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
Saturday, June 30, 2007
i've fallen in love...
with my pee bucket. this is a genius idea for anyone without indoor plumbing (and who lives in cold weather)! i was a little hesitant to use it at first, but it is actually more sanitary than the pit latrine, as far as i can tell. it smells less, and gets cleaned out with "handy andy" household cleaner every day. it's also nice not to have to go outside at night, because it's cold, and really dark, and the dogs might attack me. they dogs here are really sad. they get knocked around and are half starved, so it's no wonder they are so pitiful. the dark is also a problem, because all of the paths are rocky and it's easy to trip. i've already fallen a couple times while running. once was when it was light, though. it turns out that the bolts holding the gaurdrails beside the road together stick out pretty far from the gaurdrails, and i hit one of them last sunday hard enough that i did a 360 and fell. i've got a nice bruise on my thigh from it.
in other news, my host family seems pretty nice. my mother is m'e masekate and my father is ntate ntone. i don't interact with my m'e too much, and interact with ntate even less. mostly, i talk with a couple of my "siblings", who i think are generally my nieces and nephews (my m'e's grandchildren) instead of actual siblings. there are 12 of them, ranging from maybe about 5 to 16 or so. many don't look their age because of stunting. my oldest sister, likomo, has been teaching me to make bread, etc. she has also been bringing me food and hot water in the morning (i am s0000000000 sick of bread, and craving some veggies), but next week i start doing this all for myself (i'm in maseru today, food shopping). i've found that i can practice karate in my school, but it's still a little weird exercising in a skirt. anyways, that's about it for home life. i'll write another post about work.
ann
ps. i'm trying to upload pictures now, but i might not be able to. we'll see. it's running really slowly.
in other news, my host family seems pretty nice. my mother is m'e masekate and my father is ntate ntone. i don't interact with my m'e too much, and interact with ntate even less. mostly, i talk with a couple of my "siblings", who i think are generally my nieces and nephews (my m'e's grandchildren) instead of actual siblings. there are 12 of them, ranging from maybe about 5 to 16 or so. many don't look their age because of stunting. my oldest sister, likomo, has been teaching me to make bread, etc. she has also been bringing me food and hot water in the morning (i am s0000000000 sick of bread, and craving some veggies), but next week i start doing this all for myself (i'm in maseru today, food shopping). i've found that i can practice karate in my school, but it's still a little weird exercising in a skirt. anyways, that's about it for home life. i'll write another post about work.
ann
ps. i'm trying to upload pictures now, but i might not be able to. we'll see. it's running really slowly.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
thighs are erotic, i'm getting cramped, etc.
Dumelang (hello)!
so, i finally made it here on sunday, after having a 12 hour layover in johannesburg. the peace corps had set me up in a hotel there, and i got hit on twice in about 30 minutes. i guess a single girl here has "target" tattooed on her forehead. everyone was waiting outside for me when i arrived at the compound in maseru, and gave me hugs. it was really sweet. they were happy i made it. it's been a pretty intense week, lots of learning about culture, the language, etc. i didn't make it out of the compound until yesterday, so that was the first time i saw any of the big city. thus far, i've learned that i have to wear skirts here because thighs are considered erotic. "mountains" (as one of the trainers called women's chests) are only attractive to a small number of men. male organs were described as "animals." needless to say, these descriptions were rather humerous. i've learned that i can't have a pet dog inside of my house. one peace corps volunteer (pcv) did, and had to be removed from her site because the basotho thought she was committing bestiality, and the situation became dangerous for her. i've also been learning about how hiv is percieved, or isn't percieved, in lesotho. basically, many people still refuse to talk about it, as they refuse to talk about other things. they are very open about sex, as long as it's between a man and a woman. homosexuality isn't recognized here, though people will admit that some men will sleep together. they don't recognize that as homosexual, though. they also claim to practice monogomy, though it seems common for men and women both to have partners on the side. i've also been taught how to bath in a plastic tub, and had to go shopping for a pee bucket yesterday, for when i need to use the bathroom at night. fun times. the basotho are very clean people, and have specific rituals for each day, such as doing laundry, bathing, etc. if you wait to do laundry at the end of the week, people will apparently see your underwear hanging out to dry and wonder why you need so much underwear at once, then ask where a specific article went when they don't see it up again. also, you can't hang your underwear so that it's stretched, or people will ask what size it is.
i've met a few people who are heading the sites to which a will potentially go, and all possible projects sound interesting. i learned about gardening a couple days ago. they use a natural pesticide involving onion, garlic, soap, and spices in water, and fertilize with poo water ( a mixture of animal poo and water). i'm appartently going to learn how to make solar panels later, which i'm excited about.
i was going to try to post pictures, but can't find a flash drive on the computer. will do later.
i have a phone. if you want to get a calling card, and want my number, let me know. it's too expensive to call from here. i might be able to text.
keep in touch.
ann
so, i finally made it here on sunday, after having a 12 hour layover in johannesburg. the peace corps had set me up in a hotel there, and i got hit on twice in about 30 minutes. i guess a single girl here has "target" tattooed on her forehead. everyone was waiting outside for me when i arrived at the compound in maseru, and gave me hugs. it was really sweet. they were happy i made it. it's been a pretty intense week, lots of learning about culture, the language, etc. i didn't make it out of the compound until yesterday, so that was the first time i saw any of the big city. thus far, i've learned that i have to wear skirts here because thighs are considered erotic. "mountains" (as one of the trainers called women's chests) are only attractive to a small number of men. male organs were described as "animals." needless to say, these descriptions were rather humerous. i've learned that i can't have a pet dog inside of my house. one peace corps volunteer (pcv) did, and had to be removed from her site because the basotho thought she was committing bestiality, and the situation became dangerous for her. i've also been learning about how hiv is percieved, or isn't percieved, in lesotho. basically, many people still refuse to talk about it, as they refuse to talk about other things. they are very open about sex, as long as it's between a man and a woman. homosexuality isn't recognized here, though people will admit that some men will sleep together. they don't recognize that as homosexual, though. they also claim to practice monogomy, though it seems common for men and women both to have partners on the side. i've also been taught how to bath in a plastic tub, and had to go shopping for a pee bucket yesterday, for when i need to use the bathroom at night. fun times. the basotho are very clean people, and have specific rituals for each day, such as doing laundry, bathing, etc. if you wait to do laundry at the end of the week, people will apparently see your underwear hanging out to dry and wonder why you need so much underwear at once, then ask where a specific article went when they don't see it up again. also, you can't hang your underwear so that it's stretched, or people will ask what size it is.
i've met a few people who are heading the sites to which a will potentially go, and all possible projects sound interesting. i learned about gardening a couple days ago. they use a natural pesticide involving onion, garlic, soap, and spices in water, and fertilize with poo water ( a mixture of animal poo and water). i'm appartently going to learn how to make solar panels later, which i'm excited about.
i was going to try to post pictures, but can't find a flash drive on the computer. will do later.
i have a phone. if you want to get a calling card, and want my number, let me know. it's too expensive to call from here. i might be able to text.
keep in touch.
ann
Friday, June 15, 2007
Funny Story...
i was on the way to the airport yesterday to fly to jo-burg, and happened to get really sick. ems had to come and take me to a hospital. it was fun times. i was cleared in a couple hours, and am fine now, but of course i missed my flight. i had to go into peace corps hq this morning to get cleared by them and get a new flight. i am now flying to amsterdam at 5:30, then to jo-burg, i spend the night there, and fly to lesotho on sunday morning. fun times.
other than that, things are going well. staging wasn't nearly as bad as most orientations. there are about 22 of us going to lesotho, and another 22-24 people were in staging with us and are going to swaziland. that was nice, because now we can visit one another. groups heading to madagascar and georgia were also at the hotel. everyone is really cool, and they were amazing when i got sick yesterday. i'm really excited that i'm still going to be able to head to lesotho, and that i'll be meeting up with them in a couple of days. whew. hope all is well with you guys.
other than that, things are going well. staging wasn't nearly as bad as most orientations. there are about 22 of us going to lesotho, and another 22-24 people were in staging with us and are going to swaziland. that was nice, because now we can visit one another. groups heading to madagascar and georgia were also at the hotel. everyone is really cool, and they were amazing when i got sick yesterday. i'm really excited that i'm still going to be able to head to lesotho, and that i'll be meeting up with them in a couple of days. whew. hope all is well with you guys.
Monday, June 11, 2007
flickr
i set up a flickr account today at www.flickr.com/photos/ascheunemann/. right now, there are just picture from the last 6 months, and they aren't really organized. hopefully i'll get to that sometime soon (like tomorrow, since that's the last day that i know i'll have computer access for a while). anyways, i'll be posting pictures there as i have pictures worth posting. hopefully i'll remember to let you know when i've added to the site.
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