Today was day 3 of working on the house for the family the community deemed most in need. That is something that I love about this project – Rosenberg makes sure to have the community agree on who is in the greatest need of a home at the time, which goes to show the support of the community for our help.
My back has been tested because I have a hard time lifting and bending due to my lower back injury, so today I (and my kind friends) made it a point to find jobs that would work for me. We started helping the Mme (mother) gather water from the little puddle where water is available. Man is that hill steep and the mother is lapping us straight up. The water availability was sparse, so the mother would scoop a bowl into the pond into her bucket, then into our jugs only halfway full because we are weak, yet she would carry the bucket on her head probably 10 times a day up the steep and unstable hill. She’s iconic.
The rest of the day was spent building the floor of the house and the group absolutely killed it. Personally, I was the wheel barrow girl and ran piles of dirt, rocks and concrete up to the house which really worked my quads. Seeing everyone find different jobs and complete their part by the time they were asked to was incredible. It’s amazing seeing how everyone is figuring out how to communicate with the construction workers including them laughing at our ridiculous construction, which helps break the ice for sure.
In the afternoon, I helped gather water again, and by the time we were finished (which trust me, was not fast but didn’t take us 4 hours) they had been done with the floor. The rest of the afternoon on site was spent hanging out with the kids who flock over after school. We play their games, they play our games and we all share a common language of laughter. When the kids tried to teach us their game, we could not catch on. It was frustrating, but awesome because we were feeling how they feel when culture is imposed on them. In our nightly meeting tonight, Rosenberg said “culture isn’t stagnant,” which I thought was a great parallel to draw between any culture really, but obviously more relevant to the Lesotho culture with our own currently.
After we returned, like what happens every day, the children right outside where we are staying chased our busses until we entered the gate. After going to the neighboring village for some snacks and to check it out, we went back to the kids and we were absolutely swarmed. I didn’t realize this until tonight after asking Rosenberg and i feel totally awful — but one of the girls I have connected with over the past week saw me then went back to her house and came back with a full jar of peaches for me. I thanked her emphatically, but denied it because I wanted her to have the food. I felt so awful once he told me that to the Basotho people denying a gift is seen as impolite, so I am definitely bringing her something tomorrow.
I cannot imagine leaving here and leaving these children. The beauty is absolutely unreal here. The people are beautiful inside and out. The smiles here are electric and truly genuine. I wake up excited to grab a cup of joe and take in the surreal mountain views and feel like our work is worth something. Being here is truly mind boggling, I don’t know how I can leave.
I can’t wait to Facetime and show you a fraction of the beauty that i am fortunate enough to be experiencing right now.
All my love,
Chlobra ~ aka Limpo (meaning many gifts, given to me the first day on site by one of the Habitat for Humanity women.)