Seshoe Shoe time

First Try On - I thought I'd go for a heads of state theme. I don't like being told what to wear.

Yes pictures were taken of me hiding in the curtain - this is me with Retsu Retsu in a more traditional get up.

'M'e Makatleho & 'M'e MaIsaaca in their traditional Seshoe-shoes.

These are 2 kick ass grannies.

Me in the new centre posing because I had to. I going for the Masotho meets pirate look.

It's Cultural Appropriation Night!

Last night, Help Lesotho hosted a few members of the community at the new centre for a dinner as a way to say thank you for their support. I don't actually know who most of the people were. Easily identifiable was an Anglican Reverend, a Catholic Priest and a bunch of nuns. Otherwise there was the site supervisor for the construction of the site and his wife and a bank manager from some bank, obviously. Oh and a chief from Pitseng who wasn't actually supposed to get invited. The rest of the people, well I have no clue who they were. The food was good though and by the time we ate, that was really all that mattered to me.

To be perfectly honest, Tara and I, were the main event. Okay, I'm joking but amongst my co-workers we were a hit. Why you may or may not ask? I'm gonna tell you. Because, apparently, in Lesotho, cultural appropriation goes down a storm. Peg had instructed us all to wear our Seshoe-shoes - pronounced se shway-shways - the traditional get up for Basotho women. You see them all the time in a variety of colours, patterns and styles. The majority of the styles are a little, shall we say, old fashioned - mostly because of the sleeves. Tara and I had 2 days to pick fabric and get our dresses made. We stated firmly that under no circumstance would be get a full Seshoe-shoe, we were getting skirts and only skirts...okay skirts and head scarfs.

For someone who is decision-making challenged, picking seshoe-shoe fabric is kind of a nightmare. My favourite Masotho hat one is virtually impossible to find. A few workers in the shop, Goldern Wonder, recommended one with King Letsie III on it. Hilarious, Tara and I laughed and then of course, I went for it. I'll stop talking about it but I'm including photos. Oh and I'll mention the skirt making lady, seamstress if you will, mixed up my measurements with Tara's and vice versa. Luckily the measurements were comparable...but I have a little more room in the hips than required, for now anyway.

Signs

Here are some signs I've seen around Lesotho that made me laugh or err something.

Thanks Nedbank for your new sign which kinda implies that deaf people are in wheelchairs or are blind?

Uhh this petrol station has an unusual selection of goods...

I’m in Lestoho?

According to a training manual on secure land tenure and inheritance rights put out by Habitat for Humanity Lesotho and funded by CIDA and the German government, I’m in Lestoho. Well, on the English side anyway. They managed to get it right on the Sesotho side…luckily. I suppose worse than misspelling the country name are the contents of the document. I’m only halfway through a reasonably comprehensive tool for sharing information on land and inheritance rights in Lesotho but so far I’m not impressed. Okay, spelling errors aside, the contents are important but they are tough. Partially tough to understand with the mumbo-jumbo semi-legal speak and partially tough to understand because women cannot inherit or own land. Okay, okay they can but only as a last resort.

Under Customary Law, if the head of the household (read father/husband) dies, the eldest son inherits the land/home. If there is no son, the uncle/father’s brother gets the property. If for some reason there is no man or boy to be found, um, I’m not sure what happens, the manual doesn’t seem to say. If the heir is a minor though, the mother looks after stuff until her son is 18 but she can’t sell any of the assets, she just gets to keep track of them.

Now, there is also Civil Law in Lesotho and under this law, if a woman’s spouse dies, she gets half of the estate so long as it doesn’t amount to more than M1200, roughly $171 at today’s 7-1 exchange rate. Better than nothing? Gee I don’t know. I guess it doesn’t really matter anyway since it’s ultimately the King’s land anyway.

I’m not sure what I’m trying to convey but I suppose it is that I have been consistently bothered by gender relations here in Lesotho. As such, I would like to share the definition of marriage in Lesotho. Maybe it’s the same as the definition of marriage in Canada, which is not something I’ve ever looked into. Anyway, here is Lestoho “Marriage is a legal relationship, established by means of a state ceremony, between two and consenting persons of different sexes, obliging them to live together for life and to afford each other conjugal privileges exclusively.” How romantic. I hope one of my suitors proposes obliged shared lodging and exclusive conjugal privileges for life this Valentine’s Day. My co-workers would totally go for it. They are really pushing the prospect of a customary marriage in which I might be worth 20 cows. I say I’m asking for 40 which I've been told is completely unreasonable and unattainable. Um, yeah, thanks tips, that’s the point.

School's In!

Schools are in full swing here in Lesotho. The results from last year are out so kids know if they have passed or failed and with summer holidays over the kids have returned to the towns from their respective villages. Many kids stay with relatives near better schools if they can or are in boarding if they can afford it. The quality of schools varies widely all across Lesotho and I am getting a first hand look at both primary and high school level institutes of learning.

Part of my 'job' is to visit our sponsored kids at their respective high schools, as well is check in on our twinned primary schools to see what the current needs are. The needs at the schools are many and are varied, as are the needs of the individual children. Many wear raggedy uniforms and shoes with holes in them. Many don't get enough food at home, which adds another challenge to school in Lesotho. Aside from being hungry (which makes concentration difficult), there are anywhere from 35-65 students in a classroom, some classrooms are shared with one grade facing one way and another facing the other, often kids don't get stationery from the government until April - 2 months into the school year - I could go on but I won't.

This is a common story across the world I'm sure. Kids wanting to learn but resources being scarce. Teachers wanting to teach but not knowing where to begin. Principles and Teachers talk to us about the school needs without expectation and maybe only a little hope. We can only do what time, money and resources can afford. The good part though, is that even though life is hard people show up and that must count for something. It better count for something because I don't want to stop showing up.