Khotso From Lesotho: 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.