It's All About The Children

This is the reason I went back....I love the children I have met at The Centre For the Poor and Less Privileged. The week of Camp was great and it was good to contribute and work hard in the kitchen. But it was a week with these wonderful kids that gave me more than it gave them. I was right back in my element, improving my coloring and handing out hugs. They benefited tremendously by having a volunteer come back a second time, and were talking more, asking for more reading , and of course more BINGO's. All the things I took, given by generous friends, were appreciated and used, especially the skipping ropes, coloring books, recorders and plasticine, and sponge football. We made the most of our time together, and helping with the procurement of the cow and the start of a website were just bonuses. I had a definite parental feeling and role this time and was able to help with English homework and offer advice to teens. It was hard not to bring more than one child home, and will be hard not to go back every year and visit friends on the other side of the world. Hard parts aside, my trip was still very much worth the effort.

Downtown and The Market

The downtown area of Maseru is a hub bub of restaurants, government buildings and Internet cafes. Alot of NGO's have headquarters there. For the HL volunteers at the Centre, the experience is very different than that of the teachers in the remote villages without electricity. Once or twice a week it is possible to go to town by taxi or public and have a great lunch and email home. The thatched roof of the "Basotho Hat " tourist and gift centre is a landmark in the "new" downtown.

Several blocks away, there is the old market- much more "real Lesotho" and fun to walk around in. Despite the best photo ops ,
one cannot really pick up a camera there. Women walk around with plastic hampers of knives and other goods on their heads. The plastic and tin sheds/stores sell everything from cooking oil to apples, from roasted corn to haircuts. The smells and sights are totally Africa. I discovered a small craft stall area and met this grandmother, born in 1926, educated in English, she had been to Germany. We engaged in conversation for awhile about Canada and travel.She was an unexpected treasure, and I bought this pot from her. Made by villagers, it was the only one with a horse on it. It made it home in one piece, and reminds me of meeting her and being there.

Helen The Cow

One of the projects I most wanted to accomplish was to find a new dairy cow for the Centre. I have been discussing this with Sr. Margaret over email for some time, and there was a problem getting a good Holstein without going to South Africa and importing it. When I arrived, they told me we were to visit a livestock dealer in the interior. The Federal vet had said he would have a good selection, and as we couldn't contact him, we had to leave at 6 a.m. and hope to find him at home doing chores.
It was a great drive throughi the mountains.Luck was with us as he was there, but he had switched to Jerseys in the past few months and only had three on offer. I was content with the breed ,as the cost of feeding them is lower and the higher milk fat not an issue for the kids, so we went ahead and rectalled the two in the age range I wanted. The beautiful three year old second calf heifer shown here was in calf,and we are going ahead with her purchase. Hopefully, she will soon be milking and they will have two for one. Sr Margaret wants to call her Helen ??????

Dancers

Note One Sketchy Canadian

Traditional Dance

On my last night, the children treated me to dances they practice and perform frequently for visitors. The dance with the skirt ( made from feed bags) is done to a hymn, despite its apparent sensuality. The dancers wear a belt of hundreds of bottle caps under the white skirt and throw their hips back and up creating a fantastic jangle to accompany the voice and drumming. The shoulder dance, my favorite, done on the knees, also is a hymn. I tried and was terrible at it, but got alot of laughs. Strangely, for what is called traditional dance, both have a lead with a whistle and are done with many rotations to the timing of the whistle.They are hypnotic. The concert, including the two last choir numbers, lasted about one hour.

Traditional Dress

The boys dance in Basotho blankets of varying designs, usually with fighting sticks. Their posturing does'nt really tell the truth about how sensitive and caring they are. They asked me for a photo with them in traditional dress. And of course,l I always want to have a photo taken with Liteboho as she is such a favorite, so I couldn't resist capturing her for the last photo shoot of the visit. I brought home two Basotho blankets as gifts, unique symbols of Lesotho.

Camp Week

This portion of the blog will show the camp week and atmosphere. Watch for one more post with photos of my second week at the orphanage and photos of the wonderful children and the new cow.

What was it all About ?

This photo says it all.....the camp built on friendship, trust and relationship. Many of the children are double orphans, and this teen heads a child headed household. Peg says he sleeps with his sponsors photo beside his bed. Whether in their prayers and hymns, or in explosions of joyful music, or at a quiet sing song around the Canadian campfire under the incredible stars , we saw children and youth respond to education, responsibilty and trust in a positive way and rise to the challenge of self examination. We may have only reached a few, but bonds were created that will last and hopefully leaders will emerge and grow.
And I simply had to keep them all fed ! Great work Gillian, Peg and Help Lesotho......

Improv Drama and Other Classes

The participants, including groups of primary and secondary school teachers , did classes in the mornings. Classes covered such issues as self esteem, gender roles, drug and alcohol abuse, HIV/AIDS education and grief and loss. In the afternoons, they were taught improv drama by Doug Thicke, the Ottawa volunteer there for the next placement at the Centre. At first reserved, the teens gradually got into the "act" and we saw some good leaders emerge. Music and sports were also in the afternoons and a group specializing in teaching HIV sensitivity and non stigma to teens came to share time and skill, also through role playing and drama. These kids had more access to talent and education in one week most Lesotho children ever do. They all reproted the sessions were excellent and thought provoking.

Girls Dorm

Each of the three brick dorm buildings at St Pauls school for the deaf has room for 12 beds. We had mattresses( in theory) shipped in and had to ask 25 girls to sleep in each of three rooms, for a total of 75 per building/washroom. There was also an adult staff or teacher room per building to keep order. This room housed at least 25 girls with luggage and was about 110 degrees by the time they all lay down. the atmosphere was definitely "camp like"- an unfamiliar concept in Lesotho.Role call at 9:30 p.m. was amusing and confusing...who was really saying "present" ? And then there was sharing the lavatory with them all......sometimes you actually couldn't open the door for kids bathing standing up in small plastic wash tubs, but they all turned out perfectly every day!