Learning More About Lesotho

Welcome to the New Year!! I hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful holiday with friends and family. In my quiet time over the holiday, I learned a bit more about Lesotho and I thought I’d share a few details, but before I start, I just wanted forward my thanks to the sponsors of this build. Due to the generous nature of friends, family and coworkers, I am currently at 57% of my fundraising goal!! Imma start'in the new year optimistic and profoundly grateful...thank you, thank you, and Kea leboha!

Our Team Update

In December, I received our second team newsletter which contained a wealth of information including an introduction to our twelve team members. Among them are: an Irish cabinet maker from Vancouver, a commercial real estate analyst from Toronto, a Romanian Project Manager for a large construction company, a bartender working on her PhD in Global Development specializing in fetal and maternal health, a teacher of English as a second language, and a social worker for a non-profit organization. Of the twelve team members, nine have participated in previous Global Village builds! I have a feeling I am going to learn a lot on this adventure.

Learning about Lesotho

I have recently realized that this will be my first trip south of the equator! It's going to feel strange to experience the beginning of autumn in March! As Lesotho is an alpine region with a temperate climate, the country experiences all four seasons (including cold, harsh winters). In summer, the valley temperatures can exceed 30C (while the alpine regions can drop below freezing) and dramatic thunderstorms are common.

Lesotho (pronounced, le-soo-too) is known as the “The Mountian Kingdom” or the “Kingdom in the Sky”. The country's area is approximately 30,588 square kilometres, about 5.4 times larger than Prince Edward Island, with a population of approximately 1.8 million. If you’d like a visual, check out this beautiful drone footage of a Basotho pony trek. 

As you may have noticed from the video, Lesotho’s most significant natural resource is water. The Lesotho Highlands Water Project generates almost 100% of Lesotho’s electricity and also transfers high volumes of water into neighbouring South Africa. This has a significant economic impact for Lesotho however, there are also significant environmental and social effects. Even with the seemingly abundant water supply, many of the countries citizens still do not have access to safe and clean drinking water and often have to walk for hours to reach water access points.

Agriculture is the country’s main source of livelihood with most of the citizens working in subsistence farming. Agricultural crops include a variety of grains (barley, maize, sorghum, pulses, wheat) and livestock is often raised in the highlands by herd-boys. Should you be interested, check out this short video clip depicting daily life in Lesotho. Life is basic, hard and is reminiscent of a previous century. 

Poverty housing in Lesotho is prevalent. There are several barriers that families are faced with as acquiring land is very complex and expensive and the HIV/AIDS pandemic has made people more vulnerable than ever. The need for decent housing is particularly crucial for orphans, vulnerable children, elderly caregivers and widows who are especially defenseless against forced eviction and abuse. I have posted another short video, this one is of a typical grandmother, raising two orphaned children, in a rural area with no access to electricity or clean water. In it, she is describing how charitable support is changing their lives. 

The final video, is a 35 minute clip of a documentary called The Forgotten Kingdom, which started out as a private video diary chronicling Prince Harry’s first visit to Lesotho, when he was just 19 years old. It is very moving introduction to Lesotho’s people and their hardships. Royal watchers, the crush continues...but just a word of caution, have a few tissues ready. 

In the team newsletter, we also received information regarding cultural courtesies, language, weather, services such as electricity and internet/phone availability, safety, the gift giving policy, a packing list, etc. Included was a list of traditional and staple foods such as: Papa (a starchy maize meal), Moroho (cooked, leafy greens), Bohoobe (bread), Motoho (sorghum porridge), Likahara (tripe) and Mafi (sour milk). Also included, was a list of the type of work to expect: mixing mortar, moving bricks, building walls, pouring cement floor slab, plastering interior walls, fitting window and door frames and roofing. The handbook also mentioned that there may be an opportunity to visit with the family at their previous home, which I anticipate will be an incredibly moving experience.

I imagine there will be many updates over the next few weeks as our team prepares for the journey ahead. Should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to drop me a note! Oh…almost forgot! Congratulations to The Travel Store for winning the Happy New Year Incentive! They are going to be receiving a $50 Tim Horton’s gift card as a thank you for their generosity and support of this build!! 

Cheers to all, here's to a happy-n-healthy new year! 

♥ jp

To donate and support the building of a house for a family in Lesotho, see: My Fundraising Page