| As a Peace Corps Volunteer, life is always an adventure. Just about a month ago I had planned a trip to the top of this Mountain Kingdom – Sani Pass, the highest point in Southern Africa. The goals were to mix work with some recreation. Goal 1: hike and hitch to Sani Pass while reaching out to Herd boys (young and old men who look after cattle) to teach them about HIV/AIDS, as the disease is so rampant here. Goal 2: take a mini holiday and relish in the great work that I am doing here. The journey started out not as planned, typical for this country. My counterpart/coworker and I sat off thinking that we would borrow a truck from one of the villagers or even 2 other people. On the morning of the trip, all three options didn’t show up. No truck meant that we caught a hitch down to the next point – 8 hours from the end destination. So much for my Dad’s way of living, “Tarsha, you always need a backup plan and….to be on the safe side have three, no less!” well, I have come to learn that my American ways of living can’t always be extended to this third-world society. Our hitch dropped us in Hltose (our camp town) and there we sat wondering how the day should continue on. We were still- slightly - hopeful that locals would come through and lend us the truck from that point in our destination, but 4 hours later Mr. Sekhele and I came to the realization that our reality didn’t exist as we wished. At that point, we started looking into getting to Butha Butha – 5 hours from our outreach destination. We went in search for a local bus. The Kombi driver assured us that we could make it to Sani with no problem. In time, Mr. Sekhele and I realized that the Kombi driver, Mr. Unknown, had fooled us. We sat in the Butha Butha taxi rank eating local food, consisting of corn meal, fried spinach and friend chicken, not my ideal food – but desperate needs call for desperate matters. All the food was cooked from one of the metal shacks in the rank and only cost us 2 US dollars and 50 cents. I suppose it did the job because after all I summonsed enough patience and energy to sit for another two hours. By 5 o’ clock we headed up the mountain in a Kombi stuffed like sardines. The music blared through my headphones and I just couldn’t wait until the driver finally told me that we had reached the next stop – that…I realized would be 4 hours more. Slowly we climbed the mountain to Mokhotlong experiencing the sun fall and watching the local people fall asleep sitting up. The higher and higher we got, the colder and colder the kombi became. It’s is typical that public transport here doesn’t have heat and most of the windows leak air more than I would like to tolerate, but I knew that an end was in site and that my goals were for the greater good. By this time, it started getting dark, and I started to worry about where Mr. Sekhele and I would stay. Once we got cell phone coverage, I texted a volunteer (phone calls are too expensive and the only way to communicate is via text) and she set Mr. Sekhele and I off in the right direction. The kombi driver dropped us at this random backpackers in Mokhotlong and we searched for a guard yelling out, “Ntate, Ntate Nate” man! Twenty minutes later, a man in his PJs came out wondering what a local and a Lekhoa “white” person where doing wandering and yelling toward his facilities at 9pm. I quickly explained that I was a Peace Corps Volunteer and was in the area to work on some AIDS outreach in the rural areas of Mokhotlong and that Mr. Sekhele was my counterpart and would be my translator in order for me to be effective. A few moments later, he set us up in the empty hostel and we unloaded and discussed our plan for the following day while munching on warm yogurt, muesli and Smucker’s Peanut Butter. Together, we strategize that our wakeup would be 6am and how we would continue our journey so that we could get a head start on our 1st goal. By 7:30. The next morning, we were out the door – walking up the dirt path and catching another lift to the taxi rank, whereby we had missed the 1st taxi out to the rural area. At that point, we decided to hitch to the rural area, complete our 1st goal and then hitch to Sani. We got out past the Camp town (the city area of the districts) and met a few herd boys, upon which we began to ask what they knew about HIV/AIDS. I took out my note book and began talking with Mr. Sekhele, which he then translated, “Abuti, are you aware of the disease AIDS?” Abuti replied, you mean the disease that kills?” when Mr. Sekhele came back to me with this response, I was floored and thought, “Maybe, after all this has been worth the trouble!” from heard boy to heard boy, Mr. Sekhele continued to ask about contraception, one partner, love, gender roles and the use of condoms. When we felt that we had walked long enough, hitched to far enough rural areas and met at least 15 heard boys – which is a lot considering the rural area we were in – we decided that we would move forward on our journey and reach Sani Pass. At that point, we stood on the side of the deserted road and wondered if we would EVER catch a lift or even a kombi. 2 hours later, not one car had passed and I began worrying. However, i knew that inevitably, Mr. Sekhele could ask a local for room and board on the floor for one night. When only herd boys were passing, Mr. Sekhele realized that it was possible that we would only have the option to literally hike to Sani. He then asked a herd boy haling donkeys to give us a lift-when he translate to me that he had done such a thing, I laughed. Moments later, however, desperation set in and I came back to him with, “Are you truly serious about hitching with the herd boy, because at this point is seems to be the only option?” He said, “Yes, Abuti says that we can get to Sani in 5 hours if we are hiking the whole way!” quickly, we ran (with our bags) toward the boy that was just ahead herding his donkey. Moments later, we loaded our bags to the sides of one donkey. We hung 2 North Face bags and a small tote bag with uncooked rice and beans via a carabineer. Slowly we walked on… At this point, I doubted that we would ever really make it there by nightfall but in the back of my mind, I was thinking meanwhile I could continue doing HIV/AIDS outreach. We continued and still 3 hours later only one kombi had passed us and was unwilling to stuff us on the roof rack so I was destined to walk at a snails pace until we reached the sky – Sani Pass. Finally, I heard roaring tires from afar and with great pleasure I realized it was a Land Cruiser. A LAND CRUSIER! I let Mr. Sekhele go ahead while I waited on the side of the dirt road with my hands in prayer. The car came to a halt. I ran over to the passenger side of the window and begged to get a lift for my counterpart and with some reluctance - I think b/c nobody in their right mind would try to hitch in such a rural area – we were let aboard. I explained why we were stranded and the importance of my work. The men then let us in, that is after I showed my Peace Corps ID. We waved goodbye to Abuti herd boy and left him eating our dust b/c we had found that lucky hitch or fate arrived. While in the car with Bo Ntate, men, we came to the conclusion that it would have taken 10 or more hours to hike the whole way. I thought, well, good thing you guys arrived! Ntate Teller and John were great men to get a lift from, as they were college educated and this made our conversations flow so easily. We discussed the economy of America, my work as a Peace Corps Volunteer and Mr. Sekhele’s job as a counterpart. 1 hour later, we were at Sani Pass! It was beautiful and it truly felt like we were in the sky. Mr. Sekhele and I were scheduled to stay at the bottom of Sani but when we realized transport prices and all the travel we would have to continue to do, Bo Ntate offered us a sweet exchange – “You guys can stay here with us until QN (south of where we were) and in the morning we can deliver you to Maseru (capital). Without much hesitation we took the offer, after all, our first goal was attained. We sat back in the luxury SUV and enjoyed the “good life” with no qualms. 3 hours later, we arrived in QN. I was dropped of at Kylie’s house, another PCV and she and I spent the evening together, whereby we shared so many stories about our time as volunteers in Lesotho. The next day, I was fetched by the Bo Ntate and headed to Maseru discussing what Mr. Sekhele had learned from the trip. Mr. Sekhele had noted that he learned the very importance of person-to-person contact for his people. He also noted how there is HIV education in this country but it fails to reach those in the rural areas and he was proud to walk to the unforgotten areas of his country to help educate those left behind. I am realizing more and more -- every day -- that there is honestly no end. As a volunteer, my work is a constant matter, whether I am trekking the rural areas of Mahtolog or discussing the need for ARVs with my host mother. When I try to plan, I also realize that any outcome is feasible. When I think that my work isn’t helping as much as I’d like, Bo Ntate help me understand that it is those individual encounters that make a difference. I am not reaching out. My job as a volunteer doesn’t always make sense, but I know that it is meaningful to me and those that I serve. After all, this is the toughest job I will ever love. ~ It would be nice to have my blog added to this article (if that’s possible and or feasible) www.xanga.com/tveiga |
