Grassroots Soccer SKILLZ Girls 2015, "Blessed Sister"
I arrive at the school at 8 AM when “study”
begins, a time in which students are required to come to school for two hours
either on Saturday or Sunday and review their notes form the week. (If they are
to dodge study, they get the stick on Monday..) After study is over the girls
preform their drama they have been practicing for weeks to those that wish to
stay after study and watch. Me Matlotliso, some form C girls, and myself began
to prepare the foods and another teacher set some speakers to make their be
sound and play mino ho jaefa, music
to dance. At any Basotho event, there must be music and everyone, everyone is
invited to dance together. The weirder the mix the better-students, teachers,
grandmas, toddlers, elected officials..no problem!
After study was finishes the girls line up in
front of the school and nervously and act out their drama about two young
village girls who go away to boarding school and one encounters pressures from
her new peers. The girls rocked it. I feel like a overly-proud-soccer-mom. They
award each other with certificates of SKILLZ completion, give one compliment
about the awardee, and then gift them with a big hug in front of the school. Together, we do our unique and final “Blessed
Sisters” cheer and Limpho reads a poem, Beautiful Flower. Best verse I must
share:
"I
talk these words to every girl who thinks that she is not special because she
does not look like a super model,
The
next day the radio tells you to shake your money-maker,
Shake
your head and tell them you are a leader!"
We continue the celebration by dancing to the
ever-so-popular South African house music in a big circle. The male teachers are served their plates of food and us girls
trot to the kitchen to nosh our papa
and nama out of a big caldron pot,
family style. The girls pick those bones cleeeeeean, leaving nothing behind. Happy
bellies, happy girls, happy lives! Re
khotse haholo, we satisfied completely.
Giving Kananelo her certificates
Chanting our final "Blessed Sisters" kilo!
Kananelo, Thotoane, and Mohapi posing with
their certificates
This excitement and getting to do a science
experiment with the biology kids really made the end of the school year fulfilling.
Now, we are left with two weeks in which the students will write their exams
and soon enough I will be zipping off to the big unknown land of Namibia with
my SISTER. We plan to travel around in our rental car, probably get lost, make
some friends who will help us, camp under the African moon, and just follow no
plan at all. I am so elated to get to so this with no one else but my sister and
best friend in life.
The hiking crew for our three day trek through Southern Lesotho
The beautiful Senqu River
Cheesin with Ts'oani
The lil' minions are posted