So after arriving in Lesotho ready to start our placements in mid July, it’s so far been 8 weeks of laughter, tears, frustrations and success and we are pretty sure our final 2 weeks will be no different.
My name is RAMOKHORONG BOLOETSE aka DAVID as everyone calls me. I have been Team Leader for the past 5 months and this is one of the amazing team I have ever worked with in ICS. I have so much to tell but the experience of sharing Lunch with them at BIBI`s Snack Restaurant in Mafeteng was a team memorable moment I have ever had with them. They can tell it was amazing to eat fat cakes (MAKOENYA) and the fry’s with a drink. This has been a team that I am proud to have been with ever.
TEAM STRUCTURE:
David Boloetse (LENEPWHA CENTRAL Team Leader)
Likeleko Marake and James Vickers (Team A)
Emma Crosby and Letlotlo Mokete(Team B)
As a UK volunteers (JAMES VICKERS and EMMA CROSBY) it’s been a shock to the system getting used to living with a host family and working alongside our in-country partners (LIKELEKO MARAKE and LETLOTLO MOKETE) who have helped us to discover a whole new culture and a different way of living. Probably the biggest point that has come to mind on first arriving was how much as a UK citizen I and James and the others around me take for granted. Silly material things as T.V.’s, washing machines even toilets and showers aren’t things to expect in your home stays and you realize after a few days that these items are simply not necessary. Having actual conversations with your friends and family rather than sitting on smart phones in silence; eating meals as a family rather than sitting in front of the T.V. shoveling food in your mouth on autopilot; doing chores and hand washing clothes with all the neighbors in the community; getting dressed up in your best clothes for church on Sundays; greeting people you pass in the street, not even caring if you’re already an hour late for work (as obviously you’d rather know how a total stranger is feeling today than go to work) are just a few of things you learn to love about Basotho people.
THE ACTUAL ACTIVITIES and SESSIONS:
Amongst all the sessions that we have had, the best session has been at St. John’s Primary school. Dealing with the topic peer pressure, we used drama as a medium to get the message across. What we feel as a team went best is that the students were very creative and were able to show clearly and fluently how friends can be a bad influence in our lives with so much enthusiasm and uniqueness. What made this session even better was that we were also able to include disabled children in this session, one of the key themes for Q10, by the help of Coach a fellow volunteer who aided us with being able to use sign language, who as well as helped to teach the children taught us so much as well.
OUR POINT OF VIEW ABOUT LESOTHO:
It’s a beautiful country with a beautiful way of life; people live here to experience day to day life with as many jokes and laughter as they can humanly manage which I’m afraid YouTube fans, does NOT include a cat being able to play the piano. Despite England being the more developed country we would find it immensely difficult to find an unhappy Basotho person which brings one of my final thoughts of this journey being why this is so…Our conclusion, we think England is also a developing country and can learn a lot from the culture of Lesotho.