One of very enjoyable parts of Peace Corps service is the opportunity to connect students from various countries through the World Wide Schools (WWS) program. As noted in the WWS Match Handbook, “The program is designed to engage students in an inquiry about the world, themselves and others in order to broaden perspectives, promote cultural awareness, appreciate global connections and encourage service”. Through a “pen-pal” exchange that works along with WWS the students learn about places in the world as…
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After more than two years, in two weeks I’m going back home, but in many ways I am starting over, leaving my home. My life back in the U.S. is such an extreme contrast…
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It’s orange season again. I’ve waited for it for 8 months, and man was that first orange good. It comes right after peach season. After stuffing myself everyday with peaches that grow in every…
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One of the most difficult and frustrating aspects of living in rural Lesotho is taking the public transportation. It shows how much a person can adapt, something that used to drive me crazy now…
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When teaching about preventing HIV, probably the main issue we volunteers come up against is multiple concurrent partners. Many people I’ve talked to here say it’s just part of the culture, which sounds like…
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I have not written in a while because I’ve been on a wonderful vacation with my parents around Southern Africa. So this is a post I’ve been meaning to do for a while, my…
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After months of delay we finally got our layer chickens. The gardens of the community centre have also really started to grow. The chickens are going to provide eggs for the orphans and needy…
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I recently got some pretty severe blisters on both feet. And while not a serious injury, the blisters were bad enough that I couldn’t really walk, and was reduced to hobbling around painfully. Through…
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I have an hour till class. I put down my book, I grab my worn, patched bag, I head out. Down the slope, passing dry grass and old corn stalks, my shoes turning a…
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Juliana Fulton We are only a month away from opening the Ha Mali Community Center! The idea for its creation came from hearing all the different problems facing the families in my village when…
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Well I’ve been super busy, with 2-4 things to do every day for these past couple weeks. Today I had a meeting about the community centre in the morning (and building a seed bed)…
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When I first signed up for my Peace Corps assignment, all that I was told was that I’d be in Lesotho, working with communities on HIV/AIDS. I was very excited about living in Lesotho,…
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Last week I visited a sangoma, a traditional doctor, in the neighbouring village. Traditional doctors get a lot of respect and have a lot of power in Basotho culture. Not just political…
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I have now been in Lesotho, the Mountain Kingdom, for an entire year. It feels brief and incredibly long at the same time. And it’s only half over! I now have…
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It’s taken 40-some hours and over eight weeks, but I have now finished surveying all 210 households in my village. In the survey I go door to door, visiting and talking with every family…