The past few months have been filled with updating people of my plan for the next two years and consistently receiving quizzical looks with the question, "Lesotho?" So it seemed logical to start this blog with a brief introduction to the country.
CIA-The World Factbook |
The people of Lesotho are called Basotho. The local language is Sesotho. Sesotho does not have a -th sound so Lesotho is actually pronounced Leh-sue-too. Another tidbit: The title of this blog Lumela! is actually pronounced Dumela. It means "hello!"
CIA-The World Factbook |
- Lesotho has an educated population where about 85% can read and write. Education is available to everyone regardless of sex.
- The national moto is Khotso! Pula! Nala! which means "Peace! Rain! Prosperity!" This is represented by the national flag which was created in 2006. The stripes represent rain, peace, and prosperity accordingly with an indigenous hat in the middle.
- I was looking at Lucy Lui's Wikipedia the other day and I saw that she has visited Lesotho before. Not really relevant but still a fun fact.
- About 95% of Basotho are under 65 years of age with an average age of 23. They have the 9th highest death rate in the world
- About 25% of the population has HIV/Aids attributing to the high death rate. Lesotho is in the top 3 for HIV prevalence rate.
Peace Corps-Lesotho |
I'll be teaching high school level science in a local school. Outside of school I will be working on HIV awareness and helping my local community learn more about the virus and what they can do about it. It's going to be a tough two years but I am very excited and I can't wait to leave. I'll be maintaining this blog through out my service and I hope to share pictures and any other interesting tidbits.
For now I have to start packing.
Aparna