This week has been a mixture of both highs and lows, with a great weekend part of it. Being ill in a foreign country isn't fun, especially in such hot heat, but it's been made a lot better from swimming in a rock pool and having a couple of home comforts in coffee and pasta.
Day 22 (Mafeteng)
Well today has been interesting. Following the team frustrations last week, Mabiotelo (the programme supervisor here in Lesotho) came to hold a mediation with the LENEPWHA team. This happened relatively late in the day, following quite a positive day of running and planning Week Four's sessions, so luckily most of us were in a positive frame of mind going in to the discussion. While I don't see things getting better straight away, it is good to know that concerns here are taken seriously and that our team relationship is important to Skillshare.
Monday's also seem to be my homesick day, because I realise both how long I have been away, and how many weeks I still have left here (in a good way). Time here is speeding up so quickly now that we are into a schedule, and it's crazy to think that in two weeks we will have hit he halfway mark. This being Week Four means that we should soon become more comfortable in our sessions, such as the one at Bereng High School today, which was far more relaxed and positive than last week's. I'm really hopeful that this continues, and a positive outlook remains.
Day 23 (Mafeteng)
So, I'm ill. It's nothing too serious, but I'm feeling pretty rundown, which I think owes to not drinking enough water/ eating enough or a lack of fruit in my diet. This has been a good warning sign of me to up my water intake. As we're often quite busy here, I can forget to keep drinking properly, and am now paying the price through headaches and body aches.
Because I woke up feeling so rough, I didn't go to the support group session today, and instead Coach and Mathapelo went along instead. We should begin working with them properly from next week, running sessions for orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) and helping with some infrastructure projects. I did feel well enough to go to the school this afternoon, but didn't run a huge amount of the session. I really do hate being ill away from home, so hopefully this will pass soon and I'll be back to normal.
Day 24 (Mafeteng)
I'm still ill, but I think I'm slowly getting better, which is a good enough sign. Without paracetamol, I would be aching all over, so I spend a lot of the time just trying to rest up and conserve energy. I also have an awful cough which seems to kick off when I speak normally, but not when I speak in a higher pitch, so I have a choice of sounding like a pre-pubescent boy, or like a smoke 40-a-day, which isn't a great situation. Hopefully it all calms down soon, and my Catch 22 voice situation will resolve itself.
On the other hand, our sessions this week seem to be going well, apart from one class who have continued to be difficult. I thought at first it may have been a language problem, but instead it seems mainly to be an issue with general laziness. Today we ended the session early and asked them to come back next week with more energy and willingness to engage with us as session leaders. The deputy headmaster is also joining us next week, which should see some results.
While that example may be a bit negative, our sessions at Mafeteng Primary School continue to go well. Here we are running a programme on substance abuse - an issue here in Lesotho that seems to be a hidden problem. The kids here all engage in the games and sessions we run, and out debriefs assure us that they are learning about the dangers of drugs, and the impact of substances on the mind and body.
Day 25 (Mafeteng)
Another working week done and dusted, and I'm beginning to feel much better. This week we have Friday off as we need to go to Maseru to get our residence permits and will be staying there all weekend for an ICS social trip. As our week's are getting quite similar, it's nice to have a variation of activities at weekends.
Today we met some people from the US who are here as members of the Peace Corps. They're spending two years here, working on various projects around Lesotho. I definitely could not spend two years away from home - ten weeks already seems like enough! I'm already dreaming of a roast dinner after four weeks, after two years of dread to think what I'd do for gravy. Or McDonalds. The food here may be good (at times) but nothing can beat home cooking. I mis pasta. And chilli. And Nando's. It's painful to know that the Nando's homeland is just a short border away.
Day 28 (Maseru)
This weekend has been a great chance to reconnect as a volunteer team, as we've been staying back at the guesthouse since Friday for our first ICS social event.
On Friday, we were required to go to the Home Office to collect our residence permits, which, as all things in Lesotho, took a lot longer than expected. Following this, we were able to spend the rest of the day relaxing, with myself, Conrad, Katie and Ciaran going to the supermarket to get ingredients for dinner. We decided to cook Spaghetti Bolognese for the team, which meant cooking and prepping a meal for 30 people. Apart from a few national volunteers, the food went down really well, and was a great chance for us UK volunteers to share food that we would normally eat at home. It was also great to cook for the first time in four weeks. I also got my first proper coffee for four weeks today. It was the best thing.
On Saturday, we took a day trip to one of Lesotho's national parks, which was incredible. We got the chance to hike some of the mountains and went for a swim in a rock pool, and has been a great chance to reflect and look towards the next six weeks. We also had a huge barbecue as a group, which meant we got some great food cooked Lesotho-style. Having a barbecue in February was quite an odd experience though! Exploring different parts of the country is a great opportunity, and it seems like the weeks are going so quickly here, so I'm trying to make the most of every chance that comes up.
One thing that has been noticeable this weekend has has been an increasing divide between the UK and in-country volunteer groups. Individually, we all get on really well, but as two separate groups, our cultural differences are magnified which can lead to increased tensions. As a UK team, we've all come committed ourselves to improving this next week when we go back to Maseru for mid-term review, so hopefully this will improve
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