"Welcome to the Mountain Kingdom"

So after two full days of travel I finally reached TTL in Mokhotlong on Wednesday night.  I was not only super exhausted from the trip, but pretty overwhelmed by everything that's happened!

The flight from Johannesburg to Maseru was surprisingly the easiest part of the trip.  I stepped off the plane in Joberg, headed straight for Gate A29 to Maseru, handed the gate attendant my ticket, and got on a bus (What?? A bus?? I thought I was supposed to be flying??).  Turns out we took this bus to the plane, but not before driving, in traffic, under jetways and huge aircrafts.  The plane to Maseru was super small, and I was very excited to have a window seat because the views coming into Lesotho were beautiful - it went from mid-west style farms to plateaus covered with small homes to a never-ending mountain range.

Plane from Johannesburg, South Africa to Maseru, Lesotho.

Maseru's airport (called "Moshoeshoe I" after the founding king of Lesotho) was reminiscent of South Bend, except I didn't actually see a terminal while I was there.  Customs was quick and easy, nothing like security at home in the US.  The Basotho in the airport were also extremely friendly.  Seeing a white girl with light hair is just a bit out of the ordinary for them, so I got tons of questions about where I was going and if I'd ever been to Lesotho before.  I also got laughed at some for completely butchering Mokhlotlong's name...apparently the "k" is silent!  While I was sitting alone waiting for Jenn (a TTL fellow) to pick me up, about 4 people asked if I wanted to use their phone to call her; they were all quite shocked when I told them I didn't have her number (in hindsight, it might've been good to have).

Driving through Maseru with Jenn was a very interesting experience.  First off, I was completely thrown off guard when I walked up to the car and the passenger seat was on the left.  I kept feeling like we were driving on the wrong side of the road.  I also quickly learned that the rules of the road are very loose in Lesotho, it's kind of a free-for-all out there!  I was highly impressed with how Jenn handled it considering it was as if she was driving backwards.

Our first stop in Maseru was the mall (of course), where we went grocery shopping at "Pick n' Pay" to stock up on food for the next 3 weeks.  It actually had a lot of American food, which was exciting for this picky eater.  I almost had a heart attack, though, when the girl at checkout said to me, "916 please."  WHAT?!?  It took me a minute to realize we were talking 916 Maloti, which is actually less than US$100...phew!  My first meal in Lesotho was also at the mall, a cheeseburger and fries (or "chips" as they are called here) - could I be any more American??  My only other options in the food court were pizza and KFC though, so I'm chalking it up to the limited selection.

Finally after running a bunch of errands we took off for TTL in Mokhotlong.  I had no idea until I got here, but the drive from Maseru to Mokhotlong is 6 hours long!  I found out that because of all the mountains, you actually have to drive northeast to the South African border site called Butha Buthe (pronounced "boota bootay") before heading back southeast to Mokhotlong.  I dozed off a bunch on the trip because I was so tired from traveling, but the drive was still pretty incredible.  It seemed as if everywhere I looked there was a shepherd herding cattle or sheep in the fields.  We actually had to stop at one point for a shepherd chasing his cattle that decided to cross the road.

Cattle crossing the dirt roads.  He didn't stop for us, that's for sure!

I was also surprised how much the homes along the road reminded me of the homes in southern Quito, Ecuador.  Although less colorful, many of them were the same shape with rocks holding on tin roofs.  The homes in Mokhotlong are mostly this fashion, too.  I hear it's not until you reach the more rural areas where you begin to see the more traditional style homes (with thatched roofs and all!).  The other thing that amazed me was the number of children walking home from school in the dark at 6:30pm.  It gets dark pretty early because it's winter here, but one of the local workers from TTL told me that many kids have to walk between 2 and 3 hours to get to school each day.  I get the feeling that people have to pretty much walk anywhere they want to go here.

So as I mentioned the drive to TTL is basically entirely through mountains, but the craziest part is that halfway through the trip the paved road becomes spotted with big patches of dirt until finally the road is entirely made of dirt.  Most of the road was actually smooth, but there were a ton of big ruts and I was pleasantly surprised when the car tires didn't pop when we hit some of them.  I got a bit frightened as night fell and all we had between us and rolling down the mountain were some high-beam headlights.  Almost all of Mokhotlong is also unpaved.  It was relieving when we finally arrived at TTL and I was able to unwind before bed.  I fell asleep reflecting on the day, especially thinking about how one quote from an immigration officer in the airport pretty much summed up the trip for me.  Short and simple, all he said to me was, "Welcome to the Mountain Kingdom."

View on the drive from Maseru to Mokhotlong.

I'm Leaving On A Jet Plane...

I finally made it to Lesotho safe and sound last night, had a busy day today, and have finally gotten on to write a new post.  I have only been here for a day and I have so much to share!  I'm going to have to post all of the things I've learned and experienced so far in separate posts so I don't bore anyone, and I'm going to start with this journal entry I wrote on the way here...

"On the plane to South Africa!!  Leaving my dad at the airport this morning brought to life a mix of emotions...sad to leave home and the people I love for six weeks, excitement for the incredible journey ahead of me, and tons of irrational fears like What if they don't let me on the plane at security because I forgot to take all of the water bottles out of my bag?  And as I sit on the plane right now, halfway across the world, I still can't believe that I'm about to be spending the next six weeks in one of the most remote places in Africa.

I'm going to Africa!  I've never really expressed this to anyone, but I was pretty dead-set on having my field experience take place in Africa.  The multitude of cultures has always intrigued me and the devastating stories we hear about poverty and disease I just had to see for myself - mostly so I could learn how to fix these issues.  I still don't think the reality of this experience has truly hit me yet, so I guess I'm in for quite a rude awakening when step off the plane.  I don't know if all the preparation in the world could really get me ready for this experience!

My plane from JFK, USA to Johannesburg, South Africa.

What's also funny is I've had to hold myself back from taking a bunch of pictures in the airport and on the plane already.  It's as if everything that represents this trip or says the word 'Africa' needs to be documented.  I guess it's just a product of all the excitement...or am I just crazy?! (It's okay, I know everyone is probably thinking crazy.)

But seriously you should've seen the meal on this flight!  It was like having all the options of South Dining Hall on my tray!  Sweet & sour chicken with rice and veggies, a salad with light Italian dressing, TWO dinner rolls, cheese & crackers, and cheescake...yum!  I was going to take a picture of it, but I held back out of embarrassment. Maybe I will build up the courage to snap a pic by meal #2.

So I did build up the courage to take a picture of breakfast, not as extravagant 

as dinner but still so good.  P.S. I ate that raspberry yogurt Mom and Dad!

One thing that's definitely pumped me up so far is the number of people I met on this flight headed to Africa to do global health work.  A lot of times at home I feel like people don't really understand what global health is, what exactly it is I'm studying, and why I've become so passionate about it.  It's hard to find people who don't think I'm a little bit insane to go spend six weeks in a place where I need to boil the water before drinking it just to avoid getting sick.  So far I've met one girl headed to Zambia for one year to do research for her PhD in nutrition at Cornell (she already has a Master's in Public Health!), an undergraduate student going to Zimbabwe to complete research for his senior thesis, and a few students from Clinton's School of Service (including the guy on the plane next to me) on their way to Uganda to help a college create sustainable agricultural projects through Community Based Participatory Research (ND's Center for Social Concerns would be proud!).  It's amazing meeting so many people hoping to go out and change the world!  I can only hope myself and these new friends of mine can truly have an impact on the lives of the people we are serving."

More posts coming soon with plenty of new pictures to add! Until next time!

Lesotho Here I Come!

Tomorrow morning, before most people are even awake, I will be headed to the airport for 3 flights, totaling just about 24 hours, that will eventually land me in Lesotho.  "Lesotho?" you might be asking yourself (like almost every other person has asked me when I tell them where I'll be spending the next six weeks).  Well the answer is yes, Lesotho, and yes, it does exist.

Lesotho is a small country, with a population of just over 2 million, located in the middle of South Africa (the country, not the region).  It is basically a small dot on the map that is generally overlooked.  It is one of only two countries completely surrounded by another country, and it's official name is the Kingdom of Lesotho.  In fact, the government is actually a constitutional monarchy, meaning they have a King (Letsie III) who rules as head of state under their constitutional laws...so cool!  This is not too surprising, though, considering Lesotho was a British territory until it gained full independence on October 4, 1966 (crazy to think my parents are technically older than this country is, sorry mom and dad!).

Looking at pictures of Lesotho (see the background of this blog) one can see it is a place of beauty: mountains upon mountains upon mountains...valleys filled with bright blue water...small brick huts with thatched roofs where the Bastho (people of Lesotho) live.  But inside many of these small homes is a struggle that most of us here in the US are unfamiliar with.  For example, 43% of Lesotho citizens are living below the international poverty line...that's less than $1.25 a day (imagine!).  On top of that, an estimated 24% of people are living with HIV/AIDS, one of the highest rates of this disease in the entire world.  Furthermore, 13% of all children less than 5 years old are suffering from moderate to severe malnutrition.  All of these facts are unnerving, and you will see that they are much of the reason why I'm headed to Lesotho.

My first destination within Lesotho is the capital city of Maseru (mah-say-roo, emphasis on the "roo"), where I will be staying for one night when I arrive.  My final destination will be Mokhotlong, a town nestled deep in the mountains on the western side of the country.  There, I will be staying at the headquarters of Touching Tiny Lives (TTL), a non-profit organization started by a Notre Dame grad (don't you love it already!) with his wife in 2005.  While the husband and wife were working as Peace Corps volunteers in Lesotho, they were approached by a social worker with a little boy abandoned in a thunderstorm by his family, who no longer had the means to support him.  Taking care of this child led to caring for many more children, the development of a "safe-home", and along with that came the birth of Touching Tiny Lives.  TTL still runs this safe home, which houses small children who are extremely malnourished or need immediate HIV treatment, and it also now serves more than 700 children under the age of 5, most of whom are HIV+, through community outreach services.  I will be living at the safe-home for my entire stay in Lesotho.

So, why go to TTL?  Besides the fact that it's an organization with an awesome cause and I get to take care of cute children (who could say no to that?!), I will also be doing research as a requirement for obtaining my Master's of Science Global Health from Notre Dame this July.  My research consists of surveying caregivers of the children who receive TTL's outreach services, along with caregivers of children who are HIV+ and do not receive outreach services (my comparison group for you science and statistics nerds out there!), in order to evaluate the effectiveness of TTL's outreach with regard to antiretroviral therapy adherence.  Phew, that was a mouthful of technical jargon!

Let me explain a bit further...Antiretroviral therapy (ART) is the HIV medication that must be taken every day in order to be effective in keeping the virus at very low levels in the body.  In other words, if you take it correctly, you can prevent disease progression to AIDS.  The problem is, many people do not have access to the medications, and even if they do various obstacles prevent them from properly adhering to the ART regimen.  Some of these barriers include no money for transportation to the clinic, side effects of the drugs, not understanding the drug regimen, or simply forgetting to take it (we are all human after all!).  TTL's outreach services are designed to help people overcome these barriers by providing caregivers with nutritional supplements, cash for transport to the clinic, and check-ups on ART adherence.  My job will be to evaluate whether or not these outreach services are actually accomplishing what they intend to do.

I am really excited to take off for Lesotho, and a bit nervous too (Sesotho is the native language there, so English is not going to get me very far!).  I know this is going be an amazing adventure and one that will probably change my life.  I look forward to sharing this journey with you, so keep checking in for stories and pictures from my adventures in Lesotho!