Stories to tell . . .: Lesotho

Summertime Christmas

I'm dreaming of a... green Christmas!

The greening of Lesotho is now complete! The mountains, valleys, dongas (ravines), and fields have soaked up the intermittent spring rains and are gorgeous and lush. Sometimes those thick, dense, dark clouds just get blown over by a strong wind and no rain falls. But oh... when it rains it can be spectacular. The lightening is especially impressive but can be deadly. I have seen lightening strike the ground with incredible power... living with the risk of a ground strike is something the Basotho herd boys must accept as their days are spent out in the open.

St. Patrick's Church and my little house is just beneath that large butte. Those impressive clouds brought great bolts of lightening, earth-shaking thunder, and even some hail along with rain.

Flowering aloe are everywhere - the stems stand towering over the landscape.

With the yellowing of the blossoms come the bees to soak up the rich pollen that just glows in the sunlight.

Most days are sunny and clear; the sky intensely blue.

A Mohale's Hoek Christmas

Just before Christmas families throughout Lesotho begin to gather for extended stays and lots of celebrations in hometown villages. No matter how big the family - a place is found for everyone to sleep and the population of Mohale's Hoek soared the week before Christmas.

Street vendors in Mohale's Hoek

The number of street vendors doubled or tripled in number since small villages typically don't have shops. Inexpensive, made-in-China items such as wind-up toys, hair ornaments, jewelry, and trinkets were treasures for shoppers with little Maloti to spend. It is customary to give a child one or more new items of clothing so Mohale's Hoek stores were crowed with shoppers.

All the businesses in Mohale's Hoek benefit from the Christmas crowds. Shoppers get hungry & thirsty. New shack eateries serving papa, moroho, le namae koho (polenta, steamed chopped chard, & grilled chicken) pop up to take advantage of the season.

The bottle shops - selling alcohol - are super busy especially before the weekends and the holidays. The parties start rocking early with super load music, dancing, & drinking on Christmas Eve & New Year's eve and the last stragglers are making their way home the morning after. Heavy partying can mean some fights will break out but typically the only sign left of the partying are broken beer bottles in the streets.

Christmas Prayers

But, after all the shopping, eating, visiting, partying... you'll find the many local churches filled for Christmas services.

St. Patrick's Church

Bo Mme, Bo Ntate, & Bo Bana, (ladies, gentlemen, & children) all dressed in their finest come to sing & sway to soulful Basotho hymns.

The Best Gift of All ... the New St. Camillus Children's Home

For Sister Juliana, and the children and the staff of St. Camillus the grandest celebration of all was moving into their new home!

The new children's home, funded through the donors of US-based The Lesotho Connection, was finally complete and ready for the kids to move in on December 23. The bunk beds were made, kitchen supplies were stocked, the stove & gas tanks installed, & the solar heating provided hot water for new sinks & showers. Even the flower garden was shouting it's own welcome - blossoms were everywhere.

Thanks to the generous donation from the family and friends of Linda Henry in the United States - Sr. Juliana was able to purchase new outfits for all the children of St. Camillus. Rethabile, Nthaby, and I loaded up shopping baskets of clothes - a complete outfit (top, pants, or a dress, socks, shoes, & undies) for each child.

The days preceding the move had been challenging as so much final preparation needed to be completed: plastering & painting the indoor rock pillars, installing electric wiring & gas hoses for the stove, installing a washing machine in the store room nearby, moving clothes & supplies out of the old house & into the new one. The matrons were challenged by learning how to adjust to new standards of housekeeping, the kids adjustment to new toileting & bathing routines and... that each one would now sleep in her/his own bed.