End of term Party

I know I put up a few pictures of the Easter school staff party but I didn’t manage to tell everyone all about it.

It started for me the day before. I went with the principal to get the cow and pig (I think) that had been slaughtered for the occasion. The school received the highest results in the region for 10 yrs! There were very important people there; the local MP came and also a member of the Senate, as well as the school board and others I believe were important but had no idea who they were. That evening I watched as the carcasses were cleaned and the intestines were taken out. This was all done on a table in the ‘kitchen’ (see pic above). Then, with a hose pipe and stick, they washed and stuffed the intestine – with what? I don’t know! That is when I vowed to go hungry!
The next day the braai (barbecue) was to start at 1. With things going on African time we didn’t eat till 6. By then I was so ravished (breakfast is at 6am) I would have eaten the inside of a cow…….and I did - with papa and salad. I think it was the nicest meal I have eaten since arriving.

Then the drinks arrived………

End of Term

This is most of the female teachers in my school, there loud and a little bit crazy! We also had a end of term party, where a pig and and sheep were killed then put on the BBQ! This is a pic of our school dinner lady in the kitchen cooking the papa - in the big black couldren and it's served in the buckets you see!

One of my many students

So I'm in Bloemfountain........where the internet's quick enought to up load photos! This is one of my students - happy drawing a picture while he's ment to be studing!

Basotho name

I met an Ntate (sir/gentleman) on my way home one day and after getting talking he asked me how long I had been in Lesotho. When I told him I’d been here a month he asked my Basotho name. He was shocked to hear that I hadn’t been given one yet - so he took it on himself to name me. ‘Malikhetho (Pro. Ma-d-cath-o) ‘Mother of elections’ because I arrived the time of the elections and it all went down peacefully!
In Lesotho a person is given a Basotho name at birth. This name is normally the felling of the parents when they have their child. Because of this people will be called Loreto – Love, Mpho – gift, Ndeshipanda – to be grateful for what you see, Motsoall – Friend, the list goes on….. This idea is taken quite literally and one of the teachers I work with named her child ‘BabyK’ this is slang for crazy child!
After a mother has given birth she has to spend three months inside with the child. For no reason are they to come out of the house (normally the grandmothers). Then they are brought out for all to see - normally when they are baptized and get there Christian name. Most people go by there Basotho name but some are so long and complicated that they stick with their Christian names. Most people will introduce themselves to me with there Christian name, but will never answer to it. And other people don’t know them by this name, so it becomes difficult and I normally just end up getting the Basotho name and pronouncing it wrong!
I’m very proud to be given a Basotho name. I don’t know how much I’ll use it though!

Malealea

Well as my last post said I was really excited about my little trip to the embassy for Paddy's day and in true Lesotho fashion things didn't go as planned. There was a bit of political unrest that weekend and I ended up spending 5 days in the beautiful mountains in the South East. This was an experience! Before I came here I had a picture in my head of how things would be and the village of Malealea was exactly that!
Things have settled back to that crazy normal as ever, so a quiet week with a lot of school!

Lesotho days

First of all let me talk about the weather – it’s hot! Every day is about 30 degrees. It gets cold at night but only like 10 degrees. The Basoto (people from Lesotho) are talking about how cold it is and telling me I’ll bring the winter by wearing short sleeves! I hear it gets a lot colder here but that’s to come. There was rain the first weekend I was here, but since nothing – It is a BIG problem!
At the moment my days are spent in school. I have been here three weeks but I’m still getting used to the place and trying to find my way – which is harder then I thought. I’m up every morning at 6 as school starts at 7 but I don’t need to be there till 7:45 for assembly. This might sound early but by then the place is buzzing and most people have been up since 4:30 or 5. School is a long day and finishes at 4:30 but it’s about 5:30 by the time I’m home. The big thing is that you can’t go out after dark, which is about 6:30 so I find I have very little time to do stuff. Between washing my clothes and getting dinner it’s about all I do before bed.
It hasn’t all been early nights and washing. Last weekend I meet a group of teachers from Wales. They were excellent and invited me to a brie (S.A. word for bbq) which was great and as they made room for me it meant that I didn’t have to worry about getting home before the sun went down! That and the lack of internet are my two biggest problems.
Also this week I met a group of volunteer clowns – they are a group from Ireland with an Ozzie lad and a girl from Brazil thrown in. There called “Clowns without borders” they go to third world countries mainly, bringing entertainment – they will go to schools and do performances on the street….pretty brilliant stuff! The kids here really took to them and the street show went down amazingly.
Another really brill thing is Paddy’s day – I have been invited by the ambassador and his wife to celebrate it with them and others in the Irish embassy!
So far it’s been excellent! I’m still trying to blend in but as “Lahore” (slag for white) it’s kind of hard! I’m learning a bit of the language, not easy, but that will all come in time. What is very difficult is the poverty and the fact that there is not much you can do about it on a large scale. The projects that have been set up all lend a hand towards helping the amazing friendly, intelligent, motivated people who I have had a chance to meet.

Love from the bottom of a heart shaped continent – quote from Bryan the clown.

Week one - the intro!

Well here I am finally.....I've had a crazy week and no Internet so I could not tell everyone about it! There have been amazing storms with electrical lightning - that of course knocked out the computers.
Besides that the weather has been fabulous - cold in the morning but about 27-30 in the day between the heavy showers that last 20min. They really need the rain here so I'm not going to be the one to complain about it.
This little update is only an intro - when the Internet working better I'll let you all know whats happening.