Hitchikers

This post wont have any photos, but it was a memorable experience I wanted to pass on.

While crossing the Lesotho border I met two women about my age. They were in the Peace corp. and heading into South Africa for a short weekend reprieve. As we passed through the border we saw the girls walking along the highway. Dad and I knew that the nearest town was at least a an half hour drive away, and there weren't very many cars on the road at all. We pulled over and picked the girls up.

They were going to a town called Clarens. They had hitchhiked all morning from the south of Lesotho and were planning to thumb it into the town. It was incredibly interesting talking to the girls. One of them had been with the peace corps for three years. She described some of the hardships of her work: living alone, being stared at constantly for being the only Caucasian around, the simple food and often boredom that came with long nights and lack of entertainment. It was no surprise they needed a weekend reprieve in South Africa.

Talking with the girls, it made me realize, wow, there are some good people in the world. These women were giving up years of their life to help people in remote communities. They were so candid about their experience, the difficulties and reality of peace corps work, and I found it inspiring. I'm glad we picked up those hitchhikers, it gave us another view of Africa we would have missed otherwise.