DISCLAIMER: All thoughts and opinions and feelings reflected in this post are as an independent US Citizen and not a Peace Corps Volunteer.
Hello all!
Wow has it been a rollercoaster of a month. I’ve been waiting until all of the foreign aid freeze/US government orders and everything related to that evens out to write this post, but it’s looking like that’s not going to happen any time soon, so here we go! I’m not one to express my political beliefs on the internet and social media because I don’t think it’s necessarily conducive or beneficial to do so and I’m not going to start now. So I’m writing all this purely out of what I’m experiencing living here in Lesotho.
In the last few weeks we’ve undergone a lot of changes, and as someone working in humanitarian and foreign aid, the US government actions as of late have impacted countless aspects of my life here. If you want my full and uncensored opinion, feel free to reach out but I’m gonna keep this pretty general for many reasons (including the fact that I’ve been advised to write this as an individual person and not through my PCV identity!) Basically, the freeze on foreign aid has caused many Lesotho healthcare workers to be laid off, individuals to not receive important information, services, and medications (especially those related to HIV/AIDS), and grants/projects to be shut down due to lack of funding and executive orders. Speaking objectively for how this effects Peace Corps:
currently volunteers have been ordered to stop all HIV/AIDS related activities, lessons and projects
all grants (including funded and started ones) have been paused
volunteers and staff have been told to take caution with their public appearance on social media and all communication needs to be clearly stated as individuals rather than as Peace Corps staff or volunteers
many workshops and trainings have been canceled
all DEI related messaging/training/activities/jobs have been canceled
it’s a waiting game to see what other changes come up!
It has been really sad to see how all of these changes affect my community and this country. The fact that so many people are going to be impacted negatively healthcare wise and so much HIV/AIDS prevention work will be undone during this time is hard to think about. The freeze on PEPFAR funding has specifically had a huge number of impacts. It’s also been a challenge navigating those conversations with Basotho, as not everyone is the most fond of “Ntate Trump” right now due to all of the negative changes they are seeing in their country. I want to speak honestly but also don’t want the Basotho people I am speaking to to take my opinion as all of America’s opinion. Tricky! Regardless of your political views and support, I feel everyone can recognize that the US has a huge global reach and any decision big or small affects a great number of people. This kind of power is not something that should be taken lightly especially when so many peoples lives are on the line! And that’s all I’ll say about that.
On to other news….
The start to 2025 in Lesotho has been really fun for me, to be honest. Despite the current stress of what foreign aid is going to look like and how that will affect my time here, I’ve been pretty excited about the year ahead! Starting to plan vacations and knowing I’ll get to see some other countries is thrilling (who doesn’t love a good adventure or vacation?). Learning new classes of Sesotho names has been hard but I’m getting there! Feeling completely confident and at home in my community is lovely. Everyone at this point knows me and is used to seeing me around. I’ve stopped getting asked if I’m okay/where I’m going every time I go on a run! What a win. Year two here is definitely bringing in a sense of joy and comfort in my environment that I didn’t have in year one. I’m looking forward to everything coming up this year and know good things are in store!
I attended a conference a few weeks ago to gather more information on what life after Lesotho might look like, have another language assessment, and getting to hang out with all the other lovely Americans I get to work with here. I scored much higher on the language assessment than I thought I would (partly because I got the easy tester, partly because I killed it, partly because everything the tester happened to ask me I knew the answer to). It was fun being able to have an entire 30 minute conversation in Sesotho with someone who had some grace that I am by no means fluent and took it a bit easy on me. Gave me a little more confidence (warranted or not) that I actually have improved my language skills since being here. The conference was lovely and it is always fun seeing all my American friends in one place!
Other things:
I decided to train for the Victoria Falls Marathon. Wish me luck as I begin a training plan where my only option is running up and down my rocky lil dirt road. How and if I’ll make it through training I have no idea. Will report back.
ESL classes at the school are going so well! Students current favorite things to say: “follow me” and “what’s up”.
It’s summer and it is hot! So many flies. I’ve become an expert fly swatter because I simply can’t stand them in my hut.
The valley is BUSY. Everyone is working in the fields on the daily. One man stopped me on a walk and called me to his field just to make sure I knew how to pull weeds out of the ground. He was impressed.
Got a paint by number in my last box from home and it’s all I’ve been doing after school the last week. It’s gonna be a masterpiece.
New favorite dinner to make: peanut butter noodle bowls with rice noodles found in town. I put some carrots and veggies on there and it’s a dream. Better than it sounds I swear. Current favorite dessert: hot chocolate.
All in all doing well amidst some feelings of instability. I’m truly very thankful for the opportunity I have to be living in Lesotho right now and am not ready for it to end by any means. How rare is it to live the life I’m living right now! What a joy - difficulties and uncertainty and all.
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