Monday, January 28, 2008
To Thaba Tseka Tues!
Today was to do a final tabulation of clothes purchased, disbursed and remaining and tally the clothes needed for the trip to Thaba Tseka. We have bought out 3 stores locally, and will be getting a manager from Maseru to bring us the clothes to our office to take with us. They have plenty of stock in their warehouse and we finally realized we had better take it with us on Tuesday as the 5 hour journey over mountain roads will not be easy to repeat. I have some hopes of riding when there , with a local teacher and possibly a Swiss doctor- out of the tourist milieu- Will also be checking on several of the projects HL started there last year, including some involving animals. So I will put on my poultry vet hat, an amusing notion for all who know me. Will get news back after the five day trip. I have been told it incredibly beautiful and isolated and cannot wait to see it all.
So many projects...
The work at Help Lesotho is multilayered and at any one time there are 5 people working on several different projects each. One of them was obtaining solar cookers for 39 grandmothers last year. I heard them discussing the project and planning the follow up for the donors , which involves a Basotho staff member traveling to many villages, as there has to be a way to see if indeed the grandmothers are using them and saving money and time. Similarly, other projects must be followed up- desks for one school, book
shelves for another, a renovation after a fire and so it goes. Laptops whir and click, cell phones ring, all interrupted constantly by kids coming for clothes and older people coming to ask for help for their children. Peg is working on politics, permits and estimates for 2 community centers, a slow process as the land has to be secured and all takes longer than expected. However, it does march forward. The pace does not allow a lot of time to think about Canada, other than the evenings when we are all off the street, sharing stories and plans and watching movies on the laptops- I read into the night and try not to worry about things at home.
Yesterday, I went to Ficksburg South Africa once more to use the internet there to send photos and have a day out. Bruce, an engineer from Ottawa, and I walked across the border unchecked via the express lane as 200 others stood in the sun for hours waiting for customs. He has an express pass, tho I don't, and I ended up there with no stamp and worried about the return the entire time. The visit was good enough and the return across the SA border uneventful as we walked across again with no inspection of passports, me cruising nervously on his coat tails. Felt decadently privileged to be able to skip the brutal lines.
The day was almost ruined by the taxi ride back- a half hour turned into almost 2 hrs as the taxi van driver went back and forth , up and down the one bustling street of the border town Maputsoe, yelling out the window and cramming more people in. It was very hot in the window where I sat and as people got in and out he collected more instead of leaving the town and going to Leribe, ½ hr away. Near the end of the filling process he put 3 young men, Rastafarians I think, with fighting sticks , in the back seat. Fighting sticks are carried by young men and herd boys, showing aggression and a willingness to fight- you might say they represent machoismo. They may have been high on moonshine or pot and the trip home was horrible and a bit scary- they laughed loudly but also shrieked and yelled the same sharp HAH! chant word over and over- the rest of the 15 people crammed in the van, including old men and children, sitting resignedly with heads down wishing for it to end . It ruined the day.
shelves for another, a renovation after a fire and so it goes. Laptops whir and click, cell phones ring, all interrupted constantly by kids coming for clothes and older people coming to ask for help for their children. Peg is working on politics, permits and estimates for 2 community centers, a slow process as the land has to be secured and all takes longer than expected. However, it does march forward. The pace does not allow a lot of time to think about Canada, other than the evenings when we are all off the street, sharing stories and plans and watching movies on the laptops- I read into the night and try not to worry about things at home.
Yesterday, I went to Ficksburg South Africa once more to use the internet there to send photos and have a day out. Bruce, an engineer from Ottawa, and I walked across the border unchecked via the express lane as 200 others stood in the sun for hours waiting for customs. He has an express pass, tho I don't, and I ended up there with no stamp and worried about the return the entire time. The visit was good enough and the return across the SA border uneventful as we walked across again with no inspection of passports, me cruising nervously on his coat tails. Felt decadently privileged to be able to skip the brutal lines.
The day was almost ruined by the taxi ride back- a half hour turned into almost 2 hrs as the taxi van driver went back and forth , up and down the one bustling street of the border town Maputsoe, yelling out the window and cramming more people in. It was very hot in the window where I sat and as people got in and out he collected more instead of leaving the town and going to Leribe, ½ hr away. Near the end of the filling process he put 3 young men, Rastafarians I think, with fighting sticks , in the back seat. Fighting sticks are carried by young men and herd boys, showing aggression and a willingness to fight- you might say they represent machoismo. They may have been high on moonshine or pot and the trip home was horrible and a bit scary- they laughed loudly but also shrieked and yelled the same sharp HAH! chant word over and over- the rest of the 15 people crammed in the van, including old men and children, sitting resignedly with heads down wishing for it to end . It ruined the day.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Sponsorhip Week
What this week means is that all the children with sponsors will show up to get uniforms including shoes, socks, pants, shirts and sweaters, and there will be many others coming for help. They have heard of us through friends but now we are not taking new applications, as there are 40 on the waiting list so we have to start turning away children today. There were about 20 people waiting at 7:30 when Carolyn, Michelle and I got there, so we all started taking names and sizes. The hardest one was a girl of 17 with good English who couldn't hold it together when I said we aren't taking new applications- she started crying and I asked a Basotho staff member to care for her- she hadn’t been able to pay last year for school and couldn’t go back to final year- we finally fit her in a fund called the achievers fund. Instinctively you know when to make exceptions.
There has been a lot of activity for three days around buying and lugging the clothes, in boxes, suitcases, down the hill, by taxi etc and then sorting and resorting as they get handed out. There are so many lists about what is what and what has been purchased and disbursed that we are now the "keepers of the lists" Makes VVC look like a snap! Had to drive to another town to ask 2 High Schools to get sizes for children that haven't come in and then back up country Thurs to purchase large order and get the clothes to these two schools.
There is a lot of concern regarding the association with the whites singling out the children so we have to be discreet. There is a little boy of 14, Paki, who has had an exceptionally hard time. He was associated with the Peace Corps as both his parents had died and he cares for his 12 yr old sister. They were very visible in his life and he started to be bullied and even assaulted at school. He has started with us and had to change schools, but there has to be continued support, as he has nothing, no food or fuel, so we must find a way to do it such as establishing secret drop off spots. Life here is incredibly hard for many, and as you can imagine, he is very solemn.
This will all wrap up soon as the children must have all the supplies this week to attend school and then I will be off to the orphanage.
There has been a lot of activity for three days around buying and lugging the clothes, in boxes, suitcases, down the hill, by taxi etc and then sorting and resorting as they get handed out. There are so many lists about what is what and what has been purchased and disbursed that we are now the "keepers of the lists" Makes VVC look like a snap! Had to drive to another town to ask 2 High Schools to get sizes for children that haven't come in and then back up country Thurs to purchase large order and get the clothes to these two schools.
There is a lot of concern regarding the association with the whites singling out the children so we have to be discreet. There is a little boy of 14, Paki, who has had an exceptionally hard time. He was associated with the Peace Corps as both his parents had died and he cares for his 12 yr old sister. They were very visible in his life and he started to be bullied and even assaulted at school. He has started with us and had to change schools, but there has to be continued support, as he has nothing, no food or fuel, so we must find a way to do it such as establishing secret drop off spots. Life here is incredibly hard for many, and as you can imagine, he is very solemn.
This will all wrap up soon as the children must have all the supplies this week to attend school and then I will be off to the orphanage.
Time in between
We had a great trip to Maseru on the Friday after camp. Maseru is 100 km from Leribe where we are stationed at the office. Carolyn, the director of Orphan programs and Volunteers, took us to the city in the new Toyota truck, standard, drive on the left, and the first time she had used it…. crazy traffic, taxi vans…we managed to get stuck in a mud track leading to the Orphanage…. we were delivering food left over from the camp.
It took 5 teenage boys and 15 minutes for us to get unstuck- after which I met Sister Margaret and saw the orphanage, my placement location, for the first time…there is a cluster of brick buildings around a central courtyard and a tidy kitchen and eating room, which is attached to the nuns quarters. There are dorms for boys and girls as well as a nice rondavel house that was built for the HL volunteers. Though the area is a nondescript suburbia of cement block homes with mud tracks running between them, there is a good feeling at the orphanage itself. I will go Jan 27 th.
We went downtown and spent some time in the city core. Very different to anything else I had seen in Lesotho, clean, bustling, signs of economic activity such as full restaurants.
Spent some time doing errands and at the Internet café before delivering shoes and other supplies to one of the top achieving girls at St Mary’s school and convent. She was there with her 2 yr old daughter waiting for us under the trees. The child was healthy and beautiful- HL supported Emily, the mother, through the pregnancy and got her back into school. She wants to be a doctor, and somehow I think there is a chance she may make it.
Saturday we wandered the market and downtown area of Leribe with another experienced volunteer. We were picking up school supplies for the coming week for the sponsored children. In the case of the boarding children it included candles, soap, other toiletries and also shoes, many sizes, in the standard black for boys and girls. The market area was a wild, vendor in tin booths selling everything from veggies to dresses and tin pots - with rutted mud tracks, garbage, loud music and rich smells everywhere. You cannot escape the essential African-ness of it all. Take the Caribbean and multiply by 10…definitely more fun in company though as otherwise may well have been hassled. We accomplished a lot, including setting up a voucher system for the kids at a big store where they can get their own supplies. Spent the rest of the days typing in speeches on leadership from the camp as they will be judged in Canada and monetary prizes presented at next years camp.
A third good day before the onslaught of the sponsorship week. Three of us went to Ficksburg South Africa for an outing. Sounds simple but we took public transport. There are the taxi vans and they are very crowded and today were worse due to going back to school week. They wait till they are full and then go down the road cramming even more people in. It was a fun experience, and on the way to the border, where you show your passport then walk across a bridge, I sat by a small girl who couldn't stop staring and laughing at my white face .It was a very fun interaction for me as she studied me at length. We shopped a bit in the Afrikaaner town (Dutch names and signs) but most of it was shut down for Sunday rest and then walked back across the bridge for the adventure home. The ½ hr ride took an hour and a half, torrential rain, cramming in people and parcels with the music/bass on max! At intervals the driver got out and shouted at other drivers for stealing his fares. There was a young man hanging out the side most the the time soliciting other passengers.
At night, as usual, we start to think about the children and the week ahead and make lists. Tomorrow a.m. there will be a line up to get vouchers and of others to find out if they have been accepted for sponsorship. This is very grass roots work as HL is still small, and the reality will hit all of us when we see them waiting tomorrow. Off to work at 7 a.m…it wills all happen this week and we will promise most of them we will get them into school even though we are scrambling.
It took 5 teenage boys and 15 minutes for us to get unstuck- after which I met Sister Margaret and saw the orphanage, my placement location, for the first time…there is a cluster of brick buildings around a central courtyard and a tidy kitchen and eating room, which is attached to the nuns quarters. There are dorms for boys and girls as well as a nice rondavel house that was built for the HL volunteers. Though the area is a nondescript suburbia of cement block homes with mud tracks running between them, there is a good feeling at the orphanage itself. I will go Jan 27 th.
We went downtown and spent some time in the city core. Very different to anything else I had seen in Lesotho, clean, bustling, signs of economic activity such as full restaurants.
Spent some time doing errands and at the Internet café before delivering shoes and other supplies to one of the top achieving girls at St Mary’s school and convent. She was there with her 2 yr old daughter waiting for us under the trees. The child was healthy and beautiful- HL supported Emily, the mother, through the pregnancy and got her back into school. She wants to be a doctor, and somehow I think there is a chance she may make it.
Saturday we wandered the market and downtown area of Leribe with another experienced volunteer. We were picking up school supplies for the coming week for the sponsored children. In the case of the boarding children it included candles, soap, other toiletries and also shoes, many sizes, in the standard black for boys and girls. The market area was a wild, vendor in tin booths selling everything from veggies to dresses and tin pots - with rutted mud tracks, garbage, loud music and rich smells everywhere. You cannot escape the essential African-ness of it all. Take the Caribbean and multiply by 10…definitely more fun in company though as otherwise may well have been hassled. We accomplished a lot, including setting up a voucher system for the kids at a big store where they can get their own supplies. Spent the rest of the days typing in speeches on leadership from the camp as they will be judged in Canada and monetary prizes presented at next years camp.
A third good day before the onslaught of the sponsorship week. Three of us went to Ficksburg South Africa for an outing. Sounds simple but we took public transport. There are the taxi vans and they are very crowded and today were worse due to going back to school week. They wait till they are full and then go down the road cramming even more people in. It was a fun experience, and on the way to the border, where you show your passport then walk across a bridge, I sat by a small girl who couldn't stop staring and laughing at my white face .It was a very fun interaction for me as she studied me at length. We shopped a bit in the Afrikaaner town (Dutch names and signs) but most of it was shut down for Sunday rest and then walked back across the bridge for the adventure home. The ½ hr ride took an hour and a half, torrential rain, cramming in people and parcels with the music/bass on max! At intervals the driver got out and shouted at other drivers for stealing his fares. There was a young man hanging out the side most the the time soliciting other passengers.
At night, as usual, we start to think about the children and the week ahead and make lists. Tomorrow a.m. there will be a line up to get vouchers and of others to find out if they have been accepted for sponsorship. This is very grass roots work as HL is still small, and the reality will hit all of us when we see them waiting tomorrow. Off to work at 7 a.m…it wills all happen this week and we will promise most of them we will get them into school even though we are scrambling.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Friday, January 18, 2008
The Circus and Goodbyes
Thursday has passed and I am back in town, all goodbyes said and rooms cleaned- so much work today. Our final Showcase of circus acts was fun and the last day was filled with activities, popcorn, more megameal making and lots of photos. Certificates were passed out and the kids boarded their small buses home. It's been a crazy week trying to entertain, teach and supervise 140 teenagers….and we are all tired.
On the way back through the mountains I saw an unbelievable sight….a real African ceremony in a field….with a large man, central figure smeared in white paste and wearing a grass skirt and large stick, surrounded by people smeared in white on the ground. It was explained to me that these were girls about to go into the mountains for initiation to womanhood, which may include circumcision and the teaching of ancient rites. They are smeared with white and the boys would be smeared in red. Both boys and girls have the option of doing this at around 13 years. All considered, it is really a lot more primitive here than I had even imagined. More later.
Tomorrow we go to Maseru, the capital and get shoes and school supplies for the orphans here as well as dropping off food left over from the camp at the orphanage I am working at in February. A lunch out and a trip to the Internet Café will be a treat. Next week, I will be here for one week with the group to put sponsors and children together- it's the first week of school. And after that, I will be off to Maseru with one other volunteer and left to my own resources.
On the way back through the mountains I saw an unbelievable sight….a real African ceremony in a field….with a large man, central figure smeared in white paste and wearing a grass skirt and large stick, surrounded by people smeared in white on the ground. It was explained to me that these were girls about to go into the mountains for initiation to womanhood, which may include circumcision and the teaching of ancient rites. They are smeared with white and the boys would be smeared in red. Both boys and girls have the option of doing this at around 13 years. All considered, it is really a lot more primitive here than I had even imagined. More later.
Tomorrow we go to Maseru, the capital and get shoes and school supplies for the orphans here as well as dropping off food left over from the camp at the orphanage I am working at in February. A lunch out and a trip to the Internet Café will be a treat. Next week, I will be here for one week with the group to put sponsors and children together- it's the first week of school. And after that, I will be off to Maseru with one other volunteer and left to my own resources.
An amazing camp experience
Four volunteers remained after the trucks of supplies had left.
We left after them and took a private car/taxi the one hour drive to another town, scenery very different than anything I have seen, a bit like parts of Ecuador grassy mountains, crevices, sheep herders, block houses scattered here and there randomly and a few older rondavel type houses with thatched roofs. Oxen ploughing, a few people walking on the side of the road and randomly through the hill paths and a few horses.
The town of Pitseng where we were dropped off was not so nice, lots of young men loafing and staring at us and an assortment of dirty booths and stores, lots of garbage and the local bus drop off. That was all fine (we were waiting for Dean the volunteer in charge of teaching performing arts and circus, to pick us up. He was 45 min late as they were so busy setting up at the High School 5 km away. But we 4 whites drew the attention of a Zulu warrior type who obviously was not happy with us being there. This tall very thin man, in rags with a burlap sack of scrap metal shaped a lot like machetes started chanting and yelling and dancing around us, He was definitely not impressed with us, and hundreds of other people were watching. Phil, one of the other volunteers told me to avoid eye contact and we all casually as we could, backed up and made our way into a store and bought stuff. When we came out he had departed. THAT was interesting!
Shortly after we were picked up and taken to the school and neighboring convent grounds where the 10 female staff/volunteers are staying for the 5-day leadership camp.
From there on, it has been a steady whirlwind of work and sensory input, the overview being that there are 150 teenagers and 40 adults including teachers from many towns and Youth Leaders, lots of music and dirt and absolute essential different ness to Canada.
We have a block bungalow for the female staff, started with no water but got some after a day. There is no refrigeration anywhere, so we all have boxes of sterilized milk that goes bad. Three of us get up at 6, and get 5 dozen loaves of bread and take them to the kitchen. …there are 6 village women and they feed 500 students and the nun’s daily . Now they have us on top of that. They cook in three huge blackened drums bigger than oil drums with fires under them and boil everything. Rice and Papa (rather like dry corn cream of wheat in there and get stirred with sticks. They cook the eggs outside over an open fire and gather the twigs…. that’s 14 dozen eggs. The kitchen walls are black from smoke and there is no refrigerator. They cut everything on the same table and we serve 200 people 3 times daily, with the youth leaders, by placing food assembly line style on battered enamel plates you would not feed your pet on, and passing them up black stairs to a black window. The kids eat on metal tables that are bent and broken that we dug out of a garage…the plates and tin mugs are washed (so to speak) in a bucket outside the door and then placed in a big tin tub to use again…The 6 ladies work all day 12 hrs, in the smoke. If you are wondering if I am exaggerating, this doesn't even come close to describing it all.
The classes are over at the school, 500 ft away from the hall where we eat and do circus activities. We have classes in the morning and the teachers rotate. Kids and local teachers are in 8 groups and we have 2 lectures on our subject daily. Mine is conflict resolution. I do it with a wonderful Help Lesotho lady, very regal…Me Mapoloko, meaning mother of Poloko, each woman being named after her oldest son. She wears Basotho native dress and I have been teaching her to use the digital camera. She does most of the lecture in Sesotho as the students English are weak and I relax and enjoy being her assistant and watch the kids. The desks are broken and the floor is dirty and there are no brooms, garbage cans or anything else to clean in sight. So you get used to it and give up. This may be teaching me not to clean…!!! We are teaching conflict resolution to many age groups and we have 8 sessions to do. The emphasis is on defining conflict, its causes, the feelings it creates in the children and group discussion re solutions. Beating is the norm here for disciplining students and I have witnessed much resistance already in the few short days I have been here to changing that in the schools. In fact, many times the first solution to conflict that is offered are fighting or beating and the parents seem to wish that to continue. Imagine the reception Basotho men give us white ladies form Canada when we suggest dropping corporal punishment!.
In the afternoon, there is exercise, circus training and special sessions, such as HIV and AIDS education. Lots of the students play soccer. They also write letters to their sponsors. Today it rained and the Hall was full of red mud. We had a talent show tonight and they all sang and danced – so much talent. After that some of us mopped the gym, which will have to be done each night. The kids hung in there with staff and they each got a marshmallow. With three small buckets and 3 mops it took over one hour. We sang This Land is Your Land as our Canadian song and it was terrible…. but had a chance to laugh at ourselves and they had a chance to laugh at us.
Tomorrow night is the Circus Showcase, and some of the kids are going to do stilts.
As well, there are jugglers, Yo Yo-ers, Gymnasts and Plate spinners, of which I am one and have two little girls to perform with. We practiced our routine including bows and costumes and it was an amazing experience for me to work with these children, Molorane and Sebongile.
I gave two lectures on Animal Husbandry and they were well received by the teachers and nuns. Two beautiful ladies in full African dress, both school principles, sat and asked me questions in great English. I could hardly believe what I was doing and where I was. They decided I knew something and we got into discussion re cow breeds etc. The biggest laugh was when I told them dogs in Canada have beds and coats. It was even strange for me to say it…I networked (surprised?) and now have an invitation to visit
one woman and see her school and village and she says her friend will gladly take me riding in the mountains…. so now I have an amazing trip lined up.
Sometimes I have just sit and experience it from a point of view of sensations…smell, heat, sounds- I hope pictures tell the tale. I don't usually eat with the staff, but sit alone and watch the kids or talk to them. They have given me a Basotho name, Maletsatse, which means "Mother of the Sun” I asked a staff member if it might mean horses ass, but I'm good!. We leave here Thursday, but I will write more after the circus.
We left after them and took a private car/taxi the one hour drive to another town, scenery very different than anything I have seen, a bit like parts of Ecuador grassy mountains, crevices, sheep herders, block houses scattered here and there randomly and a few older rondavel type houses with thatched roofs. Oxen ploughing, a few people walking on the side of the road and randomly through the hill paths and a few horses.
The town of Pitseng where we were dropped off was not so nice, lots of young men loafing and staring at us and an assortment of dirty booths and stores, lots of garbage and the local bus drop off. That was all fine (we were waiting for Dean the volunteer in charge of teaching performing arts and circus, to pick us up. He was 45 min late as they were so busy setting up at the High School 5 km away. But we 4 whites drew the attention of a Zulu warrior type who obviously was not happy with us being there. This tall very thin man, in rags with a burlap sack of scrap metal shaped a lot like machetes started chanting and yelling and dancing around us, He was definitely not impressed with us, and hundreds of other people were watching. Phil, one of the other volunteers told me to avoid eye contact and we all casually as we could, backed up and made our way into a store and bought stuff. When we came out he had departed. THAT was interesting!
Shortly after we were picked up and taken to the school and neighboring convent grounds where the 10 female staff/volunteers are staying for the 5-day leadership camp.
From there on, it has been a steady whirlwind of work and sensory input, the overview being that there are 150 teenagers and 40 adults including teachers from many towns and Youth Leaders, lots of music and dirt and absolute essential different ness to Canada.
We have a block bungalow for the female staff, started with no water but got some after a day. There is no refrigeration anywhere, so we all have boxes of sterilized milk that goes bad. Three of us get up at 6, and get 5 dozen loaves of bread and take them to the kitchen. …there are 6 village women and they feed 500 students and the nun’s daily . Now they have us on top of that. They cook in three huge blackened drums bigger than oil drums with fires under them and boil everything. Rice and Papa (rather like dry corn cream of wheat in there and get stirred with sticks. They cook the eggs outside over an open fire and gather the twigs…. that’s 14 dozen eggs. The kitchen walls are black from smoke and there is no refrigerator. They cut everything on the same table and we serve 200 people 3 times daily, with the youth leaders, by placing food assembly line style on battered enamel plates you would not feed your pet on, and passing them up black stairs to a black window. The kids eat on metal tables that are bent and broken that we dug out of a garage…the plates and tin mugs are washed (so to speak) in a bucket outside the door and then placed in a big tin tub to use again…The 6 ladies work all day 12 hrs, in the smoke. If you are wondering if I am exaggerating, this doesn't even come close to describing it all.
The classes are over at the school, 500 ft away from the hall where we eat and do circus activities. We have classes in the morning and the teachers rotate. Kids and local teachers are in 8 groups and we have 2 lectures on our subject daily. Mine is conflict resolution. I do it with a wonderful Help Lesotho lady, very regal…Me Mapoloko, meaning mother of Poloko, each woman being named after her oldest son. She wears Basotho native dress and I have been teaching her to use the digital camera. She does most of the lecture in Sesotho as the students English are weak and I relax and enjoy being her assistant and watch the kids. The desks are broken and the floor is dirty and there are no brooms, garbage cans or anything else to clean in sight. So you get used to it and give up. This may be teaching me not to clean…!!! We are teaching conflict resolution to many age groups and we have 8 sessions to do. The emphasis is on defining conflict, its causes, the feelings it creates in the children and group discussion re solutions. Beating is the norm here for disciplining students and I have witnessed much resistance already in the few short days I have been here to changing that in the schools. In fact, many times the first solution to conflict that is offered are fighting or beating and the parents seem to wish that to continue. Imagine the reception Basotho men give us white ladies form Canada when we suggest dropping corporal punishment!.
In the afternoon, there is exercise, circus training and special sessions, such as HIV and AIDS education. Lots of the students play soccer. They also write letters to their sponsors. Today it rained and the Hall was full of red mud. We had a talent show tonight and they all sang and danced – so much talent. After that some of us mopped the gym, which will have to be done each night. The kids hung in there with staff and they each got a marshmallow. With three small buckets and 3 mops it took over one hour. We sang This Land is Your Land as our Canadian song and it was terrible…. but had a chance to laugh at ourselves and they had a chance to laugh at us.
Tomorrow night is the Circus Showcase, and some of the kids are going to do stilts.
As well, there are jugglers, Yo Yo-ers, Gymnasts and Plate spinners, of which I am one and have two little girls to perform with. We practiced our routine including bows and costumes and it was an amazing experience for me to work with these children, Molorane and Sebongile.
I gave two lectures on Animal Husbandry and they were well received by the teachers and nuns. Two beautiful ladies in full African dress, both school principles, sat and asked me questions in great English. I could hardly believe what I was doing and where I was. They decided I knew something and we got into discussion re cow breeds etc. The biggest laugh was when I told them dogs in Canada have beds and coats. It was even strange for me to say it…I networked (surprised?) and now have an invitation to visit
one woman and see her school and village and she says her friend will gladly take me riding in the mountains…. so now I have an amazing trip lined up.
Sometimes I have just sit and experience it from a point of view of sensations…smell, heat, sounds- I hope pictures tell the tale. I don't usually eat with the staff, but sit alone and watch the kids or talk to them. They have given me a Basotho name, Maletsatse, which means "Mother of the Sun” I asked a staff member if it might mean horses ass, but I'm good!. We leave here Thursday, but I will write more after the circus.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Leaving for Leadership Camp
We leave tomorrow for the leadership camp. There will not be access to any computers etc., so will be communicating in a week or so - will try and touch base as soon as I am able.
There will be around 230 people at the camp - started taking 3 truckloads of food up there today. I will be giving lectures on animal hubandry (among others) and have just spent time with the district vet. A very interesting women who studied and trained in Moscow.
The group works very well together trying to get child sponsors before school starts on the 21st. I am involved in the interviewing process and will also be teaching conflict resolution at the camp for 8 different age groups. I have a lovely Basotho lady as my paired person who will give the talks with me - we are finishing our preparations today. Should be a very fun and exciting time with all of the kids!!
There will be around 230 people at the camp - started taking 3 truckloads of food up there today. I will be giving lectures on animal hubandry (among others) and have just spent time with the district vet. A very interesting women who studied and trained in Moscow.
The group works very well together trying to get child sponsors before school starts on the 21st. I am involved in the interviewing process and will also be teaching conflict resolution at the camp for 8 different age groups. I have a lovely Basotho lady as my paired person who will give the talks with me - we are finishing our preparations today. Should be a very fun and exciting time with all of the kids!!
Up Country!
I arrived here on Tues. 8th /Jan. and a driver brought us up country about 100km to this town Leribe where the Help Lesotho office is. The scenery is different to anything else I have ever seen. Green rolling fields and valleys with crazy rock mountains jutting up here and there and a mountain range in the background that we will drive up into Sat. for the 5 day leadership camp with the kids. Little brick houses and roundaveles scattered randomley everywhere too. The office is a building out behind a craft center where they employ handicapped ladies weaving. Our office is 3 rooms surronded by unmown grass and grazing ponies. I was able to do a sponsorship application for two 18 year old twin sisters yesterday. Took a lot of time as they didn't speak english very well - but we will try to get them sponsors for their last year of school by the 21st of Jan. I walk 2 kms to the office from where we stay, and am looking forward to my luggage arriving today for a needed change of clothes!
Helen
Helen
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Arrived!
Hi Everyone - I am writing for Helen who was able to quickly send an email today, to say she arrived safe and sound....... but of course without any luggage....that will be 4 in a row!!! Glad she packed extra in her carry on!
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