Mountains Again

The last two weekends have been wonderful experiences in the mountains checking out the efforts of my business ‘clients’. If I thought I have seen what Lesotho is about I realized how limited still, is my understanding and appreciation for the people and the land.

Weekend one was an 80 kilometer trip. The first 50 kms took about an hour, the next 30, two hours. It was so much like traveling a logging road in B.C. The difference being that there are few trees, mostly just some small bushes, so there is always a great view. The last few kilometers I noticed the only tracks on the road were cow tracks. No vehicle had been by for some time. I also noted that if there was any significant rain while I was in, it would be awhile before I would be able to get out.

This trip was to support my ‘client’ (Ntate Kuena) with the pigs. It was a interesting trip in so many ways. We arrived and got to work right away. Neighbors and old contacts from the village came by to see what was happening, but this was no ‘barn raising’. There was not one offer to help. Oh yes, if a tool was needed it was readily made available, but there was not a hand to assist. At the end of the day when we had pretty well completed the fence, they came by to express their admiration and that they had not thought we would complete the project. The next day one of Ntate Kuena’s friends did assist, but as a paid helper. With his assistance we were able to complete the project including building a shelter for the pigs.

Another learning is that when you are a three hour trip from the nearest hardware store you make do with what you have. (I am still not confident in the fence we constructed. I kept thinking of the pigs in Canada, and that they would have found a way out in short order. But after seeing another local pig fence, I accepted that maybe the pigs here are a bit less assertive.) Then there was the location, a rocky hillside with only 12-16 inches of soil to plant our posts and in some spots so soil at all.

There was also the industriousness of Ntate Kuena. We worked from noon until dark on the Saturday with but a brief break for a simple meal. Then he was up and out at the break of dawn, about 4:45 a.m. I was a tired old man halfway through the second day and didn’t even try to keep up.

Sleeping in a 60 year old hut was a bit of an experience. This was not a hut that was well used of late, but it still kept the weather out, though not the fleas. I came home with dozens of little bites from something.

Here are a few pictures to help tell the story.

The long winding road into the mountains.

Terraced fields.

Oxen plowing down below the road. Yes, I was looking down onto the backs of the oxen from the road.

"Just head up that road to my place," Ntate Kuena said.

A village scene. Yes, most people's pigs run free in the winter, but with spring now arrived they are expected to be tethered or fenced because of the damage they to to gardens and fields. The chief was quite impressed and pleased with Ntata Kuena's effort to fence his pigs.

Ntate Kuena's family compound, built by his grandfather some 60 years ago. The huts are still being used, but are in need of some repair. His father lives in one of the huts.

If there is a camera, all the kids of the village want in, and as you can see some are real posers.

And where there are kids, there is jump rope.

Part of the family. Ntate Kuena has two girls, the younger lives with him in Maseru, the older (5 years) chooses to live with the grandfather in the village. Also, living in the village is Ntate Kuena's sister-in-law. When he married he also assumed responsibility for the orphan sister of his wife. She lives helps with the care of the 5 year old, and cooks for the grandfather.

The piglets roaming free.

The farmer and his now fenced in pigs.
Like every farmer, Ntate Kuena wanted me to see his fields. They were beautiful down along the Makhaleng River, but a couple kilometers from the village, and down about 250 vertical meters. Ntate Kuena's field in this photo is the one with five terraces in the middle of the frame.

The mountains, ...

Travelling with Ntate Kuena was most enjoyable. Like anyone taking another to his home town, he was pointing out this and that - the school a village built on their own, a school he attended, the chief’s fields, the mission, and other details of his past. It was a special time to share with him.

There is yet another mountain story to tell, but that one will need to wait for another time.

~ Benno ~