As ‘Me Mapalesa and I waited for the rest of the group to arrive we sat in a still room and discussed the ways in which to strengthen the empowerment and collaboration initiatives of The G.R.O. Foundation Lesotho’s programming. Outside the chaos and noise of children on the Mount Royal Integrated Primary School grounds continued uninterrupted. We had arrived early to see a traditional Basotho dance presentation by a number of troupes and a choir, which includes both the hearing impaired and children with learning disabilities. We were waiting for a number of OHAfrica as well as G.R.O. members to arrive. ‘Me Maboitabiso, a senior teacher at the school and a member of the Grandmother’s Poultry Project, had rushed to assemble all of the students to ensure that all of the ex-pats living in Hlotse at the moment had the opportunity to experience traditional Basotho culture. My stay of 10 weeks in Lesotho is longer than most volunteers have the opportunity to partake in and for most this would be their only chance to see any of the native dance or song.

As the others arrived we were greeted by a row of welcoming teachers and escorted into ‘Me Maboitabiso’s large white classroom filled with waiting students. For the next 45 minutes the group of Canadians were treated to a number of different incredible performances that saw the visitors smiling, clapping, and even joining in to circle around the dancers dropping coins to those that we thought to be the hardest workers. For arranging the event we are very thankful to ‘Me Maboitabiso, all of the students who work so hard to put on amazing performances, and the rest of the staff at Mount Royal Integrated School. In appreciation The G.R.O. Foundation Canada presented ‘Me Maboitabiso and the students of Mount Royal with a Canadian Flag. Kea leboaha bo abuti and ausi!

In other G.R.O. news there were a number of noteworthy events over the past week. After some in depth discussions on the necessary need to renovate their chicken coop The Grannies Poultry Project an initial site visit was conducted last week by a reputable local contractor. We hope to see work begin before the end of the month and the facility to be operational by mid-July. We are still looking for donors to support the funding of a rainwater catchments system for the poultry facility so please do not hesitate to contact us if you are interested in helping.

The Artisans, especially ‘Me Mathabang and ‘Me Mamabula, have had an incredibly productive quarter with jewellery sales already up over 200% from the last quarter of 2008! We are incredibly proud of the accomplishments of the G.R.O. Artisans Collective (GAC) and now that the catalogue is complete we hope to have a few orders for the holiday season from North American distributors in shortly.

Finally, I want to thank Jane Thandi, Pinkie, Donna and Jillian at Help Lesotho Hlotse, Tyler and Beckie at Help Lesotho Pitseng, and Basotho Media for presenting a powerful documentary entitled Mother to Child (2001) in Pitseng last Thursday. The film covers the story of two pregnant HIV positive women, Pinkie being one of the two, as they traveled the road to motherhood hoping not to transmit the disease to their newborns. A large G.R.O. contingent made up of the GAC, the Grannies, and Marosa from the Family Scholarship Program, were in attendance for the film and provided strong feedback during the conversation period following the film. I would be remiss if I did not express my pride of ‘Me Mathabang who had the courage to share her story with the audience which can often be an incredibly stigmatizing and dangerous event. Again, thank you to all involved who made the event possible.

Tonight we bid farewell to two staff from OHAfrica who will shortly be returning to Canada. Thank you to Jessica Burry and G.R.O. Canada All-star Megan Landes for the work they have done here in Hlotse over the past few weeks. We will send them off with a proper Basotho meal prepared by ‘Me Mathabang. We will miss you at yoga and around the LHDA Compound! Khotso bo ‘me.

Sallang hantle.

Jason.

Posted under Notes from Lesotho