Lesotho - My First Coup!

Things are going well for my first coup!

Road to Evacuation

The weekend of August 30th the Lesotho PCVs received a report from Peace Corps that Prime Minister Thabane had fled to South Africa after an alleged coup 'd etat, we were advised not to travel to Maseru, the capital.  By Monday, 9/1, we were advised to stay alert (alert status "steadfast:) and within our districts, on Tuesday, 9/2, the 18 Mohale's Hoek & Mafuteng PCVs had been instructed to gather at the Mount Maluti Hotel (alert status "consolidation").  On 9/3, we were evacuated to the small South African border town of Wepner where we spent 3 nights in a sweet simple lodge (alert status "out of country consolidation"). The political situation in Lesotho was still considered too "unsafe" for us to return to our sites so Peace Corps determined it was best for the 80+ PCVs from all of the Lesotho districts to co-locate in a central location about an hour outside Bloemfontein, South Africa.  A central location would facilitate all the communication, medical, and PC management needs. 

Lesotho - South African Border

My consolidation group of 18 from Mohale's Hoek had an easy time getting to our central location near the western border (about an hour from Maseru). Other groups traveled very long distances from their first consolidation point on the far eastern borders, but, by nightfall we had all landed in the lovely Black Mountain Hotel & Conference Center, which is well equipped to accommodate our whole group. 

Peace Corps Lesotho - 80+ PCVs & Staff

Black Mountain Hotel from Maria Moroka Animal Preserve

There are 4 cohorts: my group of Healthy Youth 2014 who have just been in Lesotho 3 months (18 volunteers), the Education 2014 group that has been in country for about 9 months, the Healthy Youth 2013 group that is mid-service (in country just about 12 months), and the Education 2012 group that is in the Close of Service (COS) stage - they will all have completed their 27 month service & be out of Lesotho by early 12/2014.  We have essentially had the first annual All Volunteer Conference - a chance to get to know the relatively small mix of all Lesotho PCVs.  During this time there have been sub-conferences for most of the cohorts, a talent show, field trips to a museum & a botanical garden in Bloemfontein & shopping trips to the small nearby town of Thaba Nchu & the larger city of Bloemfontein. Our days have been fairly simple & we are given pretty of freedom & space to each enjoy what we like. Many of the PCVs are able to communicate with their supervisors at their sites to stay in touch. I have had sweet emails from both Sister Juliana & Rethabile and I hear from The Lesotho Connection via Facebook that patio & landscape work on the new orphanage continues. I have hoped to hear something specific about a move in date for the kiddos - but… all in good time.

Political Intrigue

A short summary of the situation. A year or so ago the country had a national election that was not clear cut - so a 3-party coalition was put in place with leaders of the 3 parties in key positions including Prime Minister & Deputy PM.  Things did not work out quite so well so in June 2014 (just about when my group arrived), the Prime Minister, with the King's approval, suspended Parliament - but the key motivation was that the Prime Minister was trying to avoid being ousted by a vote of no confidence.  Three months later, the PM wants to name a new military leader to oust the current one who is supported by the Deputy PM; this worsens the situation.  Apparently the PM was tipped off that there were would be an assassination attempt on his life and he escaped to South Africa while his house was being riddled with bullets. Quite a few other Parliament members took the opportunity to get out of harm's way & also skedaddled to South Africa.  There was a brief period of a news blackout while TV & radio stations were shut down. Meanwhile the "former" military leader refuses to step down, has his troops disarm the police, and then sends them home (some shootings & deaths resulted).  The country is without a police force, the military is unstable, and the PM claims a coup.  The South African Prime Minister offers to facilitate a reconciliation so after a few days the PM returns to Lesotho under heavy So. African guard. Meanwhile the new military commander is trying to take control but the former commander has taken off to the mountains with 100 or so of the Special Forces troops plus all the major weapons.  Fortunately there was no civil violence or crime and within days, the police are reinstated.  Behind the scenes there are various claims of the corruption & scandal of several of the key individuals that make everything all the more confusing.

There was hope that the South African Prime Minister could facilitate a resolution quickly but this did not happen & now he has returned to South Africa leaving his Deputy to continue to facilitate the negations. The PM wants to delay the opening of Parliament & then work on the issue of the military leader, the opposition wants the former military leader to be reinstated & for Parliament to reopen 9/19 - they seem miles apart on the issues.

Our Own Compound:

The hotel sits on the edge of the Maria Moroka Animal Preserve and in the shadow of Black Mountain. And, though we are too far from town to get there on our own, we have lots of amenities here - great buffet food (amazing meats, veggies, ice cream!), comfortable rooms with hot showers and great water pressure, a big comfy lobby with ample couches & tables for meeting up with pals, playing games, & reading.  A bar with music (well used by the younger PCVs), a movie house where we can order up a DVD to watch at no charge (they even bring up popcorn!), PeeWee Golf (a little lame but an hour's distraction), horse back rides ($15 for an hour trek into the preserve), spa (many have had their mani-pedis & massages), game drives in the preserve ($10 for 90 minutes), pool (too cold for me), hot tub, and ample grounds for volleyball & football.  Since our arrival the staff has treated us royally and we have given them a boost during what appears to be their shoulder season.

Jenea, Narin, & Lisa playing chess on Narin's homemade chess board (Knight artistry compliments of Jenea). 

Jenea, Lisa, Narin

I have been on 2 game drives; one in the am and one in the early evening, short but sweet. The preserve has transplanted cape buffalo (a herd of maybe 6-8), 5-7 rhino, 2 young giraffe (recently brought in), a small dazzle of zebra (never did see any), quite a few springbok (national animal of South Africa), small herd of hartebeest & a few other antelope species. The guide, Tony, a native of England but now a devoted South African is a total delight as a guide as he loves wildlife and introducing us all to his world. On each drive he ensures we have a moment of complete silence to just listen to the sounds of the bush - fantastic. I also went on a horse trek - also short but sweet,  The horses walked us slowly into the preserve so we had a chance to get a feel for the place outside the game van.  The park seems to be a vast open grassy plain that gradually rises up to brush & trees along the low slopes up the Black Mountain. Really a beautiful site made all the more interesting with the occasional glimpse of springbok (we got to see them "pronking" - they bounce straight up as they run).  Also went on a short horse trek into a small portion of the preserve.

Springbok, South Africa's National Animan

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Sunday 9/14: The hotel sponsored a group event for us that was a lot of fun & very well organized. The set up 8 teams who had a combination cook-off and various relay races or skill tests. The cook-off was in the style of Iron Chef where each team was given a different set of ingredients and each expected to come up with a wonderful dish.  Points were given for the activities & the cook-off and top point winners were given prizes. The weather has been beautiful here - warm, light breeze, beautifully clear sky, and the amazing background of the Black Mountain & Maria Maroka park. A few of us ended the evening with a walk along the ridge of the reservoir between the hotel and Black Mountain.

Here is Tracy, Federico, Matt, Jody finishing up the dish they prepared for the competition.

Black Mountain Cook-Off

Wednesday 9/17: Our Peace Corps Country Director, Wendy, arranged to rent a full size bus for all of us to go & spend the day in Bloemfontein.  A few of us headed out for a refuge center for cheetahs & a motley assortment of other animals: lions, leopards, an assortment of small cat species, even a few meerkats & primates.  The center was started by an amazing South African woman dedicated to doing what she could to preserve these amazing animals. Unfortunately, it is way too risky & costly to return otherwise healthy animals to their natural habitat so they remain in the center but in an comfortable, well cared for environment. Most the animals though have some situation or another that makes them unsuitable for the wild anyway. During the evening, we had the first of a 2-night story-telling event where 10 volunteers got on stage to a full house of PCVs to share personal stories - mostly humorous.

Thursday 9/18: Once again out Peace Corps Country Director, Wendy, arranged a couple great activities for us based on suggestions from the Volunteers. She was in contact with both the Cheetah Experience director and a local primary school principle to arrange field trips for us. 6 of us went to the local school to learn about the South African school system & set up games for the kids while 22 of us headed off to the Cheetah Experience for a day of volunteer labor.  I opted to head to the Cheetah Experience and once there and joined a brigade to paint a workroom.  Others dug fence post holes or cleared brush. After about 4 hours of work & box lunch provided by the hotel; the preserve staff gave us a tour of the animals and an opportunity to spend an hour playing with the cheetahs in their large open fenced area.  Worn soccer balls and jumbo size kitty toys were brought out and the cheetahs perked right up for their daily exercise.  The PCVs jumped right in enticing the cheetahs to chase the balls & toys and it was an amazing opportunity to see the cats in action.  They are of course known for their quick bursts of high speed to chase down antelope & use their long tails as pivots to enable changing directions and turning on dime to catch prey; and here we were in the middle of their playground experiencing their moves up close & personal!  The cheetah tires quickly though and once they lay down to rest we were able to approach them to pet them & feel their incredibly soft fur and lean, muscular bodies.  The preserve's staff remained with us & were vigilant to keep an eye on us & the cheetahs - intervening when necessary to make sure we all stayed safe .  We had an amazing day and the preserve staff was incredibly thankful for our efforts.  Though the preserve hosts volunteers from all over the world to care for the animals, the center does not have enough staff to keep up with all the grunt work needed on the grounds. Our efforts helped them get many needed tasks done quickly while we enjoyed a great day being useful & having our own cheetah experience.  The evening ended with the second of 2 story-telling events.

Tracy, Katie, & me after finishing the prime coat.

Friday 9/19: Today we reversed options and I headed to the school for a visit while 22 other volunteers went to the Cheetah Experience. The 6 of us visiting the school were treated to several hundred enthusiastic primary school kids clamoring around us to participate in volunteer led playground activities.  Not being the one to lead any of these efforts, I watched over smaller splinter groups but ended up mostly just hugging & playing with the kids.  The South African culture, like Lesotho's, is also one that does not shower kids with affection but they kids just seem to love it from the PCVs.  Once the hugs started, we had full gangs of kids clamoring for their turn.  The experienced PCV teachers led huge clusters of kids in singing & play activities.  When it was time to leave we had to hustle like rock stars to jump into our transport vehicles with hordes of kids close on our heels.  The evening ended with a "open mic" session since so many PCVs still had stories to tell they could not all fit in the first 2 day evenings. 

Here is Tracy - the Pied Piper of the PCVs... she can get any group of kids engaged in something fun.  In this photo she is leading the kids in the Banana Banana energizer which they loved.

All these activities are so far outside of what we would be expecting to do as Peace Corps Volunteers but they have really helped to keep us reasonably occupied and not stressing too much over our current predicament - one for which we have had no control whatsoever. 

Eloise, Tracy, & me - resting after a short hike in Bloemfontein park.  We are the three 'Bo 'M'e (mature ladies!) of our Healthy Youth 2014 group.  We became great friends during our 10 weeks of training in the village of Ha Taaso.

Bo 'M'e Eloise, Tracy, Stephanie

Peace Corps Decision-Making

We received daily, even twice-daily updates on the situation and the slow progress of the government attempting to stabilize.  PC Lesotho created a detailed plan for reinstating us in our sites and maintaining our safety.  The plan has multiple aspects but the core is restricting PCV travel to the capital, Maseru, maintaining frequent communication, and of course, repeating our consolidation steps should the need arise.

Typical status meeting led by Wendy our Country Director.

Wendy VanDamme, Country Director leading a status meeting

Friday 9/19: Our Country Director, Wendy, announced that the PC Washington DC headquarters had accepted the safety plan to reinstate us back to our sites in Lesotho!!  Expected departure date is Monday 9/22!!!  Perfect timing - the mood & morale of the PCVs lifted immediately!!

Saturday & Sunday: Our last 2 days of lounging around & our last long hot showers. PCVs are quickly exchanging movies, music, & books across hard drives.  I picked up a great selection of movies from our dear techno-geek Nick so I'll be set for long rainy days.

Monday 9/29:  We loaded up a number of vans & cars with PCVs & luggage and, after our last hearty breakfast, left the lovely Black Mountain Hotel & the Maria Moroka Preserve for our Lesotho homes!