Lesotho - Finding Normal…Beginning of the End

Turn Around & Life in Lesotho is the New Normal

I know it did not happen overnight - of course not, but there I was walking my usual path into Mohale's Hoek and it struck me… This is my home, this is my community with all the familiar faces of children & adults I see every time I walk. Maybe because my neighbors & the children no longer think I am the oddity, the lekhoua (English speaking white person),  passing through. Maybe because I too stopped thinking of them as part of a unique but temporary  experiment of living in Africa.  It was just a long process, one without issue or angst, of slowing becoming a part of my lovely Lesotho home. This is my new normal.

Basotho often ask me what I like about Lesotho - actually it comes out more like "what could you possibly like". I can't help but say the first thing is the vast vistas of rugged terrain on rolling hills & mountains, the clear blue blue sky; the abundant aloe, flowering in the spring, dying out in the fall; the rugged dongas (very large gullies), a constant reminder of erosion; the picturesque rondevals with thatched roof & herd boys with their cattle, a symbol of a traditional way of life for the Basotho but an ever present reminder of how hard it is for this country to overcome lack of resources & poverty.

Yes the people too - and they are as varied & comples as the vistas. The Basotho are homogeneous yet complex; with a culture that continues to baffle & amaze me. Helpful, generous, at times suspicious & wary. Their heritage is a people who sought refuge & safety in the mountains protected by King Moshoeshoe yet today sometimes seem trapped inside by those same mountains with little access to the world outside. Cultural practices & norms are so strong & pervasive - they are the Basotho's strength but also their weakness… questioning the status quo & seeking change are new behaviors struggling to emerge… or so it seems to me if I observe things well.

And then the children! Wow - they are so energetic, so friendly, so dear. But I have to be thoughtful - many will automatically flinch if I raise my hand to pat their shoulder; they have learned a raised hand is mostly for delivering a blow as punishment in class or at home. It pains me to see that - I have to tell them I am only delivering a kind touch & then all is well. I compliment them on the car toys they create out of scrap metal wire or the futbol made from plastic bags compressed into shape. Aside from those - I rarely see toys but I do see friendly kids who love to say "Good Morning" no matter what time of day it is and who respond "We are fine" in a group response just like they are expected to say every day in class; the collective "we" that is parroted back to the teacher.

And so I go along into town, the street vendors acknowledge me as I try to divide my purchases among vendors but my favorites know I'll stop so they can pick out the best onions & tomatoes for me. They'll call out to me when they have a rare supply of peas, eggplant, or green beans; they take care of me that way - this is my town after all.


A walk through Mohale's Hoek:

Close of Service Workshop

On May 2-4th my cohort, Healthy Youth 2014 met for our COS workshop at the Thaba Bosiu guesthouse. This is the site of first cultural tour when we were in training almost 24 months ago & so it seems we have come full circle. A few of the original group have departed - Britney, Jenea, Edward, & Tyler. My training village cohort is just missing Britney - we are the Ha Taaso five: Nick, Jody, Tracy, Eloise, & me. The original Bo 'M'e are together again & we sit outside in the crisp evenings to share stories & drink wine. We three pulled through - we made it! Only 2 1/2 months before we begin to head our separate ways & back to the lives that no longer include each other. Will we still chat on our What's App group, the HeYo Bo 'M'e, checking in to see how each is doing: what crazy stories Tracy has to tell, what new event Eloise is attending with her friends from church, what the sweet St. Camillus kids are up to now. This strange & challenging, yes even surreal life we have been living brought us together & perhaps we will always be the Bo 'M'e of Ha Taaso.

Tracy will be the first to leave on the first date possible, July 15. She will take a COS trip to Ireland & Iceland before returning to Ohio to start life again with Carlos & enroll in a massage & crystal therapy course. Eloise is the last to leave of us to leave, she will depart on August 12. She will move immediately to Virginia to complete her Master of Public Health at Liberty University. I'll head to Madagascar on July 20 to begin my half-baked plan to explore who knows what or where. We are so different in so many ways but we found each other just we needed to and I think we will all be forever thankful, forever grateful of that, as Eloise likes to say.

The next few months will be a slow whirl - quick trips & slow days of transitioning work.

Ha Taaso Bo Me: Eloise, Tracy, Stephanie

Ha Taaso 5: Eloise, Tracy, Nick, Stephanie, Jody

HeYo 2014, Lesotho 82
Back: Tracy, Emily, Jody, Nick, Eric
Taylor, Eloise, Dani, Beth, Stephanie, Yolanda, Caroline, MacKenzie, Torle

Mountain Bushfire

On May 26 I set out on a road trip with PCVs Patricia, Jillian, & Hanna; our destination, the Mountain Bushfire Music Festival, May 27-29; our road name thanks to Patricia, Bush Fire Babes; our mascot, a Bush Baby! We made our way from Maseru, through Clarens & the Golden Gate Highlands National Park in South Africa, and on across the border of Swaziland to our charming bunk house at Sondzela in the Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary. 

The festival was amazing! Patricia & I shared a ready-set up tent in the "Forest" section of the campground - away from the grounds and very peaceful. Each morning we were up early to find the best coffee and watch the festival come to life. There were three major stages with a shows from 11am to 3am - mostly African bands, all terrific. Great music, delicious food, plenty of drinks, high quality crafts, and best all lots of folks enjoying the great weather and dancing to an eclectic array of talented musicians.