Thaba-Bosiu

Standing in front of King Moshoeshoe II's grave with my fellow teacher, Puleng

The beginning of the school year holds lots of excitement ignited by school trips, teacher workshops, forming of school clubs, sporting events, projects to beautify the school (AKA taking “slashers” or machetes to cut grass, move rocks, and dig holes for new trees that are to be planted), and the list goes on and on. So needless to say, we have been having fun at Khoro High School. I write this blog after just returning from a school trip to Lesotho’s most famous historical site, Thaba-Bosiu, (Mountain of the night) where the infamous King Mosheosheo took refuge from Nguni tribes and raised the Basotho Nation in the early 1800’s. Thaba-Bosiu was selected as the site for National History Association Day where schools from all over the country came to hike to the top, learn some history, and have an opportunity to perform in a talent show. The performances consisted of traditional dances, raps about freedom, impressive impersonations of Nelson Mandela, and the most enjoyed by the crowd-Basotho style break-dance-offs. They were so fun to watch but my personal favorite was a girl’s speech about how proud she is of her African roots and the struggles to resist the pressure to feel shame of her origins..she spoke with such poise and passion. The school trip was a treat indeed..Aside from the rather devastating fact (in my mind) that our students did not get to climb to the top of the mountain because the entrance fee was not factored into their payments by our school because..yaaa..whoopsie? I felt so awful, honestly, awful. But on a positive note I think the students enjoyed missing school, seeing Thaba-Bosiu from afar, and definitely loved dancing to the blaring house music on the bus. I again, learned some new moves from the students and had a great time laughing with them

M'e Motklotliso hiking up to the top

Standing in from of King Moshoeshoe's old home

Throwing "magical" sand on one another

Girls doing their traditional Basotho dance

Teaching is coming along and I am enjoying the relationships that I am forming with my students. The more I get to know them, the better we all feel in the classroom and the lessons seem to flow much better. I hang out with some of them during break and they ask me questions upon questions about math and then about life in general. I am always happy to answer but I encourage them to stop studying during their breaks-the students study so much! Also, another teacher and I are co-leading the Math and Science Club, which I am pretty excited about. And “life-skill” classes are really up to me and some just seem so basic but I forget how much is not discussed with the youth of this country. Their parents sure will not discuss personal matters with them and the teachers feel awkward soooo here comes my duty! Teaching simple things like how to deal with stress and challenges in life when a student asks me if “its okay to just cry sometimes”…uhhh Absolutely?! I realize that they are not aware of the confusing stages of adolescence and are just expected to be good, exam-passing, non questioning, non emotional students. They are going through a tough time; its difficult to put myself in their shoes because my teenage years were “tough” because of stress factors a liiiiil different from theirs. But we are we are all still all emotional human beings. It’s really great that my school is so supportive of life-skill classes and realize the importance of allotting a time to learn self-esteem, communication skills, and sex ed.

I decided to go into town with our top runners at our school to compete in a race where sports clubs from all over were in attendance. The girls were so pumped that some one was coming to watch them, I felt like a little mother hen taking pictures and getting them water. One of our girls, Keletso, WON the 100 meter and is now going to compete in South Africa! Yes, she gets to see life outside of Lesotho and she could not be more excited! Hard work of training pays off! This was really great for the rest of the students to see her success.

With the girls on the track before their race!

Keletso (in the green) running the 100 meter

A total side-note but I just wanted to share: The term used to describe a married woman’s lover (not her husband) is “roll-on,” like roll on deodorant that is applied in secrecy…too good not to pass along with everyone.

With all of my teachers on "back to school day" where we wore the kids uniforms