Day 29 (Mafeteng)
It's very odd how normal it now feels to be in Lesotho. I have adjusted to the new lifestyle in a good way, although I am still missing home and friends and family. It's hard to believe that we're now at the beginning of the halfway point - these first four weeks have flown by so quickly and it's nearly the end of February. In just six weeks time we'll be heading home, which seems crazy. Reminding myself how little time we have left here puts the work we still have to do in perspective.
I'm also now feeling much more relaxed in our sessions, and am starting to get familiar with teachers and pupils. This is great for fostering strong relationships with the schools, and to talk openly and clearly about our experiences.
Day 31 (Mafeteng)
Week five. How is it even week five already? It's really starting to hit home that we are about to get to the halfway point. I'm not going to lie, going home is an exciting prospect, but there's still a lot more of Lesotho that I want to see and achieve before we leave. And we still have sun here. I'm not that stupid.
This week, our sessions are focused on self-confidence, which means we are running more talk-based sessions than in other weeks. Today's session with Marsentle High School, however, may have been the most rewarding session I have run so far. Our class here is close to finishing school, and therefore looking to what they want to do when they leave the education system. I got the class to share their aspirations with the group, so everyone is aware of what profession they hope to enter, in a hope that they can all support each other to get there. High School education is not free in Lesotho, and these kids are lucky - now they just have to believe in their abilities to get where they want to be. They want to be accountants and nurses and teachers, and they all have the drive to her there, so these session have been really rewarding from a facilitation point of view.
Day 32 (Mafeteng)
Today has been pretty interesting, with the CEO and two trustees of Skillshare International coming to visit our team in Mafeteng. They are currently visiting the three ICS bases across Southern Africa, in Lesotho, Botswana and Cape Town. This face us a chance to highlight the positive work that the ICS programme carries out in communities, and also the personal development impact this is having on us too. They all got to watch Daisy and Ntabiseng run a session with a local girls football team, demonstrating the types of activities we run in our sessions and how we teach life skills.
I also saw today that the next batch of volunteers have their training next week! It's so odd that the next team are already being prepped to come out here, while it feels like we've only just arrived. I think we are going to try and prepare something for the new guys while away on our midterm review this weekend, so they can start getting even more excited about this opportunity!
Day 33 (Mafeteng)
I am so ready for this weekend it is unreal. Apart from a visit to a support group tomorrow morning, I am now done for the week and will be heading to Maseru on Sunday for our midterm review.
Today we had a LENEPWHA team meeting, which has helped us realise that we are beginning to see positive changes in some of the schools we visit, and this is after only four weeks in Mafeteng. When we leave here, we should be able to see some real changes in the attitudes of the kids we have been working with, which is a real motivator for the second half of our time here.
We decided today that as a team we would begin looking for new opportunities in the local community to volunteer ourselves for. As I still have quite a few mornings free, I would quite like to work more with some other classes, either through teaching or helping a school with resource development or infrastructure. This may help solve some of the morning-boredom I can get, and would be really useful for our second half.
Day 34 (Mafeteng)
Hello March. Time is flying and tomorrow we head to Maseru for our midterm review. By the time we get back, we will have less time here than we have spent, and I really do not feel ready to leave. I go trough phases where sometimes I'm really excited to go home, to others when I want to stay here longer. It doesn't help that I do still feel quite ill and have had to keep dosing myself up. Hopefully I will feel better after a few days away!
Day 35 (Maseru)
Okay, I am incredibly sunburnt. We arrived in Maseru today for the midterm review, which is a chance for is to reflect on our experiences so far, and how we can maximise this for our final five weeks in the host communities. As Sunday is our free day, we decided to head to a local hotel for a swim and a couple of beers, and I foolishly 'forgot' to wear suncream. Hence the burn all over my chest.
I'm really excited to spend the next few days with the group and seeing how everyone's experiences have been. Today is the official halfway point, and these UK volunteers are already like a new family.
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