(morning of) Day 3

I suppose it's because they're used to working with college and medical school students, but I've been surprised with the number of opportunities they've given me. I volunteered at the emergency room at Texas Children's and while it was an awesome experience that let me witness the day-to-day functions of the ER, it mainly consisted of preparing beds and rooms and making charts. During my first days here, I shadowed doctors as they saw patients and was walked through the full patient-visit process. They also showed me the pharmacy and let me see the clinic through a doctor's eyes.

I also met with Teresa, one of the visiting scholars’ directors, today to discuss projects. She's in charge of Teen Club, which is a group that meets once a month to discuss HIV, coming of age issues, and basic hygiene. The idea is for it to become a form of youth support group for teens living with HIV and identify teens that live close to each other to create smaller, more local, peer support groups.

Our first projects deal with preparation for the next teen club meetings and the week long camp in July. Lina and I are doing some simple administrative tasks with contract forms and nametags. We're also going to work on information cards for each child that include name, DOB, date of ARV initiation, HIV status (over 90% of patients here are positive), social status (guardians, status of parents, history of abuse, etc), ARV regimen, village, Teen Club status (how active they are), etc. We look all the file numbers up in the EMR computer database that holds all of the patient information. Whenever I open a file, I feel weirdly intimate with the patient as I hold their entire life story in front of me.

It's very relaxed here and everyone is extremely friendly. I'm used to working on strict time schedules with definitive, stressful deadlines, so the biggest adjustment I'm having is being able to relax and just take things as they come. Just to go with the flow of things.

I know that the administrative tasks involved in my projects may not seem very exciting, but when you realize the impact they have on the community and what the programs are working towards, the tasks seem far from insignificant. The thing I’ve realized while working here is how easy it is to ignore global crisis when you’re in a different country, different continent, with different living conditions. But how hard it is to look the other way when every patient you see and every name you look up in the computer system is a victim. I’m seeing the face of the HIV/AIDS crisis in every person I see and every file I open.

Day 6

Today we went Pony Trekking in Malea-lea! The clinic is closed on the weekends, so we rented a car and decided to go on a day trip.

took this on the way to the lodge, there really is no separation between town and country and road and field

clear and to the point

gotta appreciate a good sense of humor

Lorine!

Me!

Lina!

Kim! (she's multifaceted)

saddling up

this is what i though our whole trek was going to be like... (peaceful, relaxing, and simply walking down a dirt path)

view from the pony

mountains. (Lesotho is also called the Mountain Kingdom)

locals taking a daily jaunt

kids playing outside

this is what is ended up being. i'm not sure how much you can see from the picture, but about two feet from where we were riding was an abrupt drop, so any pony misstep would mean me being catapulted off a cliff. needless to say that i held the reins tightly in my hands.

more abrupt cliff drops!!

after about two hours we arrived at the waterfall where we stopped for pictures and ate lunch

our guide to the waterfall

another picture of our waterfall guide (wearing the traditional lesotho blanket)

through mountainous cliff and rocky crags I made it to the waterfall!

back at the top:

future lewis/clark (hopefully)

artsy kim.

i love it here.

Days 3, 4, and 5

(afternoon of) Day 3:

Visited the National University of Lesotho today with my dad, Dr. Mohapi, and Dr. Pii! I only managed to grab a picture of the Library, but was definitely impressed with their new science labs! They're working towards getting a medical school and are hoping to form a partnership with Baylor to carry it out.

Then, in the evening, I went out to dinner with David, Lorine, Kim, and Lina. The restaurant was called the Regal and was an Indian/Chinese restaurant. It was by far the best food I've had this week. Definitely doesn't compare to my usual peanut butter sandwiches! We also had to take a taxi to get there. Everyone is the Baylor Clinic told us to use Perfect Taxi, so that's the one we used. It was definitely an experience to haggle the ride cost with the driver and finally be able to get "downtown" on our own!

picture taken from the road, donkey (very popular here since it is hilly and rocky and they are very sure footed) and two locals wearing the traditional Lesotho blankets

random scenery

library at the National University of Lesotho

David, Lorine, and Kim (Kim and David are staying in the Baylor House, which is in a different part of town than where we're staying)

Lina and Me!

first taxi ride! (Lorine in the front seat)

Day 4:

Started on one of the Teen Club projects in the morning. Then, around 10am, Dr. Mohapi and my dad came by the clinic. They, along with Lina, Dr. Pii, and me, then climbed into the car and drove up to the mountains. The view was amazing with rolling hills and a vast countryside. Unfortunately, it started snowing pretty heavily, so we had to turn around and head back before getting to the top. But it was cool to see this kind of snow in Africa! It was Dr. Mohapi's first time to witness snow falling in Lesotho! (she'd only seen it after it had already fallen)

snow in Africa!

(wasn't snowing in the lowlands) preschoolers walking home from school

hustle and bustle of after school

Day 5

My dad's last night here! He invited my new friends and me to dinner at the Lesotho Sun. We watched the South Africa v. Mexico game at the sports bar there (sorry! forgot to take pictures) and then had dinner afterwards at their restaurant. Watching the game was so much fun! All the employees were wearing South African jerseys, had the flag painted on their cheeks or shaven heads, and were blowing through vuvuzuelas! Vuvuzuelas are these South African horns used at sporting events. All the fans have them and I can hear them all around town almost every day with the spirit of the world cup! I would say that they sound like the angry, stampeding trumpet of an elephant (and are definitely to that same decibal!). They are deafening! But definitely add to the spirit of everything!

(from the left) Lina, Me, Papa Bear, David, Lorine, and Kim

the snacks they provided in the sports bar, olives and popcorn, were a surprisingly delicious combination

o and did i mention that my dad's pants split without his knowledge? don't worry, i let him know... after he walked around the hotel for a bit. turns out it was his second pair to rip!

Day 2

6:45am: took a quick shower, made some oatmeal, ate a pear, and made the thirty second walk over to the clinic with Lena (Lorine headed in early.).

8am: Morning prayer began. It consisted of a Sesotho song/chant and a spoken prayer. Announcements followed whereupon Dr. Mohapi introduced us to the doctors, nurses, volunteers, and all the patients in the waiting room. They all clapped and cheered for us; I’ve never felt so welcome.

9am: After a quick tour of the clinic I shadowed Dr. Paul who was amazingly nice and willing to share all his knowledge with me! We saw one patient and then he took me to the pharmacy, showed me all their medications and explained their functions. As he introduced me to the staff I suddenly felt really dizzy and sat down. My vision got weirdly blotchy and everyone’s voices sounded muffled as if there was cotton in my ears. I told Paul and he walked me over to the cottage, told me to rest, and that he would send someone to check up on me in half an hour. After my mini faint attack, I laid in bed for about thirty minutes, stared at the ceiling, and felt like the pathetic weak girl who couldn’t even last one hour walking around the clinic. A doctor I’d met earlier named Amy came to check up on me and told me not to worry since she’d had a similar thing happen to her before. She made sure I was okay and then left. Ten minutes later Lena came in to check on me too. (It’s only been one day and I already feel like I have so many friends!) I pointed to my empty water bottle and probar wrapper and told her that I was already feeling better.

11am: Finally able to walk without feeling dizzy, I walked over to the clinic with Lena and we headed downtown with a clinic driver who needed to drop blood samples off at the public hospital. Lena purchased a cell phone to keep in contact with the other Rice students in Lesotho. Walking in a place where I can’t understand what people are saying and where I don’t recognize many shop signs is a bit surreal.

Pictures from driving around downtown:

one of the many fruit stands (i have yet to purchase something, but i keep having this vision of me waking up every morning and walking down to purchase a fresh piece of fruit for breakfast!)

livestock on the side of the road, nbd

kids who've just gotten out of school, it's really cool because each school has a different brightly colored uniform so it's easy to see which kids are from different schools

this is pretty much what the landscape and city are like

picture taken from the road that wraps around one of the larger hills

so this may just seem like a typical picture of an autoshop, but please pan your eyes over to the right...

2:30pm: Made lunch (peanut butter sandwich and a sweet potato), read some of my book, and fell asleep on the couch.

4:30pm: I woke up when Lorine came back from the clinic and continue reading. (Having time to actually read something besides textbooks and English books is amazing!)

6pm: It’s already pitch black outside.

6:30pm: Lorine and Lena bundled up and trekked over to the clinic to get a wifi connection.

7:52pm: I’m bundled up in long underwear, fuzzy socks, wool shirt, sweatshirt, and hiking books and am about to head over to get a wifi signal and submit this post!

p.s. if you couldn't figure out what made that last picture interesting, it's the donkey just chilling on the side of the road

Day I

We arrived in Lesotho!

Things That Told Me That I Was Definitely Not In America Anymore

1. The airport was a small brick building with a sign that read “King Moshoeshoe National Airport.”
2. There were two immigration desks where they checked our passport. There wasn’t a line.
3. The immigration desks, single baggage claim conveyer belt, and customs desks were in one big room.
4. After fifteen minutes of waiting by the conveyer belt a man wheeled in a cart with our luggage.
5. At the customs table (about twenty steps to the right of the baggage claim) they opened one of my bags, deemed it to be fine, and then, when we told them that the other two only consisted of clothes, they smiled and said that they we could continue without them checking the other two.
6. My dad got in the left front seat. I was about to tell him that Dr. Pii was going to drive us when I noticed that the steering wheel was on the right side.
7. So I thought that maybe our driver was trying to swerve and avoid something by driving in the left hand lane and then became anxious when I was convinced that we were headed towards oncoming traffic. Nope, apparently you’re supposed to drive on that side.
8. Women had baskets on their heads and babies swaddled on their backs. (I’m determined to have no need for backpacks and grocery carts upon my return as I’ll only need a blanket to swaddle schoolbooks to my back and a basket to balance groceries on my head.)
9. (Okay so this one only applies to Houston.) There are large, rolling hills all around me.
10. There are fruit stands every mile or so with bananas, apples, oranges, and bags of foods I can’t identify.
11. There are clothing lines outside of every house with shirts, pants, and sweaters hanging out to dry.
12. I can’t understand the radio.
13. Kids are outside. (AKA not inside participating in video game marathons and ogling at TV sets hours on end)
14. I saw a cow on the side of the road. And then three more. And then two sheep. And then chickens.

Notable events: I finally saw the clinic in person and took the first steps in my new home. (A cottage next to the clinic.)

back of the clinic

view from my bedroom window (soooo, my daily commute isn't too bad :))

my cottage!

bathroom

washer

kitchen

living/dining room (continuation of the kitchen)

dryer

my lifesaver (space heater)

back of space heater

I met my roommate Lorine who’s a resident from Canada.

Dropped my dad off at the Lesotho Sun Hotel.

dr. pii, dr. mohapi, and my dad at the reception desk

my dad knows how to rough it.

I awoke from my four-hour midday nap to the arrival of my second roommate. Her name’s Lena and she just finished her Junior year at Rice.

We went to the “Shoprite” grocery store downtown and although it didn’t have the selection I’m used to, it had a surprisingly good selection of foods. Lena and I purchased some things on our own and then split the cost of things we could share.

My purchase consisted of…

• Asparagus, sweet potatoes, squash
• A bag of mixed vegetables
• A bag of pears and apples
• Soymilk
• Peanut butter
• Wheat bread
• Oatmeal (Correction, JUNGLE OATS!)
• Brown sugar (for the jungle oats)
• “Whispers of Summer” Ceres juice (which is usually ridiculously expensive and only found at whole foods, but since it’s produced in South Africa, it’s not very expensive and they have every flavor!)
• lentils and brown rice

I slept in long underwear, a long sleeve shirt, fuzzy socks, and a sweatshirt.

my first dinner! mixed vegetable (cooked it myself :))

Lorine!

Lena!