Hey guys, Good news, we’re still alive and thriving. But guess what it’s your favorite time of the day! Blog time!!!!! We can’t believe we’re halfway through our journey here in Lesotho. Today we had an early start with breakfast and language lessons with mme Malino. We arrived to the worksite and the sun was hidden by the mountains, making it feel like -2 degrees (okay maybe we’re being dramatic). When in reality it was 28 degrees. The Basotho were so kind and hauled huge branches to make us a warm fire. Once the sun peaked over the mountain, we started our workday.
At the community center, we finished panting the outside white. It took forever because we did not accept anything less than perfection. We got into every crevice of every cinder block. It was so bright when the sun was reflecting against it we had to wear sunglasses to finish. After finishing the base coat outside, we decided the colors of the three rooms inside the community center; light purple, light blue and light green. We only got to start on the first two rooms but hope to finish all of them tomorrow.
Approximately half a football field away, we were working on building the kindergarten. Many of us mixed cement in order to make mortar and began to lay bricks to create the walls of the kindergarten. The door frame was also placed. While some of us were working on the walls, others were working on pick-axing a dirt pile to fill in the trench around the base of the building. We’ll definitely be coming home jacked, and if not send us back.
Today was a little bit of a frustrating day at the worksites, mainly due to the cultural and language barriers. But each day we learn more about each other and we’re beginning to feel more apart of their community. Although we’ve stumbled across some difficulties, we are optimistic about the upcoming workdays and getting to see the projects through.
Signing off,
Catie Oerther & Bailey Maloon