These pics are completely random and out of order, but better than nothing right?


Here is my rondoval and my lovely dog Fetus.

These are some girls at Lesotho High School in Maseru who just HAD to take a photo with me. These are some cutie likonyana (young kids) at our Child's Day event. My district's color is green, so both the kids and teachers get decked out! Someday I'll have my very own kelly green track suit. Can't wait!

Just some cows by a car.

Pretty typical.

Gnarly bruises from my first horse riding expedition.

Here is my horse KN3. That's what's branded on his butt....so that's his name. The pictures is taken in my yard.

Mount Up!!!

We appreciate a good Coke here. PCV Leeza and I at the Butha-Buthe KFC after our literacy and Life Skills workshop.

This may or may not be the most PCV's you can fit into one rondoval. This pic. was taken at our site visit, when we were actually still only trainees. We all stayed the night here, and oh what a slumber party it was!

Literacy and Life Skills Workshop

This last weekend I got to be a part of a wonderful workshop. The Ed volunteers from last year started a pilot program in the nearby district of Butha-Buthe. Using PEPFAR (President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) funds they were able to order AIDS/HIV themed books for 12 schools. The books are set in African villages, and the characters are African children. A few of the books were even translated into Sesotho. Needless to say, these are valuable resources for the teachers here. The workshop started Thursday evening and went through the weekend, ending Sunday morning. Three teachers from each school were invited, and they ALL came!!!
The workshop focused on teaching the teachers (and some principals) how to use the books in their classrooms. PCV's in Lesotho have managed to set up hundreds up libraries throughout the country, but we are finding that often times the books don't get used. Being that books are precious items here, they tend to get locked away, so as not to be damaged. However, they are also not accessable to the students. The workshop focused on incorporating the literature into their curriculums, teaching reading comprehension, and basic reading skills.
The whole experience was positive and encouraging. The teachers were very excited about their books, and the teaching tools we gave them. As a volunteer I think the weekend was a success, and now we are going to try to implement this into the other districts of Lesotho. I was also able to speak with a local publisher, so a few other volunteers and I will be spending our cold winter months writing books for ECCD (Early Child Care and Development) with the hopes of getting them translated and published for next year!

Durban

Left: RBV's even in Africa.
Below: Easter Brunch
Girls at the Ushaka Aquarium.

Left: All dressed up for dinner

Below: Group pic on the beach.

I guess it's been almost a month since I went on vacation. I apologize for taking so long to post anything about it. From the small country of Lesotho, to the big city of Durban South Africa. The differences were apparent almost immediatly. As volunteers we went from being greeted and questioned by everyone we pass to going completely unnoticed. The anonymity was a nice change. The weather was wonderfully warm and allowed us to swim in the ocean and float the lazy river at Ushaka Marine World. Our first day was waisted in a large mall, as we ladies had to shop for "nice" shoes in order to get into the bars. our PCV flip-flops don't cut it in the city. I hate malls so this wasn't mch fun, but it was nice to see such a variety of shopping options. Unfortunately on a PCV budget we're restircted to mostly window shopping. I laso ate McDonald's for the 1st time (it tastes better in America) and some PCV's got Subway (this would've been the better choice). That evening we went out to Sushi on the beach and had a great time! I'm running out of computer battery, so I'll sum up the rest quickly.

My favorite day was Saturday where a few of us girls went to an amazing market where I could've spent ALL my money, but managed to only spend most of it :) I picked up some tny souveniers for family and friends, and was FINALLY able to buy a purse. I've been needing and wanting one since I got to Lesotho. After the market we met up with some other PCV's at Ushaka Marine World where we went down the largest water slide in the Southern Hemisphere (I hated it) and floated the lazy river with some beers before checking out the aquarium. From Ushaka we went straight to a Sharks Rugby game. This was my first Rugby experience, and I loved it!!! The whole vaca. was filled with amazing food, sandy beaches, and booze. I had a great time and now we're busy planning vaca. number two!

Host Family

Thato helping w/the water pump at my house. Me, my host sister, brother, and neighbors.

My host family is wonderful! I've been telling many of you about them over the phone and emails, so now I can finally post some pictures. My little abuti (brother) is 6 years old and his name is Thato. My ausi (sister) is 10 and her name is Mohlabase (not sure on the spelling). My other abuti is 19 and his name is Nchakha. I've also got 3 other siblings who are grown and don't live at my site, but I see them often. The kids and I spend a lot of time playing in the yard, practicing English and Sesotho, and doing arts and crafts outside of my hut. I'm never too lonely with all the kids around. I could write sooo much more, but time is limited. Anyway, here are some photos.

World Wise Schools

This one is for you Jen. Since being in Lesotho I've been part of a program called World Wise Schools, which links classes here in Lesotho with classes in America. I'm sending our my first batch of pen-pal letters to Ms. Jennifer Steven's 3rd grade class on Monday. However, since she was efficient enough to send me photos of all of her students I decided I needed to do the same. Class 6 at Hlotsenyane Primary School in Leribe worked for WEEKS on their letters, and they were super thrilled to take a class teacher. I've worked hard to get to an internet source that would allow me to post some pics, as that's nearly impossible, unless you want to spend a lot of money, soooooo....here are the students!!!