Last Saturday was an incredible and important day for the members of the G.R.O. Artisans Collective. The community rallied around the event to support a group of women who only a few months ago were working out of their homes and now operate a workshop, retail space, and Lesotho’s only beading supply store.  Running around in the hot sun I didn’t have much of a chance to reflect on the event but after the passing of a few days and a cup of coffee, or ten, I am amazed at what this group of mothers has been able to do. The best part of this story is that the Artisans aren’t the only G.R.O. success story witnessed last weekend.

Since January I am proud to have been part of the Family Scholarship Fund to watch the students rally together and welcome the new G.R.O. Counselor, ‘Ntate Katiso ‘Mota. For the first time in the history of the Scholarship Fund there are students from Molapo High School outside the program’s membership who have joined for study sessions and lifeskills workshops. This is a true testament to the character of the students in the program and the great job ‘Ntate ‘Mota is doing with the group. When asked to volunteer their time to work at the Artisans opening the G.R.O. Scholars were there. These students - members and the recently joined -gave up their Saturday to prepare chicken, watch over the grill, distribute food to guests, clean dishes, and ensure the area around the workshop/store was free from garbage at the end of the day.

With a fresh cup and a few days I realize that the students commitment to community service and strengthening their program is a more subtle but equally exciting story that’s unfolding here in Hlotse-Leribe. On behalf of the G.R.O. Foundation Lesotho I want to thank and congratulate the students of the Family Scholarship Fund for their efforts this past weekend. See you on Monday!

Posted under Notes from Lesotho

This past Saturday, 6 March, the G.R.O. Artisans Collective held their Opening Day ribbon-cutting ceremony. Along with a large crowd and many of the G.R.O. members from other projects in attendance the day was a great success!

Congratulations to ‘Me Majoyce, ‘Me Makhotalong, ‘Me Mathabang, ‘Me Mamosebetsi and their families for their successes as members of the G.R.O. Artisans Collective!

Special thanks to the G.R.O. Scholars of Molapo High School and the Grannies Poultry Association of Lisemeng II as well as Jean Margaritis, ‘Ntate Katiso ‘Mota, and ‘Me Rethabile Skundla for assisting in organizing and lending their helping hands all day long!

Posted under Notes from Lesotho

Despite the downpour of the summer rains, ‘Mapalesa and the GRO team ventured to the local pharmacy to purchase non-pharmaceutical home-based care supplies.  ‘Mapalesa, a retired nurse clinician and the head of the Grannies Support Group, along with Carolyn, a Canadian nurse clinician volunteering with GRO, made a long list of supplies they felt would be helpful to stock in their home-based care kits.

Bottles of multi-vitamins in syrup form for malnourished children, bed sore ointment and personal care items for the bed-ridden, gauze and antiseptic for wound care, over-the-counter medicines for pain, and a general selection for the community’s ailments such as allergy medication, sinus and cold, and diarrhea. Extra strips for their blood sugar machine, and notebooks to track all patient care. Metal adjustable crutches and a walker on its way.

This weekend, the Grannies will diligently inventory their supplies and ensure that all of their members are well-stocked.  With the increased number of TB-patients and people bed-ridden by AIDS, the grannies home-based care work has never been more important.  Thank you to everyone who purchased a Grandmothers Care kit through our Gifts of Hope campaign for making today a possibility!

Posted under Notes from Lesotho

There’s something about being part of The G.R.O. Foundation that I have been consistently unable to express in these blog posts. There is truly a feeling behind it all. What that feeling is exactly I can’t quite say. It could be the tempered optimism for the world or the shared belief that we are all engaged for reasons beyond what we can see at this moment. Maybe it has to do with the continued strength of the program initiatives in Lesotho. Since I first arrived last April the months drifted by and our fledgling organization has taught itself to walk through sheer determination.

A contemplative post is usually reserved for the ends of each year but I do not want to spiral into a list of previous achievements or inflated future projections. The G.R.O. Foundation is an example of a collective of individuals that have joined together to engage with the world in a different way. That sounds romanticized but it is obvious that there is nothing romantic about poverty, hunger, or the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The way forward only reveals itself through hard work and active engagement. The long days and countless hours truly are paying off as those around us take notice. G.R.O. has been able to secure grant funding and, thanks to your engagement and the tireless efforts of our G.R.O. Canada Team, we are in the process of wrapping up our most successful Gifts of Hope holiday campaign to date.

Last night we gathered together here in Hlotse – Jean Margaritis, James White, Carolyn Beukeboom, and myself - for a monthly update with our core G.R.O. Canada team in Toronto. At the end of it all - after the spreadsheet line items, the numerous dropped connections, and the continuous “sorry, can you repeat that’s” – you could tell everyone was drained. But, as I leaned back in my chair I watched the others in the room and you could see it in their eyes. They all felt the spark, too.

Sallang Hantle.

Jason Clark

jclark@grofoundation.org

www.twitter.com/GROjasonclark

Posted under Notes from Lesotho

Things are not the same. In Lesotho, the act of taking public transport is quite easy to engage in and I believe it to be the epitome of organized chaos. All you need to do is inquire where to find the transport to your desired location and someone will kindly point you to another person who will continue to point you in a direction until you have found the vehicle that will take you where you wish to go. You find a seat and you find your patience. To take public or transport, you refer to one or the other but rarely both, there is a necessary delay, a necessary waiting, and a necessary uncertainty.

“When are we leaving?” One might ask.

“We will leave when we are full,” will be the response.

“Do you know when that might be? I am expected somewhere,” you will say trying to plead your case.

“Yes, when we are full.”

There are benefits to waiting or being first. You get a better seat. There are drawbacks to waiting or being first in the form of the heat of the sun. Thankfully, Lesotho is a relatively windy country and a slightly cracked window will offer you some respite from the air hanging between yourself and the others all waiting in the combi-minibus. You are waiting for the others to join you. You are all in it together. There is a meeting set, in a sense, but you simply cannot know when and with whom this meeting will take place. When it finally does everyone will agree that the time has come and together you will move forward. If music has not been playing while you wait then it will begin now. Gospel, Hip Hop, Traditional, or Top 40, likely combined on a heavily scratched CD, will begin pulsing out of a set of speakers. The volume will be unnecessarily high. This does not stop the passengers from interacting. Voices rise above the music. There is little way to dissipate the sound, as the song will deflect off of the closed windows to reach you from an unexpected angle. Basotho do not like to drive with the windows open, no matter the temperature, due to fear of catching cold from the wind and their general discomfort when feeling the rapid air against their skin. This practice has only helped to increase the transmission of tuberculosis throughout the rural and camp town populations. A game I have taken to playing is to gain a seat by the window and crack it before the combi is full. When you begin moving you ensure that your arm is firmly planted in a manner that prevents anyone from reaching across you and quietly closing the window. The game is to see how long you can keep the window open before someone asks you to close it. At that point you change tack and the mission becomes to what degree to you accommodate the request without actually cutting off the source of fresh air.

The combi-minibus is an extended commuter van that typically seats between 9 and 12 passengers. When full they typically carry between 12 and 15 passengers. The windshield may be cracked and the door handles will most likely be inoperable from either the inside or the outside of the vehicle, possibly both simultaneously. You will rely on each other to control the movements in and out of the vehicle. Along the way you will pass and be passed. Uncertain sudden roadside stops will be enacted and feverish honking to signal to potential clients will be engaged in. The driver will skirt around people and livestock that are invariably traveling along or across the same paved pathway that you find yourself on. The rules of the road are far less defined here.

You pay the fair not upon boarding or upon leaving, but somewhere in the middle. If you are in the back you pass your money to the person in front and they will then continue to pass it along. Your change, if there is need for any, will return to you in the same manner.

Together you are sechaba, a community. The group has waited for you as you may have waited for the others. You can only begin once you have all arrived and slowly you will lose members to the side of the road at one point or another as you work together to open and close the door.

Jason Clark

jclark@grofoundation.org

www.twitter.com/GROjasonclark

Posted under Notes from Lesotho

It actually felt like Christmas today. The excitement that is, even with the notion as far from my mind as it is on a typical March morning. The geography of the whole event is staggering enough, as I am life times away from my family and many friends. But, pushing an oversized cart through the aisles of Metro here in Hlotse I was smiling excitedly as we gathered the staple items for the Christmas Hamper baskets for distribution to the 17 students in the Family Scholarship Fund at Molopo High School.

Earlier in the day we had ordered a chicken for each student, from the Grannies Poultry Project, to compliment the basics Jean and I were collecting. The pile grew to include the staples of Basotho cuisine such as flour, sugar, oil, rice, yeast, tea, soup, beans, and porridge; but also soya mince, tuna, and peanut butter for protein; granola for energy, as well as some chocolate to celebrate with. Our carts brimmed with candles and matches, toothbrushes and toothpaste, shower soap and laundry powder, deodorant and toilet paper, and the bags to carry it all in.

My place was instantly turned into a small distribution warehouse as plastic and cardboard littered the floor along with the debris of beans and brown sugar, as big box packaging shed its layers. After an extensive sorting and clean-up process the room revealed the 9 black plaid packages for the male students and the 8 blue plaid packages for the female students. For me, it came with ribbons! It came with tags! It came with packages, boxes, and bags! With your help the students of the Family Scholarship Fund are receiving a holiday that means something more. Thank you to all of the donors that made the Hamper baskets a possibility for the students of Molopo High School this Christmas.

Jason Clark

G.R.O. Lesotho Volunteer Business Advisor

jclark@grofoundation.org

www.twitter.com/GROjasonclark

Posted under Notes from Lesotho

On the 11th of December, G.R.O. held its annual holiday party in Leribe. Members from all projects were invited for an afternoon BBQ.  G.R.O. Volunteer Jason Clark made 6kgs of cheeseburgers and taught the students the art of grilling ‘Canadian style’.  The students also helped grill up an additional 5kg of sausage and 50 hotdogs.  What a party!

Visitors from OHAfrica Alicia Homer and Ian Campbell joined us in celebration and assisted as we distributed the holiday food hampers.  Holiday food hampers contain staple food items such as rice, sugar and flour along with other necessities like washing powder and soap.    With many thanks to the Grannies support group and their chicken project, each food hamper this year also included a live broiler chicken!

It was a fabulous day and we are thankful to everyone who made it possible.

Posted under Notes from Lesotho

We sat in the sun on the deck of a second story café overlooking the mountains of Lesotho waiting for the Ficksburg Cherry Festival to blossom. Last night’s rains had vanished off of the horizon. Jean and I waded through a 3 month working implementation plan for The G.R.O. Artisans Collective while ‘Me Mathabang and ‘Me Mamabula greeted the few interested customers slowly circling amidst the funky rusted garden of Di Blek Plik Café. The new display trees complimented the Afrikaaner decorative metal works while simultaneously setting their colourful beadwork apart from the rest of the grounds.

The moment brought back a piece of wisdom that both Josh Berman and G.R.O.’s James White, two good friends managing local health initiatives at Motebang Hospital in Leribe, that one of the necessary goals of development work is to forge ahead with making your position obsolete. Here I sat working through a business plan which included the hire of a local Collective Coordinator to assist Jean and fill the advisory position I have been proud to hold since late May. Over the next few months the mothers will be moving office to a space twice the size, looking to more than double the number of members from four to ten, develop and launch a new product line sourcing locally recycled and higher end materials, on top of the addition of a managing Coordinator.

With the windfall of changes and growth fast approaching the Bo ‘Me of the Collective still presently seem to have some use for me, but I’m looking to change that.

Jason Clark.

jclark@grofoundation.org

www.twitter.com/GROjasonclark

Posted under Notes from Lesotho

The heat of the tarmac as I descended the stairs from the small prop plane was a frank testament to my departure from the winter months that had begun to descend on Ontario. After a few months of Canadian summer I was again facing months of sun with heat by day and the light chill of evening after the sun has been eclipsed by the mountains. Walking into the Moshoeshoe International Airport, just outside of the Capital Maseru, I was greeted with a feeling of confidence that was in direct contrast to the nervous excitement of my arrival last April on my first trip to Lesotho. Driving north toward Hlotse the browns and reds of the surrounding landscape have been concealed in tones of green to a far greater extent than I could have imagined only a few short months ago. Although the seasonal tones had changed the public transport vans, known as combis, continued to race along the highway merging on and off the road in the staccato manner of my last visit while people shuffled to and from the hundreds of villages into the towns of Teyateyaneng and Maputsoe.

“Coco!” I shouted to announce my arrival to both Jean and Jamie as I stepped out of the car.

“Welcome back, how was your trip?” they both responded as I walked through the back door.

All of the notes and preparation for the implementation of our recently awarded CIDA grant would have to wait until tomorrow. Three continents in about as many days is enough to tire the most seasoned traveler. Aside from my immediate desire for a solid nights rest I had been looking forward to this moment since my stomach felt the aircraft take flight from the Moshoeshoe runway. We sat around and tried not to talk about the work of the upcoming week as the day gave way to the Maluti mountains. It sure felt good to be back.

Jason Clark

G.R.O. Lesotho Operations Coordinator

Posted under Letters from Lesotho, Notes from Lesotho

I taught the students about resume writing during this week’s G.R.O. Leadership Club Meeting (after a fun icebreaker: party style musical chairs – e.g., musical chairs with dancing – which the kids really enjoyed!)

None of the students had heard of resumes until this lesson.  After the students listened to an interview from a Basotho career mentor (a successful accountant) about the importance of a good resume when applying for jobs, I thought it would be good for them to get familiar with the structure of a resume and how to write one.  (I cringe at the memory of my own first resume which was 5 pages long!)  I definitely did not want the G.R.O. scholars to make the same sort of mistake – it’s better for them to get trained on the right way to write a resume earlier than later.

The students hand-wrote a draft of their resumes after receiving a resume writing 101 presentation and looking at a few examples.  It especially helped them to look at past resumes which were written by students at Masianokeng High School during a career guidance camp held by Rice University students this past summer.  They followed along with the format and got a good idea of what constitutes a good resume – as well as solid experience drafting one.  They will hopefully by able to type them out in the Molapo High School computer lab soon (the computers have been nonfunctional for the past few weeks).

Sophie Kim

G.R.O. Volunteer

Posted under Notes from Lesotho