  So far we have written to proposals to the MOSD for new projects.
5. Young Unwed Mother Support Group:  This effort will start up once we get the time to plan the prelims.  The initial start up of the group began just before I arrived in mid-August and it was a little shaky.  We need more time to prepare prior to bring the young back together.  The young women want to start up a sewing business - starting with school uniforms,but I am thinking we should think of starting with something a little simpler to give them confidence.  They want to earn a living and take better care of their babies.  We have been discussing the prep work we need to do: complete a plan to see what we need to get the effort off the ground (are funds from the Ministry needed?), get the existing sewing machines in good working order, research & schedule sewing classes, buy supplies, re-establish the relationship with young women so the effort gets some momentum, etc etc etc.  Once the group is formed we will also incorporate healthy living lessons & discussions into our sessions.  Reinforcing healthy sexual practices to avoid HIV & adherence to HIV treatment are 2 very important themes that are a part of every youth group activity that Sr. Juliana sponsors & that the Peace Corps is involved in.

Home Life

It is traditional for a new resident to a village to receive a new name from the host family or chief. Each name has a meaning. In my training village of Ha Taaso, I was given the name of 'M'e Paballo ("caring"). When I moved to St. Camillus, Sr. Juliana gave me the name, 'M'e Mateboho Tlhomola.  Mateboho is one of many forms of "thankfulness. Given the "modern" environment of Mohale's Hoek & Sr. Juliana's more liberal nature - the kids know me as 'M'e Stephanie and so that is how I introduce myself.  Sr. had a lot of fun with my Basotho name because she gave me the same last name as the new Bishop!  So, every time I introduced myself as 'M'e Mateboho Tlhomola, there was lot's of laughter & teasing. 

It is traditional to greet each other using one's relationship status - that is why I am 'M'e Stephanie.
'M'e = mother
Ntate = father
Abuti = son or brother
Ausi = daughter or sister

Evenings: (when not sewing!) I read, study Sesotho (language of the Basotho in Lesotho), plan sewing projects (saving material from all the curtains for the Young Mother's group), knit (yarn & needles ready, just need to cast on to start on little caps for the kiddos), ukulele…just a little once the kids are sleeping.  Given my good fortune of living in a house with electricity & running water, I enjoy my nightly hot bucket bath. Since the hot water heater is broken, I heat up the water & use the old bucket bath routine but in the old metal bathtub.  Though my "kitchen" is actually in a hallway & I don't have a sink, but I do have the luxury of have a propane stove/oven & even a refrigerator! I use the bathtub faucet as my "tap" & keep a bucket full of water in the kitchen for cooking & washing dishes.  Per Peace Corps guidelines I boil (3minutes) & filter all the water I use for drinking & for quick items like making coffee & oatmeal.   I keep up with my laundry by washing out a few things each night so I don't have to spend weekends catching up with a load of laundry.

Here is the house I share.  On the right side of the house is the kids' kitchen, a meeting room, & the office. On the left side of the house are my rooms & the kids' two bedrooms.  The peach tree, just outside my bedroom, is wonderful too look at - it provides a great indicator of time and season & gives me hope that we will have peaches soon!

St. Camillus "Peace Corps House - My Home

Only 5 of 18 of my fellow PCVs in the Healthy Youth 2014 group have electricity, fewer still have more than one room to live in & running water.  I think only a couple have hot water.  The rest of the PCVs have the more typical living situation - a separate, one room cottage (could be cinder block or rondavel) with a 2-burner stove, gas lamps, and water pump or river somewhere relatively near by.  A few have to walk or even drive to the closest water source.  After living 10 weeks in a similar cottage situation in our training village of Ha Taaso, I feel I had ample opportunity to experience the traditional PCV living situation - and now can really appreciate the comforts that my new home has!

View of "hallway" kitchen & my bedroom

Below: From this perspective the proximity of the 3 bedrooms (mine, 1st door on left, plus the 2 for the kids) provides a better scale of our little house.  To exit the house I have to walk through one of the kids' bedrooms. And, the kids pass through the kitchen to get between their rooms.

View from the other end of kitchen of all 3 bedrooms

My bedroom - the windows are the best feature!!

View of garden & peach tree from bedroom window - Oct 4

Spring blossoms on peach tree - Aug 15

Spring blossoms & snow around peach tree - Aug 29

Weekends: So far weekends have been busy with sewing but my time is freeing up now! Once the rain starts I'll be able to start my vegetable garden and I plan to take care of the grounds once the kids have moved to their new home. I hope to organize/consolidate the trash piles outside, create a fire pit for torching the burnable trash &, if I can find wood, build a fire in the pit in the summer evenings to sit by. This weekend I'll take a taxi van to Mafeteng (30 min away) to visit Tracy, another PCV.  She has some good hikes to show me.  She loves to cook - especially sweets - so it is likely she'll have some little treat in her kitchen to share with me.  On occasion, other PCVs will spend the night as Mohale's Hoek is a mid-way point for those traveling between their remote site and the capital of Maseru.  Once the kids move, I also plan to clean up their vacated rooms & furnish one as a living/dining/guest room & turn the other into a place to store the Aloe Vaseline & other products made by the Centre.  Weekends are also a good time to wander around the neighborhood; the neighbors are friendly and the kids & youth are always curious & wanting to show off their English (usually pretty impressive!). It is a 2 mile walk to the new orphanage & a nice 2 mile walk to Mohale's Hoek where I shop for groceries & supplies.  And, there is always something interesting happening within the St. Patrick Cathedral compound where I live, especially hearing the choirs rehearse for Sunday service.

St. Patrick's Men's Choir rehearsing on a Saturday afternoon

Clear, bright, intensely blue skies most every day!

Typical landscape of the terrain & mountains of Mohale's Hoek

Mohale's Hoek is pretty much a one-street wonder

Road warriors with their homemade hotrods

I met these young folks while walking back home.  They wanted photos of me so they agreed to sing me a song.

Here is the river just below St. Patrick's compound. I cross this river on my walk into town. It is typical to see animals watering here while women do the laundry.  Some folks gather water here to take home - not sure if for drinking/cooking or washing.

Food

Shopping in Mohale's Hoek is pretty limited especially during the cold months.  I hear there will be more food options later in the summer once local crops have been harvested.  The winter months are pretty harsh up here over 4,000 ft.  Common vegetables: cabbage & various leafy greens sold on the street, butternut squash, tomatoes, potatoes, beets, carrots, onions, apples, apples, bananas. Rare appearances: broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant, green beans.  With the exception of the leafy greens, I think most all the food is imported.  Eggs, frozen chicken, & some beef, pork, & lamb is available.  I don't cook any meat at the house because the kids only get chicken once a week. Common staples: maize meal (ground corn, a white "polenta"), rice, macaroni, beans, flour.  I have to go to other larger towns to find anything else (including wine, beer, spices).  The staple meal here is Papa le Moroho (maize meal - prepared very thick for eating with one's fingers, and finely chopped, steamed green leafy veggies such as cabbage, kale, rape, & chard).  Folks here eat this dish every day  (sometimes 2-3x a day) or alternate it with boiled beans on bread (usually home made).  Side dishes may include a very good beet salad, cole slaw (cabbage again!), shredded carrot & mayo salad, and sometimes a mixed veggie dish (frozen green bean, corn & carrot medley).  The cuisine does not seem to offer much variety and use of seasoning is limited.  I try to eat at a restaurant at least once week in Mohale's Hoek for some variety. A typical meal (basically, the only meal) is a chicken drumstick/thigh that has been deep fried or roasted or occasionally stewed that is with papa, rice, or "chips" (french fries) and a couple sides (beet salad & veggie medley).  Very little variation from that menu-usually costs about $2.85 USD.  The local "nice" hotel has a restaurant and that same meal may cost more like $7 or $8 but with extras like salad;  the restaurant has a few other options not found elsewhere like hamburgers & pasta.

Little shack restaurants in town

Basotho typically only serve the chicken drumstick & thigh in restaurants & to guests. The only time I find chicken breasts is packaged up along with "inferior" pieces.  I always wonder... where do all the chicken breasts go?

Typical "plate" - chicken & rice... only the drumstick & thigh are served!

Travel

I have not yet been too motivated to get out of town just yet.  I have been busy and happy enough working here at St. Camillus on the St. Patrick's compound but once things are more routine, no doubt I'll get restless.  There are some areas of Lesotho that I plan to see… but all in good time: Sani Pass 9436ft (highest bar in Africa! Not so high by our standards!!) near the Lesotho/SA border & a route to Durban South Africa, the Maletsunyane Water Falls (630ft drop) near Semonkong in central Lesotho.  Beyond that not sure if I will make it out to other countries in southern Africa during or after my 2 years of service … Swaziland, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Madagascar… So much to do & see!

Internet Access - "How To"

Cell phone/internet fees are really expensive for folks like me who tend to use email & the internet a lot (including Skype, blogging, uploading & sharing photos, messaging, Facebook, googling, star gazing etc etc).  Unlike the US where one would typically pay a flat fee for monthly service, here in southern Africa one pays by the megabyte (MB)!!!  A typical photo of mine is 4-5 MB, a 60 min Skype can be between 100-200 MB. Here is what I have to do:  using a sim card for my smartphone (iPhone),  I buy what is called "air time"  (Lesotho translation is "wind").  Air time lets me make phone calls which can be very expensive. I don't have anyone to call, so I just use my phone for internet access.  I use my "air time" to buy MB to use the internet.  $15 USD pays for about 1,000 MB which can go surprisingly fast when your phone or computer needs to update its operating system, applications, and anti-virus software.  I have to keep calling my carrier to check my "air time" balance so that I don't use cellular time for internet time.  And then I have to keep converting "air time" to MB!!! Oh and… The internet MB that we buy expires the last day of the second month after you buy it so you want to buy what you can use before the expiration date.  To buy "air time" I have to walk 2 miles into town to go to the VodaPhone shop & pay cash for "air time".  And, don't forget, I have to keep any eye on the phone's charge in case the electricity goes out (which it did all day recently!).  And, to get the internet on my little computer/notebook I have to tether the computer to the phone so that the phone acts as WiFi "hot spot"!.  Amazing technology workarounds for a developing country.  And everyone just seems to get along just fine going through all these hoops!  But - thank goodness for my little iPhone - it keeps me connected to everyone and entertained with searches when things get too quiet around here!