Lots of Work and Play

Once again, my group was lucky enough to be invited for a fun afternoon at the Ambassador's. We swam, played yard games (I totally won at bocce), ate delicious treats made by Nancy, and enjoyed the time together. Thanks once again to all who helped make that day so great! It was a nice treat after two days of more Sesotho. We then decided to continue the celebration at our training site. More good times.
We invited community counterparts to Maseru to attend a two day workshop on secondary projects. My CP and I discussed several ideas including providing clean water to schools or creating a village committee to promote HIV/AIDS awareness and more importantly understanding. Lesotho has the third highest HIV/AIDS prevalence in the world, yet many Basotho refuse to believe it. For example, on a death certificate, people die of "the common cold" or "madness" or "broken finger." If you want to get technical, you don't die of AIDS; you die of an opportunistic disease. But there's such a stigma here. One of my goals is to help bring more of an understanding to help those affected by HIV live positively in the community. Since this is a strongly Christian country, I'm thinking along the lines of "Love Every Neighbor." We'll see.
In villages, community support is key, especially support from the chief. Who's awesome by the way. But don't think he's sits around in a smoking hut with animal hides draped over him and wearing a big, funky hat; he usually is in his office wearing a button down shirt and khakis.
Going back to site tomorrow. Bittersweet for me. I don't know when I'm going to see my wonderful groupmates again which makes me quite sad. But it's time to go back to work. And to South Africa to check out the scene there. Take care everyone!
This link may or may not link you to some photos I spent lots of time uploading.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25272167@N02/