Lesotho Week 6: A Pause In Proceedings

When it rains here, it really rains. This week has been a bit of a washout, and, as seen below, our sessions have been cancelled because of it. Add to that the midterm review, it's been more of a week of reflection, rather than action.

Day 36 - Day 37 (Maseru)

Now that we have passed the halfway point, we met on Monday and Tuesday for our midterm review - a chance for us to share best practice and review our time here in Lesotho so far. From these two days, I have picked up some great ideas of games to play in our sessions, and ways to integrate more messages into the classes. This review was also a great opportunity to put into perspective how little time we now have left, and the importance of recording our work in Mafeteng. As we really only have four weeks left in our homestays, we need to begin looking at what change we have made here, and how the next group of volunteers can continue this. In fact, a lot of the final half of our time here will be spent focusing on continuity and relationship building ready for the next team to take over smoothly.

Despite all coming from different backgrounds and parts of the UK, when we get together as a group it is often a highlight of the week - mainly because we all have the same reasons for being here and can motivate ourselves to continue the good work. We also have the same amount of drive to make the most of our time here in Lesotho in exploring the country. I'm really aware that once we leave in April, I may not get another chance to come back to Lesotho (at least not for the next few years), and I want to enjoy all the moments we have left!

Day 39 (Mafeteng)

Weather. The past few weeks have been so hot and rain has been overdue, but the last two days have been full of torrential showers. When it rains here, everything stops, including schools, leading to a lot of sitting around with the rest of the Mafeteng volunteers instead. It's quite frustrating that I haven't run a session now for a whole week due to meetings, midterm and rain, but this is just the culture here - rain really does stop play, and this is something I cannot change (as much as I'd like to). The forecast is due to get better, so hopefully tomorrow will go ahead and I won't go this week without feeling like I've done something productive.

Today, I also found out that Toms (the shoe company) supply one of the schools here with plimsolls for the children. Next week I'll be helping distribute these to the children, and hopefully I'll find out more about the process and how schools become part of this programme.

Day 40 (Mafeteng)

The sun is well and truly back, so sessions are back on with one of my favourite schools, Sekoati Primary. The attitude and interest of the teachers here is great, so Mathapelo and I have been able to develop a really good relationship here. The only downside is that we will only get to run 4 sessions here in total, due to meetings and other ICS events that are often organised on Fridays. However, the school is eager for the next batch of volunteers to carry on the well here, so hopefully this is just the beginning of a relationship between ICS, Skillshare, LENEPWHA and Sekoati.

Tomorrow, we are off to Thabana Morena for Fletch's birthday weekend, and next weekend we're off to Semonkong. Semonkong is home to the biggest waterfall in Lesotho, so we're making the most of our final few weekends here. 

Day 42 (Thabana Morena)

So, that's it for another great weekend here in Lesotho, and we've spent it at Paul's traditional Basotho hut in Thabana Morena. It feels like we've travelled all over the place this week, but we have been together as a UK group quite a bit, which has also been awesome. Fletch's party was great, with home cooked curry, cake and a couple of ciders - a little touch of home thousands of miles away from the UK. Fletch is the only one of is to have a birthday while we're in Lesotho, so I think we did a pretty good job of celebrating it!

I'm really looking forward to the week ahead, as it should be a week full of sessions (dependent on the weather of course), and then the trip to Semonkong to top it all off. Tuesday is also Moshoeshoe's Day, a national holiday here where local schools run events (when people describe it they seem to be very vague). We've been invited to one of the schools that Conrad and Fletch work at on this day, so I should get to see how the Basotho people celebrate their founder. I'm really looking forward to getting back into the sessions properly. We only have four weeks left in Lesotho now, and even less in Mafeteng, and there's still loads of work left to do here. I'm probably the most positive now since we arrived, so hopefully this attitude remains and we can get some great positive action completed here in Mafa!