Ke rata bana ba Ha Selomo haholo!

 I absolutely adore my kids in Ha Selomo! Living immersed in a culture so vastly different from my own isn't always easy, but they make every single day here worth it, a hundred times over. In retrospect, it seems so appropriate that my Peace Corps assignment, in the Education sector, means that my primary purpose in being here is to help and work with youth. It's fitting because, in so many ways, they are the only reason I can live here.

When I first arrived in village, they were my enthusiastic "welcoming party." When I'm lonely, they are the little voices I hear ko-koing at my door. When I'm tired after a long day at school, they meet me at home with jubilant shouts of joy, "'Me Limpho! 'Me Limpho! Ho joang?!" When I'm confused or overwhelmed by cultural differences or customs, they patiently explain and teach. When I become jaded and overwhelmed by the immensity of the problems around me (poverty, hunger, HIV, gendered violence), they reassure me, with their innocence and awestruck wonder, that there is still plenty worth fighting for in the world. When I get lost or want to go exploring, they are my overwhelmingly enthusiastic tour-guides, proudly leading me through villages, over ridges, and across valleys hand-in-hand. When I get homesick, they fill my home with laughter, singing, and Beyonce dance parties! When I'm overrun by "back to basics" chores (hauling water, burning trash, gardening, washing laundry and dished by hand), they lend a helping hand. When I can't find the words in Sesotho, they translate. When I feel like I'm not making a difference, they remind me that I have the power to light up their faces with a mere wave or high-five. THEY are the reason I can live here with an unflappable sense of purpose and near constant smile on my face. They are MY Basotho kids.

 

Movie Sundays at 'Me Limpho's house are becoming a Ha Selomo tradition! This week's matinee showing was The Jungle Book! When the elephants were marching, they all had to get up and march in place, too! Too cute!

 

During the Prime Minister's visit to Ha Selomo they proudly paraded around beside THEIR lekhooa as I took pictures... Then, of course, they begged for one of their own!

 

Rapelang... Looking startling glum, for some reason. :)

 

 

Morena and Makhoro helping me in the garden! I love these boys!

 

Teboho and his toy truck that he made out of old coat-hangers...
Talk about ingenuity, right?!

 

Just a typical afternoon ko-ko from Rapelang, Tukiso, and Mohalaka...
Sometimes I can hear them just sitting outside my door whispering. Too funny!

 

My two favourite girls! I don't know what I'd do with Nthatisi and Mookho! They are my little shadows... Constantly by my side whenever I'm in village.

 

Homework on 'Me Limpho's floor after school... A Ha Selomo tradition. :)