Lumelang bamameli ba khabane,                                                                   July 20, 2010

(Due.may.long  /  ba.ma.medi  /  ba  /  ha.ba.ne)

“Hell beautiful Listeners”

Just five and a half months of my service left and I am constantly reminded because my dad likes to tell me that my days are numbered, but I tell him it’s actually wonderful to enjoy the moment. I am going to live somewhere between this very moment and my tomorrows.

Big things are happening in my life here in Lesotho. Recently, I was approved for a 2,000 dollar grant. It’s for a two day event focusing on HIV/AIDS. The statistical ratio is 1:4. (for every four people, 1  person has the virus). The onset of all this HIV/AIDS outreach has been Mr. Khotso Sekhele, the scholarship student. In November 2009, we went on our first cross-cultural group hike to rural Lesotho; at that point, I realized what a great asset he is to have on these hikes. Mr. Sekhele became my interpreter and soon the drive behind leisure hikes for AIDS outreach. Without Mr. Sekhele’s assistance, I couldn’t have done 3 very successful AIDS hikes thus far.

Here in Lesotho, 95% of the herd-boys are illiterate. When we partake in these 3-5 day hikes, we bring along condoms so we can stop and “chit-chat” with the boys and men that are watching over the cattle, sheep and goats. Some of the topics discussed during these hikes include: what is one’s knowledge about AIDS, the measures to prevent AIDS or measures to care for a person living with the virus, what transmits AIDS, causes, misconceptions, myths, etc. Thus far we have passed out over 300 condoms and spoken with nearly a hundred boys and men, all of which have not had any formal education beyond 3^rd grade.

With an organization called Lejone Action AID and Mr. Sekhele’s desire to help his people, I was encouraged to apply for a PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan For Aids Relief) grant through Peace Corps. After 5 months of gathering information, applying for the grant and awaiting approval, I am finally training five host country individuals on multiple procedures so that this event can be run by local individuals, organizations and/or communities and repeated annually. A few of the topics are: reaching goals and objectives, time keeping, capacity building, publicity outreach, training of stakeholders and numerous other topics. This is a two day educational event with 80 participants and 20 facilitators, which will take place right here in my village. The goals of Lejone Kopano Action AID are to make Basotho aware of AIDS and the impact it has on this country and the future of the Basotho as a people.

I solely believe in sustainability so while PEPFAR is supplying 47% of the cost, the Basotho are supplying the remainder. I am not the face of this event, Mr. Sekhele and his team of 4 from LAA are. Without their vision and hard work, I could not be successful with making this event happen. The event is tentatively planned to happen in Early September so right now we are working our tails off to get the event ready.

 Things tend to take longer to process here and even though I have Mr. Sekhele, whom is determined, we seem to always hit these invisible walls – which we are constantly breaking through. I was taught to never give up on what I believe in. I believe that this nation has great potential and I will work to help as many Basotho as possible. I will teach then about determination like they have taught me about patience.

I believe that knowledge is the key to success. Failure is not an option. I firmly believe that the only dumb question…is the question not asked. I know that I can’t move mountains alone. However for every Mosotho I encourage, a little bit of the mountain is chipped away and hopefully one day minds will be altered and the education that I brought will be long lasting.

When I leave - as I have been reminded multiple times - in about 160 days, I want to know that those whom I taught can go on without me. I am quite a strict teacher and demand my students to demonstrate exceptional progress based on each individual. They are seeing through their own grueling labor that effort creates progress and improvement.

Teaching them how important it is to strive for goals is beneficial, therefore they are beginning to understand the importance of setting goals and achieving them. I hope that I am demonstrating to the Basotho how important perseverance is. I am not changing their way of living, rather adopting and improving their lifestyle and hopefully leaving each individual Mosotho hungry for more education and knowledge.