Day 50 - Day 51 (Semonkong/Roma/Maseru)
So, our three day excursion to Semonkong was extended slightly due to the reliable public transport system in Lesotho. Despite getting on a taxi at 11.45am, we didn't leave the town until 2.30pm, meaning it would have been too late to get home once arriving in Mafeteng. For the first time in weeks, I found myself massively stressing out, but luckily we were able to stay in Roma - a village within Maseru District that is home to Dan, Katie and Ciaran. Roma is exactly how I imagined Lesotho's villages to be, with people coming out of their houses to great the huge wave of UK volunteers that had turned up (9 of us).
This morning, we finally travelled back to Mafeteng for our sessions, and I can honestly say that this weekend' break has fully refreshed me for the final three weeks. Mathapelo and I ran a session today with nearly 100 children, which would have freaked me out at the beginning of my time here, but instead went really well, as we split the kids into two groups and each took one on. I feel like I've grown so much out here, and the facilitation of our sessions is always getting better. The kids are receptive to our messages, but also excited to be playing new games with their friends and building up their confidence. I really will miss the sessions when we leave.
Day 53 (Mafeteng)
As part of our work here in Lesotho, the volunteers are carrying out an 'action research' project, which involves finding a local community project and contributing to it. As my action research, I have been aiding a teacher at a local school who is compiling a study into how social sciences are taught around the world. I've been able to help her with the UK part of her research, adding context to the information she already has.
Here in Lesotho, teaching is incredibly teacher-oriented. Teachers teach, and learners are expected to absorb information. Much of this involves copying from the board into school books, which means children tend to be very good at repetition, but critical thinking is a skill not encouraged within the current system. I've luckily managed to observe some teachers who really do want to employ more learner-based teaching within their classes, and it is in these schools that the children are more receptive to the messages we teach in our sessions. The pupils who are encouraged to think about their answers are the ones who are eager to engage with our programme.
Our usual Thursday programme also happened today, continuing with our disabled-child session at St John's Primary School. Our sessions here are so rewarding because we work with the same kids each week, and therefore have been able to really see a change in how they interact with each other and the games we introduce. This group will be the hardest to say goodbye to by far.
Day 54 - Day 56 (Maseru)
Another weekend, another opportunity to explore some more of Lesotho. This time a trip was organised for us to visit the Kome Caves, about an hour away from Maseru. This is a cultural centre, where we got to dress up in proper Basotho dress and learn the history of the local area. We also cooked traditional Lesotho food, such as pap, moroho (spinach) and beef stew on an open fire. The whole experience here was incredible, although I spent the majority of the day with a tiny piece of cloth around my waist. Clothing is apparently an option here, not a necessity.
It's hard to believe that we only have TWO weeks left here now. Since midterm, our time here is flying by, and the closer it gets to departure, the more real it is that we will eventually be leaving Lesotho. I'm so excited to see family and friends again, but I'm going to miss seeing the Mafeteng guys everyday, and the other volunteers on a pretty much weekly basis. I have always thought that leaving here would be easy, but the closer we get, the more I feel it could be quite emotional - saying goodbye to my host family and partner will be hard, as well as the other UK volunteers when we get to Heathrow. These next two weeks will go really quickly, but I'm going to have to make the most of them.
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