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Our Fantabulous Trip Around the Globe
May 6
We've made it to Mahlekefane! We arrived on Thursday night, after a crazy ride in the back of a pick-up truck (They call them taxis here; we call them illegal in Canada.) We were seriously vertical in some places, but it was cool. Bumpy as hell.
We've met many kids and there are so many needy ones. Today a little girl named Malefu was shivering in my arms.
The children here are beautiful, but snot! Holy cow, I have never seen so much. Joel beaned a kid in the face with a hacky sack and gave him a nosebleed. He feels so bad about it. The kid was fine though and seemed to recover pretty quickly. Today I made a baby cry---twice. Tough on the ego. Apparently he doesn't like mahoa (white people).
We worked with Class 7 today. It's Saturday and some kids had to walk 2+ hours to get to school. And every single one of them showed up. Pretty amazing.
May 11
It's very hot outside today. We spent most of the day outside since it is so freezing in the Standard 7 classroom. I am quite frustrated with them, but Joel even more so. They just don't seem to care about education. Granted, none of them will be able to afford high school. I just can't imagine always teaching a class like that. Of course, there will always be a few who aren't interested. The only time they seemed the least bit engaged was with the search-a-word.
May 12
If Nicki decides to have a C-section, she will have the baby one month from today. Lauren, Sevy and Dion are so lucky to have been born in Canada.
Today was smearing day. The girls were literally up to their elbows in s***. They mix cow dung with soil and water and "paint" the floors of the classrooms with it to help keep dust down. Disgusting. But the most disgusting part was that the boys didn't lift a finger. We suggested that they help (so that they could leave school sooner) and they basically laughed at us.
I was so furious at the whole situation---the girls carry the soil, the girls fetch the water from the stream, the girls mix the dung with the soil, the girls get on their hands and knees and spread the stuff all over the floor. The boys play soccer.
Another frustrating part was that the girls just said, "Oh the boys don't know how to smear." Arg!
Of course, did I get down on my hands and knees to help? No. So I felt (and still feel) like a hypocrite. Here I am saying that the boys should help, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Sad.
Today we were late for school but it didn't matter because 'M'e Ratia (the principal) wasn't there. We met 'M'e Letata's (our host) father-in-law on the road. I commented on how soft his hands are and she just said bluntly, "He's very lazy."
There are some kids in the village with black cloth around their necks---it means that someone in their family has "passed". They wear it for one full month. At the end of the month there is a big feast. That will happen tomorrow.
May 13
There was a little girl here last night who was completely naked except for her boots and blanket. She was shivering so 'M'e (Letata) gave her some of Makhumalo's (Letata) old clothes. The other kids who came to play have one set of clothes besides their school uniform. They are so grungy and holey. But at least they have clothing.
May 16
We climbed Maleqatse (the big mountain) on Sunday. It was so hot on the way up, but it was freezing cold once we hit the top. The trek up wasn't too bad. It was tiring, yes, but I didn't think I was going to die. We had a nice picnic lunch with Ntate Mothobi (a teacher).
The views are awesome but I felt like I should be able to see the ocean. All we saw were mountains on every side with a few villages. We could see Kao (where there is a diamond mine). It was gorgeous, but I did wish I could see ocean somewhere.
Peg (Help Lesotho's director) showed up in Mahlekefane today. It was like Princess Diana had risen from the dead! People were very happy to see her. We discussed money with her and she's cool with us buying food for the volunteers who are building the school a new classroom. They had been getting paid by the World Food Program's "work for Food" project, but they stopped supplying maize meal for some reason. We are so amazed that they are volunteering to build a school---we want to give them some form of thank-you.
We will also use our donations to buy wool for the kids. I've taught two of the grades how to knit their own scarves and they work so quickly! They use broken umbrella pieces as the needles so their work is very fine (it practically looks machine-knit!). The boys love it. Anyhow, it's a great skill for them to learn because it gets so cold here.
We also feel very strongly about giving them money to cement the floors in the new classroom because of the smearing. If we can take that burden off the girls, that's fine by me! People in Canada have been so generous that even if we use our donations to do these projects, we will still have enough to get chickens (for eggs) for the school in Thaba Tseka.
Ah! I helped 'M'e (Letata) to make bread this morning. It was fun and I think I did well It is baking now and it smells so good. She bakes it on the paraffin heater in our rondavel. Yummy.
Today 'M'e Ratia (principal) beat Lehlohonolo, the little guy with Down's Syndrome. He pushed a little boy into a puddle or something. True, that was wrong. But does lashing him with a stick in front of his peers help? I mean, I don't even think it helps a child with the ability to fully comprehend why it's happening. But someone with a disability like that? It made me sick to my stomach and I only saw her from outside the classroom. I couldn't even see the boy.
But how do you convince them that kids are more likely to learn in a loving, open environment? They believe that the children need to be controlled. Plus, with a class size of 50+, classroom management is difficult. We feel like we are wasting our breath trying to convince them otherwise, but we have to try.
May 17, 2006
There was thunder and lightning today so school was cancelled in the afternoon of course. Classes 1, 2 and 3 poured into classroom #1, which houses classes 4, 5 and 6. I was the only adult with 250+ kids jammed into a teeny room that would hold 30 kids in Canada. Craziness. But it's thundering in Africa!
I went to the spring with the girls the other day to fetch water. I wonder if they will tell their children about how they had to go fetch water or if it is still a few generations away.
May 18
My Sesotho name is 'M'e Malehlohonolo Letata, which translates into Mother of lucky duck. That's right, I am the mother of all lucky ducks! I was pretty excited to figure that out Once a language nerd, always a language nerd, I guess.
Today 'M'e (Letata) and I went to the shop. On the way back I heard a rooster, donkeys and a cow. Quite a difference from the big trucks and busses on Rideau Street in Ottawa!
May 21
I finally finished Joel's (Christmas) sweater!
At school we try so hard to teach, but I feel like I'm wasting everyone's time. If the kids can't understand my English why should I even try? Chances are that their teachers will just end up re-teaching it anyway.
But playing with them it's obvious to see how much it means to them. Their eyes light up when you toss them the ball. I let kids play with my hair today and I wasn't sure they would ever stop! And the little ones are so sweet.
The other cool thing about today was that at lunch time the kids came and asked us for books! We sat down, 15 or so, and looked through books and copies of National Geographic. I read a few stories; it was really great. I was excited that they had asked for them.
May 25
There was a snowstorm last night and this morning was a gorgeous time to make our first African snowman! It was bizarre though---there was lightning (letsolo) and then a huge snowstorm.
National Anthem
Lesotho fates labo ntata rona
Hara mafatse le letleke lona
Ke moo re hlahileng
Ke moo ro holitse
Ng rea le rata
Molimo aku blokese Lesotho
O felise lintoa le matsoenyeho
Oho fates lena
La bo ntata rona
Lebe le khotso
May 26
It's odd to think that we're leaving here in 5 sleeps. What are the chances that we'll ever come back to Mahlekefane? How much longer will this village even last? When we left Thaba Tseka there was no sadness because we knew that we would be back. Now I'm starting to have a better understanding of Shauna's (previous volunteer) emotions about leaving this place.
Today we gave Canada pins to all of the people who built the new classroom. 'M'e Ratia (principal) doled out the maize meal that we bought as a thank-you. They seemed happy with it. It's hard for us not to want to be part of it and get some credit for it. But I think that it's more important that 'M'e be seen as the hero. Like Joel said, she'll be here for a long time; we leave in 5 days.
Joel's campaigning hard for us to leave Lesotho when his Mom goes in early July. I just wonder what we'd do with the extra month. Would we spend a full month in Namibia? Would we add on Madagascar or Botswana? Would we be so frivolous as to go to Kenya? That would be awesome but expensive. I don't know why, but I think that Kenya would represent the Africa I picture. Chances are that I would be crushed by the reality. It would also be neat to go to Tanzania, but cost will be the main factor. And I'm not convinced it would be a good idea to leave Lesotho. When else will we get a chance to actually live in Africa and become part of the community? Plus, it's much cheaper to be sedentary.
May 31
Joel went with his buddy John (whom he met at the grocery store in Leribe in April) and they got HIV tests. John was negative! He was happy and Joel was so relieved. It was awesome that they went together. I can't imagine how Joel would have reacted is John had tested positive. We just hope that know he'll do what it takes to stay negative.
We talked to Maseeiso (Help Lesotho employee) and she is waiting to hear from the nuns in Thaba Tseka. Hopefully we'll be able to live with them.
I bought some mohair wool today. I got it at the Leribe Craft Centre, where they employee only disabled women. It's a neat project. The wool is for the blanket I'm knitting and it's really neat because it's spun from fibers leftover from their weaving projects, so it's a whole mix of colours. And it only cost 7 maloti (a little over a dollar). Crazy cheap.
June 1
Joy arrives tomorrow! We're at the Anglican mission in Maseru for the night. It's much cheaper here. The downside is that we have to be in by 7pm. But, really, that's not a huge deal.
Cliff (HL intern) drove us to Maputsoe to catch a taxi to Maseru. 16 people and 2 chickens in the van. It was a fun ride. We went to Nando's for lunch-a South African chain. I got a veggie burger that was pretty decent! We tried to go to the Maluti Brewing Company factory but they wouldn't let us in without an appointment. Boo.
The farewell songs we got at Mahlekefane were awesome--they even managed to fit our names into them. The dancing was great too-I wish we had gotten videos. Shauna (HL volunteer) took photos for us, which was so much better than us seeing the whole thing through a lens.
Little Masefatsa (principal's granddaughter in Class 1) was the cutest. She couldn't really even do the dance, but it was sweet.
We missed 2 taxis out of Mahlekefane and we flagged down a fellow lahoa (white guy) and asked about a lift to Lejone. He took us all the way to Hlotse! He was on his way to Maputsoe. We wanted to take him for a beer as a thank-you but he disappeared on us. His name is Hans and he works at the diamond mine in Kao (just past Mahlekefane). We're considering taking him up on his offer to tour us through the mine. I would love that.
'M'e Letata was our host mother in Mahlekefane and she was so amazing. She gave us some cute parting gifts-joala (beer) strainers in mini form and clay pots. She was just so gracious, helpful, and such a hard worker! She rarely sat down. And it was so much warmer in a thatch roof rondavel. It got chilly, but only if we had the gas heater off for a long time.
I left her a couple of pairs of my socks because her feet are always cold. Honestly though, it's no wonder given how thin her socks are! She wants me to get her some MEC boots when I get back to Canada. She's already started saving up her money.
We also left behind some clothing--t-shirts, a sweater and socks-for 'M'e to give to the girls who helped her fetch water, etc. while we were there.
June 5, 2006
Joy has arrived! We went to Malealea lodge for a few days of rest for her. Shauna (HL volunteer) went with us. It was a good time. The three young'uns went for a pony trek and then a hike to see Bushmen paintings. SO amazing. The hike was insane and we're all sore from the "pony" ride. They apparently call all of their horses ponies because I felt like it was huge! Mine was named Sangoma (which means "witch doctor") and she kept trying to bite the other horses. Nice.
We also went for a hike to see dinosaur footprints. That was really neat too. As soon as you go to the outskirts of the capital city, you can see dinosaurs roaming around. It's honestly like you step back in time and can picture them thundering around. What an amazing country.
But, it's still bloody cold here and I think that Joel has won me over for the leaving early. It turns out that school doesn't come back from winter break until the end of July, so we have no clue what we would be doing for that month. For June we will be running a camp, but we don't think that that would fly for two straight months. So, we might head early to the sunny warm beaches of Durban that we've been dreaming about. We'll keep you updated.
We'll be heading back up to Thaba Tseak tomorrow. Joy is anxious to get up there (although I think she's worried because of the tales of the cold!). I'm not sure when her flight leaves Lesotho, but my guess is that we'll hit civilization again sometime after Canada Day.
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