Last day and the temperature keeps rising

Well last nights rain never came and the wind eventually died down. The grass is still parched, the rivers are emptying and many parts of Lesotho are having their water cut off at certIn times of the day.

We however are fine. We had a bit of a lay in this morning, not waking up till 7.30 then at 8.30 we went off to Kick4life for breakfast before the rugby world  cup final against us and the south africans. We all gathered in Peters house to watch a slightly disappointing match but we wanted the best team to win and i believe they did. 

Back at our house afterwards we started to pack and clean up a little bit before emma and i went into town. I wanted to show her (and the others, but they declined) the Basotho hat which is a local craft emporium (for want of a better word). I realised when we were in there that i have been visiting for 12 years and in that time the smell, the goods and probably the staff have not changed. We parked in down town Maseru in a car park which used to be uite good but now had no ticket barrier going in (only going out!!!) and there were some unusual looking people around so we locked up carefully and held our bags close to us. We also visited Shoprite which was for me the original supermarket before the new malls were build and has rather a different vibe to pick n pay in the mall . Its a bit like comparing Lidl with Waitrose only i think i am doing a slight disservice to Lidl. We then went to Ooh la la, the french cafe in the grounds of the french embassy for a drink. I had warned emma to have a second choice ready in case they did not have thr first and they did not disappoint but we both enjoyed a sit down in the sun and a bran muffin each ( large and interesting, or actually maybe large and uninteresting!!!!!)

Having filled the car up with diesel we headed back to /Beautiful Gate  when we discovered that poor Nicholas   was sick. Yesterday it had been noah and now it was Nicks turn which was a real shame as he had wanted to play with the children.  Emma christian and i popped to the local shop, round the corner in a tin shack which i believe is quite new as i had no idea it existed.

We ended the day by driving up to the mountains which overlook Maseru to my favourite Lancers Gap and watch the sunset before buying pizzas for supper.  All in all a good day and a good end to the week.

Our house is clean, our cases are packed and we are off on a 22 hour journey to London heathrow tomorrow morning at 8 am.

I will no doubt see you in the northern hemisphere and will probably post 1 more blog as a reflection on the week.

Till then stay well and God bless you all.

Jenny x

Its been a long day....

I cannot believe that is was only this morning that i was playing with play dough in play group ... before that however i had washed up breakfast (thats my job as i don't do early morning feeding) , dead headed a whole rose garden, hard boiled some eggs,  and mended a whole box full of books. Play dough was at 8.30! Who am i and what have you done with the real me who doesn't do mornings very well! The day starts at 6 but it is light from 5 so it doesn't feel as bad.

It is now 10.30pm, the wind is howling around after a baking day and we are expecting  a storm around midnight. 8 do hope so, it is just sooooooooo dry here. I have dry feet, dry arms, dry lips, and despite drinking gallons of juice and water (and other things including tonic water!) i am permanently thirsty. There is barely any grass on site and the eater tank is empty. If the mains goes we are stuck. Listening to the wind i will be expecting a power outage very soon, my torch is next to my bed!

Today is our last working day. We have not been here long enough, everyone is into a good routine now and we want more but tomorrow is Saturday when we do not work although we might play with the children at playtime maybe. 

Playgroup passed peaceably enough with much building of mega blocks and kitchen equipment. It lasts from 8.15to 11.30 which is a long time with 30 toddlers especially in Africa  where time goes slower. We all feel we have been here forever.

At lunch time i heard the sad news that a boy from the school over the road had drowned in the river yesterday. He had gone to swim after school in the muddy, sewage riven river and had drowned, his body had been found this morning. I don't know him but it was still shocking  news.

This is a hard country to be in, life is tough and the people have to be tough too. At lunch time i met daniel who runs the jewels for hope charity who i always buy jewellery from  and we had a conversation about his life, how at 6 his mother died and his dad worked away. He was brought up by his grandad and he earned his keep by looking after his cows. Now he is at university studying a business degree and running a charity to help young girls and boys of secondary school age to learn a Craft (jewellery making;) to enable them to earn a living. Sadly a few of the group have got married (at 16)...not forced fortunately but they have few skills to sustain them in the future if things go wrong. He is a great example of someone who had no education but is determined to make something of himself and to help others. In the same vein Lerato, a young man of 25 who i have known a while, came to dinner tonight. He makes Samosas for a living and works in a pre school run by a friend of mine. He is trying to earn enough living to go to college to study theology and then he wants to open his own school. I have no doubt he will make it. These young people have such drive, passion and determination. i was so touched when, as he left he gave me a gift of some beautiful hand carved ear rings in the shape of Africa.i will cherish them.

Anyway, going back to our day, at lunch time i dead headed more roses, i had to stop this morning as the children were on their way to school and thought that running through the rose pulling off the petals was helping! It really wasn't!,

A quick phone call across continents to Andrew to offload some of the undesirable things of the morning helped life my mood and we headed to playgroup with cheery hearts ready to use the bubble machine which Andrew leaves out here but had not been able to use due to the really bad winds that they had been having which had brought the cold weather up from the Antarctic. as expected the children lived and and ran around hysterically. Tracey and i had also planned to get the parachute out to bounce the red noses on, an innocent occupation you would think! The children go mad when they see the parachute and we did manage a couple of successful bounces before we gave up and let them have some free play on the parachute  which basically involved a bit pile up.

The main playgroup leader headed off to fetch some supplies in her wheelbarrow and left me in charge of smack time which was quite interesting as the children do not really listen to the voice of a white person in authority. I had to out my very deep strict voice on to get them to sit down and fold their arms and close their eyes to enable to give them the snacks that we had brought from England as a special treat. they thoroughly enjoyed gingerbread men, iced gems and mini penguins before heading back home. My house had no hot water so i couldn't repeat last nights bathing fun but managed to feed a few children before saying our goodbyes.  I also managed to sneak a peak at the new baby in the next house too, 4 days old...so tiny!  The little tiny premature baby in my house is doing really well by the way, growing slowly each day and putting on a little bit of weight. Next year, maybe he will be running around. There are 7 children in my house who i have known since last year or longer. The 2;special needs children who i have hardly Seen this week as they have been at school for 11 hours a day, and 5 others who i have got to know and love over the years. I hate the fact they are still there but at least i onow they re loved and cared for and are thriving. I have seen some grow from baby to child and it is lovely to see them develop into real characters.

I have gone on long enough. Emma cooked a lovely dinner tonight and she made some cakes earlier which sunk badly....something i warned her might happen but i am not sure she believed me! We had a pleasantly relaxing evening and we are all geared up to watch the rugby tomorrow!,, we are watching it with Peter who will of course be wearing green but there are more of us than him!

Emma and Tracey are snoring gently making me sleepy, there is still no sound of rain only wind so i will sign off and say Sala Hantle....stay well. Until tomorrow.

Jenny x

It’s getting hotter...

As the title of this blog suggests the cape winds have passed and it is hotting up to more like the temperatures I know and love out here.

We started our day with a trip to school where i gave the head teacher some books for the ever growing library, we watched an assembly and then had a quick tour of the school. Emma was very pleased to meet the science teacher and check our the year 8 science syllabus. We saw where they were making wire cars and little stone houses in technology lessons and learnt how the school has grown over the years. When i first visited it was a 1 form entry junior school from grade 1 to 7 with the preschool at Beautiful Gate. Now, the preschool is still there but they have 3 forms at 1 ,2, 3 then 2 forms for grade 4, then 1 for years 5,6 and 7 and they now have a high school with years 8 and 9 as well so it has over doubled in size since 2012.

We came back to playgroup where Tracey and i did some colouring and sticking stickers before snack time and then general play with some soft mats, rolling things and balls afterwards. While playgroup was going on the boys aka christian and Terry were trying to move a very heavy wooden construction which had been the therapy room for the special needs children, off the play area. It had been dumped there when the new playgroup building was started, and nobody could move it. Enter an engineer and a builder, 2 great minds!  After a few abortive attempts, they and a team of willing helpers, mostly maintenance men and even office staff, managed to tow it behind a truck round to the front of the campus and place it in situ for the maintence men to use as an office when it has been re built. christian and Terry were pretty worn out after that!

The usual feeding time happened and then we had a quick lunch ourselves before heading to town with Perer and birthday girl Lindiwe to visit the rugby academy who i had a whole suitcase of rugby shirts for. The manager was very happy to see us but expressed his view that despite being surrounded by South Africa, he would not be supporting them in Saturdays world cup match but instead would be supporting the English Roses. In fact he is travelling to England this evening so i am hoping, although not very likely, that we might meet up in England, where i will be buying him an England shirt!

As i mentioned it was Lindiwe’s birthday so after driving past a viewpoint which takes in the whole of Maseru, we went to the Lesotho Sun hotel, as it was always called, for a celebratory drink. We sat in the sun for a slowly served drink, one forgets you cannot pop anywhere for a quick drink or bite to eat in Lesotho, it always tskes longer than you think it will.

Back at playgroup we took all the red noses which Sainsburys had given me over to the children but of course the problem is that the Basotho nose is very flat, so hardly any of the children could out the red nose on so we had fun putting them on their fingers instead. We were then treated to some traditional Basotho dancing by the playgroup children accompanied by lovely singing.

Another very full day ended with dinner together at an old haunt from when I first  went to lesotho in 2007, the Maseru Sun as it used to be called where they serve a buffet every evening. It hadn't really changed in the last 2 years which meant it wasn’t  very exciting but it was absolutely fine and meant we didn’t have to cook at home.  The week is going by so fast, i cannot believe it is Friday tomorrow, we still have lots we want to achieve, things like dead heading the roses which i promised  to do earlier in the week and so far have only done 3 bushes.

Emma very kindly made some play dough tonight so we can take that to playgroup tomorrow. She is still having fun in the baby room while Tracey, Nicolas and i are in playgroup. Noah helps his dad and comes into playgroup when he fancies a change. I hope the 2 young lads have enjoyed their experience, it is not always easy to tell. i hope that something they may have seen or experienced will stay with them in the years ahead and will mean something to them as they get older. The rugby gentleman gave them a lecture today on working hard at school and being good kids and how lucky they are compared to many of the children in Lesotho and that is so true. He told them, and i know this is true, that many children go to school with no breakfast, walking barefoot some distance. They receive a free lunch at school and some take it home t9 their families to share later because that is the only food the family gets all day. We have no idea how that feels. We have no idea of the level of poverty that some people live in.

One of the giys here was teying to organise for Christian and i to go and visit the factories this week. When the factory owner discovered we were foreign he said no. No foreign visitors are allowed in!interesting i thought!

Anyway enough of that. Time for sleep.  Its been a long, hot and busy day and tomorrow will be the dame.

Sleep well and thanks for reading.

Love.  Jenny x

Another day at Beautiful Gate

The day started sunny and bright but with a real nip in the air. The southwesterly winds blowing up from the cape are blowing straight from the Antartic and we are feeling it. The boys and i set up painting as an activity today and after years of experience, we had 1 child each. Most of the children enjoyed creating their masterpieces and it was interesting to see how many of them knew what to do with a paintbrush full of paint!

After break we got the trikes out and the children dashed round in the warm morning sun. Christian has finished putting one ceiling up and Terry was over at school fixing their computers and i think he did a brilliant job. Emma spent  the morning as usual in the babyroom where 3 of them had 18 babies to look after.they missed Andrew!

This afternoon was chapel time which involves everyone including most of the walking children piling into the chapel for singing and words of inspiration. We were asked to lead it today so the words of inspiration were all about apples,,,a talk i had used at St Peters for harvest. Obviously it all has to be translated so a sort talk gies a long way out here. The singing was amazing as ever by the ladies, really beautiful.

Suppertime came and went as usual then back to our house for supper prepared by Tracey and her dad. It was all very lvelyvand we sat around chatting and playing a never ending game!,,

Tired tonight so a short blog but we are all doing fine and have another full on day tomorrow...

Tke care.  Jenny

An unexpected cold spell

I have just looked back to my blog last year when it was the middle of a heatwave...tonight even i have got a blanket out. We are a full 10 degrees colder than last year and as it happens, last week, and believe it or not next week. The weather must have seen us coming. I have never been this chilly in Lesotho in October although it is nothing like the freezing temperatures of the time i came in August.

I went into pre school this morning and met up with the lovely Mrs Manghani who i have known for many years. She heads up a class of 37 5 to 6 year olds in one room and the other teacher has a class of 43 4 to 5 year olds! No teaching assistants, no helpers, just a large amount of children but they are very well behaved, listen and want to learn.  Don't get me wrong they are not perfect by any means but when they misbehave they are punished appropriately and it doesn’t  happen again for some time!

Playgroup was a time of playing with dolls and dolls clothes which we eventually found and have now all been washed. I had taken out a lot of knitted blankets which someone from school had knitted and the children had so much fun carrying their dolls around on the backs. Tracy, Nicolas and I, later helped by Noah set up some tables of duplo outside and took a few children at a time to come and build and stack bricks, it was very calm and ordered. After break i got the kitchen things out and the children had fun with what is left of all the equipment i brought over 2 years ago, much of which is now well chewed and squashed but at least i know it has been played with.

In between play i managed to carry on sorting out a little bit of playgroup chaos and organising some of the boxes. Emma has been busy in the baby room, she would despair at the state of the cupboards. I am just trying to make it vaguely organised ready for the move to their nee building but i think it will have time to revert to chaos before that happens anyway!

Christian and Terry have been busy putting up ceilings in the new build which has been going according yo plan.

Andrew left today, i took him to the airport about 25 kms away after lunch and we had a pleasant but basic coffee in the cafe at the airport where it seemed he was the only  one flying that day! I have no doubt the plane was quite full by the time it left but  there certainly wasn't that many people around when we got there. The airport is a pleasant drive away through some lovely scenery and little villages and it was quite a lovely drive back on my own, the journey there obviously gave us time to out the world to rights which we hadn’t really had much time to do while we were working.

The evening routine was relatively pain free although my house had had no power for a while so dinner was a little delayed. The house is much quieter than in previous years with the 3 older boys not being there anymore. I miss them but i know that life will be better for them in their adoptive families and it does make for a peaceful and more ordered house. We have 2 7 year olds who go to a special school and are out from 6 am till 6pm, 1 school girl, 6 toddlers (1-3) two of whom have the same name which doesn't help and a fair number of babies, 5 i think although i can never quite be sure!fortunately the house mother knows the children well and knows who has been fed, who wears which clothes and who sleeps where. 

Anyway the evening brought a trip to the spur restaurant where we could relax and have a lovely steak. We also managed to get a few supplies from the supermarket, it is easy to forget how much 7 people eat for lunch. Tomorrow brings much the same i think only i hope it will be a few degrees warmer.

If i am cold, you can imagine how cold Emma is who normally wears her coat on the beach in the summer when i am in my swimming costume in the sea!!!!!

Sleep well and keep warm

Love. Jenny x

First day at work

The day started early  as i took emma and tracey over to their houses at 7 am to introduce them. I thrn went off to school with Noah who received a very warm welcome from the children. The children were all lining up for assembly with Noah in the middle, it was a great experience for him but not one that he wants to repeat again...i think 1 day was enough for him

Playgroup was less stressful than sometimes, we did some colouring and lots of playing. Tracey and Nicholas were great taking children  off to the library to have some one on one time.  Emma was in the baby room, looking after the under 2s and Christian and terry were working on the new playgroup building. Everyone was gainfully employed and the day past pleasantly and without any difficulty.

We met up for lunch when the wind got up again. Every afternoon it really cools down and starts blowing a gale which apparently is September weather.. it was great to reconnect with all the staff at Beautiful Gate togpday, i always receive such a warm welcome, i never take it for granted. It is humbling. 

In the afternoon we took over all the dressing up clothes which children from my school had donated. There were plenty for everyone and the children had such fun dressing up and running around dressed as princesses, pirates and superheroes and many combinations.  All too soon it was  snack time and emma and i took the opportunity to sort out the old dressing up clothes which we brought home to sort out and wash...a job we have now done.

It was my turn to cook this evening so i rustled up a chicken stir-fry with noodles for 7 as Noah had Decided  he didn't like stir fry so his dad took him out to buy a KFC!  It was remarkably lovely, even if i say so myself, despite only being able to buy instant noodles and limited veg and making a sauce out Of a number of store cupboard standbys.  Dinner done we played a couple of games, fed the security guard and chatted until it was time for an early night.

We are so dry. Our skins are really feeling it and water is not really quenching our thirsts. My feet are cracking badly and we are all trying to keep well hydrated. The gale force afternoon winds are making it very dusty. At least the washing is dryIng very quickly.

Sleep beckons me. Another full on day tomorrow.

Take care and enjoy the English frosts that i see some of you are getting. Wall to wall sunshine here and beautiful (apart from the winds)

Much love from the team, most of whom are now asleep.

Jenny xxx

A day of exploration and fun before work begins

We slept well and woke early as the sun came through our bedroom windows about 5 am. The 3 of us ladies went to Church with Peter this morning whilst the boys went to kick4life to take some football boots and trainers but more to enjoy a hearty breakfast which they kept telling us about!

Church was fine but long...we stood up for 30 minutes while the band sang and then settled down to a 45 minute sermon. I have to admit my eyes closed for a while, as did Emmas but it was actually very good. We sneaked out of church early as Peter had to watch the rugby and we drove home through thr back streets taking in the kings new palace building and seeing some back streets of Maseru that i had not seen before.

We met up with the boys at home and went supermarket shopping which was quite stressful with 8 of us, the term ‘herding cats’ has been used a few times but we bought all the food we need for the week. The shelves were quite empty as it was pay day on Friday so we were limited on what we could buy but i don’t think we will starve.

We had a light lunch and then headed out to Thaba Bosiu where there is a cultural village and is the site of the foundation of Basotholand as it was called when the zulus attacked from the north and the people with their leader who became their king. It always strikes me as weird that their history as a civilised country only goes back to the early 18 hundreds and at that point they were still cannibals.it was the french missionaries who first cam in the early 19th century that persuaded them to change their ways.   We had a lovely walk around the round houses which have been built to show how the different clans built them, went to the museum to revise our Basotho history and relaxed in the cafe, where i never received the change from the drinks we bought but we grow to expect that.

The drive took us through some beautiful scenery and it showed us how terribly dry the land is. The rivers are all but dried up and there is no green grass for thr many herds of sheet and cattle which are all looking quite thin. The rains are late this year and the winds are strong which has dried out the land.

We had booked ourselves a last treat this evening at a hotel which Christian, Andrew and i had found last year to have a lovely meal watching the sun set. The sun went down quickly and we feared  we had missed the best of it on the drive to the hotel but we were rewarded with a second burst of colour whilst waiting for our food which took over an hour to come.   We were all pretty hungry by the time our food arrived especially as 4 of us had ordered steak to be told that the steak had sold out....we had all made second choices fearing that might happen. I had some rather lovely oxtail which was worth waiting for.our slow meal enjoyed and paid  for we have come back home where we are hoping to have earliesh nights ready to start work tomorrow.  

I will let you know how it all goes tomorrow night. 

Meanwhile sala hantle.....stay well and tgank you for reading.

love jenny xx