Ask the Author: Greg Alder
Answered Questions (1)
Greg Alder
Great to hear you enjoyed the book, and I really appreciate you taking the time to write a review.
I have a rough idea of what life is like for a Peace Corps volunteer in Lesotho today compared to a decade ago, but I'm sure there are some twists I'm not aware of. Though I wrapped up my PC teaching at the end of 2006, I continued living in Lesotho for a year, and then I have returned to visit several times since. I have corresponded with some current volunteers too.
The biggest changes since when I was a volunteer are the Internet connections through phones that so many in Lesotho have nowadays as well as the development of Maseru, the capital city.
When I was a volunteer I didn't have a phone. Most other volunteers did, but no one had an Internet connection on their phone. The upshot was more difficult and less immediate communication with friends and family in the U.S. These days I communicate with my former students mostly via Facebook, which they access on their phones -- unimagined ten years ago.
Maseru was seen as dangerous, and volunteers' access to the city was restricted by PC policy while I was living in Lesotho. Essentially, volunteers could only come to the city for official, pre-approved PC business. A few years ago, I visited and was shocked to find PC volunteers actually living and working in the city. I don't know how much safer the city has become, but PC administration's attitude toward the city has certainly evolved.
Funny thing, a Mosotho friend of mine told me today of a change he's noticed among locals: "KFC has really got a hold of the Basotho, now. It's a pity. Obesity is slowly moving in."
I have a rough idea of what life is like for a Peace Corps volunteer in Lesotho today compared to a decade ago, but I'm sure there are some twists I'm not aware of. Though I wrapped up my PC teaching at the end of 2006, I continued living in Lesotho for a year, and then I have returned to visit several times since. I have corresponded with some current volunteers too.
The biggest changes since when I was a volunteer are the Internet connections through phones that so many in Lesotho have nowadays as well as the development of Maseru, the capital city.
When I was a volunteer I didn't have a phone. Most other volunteers did, but no one had an Internet connection on their phone. The upshot was more difficult and less immediate communication with friends and family in the U.S. These days I communicate with my former students mostly via Facebook, which they access on their phones -- unimagined ten years ago.
Maseru was seen as dangerous, and volunteers' access to the city was restricted by PC policy while I was living in Lesotho. Essentially, volunteers could only come to the city for official, pre-approved PC business. A few years ago, I visited and was shocked to find PC volunteers actually living and working in the city. I don't know how much safer the city has become, but PC administration's attitude toward the city has certainly evolved.
Funny thing, a Mosotho friend of mine told me today of a change he's noticed among locals: "KFC has really got a hold of the Basotho, now. It's a pity. Obesity is slowly moving in."
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