Destination: Lesotho

After days of agonizingly waiting for my mailman to deliver the packet informing me of where I would likely be spending the next 27 months of my life, I finally received my invitation from the Peace Corps on Saturday, five days ago.

Destination: Lesotho.

My Reaction: (…) (…) ..Why Not?

I admittedly knew little about Lesotho before Saturday. From my African Politics class during college I knew that the country was fully enclosed within South Africa, for it used to be a part of South Africa. I remembered that it was relatively dinky in terms of landmass. I vaguely recalled something about Zulus fighting the Xhosa (was that right?) at some point or another somewhere around that area.

I still don’t know a whole heck of a lot about Lesotho—much less why they thought that I would be a good choice to go there—but the more I read about the Mountain Kingdom, the more appealing the post and my duties there are becoming in my eyes.

Here is a brief synopsis of what I’ve read (just from memory):

Geographically, the country is situated in the mountains. The lowest point of the country, 1400 meters, is higher than any other country’s low point, and the mountains reach nearly 6000 meters.

Lesotho is in the southern hemisphere; therefore it will be summer when I arrive there in November 2006. I talked to a Peace Corps placement officer today on the telephone, and he told me that I had better pack warm clothing there for the winter (May-July), because it gets extremely cold at such high altitudes. Malaria is not endemic, because the climate is mostly temperate, ranging from 30-90 Fahrenheit in most places.

AIDS is endemic with a prevalence rate of nearly 30%. The placement officer on the telephone today gave me a list of AIDS-related books to sift through, but he told me that no amount of research can really prepare someone to witness that sort of human suffering first-hand. (The placement officer had spent two years in Lesotho and two years in Zimbabwe) An average person there can expect to live 34 years. The other main illnesses are water-borne, and not only are we supposed to boil are water for at least 3 minutes before using it, we are strongly advised against wearing contact lenses because of poor water/sanitation.

The people in Lesotho are called the Basotho, and the Basotho speak Sesotho. The Basotho are somewhat conservative according to my literature, and professionalism is regarded highly. This means: no piercings, I will need to wear a tie (note: not tie-dye) to work each day, and I’ll have to get a haircut before I leave the states—maybe. I know very little about the Sesotho language, but the man on the phone today said that it is extremely difficult to learn—much harder than German or French anyway (his words)—and the language has three clicks. Cool!

I will be leaving from the US with a group of 23 other volunteers, and after our 3-month training period taking place in the capital, Maseru, as well as in one or two other cities, we will receive our individual posts. I can expect to live in a stone hut with bars on the windows, a thatched roof, a single bed, and a stove with two burners. I keep reading and rereading the phrase every experience is different, but it seems to me that most places lack basic amenities such as indoor plumbing, electricity, and indoor potable water. Another phrase I’ve read quite a few times is outdoor open-pit latrine. I reserve final judgment until I am there, but I am honestly looking forward to the asceticism.

My main duty in Lesotho will be to work full-time as an English language and literature teacher in a secondary school. I really enjoyed teaching English last year in Germany, and I like working with that age group, so it will be nice to be back in the classroom. My other duties will include teaching health, nutrition, and life skills, organizing clubs and recreational activities, doing things to promote the education of the less-empowered females if possible, helping to create a sustain a viable school library, and working as a consultant for other English teachers.

I don’t expect to save the world. Much of the work that PC volunteers do is self-motivated, and I am looking forward to being able to define my own role within a given framework. I will have been invited to work inside a certain community by that community, itself, and a lot of what I accomplish—at least during the beginning of my service—will depend upon how helpful my supervisor and peers are.

More to come!