I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Lesotho from May 1997 until April 1999.  I was 23 years old when I left the US with about 30 other people to live and work in Lesotho.  Lesotho is located inside the Republic of South Africa.  (One of three countries in the world completely surrounded by one other country.) 

      My group was focused on Agriculture projects; community development and food security.  There were four groups (two education groups and two agriculture groups) in country at any one time.  In September 1998, protests against May election results escalated to the point that the Southern African Development Community (led by Botswana and backed by the Republic of South Africa) crossed Lesotho's border to quell the unrest.  All Peace Corps volunteers were evacuated from country for three weeks.  About half of the evacuees returned to Lesotho at the end of those three weeks.

      Peace Corps can be a polarizing event in a person's life, for the better or for the worse.  It definitely opens your mind and pushes you to be all you can be - yourself.  Service in Lesotho can do the same.  For the most part, there are many people who have been taken with Lesotho and there are a few websites completely dedicated to life in Lesotho (see links below).

      My Peace Corps service is a large part of who I am today.  I enjoy talking about the pros and cons about Peace Corps service.  I remain in touch with several of the people I served with.  I use my time in Lesotho as a backdrop for an lecture I give to students in an HIV class at Arizona State University to explain the socio-economic and cultural factors surrounding the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Southern Africa.  I also continue to give lectures, answer emails, and attend panel discussions regarding Peace Corps.  I am currently tangentially involved in the revitalization of the Phoenix Area RPCV group and an active member of Friends of Lesotho. 

     I brought my cat home with me.  Fred is an awesome cat and you would understand why I shipped him here, if you met him.  His story was recently made famous in the Arizona Republic (click here to read the story.)

  For more specific information on my time in Peace Corps, please click on the following links.

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