Ke Nako! (It’s Time!)

All over the radio, on tv, and across posters this motto is repeated capturing the excitement of the approaching world cup in South Africa. It’s time! The opening ceremony will begin on Friday in Johannesburg. I really enjoy the spirit that comes out of the world cup and it’s something special when you are in the host country. Fifa World Cup 2010 is not just a chance for great soccer competition but it’s a chance for the world to see South Africa. Everyone is excited. For an area of the world where ‘football’ is huge, and for a country striving for greater recognition these next few months are a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Lesotho missed this opportunity already. As a small country with an unexceptional team there was probably little chance of them ever having made the tournament. Corruption in the administration of the team and apathy amongst the players themselves did nothing to help the situation. However, being geographically inside South Africa the national stadium was intended to be renovated and used as a practice area for a competing team. The proximity to South Africa made it ideal but contracts have been cancelled because the grounds weren’t kept up. The offices around the playing field, however, were renovated. Lesotho will have to settle for supporting their larger richer neighbor.

Preparing for a world event like the world cup is not easy, nor cheap for that matter. Stadiums need to be built and renovated, public security including new threats need to be considered, and preparation for a flood of the world’s soccer fan’s need to be made. There has been a particularly large focus on the crackdown of human trafficking. The world cup is said to bring in extra demand for everything including prostitutes. South Africa is not the safest country in the world. Petty crime can get violent and its rampant. Tourists will face muggings, assaults, and carjacking. South Africa’s job is to minimize these.

Of course there are also many positives. All this attention requires a lot of investment. Infrastructure will be built and will remain after the fans leave. Even when I was in Durban I noticed a new bus route being prepared. People who have never considered travel to Africa will come this summer because of the soccer. This is a huge growth in the tourism industry which will hopefully have a long term benefit.

This tournament has been anticipated for years and Ke Nako! Be ready for some exciting soccer the next few months but also check out the side stories. There is plenty to be excited for.

Into the Wild (of my backyard)

This past weekend a fellow volunteer, Haley, and I went on an epic hike in my area. From the pictures I posted early on you can see that my site is mountainous. The tallest of these peaks, called Bitso Lebe, have a distinguishing outcrop of rocks and that is the direction in which we headed. I had done this hike alone and was vaguely familiar with the territory. The mountain is scattered with waterfalls, one creates a mist that when the sun is out the rays hit it in such a way there is a permanent rainbow. I also met a family enthusiastically told me of the gold and diamonds in the area. I seriously doubt this however they did show me a river with rocks speckled with shiny bits. Lured by my tales of rainbows, diamonds, and gold my companion and I set out as modern day explorers. The journey ended up being much more dramatic and glorious than I could ever have imagined due to the fact that like I said, I only vaguely knew the territory.

Before setting out, we packed one backpack for the two of us. In it we packed breakfast and lunch and as far as wilderness gear we had a sweatshirt each, one mag light, and a pocket knife. The first stretch of the journey was relatively easy as we were riding horses. Being a foreigner in a small African village is always a spectacle. My students went nuts seeing my female friend and I both mounted on horses. We were followed by a huge entourage of kids ‘showing us the way all the way through the sprawl of the village. I’m not sure exactly how far they would have followed us but at the edge of the village I directed my students to take the children home. The attention is flattering but I wanted to enjoy my time with nature and my friend privately.

At the first waterfall we stopped and ate some fried rice we had packed. We lead the horses to a clearing right next to a waterfall and let them graze while we rested. Now the water falls we encounter here are not as big as you might imagine. They are the result of a rock river falling down some cliff usually between 10 and 20 feet high. The rivers are never more than ankle deep so there isn’t a huge flow of water but the beauty of a water fall is in the designs the rocks cut into the water and the soothing sound. Haley insisted on a picture and as I went to strike my pose at the edge of the waterfall I accidentally stepped in to the river, first my right then left foot.

When we continued on horse the paths got much narrower and steeper. We made it to the top without anymore incident. We tied our horses at the house of some friends and headed on in search of the legendary rainbow. This is when the trouble begins. At this point on the mountain we are hiking because there are no more paths the horses can really go on. I think I have a pretty good sense of direction. I usually get where I am going but I didn’t consider encountering obstacles that would prohibit me from moving any direction I wanted. When we came upon a river I did not recognize, I assumed we were just a little further down river from our destined waterfall. “Just walk up stream and we’ll get there in five minutes” I told Haley. It wasn’t until later that I realized that there were many, many, many rivers on this mountain. As we walked up the river the shores lost any resemblance to a path and we began to walk in the river on the dry parts of rock. The farther we went the thicker the canopy became. At times I had to rip away dead branches just to get through. Then we came across a waterfall. It was a small one maybe 15ft at most. It was not the one we were looking for and it was completely blocking our path. Not wanting to go back through what we had just triumphed and convinced the real waterfall had to be close we climbed up the side of the fall through brush, prickly leaves, and loose soil. This first climb up the side of the waterfall truly marked us going into the wild.

Once at the top of this fall we were greeted with nothing welcoming. The path behind us was a difficult drop and so we pressed forward again bush waking, and taking careful steps on slippery rock. At one point we found some sort of trail so we started to climb up the side as we continued to follow the river. When the brush cleared the site that we were met with was horrifying. We found a bigger waterfall. It still wasn’t the right one, but it was massive. I will refrain from guessing its height in order to avoid exaggeration. With the fall as an impossible obstacle and knowing what was behind us we were forced to choose between continuing up what we had been climbing or descending, crossing the river and climbing up the other side. On the other side Haley had spotted a small square hole in a rock that seemed to be man-made but this guaranteed a lot of hardships for no certainty of a path. The hole even if it was man-made could be so old no path exists anymore. We chose to continue up the side of the river we had been on reasoning that the sheep trail laden with fresh excrement must lead to something herders walk on.

The terrain we were on was a mixture of loose soil, shrubs, and rock. You could never be sure of your footing and one bad step meant a long tumble down to the rocks. We stopped and rested for a while at a tree with some sturdy looking rocks big enough for our butts to fit on. I gazed around us and it was breathtaking. I’ve never been so completely surrounded by nature without a sign of any other humans. Haley, however, was petrified. She held tightly on to two rocks even though she was safely seated. At that point I felt a little guilty. I also realized that if either of us lost confidence we would be in even more danger. We didn’t know if there really was a path at the top, we didn’t even know if we could walk around at the top but we had to keep going.

When we finally turned the corner and had our future revealed we found there was more climbing to do but this time it was a much easier hike. At the top of this climb we finally spotted a hut. Who lives this high on the mountain and why I have no idea but we took it as a sign that there must be a path back to the horses. In celebration we rested and set up our campfire. I still had my backpack and in it we had the ingredients of the best breakfast sandwiches in the world.

From that point on the path continued to have difficulties but considering what we had gone through already it was nothing. Back at the horses we told the family their mountain was very beautiful excluding the adventure we had been on. We didn’t want them to think we were crazy for not taking a guide. The horses comfortably carried us back to my little hut and ended our epic journey. I can see the point I made it to on the mountain every time I step out my door. To think all that adventure happened right in my backyard is fantastic.

Crossing the Border

Internet has been a serious problem at my site so it has been difficult to update this blog.

Since I last wrote, I attended my final training session in the capital. After that our group was granted permission to leave the country for vacations. Some friends and I headed to Durban in South Africa for Easter break. I really enjoyed eating well, lying on the beach, and the various adventures we had just running around. Durban is a beachside city on the Indian Ocean, complete with all your metropolitan desires. We went to a water park, one of the biggest malls I’ve ever been in, a rugby game, some awesome restaurants, and McDonald’s (a necessity). I’m not sure what others felt but I was not ready for all these luxuries. The difference between Lesotho and South Africa is astounding considering their geographic positions.

History is definitely relevant to this but I am no expert. I really should pick up a book on this but it’s not as easy as would think with my limited access to books and internet. Lesotho has always been independent of South Africa. The Basotho nations was founded through the unification of many tribes under a King Moshoeshoe, who defended this land from other tribes and colonists. Whenever, South Africa emerged as a nation Lesotho remained an independent Kingdom, I believe with assistance from the British. I really am not certain on the facts but the important thing is that despite being surrounded by South Africa, Lesotho was always different. South Africa went through white minority rule, violent apartheid, then Nelson Mandela (sure he can be an event). What has emerged is the strongest economy in Africa. Lesotho’s history is much different.

From my house I get to the border town of Maputsoe in about an hour. From there you can literally walk across the border. If you’ve never crossed a national border on foot, you should, it’s fun. In airports there is all this formality. Here I went to a window got my passport stamped (with the wrong dates) and walked through 5 minutes of no man’s land with a huge crowd. We got into a taxi just like the ones we ride in Lesotho. The first part of the drive is through a national park complete with vacation cabins. We drive through some smaller towns already which already seemed to have more than the communities we work in. Our rest stop is at a gas station which is packed with food, coffee, and magazines. There’s also an ATM, flushing bathrooms, a ham shop, and steers (a fast food place). It took us a while to get back in the taxi as we just walked around amazed. We also found out that our Sesotho was no longer understood. We even got pulled over a few times, the police had all these gadgets to test our brakes and things. The even insisted that we change the taxi because our windshield was broken. The driver ended up jetting out of there but it was nice to know the police did their jobs, halfway.

Everything is better in South Africa. Lesotho benefits from this because of the easy import of goods but the things Lesotho exports does not profit them nearly as much as it should. South Africa has a demand for Lesotho’s water and the electricity their dams produce. However, these resources are controlled by South African companies. A significant portion of income in Lesotho comes from Basotho working in mines in South Africa and sending money home. This is hardly a sustainable factor in their economy. Moreover, educated Basotho find that higher paying jobs outside the country are reason to move out of the country. Jobs such, including teaching, are compensated at close to ten times the rate causing a serious brain drain. Over the past, education in Lesotho has improved a lot. Free primary education is a national policy and there is an increasing number of students moving on to secondary and higher levels of education. In terms of development this is promising because an educated population is more employable. However, in my opinion, the pull factors encouraging emigration from Lesotho significantly counter these efforts.