Sonia Marsh - Gutsy Living

Daily Glitches in Lesotho

October 31, 2015 by Sonia Marsh 4 Comments

I’m experiencing a few glitches since I arrived in Lesotho.

My camera SD card is no longer working, and for several days, it was blocked, and I couldn’t take any photos.

Since we cannot go to town to purchase anything, I’ve been stuck.

Now my laptop screen is not working. It’s all fuzzy and won’t go to my login page. This happened right after I charged it with my ‘m’e’ (host mother’s) generator. I was so excited to use her generator, as I wanted to blog, and now it’s broken.

I’m sitting in the local Internet Cafe in my camp town village, and was hoping that the owner could fix my screen. He said he couldn’t.

So this post will be extremely short, as I have to catch a 15-passenger taxi back to my village. We’re supposed to be back at 4 p.m., so I have a little time to buy coffee, eggs, butter and hopefully some “real” cheese, which I haven’t had since I arrived in my village.

This morning we climbed a steep and rocky path to the top of Thaba Bosiu, which acted as Moshoeshoe’s headquarters during the various Basuto Wars.

I shall try to post more later, but my time is running out.

My First Experience Teaching in a Small Village in Lesotho

October 23, 2015 by Sonia Marsh 9 Comments

sonia-kids — My first experience volunteering in a small village school

After two weeks of training in our village, with 36 other Peace Corps volunteers, we were finally given the opportunity to see what it’s really like to teach in a small village school.

We all boarded combis (taxis that can hold up to 15 people, all squished together,) and as fate would have it, ours was the oldest taxi, and it broke down on a hill towards Teyateyaneng or (TY for short) our camptown.

We had already paid the cab driver our 7 Maluti, and one of our volunteers wanted a refund.

“I don’t think you’ll get a refund. This is Africa, not the U.S.,” I said.

Stupidly, my backpack weighed about 25 pounds, and I didn’t realize we would have a big hike up the hill, as well as to my HVV (host’s volunteer village — a one-hour walk in the rural foothills and valleys surrounding our camptown: TY.)

Our host volunteers took us to a nice resort hotel the Blue Mountain Inn, in TY. If you visit me, this is a nice place to stay.

We had free Wifi and electricity, so we took advantage of this, and ordered a cold beer and lunch. I was so happy to eat a fresh salad with feta cheese; first one in 2 weeks. I love Basotho papa and morojo, and their fresh beets and pumpkin, but I craved a salad with balsamic vinegar and oil.

Hanna and I were met by Hillary, our host volunteer, and she took us to her house after lunch, and a quick tour of the supermarket in TY. I was so happy to see butter and cheddar cheese.

The three of us climbed into a 4+1 (taxi) to Hillary’s road, and little did I know, that we had a 5 km hike up and down hills, before we reached her well-built, cement-brick rectangular house, with a thatched roof.

Her ‘N’tate (host Father) is such a hard-working man, who retired from gold-mining in South Africa, and managed to save enough money to build a beautiful house. He does not have electricity, but raises chickens, and grows numerous crops. His wife bakes delicious fresh loaves, and sells the eggs to local villagers.

Children carrying desks to various outdoor classes

Hillary’s place was big enough for all 3 of us, and I slept on the floor. We had delicious home-made tortillas, pizza, and even watched a movie on her laptop.

The school we visited is a 30-minute hike from her house, and the children were so warm and friendly, calling us “Madam.”

The 7th grade children had exams, so the school schedule was modified. We taught outside, and the children are used to carrying their benches on their heads back and forth to class every day.

So far, I feel more confident that I shall be able to teach these beautiful, smiling children. I just need to learn my Sesotho, and that’s a challenge for me.

More to come when I have Internet access again.

ANY QUESTIONS FOR ME?

My new life: What it’s like to live in Lesotho?

October 17, 2015 by Sonia Marsh 12 Comments

Sonia,Patricia,Heather water filters — With my new PCV friends getting our water filters

My new life: What it’s like to live in Lesotho?

My life is so different here in Lesotho as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

I have so much to share with you; I don’t know where to start.

Instead of writing a super-long blog post, I’ve decided to share the basics about my new life as a Peace Corps volunteer in training. I’m sure you want to see photos of where I live, my new host family, and my rural surroundings. I’m now living with donkeys, dogs (a ton of them,) roosters, chickens, sheep, and numerous cats, especially kittens.

Whenever I have access to an Internet connection, and electricity, I shall post my daily life in more detail. (Not sure exactly when, but I hope you’re interested.)

I can’t believe that this time two weekends ago, I sat in a fancy restaurant in San Clemente, California, enjoying Cioppino, with shrimp, fish, muscles and scallops in a delicious tomato broth, with warm sourdough bread and butter and a glass of Chardonnay.

Now I’m eating papa, (a maize powder cooked in boiling water) with morojo (chopped greens cooked in oil) with stewed pumpkin and carrot slaw. I eat a ton of carbs, and very little protein, compared to what I ate in California.

I’ve been adopted by my host mother or (‘m’e) Mathuso, and she is very caring and sweet. She shows me how to hand wash my clothes outside in a bucket of cold water which was transported up the hill by donkey.

PCV, Michelle, showing us how to take a bath

‘M’e gets upset when I don’t arrange my multipurpose bedroom/kitchen/bathroom (basically my pee bucket, and plastic bath tub,) the way women do it in Lesotho. I find it strange that my host “mother” is four years younger than me, and she makes me feel like a child who has no clue what she’s doing, despite having been a mother/cook/cleaning lady myself for 37 years.

I now have a nine-year old sister, Ausi (sister) Boitumelo, a brother, Abuti (brother) Tebeho. They help me pronounce new vocabulary words in Sesotho; another challenge as I have three months to learn this foreign African language, before I get shipped off to my future village, where I shall teach English in a primary school for two years.

My new brother and sister. Ausi Boitumelo,Abuti Teboho — My new brother and sister.

I’m learning to adapt as fast as I can, but it is stressful to have Sesotho language classes every day, and to be bombarded with friendly Basotho people from the village stopping you on the dirt road to ask you questions about your Sesotho name, (mine is ‘m’e Palusa which means flower) where you’re you’re from etc. They speak so fast, and I’m finding the pressure is on to learn the language quickly.

We also have Peace Corps classes from 7:30 a.m., until 5p.m., daily, and then homework and studying in the dark room with no electricity. Taking a bucket bath, and daily chores take forever, so I feel more stressed now than I did in Orange County.

I have a paraffin lamp to study when it gets dark around 6:30 p.m., and thankfully my headlamp so I can find my pee bucket at night. We are not allowed outside to use the latrine, due to the guard dogs who get into vicious fights almost every night.

More to come later.

By the way, if you’d like to connect with me, apart from e-mails, please sign up for what’s app. This is a FREE APP, and we can chat and send messages. I shall e-mail you my Lesotho phone # if you’d like to communicate with me on What’s app. E-mail me at:

Sonia@soniamarsh.com

Sala hantle, (stay well.)

A Leatherman, Goal Zero, Gorilla Tape. Packing for Peace Corps

October 1, 2015 by Sonia Marsh 13 Comments

A Leatherman, Goal Zero solar charger, Gorilla Tape, and a Black Diamond headlamp. I never thought those would be the important items in my suitcase, but apparently so. Peace Corps packing is quite different from vacation packing.

100_3172 — Packing for 27 months is hell. Don’t know what to bring with me.

I have no idea what I truly need in Lesotho for the Peace Corps, but I’m following the advice of other (PCVs) Peace Corps Volunteers.

I packed my solar panel, “Goal Zero” for charging my cell phone, as we shall not have electricity. I’m not sure how to use it, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out. What about my “LuminAid” solar light, to read in my hut at night.

I also purchased a “Leatherman, Wingman” as I shall need pliers, a screwdriver, bottle opener (crucial) a wire stripper (maybe) and more.

The “Black Diamond” Spot Storm headlamp will help me find the outdoor toilet in the middle of the night, and gorilla tape, to block the icy cold air from gaps in the windows when it snows in the winter, and I’m tucked inside my sleeping bag with layers of clothing.

Half my suitcase is filled with exercise equipment, like the TRX, and exercise ball and bands that I’ve been training with at my gym; my school supplies, my hair coloring products (yes, I’m bringing that with me,) and my face creams and sunblock.

We have to dress professionally, which means no jeans, T-shirts, shorts, or dresses above the knee. I have no idea how to wash my “professional” clothes in very little water, especially cold water, but that is part of our training, and adapting to a new lifestyle.

My suitcases (yes, we’re allowed two,up to 50 lbs each) are already full,and I still have all the other stuff like my sleeping bag, winter clothes, layering, hiking boots etc.

One solution is to have my winter clothes shipped later on, as it will be spring when we arrive in October, and summer in December.

Here is my address in Lesotho, if you’d like to send me a letter, or a surprise. I like surprises!

Sonia Marsh, PCV
U. S. Peace Corps
P.O. Box 554
Maseru, 100
LESOTHO

I leave on Sunday, October 4th for Philadelphia, for “staging,” and our group (30 PCVs- Peace Corps Volunteers) leave on Tuesday for Johannesburg, and then a 6-hour bus ride to Lesotho. I hope to have Internet after the first week, as I’m getting a SIM card in Lesotho, so please e-mail me and keep in touch.

I shall need your support.

Thank you to all my friends.

Sonia.

Check Out My New “Gutsy” Website For the Peace Corps

September 20, 2015 by Sonia Marsh 11 Comments

100_3113 — My “Au Revoir” party and see you when I return from the Peace Corps.

Hello Friends,

How do you like the new header and video on my blog?

The round hut is called a rondavel, from the Afrikaans word rondawel. It’s the westernized version of an African-style hut.

I love the one I selected as it has a turquoise door. I might live in a rondavel in Lesotho, while I serve as a primary education teacher in Southern Africa. In case you didn’t know, I‘m heading off to the Peace Corps.

I want my new “look” to fit the changes in my life, and my casual video, and natural curly hair, are part of that change, and the new me.

Did you watch my video?

Here’s what’s happening over the next two weeks, and how the Peace Corps is sending us off to Lesotho, Africa.

On October 4th, I fly from California to Philadelphia.
October 5th, I meet the 29 or so, other volunteers, who are serving as primary education teachers, or secondary math teachers, in Lesotho.
On October 6th, we leave our hotel at 2 a.m. (Yes! we’re learning to adapt,) and then catch a bus to JFK, airport. Our flight to Johannesburg departs around noon.
The flight lasts 15.5 hours
We board a bus from Johannesburg to Maseru, the capital of Lesotho, which takes about 6 hours.
After our first night in a hotel in Lesotho, we start PST (pre-service training.)
We have morning classes, then meet our Basotho host families where we shall live for the first three months.
Classes start at 7:30 a.m., and end at 5 p.m. Learning Sesotho, the language of Lesotho, is an important partof our PST. We also cover safety and the culture of Lesotho.
Our host family teaches us how to bathe in a bucket, cook local foods, wash our clothes, as help us practice Sesotho.

Water is scarce and here’s what a Peace Corps volunteer wrote about his experience on the PC website. (Read more on daily water usage in Lesotho.) —Peter Yurich, Ha Khayensti, Lesotho

“There isn’t much water available because we had a very dry winter and no rain this spring. I usually try to use only one to one and a half liters of water a day. This includes bathing, cooking, and cleaning dishes. Once a week I wash clothes, but try to use as little water as possible.

My day starts by boiling two liters of water. I use less than one liter to bathe; I drink two cups of coffee; and then I save the rest for cooking and cleaning dishes. If the tap is working, I may indulge myself by using a little more for bathing.

My host family uses a little more than I do because there are more people in the family. They use a wheelbarrow to carry two 10-liter buckets of water. Right now they use more water because they are making dung smear for the floor and walls of a new building. The building was constructed from rock and held together with a mud mixture that dried and became hard.”

I realize that I have to get used to changing my lifestyle, but when my family lived in Belize, in 2004-2005, water was also a problem. We had a cistern,and due to the lack of rain, we had to sponge bathe.

If you don’t want to miss my “gutsy updates,” please subscribe underneath the hut on my landing page.

CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE.

Any questions? Don’t hesitate to ask.