A new start...

January 24, 2008 (Written by Jason)

Good day to all our faithful readers out there in cyberspace. Over the last year and a few months you have followed the trails and tribulations of living as a cross-cultural, diplomatically placed volunteer here in the country of Lesotho. It has been a strange year, one full of extreme highs and disparaging lows. But through it all I have received many e-mails asking how if you were able to, how you could help.

Well now is that time. This week we began our second school year here in our village of Tsa-Kholo. I returned to school to find that after a great meeting with about 100 parents at the end of the school year about restoring the school, that work had already been done to this effect. I have told you all about how our class 5 is meeting in an old chicken coupe and that our class 3 and 4 share a large hall with no walls separating the 2 classes (hence it gets extremely loud in there). I haven’t really shared about our class 1 and 2 that meet in a building that was originally used as the first church on the site back around 1930. Yeah it is that old.

Over the years they have done the best they can installing windows and what not but they never got around to building the wall up to the roof and therefore it is like the class 1 and 2 are in the same room. Once again it gets extremely noisy during lessons and activities. Well, after a long and wonderful break from school, I returned to find that the parents of the school had torn down the old wall that was made of mud bricks and had begun building up a new wall of cinder blocks that had been scavenged from around the community.

The parents haven’t stopped there either. The parents have continued to gather bricks from around the community, while also smearing the wall with a nice thick clay, so that the wall can be used like a giant cork board. It is so cool. While working on the wall, some other parents cleaned and repaired (as best they can) the rest of the classes so that on the first day of the school, the teachers were able to come right in and start teaching classes.

Now if you have been following my blogs from the beginning you would realize that this is a dramatic difference from last year, when it took about 3 weeks for us to finally get down to the business of teaching. And that is not the only thing. This school, named Phechela Primary, is so motivated for change and progress that they have been going the entire school day taking only the breaks that they have scheduled and following the school time table as far as I have seen.

You may be thinking ‘well so they are doing what they are supposed to. Big deal!’ What you don’t understand is that this is a massive change in approach and philosophy. Last year I could barley get anyone to listen the smallest suggestions that I made. This year though, it is like everything that comes out of my mouth is gold the way that they are responding. I would say that 90% of my suggestions have been attempted or implemented and we are only going on day 4 of the first week of school. It is AWESOME!!

That all being said, I have decided to go forward with a project that I put in an application for earlier this year due to the nature of the commitment that I have seen thus far in words and in action. The project in its very basic form is a complete overhaul of the schools infrastructure. At its very core it is to provide a place that is safe , clean and more efficient than the current areas that exist for learning at the school. We will do this by repairing walls and floors, adding and completing walls in buildings to provide separate learning areas, new chalkboards, new doors and windows for classes that need them, and improving the facilities so that it is more conducive to continued learning.

However, I can only do this with your help. The Peace Corps does not provide funds for projects like this anymore. They have created an office called the Office of Private Sector Initiatives that handles projects for volunteers and gives family members and friends an outlet to donate to those projects. My community and I have completed an application for such a project and it has been approved by OPSI. They have issued me a project # which means that I can begin asking for support and help from all of you out there. If you feel that this is something that you would be interested in doing, please go to

https://www.peacecorps.gov/resources/donors/contribute/projdetail.cfm?projdesc=632-047&region=africa

Then you can look for my project with the # 632-047. You can read more about the history of the school and the goals of the project. Also you can choose at that point if you want to make a donation to my project.

Once the full amount of the project has been funded, OPSI will cut me a check which I will then deposit in a bank account here and we will begin the reconstruction of my beautiful school. The only constraints that I am under are that I can not begin to work until I have received all of my funding. Now this may seem cruel but it is important as they don’t want half built libraries and pit latrines to be the legacy of Peace Corps volunteers. So it means that I need you to e-mail your friends and family, post notices at schools and churches, and help me get this thing funded!! The sooner it is, the sooner these beautiful kids can learn in an environment that is suitable and appropriate.

If you have ever felt that your donations go to some nameless project at best and at worst into the pockets of corrupt charities, this is your chance to donate directly to a school and a group that needs it. I will of course be updating this blog with pictures and links to pictures as often as I can and you will see your money directly at work. How cool is that?!?

Ok so that is it. No more begging for me. I hope that you feel compelled to give. I pray that this finds you all happy and healthy in the New Year. All the best

Jason