The fields below my house
bordering SA that were green, green, green this time last year
It has only been several days
since I have returned to my village from traveling up and down and all around
the world (at least this is what it feels like) when I decided to go for an
evening “errand” with my ‘M’e. She wanted me to accompany her on a little walk
to our neighbor’s house to deliver some chelete,
money, for pantyhose her friend bought her in town. Once we arrived, ‘M’e
Motabeng graciously greeted us, pulled out some chairs, and the three of us chatted
(I contributed a liiiiiittle bit-I am saying that my Sesotho" got lost in my
travels," but with time, I’ll bring it back!). Our conversation was bleak maybe even depressing.
We discussed the hardships the drought here in Lesotho has already caused and
what they expect this year to look like. Not good at all..It’s January now, it
should have rained, fields should have been plowed and seeds should have been planted by the end
of October of last year, but still, no rain. Meteorologists predict rain to come in March, but
March is too close to winter to plant anything because it will just freeze in a
couple months. The bo-me say with hopeful voices that maybe we can plant khoro and lierekisi , wheat and peas,
when the rains finally do come. Empa re
tla bona, but we shall see.
It’s difficult to be so joyous
about what I got to do, see, experience over the holidays while schools were closed when my village is
suffering. What is everyone going to eat when harvest time comes around and
there is no yield? We don’t know…To capture some of this dryness, I decided to tour my village with Mosilisi, a small grade 7 villager who I have become quite close to this break, and take photos of ever-day-life in Ha Khoro.
Back view of my ‘m’e’s house, my
stone one in the middle, and our outside pink kitchen
My
kitchen! So many buckets..gotta hoard that water
‘M’e fresh from the well with
water on her head..a trick I have YET to master
If ya need more than bucket from
the well these boys will fetch water for you with their
Despite these difficult times, I do want to share some photos of vaca with all y’all from home. Erika and I had such a great time in
Namibia. We mobbed around the Northern half of the country in our lil rental
car equip with lots of road munchies (our favorite being biltong, a Southern African version of our beef jerky-but much
juicer!), saw things that intrigued us, camped at spots we found fitting, and
just winged it.
Observing the mastery of giraffes
reaching the water without bending their legs to drink
Zebras and wildebeests grazing
Exploring the dunes in search of
the perfect spot to watch the sunset in Sossusvlei, Namibia
Chillin with the trees in Dead
Sossusvlei
After Namibia and another week
spent in Lesotho together, Erika left and I had two days before I packed my
bags again for another trip with four fellow Peace Corps friends. We road
tripped it through the mountainous southern region of Lesotho and finally
experienced the remotely magical national park of Sehlabathebe, camping all the
way to Durban, South Africa. Here the five of us rented an apartment and soaked
in first world amenities.
Above
the clouds in Sehlabathebe made our hike a eerie in all the right ways
Thousands of year old paintings
from the San People
Frolicking through the hills with
my Gandalf staff
The not-so-very-beautiful beaches
of Durban, SA
One of the perks of
Durban..SUSHI!
Taylor, Julie, Jen, myself, and
Lea feasting at Semonkong Lodge for Christmas dinner
Now I am left with just two more
weeks until the schools open. Our form C students preformed exceptionally well
for their COSC Junior Exams and Khoro High School is ranked second for best
preforming high schools in our district. Villagers are elated about this,
because honestly I think many may have doubted our new school; they were unsure
of what us teachers were doing. But now they have peace in knowing the teachers
are doing their jobs and the students are working hard to pass. We will carry
this positive energy into the new school year. Until then we will sit on our
stoops, trying to stay cool in this 100+ degree summer sun, and of course, wait
patiently for the rains to come.
