from Butha Buthe...

I am writing from the town of Butha Buthe, which is the closest town to Bokoro HS. I came in with Graham ( my neighbour, a Peace Corps worker) this morning and a few students. They are attending a Peace Corps sponsored workshop on gender equity and healthy relationships. Even the ride in this morning was interesting. We planned to leave at 8am, but the truck had gone with some students to collect water in some drums to have available for the students druing the hot days. Since we were running late we began to walk into Khukhune, where we hoped to catch a taxi. By taxi I mean a little while van that carries people to and fro. They seem to seat 12 people, but you rarely see one that is not crammed to the gills with people and their possessions. On the way we encountered 'M'e Mapalesa and the students and the water, and the truck was sent back down to collect us and take us into town. it is just another example of how things happen when they happen, and there is nothing that you can do except to go with it...

I have begun to settle into the rhythm of the week at Bokoro. I find a 7am start a bit hard as it makes for a very long morning. I at least can nip down to my house for a cup of tea or a snack, but the students go right through until 1pm before they have any lunch.

During the week I visited Bokoro Primary School with the YAH group. They want to start an HIV/AIDS club (an awareness initiative) and so I accompanied them to their meeting with the staff. Most of the meeting was conducted in Sesotho ( se-soo-too) so I didn't understand much, but the gist of it was that they were in agreement and so we returned on Friday for the first meeting. Primary education is now free in Lesotho, and so the poverty of the children is much more obvious as they attend school regardless of their economic status. Many wore torn and worn out uniforms and many had no shoes. I hope to meet with the staff soon and discuss the needs of the school and their students. On Friday there were at least 80 children at the meeting. The kids are as cute as buttons with wide smiling faces, and I just wanted to put a few in my pocket and take them home with me. Again the meeting was in Sesotho, so I didn't understand much, but there was quite a bit of enthusisasm and participation. The YAH kids were pleased with the results of the meeting. we will now meet on Fridays at the Primary School and on Mondays at the High School.

I continue to get to know the staff and students alike at Bokoro. I am enjoying the classes that I teach, and as there is little advancement in the computer situation I am going to suggest that the students have fewer computer courses and more english classes. I will bring this up at the next meeting. I DID however conquer the generator this week, and can manage it quite well. I even got it started when a group of boys were unsuccessful ( I think that they were quite impressed, hahaha). I also attempted to photocopy this weee. Ha! What an ordeal. Gloucester High School, watch out, you will never hear a word of complaint out of me again when it comes to photocopying! Once I got the generator going I turned on the photocopier. It requires quite a lot of power and the generator coughed out a cloud of expletives in protest as I coaxed 40 precious copies out of the machine. I don't think I will rely on this very much in the future. The need for electicity is at the top of the list here, but when this will come to fruition remains to be seen as 'M'e Mapalesa gets a different answer from each person that she talks to...

On friday Graham and I were taken on an outing after school. We were driven up into the mountains to Oxbow. The drive was very very beautiful and we wound our way up the switchback road to a look out over a expansive valley. It was a lot of fun, and very nice to leave the school property for a bit of a change.