Amenities in Lesotho are few and far between. I consider myself lucky that I have access to electricity. When I first moved in, there was no electricity in my rondoval. I noticed that my landlady's home did have electricity, so I asked her to run a wire from her home over to mine. I pay around $5 every month for my electrcity usage. Having electrcity has enabled me to purchase a mini-fridge and charge my phone, tablet, Kindle and laptop. Peace Corps volunteers that don't have electrcity must buy solar panels to keep their phones charged. There is no trash service or community dump to which Basotho can bring their trash. Unfortunately, all trash is burned. In the beginning, I tried very hard to burn my own trash, but it's a lot more difficult than it looks to set trash on fire, especially with the wind. Now I bring my trash to school with me twice a week and the students burn it for me. There is no running water in my community, so whenever I need water I must walk to my community water pump. Women and girls are usually the ones responsible in families for fetching water. They are trained as young as the age of five in how to carry buckets of water on their heads! I tried it once, but it was so painful that I never attempted it again. I am only able to carry about five liters of water in each hand at a time, so I take many trips to the water pump.
