Grandmother Visit



Helping to figure out the strengths of glasses needed



The Grandmother lead at Help Lesotho administers the Grandmother Program- helping 200 grannies caring for orphans for two years. During this time, the women receive education about HIV and how to care for their orphaned grandchildren, and food, seeds and fellowship at monthly meetings. They are then phased out and 50 more from each of the four districts we serve are taken on. The lead, M’e MaKatleho, took Lucy and I on an outing to meet the Grandmothers in Leribe District and hear their stories.\It was akk I had hoped it would be, and more.

One grandmother had mistaken the invitation for a meeting in tow and walekd the two hours to the office. She was driven with us back to her village, or at least as far as a car could go. We travelled the rest of the way on foot, children following in our wake. The scenery was primitive, the worn down mountains and rondavels baking under the hot clear sky.Eight Grannies from several villages had been called to meet us. They ululated happily and spontaneously throughout the meeting -the strange haunting vocal offering show how pleased they were to have guests. One by one, they told their stories in Sesotho and M’e translated.

Each lady had lost several adult children and was raising their orphans. There were two men left in the villages to help. One woman was raising 8 children. None had any significant income, except the old age pension of 50 Cdn a month and what they could raise from making crafts or homemade beer. All had orphans that could not continue school after Primary as they could not pay their tuition for High School.

The most important part of their story around HL was to say that through the Program they had learned so much about HIV they could teach others in their villages and no longer thought they were being hexed. This helped bring the villages back together. Secondly, they got advice about how to handle the children- admitting that they were grieving for their own children and pushing the orphans away and being harsh with them. They had come to accept through the support and with the passage of time that this was Gods will and were learning to embrace the children.

The women brought their crafts and we bought some pottery. I had a “moment” when the lady with the most grandchildren put her bead work necklace around my neck. We sat admiring one another throughout the meeting. At the end, we gave out the donated glasses I had received and calculated the magnification each woman needed. Then we sang some more. The meeting was finished off by walking to an especially nice garden, complete with a raised keyhole garden built full of perfect spinach.


Grannies showing off their brand new glasses



The day also included a visit to a Grandmother near town who was caring for 5 orphans, one a 16 year old girl suffering form Cerebral Palsy. She cares for her in a tiny rondavel, doing all the lifting and cleaning herself. The girl is emaciated, but clean and has no pressure sores. The Grandmother had a larger rondavel, fixed up by HL, but she gave it to her son and family, moving the 6 in her family into this tiny smokey one as it was warmer. To see her situation and realize what her daily life must be like was more than sobering. All the clothes, bedding, pots and sleeping space for 6 are in a 15 foot radius. To be in this home as a visitor was a humbling experience.

We could have easily stayed out all day. I understood why Granny days are the favourite for everyone. These women are so deprived, but yet don’t seem so- in fact they were dignified and gracious, spiritually replete and full of songs and dance !

Nothing is easy….

Lets take washing your clothes. I do 5 or 6 loads of laundry every weekend for the week ahead, all in one day. Sometimes I’m too lazy to fold it .

Washing your clothes here might be like this:

You shake out the bedding hoping to see no bed bugs
The house doesn’t have water for hours at a time, especially when you have time to wash yourself or your things.
The electricity goes off as well, especially with the frequent storms
When the water comes on it may be brown
No problem, there’s a rain barrel- you can always flush!
You wash by hand, but can never really rinse well
You hang up the clothes on the fence
A torrent of rain comes again when they are almost dry
Finally you remake your bed and wear the newly clean clothes-
Looking completely foolish because they are a mess of wrinkles and everyone here is turned out much better.
I develop an new appreciation for my washer and dryer





Trying to get an email out might be like this:

You go to the Internet Café up town at the Post Office
Walking up hill for a bit in the heat, and getting rained on
The Café is closed
You go again, and the Café is open, but the Internet is down
All across Leribe district
No problem, you go again the next day, it’s still down, but hoping, you try the 4 other Internet cafes- also down. An hour wasted.
The third day and tenth try, the café is open, but the computers don’t work
Not to be daunted, you try again the next day, and get a virus on your flash
While sending the photos and articles for your blog
Thankfully it is caught and screened back at the office.
No one at home receives the mail.
I develop a new appreciation for my computers at home, even dial up

And so it goes !


My Key Duty

I have been working with the keys for the Centres non stop
It is a huge job, and I am seeing keys in my sleep
I have sorted and devised innumerable schemes
Created Master logs and Master files, key sign out sheets
Labelled key rings, split and copied keys for 8 burglar bars
Lost keys and re found them
Failing key rings, we use pipe cleaners to disburse them
I hope to leave before disaster strikes.