Voluntetal Development

Day 1:

Sperm travels a long, arduous way to the Fallopian Tube. The strongest sperm fertilizes the Egg and a Zygote is formed. The genetic information in the zygote is ready to be incorporated, and changed.

I travel a long and arduous way to Lesotho. When I land, and arrive in my host family’s house, a Peace Corps Trainee is formed. My knowledge of what a volunteer was, and my idea of Lesotho was ready to be tested, and changed.

Days 2-6:

The zygote is tested within its first few days. It travels into the fallopian tubes, and goes through a number of rapid mitotic cell divisions. It now has a permanent location, and can start growing with regular sustenance from its mother.

I quickly adapt to life in the training village. I change the way I bathed (I now bucket bathe), I changed the way I ate, (I started eating a lot of papa, maize meal), and I changed my name to Tebatso Mapiloko. I now had a semi-permanent location in the Makola village. I started getting regular training and Sesotho language instruction from Peace Corps.

Week 3:

The microscopic fetus now has a beating heart and has its own blood separate from its mothers. It gains its own experiences now having minor neuralation with the creation of its brain and spinal chord. Its gastrointestinal tract starts to take shape.

After traveling with the help of other volunteers to Mokhotlong and back I now gained a more personal sense of what Lesotho was going to be like separate of how Peace Corps taught. I had regular bouts of diarrhea or constipation.

Week 4:

The fetus is about 10,000x larger than the fertilized egg.

I lost 10lbs...

Week 5: 

Fetal buds form indicating where arms and legs will shape. The lower jaw forms along with the larynx with the rudimentary ears and eyes.

I became quite skilled at walking up and down mountains and rocks with flip-flops. I started cooking for myself. I also visited my future home, Fobane, where I saw and rudimentarily experienced the village for 2 days during site visit. My teachers heard my premature thoughts and opinions about Lesotho and service, and I started understanding a bit more Sesotho.

Week 6:

The fetus weighs about 1/1000th of an ounce, and has webbed fingers and toes. Its palate and nose develop.

I ate at least 16oz of turkey on thanksgiving. I went swimming at the ambassador’s house, and webbed fingers could have been useful. I smelled and tasted so much on my favorite holiday.

Week 8:

Every organ is in place, and bones begin to replace cartilage. Fingerprints form, and the baby can start hearing.

I started practice teaching, and I was nervous. I began to develop my own personality and method for teaching. I listened to feedback on how to change and adapt to better teaching styles.

Week 10-11:

The baby can turn its head, frown, smile, and hiccup. The baby can “breathe” the amniotic fluid and urinate. It can grasp objects, all organ systems function, and the baby has a skeletal structure, nerves, and circulation. Now it just needs to grow.

I swore in as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I frowned because I am would no longer going to see all my friends in training regularly. I smiled because my adventure finally began. I hiccupped during my first week alone in Fobane, stumbling to make my place my own. I had all the tools, and knowledge. But I was just there to learn; I was not yet ready to start projects. I also started urinating on my garden.

Week 12:

The baby is now able to experience pain. It’s vocal chords are complete. The genitalia are now clearly either male of female.

I walked 3 hours to my friend’s village up a mountain, then 3 hours back down a mountain. I was extremely sore the next day. I was now essentially fluent, or capable in Sesotho. I slaughtered a chicken, and therefore I became a man.

Month 4:

The fetus now makes active movements. The heart beats 120-150 times per minute, and brain waves are very detectable.

I read all of Harry Potter waiting for school to start January 28th. I immediately started teaching strong, and started a tutoring club, which has remained, pretty effective, yet difficult to manage. I teach about 120-150 kids a day, and my fellow teachers beat about 120-150 students a day.

Month 5:

Sweat and oil glands are now functioning. The mother can feel the fetus kicking, and the heartbeat can be heard with a stethoscope. The baby can dream.

I started playing soccer on the Fobane Teacher’s team. They can play soccer a lot better than I can. I was getting about 10 hours of sleep per night. Our Peace Corp Phase III workshop and vacations were coming up, so we new volunteers were getting a bit antsy.

Month 6:

The fetus now has a startle reflex, and there is a rapid brain development. A baby born at this time can survive, but the chances of complications and death are high.

I went to my final Phase III training workshop where I got to see all my training friends and host family. I was startled to hear about a lot of people’s experiences, and how different and similar they were to my own. I learned a lot during the workshop, and refreshed a new sense of what it was to be a volunteer. Mike, Kyle, Laura and I went to South Africa for the first time in a rented private vehicle. Our chances of complications and death on this vacation to Port Elizabeth were high (driving on the left), but we survived unscathed, and fattened up from amazing food.

Month 7:

The fetus develops regular breathing rhythms, a partially self-controlled temperature, and has more control over body functions and movements.

I have now been teaching for about 3 months, so I got into a rhythm with teaching and my schedule. I now know all my teachers, and many of my villagers. I am much more integrated and aware of my presence in the community. At cultural day, I was able to control my body movements to sort of dance in a traditional way. This will take more time.

Month 8:

Antibodies are built up in the fetus, and the skin begins to thicken. The baby is able to use all 5 senses. The baby continues to grow and gain fat.

I created my Random Hacks of Kindness video (more to come in future blog) and went to Pretoria to give a presentation on my idea and form a team to create an innovative application for smart phones. With my new sense of security and having travelled in South Africa, I travelled through Johannesburg and survived. I gained back my 10lbs.

Month 9:

The baby prepares for birth by sliding its head toward the birth canal. It continues to grow.

I attended the PDM and HIV workshop where I learned properly, and effectively how to start my projects to help develop Fobane. My counterpart and I have planned to organize a large HIV testing event in my village, and we start the beginning of August.

Birth:

After having spent 9 months in Lesotho, and only 6 months after Phase I, and then only 3-4 months after Phase III, I now feel capable, and integrated enough to begin what I intended on doing when I joined the Peace Corps. Although I have not been entirely active in pursuing projects, it was crucial to take this time, step back, and observe. Our premature ideas of volunteerism can be considered forceful, culturally insensitive, ineffective, and unsustainable. Therefore, gaining respect in my village, learning Sesotho, and adapting to life here will have hopefully made the next year and a half of my service that much easier to start projects that my community has expressed a need for. I look forward to the challenge of true volunteerism, now that I feel more like a Mosotho man. 

Moments and Observations: A Makola Story

I understand the end of the world is quickly approaching, and therefore I only have such a short time to further explain the training in this early part of my Peace Corps time.
There are a few things I believe I have missed about training in Makola and some general first impression observations of Lesotho. It will be addressed in the following list which I slowly generated every day over the past weeks. I enjoy listing details, it is much easier to read and follow.
• A baby chicken enters my room and leaves on its own regard. I don't think it understands that it is meat.
• A little boy, we named swag, literally is the essence of what all great American
rappers strive for.
• The food is heavily carb based, but peanut butter is the cure to that. They eat
a lot of Papa, which is mashed up corn meal and boiled water. Not my thing, and when I tell the Basotho I dislike it, they scoff and are astonished. They don't know what I eat.
• I try not to take too many pictures, or I am discreet with my camera, because
everyone asks for you to “shoot them,” and then they swarm your camera to
see what the picture was. Then they want it again. Not dangerous, just inconvenient.
• Bucket bathing, is pretty easy. And I feel very clean! Just kind of burn myself
often with the boiling water. I am too impatient to get more cold water to
mix or to wait for it to cool.
• First week I was asked to be married to someone’s daughter. They tried
twice. They are really nice though. Maybe my plan B.
• I am certain Basotho dream of eating sugar straight up and salt injections.
Every Basotho person I see uses about 4 spoons of sugar in small cup of tea,
and I think if salt water fish were to eat the food, they would die of dehydration. Some of the food is great though, like the carrots and beets!
• My family expects me to polish my shoes and iron my clothes often. Luckily
they are taking care of that for me...
• I threw a Frisbee, hit a 7-year old in the neck/face. No crying. Also no parents
so I was relieved. Then I did it again. Different child. Still on accident. I was
less worried that time.
• Shaving without a mirror is less accurate than I anticipated, also, I have a
tetanus shot so I wasn’t worried to get lockjaw.
• When hiking I was playing with a stick and it dropped on a littler girl’s head.
She was mad and I tried to say I was sorry, instead I said “ke thabile,” which
means I am happy.
• Washing clothes is not something I ever got the hang of, definitely paying someone. Contributing to
the Economy!
• My family calls me Ntate Peanut Butter, by week 2 I have gone through 4 jars
of peanut butter. They were amazed when I put peanut butter on an apple. Mind blown. Later between two slices of bread. Even more so.
• Fat cakes, or makoanyas are delicious fried bread. Peanut butter, or nutella
as toppings, it’ll be easy to regain that weight I lost!
• My solar book bag is the smartest thing I ever brought.
• The more I sweep, the more dust comes in my home, it is a battle I will never
win. I would polish my shoes daily, more so because my family would force me, but they would be just as dirty 10 feet from my home.
• Getting sick, sucks. All I could think was: I want a normal toilet. And a big screen tv.
• Little kids always want to hold hands. I choose wisely as to stay away from
the ones with dried boogers and general gross ones. I also use hand sanitizer
often. Although there are some extraordinarily cute ones I chase after to hold their hand. I'm not a creep. It's not creepy here.
• Taxis are very crowded, but being smooshed between two largely
proportioned Basotho women somehow lulls you into a very nice, comatose state. Next thing you know, you are where you need to be, rested, and sweaty. And when you aren't asleep, you can give a clever elevator (or taxi) speech on why you are here all in Sesotho and see how amazed they are with you!
• Seeing a shower and electricity are very exciting things. If you are around other Americans, make sure to dash for the outlets.
• I didn’t know until I came here, but I am often caught talking about shorts,
and wearing shorts.
• Shooting stars are amazing. So legit. Stargazing is probably the best thing to do at night, especially here where you can see everything. We also have Orion down here (kind of lost a bet)
• We asked our Sesotho Teacher, if you had a lot of money, where would you
travel and why? She responded, to America, to kill Mike and Shawn. We are her favorites.
• When running in the early morning, or at night I always carried a rock. Very fearful of dogs. They are so nice during daylight, and turn zombie scary at dark. But if you bend down they run away faster than they originally ran towards you. It's the tease of grabbing a rock that frightens them really.
• Basotho think it is hilarious that Americans bring their dogs inside or pet it.
• During our time at the Hub, cookies and fruit were often provided. It was sometimes a mad dash for the specific ones, but I generally went more for quantity rather than quality. Record: 14 cookies and 5 apples/bananas. A great day!

Makola was a great place, and I am already excited to return to it for a week in my Phase III training. To swing by the constantly dancing shop keeper (still don't know his name, even after all the peanut butter I bought, and the makoanyas). Perhaps going back to having my 'M'e laugh at how I wash my clothes, my sister asking to play more sudoku (she got really good). Hopefully by then I can pronounce the clicks in the q's of this language and then they don't have to correct me constantly on my faulty pronunciation.

Now that training Phase I is over, and I'm surviving Phase II in wonderful Fobane, I will be posting hopefully more regularly during this more relaxed phase of my Peace Corps Life.
Things are getting real!