Here is a look at one day in my village. While most things that happened could occur any day, it was actually my birthday.
0500: I awake, surprised to see dawn breaking after it rained all night. I put my solar panel outside and laugh as I listen to my goofy Dad’s birthday message on WhatsApp before burrowing under the covers with a book. Thanks to the rain, my hut is cool enough to enjoy the covers for the first time in a few months.
0500: I awake, surprised to see dawn breaking after it rained all night. I put my solar panel outside and laugh as I listen to my goofy Dad’s birthday message on WhatsApp before burrowing under the covers with a book. Thanks to the rain, my hut is cool enough to enjoy the covers for the first time in a few months.
0600: I hop out
of bed, make some oatmeal, and enjoy a cup of cold-brewed, care package coffee.
The second I am finished with breakfast I start cleaning. Although my birthday would
seem like a great excuse to procrastinate on cleaning, last night’s rain was
the first ground-saturating storm since September. I am overjoyed at the chance
to get the dust and sand out of my house, knowing it will be at least a few
days before the sandy soil dries enough to be blown back in.
In the midst of my cleaning frenzy, my ‘M’e comes in. I am a
bit embarrassed by the huge pile of sand blocking her entry, but she does not
seem bothered by it. She confirms that it is, in fact, my birthday before
telling me that she is making dinner for me tonight and that my brothers will
buy a chicken for our dinner. I am blown
away. My host family does not have extra money or food, so the fact that
they are not only going to feed me but are going to buy a chicken to do so is
an incredible gift. I find myself blinking back tears as I try to express my
gratitude and convey my excitement.
0930:
I finish
cleaning my house and myself just in time for my morning meeting. Before I can
start the twenty minute walk to work, my phone rings. It is ‘M’e ‘Malerato, the
representative from the Ministry of Agriculture who will be conducting our
training today. She has arrived, thirty minutes early, which is quite unusual
here in Lesotho.
As I speed walk to meet her, I marvel at the beauty around
me. Last night’s rain has eliminated all the dust from the air. The sky is more
azure than it has been in months, the mountains more crisply outlined, the remaining
clouds fluffy and white like those the Care Bears call home.
1100:
Enough of
the women from MCCC have arrived, so we start our training. We open with
prayer, as is custom in all meetings in Lesotho, even those conducted by
government officials. We have been waiting for this training since May, our
chicken project stagnant until we learn more. A miscommunication means we
actually end up being trained on meat chickens instead of laying chickens,
however, they promise to return to do the other training next week.
‘M’e ‘Malerato leads us through an enterprise analysis for
the meat chickens, using current pricing for chickens, feed, medicine, etc. She
charges us to find and talk to our markets before we invest any money. Our
local Ministry of Agriculture representative, ‘M’e Thandi, then goes teaches us
about caring for meat chickens.
In the midst of the training, I step outside to accept a
phone call from my best friend in America. This is his first time calling me in
Africa and I am grateful that local culture makes it rude to ignore a call even
when one is busy working. We only chat a few minutes as it is morning in the
States and he needs to go to work, but hearing his voice is wonderful.
1300:
Our
training is complete. We thank our trainers and they depart. I discuss the
English Reading Group we are starting for the local children thanks to book
donations from Trees for Life. I assume we are winding down and will depart,
however, Bo-‘M’e have other plans.
Thus, we begin a meeting about the Achaar project we started
in December. I learn that during my vacation in Durban over Christmas, they
met, made, and sold a second batch of Achaar as the first sold out in days.
Over the next few hours, they passionately discuss money and plans. I give an
impromptu lesson in simple bookkeeping as there is confusion over how much
money we should have and what our profit is. We make plans to secure supplies
and make another batch of Achaar.
1700: I return
home ecstatic to see that my feet are still clean. Now that we finally got
rain, I am noticing just how big of an impact this drought has had on my
everyday life. I spent my time noticing the big picture impacts: the lack of
gardens in the village, the taps in other villages that have gone dry, the
empty fields that should have meter tall maize already, and the livestock
looking emaciated due to lack of grazing. I gloss over the little impacts like
the sandy road coating my legs and feet with dirt, the dustpan full of sand I
sweep from my house every morning only to have it blow back in by afternoon,
the sunglasses protecting my eyes from the dust that blows around. As a result,
it seems astonishing to me to have walked on our sandy roads for forty minutes
without dirtying my feet. I almost do not recognize them because they are so
white!
Before I go into the house, I see my friend at the Chief’s. I
pop over to say hello. We discuss her daughter’s wedding and make plans for me
to come to dinner in a few days so she can see my many photos. After she
leaves, the Chief and I chat, scheduling a meeting for the following morning.
He gives me a birthday hug.
I return home and relax for a bit. My brother stops in with
a stack of eight letters for me, mostly Christmas cards. The stack includes a
slew of photos of my best friend’s family to decorate my walls. I use my phone
to connect with the world outside of the village. I have hundreds of birthday
messages on Facebook and WhatsApp. I learn a package my sister mailed before
Christmas arrived at the Peace Corps office and arrange for a friend to play delivery
boy on their trip through the office later this week.
1930:
‘M’e
Masekila returns home and I watch as she slaughters our chicken. I have watched
a handful of chickens being slaughtered since moving here, however, my host
mother does it with more finesse than anyone else I have seen. I hang out with
my brother while he cooks outside on the fire and ‘M’e prepares food inside.
2045:
We sit down
to my birthday dinner of rice, chicken, beet root, and beans with carrots. My
brother apparently told ‘M’e to make rice as the papa ground from their maize
is “too rough” for my stomach. He laughs at me as he consumes two plates of
food in less time than I eat my one. Dinner is a fun occasion with lots of
talking and laughing in a mixture of both Sesotho and English.
One thing I have learned in my nineteen months in Lesotho is
to be more gracious. When ‘M’e Masekila dishes out the chicken, giving herself
only a morsel and me the two best pieces, my instinct is to argue and to insist
she take one of my pieces. That, however, would be an insult to her hospitality
and generosity. After the meal, she gives me a large piece of uncooked chicken
and two beets. Once again, I want to ask her to keep the chicken for herself.
Instead, I accept the gifts and thank her profusely.
2200: My two
brothers walk me from their door, around the house to my own and tell me to
sleep well. In minutes I am in my bed marveling at what a full day this
birthday has been and how blessed I am to call this my life.
MCCC’s Egg Laying Chicken Project has been in development
since March 2015. After many delays, MCCC and I were able to write a successful
grant proposal for a VAST grant through Peace Corps. VAST grants are funded by
PEPFAR to help with HIV-related work and OVC (Orphan and Vulnerable Children)
care. It is due to MCCC’s work with OCVs that qualified us for the VAST grant.
Otherwise, we would have applied for a PCPP [Peace Corps Partnership Program]
grant and would have been asking for assistance in funding this grant proposal.
I encourage you to consider supporting other PCPP projects.
Posts about this project include:
Workshop Woe, Busiest
of Birthdays, Checking
Out Chickens, A Day with
Bo-’M’e, Chicken Coop Construction Day
One, Day
Two, Day, Three, Day Four, Day Five
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