In this interview, we hear from Sasha Rivers. Sasha is working as a Peace Corps Education volunteer in Lesotho. What Sasha shares gives us a better understanding of the work volunteers do. We learn about the challenges, rewards, and personal growth that happens from volunteering in a new place. Sasha talks about living in a different country, working with local people, and dealing with surprise situations. Join us as we learn about Sasha’s journey and see how volunteering with Peace Corps can change lives.
Table of Contents
- Volunteer Experience and Motivation
- Living Arrangements and Cultural Integration
- Surprises and Challenges
- Advice and Support
- Practical Tips and Language Learning
- Final Thoughts
Volunteer Experience and Motivation
1. Tell us more about serving as an Education volunteer in Lesotho
The education project in Lesotho is focused on increasing the capacity of Basotho students and teachers in literacy (English), numeracy (math), and life skills (HIV-focused sexual education) for primary school students, which here is grades one through seven. This is my second year of service; last year, I taught grade four English and numeracy. Last year’s grade four class was 45 students, which is large for my school, and pretty middle of the road for class sizes across Lesotho.
This year, I am teaching grades six and seven combined, since our grade six teacher got moved to another school. Between these two grades, I have around 50 students. I teach them English and life skills, and the occasional math lesson when my counterpart is absent, although she enjoys teaching STEM, so if she’s around, she’s usually the one teaching it.
Teaching Life Skills in a High-HIV Context
Teaching life skills is definitely the most gratifying part of my job. Almost a quarter of the population of Lesotho is living with HIV. Most of the people living with HIV here are on medication for it that reduces their ability to spread it to others, and prevents them from developing life-threatening AIDS, but it is still a huge societal issue. Although I do not know which of my students, if any, are living with HIV, many children in Lesotho are born with HIV or contract it from their HIV-positive mothers during infancy.
I am the only teacher present when I teach life skills, and I like to think I’ve created a classroom environment in which my students are comfortable asking any questions they can think of. This definitely makes for some silly moments, but also gives them the opportunities to dispel myths about HIV that they might have heard, a big one being that you can contract HIV from kissing someone. HIV is not the only topic taught in life skills; the course also focuses on self-empowerment, emotional maturity, and understanding and avoiding child and sexual abuse.
Having the opportunity to teach my students these important topics has been really special for me – none of the other teachers stepped up this year to teach life skills, and it is crucial for teens and pre-teens to have access to this information. In my community, students get held back frequently, often for missing school to work with livestock, so in grade seven, my youngest students are around the same age they would be in the US, 12 or 13, but I have a few learners as old as 16.
Teaching and Classroom Support Before Lunch
On a typical school day, I wake up around 5-5:30 and putter around my hut until 7:15, when I walk to school. School assembly starts at 7:45, and the kids pray, do announcements, and then go to their classes. I usually teach English first thing in the morning, for around an hour, and then my counterpart takes over to teach another subject – math, science, or Sesotho, usually – until lunch. I stay in the class and help with grading assignments or presenting certain topics.
Just a few weeks ago, my counterpart asked me to help teach about thermometers in science, and my school is lucky enough to have a few real ones on hand to demonstrate for the students. It was a lot of fun to give a hands-on lesson with real instruments, because usually we are giving our students information theoretically about scientific and mathematical tools, as we do not have the physical resources at the school to show them real-life examples. Our break for lunch is an hour, and all the students get free food at school, usually funded through a third party like a local business. After lunch, I teach life skills three days a week, and the other days.
Enhancing Learning with SolarSPELL
I usually work in the office, helping my school principal with administrative work or going to another class to use the tablets our school received through a PCPP grant. We use them to access a digital library called SolarSPELL (some PCVs at other posts are likely familiar) to watch English learning videos or read storybooks, or to play chess or typing games I have downloaded onto the tablets. The kids love them, and there are not a lot of opportunities to learn digital literacy here in the rural parts of the country, so the tablets have been a great tool for students and teachers alike to get comfortable using technology.
Learning Beyond the Classroom during English Club
I also run an English club at lunch once or twice a week, depending on the week and how busy my students are with other extracurriculars. At the English club, I usually show my students “Let’s Learn English” videos, which provide great conversational vocabulary and little bits of American culture (like supermarkets and apartment buildings) that we review and discuss at every meeting.
Calling it a day
My students go home at two in the afternoon, and I usually go home shortly after. In the afternoons, I like to read and do yoga. I usually call people from home in the late afternoons and early evenings, as there is a six-hour time difference, and that’s around late morning on the East Coast. I have pretty early nights here. In the summer, the sun sets pretty late, around 8 pm, but in the winters it sets around 4:30 on the shortest days, and it’s too cold after the sun goes down to do anything productive, so I mainly just hide in my hut and make tea.
2. What motivated you to join the Peace Corps and choose Lesotho?
I have family who served in the Peace Corps, and it’s something I grew up hearing about. I really believe in the PC mission, in putting a friendly face to the word “American” in developing countries, and in serving the people of those countries. Going into undergrad, it was sort of always my plan, and luckily, I was accepted at the beginning of my final semester senior year, so I never really had to explore other options! I have no idea what else I’d be doing right now if I weren’t here serving, and I am very grateful not to have to worry about it.
I did not choose Lesotho, I applied to serve where I was needed most. However, know I wanted to serve in the education sector. Although I was not and will not be a schoolteacher in the US, I love working with children. My students here are absolutely the best part of my life, and I definitely would not be happier in a different position than at my school.
Living Arrangements and Cultural Integration
3. Tell us more about your home situation
I live in a thatch-roof hut. In Lesotho, we are all required to live with host families for security reasons, but all of us have our own structures on our families’ property, either a hut like mine or a cinderblock structure with a tin roof. The urban/rural distinction in Lesotho feels a little silly at times, since there is really only one city – the capital of Maseru (mah-SAY-roo) – that we are not allowed to go to without PC permission. There are larger towns here called camptowns, which have amenities like ATMs, hotels with showers and wifi, and shops.
I live in the highlands, so even my camptowns are rural in comparison to the larger camptowns in the lowlands, which have real grocery stores! I am lucky that I only live 5 km outside of my camptown, which is a 20ish minute ride in a taxi. Some volunteers live 3-4 hours from their nearest town.
A Quiet Home Full of Love and Sunshine
My host family is usually just my host mom and her brother, who lives with her. Both of them are elderly; my host mom has four adult children who live in different parts of the country. One of my host siblings, who is in his mid-30s, is here frequently. Although he lives in Maseru, he runs a business selling cinderblocks from my host family’s house. He has a wife and two young children who visit sometimes, too, and I love when they’re here and the household feels fuller than usual.
I love my host mom and her brother (I refer to him as grandfather when I address him out of respect for his age), and on warm sunny days, I sit outside with them and read. People spend lots of time outside here, doing housework or sitting and chatting with neighbors, or even just staring off into the mountains. In the winter, it’s much warmer to sit outside under the strong sun than to sit inside where the sun can’t reach you. Even on the coldest days when it’s 40 degrees Fahrenheit, the UV can still be 10 or higher, and the sun definitely warms one up.
Carrying Water and Living Simply
My hut is on the smaller end of the scale, but it is my home. I am lucky enough to have an extension cord from my host family’s house that provides me with electricity, which I mostly only use to charge my devices and light my house at night. The cell service in my village is pretty good, so I can text and call and scroll to my heart’s desire, but data is pretty expensive, so I try not to spend all day on my phone when I can help it.
I do not have running water, and my water source is over half a mile from my house. The round trip takes around 20 minutes. Every day, I walk to the pump and fill up my 20-liter (5-gallon) bucket and carry it back on my head. Not to flex, but 5 gallons of water weighs around 40 pounds. I have gotten very good at carrying stuff on my head. My water situation is worse than a lot of other volunteers here, who have a pump on their family’s property or close nearby, although a few PCVs in Lesotho have it worse than I do.
What I Eat in the Highlands
Due to the elevation, long dry season, and harsh sun, food scarcity and malnutrition are issues here. My village is comparatively affluent due to its proximity to town, but many of the people here still rely on subsistence farming to live. The majority of the crops grown in our village’s fields are corn, which Basotho dry and grind into phoofo, or cornmeal, and cook into papa, which is a drier kind of grits, if I had to compare it to an American food. Sorghum is also grown and made into porridge, and beans and cabbage are also typical crops, but there is a lack of nutritious fruits and vegetables available year-round.
Because I live in the highlands, the shops in town carry a lot less than the grocery stores in the lowlands, so I can buy staples like ramen, rice, canned beans and tuna, pasta, and cereal, but can’t get my hands on much more than that. There are also some vegetables available: carrots, beets, cabbage, cucumber, tomatoes, green bell peppers, and onions, but many of these spoil quickly in the hot summers, so I mainly eat them in the winter. The only fruits I can regularly buy are apples, with the addition of oranges in the winter. I do eat local food like papa and moroho (boiled cabbage or another dark green similar to kale), but Basotho living in villages like mine do not often eat meat or eggs due to how expensive they are.
The average diet of people here consists mainly of papa and moroho. People raise animals for meat and collect eggs from their chickens, but they often sell these instead of keeping them for themselves. This is not the case for every village in the country, but life is very difficult here in the highlands. I can afford to eat meat when I am in town, but since I don’t have a refrigerator and can’t buy portions of meat at my local shop for one person, I do not cook meat at home.
Yoga and Mountain Walks for Daily Movement
For exercise, I do yoga in my hut or go on walks in the mountains. I try to exercise every day, because my school is pretty close to my house, so I don’t get as many steps in through my daily schedule as I would like.
Surprises and Challenges
4. What has surprised you most about challenges in Lesotho?
Corporal punishment is still prevalent in many schools here, including at mine. Some teachers and schools across the country do not practice corporal punishment, and I am hopeful that in the coming years it continues to be phased out, but my attempts to staunch it at my school specifically have not been met with understanding or willingness to try other methods.
Challenges to Getting an Education in the Highlands
Education is not culturally valued here the way it is in other parts of the world, and there are so few opportunities for upward mobility out here in the highlands that many students do not finish primary school. Schooling for grades one through seven is free in Lesotho, but high school costs money, so even if a student is high-achieving, they still might not attend high school or university because of the costs, or just the fact that they live too far from their nearest high school. Some families also do not encourage their older children to continue going to school if they need help with tending to the livestock, working in the fields, or more domestic chores like caring for younger children and doing laundry or cooking.
Unwanted Attention Outside the Village
Harassment is a large issue for both male and female PCVs here. Lesotho is a nation that does not experience high rates of tourism or immigration, so many communities are not familiar with foreigners, especially white people. I am the third volunteer in my village, so I am lucky that my neighbors and teachers were already pretty used to the idea of an American living and working amongst them, and I feel very safe and welcomed in my community, but I still face a lot of unwanted attention when I go basically anywhere else. A lot of this comes in the form of asking me for money or to take a picture with me, but a lot of it is also of a sexual nature, especially on public transport.
Isolation Is a Quiet Part of Service Here
Drinking culture is highly prevalent here, but it is gendered, and women are seriously judged for drinking alcohol or smoking cigarettes in public. The only real social space that exists in villages is the local bar, but it is only a space for men, and even some male volunteers have been told by members of their communities not to be seen drinking at the bars in their villages. By virtue of this, there is basically nowhere else to socialize besides work, or one’s own home with neighbors or host families. There are not a lot of people in their 20s (like me) in my village, as many of them leave for work, so my life is pretty lonely. While I’ve gotten used to it, I think it is a big difference from many other PC posts, and it surprised me at first due to my preconceptions of drop-in culture in Lesotho.
5. What challenges did you face while working on Education projects?
I am very lucky to be close to the teachers and principal at my school. In terms of my primary project, my school has been helpful and supportive in letting me find my niche among the teachers. When I first arrived, I was expected to be in grade four, as are most Lesotho volunteers, but after helping with some of the older classes, I knew I would have more success at teaching the upper grades. I am lucky to have good relationships with the staff at my school and to have been able to shift to working with the older students.
My principal is very smart and a hard worker, and I always feel supported by her to suggest ideas for our school. In terms of secondary projects, the largest issue was the teachers deciding on what they wanted accomplished – they debated for weeks before we settled on our digital literacy project.
6. Could you share some of the secondary projects you have been involved?
Grassroots Soccer (GRS) camp
I ran a Grassroots Soccer (GRS) camp for almost forty students at my school. I did not use grant funding for this, but it did take a lot of planning and coordination. GRS is a great organization that teaches young people about HIV prevention and other personal care through fun games and activities.
Unfortunately, PCVs are not currently allowed to run GRS clubs or sessions due to decisions handed down by the current administration. But I ran this camp last year, and it went really well. I had a volunteer friend come with her GRS-trained Basotho counterparts, since I did not have anyone trained at my school, and I wanted to make sure my participants had the opportunity to hear some of this information in the local language instead of English.
The four of us, two PCVs and two Basotho counterparts, ran twelve GRS sessions over the course of a three-day weekend. One of the teachers from my school volunteered to cook breakfast and lunch for the days we held the camp. Although it was almost a year ago, my students still reference some of the cheers and lessons they learned during the camp. It’s so cute.
A new functioning library
My school had received a shipment of books at some point before I arrived here, but the books were kept in a messy and dirty storage room. One day last year, my principal asked if I’d organize the storage room. I spent three full days throwing out rat-chewed boxes of papers and hauling our storybooks to another, more easily-accessed room. I am happy to say that we now have a functioning library!
SolarSPELL and digital literacy with new tablets
Because PCPP (Peace Corps Projects & Priorities) and other PC grant funding were frozen at the beginning of this year, I was only able to finish writing one grant last year. I wrote the grant to receive eight tablets at my school for a digital literacy program that we have been running this year.
As I said earlier, we use the tablets to access the SolarSPELL digital library for learning resources, and to teach the students how to type, access the internet safely, and play chess. We are always looking for other uses for the tablets, but we have been successful in implementing them with our students thus far.
We received the tablets at the beginning of this year, and it has been so fun using them with our teachers and students. On a weekly basis, we use them in grades six and seven for English and STEM learning available through the SolarSPELL, as well as to play chess during chess club, which is held at lunch once or twice a week. On a monthly basis, other class teachers use them for similar purposes. As I said earlier, I am really lucky to have had so much support from my fellow teachers and principal for this project, without which I definitely could not have done it alone.
Advice and Support
7. What advice would you give to someone considering serving as an Education volunteer in Lesotho?
PCVs face a lot of challenges in Lesotho, many of which friends at other posts do not face. I would recommend doing as much research as you can before deciding to apply to serve here, especially talking to current or former Lesotho PCVs about our lives and work in Lesotho.
I love my community and my students and find a lot of joy in my life here, but at the end of the day, it is difficult to live here. Daily life requires a lot of manual labor, and we all live pretty far from healthcare services, so I think it is important to be in good shape physically and mentally to serve in Lesotho. There is also a lot of downtime, and not a lot of opportunity for social activity in rural areas, so be ready to be alone and quiet a lot.
8. How has the Peace Corps training helped you during your service?
The most important part of training is learning the language. At least here in Lesotho, most Americans with a college degree who are brave and confident enough to serve in the Peace Corps are capable of teaching primary school here without much of the training offered during PST. The most important non-language sessions were hands-on, during which we went to local schools and practiced actually teaching Basotho students.
In terms of integration, learning Sesotho is one of the best things you can do. While many sites have counterparts, supervisors, and other coworkers who speak English, it is much easier to earn respect and bond with your host family and other members of your community if you speak Sesotho.
PST is difficult and exhausting, but really, all you have to do is get out of bed every day and go to sessions. In terms of workload and scheduling, things get a lot more chill once you get to site, especially at first.
Practical Tips and Language Learning
9. Anything that you packed or didn’t pack that you’d like to tell future Lesotho volunteers?
Electricity at sites is becoming more widely available, but many volunteers still don’t have it, and even those of us who do experience outages often. I recommend bringing at least one solar-powered light and maybe a solar-charged battery. There are some available here, but they are of lower quality than you can get in the States.
Definitely bring something to keep you busy: a hard drive to download movies (we all have plenty to share if you have an empty drive), a Kindle if you like to read, a guitar if you play, journals and pens, watercolor paints and paper, wool and knitting needles if that’s your thing, etc. It will be worth it when you don’t have electricity for three days because a storm blew out your power lines. If you like to work out, I would recommend bringing something like TRX straps or resistance bands. Huts aren’t really conducive to hanging pull-up bars or anything, so something small you can use without a lot of setup is helpful.
I also think it’s important to pack things to decorate your home. Lots of us brought printed-out photos to hang up on our walls, and it makes our houses feel so much homier to have. Some people brought string lights and posters, and maps to hang on their walls, too. A lot of small things like that are easy to pack and are definitely worth it in the long run. I also brought lots of extra chargers for my electronics since good quality stuff is not really available here.
Same goes for cooking implements and spices – I love to cook, and I brought a couple of good, sharp knives that I use every single day. Other volunteers also packed specialty spices (I did not, but I have since had many shipped to me) like silly fun ones from Trader Joe’s, or Cajun seasoning, or your favorite hot sauce. It might feel annoying when you’re packing it, but you will not feel that way when you get here and can make cheap baked beans or instant noodles taste like food you’d eat at home.
10. How has learning the language been?
The language spoken here is called Sesotho (seh-soo-too). I was fluent in Spanish and studied Arabic in undergrad, so I was no stranger to learning difficult languages before coming here. I won’t pretend that it didn’t give me an advantage in studying Sesotho. That being said, it is not a crazy difficult language to learn if one gives the time and effort during and after training. It is phonetically very different from English and can be daunting at first, but like all things, it comes with practice.
Please don’t bother trying to learn Sesotho before staging. You will be fine with the instruction provided during PST; spend the time before staging soaking up all the time with loved ones you can.
Final Thoughts
Sasha’s experience as a volunteer in Lesotho highlights both the difficulty and the deep meaning that come with Peace Corps service. From teaching life skills in a high-HIV context to leading digital learning projects, her story shows what it means to live simply, work hard, and make an impact one student at a time. Life in the highlands isn’t easy, but Sasha’s commitment to her school and community speaks for itself. If you’re thinking about becoming a volunteer in Lesotho, Sasha’s journey is a reminder to come prepared, stay flexible, and be ready to grow in ways you didn’t expect.
What are you waiting for? Opportunities like this don’t come often. If you have a passion for service and an adventurous spirit like Sasha’s, apply to the Peace Corps today. Expand your horizons, push your limits, and create positive impact as a volunteer. You never know how serving as a Peace Corps volunteer could change your life.
The content of this post does not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Government, the Peace Corps, or Lesotho Government.
