Its strange to be back in the real world. I feel as though I have been in a dream world for the past three months and now am just emerging.
The day I left Lesotho it rained. The mountains were frosted with sugary layer of snow that reminded me of poorly advised jewelry that an old lady might wear. Saying good bye to the children was sad but not too sad because I will be seeing them in the fall when I return. I have committed to do another year at Mantsase. I will be able to integrate my university studies and I feel like I will be able to have a real role in the development in the home as well as other projects that are happening in the country.
Lesotho is in the midst of a crisis. In a country of under two million people there are 400,000 orphans. With the life expectancy of only 34 ,HIV/AIDS is killing off the middle generation leaving the younger generation not only without discipline and guidance but with the tremendous responsibility of looking after their younger siblings and heading a house hold. We have hundreds of thousands of children raising children. In other instances, it is not uncommon to find Grannies with 10-12 children in their home after the parents of died. Basically it is the sexually active generation that is dieing, it is the people in the prime of their lives who are so ill. Just think about what that does to a society. Who is in the work force? Who is teaching? Who is building for the future? Normally, it is the middle generation that hold a society together because they represent the time at present. The children represent the future and the grand parents represent the past. At the moment Lesotho is in limbo without a generation to anchor it, but there are extraordinary things being done that bring hope to the future of this tiny African Kingdom. Sentebale is a small charity founded by two men who heard Lesotho's desperate cry for help, Prince Harry of England and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho. In my short time in Lesotho I have been very impressed by Sentebale and the affect its hard working staff are making on the countries vulnerable children. In its work Sentebale focuses on partnership with the local people and demands accountability to insure that it is the children who are benefiting from it's funds. It is easy to get bogged down my the countries grim statistics but when you look at difference Sentebale has already made in its three short years of existence it gives me hope that the people of Lesotho will be able to survive.
The Basotho tradition of young boys being sent to the mountains to herd live stock is an particularly worrying issue. The practice of Herd Boys is very common in Lesotho. These boys and their families are terribly poor and by working in the mountains they are given some live stock which is traditionally seen as a status symbol. Working in the mountains is also in many circumstances a right of passage to young men. But the problem is that these young men have no formal education. They grow up alienated from the rest of society in a very male environment. Rape is a common and these young men have no concept of HIV/AIDs and how it is spread. Sentebale is working to educate these boys not only in formal academic education but as well as in trade skills. Obviously, education is everything in transforming and empowering people. But when your working with in the confines of people's cultures and accepted ways of life things can be difficult. Sentebale is thinking about long terms solutions and ways of educating herd boys that don't necessarily include a class room. Ways that could possibly include computers and technologies so that they could receive a mobile educations.
The Mamohato camps are particularly interesting to me. They are a network of camps for a only HIV positive children in Lesotho. A few times a year children from the surrounding communities are invited to come to camps for a week or so. 50-60 children are given meals, education on their disease and fun. The camps have been proved one of the best ways of getting kids to take their medication in the country. Many of the children previously didn't know that even with HIV they can live a long and for filling live and there for the camps and the education that provide give them hope. I was lucky enough to visit a branch of the Mamohato network something called Teen Clubs with one of our children from the home. It was one of the best days I spent in Lesotho. The Teen Clubs are a day long review of the information covered at the actual camps. The focus of HIV/AIDS education, health and nutrition. They play games and basically have good time. I was immensely touched by the beauty of the children and their happiness through out the day. They were truly empowered by the attention they were receiving. I think if Sentebale continues and expands up the Mamohato network the affect it could have on youth of Lesotho will be invaluable and wonderful blue print for other African countries.
Mantsase its self is sponsored fifty percent by Sentebale. They pay our manager Barbara's salary and I think it is that commitment to the long term well being of their partners is what makes them special. By paying salaries you are really investing in the home's future oppose to just throwing money at a problem and hoping it is used with the children's well being in mind. You are allowing the home to build a foundation so that it can grow upward with leadership and there for have more of a affect. This especially important because nearly all of Sentebale's partners are the only ones of their kind in the country.
I am looking forward to returning to Lesotho in September and really begin my work. I am not sure where it will all take me but I have a feeling a lot will present its self.
