Titles?!?!

I just realized that I'll have to be more creative with my titles since we can actually post on the same day we write blogs! :)

December 30, 2008 (written by Janeen)

Since we've been home for 5 weeks I thought it was time we update our blog. It was fun surprising our families by coming home early. We really enjoyed spending the holidays with family and are having fun being able to hang out with friends. Just last night I realized that it is fun to be able to go out in the dark. Though, I do miss the starry skies of Lesotho. The stars were truly amazing there.

We're trying to get back into the swing of things. I've told several people that it feels like we're on vacation (we have been house jumping and packing a lot of overnight bags), but we don't have the relax and enjoy yourself feeling of being on vacation because the reality is-- we're not! Jason has been job hunting on the internet. He even had a phone interview this morning. We'll see what comes out of that. If anything it was good interview practice! As for me, I am substitute teaching. I only got one day in before the school break, but hope it will pick up when school re-open next week. We've been catching up on movies and some TV shows (on DVD) that we've missed. I started reading again, which is nice. It took me almost a month to get back into it.

We recently found out the name of the new volunteer (Kelly) who is now living in our old home. It has been fun communicating with her via facebook.

On a sad note, (not to the point of crying) we lost all of our latest photos from Lesotho. Jason put them on my Mom & Dad's computer and deleted them off of the memory card. Then that computer got a virus and they had to reformat it. So they're gone for good. I was pretty upset at first, but I guess I still have the memories... just no photos to share with others. Its also unfortunate because we also lost the latest photos of the new classrooms at Jason's school. Maybe we can convince Kelly to take the trek over there and take photos!

Happy New Year! We look forward to seeing what's in store for us!

Barack from Lesotho???

So just a funny comment from the South African border gaurd- Barack Obama is apparently from Lesotho. He was born in Mafeteng and is the brother of the border gaurd. AND what's even better is that once he is president no one will need a passport to enter the US. Pretty cool huh?

November 17, 2008 (written by Janeen)

For those of you that don't have facebook and don't already know- We have sad news. Our cat died on his journey to his new home. Since we didn't have a carrier, he travelled in a box. The students also took him when we weren't there so we don't know how they "packaged" him up. He could have died from heat exhaustion, shock or even suffocation. We don't know and of course we played the “what if” game (e.g What if we had taken him to his new home, etc.) and felt guilty. But that of course only makes us feel worse. We are pretty upset about it. We had said our good byes, but we thought he'd live a bit longer. Its sad to think that the kids had to deal with burying him and of course opening up the box to find a dead cat. They also cried as they were burying him. :( The house is definitely lonely without the cat and I see him all over the house now. I guess its good that we are leaving soon. Miss you all!

November 12, 2008 (written by Janeen)

“Parting is such sweet sorrow” This was the quote on the wall today at Jason’s farewell bash. It is actually SO true. We are ready to go home to see friends and family, but it is sad to leave here. Lesotho has been our home for two years. We will miss it!

This week has been a whirlwind of emotions. My school closed today. Schools out for summer! I’m done grading. I’m only left with filling in one set of reports which should be done in no time. In fact I’ll probably finish just after I write this blog.

It has been some time since our last post, and that is mostly because we haven’t had much going on. Things were winding down. I, in fact, was quite bored for a couple weeks. I read a lot, took a nap every day, and played Jason’s game boy. Well those times are long gone. My students wrote their exam a week ago and since then we have been pretty busy.

Last Saturday we went for one last hoorah at Lord Fraser’s guest house in Wepener (our haven in times of needing some good food) with some other PCVs. It’s so unfortunate that they raised their prices. You can no longer get a good steak for 70 Rand ($7-8), it is now R85! I guess they knew that we have to get used to more expensive prices! I bet that Jason and I will think EVERYTHING is expensive when we first get back especially if we convert it into Rand!

On Sunday, my school hosted a launching for the Makaota Development fund. It is for students headed to tertiary education. There were lots of speeches and singing, then some good food. Jason got to witness the cow being slaughtered and got some good shots. I helped prepare the meat with the women by cutting the meat into smaller pieces. They had to stay up late but I wussed out.

I spent almost the whole day on Monday grading papers because I had to proctor exams Tuesday through Thursday… BORING (both the grading and the proctoring). The worst part was that I actually caught a boy cheating. Somehow he had gotten a copy of the test ahead of time, prepared answers, and brought the sheet to the exam room.

Wednesday was my farewell bash. There’s always a ceremony with Basotho, so the students danced, sang, and people gave speeches. It was nice and I truly felt appreciated. I received a Basotho hat and blanket, as well as a shield (for decoration) and a straw mat with several Basotho cultural items attached… you’ll understand when you see it. After the ceremony a bunch of kids wanted to take photos with me. Wearing the blanket and hat, I felt like the prom queen. I guess it helped that all the students were oohing and ahing at me. Any time you wear something cultural they just eat it up. On the days I need a confidence boost, I wear my seshoeshoe and EVERYONE tells me that I am beautiful. I wish there was something like that I could wear back home!

Just today, we went to one of Jason’s schools for his farewell bash. There was of course more singing, dancing and don’t forget the speeches. He also got a blanket and we were both given sandals that have cow hair as the straps. Trust me you will LOVE them. He was also given some other trinkets from his teachers like a straw tray, a coffee mug (written Farewell Jason and Jannel….who is Jannel?!?), and a mat with our names and a map of Lesotho stitched on it.

As we were waving good-bye to all the kids and of course listening to them talk about how great we are, it definitely felt like this is coming to an end. By the way moms, they also thanked you for giving birth to us, so you both got shout outs in our farewell ceremony! We will miss these people and will never forget what great moments we have shared here.

The sweet part of this good-bye though, is that we get to see all of you in just a few short weeks. We are counting down the days! Miss you all and can’t wait to get big hugs!

October 22, 2008 (written by Janeen)

Alright, so some of my friends say, "You need to blog more" so here goes.

We are in Maseru today. I didn't have classes yesterday, so we came in and took care of some things like turn in some sponsorship applications for students at my school, close our Lesotho bank accounts, and print some photos. All things on my list are just about accomplished except that I can't find pink label stickers for my library. Jason said I can just send them once I get home. We have told everyone not to send any more packages or letters because at this point we might not get them! The bank took about 3 hours because we had to wait in line for 2 1/2. That was pretty boring, but at least that is done.

We're trying to wrap everything up. Yesterday Jason had to go to town to complain at the hardware store. The contractors have stopped construction because of waiting for materials. The hardware store said they would deliver the goods yesterday. We haven't heard yet if they did. We've still got our fingers crossed that it will be finished before we leave.

I have seen the exam that my students wrote and I think it seems pretty easy. I was pleased with the questions. I believe they were prepared and think that they should have done well. SO we'll find out in January how they did. I've already given the school secretary a self-addressed, stamped envelope for them to send me a copy of the results.

That's it for now. Look forward to see you all. Only 43 more days!

Building Update #2 October 14th, 2008 (written by Jason)

Hey everyone. Just wanted to show you a little bit of what is going on at the school. It is about 3/4 of the way done with the exterior of the 2 classrooms. I have almost completed all the play equipment. All I have to do is finish the Tire Climb thingee and I will be done. I am pretty exctied that it is looking so good and going so well. Sorry I don't have the time or energy to write more. But know that I love and miss you all

Jason

October 9, 2008 (by Janeen)

This is just a short posting to tell about a funny comment I overheard today. During lunch time I heard a male teacher say to a female student, "Hey what have you been eating? Your 'mountains' are getting bigger." So you can figure out what 'mountains' are. I couldn't help but smile. At home he could get sued for a comment like that or even lose his job. Supposedly here, the 'mountains' aren't considered sexual and only 10% of guys are aroused by breasts here (so our Peace Corps trainers told us). Anyway, just wanted to share the highlight of my day. Jason's been in Maseru so yes, I am bored.

The good news is that all my grading is done! I won't have another big stack like that ANY more. Even when they write fourth quarter exams, I'll only have half the work I've had before because I won't have form C papers to grade. Its all winding down and it feels so good.

October 7, 2008 (written by Janeen)

I just realized that its been a while since we've updated a blog and though I don't really have much interesting to say... I know I'll hear complaints if we don't do this! :)

We are coming down to the end. This is my final week of teaching Form C classes. They write the English portion of the national exams next week Monday & Tuesday. After that I will only have 10 teaching periods per week. I have high ambitions of updating my resume, writing my Description of Service (DOS) for Peace Corps, and my site journal (something I'm supposedly supposed to have been doing all along for the volunteer who replaces me...oops). I think will all the extra free time those things will get done in no time. It feels great to almost be done. I have high hopes for my students.

We just found out that it is not likely that we will be replaced by a couple. So what will likely happen is that they will still put two volunteers in our area. They will just have separate housing. I'm sure one will be totally jealous of the other because our house has running water and electricity, but the volunteer who replaces Jason will have neither of those. Hopefully the two volunteers get along and they can have sleepovers and enjoy the electricity together!

Jason is in Maseru and schools were closed last week for independence break, so I don't have an update on the building. But, soon we'll take pictures of the progress and let you know what's happening. The walls were waist high before schools closed, so I'm sure they are just about done now.

Well I better get back to my last (for this quarter) pile of compositions. Can't wait to see you all. I'm looking forward to all the hugs we'll be getting.

September 18, 2008 (written by Janeen)

Well we have now completed our COS (close of service) conference. They do it early so that everyone knows all the logistics of things we have to do before we can get our “R” (as in Returned Peace Corps Volunteer). Getting on a computer has been a long line. For some reason there are a TON of volunteers in town. The seniors- our group (23 volunteers), the juniors- the CHED group (16 volunteers) were here for their one year re-connect, some of the sophomores- the ED group (not sure how many of them are here) are here for reasons I don't know, and even some of the freshman- the newest CHED group who've only been official volunteers for a month are also here. Back when we were new, we weren't allowed to come to Maseru for the first 3 months! Anyway all those people share 4 computers! I am typing this off line so that I don't waste any valuable time on the internet..

The conference was emotional, but no I didn't cry (but you can guess who did). They were trying to prepare us for the readjustment back to the states. Our boss calls it “reverse culture shock.” I don't know if they were trying to make us nervous or just trying to make us realize how difficult it will be. Apparently I'm going to want to talk about my time here and all of you won't understand (so they say). I mean I guess that's true because you didn't experience what we've experienced and your lives have continued and we haven't been a part of them at least not regularly and physically. So I guess you could say I am a little apprehensive about coming home. I mean I am excited to see everyone, but nervous about integrating. Not to mention finding a job in a time of economic decline. The pressure is more on Jason because I will most likely teach and therefore, he has to find a job first because that will determine our location.

So that's what I'm feeling right now. Pretty soon we'll start packing up our home and getting rid of stuff we're not taking with us. I guess now I can just focus on all the compositions I have to grade. I did an estimate the other day about how many I'll have completed by the time I am done and the grand total was 2,400! And that is compositions alone! I know you are all jealous and wish you could say you've accomplished such a feat! Love you all and can't wait to see you!

September 6, 2008 (written by Janeen)

Well I am in the middle of grading compositions-- so not fun. I have only finished one class, which means I am left with 90. The bad thing about it is that my form C students (76 of them) are already going to write another test this coming Wednesday and its another composition and letter. So basically if I finish this weekend, which I really should do, then more papers will almost immediately fall into my lap. The only good thing about it is that THIS IS THE LAST ONE for my form C students! WOO HOO!! After we end this quarter they write their national exams. I REALLY hope that they all pass English. They write on October 13th and 14th. So if you want to say an extra prayer for me and them on that day, we'd appreciate it! Oh yeah and don't forget that we are 9 hours ahead, so you can pray the day before. I'm not sure if post-dated prayers work, but the results won't be out until at least January, so it couldn't hurt!

Here is an update on the cat-- It has now been just over 2 weeks since he sliced open his belly (which we had a nurse friend visit this week and confirmed that the bump is probably a hernia). Unfortunately, the stitches opened up this week. The worst part is that this time we can't stitch him again. We tried, but I couldn't hold him down. He was WAY more squirmish and part of the skin was beginning to attach to the stuff underneath. It was bleeding a lot more and we just couldn't do it. SO... we are now letting nature take its course. We are no longer keeping him inside. We'll see if it heals. He is still active and does all the normal cat things.

That's it for my news. Jason's building is supposed to start next week. We're a little worried that it won't get finished, but we are still hoping for the best. He is just about finished with the renovations. He is only left with some final touches for the playground. For all those who donated, the photos I had printed are on their way to Lesotho and soon will be sent back to the states accompanied by an official thank you card. We haven't forgotten about you, but we're on African time!

Love you and miss you all. 89 days and counting!

August 26, 2008 Adventures of the Field Vets!

August 26, 2008 (written by Jason)

Adventures of the Field Vets!

So this week Janeen and I felt like we needed yet another challenge in this road that has been our Peace Corps experience. Actually it was our cat that felt like we needed this experience. You see Tau, our cat, likes to go out at night and carouse with the ladies. Not a problem on most nights but Thursday of last week he came home with a huge gash on his belly.

The sad part was that I didn't know that it was a gash. I just thought that he might have cut himself or something. It wasn't until the following afternoon that Janeen discovered the disgusting truth. He cut himself pretty bad. The cut was about an inch long and it was pussing and being all gross. I thought that the best option at the time would be to super glue it shut. I remember hearing a radio program about how it was originally invented for that.

Well needless to say that did not work. It sure made a mess of his fur though. Got all caught up into one big knot. It was at this stage that we decided that we should stitch. Before we left Jeremy Ramsey gave me about 15 minutes of training in sutures. Using this knowledge we thought that it would be best to attempt that.

So that is what we did. Janeen held the cat down as he squirmed and cried and kicked. I went in with some suture kits that Jeremy provided. It was pretty awful. The stitches we not so bad but the skin in which they were going into was pretty tore up and so I had to go higher than I would have liked. It was not an experience that I wanted to repeat.

Unfortunately that is exactly what we had to do the next day. The rest of the super glue failed and we needed to finish the job. So again Janeen held the cat till her hands cramped and I stitched the cats stomach back together.

It is just another story that I can tell at those job interviews I hope to have when we return home in just a few months time. Which reminds me 100 days from today we fly home. Crazy right.

All the best
Jason

Kitty Update- August 23, 2008 (written by Janeen)

So have I told you that neither Jason nor myself have ever had any training as veterinarians? Well we have not, surprising I know. Jason came home last night and had the brilliant idea of super-gluing the cat's skin back together. He had all our friends (we had other PCVs over for dinner last night) convinced that actually super glue was invented for medicinal purposes and this was bound to work. Well it sorta worked. We glued the skin together and covered it with gauze and an ace bandage, which unfortunately the cat took that off. We examined the area again to find that there was still a small area that needed to be glued together. We tried once more to glue it together, this time upsetting the cat causing him to run from us. He immediately started licking the area and in doing so, ripped open the skin again. Then it was actually bleeding and quite a mess. We were able to glue part of it back together before going to bed and again we put the gauze and ace bandage on him. We also gave him some ibuprofen in cheese to ease the pain. He managed to get the bandage off in the middle of the night. We put it back on and when we got back from town, it was off yet again. We cleaned the wound and put some ointment on it. There is still a section that needs to be glued back together, but we wanted to wait until the ointment seeped into the skin a bit. Since we've been home he has been rather lethargic and has thrown up at least 5 times. It is so pitiful. I am a little afraid of having children because I feel so terrible for the cat. Imagine how I'd feel if my child was in pain!

The good news is that he is still walking around (with less energy than normal), still eating, and still using the litter box. Either tonight or tomorrow we will try one more time with the super glue. I just talked to my parents on the phone and they said that in the olden days people used to stitch it themselves. I guess we could try that, but that makes me a little queezy. At least with super glue the process is over quickly. Plus, I'm not sure we can get the cat to stay still long enough for stitches.

So that's the story with the cat. Tonight Jason made an awesome dinner. We got some special ingredients: bean sprouts, bock choy and tofu. They were fresh at the Chinese market this morning. Its always nice to get some good variety.

Well I've typed two blogs in two days. Don't get used to this-- on Tuesday my students write compositions. I'll try to remember to post some examples of student work so you can understand my situation!

August 22, 2008 (written by Janeen)

Hello everyone! This has been an eventful week. All my students wrote a test (the one that is easy to grade- reading comprehension and grammar) on Tuesday and I am just about finished up with those.

Next Tuesday they will write the one that is not so fun to grade- the composition and letter. Though,I do have one less class now. There are some new teachers in training and my form B language class was taken away. They were really upset, but I think they are OK now. I still teach them literature and see them twice a week. Jason and three other PCVS (Becky, Sasha, and Anne Marie) are doing workshops about
libraries. This morning they met with my teachers. It was good because they were able to reiterate some of the things that I've been saying and I think it helped my teachers with ideas of how to run the library once I am gone. We even had some of the students come in for a short while when they talked about care of books.

Jason went to the bank this week with the builder and his principal to withdraw the money for the new building. It was a frustrating day because they spent 3 1/2 hours being given the run around at the bank.

We had a pretty eventful Wednesday night. One of the teacher's windows were broken, students run a muck and it was complete chaos at night study. The full version of why & all the aftermath is about 2 pages typed and it is not a very uplifting story, so I don't want to post it on the blog. If your interested- email me and I will email you the whole story.

We are approaching the three month mark of coming home. With that said, packages should no longer be sent. We of course have LOVED & enjoyed everything sent. Now that we are thinking about coming home- we are also thinking about what to do with the things we have accumulated. Up until now we have been putting up letters
on our walls, and we pretty much wallpapered the entire room. Sometimes the cards have fallen down and we just recently decided that at this point we'll just leave them down, and not put up new ones! We would still appreciate some snail mail, but now that we have internet- its not as important!

We're basically wrapping things up and preparing our minds to go back to the states. I did almost cry at assembly the other day because I enjoy the days when the songs are lively. It makes for a happy start of the day. So I got to thinking that I would miss that and I would miss the students and then I got teary eyed. I had to put a stop to that though because I had to make an announcement and I didn't want to be crying as I told the students to collect their ties at short break!

Anyway, we miss you and are counting the days until our arrival--104!

Right now I feel sick to my stomach. Our cat has had an abnormal bump on his stomach since we've had him. We think it might be a hernia or something. It doesn't seem painful and we don't really have the means to take him to a vet. Anyway... last night he cut the skin off the edge of the bump and now part of his innards are exposed. It is so sad to look at him because he moves so gingerly and you can tell he is in pain. We still don't have the means to take him to a vet. Jason is in town right now at a workshop. When he left this morning, we knew he had injured himself, but didn't think that the skin was fully removed. Jeremy taught Jason how to suture before we left. Maybe when he gets home, he'll attempt that. I'm just sitting here, trying not to think about it because when I do I feel so helpless and sad. I mean I know I was going to have to say good-bye to him in a few months, but this almost seems worse. I mean if Jason can't suture him then what do we do? Would euthanizing him be better than letting him get sick? I really don't want to be thinking these things! :(

August 19^th, 2008 (written by Jason)

Hey all! So good to hear from so many of you regarding our newly acquired internet access. Yes we are probably more excited than you about it and are really looking forward to more consistent communication with many of you. As many of you know, we will be coming home in about 4 months time and it would really mean a lot if you would send us e-mails, wall postings (Facebook) and comments on our blog. It is really encouraging to hear from you and we love reading every little note or diddy.

Many of you have asked about how my projects have been going and in a nutshell summary “GREAT!!” The community really rallied behind the project and gave a 110% to it. A laundry list of improvements got done in just 3 ½ weeks.

• We repaired broken floors in 2 classes.

• Added or expanded floors in 2 classes.

• Repaired ceilings in 2 classes.

• Repaired and painted roofs or 2 buildings.

• Added and fixed a sidewalk.

• Painted the outside and inside 2 buildings.

• Repaired broken windows.

• Replaced 4 old, broken doors.

• Added steps to the 1^st grade classroom.

• Cleaned up the school grounds.

• Mended broken flower garden plots.

• Built play areas for all grade levels.

• Dugout the foundation area for a new building.

• And provided temporary employment to almost 30 community members.

It is really a dramatic difference that has been made at the school and would not have been possible if not for the generous giving of all of you! You have made this school something that the students, teachers, and community can be proud of. As the saying goes here “We give you hands”.

But that is only phase 1. Now we are moving onto the next element in the school improvement project. This is the building of a new building altogether. A whole bunch more of you contributed to this project and we were with the help of Friends Of Lesotho we were able to get the entire $8,500.00 here. I deposited the check on Friday and we are going to order materials this week on Wednesday. It is going to be close but we are pushing for the buildings to be up in less than 3 months. We are going to be building 2 new buildings. The first will be to small classrooms to get the standard 5 class out of the chicken house and into something more befitting of children. The second will be a small office for the principal and deputy to share and use when hosting district officials and dignitaries and for storing textbooks, heaters and other school equipment. Neither building will be overly elaborate but they will be nice and functional.

You will also notice that I have posted some new pictures and a few YouTube videos. These are just some random things that I have seen whether at school or on vacation. The descriptions by them should be enough but if you have questions on what they are, please feel free to comment.

Hope all of you are happy and healthy. All our love.

Jason and Janeen

August 15th 2008 (written by Janeen)

Well we are back in Lesotho and have been for a few weeks. This is the first time we have had internet access for about a month or so. Today I have looked at Mike and Heidi’s engagement photos, pictures of Drew, and photos of Rachel & Kevin’s wedding. All that reminds us that we’ll be home in just about 3 ½ months! We are so excited!

Here is the short version of our vacation update: It was WAY too much driving. Of all the days we were gone, we only had 3 days that were not spent travelling. We did get to see a lot; the dunes in Namibia, the Okavango Delta in Botswana, Chobe National Park in Botswana, etc. Even though I was coming back to the immediate start of school I was happy to be in one place for a while! J

We’re back in the swing of things. Jason is working on a playground now as the last phase of his remodeling project. He just got the check for the building project deposited today. So next week they’ll get started building and hopefully we’ll see the finished project before we leave! Anyway, the kids are LOVING the playground. He’s built monkey bars, 2 swings, and is in the middle of building a fort-like structure. The kids are staying after school to play, which he says they never do.

Next week is when my grading starts. They write course works before their quarter exam (which is Sept 17th). Once 3rd quarter is over there is a short break (Sept 26-Oct 6). Once independence break is over, I don’t have to teach ½ my classes anymore because they write the national exams. The final exam is Nov. 7 and that won’t be as bad to grade because it will only be ½ the normal work load! It seems that time will just fly by.

That is the short update. We hope everyone is doing well! Miss you and love you lots!

We are finished fundraising!!

So after begging and pleading with you to give, you all responded and gave. We have collected the amount of money needed at this time (and for all time) and we are super apprecitative to all of you. I will write more later but just want you to know that I am done asking for stuff and now I just get to share with you.

All the best
Jason

July 15, 2008 (written by Janeen)

“Measure twice, cut once.”

Jason's shop teacher taught him this, but we both seemed to forget this important piece of advice when getting windows for his school. If there were a window box with 16 window panes, you would think that each window is the same measurement, right? WRONG! They were only similar, but different enough to where the windows Jason purchased and had cut in town were not the right size. So we have learned two things -- 1. Measure twice, cut once (we learned it the HARD way) and 2. How to cut glass (Jason is pretty darn good now!)

Anyway, things are going well. We have been busy this winter with renovations at Jason's school. As soon as I finished grading I've headed out with him every day. We've painted, cut glass, repaired windows, built a movable wall to separate classes that meet in the same building, and that is only what WE'VE done. There have been several men and women from the community helping out. At the end of last week some of the community members were around as we were finishing working for the day and they said, “This is not Phechela Primary School. This is Phechela High School!”meaning that the school looks too nice to be a primary school.

We're headed out to our vacation next week. We're going to Namibia and Botswana. I'm excited to see the sand dunes in Namibia and more wild animals. We've been on two game drive type trips and the animals are so amazing!

Once we get back, it will be time for school to start again. For me, this quarter will start strangely because the students didn't finish writing exams last quarter. They are left with at least 2 days of exams. There was a nation-wide taxi strike and they didn't want the students to get stuck here, so the administration released them early. I'm not sure if they will write exams the first day back or what. We'll see.

On a final note I just want to mention that lambs are sooooooooooo cute. I'm not sure why, but here lambs are abundant in the winter season. I don't know if people breed them at a certain time or it is just nature. I would think that they would adjust and be born in warmer months since winter can be pretty harsh here. Anyway, they are adorable and every time I see one I almost always stop to watch them for a few minutes.

I better sign off now. I am supposed to meet Jason at school to work. He had to go to town this morning for some final supplies. Its now that we are missing Home Depot and cars that will take us where we want to go whenever we want to go!

Seriously close...

July 6th, 2008 (written by Jason)

So it has been an incredible journey to get where we are today. I have been asking, begging pleading and what not. But today I am happy to announce we are almost there. This e-mail I received just the other day that informed us how close we are. Here is the e-mail in almost its entirety.

Hello Jason,

As of June 9^th, I had deposited $2,000 in the bank for Pachela School (NGO). Just this week, I received $2,152 in several checks, and before that, checks for $1000, $100, $100 and $3000. I’ll try to make a deposit later this week and send a summary report to you and our Donations Committee...Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks.

John H.

FOL Treasurer

This is huge news for us and we are so excited to say that we are just $148 away from being done with the fund raising portion of the project. It is a great place to be in. I am so pumped and it has all been because of all of you back home. So if you have been waiting to make that donation, now is the time. Even if it is just 20 bucks. That will get us about 1/7th of the way there. So here is that information again.

Make checks out to Friends of Lesotho. Memo line can say something like
"Pechela-Samuelian". If the checks are already made out with a different
memo line, just have them include a brief note explaining what the checks
are for.

Mail them to our Treasurer:

FOL
c/o John Hollister
4110 Denfeld Ave.
Kensington, MD 20895

I will post some more pictures of our progress and what has been going on at the school with the remodel. It is going really well without getting into all the details of it.

So anyway, we will talk to you all later. We do love and miss you all.

All the best,

Jason

Building Update #1

June 29th, 2008 (written by Jason)
So we have officially started the renovations of Phechela Primary School. Here is a small flavor of what it is that we are working on. We have painted 2 out of 5 classrooms, we have repaired a sidewalk in front of the office, we have begun to paint the outside of the std. 6 and 7 building, we have repaired and extended the floors in the the std. 3-4 classrooms and we have completely painted, cleaned and organized the office. This was all in just the first week!

The people I am working with are so great. They are dedicated to making this school the best that it can be and are working so hard to accomplish that. And this is good because we have a lot more work to do. We still need to fix all the floors, repair the cracked walls, build and install 2 folding walls (I am designing and building them which is both fun and a little scary), repair the bathroom floors and walls, finish painting the interior and exteriors of the classrooms, and build and install some play equipment. I want to have all of this done by the middle of July but I don't know if that will be possible. We are certainly going to try though.

Otherwise, all is well. There is supposed to be a big taxi strike this week so we probably won't be traveling to much. We loved all the little messages about our anniversary. Thanks to all of you who remembered to drop a little note. I will try and get on to post some pictures in the next few weeks but I don't know how much I will able too. So be patient. I will get to it. All the best
Jason

June 27th 2008 (written by Janeen)

Just a short update: Jason started renovations on his school this week. Its going well. The workers are motivated and the school is looking great! Today is our fourth anniversary and we are going to pamper ourselves and head to Lady Brand, which is in South Africa. We are getting massages and eating good food that we don’t have to cook and clean up after! J

There is supposed to be yet another stay away starting on Monday. Apparently there will be a nation wide transport strike. I’m not sure what they are upset about this time. There have been several stay aways since we’ve been here. I’m not sure that they are effective, but I guess its better than violence and riots!

Not that the transport strike affects me much being that I now have loads of grading to do. They wrote my exam on Wednesday and pretty much all of Thursday I spent grading non-stop so that I can enjoy this weekend. I of course brought some along, but I intend to do it at a leisurely pace. Once I am finished I can help more at Jason’s school. I got to help one day this week. We painted a classroom. There is so much more to do!

Well the countdown is ON! We have about 5 months left. And for those of you who haven’t heard we are headed home December 4th! Miss you all!

Just a little more...

June 19th, 2008 (written by Jason)

So after all the pleading and begging and what not we are almost there on the second of my two projects. Many different people have contributed to the success of the amount of money raised thus far and I have been blown away that total strangers are contributing to what could be construed as frivolous during this difficult economic period. You may not realize what you have done, but you have literally changed the world for an entire village and it is all possible because you decided that you wanted to do something to change the cycle of poverty.

However, the work is not over yet. We are just about $1000 dollars short of our second goal of $8500. This project is going to build 2 new classrooms, furnish them and make them a comfortable environment to learn in. It is such a super opportunity that the returned volunteer organization Friends of Lesotho has decided to help sponsor this project so that we could make all donations tax deductible. It is such a great thing that they have decided to do for us and we are so thankful for their help.

So if you have been waiting to give, now is the time. We are in the home stretch and as Janeen and I only have about 6 more months in country, we need to get cracking. If we can get the rest of the funds by mid-July, their should be plenty of time to get the school building built and ready to use for the next school year (which starts next January). This might be the only time where you can see you money directly at work from a charitable donation. It really is an exciting opportunity.

For those that have already donated to the other project, we will begin our renovation this coming Monday the 23rd. I will try my hardest to post updates of pictures and stories about how the progress of the restoration of the school is going. Also be looking in the mail for special thank you letters and pictures to those of you that have donated. I really do appreciate all that you gave.

For those of you that still want to make a donation, here is the information on where to send your donation.

Make checks out to Friends of Lesotho. Memo line can say something like "Pechela-Samuelian". If the checks are already made out with a different memo line, just have them include a brief note explaining what the checks are for.
Mail them to the Treasurer:

FOL
c/o John Hollister
4110 Denfeld Ave.
Kensington, MD 20895

We really do love all that you have done for our community and can't wait to show you all the pictures and tell you all the stories that have been building up over the last 2 years. We miss you all!
All the best
Jason

A really long blog

June 3rd, 2008 (written by Jason)

So I just finished a wonderful book called The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. Now this is not a book that I would recommend to everyone. This book is really just for people who want to understand how society at large works. This can be useful in a number of contexts. If you are in business, it can be helpful understanding how social epidemics can be created or sustained in any number of fields. For common people, you can see how you fit into the schema of this complex world and how you can be part of the next major revolution.

I am saying this because that is where I am most interested. I am interested in finding how normal people play into starting social epidemics. What I mean is how are we, you, me everyone going to be part of the next major revolutions of the world. The revolutions I am talking about are the renewable energy revolution, the expansion of peoples in developing countries, and the openness and interconnected nature of our societies. It is by thinking about these things and getting the right people at the right time that we will see the threshold tip on a number of these issues and many more I don't have the energy or knowledge to discuss.

I do think that you should all start thinking about how you can affect change on a daily basis. I know for many of you, you feel trapped in your daily existence and that it can difficult to think about anything other than just day to day issues. However, if you do just a little analysis of your situation, invest a little time and energy into yourself and your education into something that interests you and then you use that to the best way you know how you may be the start of something big. I guess all that I am saying is don't forget to dream. If you are young or old remember that it is the dreamers that change the world. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream that we would one day walk hand in hand white and black. JFK had a dream that we would see a man walk on the moon. Steve Jobs has the dream that each person on the planet might one day own and operate an ipod. Whether you dream is financially motivated or socially or based on a social imperative that you feel called to change, then think realistically about how you will achieve this.

Make connections. Utilize friends and families. Think big and who knows. You may have thought that you were done but really you were just getting started!I know I haven't really said anything about me or Janeen but this is what we are directly going through. We have to be the ones who push for this country. Many people here have lost that ambition to dream and change. It is part of the mission of Peace Corps to spread an alternative to just eating the same thing everyday or changing the way that you see yourself as part of the world. I feel that I am doing that here, but I also feel that we need to be reminded of this ourselves as we have been known to fall into complacency as well.

I hope I have inspired you today to to the best with what you can, where you are. If not, I hope that I haven't bored you too much!
All the best,
Jason

May 30th, 2008 (written by Jason)

So it is cold again. It isn't freezing yet, no snow or anything, but it is definitely cold. This means that we are once again back to eating lots of soup, drinking lots of tea and wearing lots more clothes. It is funny how the weather has such a direct impact on whether or not we will stay up past 7 p.m.

It also doesn't help that the electricity has been really inconsistent. It has been going off at nights due to the energy shortage that South Africa is experiencing. He is the hilarious part. Lesotho generates enough energy to meet its needs. However because of agreements that were made when the damns were being built, Lesotho must buy back the energy from South Africa that they are generating. Does this not seem absolutely crazy to anyone else? Therefore, when South Africa is running short on energy, which they are a lot lately, they pull from our grid.

It makes for long nights especially when the sun is usually fully set by half past 5. This has really affected our sleeping patterns too. We had been getting used to staying up at night watching DVD's and avi files that are swapped around Peace Corps, on our laptop. However, if you have ever tried to do anything on a laptop on battery alone (especially one that is 5 years old) it doesn't last very long. This week we were pleasantly surprised that on Wednesday night we were able to watch a whole movie and stay up past 9. This is a really big deal when it comes to sleep.

Seriously, think about it. If you sleep 8 hours a night and go to bed a 8, you wake up at 4 a.m. This being my normal waking time lately. Now, 4 a.m. in America and 4 a.m. in Lesotho are to totally different things. At home, I could get up make a cup of coffee, turn on the computer or TV and veg out until it is time to jump in the shower. All the while being nice and cozy warm in a heated home. 4 a.m. here entails laying in bed tossing and turning waiting for the sun to come up and provide the smallest amount of warmth so that your unheated house becomes slightly more bearable.

Now I know I am embellishing a little bit but really there is nothing to do at 4 a.m. that would not be absolutely freezing. I could go out and hang out with the herd boys as they take the cattle, sheep, donkies, etc. to be watered and fed. This would not be all that great though as they usually only know enough English to ask for money or if I have some cigarettes (which I don't. I quit years ago.). Those boys also tend to be pretty stinky because they use their blanket as their sleeping blanket, handkerchief, and a number of other things I would rather not think about. On top of that they very rarely wash those blankets. I know this as I have sat next to, walked by, and seen the green fog that comes off things in cartoons, coming from those blankets. Blech!

So needless to say I am a little sleep deprived. SO this is probably just ranting and raving but that is cool. Sorry if I offend anyone. I am seriously just telling it like it is. Life here can be stinky and hard. This is the truf!
All the best
Jason

May 10th, 2008 (written by Jason)

So I am so happy to announce that the first of the two projects has been filled. The Peace Corps Partnership has been fully funded! So awesome! This is really amazing as we are getting that much closer to being 100% ready to go with our schools restoration. It is really fun because now I get to look at stuff and think, “Oooh we could use that! Yeah that would go great in the 1st grade class”. So needless to say I am really excited!
I also want to take this time to brag on some people. Both of our families (Janeen's and mine) have been so amazing during our time here. You really have no idea how much you mean to us and to see the interest you have taken in our projects has been really cool. I won't really get into specifics now, but you all know who you are.

One really cool thing to report on though is how my own little sister did not take my last blog lying down. Her and her friends got together and decided that they were going to take my advice and do some fundraisers for the school. They even started a little web-page which is super awesome. It is www.raisetheirroof.org So if you get a chance check out some of the things that they are planning. Like I said it is not the big stuff but the little stuff that change the world. So take my little sisters lead and do your own fundraising events!

I will hopefully have some updated information on how to send money to the building project this next week. It is really easy and it will be tax deductible which is dope-a-licious!

Other news with me:
This week we (3 friends and I) put on another series of workshops. The workshop is actually the funniest part of why we get together. It is actually just a blast hanging out with these other resource teachers. It is super fun!

Otherwise, ditto on what Janeen said. Super fun stuff that is Lesotho!
All the best
Jason

In Maseru Again

May 10, 2008 (written by Janeen)

Well I as I am writing I am pretty restless. Jason and I went to bed last night around 8:30. Yes, its early but the electricity had gone out and we were tired from a long week. We were rudely awakened at 12:30 when our neighbor decided to turn on his music full blast. Finally at around 1 or so Jason decided to go and ask them to turn it down. Fortunately they did. We eventually fell back asleep until 3 when they decided to turn it back up again. This time Jason went over and turned it down himself. That STILL didn't work. The volume continued to increase again until finally at 4 AM it started to rain and boy was I giving thanks to the Lord! I've never been so happy to hear rain!

I also had a fundraiser yesterday evening where I taught students how to line dance. It didn't quite work out as I had planned. More students paid the entrance fee than were willing to dance so I think they may have thought it was a show. We only charged a 1 Maluti entrance fee, so I don't feel too bad. Very unfortunately I found out as the event was starting that I am supposed to pay 100 Maluti for the use of the school hall. Which means that after all the hard work of running around setting things up and figuring out the electricity (the hall's electricity was out-it's a prepaid system so we had to rig up several extension cords to get electricity from a classroom), I will only have raised 16 Maluti (roughly equivalent to $2). I am going to complain to my principal. He's not the one running the hall, but he may get the fee waived. The guy in charge had a school prefect come and tell me about the fee right as the event was starting. I understand that the hall is supposed to be used to make money, however, I am trying to get supplies for a school club. So it doesn't really make sense to me.

Anyway, we are in Maseru again because Jason put a new operating system on our computer and we can't access all the old files on our computer. He wants to search the internet to see if he can find a remedy for this problem. I was also up for accompanying him since we have had problems with both water and electricity this week. I'm not sure if we've mentioned before but both South Africa and Lesotho are experiencing power shortages so there are rolling black outs. We've spent the last 3 nights in candle light. The pump broke this week so we didn't have water for a few days. So life has been pretty rustic. Last week when we were here it had been over a month since I had showered, not bathed, showered. Let me tell you--- showers are NICE! Maseru is not safe from the power outages, but at least I can shower again.

This blog sounds a little negative and whiny but I have one more not fun thing to share. As of Friday I now have 78 letters, 176 compositions, and 283 literature essays to grade. Oh so much fun. Do you feel bad for me yet???? :) When I am finished, I am going to post the best and worst composition so that all of you can get a feel of what a joy it is to grade compositions! :)Other than that things are going well. I am just busy working.

We are really excited that one of Jason's projects is now fully funded. He has two projects. 1)Listed on the Peace Corps website- to refurbish one of his schools. and 2)Not listed on a website and at this time information on donating is not available, but his parents have started raising funds to build the same school a new classroom block (2 classrooms) so that the standard 5 students do not have to meet in the old chicken coop. I'm sure I am just being repetitive because I think he has explained all this before. We are just really excited that the funds are available and the students will have a more conducive learning environment. The teachers work hard and the school deserves this. So, if you didn't donate to the first project. There is still a chance! For those of you who have donated already THANK YOU! :) We don't know who you are yet, because Peace Corps has those records, but we will know soon and you will get a proper thank you from us and the school!

Despite the negativity in this blog, we are doing OK. Rough days come and go, but there are some good days too. Like for example, I have been pretty upset about one of my classes because many students were not trying and not doing assignments. Well this week every single one of them did their assignments. I was SO excited and they were too. They all cheered and I even ululated, which made them laugh. I rewarded them by doing a "listening comprehension" activity (aka listen to a couple songs on my ipod and discuss what is being said). Sometimes its harder to remember the positive things, though.

By the way, we are going to become an aunt and uncle for the first time pretty soon! Make sure you all give Drew extra hugs and kisses for us!

We miss you all and hope that you all are doing well.

Addition

May 2nd, 2008 (Written by Jason)

Sorry about this but I needed to stress the importance of getting this done soon. You see we are coming up to the end of our service in like 7 months. I need this to be understood that I have to have this thing finished by the time I go home. If I don't, then I have to stop the project and turn in the money back to Peace Corps. It sucks but that is the reality that I am facing. I hate to put this additional pressure on you all but now you see what we are working with. So please use those creative juices that you have and lets make a school building!

All the Best
Jason

April 29th, 2008

April 29, 2008 (written by Jason)

So it has been way to long since I have written a blog. I am really sorry about that. It is not that I not been around a computer. It is just that every time I get around a computer I have a lot to do. You see for the past 5-6 months I have been working on making a wiki for the southern Africa region of volunteers. So pretty much everytime I step into the office I do nothing but work on that.

However a few weeks ago we officially launched the site. If you want to see what it is that I have been working on you can check it out at http://www.wikisarvn.pbwiki.com/ . It is pretty sweet and I would love to hear any constructive criticisim you have of it. It would really help us out.

So I know that many of you have already made contributions to my projects that I got going on and that is really really awesome of you all. I will have something special for you early contributors when I arrive home. However, there still is a lot of money left to be raised. We know that times are tough right now around the world (rising gas, food, etc.) and no one is immune. We have been feeling the extra strain of the rising gas prices here especially. So what better time to get together with a few family and friends and come up with a simple fundraising idea?

Here is a photo of my parents and some of their friends after a fundraiser that they did to help fund the new school building project. They called the fund raiser "Wood for Africa". You see a tree fell down at my parents place and so they decided to cut up the wood and sell off the cords. They made $700 bucks! Isn't that unbelievable?!

So if these middle aged (and some not so much middle but upper middle aged) people can spend a weekend cutting wood, what can you do?

Maybe the whole fundraiser thing though isn't your speed. Maybe you want to just give some money. Well there still is the other way of just giving us the money. You can contribute directly to the Peace Corps @ https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=632-047

We are also thinking about doing a buy-a-brick fundraising thingee. There will be different level bricks you can buy. We are thinking about doing a $10, $25, $50, $100, and up. What we will do is make a plaque to recognize you contribution (previous donors will automatically included. Although if you want to do this again, you can!). So if you want in on this action. Send me an e-mail here jason.samuelian@gmail.com

Well that just about wraps it up for me. But here is all we got so far done on the new building. We still need about $6,500. So think about what you can do!

April 14, 2008 (written by Janeen)

Well it seems that it has been a while since I have written a blog. So I hope not to go on forever boring you with details of my life. I’ll first give you a health update. My eyes are not entirely healed despite the fact that I’ve been on meds for over a month. I think the problem is that I still live in a dusty environment and it won’t fully heal until I don’t. So the Peace Corps doctor said that as long as it doesn’t flare up again, I’ll just wait until I go home to see another specialist. Peace Corps will pay for this. If I have more troubles I’ll go back to Bloemfontein.

Not much has been going on. This is the 4th week of second quarter. I’ve already been busy grading my students’ work. It is such a chore! But I know they can’t improve unless they get feedback from me. Also, by grading their work I can see their strengths and weaknesses and base my lessons on that. I’m pretty sure that if the Form C students took the English exam now they’d do pretty decently. We are basically reviewing grammar topics until the exam comes. The only new knowledge they are getting is from literature, which we are almost done with the short stories book. After that it is on to poetry and I am pretty much dreading that. I don’t really enjoy poetry myself and I’m not so sure how well I’d be able to teach it.

Jason and I have two side things going. He just started an income generating project for my school. All students have to have their heads shaved for school. So we bought electric clippers and have students cutting hair twice a week for 5 Maloti. Last year my principal suspended students from an exam until they cut their hair. Students were frantically running around finding whatever they could to cut their hair! Now this should never happen again because hair cuts will be available regularly and we are charging ½ the price that they would get in town. My project is actually a “Healthy Living” Club. So far we have met once and we did aerobics. It was fun. I have 36 members. I even have 5 boys! We are not only doing aerobics. We will also have discussions on how to live healthily (here is where I can get some good HIV/AIDS education in). I also want to give cooking demonstrations on how to eat healthfully. I am really excited about this and so far it seems like fun!

“Waiting is one of life’s hardships.” (Lemony Snicket, Horseradish p. 154) This statement is so true! Grandpa Durkee sent this book to us and it is pretty hilarious, sad, and just the bitter truth! It is full of short sayings about life. It is like a coffee table book. Anyway I wanted to share this quote with you because I’ve been ready to come home since January! Now it is April and I still feel the same way. In the first year we had ups and downs of homesickness. This is by far the longest spout and we’re pretty sure it probably won’t go away until we come home. We have less than 8 months! We know we’ll make it through but are at the point where we want to get on with our lives. I want a baby. Jason wants to go to business school. I’m sure Andy and Mari know exactly how we feel! So at this point we are just waiting. I’m sure the time will pass quickly enough and we’ll still have some great experiences, but we’ll miss out on a lot too!

Winter is approaching. As it is warming up for you all its getting colder for us! The name of the game here is to wear everything you own to keep warm. My outfits are pretty interesting.

Anyway, on Friday (18th) I get to go to Qoaqoa with the Form C students. It is a Basotho cultural village in South Africa. I am pretty excited about it. Jason is headed to Maseru for a meeting that day, so that is why you get to read my update! Well now that I’ve typed a page, I think its time to go. I miss In N’ Out, I miss good Mexican food (Taco Lita, Taco Treat, even Taco Bell), I miss California Pizza Kitchen, I miss pizza with pepperoni, I miss bread sticks from Olive Garden, I miss… the list could go on, my mouth could water and my stomach can grumble more, but most of all I miss YOU!

St. Patricks Weekend

March 14th, 2008 (Written by Janeen)
Jason just passed over the computer to me to write a blog. So mine will appear first. :) I have a funny story for you all:

This week I have been on duty which means that I am out patrolling the campus at 7 am while the students should be studying. They are in the midst of writing their quarter one exams (which means I have A LOT of grading to do— 290 literature essays, 180 compositions on a variety of topics- one of which is the time I visited the traditional doctor, 180 grammar and reading comprehension papers… anyone jealous??? Now back to the story…). So, all the students are in the hall for study time.

Anyway, yesterday morning our cat (Tau) did not stroll in at 6 am like he normally does after his night of gallivanting. I was a bit concerned, but was just hoping he would show up. I went out for duty and had just gotten the students settled down in the hall reading their notes when all of a sudden I hear screaming and see a bunch of students running out of the hall. I asked them what was going on and could not think of what would make them so upset. They didn’t hear me so I had to yell and finally was told, “Madam, a cat.” Knowing it was my cat, I ran in the hall and tried to find where he was. Students were jumping on top of their desks, others were screaming, and yet others were chasing our cat. Finally he broke loose and was able to run outside of the hall. He ran along some of the classes. I was running after him mainly to get the students away, but the students were also running after him. So I stopped and yelled at the kids that it was my cat and that they needed to go back inside the hall. Unfortunately there were already 2 classes outside picking up trash and I only stopped a few students when I yelled at them to get back in the hall. So they were all running after our poor cat and some students even went to the extent of trying to stone him. I’m not sure what happened, but he somehow managed to get away from the chasing students.

Here is my morning announcement at assembly, “I am sure you are all aware that it was my cat that caused the chaos this morning and I apologize for the disruption. However, my cat has now gone missing because you all scared him away. If you see him, please leave him alone. He is five times smaller than you, so you should not be afraid of him.”

A few hours later Tau came home somewhat safely. The pads on his paws have been torn and his nails have been filed down to a nub. But he is back and I am sure he won’t be making any more surprise visits to the hall. Jason thought that Tau had heard my voice on the other side of the hall and thought that going through the hall would be the shortest way to me. I am also not quite sure why the students were so upset over a cat. Maybe they were just surprised and once they started screaming it was infectious.

Anyway, once it was all over, I thought it was quite comical and thought you would enjoy it. I better get back to grading. Love and miss you all!

March 14th, 2008 (Written by Jason)

So it is 3:48 a.m. and I can’t sleep so I decided to get up and do some work. It is not that uncommon for me to wake up in the wee hours of the morning because we go to bed relatively early here. Our normal time to go to sleep I would have to say is probably close to 9:00 p.m. It is actually kind of nice to be up this early. Things here can get pretty hectic with all the students coming and going from the house. I like the early morning. I call it my thinking/brainstorming time. If you ever want to clear your mind and be able to brain storm try and wake up early as possible when it is quiet. You will be amazed at the thoughts that run through your head. It is kind of fun.

This week has been a good one. Not doing a lot at the schools right now because of Moshoeshoe’s day (the founder of the Basotho nation and therefore a national holiday) and the end of the first quarter. But just because I am not doing a lot at my schools doesn’t mean a lot of stuff is going on. On Tuesday (Moshoeshoe’s Day) we went up to my school, Phechela Primary for school singing and athletics competitions. Basotho people don’t have a lot to celebrate so when they have something, they cut loose. It was fun watching the children and adults get really into the athletics competitions. There was dancing and singing whenever their school came in a placing position. Often times a whole herd of students and adults would rush out to congratulate their champion.

Because a lot is not going on at school, I have been in the capital a lot recently doing all kinds of stuff for the advancement of my assignment and the advancement of Peace Corps. As I wrote last week, a newly formed committee and myself partnered together to clean the transit house for volunteers in the capital. It was a lot of work but we felt really good about the progress we made and it actually feels like a place that you would want to stay now.

Janeen and I are in Maseru together for the first time in a long time to have a weekend in the city. We are going to go to a party at the Lesotho Sun tonight for St. Patrick’s Day which should be fun. We are then going to hang out over the weekend catching up on blogs (hence this thing) and responding to e-mails and other business. Then on Monday we will be attending the Irish Ambassadors Reception for St. Patrick’s Day. It is their biggest party of the year and we have heard that the King is likely to be there so if he is we will try and snap a few photos with him. I have heard that he is very kind but a little shy. Hopefully we will see.

Then after the party Janeen will return home to continue marking as I stay in the capital for a few more days. I am working with another committee to build a Wiki for volunteers in the Southern Africa region. I don’t know if any of you have tried to build a web-page before, but getting it to look and feel right is a huge task. It is made even more so when you have the internet connection that we do here. Now don’t get me wrong I am glad to have it. We are very fortunate to have the internet at all but it is a huge change from home. I was talking to a friend the other day who said that he was getting 15 mbps (megabytes per second) that is like getting a 5 mb song in a 1/3 of a second. FAST!! Here we are getting just about 80 kbps. Do you remember the days of 56 kbps modems? Yeah we are just barely above that speed. So think about that when you are asking me for photos (which are 3 to 6 mb) and movies. I will hopefully get some posted but that is just because I will have 2 full days on the computers.

Well that just about does it. I would love to hear from any of you. I know you are probably loving the spring weather after what sounded like a cold and rainy/ snowy winter. Yesterday was the first day it felt like autumn was coming. I am not ready for the cold again. Oh well. I will live.
All the best
Jason

Back in the city

March 6th, 2008 (written by Jason)

So I know what you are thinking. Why isn't Jason ever with his wife? When he is writting these long boring blogs what is his wife doing? Well the short answer is that she is BUSY! She, as many of you know, is teaching a lot this year. 28 teaching hours which means that she is doing a full time job with a part time job on the side (marking papers).

But what does this have to do with why I am here? Well the answer is I am working on secondary and tertiary projects. This week, we are in the process of cleaning and reorganizing the volunteer transit house. This is the place that volunteers stay when they are in the capital. I was nominated to be the chairperson of this committee. We are busy painting and cleaning to make the house as nice as possible for all volunteers who stay there.

I am doing this mainly because lately my teachers have been less interested in working with me. This is not a bad thing because I am seeing really positive results in how they act and behave. It is really inspiring to see teachers that last year thought a text-book was something for the kids to use only to revise with. Now they are using them intelligently and consistently which is a remarkable change.

I have been doing some primary project stuff though too. Last week we (me and 2 other volunteers) held 3 workshops in different villages on using manipulatives in for teaching math. It went really well though there was still some feedback that the food provided was inadequate. Oh well you can't win them all.

As for now though I need to cut this short. Thanks for all the recent e-mails and what not. We love you more than we can say.
All the best,
Jason

February 26, 2008 (written by Janeen)

I went to the eye doctor in Bloemfontein again yesterday (which is kinda a bummer because I had to miss school yet again and the stress is on since I am teaching Form C students who will write a national exam at the end of the year). So basically I am getting multiple styes in my eyes. The problem is that they are releasing the fluid into my eyes. Since my eye is blocking the release, they get clogged and become chronicly infected, which basically means that the fluid hardens and can no longer come out on its own. Last week when I went she had to cut them out. Which was quite strange as I have never had anything done to my eyes. The strangest part was when I opened my eyes and could see a red tint from the blood. My eyes are healing fine from the minor "surgery" (I think Jason may have freaked some people out with his blog). I went back yesterday because I thought that she had missed one of the clumps, when it turns out what I was feeling was just scar tissue. I realized I was probably wrong as the swelling finally started going down on Saturday, but the Peace Corps medical officer said I should go again since they were already making a trip to Bloemfontein with another volunteer. I'm glad I went because she helped tell me what to do to get the rest of these infections taken care of. (e.g wash my eyes with hot water twice daily, use the ointment she prescribed, but rub it in- I wasn't doing that before) She also prescribed doxycyclin (sp) to thin out the liquid. That is a malaria medication that is often used to get rid of acne. And I guess you could basically say that I have acne in my eyes- GROSS! :) So there is the update. I am at the office waiting for staff to get in so I can get my meds and a reimbursement and go home. I am hoping to make it back before my 11 o'clock classes, but that might be wishful thinking!

Well now that you have my health update. I can tell you what else is going on-- don't worry its not much. I am teaching away. I have been busy because I try to make up the time I missed while at the doctor's. Plus I have been grading the first exam. I'm sure I'll finish just in time for them to write their first quarter exams! Lucky me! Fortunately Jason has helped a bit. He has been bored. Not many of his teachers have been asking for his help, so he has not been doing much while at school. So when he comes home he wants to hang out with me and then gets bummed when I am busy. And the problem is he doesn't want to be busy for busy's sake. He wants to do something that matters.

The days that we want to come home are more frequent than they have been the previous year. I've already got a mental count down for the number of months (9). It will probably get even harder come May when our nephew will arrive and in July and August when Rachel & Kevin and Mike & Heidi are getting married. We hope everyone knows that we REEEEEEALLY want to be with you all and miss you SO much. It has been nice getting some emails from people recently. Maybe since our blogs have been a tad morose people feel like telling us we are missed (which makes us feel really good!). Well it is almost time for me to head out so I'll sign off here. I hope everyone has a very special leap year day! :)

February 20th, 2008 (written by Jason)

Hey all! So I had just started a blog that was going to be a bitch fest and then I decided, why do I want to do that? I am sure these good people reading this blog don’t want to hear me bemoan the same old crap day after day. So I won’t. That’s right. I am making a conscious decision to keep this blog positive and by golly that is what I am gonna do!

So last you all heard, my school had started well and we were plugging right along. That has continued to happen over the course of the last month. Although we do waver from time to time, the school is doing well and staying on track. One of the more successful stories out of that has been the parents’ council. They have really stepped up and taken the initiative at restoring one of the classrooms by themselves. It has been really inspiring watching them over the weeks collecting mud, stones and even cinderblock bricks to repair the wall between the two classes. As you can see they have smeared it with a thick mud. This will help diffuse some of the sound and can also be use as a giant tack board. It is pretty sweet. You can also see how they have smeared a lighter color mud on the walls that really brightens the place up! It is so cool!

But we are no where near done. There are still all kinds of opportunities for you to get involved in helping our school raise some much need funds. There are two different projects. There have been some questions about this. One is being sponsored by my parents. They took it upon themselves to help raise enough money to build a new classroom. They are doing fundraising projects to achieve this goal like a yard sale and selling a cord of wood from a tree that fell in our backyard. So far they have raised about a $1200! This is great but it is still well short of our goal of $7000. This project as of right now is not tax deductible because my parents are collecting the money. I am working on getting a partner here that you can send your money to so that all donations will be tax deductible. But do be thinking about interesting and creative ways that you might be able to raise some money for this project.

The other project is the school restoration. This will not include any new buildings but will be a total refinishing of the school. We are talking new chalkboards, windows, doors, paint, etc. It will make the school functional again as opposed to its current state in most of the classroom. Any extra money from this project will go towards stoves for those oh so cold winter school days. Brrrrr!! This project you can donate directly too by going to https://www.peacecorps.gov/resources/donors/contribute/projdetail.cfm?projdesc=632-047&region=africa . All donations made here are tax deductible.

So be thinking about it. I don’t want to pressure you but this would really mean a lot to me and the community that I am working with. Anyone that does sponsor one of these projects will be recognized on a memorial plaque that I am going to make and will be thanked by me personally with a little gift from Lesotho for you to remember you donations that you made to the community here.

Other than that, we have been hearing sporadically from a few of you and that is great. Right now we are feeling a little homesick and would love to hear from a lot of you. So send those e-mails and letters. It will take a few minutes out of your busy day but it truly does mean so much to us. We hope to hear from you soon and that you are all doing well.
All the best
Jason