One Billion Without Water + Two

Greetings from Pitseng high in the Maluti mountains of Lesotho. We arrived here at the beginning of November - our home for the next three months. Help Lesotho has built a wonderful youth centre here in this remote village - a fantastic testimony to the hard work of our dear friend Peg Herbeet and her colleagues at HL. It is already proving to be a valuable asset for Pitseng and environs, a 16,000 "village" (actually composed of several hamlets a few km apart) which, oddly enough, hosts 5 schools. We are the first occupants of the volunteer quarters at the centre since it opened in June.

The centre is a lovely new building though, at the moment, it lacks some of the creature comforts that we have grown accustomed to in Canada - notably electricity and dependable running water. Electricity should be on its way "any day now" but ... TIA ("this is Africa) and we really don't expect that the lights will in fact turn on before we leave at the ens of January The water supply is, at best, intermittent. Every morning we are awoken at 6 am to the sound of women (always women) rolling plastic jerry cans to the tap outside the centre compound - hopeful that there will be water today. Most days there is little or none - in fact we've been without running water for two weeks now. We're fortunate to have a backup in the form of two 2500 litre rain barrels. However, in a country deep in the throes of a 5 year drought, one wonders how long these will be of service. We're grateful that we've done a lot of camping in the past as we have definitely reverted to that mode and are rediscovering the charms of gas stoves, freezer packs (when we can freeze them!), candles and the wonders of our new LED micro-head lamps.

As we suffer our "depravations", we are reminded many times every day that even in our current state we have so much more than our neighbours. Despite their suffering and heart-wrenching poverty, you would never know that they are not the happiest people on earth - always quick with a laugh and the broadest of smiles when we fumble our way through our elementary Sesotho greetings. A billion people in the world lack access to dependable drinking water. Make that a billion and two.

We have returned to Hlotse (aka Leribe) for the weekend shacking up with the Sisters at the guest house at the Convent of the Holy Name. Here we have access to glorious hot water showers and a refrigerator. We are also 100 yards away from the Leribe Hotel which, in this remote country, manages to serve cold Pilsner Urquell for just over $1.00 a bottle (glorious too!). While I'm on to this theme, how is it exactly that one can buy a 750ml bottle of Famous Grouse for just over $10.00 a bottle. Not that I'm complaining, but I find it extraordinary given the trasnportation and distribution challenges on the short road from Scotland to Lesotho. Perhaps I've discovered my substitute for water while the shortage continues. Talking about bottles, we invite one and all to try and balance on your heads 12 bottles in a plastic bottle crate as we have seen here in the daily, Olympian display of women's transportation techniques (again, always women). Once you've done this, please feel free to move on to 15kg sacks of flour and baskets. Let us know how you make out.

Did I really see that?

We are now into our third week in this lovely but forgotten African
country. Every day I see something that I take in at the instance and
then later snap back with the question - Did I really see that? Here
is a selection. Did I really see:

- a child herd boy barefoot and wrapped in a blanket leading several
bony-ribbed cattle through the baked dry fields.

- Patty and I actually pay to get into a taxi van that would seat 7 in
Canada but transported 15 to the local village. Patty had to sit a
child on her knees so we could all make the voyage. The van not only
lacked seatbelts but floor bolts to keep the seats in place and a
secure means of fastening the flapping, sliding door - all driven
under questionable license authority by a 15 year old.

- a farmer ploughing and planting his field with an iron plough pulled
by two cattle braced by a hand-made wooden yoke? I have seen such
contraptions at several Canadian pioneers museums but not in action.
(Incidentally, if any Canadian museums need to replenish their plough
collection they can be bought both new and used at the Hlotse market.)

- a primary school teacher wearing the same tattered, ripped clothing
for a couple of days straight. I have already grown to expect this
condition in the children, but the teachers?!?

- evidence of multinational company exploitation of Lesotho workers at
a paltry few dollars a day salary? Yes -
a textile plant in Maputsoe. The multinational exploited? A Chinese
company!

Last week I celebrated my birthday in the grandest style with a
beautiful multi-layered cake prepared by Sister Celestina at the
convent bakery in Pitseng. She was so joyously enthusiastic at the
prospect of baking this cake and so proud of the offering - all of
which outshone the tasting of the result. I shared the cake with our
fantastic Help Lesotho Youth Corps colleagues who clearly had never
seen anything like it I also offered a quarter of the cake to the
local chief and his family. They were all so delighted that I expected
the honourary membership to the clan to be soon forthcoming. Indeed
Chief Joseph did pay us a visit the following day. However, his
purpose was not as I suspected. Instead, he was seeking our
assistance in solving a problem with his daughter's cell phone!
Strangely enough, in a country with extraordinarily limited internet
access, there is no shortage of cell phones with even the smallest tin
shack store selling cell time cards.

One of my projects this week will be the launching, in response to
popular demand, of conversational French lessons at the Centre under
the tutelage of le professeur Culbertson. Already enrolled are two of
the Youth corps, some local primary school teachers and the very
enthusiastic local Catholic priest and some of his friends.
Fortunately for me, I had as ample an opportunity to practice my
French last month in France as I did my wine tasting competency. My
students will soon be heard impressing their friends with words like
"Guy Lafleur" and "le Pocket Rocket" throughout northern Lesotho

A bientot!