Highest Highs

I am definitely not winning any volunteer of the year award, especially after this week, not that I was aiming for that anyways. Today I took another day off school. Yesterday went well, why did I need another day off? I am not sure but I did. The rule: I was not allowed to stay in bed. World Food Programme (WFP) was going to Ha Popa and I decided to join them. I met them at the ministry at half past seven and we departed. This was hands down my favorite day since arriving in country. Talk about a roller coaster. We drove two hours to Mansonyane and then went two hours further on these awful roads. While WFP was busy working I was busy meeting new friends. I interrupted classes to “motivate” students (not my idea). I held a baby while her mother swept dirt (when will this make sense?). I gathered ideas from the agriculture teacher on how to start a school garden. I was starting to fall in love with this place. This is what I thought Peace Corps would be. These children were roughing it. This village had a (that is ONE) 4-wheel pick-up truck that towed people to the closest town (Mansonyane) once a day as the only means of public transportation, there was no electricity, running water, or satellite dishes anywhere. The town had one shop that sold a total of 10 items. Peace Corps has a slogan, “life is calling, how far will you go?” That is how far I thought I was going. How ironic that I just wrote about how easy the general living part of life is here? There were no chalk boards at this school, one window per classroom, and dirt floors. I want to move. In Ha Popa I feel like I could make a difference. Everything I feel like I am capable of accomplishing at my school has already been done.

The day gets better. We continued nine kilometers on this road. It took us an hour! The roads (if you can call them roads) were terrible. We landed at Thabang Primary and here is where I actually fell in love. WFP hopped out of the car and got to work. I got out and immediately started playing with the children. We sang, we danced, and we bonded. They gave me a tour of their school. It was a one-room (10 by four meters) schoolhouse supporting seven classes and a pre-school. All 130 children crammed into this single classroom learning simultaneously. Each window was cracked and the doors were a foot off the ground. There were no floors, no books, no chairs, no desks, and no chalkboards. There was nothing besides a lot of dirt. Every single thing about this village, the students, and this school broke my heart but called me at the same time.

I am confident I impacted these students more in 20 minutes then I have my students in four months. I gave each one of them a high-five, taught them all the hokey-pokey, and sang to them the ABCs. I did not want to leave at all. As much as I feel I touched the lives of these 130 children, they will always be a part of me. I can’t get their adorable smiling faces or shoeless feet out of my head. There is no public transportation from their village. They will probably live in that bubble the rest of their lives. Imagine a place so full of tradition education is second. Slightly over a week ago I said education is the key to success and I still stand firm on that. At the same time there is something unique about the fact it is 2010 and there are places left in the world where once you learn to write your name you are considered educated.

We ventured another six kilometers further into the depths of Thaba Tseka, Lesotho. This time it only took 30 minutes. We came to another primary school where this woman has inspired the entire community to support the school. They are in the middle of nowhere and she has two beautiful school rooms. She applied and received funding to build the classrooms all on her own. Then motivated the students and community members to gather rocks for the kitchen from over a kilometer away, and has people carry water half a kilometer up to the school garden. My school does not have a kitchen but their living conditions are worlds better. This is rough. Growing up adults always tell you they walked to school 15 miles in the snow uphill both ways, well here that expression stands here. Children really do that, on empty stomachs.

I got back to my place at 10:30 PM on Thursday night. I was in a car moving less than 15 kilometers an hour for most of the day. I really do love my school, my family, and my village. Although in actuality I thought I would be living in a place similar to the ones I visited today. A location I felt truly needed and had something to work for each day. That is not exactly the case where I am. Again, don’t get me wrong. There are things to do, many of these things are unfortunately out of my reach. I finally got to really experience the forgotten third world Africa and I loved every second of it. I suppose the grass is always greener on the other side. I am sure that life would be significantly more difficult and I probably would miss all my apples and electricity. I appreciate what I have here in the camptown and will continue to make the most of my situation. I will not forget about those children, and I hope that was not the last time I will see those adorable smiling faces at Thabang Primary.