Peace Corps: Week 3 + Q&A #1

View from an afternoon hike

My pre-service training (PST) continues to be all-consuming, growth-inducing, and highly enjoyable. On this Sunday I am finishing up Week 3 of training, and the time is starting to fly as life here becomes normal and routine. This week I practiced tons of Sesotho, began planning our health cohort's youth camp (scheduled for mid-November), and have begun a sunrise 5:30 am running schedule.

Yesterday we had a group trip to Thaba Bosiu, a cultural historic site in Lesotho with great significance to the country. Thaba Bosiu translates as "Mountain Night" directly, or "Mountain of the Night" more accurately. It was the place where King Moshoeshoe lived in the 1800-1900s. He was the founder of Lesotho, and is buried atop Thaba Bosiu. King Moshoeshoe ll is also buried there, and the current King of Lesotho is Moshoeshoe lll. However, the current King is similar to the King/Queen of Britain, since he is a figurehead, and Lesotho's governmental power resides in its Parliament.

To get to and from Thaba Bosiu, we used public transit, which comes in the form of taxi vans that are operated by Bakhanni (drivers, Bah-han-nee). We required two separate vans to get to our destination, one from our village to Maseru (the capital), and another from Maseru to Thaba Bosiu. The trip was around 3 hours each way, and we learned alot from our PC cultural facilitators about how the transit system works.

Its critical that we know how the use public transit because we will be relying on it to get anywhere during our service. Additionally, in week 6 of training, we will be spending one week at our permanent sites before returning to the training village for the remaining 3 weeks. When we return, we will have to use public transit alone without staff assistance. And, basically entirely communicating in Sesotho.

This may sound a little nuts, but that's the nature of the PC training, and also why we end up learning so much; because we are given uncomfortable table tasks like this one, and just have to figure it out for ourselves. But honestly, by the end of week 6 my Sesotho is going to be even better, and I'm not worried about failing to get back to the training village. But us trainees are (jokingly) pondering who will mistakenly end up on the other side of the country.

Another welcomed aspect of PC training is the resource volunteers. These are PC volunteers from the previous two cohorts, who are currently serving in country. They come to our pre-service training to help out and let us ask any and all questions about PC service. Some of the resource volunteers are one year into their service (the previous cohort, LS92), and others only have 5 weeks left (the one before that, LS91). We trainees in LS93 have been loving that they are here, since they are so knowledgeable and help to clarify any questions we have. For instance, this week we had a health volunteer come and help the 8 of us training for health; They provided guidance and examples for our youth camp planning, and also plenty of movies from their famous 5 TB hard drive. I think it'd be awesome to be a resource volunteer, so we will see if I become one in the future!

That is all I have on my mind for now. The following is my responses to all the questions you submitted on the last post. Enjoy!

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What's the best way to reach you?

Texting my old phone number will not work, because I have switched SIM cards and data providers. However, you can reach me with the same old phone number via Signal Private Messenger (preferred) or Whatsapp. These work with my old number because they are WiFi based not text based. Sorry if I've missed you messages!

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What is the predominant local religion?

It is Christianity overwhelmingly; This is statistically one of the most Christan countries in the world. In my training village there are two churches I know of, one Catholic and one Presbyterian. But the religious culture seems to parallel my experience in America too; For instance, some say they're religious but don't regularly attend a church service, with others attending regularly. Similar to the spread you get in the United States, with some people being much more active in their religion than others. Last Sunday, some of the trainees were invited/required to go to church with their host families, but other families (including mine) didn't attend service or even mention it.

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How old are the parents and kid(s) in your family?

I don't know exact ages because I've never asked, but my parents seem to be around 27-35 years old, and my brother is ~7 years old.

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Are currency/bank accounts even a thing there?

This question was in reference to the amount of grain I observed my parents having (around 300 kilograms). I believe this grain is a form of life insurance, where if my father were to die, the family could eat for years before needing a new income source. To address the question, bank accounts area thing, as is currency. For a bank we use the M-Pesa mobile app, which is owned/operated by Vodacom, a predominate data provider in Lesotho, and functions similarly to US mobile banking apps/Venmo. The two currencies used here are Lesotho Maloti and South African Rand, which have a locked 1:1 exchange rate value (so they are always equal in value). The rough conversion is ~17 Maloti = $1 USD.

To circle back to the grain my parents have, I don't think life insurance is common here, which explains the grain as a safety net for the family. However, insurance for funerals is quite common, which ensures a person has a nice burial/casket/ceremony when they die. I believe this is purchased more often because of the significance of death/mourning in Basotho culture, with the grain storage being life insurance to boot.

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Is it more of a barter system?

Not that I've seen. Basically everything operates through the Lesotho Maloti currency or M-Pesa (similar to Venmo). I have noticed a large amount of "side-hustling", with people selling eggs/meats/alcohol roadside or at their homes for cash.

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Are there stores in the village you're currently in, or does one have to travel to the next bigger city to buy any kind of provisions?

Yes, my village has two mini-mart-esk stores with basic foodstuffs/essentials (like soap/matches/toiletries). They remind me of a corner store in a city, or a 7-Eleven. There are also vendors along the main paved road that goes through my village, operated by locals, and they sell other hot commodities like meats/homebrew alcohol/fresh fruits.

But you can only really find basics in the village itself. For more options/variety, you travel to a camp town (as Peace Corps has termed them). Camp towns are larger, and have a fully-stocked grocery store, plus other stores for clothes/shoes/etc. Our nearest camp town is ~1 hour drive via taxi/mini-bus. These vehicles are a common job in Lesotho, and they function like public/private transportation. Public, because anyone can get on, but private because you pay the driver directly (not part of a wider transportation network). They are don't leave until they are reasonably full, which could take hours. The typical taxi/van holds 15-18 on paper, but its common to get 22-25 in instead. The plus of the drivers is we will get to know them personally, and the fare is cheap (roundtrip to our camp town is 60 maloti or ~$3.00).

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What do most of the adults do for their jobs?

As previously mentioned, being a driver is common, and one of the best paying jobs in Lesotho (the drivers have nice houses). Others travel to Maseru for work in security or healthcare. Others are teachers, a very respected job here. Or pastors. But there is a lot of unemployment, especially among young adults, and it seems many get by via side hustles and/or farming food for themselves and for profit.

Another common job for young men is being a herdboy, which is like a shepard for either cattle or sheep. Herdboys spend their whole day roaming the rural plains, letting their herd graze, before returning home at dusk. They have incredible control over their cattle, through a combination of whistles/yells and physical coercion (throwing tiny stones/hitting with a stick). They can move their flock (10+ cows) anywhere. I often see them while hiking, and they're chilling in the grass, watching the cattle graze; it is a very peaceful job.

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Looks like some of your cohort are smoking cigarettes. Is cigarette smoking a thing there in Lesotho?

Yes. Cigarettes are more common here than America, but they not everywhere.

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Are cigarettes and/or other tobacco products sold locally?

Yep, at local stores or via local community members. But it seems alcohol use is much more popular.

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Did your peers travel with a tobacco supply and either hope to be able to buy more, or decide it was a good time to quit?

Cigarette access is easy for the 2-3 people who smoke in my cohort. However, our budgets are tight, and I think some will try to quit while they are here, since they will be living on stipend.

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If someone were to get sick and/or injured, do the health centers (like the one you'll ultimately be working in) provide acute and/or long term medical care?

Yes, they provide both, and are well equipped for solving more routine medical cases (simple infections/sickness, injuries, HIV, TB, pregnancy). Lesotho has many nurses, and nursing schools (a common job). However, there is a lack of specialists, and if we require specialist care (during PC service) we will likely have to travel to South Africa.

The HIV treatment is particularly solid, with Lesotho exceeding the 95-95-95 benchmarks solidly (currently Lesotho is 97-97-99). So, while the percentage of people living with HIV is high (~17%), the # new cases is way down (~2000-3000 annually) and most living with HIV are virally suppressed (meaning they are unable to spread the virus to others, due to adherence to ART treatment).

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Is there a culture of annual physicals?

I'm unsure, but it seems like health services are used once problems arise, not so much pro-actively.

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Are people native to Lesotho also being trained (like your Peace Corps cohort) to provide the kinds of services that you will be providing?

Yes, there are many nurses/healthcare staff actively working and being trained in Lesotho. It's also one of Lesotho's big job exports, with Basotho nurses finding their way into hospitals/clinics internationally. My job focuses more on healthcare supply chain/logistic, such as running the clinic's pharmacy, delivering ART, or database management. But, it all depends on what my community needs.

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Have you broken out the new guitar yet? Have you played for your family?

Yes I have. I played one night for my family and they loved it! Honestly, free time is hard to come by (in large intervals), so I haven't been doing much if any guitar/music making or even reading. But I will have LOTS of free time and boredom in the coming two years, so I will surely develop a regular music routine again.

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Since you said that social media is available to locals, are you able to get internet music easily? Would love to see you integrate some local music into your music library to share with us sometime.

Yes! I have been learning some of the local music artists, and other music that is played here (lots of deep house/afrobeats from Lesotho and South Africa). My knowledge is still limited but I will definetly share once I find more.

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What games are you playing with the kids?

Simple stuff I taught them like thumb wrestling or chopsticks. But also games that they know that I've never seen. One where you hold hands in a circle, then bounce around clockwise while squatting; the first person to fall loses, and then we all clap and repeat. There is a other game similar to duck duck goose, but with capture the flag elements. And also a tug of war game where the teams are decided based on a question (such as do you like the leopard or the cheetah more?), then you hold onto each other to form a chain (no rope to grab onto). Every game is also accompanied with a specific song that the kids sing acapella.

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You mentioned frisbee, do the local kids know how to throw a frisbee? Or is it other volunteers you’re playing catch with.

The kids have never throw frisbee, and they love it. Some have gotten decent at throwing it, but others not as much. They like when I throw it very far (haholo!) and they run after it.

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What games/sports are prevalent there?

Volleyball is a surprising big hit. The local community center has a concrete poured/fenced volleyball net, and we played 7 vs 7 yesterday with the local youth. Of course, football (soccer) is also huge here, but we have yet to play pickup on the local soccer pitch, but I look forward to that day.

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Are the children as happy as they appear in your pictures?

They are pretty happy, yeah. Especially when we are playing or when you greet them. Pretty similar to kids in America; I guess kids are kids no matter where you are.

Thank you for all of your questions. It was fun answering them and made me think about some aspects of this experience that I previously overlooked. If you have more, send them in.

Sala hantle! (Sah-lah han-clay)
Stay well!