Today was an educational day, so we did not travel to a worksite. In the morning we had a lecturer come and talk to us about education. He is preparing for a study about the feminization of teachers in schools. This was interesting coming from a male professor, considering the higher amount of women teachers in schools. We then had a large chunk of free time. Some students went into Roma, about a 20 minute walk, to explore and buy souvenirs. Others stayed in the compound and relaxed or read an article that had been assigned. At 3 pm we had another lecture, this one regarding health. He talked about a few general things, but mostly focused on HIV/AIDS. We learned some surprising facts about the high prevalence of this disease. Each year, there are 15000 newly infected people in Lesotho. Also, there is a serious shortage of doctors in the country. In addition, most come from other countries, so there are hardly any Basotho doctors. Between this lecturer and dinner, we had some time. Many of us traveled up to the dinosaur footprints that are about a 20 minute walk from Thorns (our compound). Our meeting today was about the lecturers and the article (written by our own Dr. Rosenberg), which prepared us for our hike to Thaba Bosiu tomorrow. We are looking forward to the remainder of our trip and all future adventures!
Sincerely,
Rebecca, Ali, and Maggie J.