disclaimer: post possibly not suitable for young cousins/the more conservative

so, because hiv/aids is such a problem in lesotho, everyone will be dealing with it, regardless of whether they are hiv/aids advisors or not. so this week's classes have focused on learning sesotho (the national language) and about hiv/aids in lesotho. fyi, it's pretty funny sitting in class and seeing a donkey stroll by outside. we've been doing a lot of learning about policy in lesotho, how the government is dealing with hiv/aids and the children made orphans by it, etc. i'm wondering if some of my siblings are orphans b/c of the pandemic. i know my oldest sister's, likomo's, parents are dead, but i'm not sure why. anyways, we've also had some pretty frank talks about sex in lesotho (that is the main mode of transmission, of course) and how it is viewed differently than in the states. for example, a woman cannot refuse her husband. and occasionally a girl will be abducted, raped, and then the parents feel forced to marry her to her rapist. this doesn't happen often, but it does occur. women are also not allowed to ask for sex, but must either move suggestively or just wait until their husbands (or whomever) are in the mood. monogomy is supposedly practiced here, but in reality most people have multiple partners, but don't acknowledge it (which just exacerbates the hiv situation). also, homosexuality is not recognized here. boys will sleep with each other, but say that they are just "practicing" and do not realize that that is a homosexual act. they also don't realize that hiv can be transmitted that way. crazy. also, though everyone in lesotho knows about condoms, and condoms are given away for free, there is a stigma about using them. one potential job for pcv's is to do condom demos and dispel myths (such as "the condoms have worms in them). so we all got to practice doing condom demos yesterday, using our fingers because we might not have access to dildos. that's been most of the week. pcv's (peace corp volunteers) have been coming in, along with governement workers, to lead the sessions, so it's been nice to hear about their experiences. we get to go visit some of the sites next weekend, so i'm looking forward to that. tata.

ann