Sorry for the long delay between posts, the new job has been very busy. We have been running about writing, revising, commenting on and otherwise dealing with all kinds of documents, from Invitations For Bids (IFBs) from rural water supply contractors, to IFBs for large Design-Build contractors, to various levels of consulting engineers for Program Management and Construction Supervision, whilst trying to manage the projects that have already started and plan informational sessions with international and local contractors. It’s all been a bit overwhelming, and challenging, and frustrating, and satisfying. The job is going well.
Life in Maseru is going well. It’s been interesting getting a much different view of the expat community. There are a lot of expats working in Lesotho who are in their mid-20s, and a few of them live just a few doors down. It’s been great to have a few braais (bbq) and just hang out and chat and see what it’s like to be in the development industry and not in PC. It sounds pretty great. The quality of life is quite high, especially because the cost of living is quite low. They get to eat most anything they want, play squash at the sports club and go on quick vacations around Lesotho and South Africa. It sounds appealing.
Also, a new mall (first mall in Lesotho) just opened, and it’s on my way home from work. It’s awesome.
There is a great new supermarket (very small by American standards), but there is French bread, parmesan cheese, refried beans, beef stroganoff, green Thai curry mixes, pork chops labeled as porterhouse steaks (they got me), cilantro, etc, etc. It also has the first ever escalator in all of Lesotho, which will provide hours of weekend entertainment in the coming months. People begin to line up at the escalator, with the lead person pointing their toe out and jabbing and the moving stairs like they were testing the temperature of a bathtub. Then, abruptly and without warning they plant a foot stoutly down on the escalator, which quickly moves away from the rest of their body, and just before they become a wishbone they drag the other foot along for the ride. There are many variations on this general pattern, sometimes with small, frightened children, sometimes large, frightened men. It’s amazing.
The mall has also brought up a few discussions about development. The expats are generally excited because they don’t have to take trips to South Africa for groceries, etc. However, when people make comments like, “Lesotho is really coming along,” or similar such comments, it makes you wonder about metrics of development. We usually think of things like GDP/capita for financial metrics, cases of infant mortality/1000 for maternity health or literacy rate for education. But could the square footage of shopping malls be lumped in there? It feels wrong. It feels too American. Way too consumerist and imposed. On the other hand, one of my friends made the comment, “The only people who think that Pick n Pay (the new grocery store) is not good for Lesotho, has never gone without a supermarket. If you’ve shopped at a supermarket your whole life, you’d never want to live without it.” Which is quite true. Accessibility to good, inexpensive food is a wonderful thing. The mall in general also creates local jobs not only during construction, but also during operation. So let’s just hope that a lot of the money that goes into the mall stays in the country and some people’s lives are improved.
This is kind of a short post, but I’ve learned my lesson in the past trying to keep people entertained with engineering jibber jabber, and now that it’s mixed with program management, it is probably even a little dull for the engineers in the crowd.
I hope everybody had a happy Thanksgiving. Cheers.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
1 Year Down
In a week the new Education group will arrive to go through various stages of being overwhelmed, frightened, anxious, homesick, awestruck, under whelmed, bored, frustrated, hung-over and proud. So, I guess it’s time that I write one of those sappy “1 Year Down, 1 to Go” pieces. After all, it has been over a year since I left L.A. for the 22 hour drive to Ellensburg, WA with my beloved Marantz receiver next to me and my more beloved, but too-big-to-sit-next-to-me (is this a proper use of hyphens?) bikes in the back. A year since I last:
- saw the Pacific, after seeing it nearly daily for 6 years
- drank Deschutes Black Butte Porter
- drove a car
- ate real pepperoni pizza
- hugged my family
- had Thai food cooked by a Mexican
- had a lunchtime conversation where modal analysis, sailing and WoW were all topics of discussion within 5 minutes
- requested somebody to google something on an iPhone to settle a dispute
- played bocce ball
Reading that list makes me realize that my time in Lesotho hasn’t been defined by the things I’ve gone without. At least, I hope not. That would be a tragic waste of a year. My time can be much better defined by what I’ve learned since I’ve been here.
1. Peace Corps is neither a development organization nor is it an aid organization. So, anybody reading this, I want to be very clear, Peace Corps is a goodwill organization. You are expected to come here and mentor a few people and make friends with a few more. You are expected to learn about yourself and learn about your host country and share that back at home. But don’t expect to join the Peace Corps and effect substantial and perceivable change. Don’t misunderstand me. I’ve met a lot of people in Lesotho who have said that PCVs have affected their lives in a substantial way, and I have no doubt that those PCVs have no idea. So, if you are the type of person who needs to see change happening, like I do, then Peace Corps may not be right for you. Be honest and open about your personality before you get on the plane.
2. Development is not unlike modern warfare. You are attempting to build infrastructure and capacity of the locals while enabling the local population to redefine themselves within the context of a globalizing world. It sounds a lot like Iraq and Afghanistan. And, like those places, if you don’t employ the local villagers in public works then they will a) vandalize or otherwise sabotage the project during construction b) not use the works and/or c) not maintain the works once completed. So it takes millions and millions, or billions and billions, of dollars in investment to try to build an infrastructure in countries where the local population can barely produce enough people with the appropriate technical skills to sustain the infrastructure. However, unlike war, nobody is going to argue that clean water and good sanitation are immoral. But it goes to show that destruction is much easier than creation.
3. There are many evil things that are unjustly forgiven, or taboo, because they are put under the title of Culture. My short list includes 1) multiple concurrent partners 2) beating children 3) negligent teachers 4) politics as a business. Each one destroys one’s ability to become a strong, whole and contributing human being and citizen.
4. The reality of HIV/AIDs is far more horrific than any number, statistic or anecdote can communicate.
5. It is impossible to teach somebody who is unmotivated to learn. And this is the crux of development. Socioeconomic differences can be terrible because they motivate people to lie, cheat and steal to get ahead. But if people don’t think it’s possible, and is thus umotivated, to get ahead, they won’t go anywhere.
6. There are people who will shame you with their unrelenting drive to better their lives, be creative, strive for healthy, productive lives of their family and enjoy the company of others. Utter determination can overcome big parts of a shitty lot in life. A little support, interest, and encouragement can help overcome the rest of it.
7. A school kid with books is a much better indication of development than a Minister in a new Mercedes-Benz.
8. I am an unflinchingly critical and demanding person.
9. The support of family and friends is not something to be taken for granted. I’ve doubted a lot of things since I’ve been here. Why did I come? Am I making any difference at all? Is it possible to make this place better? Do I want to stay? These are all questions I’ve asked, but I never, ever, wondered if people at home cared. There is a remarkable sense of security I feel because regardless of how demoralized I sound on the phone, in an email, or on my blog, my family and friends are always there to lend an ear.
10. 2/3 + 1/2 = 3/5 (there’s undoubtedly a metaphor there, somewhere, for something)
So that’s my One Year List. I think it fairly accurately expresses my feelings at the one year mark. It hasn’t been easy, and I miss you all dearly. Cheers.
- saw the Pacific, after seeing it nearly daily for 6 years
- drank Deschutes Black Butte Porter
- drove a car
- ate real pepperoni pizza
- hugged my family
- had Thai food cooked by a Mexican
- had a lunchtime conversation where modal analysis, sailing and WoW were all topics of discussion within 5 minutes
- requested somebody to google something on an iPhone to settle a dispute
- played bocce ball
Reading that list makes me realize that my time in Lesotho hasn’t been defined by the things I’ve gone without. At least, I hope not. That would be a tragic waste of a year. My time can be much better defined by what I’ve learned since I’ve been here.
1. Peace Corps is neither a development organization nor is it an aid organization. So, anybody reading this, I want to be very clear, Peace Corps is a goodwill organization. You are expected to come here and mentor a few people and make friends with a few more. You are expected to learn about yourself and learn about your host country and share that back at home. But don’t expect to join the Peace Corps and effect substantial and perceivable change. Don’t misunderstand me. I’ve met a lot of people in Lesotho who have said that PCVs have affected their lives in a substantial way, and I have no doubt that those PCVs have no idea. So, if you are the type of person who needs to see change happening, like I do, then Peace Corps may not be right for you. Be honest and open about your personality before you get on the plane.
2. Development is not unlike modern warfare. You are attempting to build infrastructure and capacity of the locals while enabling the local population to redefine themselves within the context of a globalizing world. It sounds a lot like Iraq and Afghanistan. And, like those places, if you don’t employ the local villagers in public works then they will a) vandalize or otherwise sabotage the project during construction b) not use the works and/or c) not maintain the works once completed. So it takes millions and millions, or billions and billions, of dollars in investment to try to build an infrastructure in countries where the local population can barely produce enough people with the appropriate technical skills to sustain the infrastructure. However, unlike war, nobody is going to argue that clean water and good sanitation are immoral. But it goes to show that destruction is much easier than creation.
3. There are many evil things that are unjustly forgiven, or taboo, because they are put under the title of Culture. My short list includes 1) multiple concurrent partners 2) beating children 3) negligent teachers 4) politics as a business. Each one destroys one’s ability to become a strong, whole and contributing human being and citizen.
4. The reality of HIV/AIDs is far more horrific than any number, statistic or anecdote can communicate.
5. It is impossible to teach somebody who is unmotivated to learn. And this is the crux of development. Socioeconomic differences can be terrible because they motivate people to lie, cheat and steal to get ahead. But if people don’t think it’s possible, and is thus umotivated, to get ahead, they won’t go anywhere.
6. There are people who will shame you with their unrelenting drive to better their lives, be creative, strive for healthy, productive lives of their family and enjoy the company of others. Utter determination can overcome big parts of a shitty lot in life. A little support, interest, and encouragement can help overcome the rest of it.
7. A school kid with books is a much better indication of development than a Minister in a new Mercedes-Benz.
8. I am an unflinchingly critical and demanding person.
9. The support of family and friends is not something to be taken for granted. I’ve doubted a lot of things since I’ve been here. Why did I come? Am I making any difference at all? Is it possible to make this place better? Do I want to stay? These are all questions I’ve asked, but I never, ever, wondered if people at home cared. There is a remarkable sense of security I feel because regardless of how demoralized I sound on the phone, in an email, or on my blog, my family and friends are always there to lend an ear.
10. 2/3 + 1/2 = 3/5 (there’s undoubtedly a metaphor there, somewhere, for something)
So that’s my One Year List. I think it fairly accurately expresses my feelings at the one year mark. It hasn’t been easy, and I miss you all dearly. Cheers.
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