After the busy months before, my focus was now less on building new projects and more on processing the results already achieved and improving our living and working conditions.
At the beginning of the first week Radik and I had to stay temporarily with Tsotang, a colleague and former colleague, as renovation work was still going on in our new flat. Although this was an unplanned change at first, we spent the time in pleasant company and used the opportunity to spend even more time with members of the community.
At work I mainly concentrated on beekeeping that week. I extracted larger quantities of honey and continued collecting combs, which were later to be melted down and turned into beeswax. It was particularly exciting for me to now process the results of the past months step by step. While the work before had mostly been about building up the project and looking after the colonies, making high-quality end products was now increasingly the focus.
Radik and I often spent our evenings at the lodge. After work I frequently took the time to study for university on the lodge sofa. This month I learned the basics of two programming languages to prepare as well as possible for my future studies. It felt good to be thinking about the time after the volunteer service alongside the practical projects in Lesotho.
In the middle of the second week we were finally able to move back into our renovated flat. The changes were immediately visible.
Compared with our previous accommodation, the new flat is a huge improvement. It has much more space and a more pleasant atmosphere. I was particularly pleased that I could set up a room of my own as a small bee room. There I can now extract honey, process wax and store materials without constantly having to improvise. This made the work much more efficient and organised.
Our neighbour’s puppies were also doing splendidly during this time. They had grown a lot and were becoming more and more active. As our neighbour had little time for the animals because of other commitments, Radik and I took over a large part of looking after them.
We regularly took care of feeding, playing with and training the dogs. We quickly built a close bond with them, and they have become a fixed part of our everyday life.
At the same time the change of seasons became noticeable. The rainy season was coming to an end, while temperatures dropped considerably, especially at night. The days were mostly pleasant, but the wind in particular grew stronger and made it clear that winter in Lesotho was approaching.
The third week was again all about beekeeping. Together with Kompi I spent many hours in the bee room processing the last honey of the season. We prepared the products not only for our own use but, for the first time, also planned a larger sale.
For this reason I signed us up for the monthly farmers’ market in Maseru, where we wanted to sell the honey officially on behalf of Children of Lesotho e.V. At the same time it was important to me to give Kompi the chance to present his own products too. Besides the honey he offered dried fruit and home-made chilli jam, among other things. I liked the idea that not only my own project but also other people from the community could benefit from this opportunity.
In the fourth week we finally took part in the farmers’ market. The event was extremely successful. We sold most of our honey and, with the harvest from just two colonies, achieved surprisingly high takings. For me this was an important moment, because for the first time it became clear what economic potential the bee project could have in the long term.
Looking back, April was a month in which fewer new ideas emerged, but many results of the past months became visible. Our better living situation, setting up a workroom of our own for beekeeping and successfully selling our products showed me how much has developed since the start of my volunteer service. While the previous months were often dominated by physical work, building up and experimenting, the focus was now on taking the projects further. That gave me the feeling that many small ideas have turned into concrete, working structures.
