Blog 38: Back home, reflections

Manyanye picks me up from Phelisanong and takes me back to Maseru. I meet up with Justice and Thato and we head out to Ha-Sekantsi village for the weekend. It’s the remote Basuto village Justice’s mother grew up in. We went there together last November and I enjoyed meeting the villagers and the breath-taking scenery. On route we stop at another village to take medicine to one of the village elders who I met last time, he has cancer and is being looked after by relatives.  He lies on a mattress on the floor, his body shrunken by the ravages of the disease. He recognises me and smiles and makes a joke, the body may be frail, but his spirit remains unbroken.  


We continue our journey and by the time we meet the ponies taking our bags to Ha-Sekantsi the sun is setting and we walk to the village by a sliver of moonlight. The village children are very excited to meet us and all of them want to help me pitch my tent. This turns out to be rather complicated in the dark and because I haven’t pitched it before. I bought it in the UK because it was light, rather than user friendly. I spend an uncomfortable night under its saggy canvas. It’s also freezing as it’s now winter and cold in the high mountains. 
I’m glad when the sunrises bringing clear blue skies and a comfortable 24 degrees. We have a quick breakfast and start up Thaba Chitja mountain (round mountain) which rises above the village. Its not very far but I’m feeling rather dizzy from lack of sleep and general exhaustion after the last three weeks at Phelisanong. The path leads up around the back of the steep mound and the herd boy guides us up to  the top and beautiful panoramic views of the wild Maluti mountains. I play my native American flute and its natural tuning seems to suit the raw beauty of the scenery surrounding us.

On the way backdown the herd boy takes us to the cattle post he use to stay at under the sheer cliffs while his herd grazed what vegetation they could find. He lived there for three years with nothing save his blanket and a small wall built from the rocks laying on the ground to protect him from the elements. I tried to imagine him sitting there at night, huddled in front of a fire, looking up at the spiral galaxy of the Milky Way laying its thick cosmic trail across the spectacular night skies. After a rock fall the post has now been abandoned and the herd boy uses a safer but less dramatic outpost.

We get back and, in the afternoon, Thato gives out the school uniform to the children that she has been able to buy with a donation from a benefactor. The children walk a couple of hours to school and must have school uniform to be able to attend. Trying to find money for uniform is a big deal when you are trying to live off the land out here.  There is more good news, as well as the free uniform Thato has secured a grant that will provide sewing machines for some of the ladies. In the future they will be able to make their own clothes and have a potential source of income too.

After an evening by the crackling fire I go to bed and am awoken at sunrise as the sun send its rays over the top of the mountain straight into my tent. There is a gathering of local farmers who have come to discuss moving the animals to the winter pastures. Although this is going to happen there needs to be a collective mindset and general agreement before the animals can be moved. People take it in turns to speak and there is nodding and murmurs of agreement before the next person stands up to give their opinion. It’s a timeless, cultural thing which to an outsider wrapped up in the schedules of the Western world makes no sense at all. At last everyone who wants to speak has been heard and it’s agreed the animals will be moved.

We are on our way and walk back to meet the taxi driver, Sabbath, at the road. He returns us to the guest house on the outskirts of Maseru and a very different lifestyle to Ha-Sekantsi village. I prepare myself for the last couple of days at Saint Angela’s and on Monday afternoon I go with Thato to run a physio session with the kids. She’s done a few sessions with them while I’ve been at Phelisanong and has done well to build on the small about of knowledge from the training course I ran before leaving.

On Tuesday I round off that course, “Introduction to working with children with disabilities in the community”, with the candidates, before running another afternoon physio session with Thato. The kids here are so enthusiastic, and we manage to get the standing frames out and get a couple of them standing, as well as stretching, strengthening and core stability exercises with a host of other kids.

I fly home the next day and it’s the first time I’ve left Saint Angela’s feeling positive and that things will carry on after I’ve left. Thato has agreed to keep things running and run a couple of sessions of physio with the kids every week during term time. The retired physio on the course may also be occasionally able to come and join her which would be provide valuable experience and input. 

I’m so grateful that Thato has agreed to continue the physio. The children have not had a physio assistant or social worker for the last year. Thato has much experience in working with young people and will be a good advocate for them, as well as physio assistant. She has already been running a voluntary literacy program for some of them so will be able to build on the good relations that she already has with them. With finances being stretched Saint Angela cannot provide specialists in a single discipline, they need a good all-rounder which I feel Thato has the skills and experience to provide.

As I sit at home in Wales writing this I am happy with the way the trip went and feel I achieved all I set out to do. I ran the training course at Saint Angela’s and established some useful links and support for the children in the surrounding community, especially Thato and the principle of the high school the children attend. Saint Angela’s is still on a financial knife edge, but things are definitely improving and the grounds and the gardens are the best I have seen them, with a verdant greenhouse and another greenhouse due soon. The first lady visited on the morning I left, with possible government support in some areas in the future. Things are definitely moving in a positive direction.

As for Phelisanong, I got the physio room and dormitory block working well together, assessed the new children and left Malineo with a clear plan of what she should be doing with them. I ran training courses with the house mothers and teachers and tried to establish some basic hygiene rules and child care principles. I attended a meeting with the strategic counsel and gave my opinions on future priorities that Phelisanong should focus on. In particular retaining quality staff. I feel Malineo is now well established as the physiotherapy assistant and the provision of physiotherapy at Phelisanong supported.

Overall I feel I was able to build on the last three years of work at Saint Angela’s and Phelisanong and the foundations have been laid for this to be continued and sustainable. Next year will be five years I have been coming to Lesotho and I hope to return and consolidate everything, maybe even look towards starting the outreach program at Saint Angela’s. For now though, I just want to sleep. On Monday I’ll be back working for the NHS, a different world with different concerns.