Children of Maseru

Children of Maseru.....No need to write a blog! The video is enough!

Enjoy

Heart and Soul

When you leave Baylor Clinic in Lesotho, especially if you have become part of the family, then you cannot leave without feeling the heart and soul of this place. I asked Edith Mohapi, what would I have to do to receive a farewell party like this. She looked at me, paused, "you will have to stay at least 3 years" and then laughed with her heartfelt belly one!

The clinic is a special place. It doesn't hit you when you walk in the door, although every person that you pass by will smile and ask how you are doing. It may not even grab at your skin when you first meet the staff, who all seem to hug and enjoy being in each others company. But come down in the morning at 7:50am and join the group for morning song followed by prayer and the little hairs may start to stand on your arms as you feel this overwhelming urge to hold back a tear with such joy for being here. Then you watch Dr. Mohapi as she translates the day's updates in Sesotho/English. Her calm demeaner and wit...thrown in with a joke or two that makes everyone laugh. You can't help but feel the warmth coming from her. She is the Director, Lesotho made, but American grown...and returned to help her country. She makes you want to come to work in the morning...and now I will never be late, because that morning song is what I live for everyday.

Then you notice the staff. The translators, the cleaning ladies, the nurses, the receptionist, the lab draw, the other doctors, the social workers. No matter what, they smile. Pat you on the back. Even give you a hug. Anytime you walk by someone, a greeting is said that only opens the smile and the person within. There is a warm sense of humor. People don't mind if you are "in their space" and they are excited to ask a question if they can't find it themselves. The nurses would love to teach you how to do a DNA PCR if you don't mind sweating a bit to squeeze every last drop from some poor infant's heel.

And be careful whenever you want to leave this place, because they will grow on you and you them. I can only say this by the party on Friday. The doctor had been there three years, through two pregnancies and the death of her mother...and now she is going to South Africa to study pediatrics. The staff loved her and it showed. I don't even know her, but her speech to the clinic made me welt with tears sad to see such an amazing woman go!

There is so much love here. I think it is because this job can be emotionally trying. And you need a smile to remind you of why you are here.

Heart and Soul!

Jail Time-Almost

I have to admit that when the Old doctors mentioned initiating us during a retreat this weekend, I had no idea that had spoken to the border patrol to try and have me arrested! That just seems a bit much, don't you think?

We all were met by the older PAC doctors at 10:00 am for what we thought would be a nice weekend retreat in South Africa. We arrived to the border, my third time through this interesting process. The Lesotho border requires that people stand in a line to stamp out of the country, and then re-enter your car so that you can drive across a bridge and again stand in a line to allow you a stamp into South Africa. This process, of course, is required in reverse when returning back into the country. Some have already had to add pages to their passports so as to house the multiple stamps.

I was first to the window and with a great smile handed my passport to the lady. She must not have received her morning hug because she immediately asked where my stamp was to get back into Lesotho. I smiled, thinking we will easily sort this out, but she backed away from the counter holding tightly to my passport.

"You are an illegal immigrant of Lesotho. I will have to detain and you will spend a night in jail".

The words seem almost amusing as they slipped off her rather wicked smile. I apologized for not understanding looking pleadingly at the other doctors and trying no to laugh at the rather comical state. Paul, our amazing PAC doctor and the one pointing us into the future in the photo, gave her his passport and tried to explain the newness of my understanding of this whole process. However, I have followed everyone's guide since I have been in country, standing in lines that the drivers point me to and following other PAC doctors in places the go. In defense, I thought I had done a pretty darn good job.

She looked at Paul, then down at his passport, refusing to stamp his passport either. She became angrier and held his with her other paw, drawing more confusion into all of our eyes. The other doctors, now looking down at their passports, tried to decide if it was even a good decision at all to hand them theirs.

"Please, somebody go for Lineo...I don't really want to go to Jail!"

Paul manages to retrieve both of our passports unstamped and rushes me to the other side of the building hastily retrieving a paper and hiding me in a corner in hopes that the lady would not see our mischieveness. I rushed through the questions and ran to the counter hoping that stamp to make me legal would happen before the lady on the other side could see us (and I could see her!)

Stamp!

Ok! Now. I am a legal Lesotho visitor. Now how do I get the lady to stamp me back out so I can continue on this relaxing weekend. Lineo, our lovely associate director who is native by birth, luckily arrives into the room and starts to try to clear this up. 10-15 minutes later with a few demonstrations of stamping, many apologies, lots of "ooohhh, I see" (in Sesotho), the lady heftily stamped my passport and made sure I felt the power of her words as I left the building.

Needless to say the rest of the retreat went slightly more smoothly with lovely walks in Golden Gate park (again, New Mexico in a nutshell), nice lovely dinners in a very Santa Fe-like town (did I really ever enter Africa yet), and laughs with the mixing of the PAC doctors old and new!

Sesotho 101

The sun felt so warm on our face as we waited patiently on the curb in front of the Baylor clinic for our Sesotho instructor. Jaime had her green apple eagerly waiting to give it to her new-founded teacher. Every car the pulled up had to be her. But, they weren't. We decided to start our own sesotho which turned into a clicking session trying to even make the sound and more basking in the sun.

Finally an older lady in a pink knitted beanie and 5 layers (in this beautiful 80 degree weather) stepped out of a car and meandered over to our obvious foreign circle. She reminded me of a wonderful old grade school teacher that has a paddle hiding somewhere in those layers. We followed her upstairs and the session began.

She squeezed each one of our cheeks and spoke loudly in each of our ears exaggerating every syllable hoping these foreign wannabes would get the odd tongue dialect with it's french flare. Jaime, with shoulders tense and wide-eyed, desperately tried to watch the lady's mouth until she finally told her "listen, relax! Don't be afraid of my language!"

After we started cooing and trying to sing the words, Me Madela tried to act out being our patient entering the room. She would shuffle her entire two feet of space between you and her putting her face as close as possible "boa"....(speak) until we would finally ask her what her name was. Then she would be elated at the idea you spoke to her, grin entirely too dramatically, and then speak back! It was quite entertaining and I think we had more laughs watching the play out version of how to speak Sesotho rather than actually speaking it ourselves.

Needless to say, I think I can safely say "Ke Boa Sesotho Hanyenyane" and will need a lot more sessions with this woman! She definitely knows how to make it entertaining.

Tomorrow we are tempting the 1st Annual Retreat....which I am sure will only generate more blog stories for the future!

Christmas in Lesotho

Apparently, even in Lesotho you can find Santa in August.

We all got excited as Akash presented us with our very own Christmas hats for the party that NGO's were having. We anxiously called the Perfect Taxi to pick us up, and carried our white elephants over the car. He laughed at our pseudo attire, but we were ready for christmas...again!

We take off past the guards and 1 minute later he stops. Yes. We phoned a taxi for a house that was 1/2 block from ours. Needless to say it was a very comfortable walk home after the show (no taxi required).

The Christmas party gone frat house felt like we were in rush for a sorority in college rather than a christmas party in Africa. Everyone practically was from the states...there was the obvious American music blasting with beer and wine and sugar cookies that Jaime guarded with her life (although she would pleasantly talk to anyone that went near them).

We all had to sit on Santa's lap who was dressed in cowboy boots, shorts, a red shirt and a cape (a costume that was more difficult to come by) to receive our white elephant gifts...and yes, they were everything that people were trying to get rid of.

But, frat party or not, we all smiled and dance and actually had a great time meeting people from the clinton foundation, Habitat for the humanities, the UN, EGPAF, etc. There is a lot of help in Lesotho....and that's a start! You just might find everyone relaxing on the weekend!

Eyes: The Window into the Soul

The seven layers make it difficult to fit the stethoscope close to their heart, but I finally reach it. Yep. It's still beating.

I look at their eyes. Not much to say since we speak different tongue. But, with kids you don't always need to speak. I quickly whip out the best tools I have..my hands and my smile. And we connect

The eyes have so much to say. Outside there is a deep engrained sadness that speaks of the years that only a grandmother should see. The deaths of family, friends and the hardships of life for themselves. And yet, they are only 1...8...17 years old. The mouth, somber. "Eh" they answer for yes anytime a question is asked to the translator. That is it.

But the hands slowly venture to the infamous belly, and a smile creeps onto their face as they can't hold the laughter from the tickling machines. We finally connect and not a word is spoken. The eyes soften, and I realize that through all of their pain that they have endured in their life, the child can still be found with a simple smile. I hug each one profusely wishing I had a way to make their eyes show the child they deserve to be. But I settle for the simple smile and wave as I attempt my sesotho.

Dumale abuti (hello, little boy)!

Eyes.

They are the Window into Our Souls.

Land Mines

Day 1. I realize that we are in the terribly unstable world of Africa, but the reality only comes true when your first day of work entails staying at home until Ntate Pii has scoped the streets to see if they are stable enough for us to return! Day 1.

There was an organized strike trying to keep people away from work in order to reduce the potential of riots, but luckily it was all ok. Lesotho is actually quite a safe country in general. The last time they had a "stay away" was 2 years ago, so it was just a wonderful introduction for us "newbies" into this new world.

Our day began in the waiting room of the centre. The patients with babies strapped to their backs and the entire staff of baylor stood together in song followed by prayer. As the song began, my eyes welted with deep emotion for the sound of beautiful harmony in sesotho. What a way to begin the day! I am so happy to be here and I do not even know what that entails!

We have been pampered in many ways including multiple phone calls from the staff to "check in" and make sure we are doing well in our new homes. We have been warned and provided multiple safety precautions in hopes that we all take measures to be safe. I feel like we are in any latin american or 3rd world country where you don't walk around with your socks pulled up to your knees and a $1000 camera hanging around your neck asking for your money belt to be swept away by the obvious poverty watching you! Come on! NYC on crack...just be careful!

So after our day of orientation, Akash, Jaime and I decided to take an evening run to refresh our brain cells and muscles. Again the lungs took their exercise first working harder than any organ to get us up the hill. We wandered and found an incredible trail along the river that led to a soccer field of active players still finishing a game of pick up. We tried to meander around the military barracks but soon realized that it was not easy and slowly worked our way back toward our pad.

I turned at one point noticing a man in the distance also appearing to get in his evening jog...but like a good girl this always makes me a little nervous (we were luckily on the main road with many people). As the man got closer we realized he was in full military uniform running with beads of sweat and combat boots. We stopped to find that we were unfortunately near old land mines and he was only doing his duty to catch up to us to let us know we should probably not take that route by the barracks again. We all stood in surreal shock, then tried to laugh the reality of the situation and the fear out of our bones as we thanked the man profusely and swiftly ran home for a needed glass of wine! After all of the warning, and three smart well traveled people, I could not believe it! (yes mom, I will be safe from now on!)

Needless to say we will be asking the "safe" running routes from now on!

The picture you see is our "wander" yesterday to a nearby hill. We decided to try and view Maseru from a mesa and as we climbed we would pick up a child. I think 5 of them finally made it to the top with us. What else to do on a sunday but follow the 2 rubias with an indian man to the top of their back yard. The children wore slippers, heels, and or simply nothing to join us in the small journey...and their hearts were made of gold! One girl held my hand any chance and I just wanted to sweep into my arms and keep her. Yes. I am sure this will be a daily pain..trying to figure out how to bring them all home!

The land is Lesotho (Leh-sue-to)

The people are Besotho (beh-sue-to)

and the language is Sesotho ...I think you get it.

Easy enough...now I just gotta learn the Halala language! No problem!

Fonane!

First Impressions

Lumela (Do-Meh-La)!

I have always been a believer that first impressions can make or break a friendship...at least at first. So I will attempt to give mine and we will see how far I go in life after this!

When I saw the vast desert with moutainous peaks, my first impression of Lesotho was New Mexico...with a Lesotho twist of course. I was amazed at how normal it all felt. The streets are not as well kept, there is no REI...no Target...and of course only one grocery store that packs the entire town down every isle. The selection is different...and limited. Our new saying is "If it's not a ShopRite, you don't need it". People don't balk as much as I expected, but they still smile!

This morning I followed my new found Indian gone Scottish friend on a run. Akash is great. He's got a great British accent, hates to be touched, and does not like children (but will tolerate them). First impression- I can break him in. A hug a day and he should be set, but I get this odd feeling that he's not keen on these yanks that don't understand personal space. Whatever. We ran along the paths broken by cattle and other animals trying to avoid paddies and puddles. The weather was a bit more fresh this morning but quickly my lungs and hamstrings were burning from the 2 months off of exercise.

Last night we journeyed with Paul to an Indian Restaurant and then to the only "bar" that this town has (so much for night life). I feel I need to give a one liner on the PAC (Pediatric AIDS Corps) doctors old and new of Lesotho.

Theresa is on her 3rd year here and originally from Nebraska. She not only imported her two cats but a car as well. She can definitely keep a conversation going, and knows how to interior decorate. I think that she has the unfortunate luck of having bad things happen- aka a shattered heel, pleural effusions, etc. If you need someone to talk, Theresa is your woman!

Smitha is a little bottle of energy that I will probably need to slip away and take naps just to recover from. She was my "tour" guide around the hospital which meant running me around aimlessly introducing me to the world and talking about how old she was (she's a year older than me). It seems like she will have the energy for ideas...and can keep the team alive!

Meena was my go to girl. I got called by her and checked up which made me feel like my little isolated self was actually not so lonely. She invited me to Swaziland for the bushfire festival this weekend but I felt my luggage was a priority. She's got the energy that makes you feel like you can hang around her just a little bit longer.

Paul is currently growing an afro and is from Georgia. Apparently he gets mistaken for a lesotho local. Laid back, easy going, ladies love him...and that's all I know. He's got that relaxed energy that I am sure balances smitha and Teresa energy and makes the team united as one.

Rajni- my neighbor. She's from the west or that what she says. Laid back. A Shree meets my friend Ashley Curry sense of humor. Hates mornings. And she's gonna live 3 doors down. She can throw a mean light show with two cell phones and a dance floor

Jamie (and Alex) is probably the girl that I'm going to keep trying to steal until her man comes and steals her back. A Maine-r at heart she kept us all laughing last night. She's good for a cuddle on the couch watching the Daily Show when nothing else is going on, and could be my new runner/hangout/ bff if she didn't live 15 minute walk and had a husband. I'll still work on her! She's great!

Alex- also Main-r and married to the above item is nice! Always smiling or so it seems. Chill. Cool. A runner. and what more can I say. I'm just gonna snuggle with both of them when I 'm lonely!

Raj and Lindy I have yet to really meet.

That's Team Lesotho- Akash, Alex, Jamie, Lindy, Meena, Paul, Rajni, Raj, Smitha, Theresa, and me.

I am now sitting with my coffee, waiting for my hands to warm up with the propane heater. Tomorrow we start work at the clinic so the entries should be a bit more interesting and better written.

Amy