Category: Uncategorized

Good News. Good Safari.

At long last I have received the approval letter from the Research Ethics Committee! Don’t get too excited…I still have to get the necessary approval from the Ministry of Health. Originally, the thought was that the approval from the Ministry would take two days. Then again, I was supposed to have my letter from the […]

Happy Anniversary

I thought perhaps the Research Ethics Committee would decide to give me an approval for my Anniversary, but still no luck. Instead, I got to transcribe one hour and 37 minutes of an interview with a hammer banging loudly in the background and a squeaky door swinging open and closed. At least Elena did an […]

Rookie Mistake

To escape the confines of the guest house where we’ve been holed up transcribing most days, I took the bus down to Manda Hill shopping plaza where they have a great little café that was referred through the expat community. On my way back, I made a class rookie mistake. You see, I’ve become quite […]

The Tomorrow Game

I’m really starting to hate the tomorrow game. The tomorrow game convinced me to extend my stay in Zambia by a week. The tomorrow game led me to believe that I would have the necessary approval from the Research Ethics Committee at the end of last week and the necessary approval from the Ministry by […]

The Real Lusaka

In my few days here, I feel like I’ve been to two Lusaka’s. The first Lusaka was big and overwhelming and scary, and I had no interest in exposing myself any more than necessary to it’s busy highways, sprawling neighborhoods, unfamiliar faces, and multiple languages. Our first two days here, we saw the guesthouse, the […]

Third Day’s the Charm

We had a rather comical arrival in Zambia. I carried my 3 foot tall giraffe, Murphy (don’t ask), wrapped in bubble wrap, and he actually flew in the cockpit on our flight there. Elena accidentally brought her scissors and pocket-knife on the plane. And it was only after we had landed that we learned of […]

I LOVE THE KINGDOM OF SWAZILAND!

We arrived safely in Swaziland late Sunday afternoon, checked into Veki’s Guesthouse where we met Rose, who takes good care of all the guests. We talked briefly with Rose, who taught us a few essential SiSwati phrases and then went for a drive to locate the Ministry of Health building, so we would be prepared […]

A series of ridiculous events (post by Elena)

Last night, Lauren and I drove up to Leribe from Maseru (about 100 km) to stay the night there so we would be closer to the hospital where we would be holding our focus group in the morning. We arrive in Leribe around dusk. First, we drive for about 20 minutes on the same 3 […]

And We’re Off

We had an amazing visit with my good friend, Qachile, and her family yesterday.  She has the cutest grandson, Bohlokoa.  We brought him a soccer ball and balloons, so he warmed up to us pretty quickly…we’re shameless! Tonight we’re driving up to Leribe to stay in the LeBoHA trailers for the night since we have […]

Elena here, Lauren’s research assistant.

Being my first time in Lesotho, or Southern Africa for that matter, so much is new. Foremost, the people are so friendly. Each person Lauren introduces me to greets me with a warm hug –shop owners, waitresses, old colleagues. We’re staying with a Basotho friend of hers, Me’ Zinia. Me’ is a respectful term for […]