[Edit: As of March 2016, I was no longer affiliated with the Peace Corps, but was still in Lesotho as an independent volunteer doing the exact same thing.]
Hey Everyone! Welcome to my blog chronicling my Peace Corps service in Lesotho from October 2014 to October 2016, and then several months of traveling in Africa until February 2017.
My Job:
My primary assignment was to be a secondary school math teacher, but I was also involved in secondary projects that include HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, computer and life skills classes, a grant for school fees, a grant for a new classroom on campus, self-defense classes, workshops and trainings, a GLOW camp, and teaching English and gymnastics at the orphanage.
Ten things you should know about Lesotho:
1) It's pronounced le-soo-too. (Now the title of the blog makes sense...it's funny...right?)
2) It's a very small country, about the size of Maryland, and it is entirely surrounded by South Africa. If South Africa is the doughnut, Lesotho is the doughnut hole. A country like this is called an enclave. Lesotho, San Marino (surrounded by Italy), and Vatican City (surrounded by Rome) are the only three enclaves in the world.
3) Lesotho is a kingdom, commonly referred to as the "Mountain Kingdom" because...
4) it is a very mountainous country, having the highest low point of any country in the world...
5) meaning that yes, it does get cold in the winter, and it does snow, despite being the same latitude of Houston (but on the southern hemisphere).
6) 99% of the population is of the Basotho ethnicity. With such an ethnically similar population, they have managed to avoid much of the civil conflict that many other African countries have experienced.
7) The spoken language is Sesotho (you're seeing a "-sotho" linguistic pattern here, I hope), and English is the second language, as Lesotho was a former English colony.
8) Lesotho has a bit more than 2 million people, almost half of whom are children.
9) Lesotho has the third highest AIDS rate in the world, with about 1 in 4 adults suffering from the disease.
10) The national motto is "khotso, pula, nala," which translates to "peace, rain, prosperity."
Disclaimer:
These posts are my own thoughts. The man doesn't tell me what to write here.
Hey Everyone! Welcome to my blog chronicling my Peace Corps service in Lesotho from October 2014 to October 2016, and then several months of traveling in Africa until February 2017.
My Job:
My primary assignment was to be a secondary school math teacher, but I was also involved in secondary projects that include HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, computer and life skills classes, a grant for school fees, a grant for a new classroom on campus, self-defense classes, workshops and trainings, a GLOW camp, and teaching English and gymnastics at the orphanage.
Ten things you should know about Lesotho:
1) It's pronounced le-soo-too. (Now the title of the blog makes sense...it's funny...right?)
2) It's a very small country, about the size of Maryland, and it is entirely surrounded by South Africa. If South Africa is the doughnut, Lesotho is the doughnut hole. A country like this is called an enclave. Lesotho, San Marino (surrounded by Italy), and Vatican City (surrounded by Rome) are the only three enclaves in the world.
3) Lesotho is a kingdom, commonly referred to as the "Mountain Kingdom" because...
4) it is a very mountainous country, having the highest low point of any country in the world...
5) meaning that yes, it does get cold in the winter, and it does snow, despite being the same latitude of Houston (but on the southern hemisphere).
6) 99% of the population is of the Basotho ethnicity. With such an ethnically similar population, they have managed to avoid much of the civil conflict that many other African countries have experienced.
7) The spoken language is Sesotho (you're seeing a "-sotho" linguistic pattern here, I hope), and English is the second language, as Lesotho was a former English colony.
8) Lesotho has a bit more than 2 million people, almost half of whom are children.
9) Lesotho has the third highest AIDS rate in the world, with about 1 in 4 adults suffering from the disease.
10) The national motto is "khotso, pula, nala," which translates to "peace, rain, prosperity."
Disclaimer:
These posts are my own thoughts. The man doesn't tell me what to write here.
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