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