Adventures in Lesotho: My Adventures in Lesotho

Now that I am back in the US and my jet lag has almost subsided (I start yawning at 9:30 instead of 5:30), I finally have had the chance to write this last post. The past week has been hectic; we left TTL in a rush due to a medical emergency and as soon as I arrived back in South Bend I had to begin preparing for my master’s project defense, which I successfully completed and passed…what a relief! I’ve been thinking about this last post for a while, and there are so many things I could write about. But I think I’d like to keep it short and sweet, highlighting some of the things I learned during my adventures in Lesotho.

To start, there are sooooo many things related to health and development that I could talk about. During my time there I had long discussions with the fellows about ways to improve TTL’s outreach in Lesotho and here in the U.S. (feel free to visit their website and donate at www.touchingtinylives.org!) We also often discussed ways in which the people of Mokhotlong could gain capacity, one of them being through local markets. Almost all goods and resources in Lesotho are exported, mostly because the infrastructure is so poor in the rural areas that tourism doesn’t bring in any money. But as they continue to improve the roads, or possibly even build a huge hydroelectric dam in Mokhotlong, there is so much that can be done to improve the livelihood of the people there (starting with a displacement strategy for the villages that will get completely flooded from the building of a new dam). Unfortunately, though, one thing I did learn about being in a developing country is that entrepreneurship doesn’t really exist there. I talked with several people about improving agricultural practices or teaching women to knit the wool sheered from all of the sheep and goats, both things that could lead to markets or improved capacity for the people in the villages. The problem is that people in these situations are often afraid to try something new because if it doesn’t work, well, they simply have nothing to fall back on. I realized while I was there that it is so easy for us to come up with these new ideas for development, but uptake in communities is difficult because unlike us, they don’t have loans to start out with or savings to fall back on – their entire subsistence lies in the fields and gardens they grow, or in the joala they sell. As depressing as this may sound, it is one of the things that excites me most in global health and development work because it is a challenge that not many people are willing to take on, but should. And when you see organizations like TTL accept these challenges and succeed, that is truly invigorating.

Khatse Hydroelectric Dam located in the center of Lesotho.

A rondavel in a community that has run out of rocks to use.

When I first arrived at TTL I put up a post about the babies in the safe home and my family (mostly my dad!) has been begging me for an update since. Well here it is! There were 13 children in the safe home during my first two weeks in Mokhotlong, but by the time I left there were only about 7 or 8. It seemed as if every week another child I fell in love with was healthy enough (really, chubby enough) to be reunited with their families. I would selfishly get sad every time another child left just because I loved playing with them so much – their smiles just melt your heart! But watching them go was also uplifting because I knew that TTL had given them a chance at life, which they might not have otherwise had. My prime example of this is the little twins who broke everyone’s hearts 5 weeks ago. The sister and brother came into the safe home at 6 weeks old, only about 4 pounds each. Their bones were all protruding and they were simply lifeless, distant little children. As the weeks went on I watched them grow and by the time I left their progress simply amazed me. I remember being in the safe home one night holding a baby who was making my arms tired, but I couldn’t put him down because making him smile was just too cute. I realized that I didn’t recognize this baby, so I turned and asked the Bo’me (the women who work in the safe home) who he was. Turns out, he was the twin boy! I was in complete shock; he looked like a normal-sized baby, unrecognizable from when he came in…pretty remarkable. As we all know, his sister entered the safe home in much worse condition: she needed a feeding tube and barely had enough energy to make a sound. As you might also imagine, the safe home gets pretty noisy when all 8 babies decide to start crying at once. When this round of crying started one afternoon, I heard the voice of one baby lying on some pillows having yet to be picked up. I went over to grab the child and to my surprise it was the twin girl. Now, you’d think it’s kind of sad when a baby cries, but boy was I happy to see her letting out some screams! It was the first sign of her progress toward being a normal, healthy two month old. I held her for a long time that afternoon, being a total BH (“Baby Hog”) as my family would say. I couldn’t help taking in her progress: she babbled a bit, waved her arms and kicked her legs non-stop, and her cheeks were filling out – there might’ve even been a little chubbiness to them! Holding her and reflecting on her journey thus far really made every trip into the safe home and into the villages worth it. Not going to lie, just writing about her story is putting a smile on my face.

Her first few week in the safe home

A few weeks into the safe home.

5 weeks in the safe home - chubby cheeks!

Healthy and growing twins!

Teaching one boy how to count and spell his name in the safe home.

I had a professor once say that being in global health your goal is to “work yourself out of a job.” Eventually, we’d like to reach a point where our on-the-ground support is transferred to the local people…even to a point where every child is no longer at a risk for malnourishment and every adult can receive medicines for fully treatable disease…we’d even like to see a time where diseases like HIV/AIDS are eliminated from our world entirely. But so far, our work is far from over. The things I saw in Lesotho were eye opening, in both good and bad ways. There were a lot of happy times while I was there, but there were also moments of deep sadness at the sheer condition of life in Mokhotlong. If I wasn’t inspired enough to be in global health before, this trip definitely put me over the edge – there is so much we can do in this world to help others, so why not do it?! I am so excited to graduate with an MS in Global Health two weeks from today, mostly because I know that I have the knowledge and skills so to go out and advocate, educate, and personally make a positive change in the health care and lives of others. I can only hope that the stories from my journey have inspired you to take a look at your own life, realize how lucky we are as Americans, and see how capable we are of helping others even in the simplest ways.

An outreach worker counting a young girl's pills.

Some young children on outreach...

To be honest, I really wasn’t ready to leave Lesotho yet. As much as I missed my family and friends (and cheeseburgers!), there was still so much more to learn, so much more to do. I am so thankful that I got to experience such a wonderful country and culture, and got to meet some amazing people and work with such a unique organization. I definitely couldn’t have asked for a better field experience…. I’m already looking forward to my next visit to the Mountain Kingdom (mom and dad, I hope you are on board!). I’m going to end this final post by leaving you with a list of a few of the most notable things I learned/discovered in Lesotho...

1. Believe it or not, it does snow in Africa.

2. Time is not a thing…when you tell someone to meet you at a specific time, expect him or her to be at least 30 minutes late.

3. Don’t call people “silly”…they will get offended! If you want to say they are playful, tell them they are “funny.” (Silly can imply sexual promiscuity.)

4. Before attempting to drink from a community water source, ask how it works first. Otherwise, you may end up like M’e Kokenyana, covered in water for a long drive on outreach.

Just after the water shot out upwards and sprayed her in the face!

5. Fully expect to fall asleep to the sweet sounds of barking dogs, and fully expect to wake up to the calming sounds of cows moo-ing.

My new alarm clock.

6. When someone sneezes and you say “God bless you,” don’t be surprised when they say, “What?” Blessing after a sneeze is just not a thing there. (If you are like me, though, you will say it to everyone anyway…spread the love!)

7. Kids are never actually in school. Maybe it’s because there are very few classrooms at the school, but I swear every time we drove by a school they were on lunch break or recess. An American child’s dream!

8. When you order pizza, be prepared for it to taste like bar-b-que sauce. Weird, I know. But you have been warned...

9. Church is 4 hours long. No, that is not a joke. I went once while I was there, and it took about 1.5 hours just to finish singing and dancing as people donated change to the congregation.

10. Basotho love all things gospel music…as well as Usher, Akon, and the song, “I’m sexy and I know it.”

11. Speaking of music, a JoJo is not a 90’s pop one-hit wonder, it’s a water storage device. The JoJo’s are pretty cool, they are huge tanks that capture and store water runoff from building roofs…innovative and environmentally friendly!

12. Lu’s and Li’s are pronounced Du’s and Di’s…don’t ask why.

13. Speed bumps are actually called “Humped zebra crossing”…just read the signs!

I wasn't kidding!

14. Don’t eat too many makoenya’s…you will gain some kilos!

Colleen and I eating out makoenya!

15. Sing, dance, and pray to start every day. Even at work. You will be happier, and it really gets those endorphins going!

I hope you enjoyed my blog and that you enjoy the pictures and video below. I will miss writing about Lesotho almost as much as I will miss the country itself. If you have any questions or want to hear more about specific things I’ve written about or didn’t write about, feel free to email me at ann.m.polcari@gmail.com….Until my next adventure in Lesotho, salang hantle!!