Moving to the Mountains

Lumela kaofela!

What a busy couple of weeks it has been! Currently, I am exactly one month away from swearing in and moving to my site! I can’t believe how fast training has moved. Soon I’ll go from trainee to volunteer, which is pretty scary but also extremely exciting. These four weeks are going to be as jammed packed as ever with Sesotho lessons, technical training sessions, and presentations. But before I get ahead of myself, let me fill you all in on the past few weeks!

HVV:

Right before I posted my last blog post, all of the volunteers (Education and Health) got to go on HVV- host volunteer visits. We were partnered up with a current volunteer to see their communities and examples of work they are doing. I went to visit a volunteer in Quthing which is all the way South! It took a LONG time to get there because transportation in Lesotho is very unreliable. (Once you figure out how to navigate it, it’s much easier, but I will go into this further in another post.) But it took us maybe 3 or so hours from Maseru to Quthing, and then another 2.5 hours to reach my host’s site, since she lives very remote and there is one taxi that leaves her taxi rank once a day to reach her site. It was really amazing to see what she was up to and her day to day life. Rural life is beautiful, and very intimate. Everyone in your village knows you and everyone works together! I was able to see her clinic where she works, and got some great ideas that I can incorporate into my service. While on HVV, we left early on the second day to visit a volunteer in Mohale’s Hoek, since she lives more urban. It was great to see the distinction between the two sites. This volunteer works for an NGO, has electricity, and lives close to a great pizza place! Urban life is definitely more fast-paced, more impersonal, but has way more resources and transportation available. It was a great experience to see many types of sites and work, and of course, was great to meet awesome volunteers!

Site Placements:

The week after returning from HVV, we were finally given a packet with all of the information regarding our possible sites. This included the name of the organization, the type of living situation (rural or urban), and what work we’d be doing in each location. All of us were able to write down our preferences regarding type of living situation and district, but we didn’t get a ton of say. The Peace Corps Staff ultimately has the final say, and will place us where we are best fit. Just four days after receiving our site packets, we discovered where we would end up! It was a pretty fun ceremony, we got together with the education cohort and everyone’s names were called out with their organization and district. Then we were directed to a giant map of Lesotho that staff had created on the ground and went to the general location of our district!

Supervisor-Counterpart Workshop and Site Visit:

So without further ado, I will be living and working at a clinic in Mokhotlong, Lesotho! Mokhotlong is in the north-east of the country. It is extremely mountainous, and I’m going to be about 7,000 feet or so up! After we were given our site placements, training started moving much faster. The next week, we attended what’s called supervisor-counterpart workshops. All volunteers have a supervisor and counterpart who works with them, and we all met our respective co-workers. Health and education were in separate locations for this since our jobs differ greatly. But we got to hang out at a guesthouse with showers, big beds, and food served! It felt very luxurious, and was so great to get to know our supervisors and counterparts. We discussed the role of the volunteer, sustainability of projects, and expectations. I learned a lot about my clinic and what services are available, and some challenges they face. My supervisor is the head nurse at the clinic, and my counterpart is a nurse assistant. Both are extremely qualified and motivated to create sustainable change for the people in our community. After this three day workshop, we all departed with our supervisors and counterparts to our sites! Let me just say, Mokhotlong is COLD. Since it is so high up, temperatures often drop below freezing at night, and in the wintertime, snow is extremely common. My four years in Albany definitely prepared me for the cold, and I never thought I’d be so grateful to be accustomed to really cold windy cities!

My Role in Mokhotlong:

My main project in my clinic will be working to create an adolescent health corner, strengthen youth groups, and working with supply chain management. A big barrier to access for youth living with HIV in Lesotho is stigma attached to HIV/AIDS. Many youth will not come to the clinic to pick up their Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) which is their HIV medication. Strict adherence to ART is extremely important for those living with HIV to maintain a low viral load, and some youth feel shame or embarrassment about being seen at the clinic, so they come sporadically, or not at all. This is why an adolescent health corner is extremely important. This is where my role will be, helping to create a space just for youth, with youth friendly services that becomes a safe space for them to pick up medication, get counseling, and ask questions. This space will also be open to caretakers for them to ask questions and be involved in their youth’s health process. As well as youth not living with HIV to get tested and ask questions about sexual health. Strengthening youth groups and working with supply chain management (pharmaceuticals) will be other roles that I have in the community. Since I will be living on a mission compound, there are many schools nearby, which means I will have access to youth very easily. I will not be doing any teaching, however, I can help assist in out of school youth programs. I’m hoping to work with youth on gender empowerment, sexual and reproductive health, and life skills. Since my organization is faith-based, I may have some restrictions when it comes to sexual and reproductive health, but there are ways to ensure that youth still get quality sexual education. Mainly by partnering with other organizations, and government-based clinics, but this will definitely be a challenge. There are some youth-based organizations already in place in my community, so I’m hoping I can help strengthen these, rather than staring something completely new.

The most important aspect of my job is to create sustainability. This is why I will always work with a counterpart for all of my projects. This means, that once I leave in two years, these projects will be able to continue because others are trained and invested in them. My first six months at site are going to be solely a needs assessment, so introducing myself to the community, assessing community need, what resources are available, etc. Then after these six months, I will go to a workshop called Project and Design Management, and after this, I’ll be able to start on projects.

Can’t Wait to Start!

I have written a novel, but only because so many things are happening! If you made it to the bottom, I congratulate you! I cannot wait to begin and get to know my community, but I am also cherishing these last few weeks I get to spend with my fellow trainees and Peace Corps/ Sesotho teachers. If you have any questions, feel free to message me or write a comment! Missing my family and friends in America, but I’m very happy to be here and start doing important work with my skilled Basotho co-workers. I will leave you all with this: Sometimes after a long day of training, I am stressed or tired, and just can’t wait to get home. But on my way home, everyone I pass greets me with a smile, a wave, and a “lumela!” It always puts me in a great mood, and reminds me how lucky I am to be in this beautiful country. That’s all for now! Sala Hantle!