So our oyap brothers in Roma done the blog last week time to blow this up... Here comes team Maseru
Personal profiles...
Ryan (UK)
Hello, my name is Ryan I’m 25 years old, and I feel that I was meant to come here, things just fell into place to lead me here, but we will get to that in a bit. I come from a city in Scotland called Dundee, it’s a pretty cool place, come visit. I am a youth worker at Hot Chocolate Trust where we work with kids from all over the city with different backgrounds, but before starting to work there I was one of the young people that they worked with. so I have been interested in youth work for many years now and have done some overseas work before, someone at work suggested the ICS programme to me I looked at it and thought I would apply, I applied to come as a team leader and am really happy I didn’t get it, it looks so much work, big up to those guys. I got a call from Skillshare International and got asked to come for an interview; this is where I met Clare, among other people but there not here and so not important. Haha to me and this story anyway.
The reason I really took this opportunity was simply I get bored, if I’m not learning new things, if I’m not doing something different, if I’m not meeting new people. I get bored. And thought why not stay not bored in a really cool place working with really cool people and running sessions with some really cool kids. So I hear...
Hey guys! My name is Clare. I’m 22 years old and a series of events has led me to end up on the other side of the world, volunteering for ICS!
So after getting the after-uni ‘What shall I do with my life?’ thoughts, I decided I wanted to see more of the world. But then I didn’t want to just travel, I wanted to do something which I thought would have a positive impact on a community different from my own. Although I still have a long way to go with my ICS journey, so far it has completely lived up to my expectations!
My name is Thato Mohale.i am 20 of age and I am a volunteer from OYAP and being volunteering since 2008. At first did not know what was being done on OYAP program but I gave myself a lot of time and finally I got to know more about what was happening and I really gave myself time to learn more about OYAP. There is a lot that is happening in our program such as giving out advices and helping out. We help others in everything we could either by donating or visiting vulnerable children to play with them and now I am part of ICS,I had all the time wanted to give my power of volunteerism not only with OYAP, but as well with other programmes. Here I am now with ICS and it has been of good opportunity.Voluneeering is good especially when a person is doing it out of love….
My name is Mantoa am 19 years old and I am an OYAP volunteer. I started joining Oyap from 2013 because I did not have anything to do at home, so one of my friends told me about oyap and encouraged me to join and now am very happy that I am an oyap member because It tought me how to share the skills I have with other youth and how to play sports. And through oyap that was where I heard the program about ICS where I which focuses on passing massages of HiV/AIDS through sports and bringing positive change in our communities by helping other young children to become better people in future. And am really proud to find myself in this program because I got self esteem out of it of which was low. And I found it very blessing to volunteer in ICS because I have experienced how to play with kids which was something I did not have time for that. Thank you ICS and OYAP.
Saying much about Oyap mostly on my first day, I felt a bit nervous to meet with other youth because some of them were extroverts and I did not like that kind of people but when time rolling I was getting to learn different characters from different people and how to talk to one another which was interesting. And now am head over hills to stand ontop of the mountain and shout out about Oyap because it tought me so much and paved me a way to the future. In Oyap I learned how to facilitate and share minds with other youth which wsa something I did not know before I come to join Oyap.
My name is Malilemo Makhakhe but my friends call me Leemo. I am 27 years old. I am originally from Mafeteng but currently staying in Maseru. I am a volunteer/ ambassafor at Oyap. I have a passion for working with kids that is why I got involved with ICS because that is one of the things they do apart from working in community based projects. I have worked with kids before and even now I am still involved actively in projects working with kids.
My name is Tau,im 24 years old and im an OYAP volunteer. I started volunteering with oyap since 2008. At first i just went there because a lot of my peers gathered there every weekend to play different sports. It was until 2010 when i realised what oyap really does,which is raise awareness about social issues that concern the youth and the community in the medium of sport. i.e,use sports to transfer knowledge and life skills.
The reason i joined ICS is because i didn’t really have anything to to do with my time. As a youth I’d like make my fellow peers aware of social critical issues they face and lifeskills joined because i want to bring change into my community, not just change but positive change in the life’s of people where i live.
A typical day here involves taking a walk to the OYAP (Olympafrica Youth Ambassador’s Programme) office planning our sessions, with my partner Mantoa, then facilitating sessions in schools doing songs, games and sports with the children, to try and engage them and teach them life skills. It has sometimes been challenging, especially in the Sesotho speaking schools, where English is not the main language the children are taught in. In these schools sometimes the children struggle to understand the debrief and message of the session. However, Mantoa and I work well together and if the children are struggling, Mantoa sometimes translates into Sesotho so that the message is not lost! It can also be a little bit manic as we can’t always predict how many children how many children will attend the sessions, so we have all quickly learnt to be flexible and adapt activities to the number that show up. - Clare
A normal day for me: I wake up at 6:00am and get my baby ready for school, I do my house chores depending on what times my sessions are on that particular day. Get ready and then go to the office to prepare for my sessionon that day then go to the session. After the session we go back to the office or straight home then we would meet at the office the following day. My highlight has been the day we went to Tshehlanyane national park. We had time of our life there and we got to know colleagues better. We danced and had the snacks and the braai.- Leemo
So an average day for me would be wake up at 7, have a bucket bath, have some breakfast while watching Takalani Sesame, Sesame Street. Haha, meet Liza on the way to OYAP chill for a bit and do some planning for our sessions, then do the sessions, some of the schools we work with the kids don’t understand me due to my Scottishness, so Liza has a lot of translation to do haha. All of our sessions are fairly close we only which is handy. After sessions we head back to the office and debrief, then head out to hang out somewhere, probably carnivore or deons, both very good meat places, unlike Clare I’m a meat eater. Haha. Then I head home hang with the family, do some reading, or blogging or knitting, have dinner and jump in bed for around 830, where I am right now lol, and text people, go on face book and do some more reading. Getting to sleep around 10. – Ryan
My placement here in Maseru is really good besides I have been living here and I know what is really happening in my community. There are some challenges here and there of which sometimes are tackeled.It is really good for me and my family I have got which is helping a lot. It is so supportive and taking a good care of me.I really thank them. How can I forget the sweetest partner ever! For working with Ryan as my partner in ICS programme, I really find it as a blessing in disguise; he has left his community, friends and family which ‘’maybe’’ he has found really hard on him, ofcorse everyone would find it hard, to spend time here with me with running the sessions and making a good change in the communities find it very impressing, also interesting. We socialize and spend time together as the team. He is so funny and makes me laugh all the time except for him tickling me. He is so interesting I may tritely say knew the first time we were paired that we would work together as a team. that is what is happening now. We hang out sometimes which I believe is good for other volunteers. So it is good to work together….liza
My average day starts with me taking a taxi to the OYAP office which is situated in Lepereng, not far from Maseru town. Upon reaching the office i meet my lovely ICS partner Lemmo, plan our sessions and debriefs. We sometimes walk to our sessions or take a taxi to some. It has been really easy to work with someone throughout the sessions because it becomes easier to share tasks. What I have found really challenging is working with a giant number of kids in sessions but we overcome that by having more Oyap volunteers to help during our sessions. – TAU
I got placed in Maseru, which is the capital of Lesotho (if you didn’t know that already… I certainly didn’t until just before I came here, but geography isn’t my strong point!) Because Maseru is a big city, I haven’t had as much of a culture shock as some of the other UK volunteers, working in different areas. However it is still different in many ways obviously! Having cows and donkeys stroll around is very normal. (My lovely in-country partner Mantoa asked if we had donkeys in the UK and I said usually only to ride on beaches… she was shocked!) Also you get use to taxis (minibuses) constantly asking you where you are going and trying to give you a lift, even if you are clearly going in the other direction! Another very pleasant difference is that you can expect to be greeted by pretty much everyone in the street- it definitely cheers me up in the mornings on the way to work! - Clare
Life in the capital is good, for me anyway because I have always lived in a city so I like the noise and hussle of it. live in a small village right at the edge so I get the hussle and the small town feel. So I see some funny stuff happening, such as, businessmen wading in cows dung and mud wearing shined shows and suits, carrying brief cases, or people singing and dancing o n their way to work, and I dont mean individuals I mean like 50 people, looks weird at first but pretty fun. Because we live so close to city center we can easily nip in aftrr sessions and do stuff there such as go for milkshakes at Oohh LaLas or see a film at the cinema, or do some shopping at the Mall, which is massive and has everything you could ever need. Life hear is good, it does have some bad points such as litter everywhere, some very beautiful spots that you could take a lady friend to for a picnic of fatcakes and rock buns is ruined by litter, its well annoying, or the smell of cows poo which just hits you or the fact that shops dont have set prices for things, you could pay M30 at one place and M42 at the next, but the worst by far is the "taxis" if you that been to Africa before you have probably used them tut-tuts or tro-tros, I call them deathcabs. The door operator are so annoying the hang out the windows and shout on you, but they are cheap and very efficient, sometimes try to rip you off.- Ryan
It has been good with the sessions so far except for the challenges here and there. Sometimes we miss them due to the lack of communication. So we found that for every session we should always call before and find out whether it is fine for us to attend to the sessions. We also find it hard challenging for us to have a large group of students so we had come to a conclusion that we should talk to the teachers before we go there and tell the number of children we will need. Even though some just come even when they are not told to come, so normally we have some OYAP ambassadors to help us out. We are so grateful about their help…liza
I am absolutely loving living here! My home stay family have been so welcoming and lovely, which has definitely made the whole process a lot easier. (Even if they think I’m a bit strange for being vegetarian. Basotho people love meat!) - Clare
I really struck lucky with my family, they are sooooo lovely and welcoming. As I arrived we sat together and set our own ground rules there were no smoking or drinking in the house, I wouldn’t do that. And mines was be honest with each other, if we do something that piss us of just say something, and I will tell the truth about the food, which I have like everything and I have had, which included pigs feet, chickens feet and chickens insides. Yummy. I have my own room and a big bed, and am to treat it as its my own house, which I would not do lol. The family are not all up in my face wanting to talk to me and do things, which im so happy about, because at the end of a long day sometimes you need to be on your own. I really like my home stay, and some ways prefer it to my own home in Dundee, haha. – Ryan
my name is Malefetsane Mapota (FEFE) and I am a OYAP ambassador. I am a volunteer and I have been part of OYAP for the part 7 years. what I do is to go to schools and teach children life skills and physical education. what I also do is to teach children about HIV/AIDS by using sports as a tool. I have been supporting the ICS volunteers by planning theirs sessions with them and also accompanying them to their sessions. i have also helped them by going to their sessions while they are away on their team building trips - Fefe
FUN¸ Patience, Love, Respect and Peace was from ICS and OYAP. I had a loving partner who’s name is Clare Ashely , she is so loving and friendly to everybody of which I think me and her are on the same page even at our placements. We work together without any comflicts and share some good and bad news. Moreover we go to sessions and do what we had planned the day but sometimes I used to have a headech when she get in moody when thinks cannot go her way and we discuss about thst.we are both enthusiastic in everything we do. Me being with my partner Clare gave me a big chance and opportunity of speaking English because because I don’t speak it frequently. She is so cool and I love her. And am even aiming to teach her Sesotho because she is willing to learn.
Least but not last me and my team Maseru used to have a great time together after the sessions , going to carnivore with Tau ,Clare , Ryan and Thato to have some food and drinks together and they will be the memories when they have left this beautiful country Lesotho will always remember them.’’Moetapele’’ will always be remembered he always tell jokes and likes eating.he is always sharing everything he has wants to people to have it as well Thatoooo is a very good and fabulous and always smiling and Tau only being an introvert and kind too. Clare is always the best above all. OLA LA miss this place. - Mantoa
This is definitely a once in a lifetime experience and I’m learning so much about myself as well as this lovely, hilly, pretty country and the wonderful people in it. I would definitely recommend it! I’m excited about what the next 5 weeks will bring - Clare
So 5 weeks in and have met sooooo many nice people, people that I am going to keep in contact with for ever. Uk and Lesotho alike. Making these friends these friendships, but the best thing has to be working with my in country volunteer and partner Liza, she is soooo funny and helpful and caring, love her – Ryan
I met very lovely friendly UK volunteers during my placement and my ICS team Maseru consists of open and friendly volunteers. I have to say this,"Moetapele Ryan Glen" is the funniest guy i ever met. I love all the UK and In country volunteers. - Tau
Volunteerism is good as far as I have learnt and hope that I will continue with it besides in ICS as well as the OYAP Maseru care a lot about my community and want to make it better by putting more effort in engaging youth in sports. I also have learnt that it good to be punctual because that helps a lot; people can have a lot of time to plan their sessions. If everything is planned then sessions can run smoothly. It also helps in time management, sharing of ideas…..liza
The sessions have been fine for us except for one school where they told us we have to write the letter to the ministry if we were going to un sessions in their school. Other schools let us continue with the sessions even though we had to stop after only few sessions because it was time for their exams so they couldnt spare us some time. - Lemmo
Low points...
The only low point about it is when things get cancelled or rearranged at the last moment, I hate it and it happens alot. I am getting better at handling this. – Ryan
The low point for me was the delay in our stipends. I truly understand the situation but I am just being honest because I need to take a taxi eveyday to go to the office and to the sessions. - Leemo