Wednesday, December 24, 2014

T-Shirts and Sports Balls in Lesotho



It is very interesting to see the fashion of the Basotho here in Lesotho. In Maseru - the Capitol City - the attire is very much like any big American city. I find the Basotho to be very clean and fashion conscious. Hence while window-shopping and mall grazing, one sees very beautiful and well-dressed people.

In the countryside, however, one finds that most of the T-shirts and polo shirts worn by all have originated from an organization of charity. One finds World Food Bank shirts, UNICEF shirts, HIV/AIDS organizations shirts among others.

Furthermore, the entertainment of choice for young boys is soccer, and since they begin playing at a very young age, the boys - and some girls - are quite adept at the sport. Most of the girls enjoy playing a sport called netball which is similar to basketball without bouncing the ball. The difficulty is acquiring a quality ball that will last. I have queried the youngsters as to where they got the balls and the answer was once again that they were delivered along with food from the World Food Program. Occasionally one might see a ball fabricated out of a bunch of plastic bags, and children play so very roughly and often will all balls that they do not last very long, but the kids always seem to come up with something that meets their needs.

I have engaged in a few conversations with Peace Corps volunteers about the effectiveness of so many charity organizations in Lesotho. Wherever one goes, there are signs naming charities which have donated to the various causes throughout the country, be they buildings, bridges or other infrastructure.

This all begs the question of whether donating to these causes really helps the Basotho or hinders their lives for reaching their own sustainability. This is a country where most live from sustenance farming, although the resources are so very great to advance this country beyond the minimum lifestyles that most of them lead.

Sunday, December 21, 2014

Keremese in Lesotho



Christmas is approaching and there are remarkable differences between the pre-season holiday between the United States and Lesotho.   It is quite difficult to even imagine that the holiday season is upon us given that the temperature is in the 80's and everyone is walking around in T-shirts.

It is true that Lesotho is a very religious country with most families practicing Roman Catholicism.  You don't see holiday lights around neighborhoods and I have yet to see a Christmas tree in anyone's home.  Christmas carols are rarely heard ever and people are not wearing green and red.  There is no sense of Advent at all, and I have yet to see an Advent calendar.

The one exception to all of what I have expressed here above is found at the two major malls in Maseru; namely the Pioneer and the Maseru Malls.  Here

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Officially Sworn Into the Peace Corps

Thursday, December 17, was a true day of Pomp and Circumstance for our Group of Ed Trainees 2015.  We were sworn into the Peace Corps.

Most of us had had the typical Lesotho dress attire (Sechoechoe) custom made for us which made all of the photo opportunities quite colorful.  The Peace Corps had set up a series of tents for the dignitaries, the Peace Corps Trainees - soon to be Peace Corps Volunteers, and the host families.  It was quite impressive to see nearly everyone from the surrounding villages come to witness the event.

The ceremony was long, yet really quite impressive.  A local female preacher spoke at length, a number of officials from Maseru (the Capitol City) spoke, representatives from surrounding villages spoke and of course, our Country Director, Wendy Van Damme, addressed us all.  I would have to say that our favorite speaker was one of our very own, Neel, who had scored the highest on the Language Proficiency exam a few days earlier.

We were also graced with some of the native dances of Lesotho, as well as a full spread of food and "joala" following the event. We have decided that the Bo-'Me had been cooking for days beforehand as there was food for every single attending the event.  It was a massive outdoor picnic with people sitting around everywhere delighting in the feast - one of the very few, I am sure, that they will ever have in the area.