Lumelang and welcome to our first blog post,
We have now been in Mafeteng for almost two weeks and have settled in well. In the first week everything was still very new and difficult, but with the teachers’ help we are slowly finding our way around better. Now that we have got over the first culture shock (“it feels like being in a nature documentary”), we are learning to appreciate the positive sides of the country. And, as we are discovering, there are plenty of them.
First of all, we want to share our first impressions of the country and its people with you. The Basotho (the people of Lesotho) and the whole landscape are something very special. Many of the people we meet, whether we know them or they are complete strangers, greet us warmly, are interested in our work here, and the children in particular always beam at us with a smile. On the one hand there are the teachers, who are always concerned about our well-being and fully included us in their lives after just a few days. But many people we do not yet know, whom we may have seen only once in the street, also remember us and wave to us cheerfully.
In general, hardly anyone here seems to be in a bad mood, stressed or annoyed. Life is simply viewed in a more relaxed way than in Germany. Hurry seems to be an unknown feeling. The average Mosotho, for example, walks at half our speed, and when the electrician says nine o’clock, he sets his alarm for nine and arrives at eleven.
The landscape radiates the same calm and serenity. The mountains appear as if out of nowhere, and the small houses with corrugated iron roofs and the round huts are scattered across the land as if thrown like dice. At the moment the weather is still very pleasantly sunny and warm, broken only occasionally by heavy thunderstorms. The contrast between untouched nature and litter-strewn streets is astonishing.
About our project:
After observing lessons intensively, we decided to support the teachers of Grades 5 and 6. There we work both as assistant teachers and as substitute teachers, and we have already managed the odd lesson on our own. This is quite exhausting, but also rewarding – for example when you have to keep 50 ten-year-olds in check while explaining the differences between the world religions in English.
Today we also started our first sports afternoon with about 80 children. The Grade 5 pupils were relatively easy to get excited with a few games of tag and a relay race, while keeping track of everything was rather more difficult.
Tomorrow we will finally start the German club as well. We want to give the children the opportunity to learn another foreign language and at the same time tell them about Germany and the world.
Until next time,
Sala hantle (goodbye) and see you soon, yours
Lerato (love) and Mpho (gift) – our Sesotho names.