Trip to Thaba Tseka

We left on Tues the 29th , four of us in the 4X4 Toyota truck, with many well wishes to enjoy the drive and the area around Thaba Tseka, a town isolated in the interior mountains. Our truck was full of clothes and shoes, knapsacks, suitcases and food- oh yes some spare diesel. The 120 km trip is 5 hrs long. The first part was a gentle climb through hills such as we have already seen travelling to distribute clothing, mud rondavels everywhere in small clusters, people walking through fields and along the roads , small tin storefronts. The exciting part begins suddenly as we began to climb to the first pass in a series of dramatic switchbacks taking us to 3500 metres….may I say unrelentingly ! The view around each turn was incredible. We then proceeded downward in the same way, in 2nd the whole time, only to repeat this three times over three passes. We then saw the incredible Khatse Dam, responsible for 35% of the GDP via the sale of water to South Africa- and also responsible for the HIV crisis in this area in a way that sadly may not be mentioned here. After that, we drove on incredibly bumpy dirt roads for 2 hours until we reached our destination.

There are 5 twinned schools here, and we are to visit them all, get updates on the sponsored children and outfit them. As well, there are projects to consider and evaluate- should we restock cattle and poultry to the schools if mortality high and production low. Should we provide stoves for the winter or new desks? One school I particularly liked was Khatlehong, great students and teachers. Good results in their national exams- well worth support…yet they need so much. Classrooms have 67 and 75 kids, desks are falling apart and some children sit 4 where there should be 2, or on a metal frame with no seat or desk top. Mostly they need 3 new classrooms- I will spend an hour tomorrow with a lady in charge of poultry and try to write a proposal and budget for restocking then layers and broilers and how to make it work so it feeds the kids here, all short on protein, as well as creating sales or a profit. I am outside my comfort zone, but I am all they have and I know if I was here a month I could get it up and running for them. First to write the proposal and get the approval for funds and thus the birds in hand !

The town is a little wild west, more like the original untouched Basotholand . There is one main street with heavy gravel and lots of small stores and vendors. Herd boys come into town with their animals to pick up feed bags, lots of riders everywhere. There is a hospital and a nursing school and also a few houses build by Canadians in the 80s when CIDA was here doing medical development. Children playing everywhere you look, happy voices- content with very little. I sat down this morning for a moment after a hot walk and was soon surrounded, little ones that love to touch my white skin and study my eyes and of course the older boys wanting to wear my sunglasses. They are curious and enchanting. There are always a few whites around, “Lahota”, development people and doctors, and we seem to be welcome for the most part. You can hear the occasional slur or has a stone thrown at the car, but then it is balanced by so many being kind and so many soft greetings “ Dumella”……in the street.

Another school we visited was Sefapanong- the outpost. It took an hour to drive there….about 5 km. It is on a hill and we had to off road in the incredible Toyota again !

We are talking off roading as in heads banging on the windows of the truck. The teachers greet us, present their concerns. Me Mampake the orphan leader interviews the orphans and sponsored children and gets updates and I- you guessed it- talked about chickens for an hour and came up with a project proposal and made recommendations to HL and the school.

The last day of our visit, I got up early and to the home of my favorite teacher and new friend Me Julia.She is 55, dignified yet incredibly fun ( joined us for cards the first night). She has 6 children, but many are married and gone, yet she is raising several grandchildren and two orphans…..she and her husband are teachers. She is HIV positive and takes her ARV meds cheerfully and lets the children in her class know and help care for her. She is magnetic- the kids love her…and she volunteered to set up a ride for me and pulled it off. The horses are like small standardbred -arab crosses, small hard muscle and incredibly strong and fit. She came with me and the two guides and we rode for three hours. Ended up doing a jaunt thru town to meet a new seamstress (for uniforms) and we parked the horse several times to meet her friends….she had not ridden for years. The highlight was leaving the horses to graze and standing on a cliff a mile over a twisting river- scenery I can’t describe- with people and mules far below, walking into town. Or was the highlight seeing her canter around her schoolyard hollering and the kids pouring out of their classes laughing and cheering. We had “Sour Porridge” for sustenance ( kind of like cream of wheat with vinegar in it )and carried on.

More on the herd boys. I will never forget them but cannot take their pictures. It is one of the major faces of Lesotho to me. They are young boys, not in school, and they are everywhere. There are no fences for livestock and so they are guarded. It may be 2 cattle or 20 angora goats with a mule thrown in. Their lives are in danger if they lose these animals. All through the country side and over the hills, they spend the day alone. They take no food and have no conveniences and can’t read or write. They dress in blankets, often dark grey and raggy, over red shorts and wear white rubber boots. They commonly carry colorful sticks and wear balaclavas with only eye holes. Sometimes the blankets are the colorful Basotho blankets, but there is always one or more blankets draped over them.

It is an image I had never imagined, but completely the norm here.

We are home again today, having written proposals, made new friends and dropped off all stuff for the kids. I gave my two pairs of reading glasses away and last saw one of them on a schoolgirl walking through town. I will somehow get more glasses back here. Some kids can't see the board.

Have groceries in hand while we have the truck….will wash clothes and off to then orphanage tomorrow for the next 6 weeks and an entirely new project and new friends !!