Opening

Our opening for the new classroom block was held this week.  We were very pleased with the turnout and the day was really fun for all of our students, staff and visitors.  Unfortunately the Prince was unable to make it, but we were luck to have the Chief Education Officer for all of Lesotho here to speak.  We also had Peace Corps Lesotho Staff & some volunteers, Village chiefs, parents, and many other visitors.  The program only started around 1 hour late, pretty good for Lesotho, and we actually kept it short and simple.  Each speech was followed by some entertainment from our students and from correctional services.  There were plenty of armed guards around to keep the prisoners in line, and we were very impressed by their singing and dancing.

Co-MCs

   I was lucky to get out of having to give a full speech, but I was talked into being a co-mc with my friend and teacher Maki.  Basically she introduced everyone and I just sort of repeated what she already said in English, not so hard.  I also led a guided tour of the new classrooms for our visitors.  It was really fun and I was surprised how well it all came together.  People here really like their events and everyone likes to give speeches so I was a little worried that it would be really long.  Really long is not always good when you have a lot of students with special needs and people like me who don't understand the language!

Our Girls Dancing

The best part of the whole ceremony were the performances by our students.  Two students gave a speech and the whole group participated in several cultural dances and singing.  It was so nice to show our visitors how "able" our students with disabilities really are.  The kids had so much fun performing and everyone made it through the whole program without any problems.
    After the ceremony and ribbon cutting we had a huge feast.  The dining hall was decorated to the max and the food was great.  All of the women at our school were up all through the night cooking and preparing the food.  It was very impressive and everyone worked really hard.
    Thank you again to everyone who contributed to this project.  Having new classrooms with bathroom and kitchens will make it so much easier for the teachers to work on vocational and self-help skills.  The teachers are really excited to start working in the new rooms, hopefully this week, and the community feels inspired by the growth at Thuso Centre.  I was so happy to be a part of it all, but it wouldn't have happened without the support from people at home and the Ministry of Education in Lesotho.  Kea Leboha!

Staff Singing

Inside 1 new classroom

My Principal and Chief Ed Officer Cutting Ribbon

Preparing Our Feast

Mokhotlong

I had the most amazing weekend in the mountains of Lesotho.  My principal decided to take Kirby (speech volunteer) and I to the village that she grew up in.  Only last year did they build a road that gets near to this village, before that you had to walk for a day or ride a horse to get anywhere near a town or main road.  We took her car to the closest town and then traded with someone for a 4x4 pick up truck for the remaining few hours on dirt roads.  Three of her brothers decided to come with us also and they helped with the driving.  The final leg of the trip was not even on a dirt road, rather just driving down the side of a mountain, so crazy, but so fun!
     When we got to the small village it was dark and we woke up in the morning to discover our amazing surroundings and several curious villagers.  Some of the people said that we were the first foreign and "white" visitors to ever come to this area.  They kept saying how happy they were that we came and throughout the day people from nearby villages would come by to meet us.  They killed a chicken and a sheep in our honor and we actually had to sleep with the meat hanging in our small room!  They also entertained us with stories and we enjoyed watching our water come up from the river on a donkey.  He was fully trained and walked right to the house on his own.

Horse Race Crowd

  Our horse ride took us further into the mountains to a place were we joined all the locals to watch horse racing.  It was a really amazing scene filled with mostly men and boys in blankets and horses everywhere.  The 4 races we watched were exciting and very fast.  Most of the jockey's were young boys and they were riding without saddles.  I even bet on one of the races, but lost.  Many people were surprised to see two white women ride in and we were overwhelmed with greetings and requests for photos.  I wish I could post all the photos, but alas there are just too many.

Small Herd Boys

   Our ride home was also an adventure and we stopped at the family's cattle post to drop off papa, corn meal for the heard boys to eat.  They live out in the mountains with the sheep and cattle and they usually only eat papa once a day.  We also had to give them instructions to get the sheep vaccinated and washed.  To get to the post we had to again drive off road down the side of a mountain.  At one point we were probably close to 11,000 feet.  We even saw a little snow on the ground.

   The village was so welcoming to us and if it wasn't so hard to get there I would definately go back as much as possible.  Now my time here is winding down and all I want to do is see more of the country and spend time with my friends here before I leave.  I am so thankful that I have such a great principal and friends who have welcomed me into their lives here.  It is really hard to explain how amazing it is here, you will just have to visit.

Posing 

Our 4X4 on the non-road

Self time pic with the villagers

Our view from the village

Water delivery

Getting horses ready to race

EFA

Swarming Students

Last week was the EFA, Education For All, week in Botha Bothe.  The schools in the town were asked to teach students about the importance of education for all.  On Friday the schools all got together at one of the primary school yards and there were performances of dramas and songs surronding the education for all theme.  When our students first arrived at the school we were swarmed with hundreds of young students chanting "education, education" while dancing around us.  It was really cool, I tried to put a video up, but it didn't work.  I am constantly amazed here when I see hundreds of children singing and moving in sync without much direction from their teachers.  They really made our students feel welcomed and gave a huge cheer after our students performed.  It was great to see our students included in some way with the general ed. schools.  Hopefully in the future we can get some of our kids actually in attendance at these schools, although with class sizes around 45 students, good inclusion is quite a challenge here.

My Principal and I at the football match

   I told my principal that one of the things I really wanted to do before leaving was to attend a good football match.  So last Saturday we went to Maseru to attend the Premiere League final match between Botha Bothe and Maseru Correctional Officers.  Unfortunately Botha Bothe, our team, lost.  I was surprised at how low key this premiere league championship game was.  I still want to try to go to a bigger match in South Africa if possible.  We went out to lunch at the mall and had a good day overall.  Thanks Me Mamonuku!
    We finally found a new plumber and he and his crew are basically starting from scratch.  Although it is frustrating that we have had to go over budget and wasted a lot of time, I feel so happy that it is now being done correctly.  He moved all of the pipes and geyser inside and their work looks neat and organized.  They should be done within a few days and we will have working plumbing that actually looks good and is leak free!  I can't wait to post some pictures, hopefully in my next blog.  Otherwise we are making plans for the opening of the new classrooms, now scheduled for May 23rd.  We are getting a tent and having many visitors and performances.  We are even inviting the prisoners, yes prisoners, to come and performs.  Apparently they are very talented.  This is going to be a much bigger event than I would have planned on my own, but I am happy that the school is so excited about it.

Football Match

My morning sky