The Mountain Kingdom...Lesotho

The country of Lesotho (pronounced Lesootoo) is actually a country within the Republic of South Africa and is in fact a Kingdom. It was once much, much larger, but as European colonialists and settlers were want to do in the 19th century, they took all the fertile farming land on the western side, (now known as Kroonstaad, Ventersburg and Bloemfontein), and gave the indigenous people all that was east of the Orange River (rocks and mountains). The existing country is about the size of Pennsylvania and as a result, Lesotho has had little to sustain itself and is quite poor. They share similar ills as much of Africa does in the form of poverty, HIV, poor education, lack of opportunity for the masses and leadership that pretends to care but there is precious little evidence to show that they do. There is one city only, Maseru, and that is the capital. It is crowded, tired and not very clean. Once again we stayed at the casino because it is the cleanest, safest and moderately priced. The people in this kingdom are different in that they really seem to be trying against the odds. I must say the young folks we met with did truly tug at our heart strings in search of a break and opportunity.

A bit of humor if I may, before we show this land of mountains. My dear wife needed some hair products on Saturday morning and we were running a bit late for our appointment, but, since it was Valentine's Day and she is a special lady, I agreed to drive into the downtown of Maseru where we spotted a Shop-rite market that looked as though it had been there since the 50's. We made our purchase after a rather long que, but now we were running late and I really don't like being late...anyone surprised by that? So, instead of going all the way to the end of the block that was quite congested, I checked my mirrors and pulled a U-turn in the middle of the block. I had no sooner accomplished this coy vehicular maneuver, than a policeman stepped in front of my car and waved me over. Remember...I am an American, with a South African licence plate in Lesotho. He showed me his badge-pointed to his logo of Lesotho Mounted Police Service and said to me,"you have offended the laws of this land, I am officer Semlabaka and you have offended the laws of this land which makes you subject to arrest and fine". He then said 'I will get into your car and you will drive me to the police station" He had no gun, no bike and no car. Not even a horse. I said, No you can't ride in my car-church rules, so he said I will ride with these men (another SA car they had pulled over) and you will follow us to the police station for you have offended the laws of this land. We did so and drove to a very old police station where we stood at the counter while the officer walked around to the back of what looked like a bank teller window and then he asked,"Can I help you?" We tried not to laugh and he then said "ID please". We produced the copies of our passports that we carry and he took out a piece of plain white lined notebook paper and wrote me up. He charged us 30 Mulati ($3) for offending the laws of their land and gave us the only copy of the citation as our receipt. Un-believable. When he said we could go, I asked him if he could come outside so we could take his photo and he practically ran outside ahead of us...he then asked where he should stand and how he should pose... and when we showed him the picture in the camera, he gave us his address so we could send him a copy. A friend for life! God is truly with us.

Jim with Officer Semlabaka. Do I look like a guy who might have spent the weekend in jail until the judge returned on Monday? Whew! Happy Valentine's Day to me!

Here is the only record of my "offence to the laws of the land" Wonder where the 30 Maluti went?? A classic keepsake for sure.

This is a very typical home in the city of Maseru. Each family of 4-7 in a separate unit with no inside water or power.

As you begin to leave the city, you see more settlements on the hillsides. Everyone but a few, walk everywhere they go. Jobs are scarce but poverty is not.

As we left the city of Maseru, we began climbing into the mountains and saw houses that were part new design (concrete block) and part old native Maloti style home with thatched roof.

We spent the day in the car driving through the mountains and had packed a few light snacks and fruit since we did not know what we might find for lunch, but fortunately we came upon this lovely little roadside cafe in which to dine.

...just kidding Mom.

We did end up giving all our snacks, sweets and fruit away however, to village children who asked for it as we drove through.

This is a Lesotho duplex. Two families, one fruit tree, one clothes line. Reenie commented several times that in spite of their poverty, the people were clean and their clothes were always clean as well.

Up in the mountains you will find the Maloti people who are mostly shepherds. They wear a blanket in all weather and almost always a hat of some sort. This day it was about 18 degrees (about 65F) and still they wore blankets and hats.

This young man was riding his donkey toward his herd, but when he saw that we wanted his picture, he stopped and posed and asked if we had anything to give him. Before he asked us however, he crossed his left arm over his right forarm (see photo closely) which is a sign of respect for his elders. He got off his steed and we gave him several coins and a pear.

He was pleased and said "thank you vedy vedy much sa"

Here is a large settlement of traditional houses that are made of stone and thatch. All are round with one door and two windows. The winters are severe up here in the high country and indoor fires are what keep them warm.

We went and visited a school in the mountain town of Makoallong. This was a Saturday, but the kids were there, having walked 3k-7k to get there. Here is the primary level school house-no lights-no indoor plumbing-no cafeteria, no gym or swimming pool. Just a room with few supplies.

Here is a class with 48 students-2 and 3 to a desk-some in uniform, some not, but they are there on Saturday to get as many days in as possible before winter sets in during June-Aug and the snow is too deep to walk to school. The class has ages 6-11 and is reminiscent of what education must have been like in the US in the 1800's. School is free up to age 13, and then each student is charged for lessons and books. As a result, many drop out at that point because of lack of funding. We are working with several young adults, even at the ages of 20-26, to go back and get their basics and we will provide the funding through PEF. It's good to see their faces when they realize they get a second chance.

Here is the main component. A happy and determined teacher, willing to endure lousy conditions and little in the way of supplies, but who is there for those that are anxious to come and learn.

We both commented as we pulled away from the school how we wished that we had just a portion of the money that has been squandered away by the greed in the U.S. recently, and that we could use it to help these children along lifes road a bit. I have always been a grateful sort, and I lived pretty close to the vest, but this experience is teaching me imeasuably about the terms 'poor and the afflicted. About reaching down to lift up, about orphans at young ages, about grandparents giving the little they have to help with the orphan grandchild. About gathering wood for winter in a land virtually void of trees. About a few families pulling together to see to the secuity and survival of all. Memories of Christmas cards from the 1950's. Much changes-much stays the same, it just depends on who you are and where and when you were born.

We passed this woman high up in the mountains. She was reluctant to stop to talk to us, but I gave her a 10 Rand note, which is eqivalent to $1 to me, but an entire day's work for her, and she agreed to let us photograph her. She is carrying a large bundle of thick, heavy,dead leaves from a plant that looked like a giant Yucca plant. These will be used to burn in her home during the winter. She had a saw on top of her load and miles and miles to go to the next possible dwelling. The walk was all up hill. She sang softly to herself as she walked...perhaps for herself or perhaps for the little one.

Much to my surprise, in addition to the load on her head, she was carrying her child on her back. It pains me to see how hard these people have to work just to sustain life and limb, but they do it because they have to. Life expectancy in Lesotho is 47 yrs.

Here are the large beautiful Lesotho mountains...

...and here is a child whose face we shall not soon forget.

Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth.

Matthew 5:4-5

Stay well...

...of Birds and Babies

Those that know us, know that we love our feathered friends. Africa has a whole new world of birds and we have been enjoying them from afar as well as up close. Since we live in a flat with a very nice little courtyard, we decided to see if we could lure in some of the birds that wake us up every morming with their varieties of song. We went to a garden center and bought a small birdfeeder and it took about 5 minutes to attract our first visitor. The Afrikaaners call this one the Swartkeelgeelvink, the local Zulu's call it the ihlokohloko, Reenie calls him Al Jolson, but we looked it up and it's the Southern Masked Weaver. Much easier for the Americans to pronounce and to remember. Below are a few shots of the male at our feeder.

This is the handsome male. He is known as the casanova of the bird world. He can have up to ten broods in a season, all with different females, and he builds a nest for each lady. The red eyes are very haunting and his primary color is a Goldfinch yellow.


Here is the home that the Masked Weaver built in our courtyard (without hands!). You can see immediately why they are called 'weavers'. He builds the bag nest to attract the female and if she does not like it, she will snip it off at the branch and knock it down. She did it to this one and 5 days later he had built another one which I guess she liked, because she raised a brood in it and they have already fledged.


If you want to see the look of conceit he conveys regarding his good looks, double click this one and check out his face in closeup. I must admit, this was a lucky shot!

And as they say...'into every life a little rain must fall'. We are in the city, so of course- put out a free meal and here come the locals to cash in and make a mess. Reenie likes them however, because they talk to her, so I can't shoo them away. The pigeons tend to cast most of the seed out of the feeder and onto the ground, but that attracts the laughing doves, and they are quite nice. Sorry for not having a photo of them.

This charming fellow is the African Ibis, known fondly as the 'Hadedah'. The Hadedah is almost the size of a Canada Goose but much more sleek. They have a call something between a laughing gull and a crow, but twice as loud. They can give you quite the scare if you're not aware of their presence, but they keep the grub, roach and slug population down to a minimum...a very unique looking and sounding bird.




Blankets @ Baragwaneth





Last Tuesday, Reenie went with several of the lady missionaries to Soweto. Soweto is the huge township that was created for the black population to live in when South Africa was under Apartheid. Even though Apartheid was eliminated 15 years ago, that area remains the home of many (over 2,000,000) members of the native African population. There is a huge hospital, that has been there for many years, and is the primary medical facility for the people of Soweto. It is named the Baragwaneth Hospital and since it is the public hospital, most women from the township go there to have there babies. So many women go there each day in fact, that it is the largest birthing center on earth. They average 150 births a day! Each woman entering to have a baby there is charged 40 Rand, or $4.15.

Many of the ladies in our group of missionary wives, use their spare time to make baby blankets and caps for the newborns, and the mothers are very appreciative since they generally do not bring or get blankets to take their babes home in. When you hear the story of birthing at Baragwaneth, I believe you will be taken aback.


Here are Reenie and Denise Heap with armloads of blankets being handed out to new moms. Many of the women would immediately unwrap their babies from the orange institutional wraps and use the new colorful fleece blankies.


These women arrived at the hospital just a few hours ago, have already had their babies, and while awaiting their discharge from the facility, get to wait on hard wooden benches in the ward. Their babies are in bassinets to the side, and after three to four hours of post delivery 'observation', Mom and baby are sent home by public taxi.

Here is a proud new Mother with her 4 hour old infant wrapped in one of the carefully made, soft and colorful baby blankets. Notice the anything but soft seat that the woman is sitting on as she recovers from childbirth. Wow. The small cups on the bench are filled with formula for the newborn. Each baby gets one cup before being sent home.

Someone's 3 hour old bundle of sweetness.

Sad as it is, not all Mothers leave with their babies. Reenie mentioned that this woman had delivered already, but had no baby with her. She received a blanket for 'next time'. There were 5 babies that died during birth this day and one Mother who did not make it as well.

Here is the waiting area after a busy morning of delivering babies and all seem happy to have their gifts of blanket and cap. There is only one Dr available for C-sections and serious complications.

All other births are assisted by midwives.

Having had several children and many grandchildren, I am well familiar with what a woman goes through in the birthing process. These women are really amazing! All of these ladies delivered babies on this very day...are now smiling while sitting on that hard bench... and will be back at their humble homes before dinner.

All but 16 of the 150 blankets and caps were given out on this visit. There was another ward in the next wing, but not enough blankets for all so our gals did not go there. Here is Reenie giving out the last of the load to the most recent Moms.

From left to right are the satisfied missionaries. Sisters' Wright, Heap, Taylor, Mickelson, Noll, Godfrey and Von Stetten. Job well done ladies.

"Wherefore, be faithful,

...succor the weak,

lift up the hands which hang down,

and strenghthen the feeble knees."

Stay well