Living Arrangements

I live in a thatched roof roundaval next to my host ntate. Our yard has a chicken coop, small fields, trash burning pit, and latrines. I am planning on starting to develop a flower and vegetable garden after new years.

My house is modest but nice; the thatched roof is quite during the rain and regulates the temperature amazingly well.

The water pump is located about 100 yards from my house and the school is located up the hill about a 10 minute walk from my house. The water is occasionally out and only comes on very early in the morning if we have not recently received rain. The views around Qholaqhoe are excellent and my house is located under Qholaqhoe Mountain for which the region is named.

I have been spending much of my first couple of weeks in village working on arranging and fixing up the inside of my house including painting the walls. My house is equipped with a two burner propane stove, full size bed, armoir, table, space heater for winter, and cooking cabinet.

Christmas in Katse!

For Christmas most of the volunteers that live in the North half of the country met up at a volunteers house in Katse. The place is a big tourist destination because of the dam and reservoir. The dam which was built in the 90’s supplies most of the water demand for Pretoria and Jo’burg in South Africa as well as a large amount of the electrical supply for Lesotho. The scenery in Katse is beautiful and we would joke that you would never guess that you were in Africa looking at the landscape.

The view from the top of the mountain above Katse village is incredible. The elevation changes are drastic. The location is completely supported by the dam and tourism business and the place has the feel of a ghost town. There is a segregated feel with the wealthy and touristy Katse Village and lodge next to the normal Basotho village.

It was a wonderful place to visit and a true Christmas under a Southern Sky with swimming, boat ride, camp fire, hiking, good food, and great friends.

First Week in Qholaqhoe!

I am now settled into my new home for the next two years. I live in a roundaval with a thatched roof and have only an Ntate for a host family. Ntate Tankiso is a shepherd and spends his days tending to his fields and livestock: two cows, three chickens, two donkeys, and a small flock of sheep. Ntate Tankiso speaks very little English and my Sesotho is not that great so our conversations are basic but we get by. However, he is very helpful and kind and wishes me a goodnight every evening.

Moving to a new site has been lonely as I don’t know anyone here and am now the only American. But I have started to make connections with people and get out in the community. Replacing a volunteer right after they COS creates a different dynamic. In one respect it is great to have the way already paved for you and already have a good sense of what has happened in the community. On the other hand the excitement of having a new volunteer is less and precedent has already been set by the previous volunteer.

A man in the village named Liteboho is attempting to start a tourism operation at the waterfall a short walk outside of my village. Liteboho and Bokong both just graduated from high school and are working to secure funding and work with the tourism agencies to develop this site. They took me to see the waterfall and cave area and tell me about their ideas. The place is beautiful and calm. Their ideas are grand and they envision info centers, displays, and pony trekking but they truly do have a sincere love for the place.

The waterfall is located at the very end of a ravine that is surrounded by large rock faces. The bottom is cool and forested. It has been dry for this time of year and the waterfall only has limited flow but has a huge drop.

The stream flows through the bottom of the ravine and there are many rock outcroppings for a rest.

Hiking up the side of the rock wall you come to a huge overhang cave. The place is a spectacular place to sit and look out over the valley as there are birds galore that fly through and the elevated outlook provides the perfect viewing point. Bokong and Liteboho envision bringing visitors to the cave and teaching them of the lifestyle of the Bushmen.

There is not a whole lot that I can do to help these two guys to make their dream of a tourism venture happen. The idea is far fetched probably because of the remoteness and lack of infrastructure. But they are making contacts and have tourism officials from South Africa coming to visit the site and want me to go back with them when they visit.

Swearing In

On December 11^th I was sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer and no longer a trainee. The ceremony was held at the Makola High School. The Bo-Mme cooked a huge feast including a slaughtered cow and bathtubs full of potato salad.

A stage was set up and speeches were made by dignitaries from the US embassy in Lesotho, Lesotho Ministry of Education, Peace Corps, and the village chiefs. The school children at the schools we taught at performed traditional dances and school choir songs.

I had a traditional Basotho top made for the ceremony and most of the girls had traditional sheshweshwe dresses or skirts made for the occasion. Pictured above is all of the members living in the Makola training village and below the four guys in the ED 12 group.

The day after swear in was move out and goodbye day. MmeMatisetso dressed me in a traditional blanket and my Basotho hat I received as a gift and said tearful goodbyes.

With all of my stuff packed I was ready to move to Qholaqhoe (the Q’s are clicks in Sesotho) and get started as a real Peace Corps Volunteer!

Pre Service Training

From October 15^th to December 11^th, 2011 was the first phase of Peace Corps service. During this time the 23 trainees in my group including myself lived with host families in semi-rural villages approximately a half hour outside of the capital city of Maseru.

First Day in Village

Immediately upon arriving in Makola, my host village, a mob of children chased the bus screaming and waving at us! We stepped out of our bus immediately into a welcoming ceremony with children performing traditional dances and each of the trainees getting introduced to their respective host mothers. It was an emotionally overwhelming experience after having traveled and sat in airports in anticipation of arriving for nearly two days.

Host moms through luggage on their heads and children teamed up to carry trainees luggage and tromped it across the village to our new homes. My host sister spoke nervous broken English and tried to introduce me to the family, her English is much better than she let on the first night. My family gave me a Sesotho name ‘Thabo’ meaning joy and happiness and we hugged and stared at each other for some time none of us knowing really what we were supposed to do next. My Sesotho name has stuck and rarely am I called Kevin even by other volunteers it is usually Thabo or T-Boss, a nickname I am quite fond of. After all of the buildup I was finally in Africa, alone in a tin roof shack after traveling half way across the world wondering how in the world I ended up here.

Life with a Host Family

Having a host family in Makola was an incredible experience. Having a Basotho woman take you into her home and treat you like a son was wonderful. My host mom MmeMatisetsoMapiloko would often say to me “Thabo my boy, Thabo my child!” Families in Lesotho are different in terms of the connectedness between immediate and extended families. Because of the Aids epidemic (23% of the population in Lesotho is positive) orphaned children are often taken in by relatives. Pictured below is the majority of my host family. From left to right back row Ntate (Father) Papano, Mme (Mother) Matisetso, Abuti (Brother) Rena, Aussi (Sister) Mamoletsane and front row Abuti Tlotlitso and myself. Not pictured Abuti Koenane.

The tradition in Basotho culture is that a woman’s first born child is given at birth to be raised by her mother, the child’s grandmother. The mother also takes the name of that child and are literally called mother of so and so. Using my Sesotho name if I was the first born I would be named Thabo and my mother would take the name Mme Mathabo.

For the first four weeks of training I ate with my host family. Mme Matisetso and Mamoletsane would prepare food for me and I would sit in the living rooms in the evening studying Sesotho and helping Koenane and Mamoletsane study English and Science. The traditional meal in Lesotho is papa and moroho. Papa is a tasteless corn meal that is usually cooked over an open fire in a big three legged pot. Moroho is mashed up greens with much salt, Basotho love to cook with too much salt. Other staples were bread (bahobe), eggs, chicken, carrot salad, beat root, rice, sorghum porridge (lesheleshele), and beans.

Pictured below is my host family house. I lived in an attached room around to the left. Basotho woman are very clean, overly so. Mamoletsane would sweep the dirt in front of her house and I would complement her on how tidy the dirt looked. The building to the left is a water storage and cooking room and the main entrance to the house is on the right and enters into the kitchen/living room.

I brought a soccer ball with me from the states and it was in use every second that the boys were not in school or doing chores. I often would kick it around with them at night on the road in front of the house and occasionally started massive soccer games at the nearby field.

My host family taught me how to do all of the household essentials for living without electricity and water. This included baking/steaming bread, doing laundry by hand, preparing bath water, sweeping the house, and the very specific way for making the bed. Living without water and electricity is really not bad at all and I got used to it really quick.

Exercise Africa Style

Running and working out in village was a crazy experience because you would immediately be hoarded by children. While running down the road I loved it, having a child scream your name, come tearing down the hillside, and run barefoot next to you through the village road was an incredible lift! Me and other trainees would occasionally do cross fit like workouts on the soccer field and the kids would race us and imitate our down-ups and push-ups.

The Training Aspect of Training

Everyday I would walk 25 minutes up the road to the church which we were using as the training center. The beginning of training was mostly presentation sessions on health, safety, education system, and Basotho Culture as well as daily Sesotho sessions. We had three language facilitators that lived in the village with us also with host families and led the language and cultural trainings. The second half of training was mostly classroom practice teaching at the high school in Makola. We would prepare lesson plans and teach class while being observed and get feedback on our teaching performance. At the end of training was a language assessment which you had to score at a certain level in order to be sworn in as a volunteer. Other aspects of training included gardening, trips to Maseru and TY, and site visits with current volunteers and our future sites.

Peace Corps Press Release

East Lansing Resident Begins Peace Corps Service in Lesotho

Kevin Koryto, 22, of East Lansing, Mich., is busy packing his belongings and saying goodbyes as he prepares to put his knowledge and skills to work as an international Peace Corps volunteer.

Kevin has been accepted into the Peace Corps and will depart for Lesotho Oct.12, 2011 to begin pre-service training as a science education Peace Corps volunteer. Upon graduation from volunteer training in January, Kevin will teach secondary school physics, chemistry and biology, as well as HIV/AIDS prevention efforts.

His path to Lesotho began with passion and a desire to do something different, Kevin said.

“This experience will be meaningful to me, and if I didn’t take this chance, I knew I would regret it,” he said. “Those closest to me have been very supportive of my pursuits. Choosing Peace Corps over graduate school was difficult, but they stood behind me.”

During the first three months of his service, Kevin will live with a host family in Lesotho to become fully immersed in the country’s language and culture. After acquiring the language and cultural skills necessary to assist his community, Kevin will be sworn into service and be assigned to a community in Lesotho, where he will live and work for two years with the local people.

After completing his service as a Peace Corps volunteer, Kevin said he planned to pursue a master’s degree in ecological engineering and to work in the field of storm water management or ecosystem restoration.

Kevin is the son of Michael Koryto and JoAnn Merrick and a graduate of East Lansing High School in East Lansing, Mich. He attended Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich., where he earned a bachelor’s degree in biosystems engineering in 2011.

During his time at the university, Kevin was president of the Michigan State chapter of Engineers Without Borders and traveled to Honduras to work on a clean water project in 2010. He also received an Outstanding and Distinguished Service Award from the College of Engineering for work as a mentor, club leader and undergraduate researcher.

Kevin has the opportunity to serve during Peace Corps’ 50^th anniversary year in 2011. While in service, he will receive all living expenses, full health and dental coverage, and a $7,425 transition fund upon completing service. After Peace Corps, Kevin is eligible for non-competitive federal employment advantage and Peace Corps Fellows/USA graduate programs offering financial assistance.

Kevin joins the 326 Michigan residents currently serving in the Peace Corps and more than 6,564 Michigan residents who have served in the Peace Corps since 1961.

About volunteers in Lesotho: More than 2,170 Peace Corps volunteers have served in Lesotho since the program was established in 1967. Volunteers in this Southern African nation work in the areas of education, youth and community development, health and HIV/AIDS awareness, and business development. Many volunteers working on HIV/AIDS prevention and care receive support from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program. Currently, 93 volunteers serve in Lesotho. Volunteers are trained and work in Sesotho.

About the Peace Corps: President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps March 1, 1961, by executive order. Throughout 2011, Peace Corps is commemorating 50 years of promoting peace and friendship around the world. Historically, more than 200,000 Americans have served with the Peace Corps to promote a better understanding between Americans and the people of 139 host countries. Today, 8,655 volunteers work with local communities in 76 host countries. Peace Corps volunteers must be U.S. citizens and at least 18 years of age. Peace Corps service is a 27-month commitment.

Less than One Week!

Less than 7 days until I leave for Lesotho!

Welcome to my blog! The purpose of which is to share stories and happenings from my Peace Corps journey in Africa to my friends and family back home.

What I Will Do:

My primary assignment is to be a secondary science teacher at a rural high school. I will be teaching the equivalent of approximately 8th to 11th grade in the fields of biology, physics, and chemistry as well as possibly math and english. Lesotho has been hard hit by the HIV/Aids epidemic with 23.6% of Basotho older than 15 years old testing positive for the virus, the 3rd highest national percentage worldwide! My secondary projects outside of teaching will be focused on HIV/Aids prevention.

I want to be useful to my community in anyway I can. Hopefully I will be able to incorporate my interests and previously learned skills to aide in coaching sports (Basotho like soccer and volleyball), development of student clubs, water and ecosystem projects, and appropriate technology.

Why I am Going:

The main reason is because it gives me the opportunity to chase what I have a passion for, to put my abilities to use helping those who really need it. Other reasons I am jumping ship for Africa include:

- Personal challenge and growth

- Timing and regret - now or never

- Desire for meaningful work

- A need for adventure

Where I Will Be:

During the first two months (until December 15th) I will be completing training. I will be living with a host family 15 km or so outside of Maseru (capital of Lesotho and only major city). There are approximately 30 other volunteers in my training class. It is referred to as community based training, volunteers live with host families to learn home skills cooking, conversation, washing, etc. and come together as a group for language (Sesotho), cultural, and job/skill training.

After training I will be placed in a rural/semi-rural community and begin working at a secondary school. Where I will be placed is determined by a matching process during training.

How I Will Get There:

The journey to Lesotho is no easy jaunt!

I leave from Lansing airport at 5:00 am on Wedn, October 12th and fly to Philadelphia connecting through Detroit. Peace Corps staging, forms and presentations, takes place that afternoon. At 1:30 am we bus up to New York JFK to catch the 16 hour flight to Johannesburg on South African Air followed by a short flight from Jo'burg to Maseru. Wheew!

How to Keep In Touch:

My goal is to keep in touch via facebook, this blog, and email (korytoke@gmail.com) as much as I can. During training this may be limited but once I get placed my access should get better! So during training write to me and I promise to write back! My initial address is:

Kevin Koryto, PCV

U.S. Peace Corps

P.O. Box 554

Maseru, 100

Lesotho