In an attempt to encourage the Mustard Seed girls to pursue excellence in school, for the past two years we have held a School Performance Recognition trip for those who have done particularly well, or showed marked improvement during the previous school year. In mid-March we held the trip for those who did well in the 2010 school year.
This year we again traveled within Lesotho. One of our goals for the trip is to allow the girls to experience something of Lesotho that they may only hear about, things us tourists see, but which locals might never see in their lifetime. The down side continues to be traversing what constitutes roads here in Lesotho. We traveled to Semonkong, a 120 km, but three and a half hour, drive.
Semonkong is a place I have written about in a previous post. A place where life has a different rhythm, where horses still hold sway. The main street is lined with tethered horses, and young and old, male and female seem comfortable on the back of a horse. Horses as transport means “on horse back”, not riding in a horse drawn wagon. Balanced in front of the rider might be a groceries, a propane cylinder, windows for a construction project, a child, or a case of beer. It is an atmosphere I find engaging and intriguing. The location high in the mountains also means wheat and crops other than the ubiquitous maize that one sees in the lowlands. As during out previous visit, we witnessed here and there a ‘letsema’, a group of people working together to harvest a field. The men cutting the wheat, the women tying the wheat into bundles, and together carrying the bundles to a nearby stack to await threshing.
The first goal for the girls however, was to visit the Malutsenyane Falls, a single drop waterfall of 194 metres. They were game. I am often amazed at what individuals here often undertake without hesitation. Off we went, a pleasant walk through fields for the first hour and then down the steep path to the river, for the girls sometimes on their bottoms.
The weather threatened, but we arrived at the falls without incident and enjoyed lunch. On the way out the weather did more than threaten, and at one point we were looking pretty bedraggled before the sun came out and provided for a beautiful last 40 minutes of our walk back. Well, most of us were looking bedraggled. One of our girls, who always seems to be dressed smartly, continued to look like she had when she first just stepped out of her house that morning. I don’t know how she does it.
The short one is the chaperone.
Rain, with some hail.
But sunshine for the final walk home.
Tired, but happy, after a long day.
The next day the girls were introduced to rock climbing. Again, they did not hesitate. Although once on the rope and clinging to a cliff face, there were some second thoughts.
Ready to rock!
Tough feet!! They all climbed barefoot.
The highlight for me, not necessarily the girls, was when our chaperone led the girls in a discussion about their dreams and goals, steps they need to take to reach their goals, and who they hadto support them. The part of the discussion I witnessed was intense and the girls were very focused. It was rewarding to hear of their goals to serve their country as nurses and teachers. For me it was also gratifying to know that we at the Mustard Seed are playing a part in helping these girls have dreams, and to believe that they can realize their dreams.
On the drive home we followed a rainstorm, making the drive out 4 hours. We arrived home later than expected, in the dark, but safely. The girls had a wonderful time. My hope and prayer is that they have been encouraged, and will hang on and not lose sight of their goals as they cope with the many day-to-day challenges they return to. I hope too, that they may realize God’s desire for them, his desire to give them hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).
~ Benno ~
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