I'm up in the middle of the night. Can't sleep and perhaps there's a reason. My mind is full, so perhaps it's just that, or perhaps the Spirit is prompting me. Maybe I need to be praying for someone...
Getting up, I reach for the computer and head downstairs to see if anyone the other side of the world is online. Then I think about doing some more research on Scholarship opportunities for students here, but in Bookmarks my finger goes to Dylan's blog http://www.mr-boohiss.blogspot.com/ to check if perchance he has a new entry...
He does. It leaves me stunned and feeling a world apart, especially when after reading it I go to our blog and read Benno's latest entry. Yes, life is SO peaceful here. We are so close, yet worlds apart in current experience, although there are moments where we touch, like in my S1 class on Friday.
Ironically, the current turmoil in RSA, especially Jo'burg, was a topic of conversation in my S1 class on Friday. One student had brought in a political cartoon for our daily "Challenge". It provoked tears from my Zimbabwean student, that I had to deal with. Yes, this is difficult. It brings to the fore the realities of what is going on in her home country. As a class we discuss this issue. I describe what Dylan has experienced. The conversation is abbreviated since we have to do “Revision” (review) for next week’s end of year exams, but we will come back to it. After all, I want my students to be aware of the issues around them; besides, they are a fabulous group for good discussions about all kinds of important issues of life. They are the bright future for Lesotho and I want to foster their interest in the world and help them to be “raised up” as globally aware and socially conscious.
You see, even here in one of the poorest nations of the world, it is possible for people to live in bubbles, isolated from the harsh realities around them. Oh, the disparity in this country is great, and perhaps most poignant because the gap is so wide and so evident to the keen observer—the one who takes the time to explore both sides. That is one definite advantage Benno and I have since he works on one side of the economic chasm and I work on the other.
The chasm? Here is but one example: Just as recently as Friday I was at our school’s graduation ceremonies… (Oh, Cyndy and Sally from H.J. Cody YOU ladies know how to do a grad! I’ll say no more but to pay you that tribute.) While there, I was speaking to the family of one of my students and was introduced to this student’s older brother who is currently living and going to school in Jo’burg. As a black ‘immigrant-type’ person (a Masotho, not Zulu) I wondered how safe it would be for him there. I was surprised when he seemed oblivious to the situation in Jo’burg, but then he attends a private school in a gated compound. He feels no fear. Such a contrast from the experience of those Dylan is working with! Such a contrast seems to be a catch phrase for life in Africa, so full of contrasts that I could struggle with cognitive dissonance ALL the time, but it would drive me to distraction, or depression, and that would be pointless, so I will pray and just keep doing what I CAN do.
DO check out Dylan's blog. It is a pretty poignant account of life in Jo'burg at present.
Wendy
Sunday, 25 May 2008
Thursday, 22 May 2008
Fall
Fall has fully arrived in Lesotho. (Though the locals might correct me and say winter has arrived.)
The grass has ripened, turning the hills and mountains rusty brown. I do miss the golden copses of poplar or birch found in Alberta. The leaves here don’t really turn colour, most of them just wither, turn brown, and fall.
Many months ago I mentioned that “winter” here is like endless Indian summer. It is wonderful. I am enjoying the crisp cool mornings, often with frost on the ground, though the last week has been unseasonably warm. The morning air is clear and the hills and mountains are sharp against the bright blue skies. The days are warm and sunny. I love it. When the wind blows it can bite a bit, but add a jacket and life is good.
Inside, … well that is the other story. Like when we first arrived, I am again carrying extra layers to put on when inside. It seems that the masonry the buildings are made of holds the night time cold. The extra layers are necessary to keep the cold at bay when inside. But at home, our winter coal supply has arrived and we so enjoy the warmth our little heater provides. While putting on an extra layer or wrapping up in a blanket is essential when I am at work, not so sitting in front of the fire at home.
And the cool, crisp, and sunny days are an invitation to get out and explore. Last Sunday it was off to explore a rugged cliff face.
The quest - to reach the tower.
Almost there.
Looking down the other side past the tower.
But the top is so unlike the narrow ridges in my Rocky Mountain experience. Yes, the tower was a narrow outcrop, but up a short climb opposite it was a gently undulating plain dotted with herd boys and their sheep.
A scene up and behind Wendy in the "almost there" picture.
On our way down we came upon a sheepfold and the simple shelter where the herdboys spend their nights.
The herdboys night time home.
Looking back to where we were.
Fall, winter. If it stays like this, l could almost find myself wanting to spend a bit more time in this part of our world.
~ Benno ~
The grass has ripened, turning the hills and mountains rusty brown. I do miss the golden copses of poplar or birch found in Alberta. The leaves here don’t really turn colour, most of them just wither, turn brown, and fall.
Many months ago I mentioned that “winter” here is like endless Indian summer. It is wonderful. I am enjoying the crisp cool mornings, often with frost on the ground, though the last week has been unseasonably warm. The morning air is clear and the hills and mountains are sharp against the bright blue skies. The days are warm and sunny. I love it. When the wind blows it can bite a bit, but add a jacket and life is good.
Inside, … well that is the other story. Like when we first arrived, I am again carrying extra layers to put on when inside. It seems that the masonry the buildings are made of holds the night time cold. The extra layers are necessary to keep the cold at bay when inside. But at home, our winter coal supply has arrived and we so enjoy the warmth our little heater provides. While putting on an extra layer or wrapping up in a blanket is essential when I am at work, not so sitting in front of the fire at home.
And the cool, crisp, and sunny days are an invitation to get out and explore. Last Sunday it was off to explore a rugged cliff face.
The quest - to reach the tower.
Almost there.
Looking down the other side past the tower. But the top is so unlike the narrow ridges in my Rocky Mountain experience. Yes, the tower was a narrow outcrop, but up a short climb opposite it was a gently undulating plain dotted with herd boys and their sheep.
A scene up and behind Wendy in the "almost there" picture.On our way down we came upon a sheepfold and the simple shelter where the herdboys spend their nights.
The herdboys night time home.
Looking back to where we were.~ Benno ~
Saturday, 17 May 2008
It's been a while...
Yes, life has been pretty full to the brim of late.
LOVELY THINGS…
FINDING A GREAT SCHOLARSHIP opportunity for our students here, and having one of our student nominees accepted for a FULL scholarship to attend UBC in Canada! It’s even better that she is a wonderful young woman who is very, very deserving.
TEACHING SHAKESPEARE to kids who don't know they're supposed to find it boring or too hard to understand is really fun. Listening to my 'babies' the S1's who are 11-13 as they hoot with laughter, or chuckle at every appropriate funny moment as we watch the movie version of Twelfth Night, is so rewarding. Having a young twelve- year-old state with enthusiasm that the movie version of Twelfth Night is, “the bomb Mrs. Fath," just keeps me chuckling. The bomb? That means it's fantastic!
I love the fact that these kids, most for whom English is NOT their first language, get so many of the subtleties, even of Shakespeare's English which a lot of first language speakers find intimidating. The thing I love is that my students here don't seem to know they are supposed to find Shakespeare’s language boring, antiquated, “Why do we have to study this?”… so they just tackle it. Okay, they DO admit that reading it was getting a bit tough, but when the language is brought to life through the set, costumes, gesture, facial expressions and interactions of the actors, they love it! In fact, students ask me if they can borrow the DVD to take it home and watch.
When I encourage this group to discuss their favorite moments of the play they want to go on and on…so after we’ve discussed as long as we can, I ask them to write me a response for homework telling me about their favorite scene and their favorite character. No complaints! Well, not from them. I’m groaning to myself as I realize that’s just one more batch of reading and marking for me!
MAYBE…JUST MAYBE A HOUSE FOR THABISO and his family! Our wonderful life insurance agent in Red Deer is considering coming over next February and maybe bringing some others, and maybe helping with a project to build a house for Thabiso’s family. We’ll see how that progresses, but just the idea that someone from home is enthused and willing to consider helping with such a project is a HUGE, HUGE piece of encouragement!
THABANG is another good thing. He’s the baby in Benno’s last blog. Tonight he was over playing with us while his mom was Skyping with our niece, Jillian. Gosh, this little guy is adorable! It’s so fun to see how fast he is learning to crawl and ALMOST to walk. It is so heartening to see a healthy and so well loved and cared for little fellow. He is so bright and full of all the promise life has to offer.
HARD THINGS
For other babies, life is so much more…MUCH more tenuous. We have a friend who is now working part time at the local public hospital. The stories she tells… In fact, Thabang’s mom confirms these stories with a very horrified, “Uhh, uhh,” as she shakes her head and rolls her eyes when I ask her how her labour and delivery was at this hospital. Clearly it is something she has no wish to recollect. This is the same hospital Steven Lewis so poignantly describes in a video clip about Maseru on Youtube. Are the medical conditions here really so appalling? Last weekend’s paper had an article about a young mom who has been charged with abandoning her twin babies. Ironically, at the same time there are twins who are dying of neglect at the hospital in Maseru. No one is feeding them regularly. No one is holding them regularly, if at all… NEGLECT. In the hospital.
It is strange for me to hear such stories and feel such a knot in my stomach knowing that even if I could do something about this situation, it would be one miniscule move against a tidal wave of social issues here.
Sometimes it’s a bit of a struggle for me, too, that I see some of these things—hear some—and yet, for the most part, I live in a bubble here compared to the average person. So do my students, even as they live side-by-side and walk amongst those who have so much less. Do we just turn a blind eye? I’m often confronted with the fact that even here I am living with more than I need while others live with so much less. I’m challenged to consume less and give more, but I’m still not as good at that as I could be—not by a long shot. It bugged me at home when I saw how much money students had to spend on junk food but they weren’t too keen on doing fund-raising projects for social causes; yet here I see the same lack of awareness or interest or concern or whatever it is that motivates us to reach out and help others. Here, too, the kids line up to buy their junk food every single break and lunch hour. Somehow this little thing appalls me yet I am just as guilty. Last trip to the store for groceries I bought a bag of candy that costs more than half a day’s wages for many, many Basotho. It’s easy to self-justify, rationalize, or ignore… but it may all come down to the words of Christ referring to such things as cups of cold water, that when we give to others we are giving honor to HIM.
~ Wendy ~
LOVELY THINGS…
FINDING A GREAT SCHOLARSHIP opportunity for our students here, and having one of our student nominees accepted for a FULL scholarship to attend UBC in Canada! It’s even better that she is a wonderful young woman who is very, very deserving.
TEACHING SHAKESPEARE to kids who don't know they're supposed to find it boring or too hard to understand is really fun. Listening to my 'babies' the S1's who are 11-13 as they hoot with laughter, or chuckle at every appropriate funny moment as we watch the movie version of Twelfth Night, is so rewarding. Having a young twelve- year-old state with enthusiasm that the movie version of Twelfth Night is, “the bomb Mrs. Fath," just keeps me chuckling. The bomb? That means it's fantastic!
I love the fact that these kids, most for whom English is NOT their first language, get so many of the subtleties, even of Shakespeare's English which a lot of first language speakers find intimidating. The thing I love is that my students here don't seem to know they are supposed to find Shakespeare’s language boring, antiquated, “Why do we have to study this?”… so they just tackle it. Okay, they DO admit that reading it was getting a bit tough, but when the language is brought to life through the set, costumes, gesture, facial expressions and interactions of the actors, they love it! In fact, students ask me if they can borrow the DVD to take it home and watch.
When I encourage this group to discuss their favorite moments of the play they want to go on and on…so after we’ve discussed as long as we can, I ask them to write me a response for homework telling me about their favorite scene and their favorite character. No complaints! Well, not from them. I’m groaning to myself as I realize that’s just one more batch of reading and marking for me!
MAYBE…JUST MAYBE A HOUSE FOR THABISO and his family! Our wonderful life insurance agent in Red Deer is considering coming over next February and maybe bringing some others, and maybe helping with a project to build a house for Thabiso’s family. We’ll see how that progresses, but just the idea that someone from home is enthused and willing to consider helping with such a project is a HUGE, HUGE piece of encouragement!
THABANG is another good thing. He’s the baby in Benno’s last blog. Tonight he was over playing with us while his mom was Skyping with our niece, Jillian. Gosh, this little guy is adorable! It’s so fun to see how fast he is learning to crawl and ALMOST to walk. It is so heartening to see a healthy and so well loved and cared for little fellow. He is so bright and full of all the promise life has to offer.
HARD THINGS
For other babies, life is so much more…MUCH more tenuous. We have a friend who is now working part time at the local public hospital. The stories she tells… In fact, Thabang’s mom confirms these stories with a very horrified, “Uhh, uhh,” as she shakes her head and rolls her eyes when I ask her how her labour and delivery was at this hospital. Clearly it is something she has no wish to recollect. This is the same hospital Steven Lewis so poignantly describes in a video clip about Maseru on Youtube. Are the medical conditions here really so appalling? Last weekend’s paper had an article about a young mom who has been charged with abandoning her twin babies. Ironically, at the same time there are twins who are dying of neglect at the hospital in Maseru. No one is feeding them regularly. No one is holding them regularly, if at all… NEGLECT. In the hospital.
It is strange for me to hear such stories and feel such a knot in my stomach knowing that even if I could do something about this situation, it would be one miniscule move against a tidal wave of social issues here.
Sometimes it’s a bit of a struggle for me, too, that I see some of these things—hear some—and yet, for the most part, I live in a bubble here compared to the average person. So do my students, even as they live side-by-side and walk amongst those who have so much less. Do we just turn a blind eye? I’m often confronted with the fact that even here I am living with more than I need while others live with so much less. I’m challenged to consume less and give more, but I’m still not as good at that as I could be—not by a long shot. It bugged me at home when I saw how much money students had to spend on junk food but they weren’t too keen on doing fund-raising projects for social causes; yet here I see the same lack of awareness or interest or concern or whatever it is that motivates us to reach out and help others. Here, too, the kids line up to buy their junk food every single break and lunch hour. Somehow this little thing appalls me yet I am just as guilty. Last trip to the store for groceries I bought a bag of candy that costs more than half a day’s wages for many, many Basotho. It’s easy to self-justify, rationalize, or ignore… but it may all come down to the words of Christ referring to such things as cups of cold water, that when we give to others we are giving honor to HIM.
~ Wendy ~
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