It has been a frustrating week and a half trying to get the phone and Internet lines back up, but today it happened. There was a lesson in patience some where in the experience. It turned out to be a cascade of events that led to the line being down, and the phone company had to work through a list of most likely events to finally pinpoint the cause of the ongoing disconnection. Today, a crew came and worked on the outside line. That was the final piece and we are back up and on line.
Below are two other entries I had worked on over the past 10 days. But for this entry, I will offer a few vignettes from the week or so. The last while has been alive with experiences, and I cannot begin to capture the events and full range of emotions I have encountered. I will offer the few vignettes.
Moklatsi: Usually it is little babies who arrive at Beautiful Gate. Moklatsi is an exception. He is just about two years old. He has lost both his parents to HIV/AIDS and is positive himself. A fourteen year old relative was not able to provide the care he needed as an HIV positive child. Agencies working with the extended family identified Beautiful Gate as a place his needs could be met, and the Department of Social Welfare has asked us to care for him for the next year. His arrival last week brought back my years of child welfare work.
Separation and loss have marked this little boy’s life. And now concern for his health has led to yet another loss and he doesn’t understand why. He is such a sad little boy. I think the number of other children and the parade of caregivers at Beautiful Gate is overwhelming for him. So while his health is improving, he just sits, with big sad eyes. I so feel for what he must be going though.
Neo: Neo is the four month old who came to us weighing less than 3 kilos. She was a little one who stole my heart, she was so tiny and unresponsive. However, under the care of our wonderful Bo’m’e she is progressing very, very well. As I see her doing so well, my heart is letting go, but she is one that I still want to check in on each day.
Sesotho: I have been so enjoying my language lessons. There is so much to learn, and I am finding the structure of the language most intriguing. The Bo’m’e at Beautiful Gate continue to be such great supporters. They have much fun pushing me and challenging we with new words and phrases.
Economic Development: You know, I am getting a chance to do some of this on an informal basis. I wish I had learned more from the self-employment program that I had connection with in Red Deer. A couple of the guys working at Beautiful Gate want to get ahead, to take initiative is creating opportunities for themselves and others. What they need is just a bit of financing and some planning. So I am involving myself in some small time financing and business consulting. It is rather ironic - me, the guy who knows next to nothing about business plans or financial statements, involved in business planning.
But, I have taken a consultative approach and am actually excited about how things are unfolding. My job as the consultant is mainly to ask questions, offer observations, and capture their thoughts on paper. And the results have been so encouraging. The two guys both are so sharp. They make connections, ask great questions, and are actually enthusiastic about the concept of a five year “business plan” (outline really is all I am capable of creating). But that outline is something on paper and gives voice and reality to their hopes and dreams. It is very gratifying to walk alongside and with these men sharing and supporting their hopes and aspirations. But oh my, if things go well for them I will be wanting to stick around for five years to see where their dreams and plans take them.
Today: Today was a young boy, maybe fourteen, sent in error to Beautiful Gate with his little sister on his back (not something that boys do, care for babies). But the father is dead, mom is very sick, and some neighbor said Beautiful Gate takes care of babies so, he was sent our way. But we don’t take babies off the street, only those referred from the Department of Social Welfare.
Again, I was so impressed with the Basotho women who work at Beautiful Gate. Yes, there was the need to follow protocol but their hearts went out to this young boy. A boy charged with an adult’s responsibility, finding a place where his baby sister would be better cared for. Furthermore, it is the week of major school examinations, and his plan, once the baby was delivered was to hike back to his village some 8-10 kilometers away (there had been only enough money for bus fare to Beautiful Gate). Once back, it would be to school and try to focus on an exam. But now he still had the baby, it was raining, and he had no fare. That is where the Bo’m’e enlisted me. It was my privilege, along with one of the Bo’m’e, to drive the boy and the baby back home so that he could get to his exam.
And a privilege it was. I thought the roads, the homes, the opportunities around where I work and walk to work were tough. But at least folks here live close to services. Now, reduce the quality of the roads and the opportunities and magnify the distance to services and I was seeing a whole new level of need. I was again left so humbled by the toughness and resiliency of the people whose country I now share, and by a young boy and his service to his family.
Lesotho continues to grow on us. I am developing a love for the people and the country, such as it is. Lesotho is becoming our home.
Until next time,
~ Benno ~
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