Mohale's Hoek, Lesotho: 6/15-6/17/10

Sisters Isidora and Juliana showed us to their dormitories where we stayed for 2 nights as their guests. Despite the bitter cold, we were lucky to have such comfortable accommodation, complete with thoughtful, personal touches.

While planning our time in Africa before we left, we were introduced to the Tacoma Lesotho Connection (TLC) by Aylie's parents. TLC is a group that works to support efforts to relieve poverty, aids, and orphaned children in Mohale's Hoek, Lesotho. After contacting TLC and getting involved,  we made it part of our purpose in Africa to aid in their relief efforts, specifically focusing on facilitating the permitting and construction of the new St. Camillus Home-Based Care Center. St. Camillus is Sr. Juliana's primary project in Mohale's Hoek, which she founded a few years ago to educate the community about the reality and not the myth of aids, as well as empower others with the skills and knowledge to prevent and treat it safely.

We met with Sister Juliana and Motheane George, a builder from Mohale's Hoek who's worked with Habitat for Humanity and World Vision, to discuss the plans and permitting process.

We also got to check out the site of the new building as well as some of the projects linked to St. Camillus which are already taking place near the building site. Some of the orphaned children were working on the community garden, and they took a break to try on some t-shirts from the upcoming Booking-It Run in Tacoma, WA which will help raise money for their education. For those of you in Tacoma this August, mark your calendars for the 21st, and help raise money for this great cause!

Lunch, the only meal the orphans receive, was being made outside in a kettle, while eggs they sell in the community were being carefully cleaned.

Here's a look at a hut that's used to cultivate mushrooms.

Sr. Juliana also showed us around the area, taking us to visit Father Alexis who has a new cathedral under construction to replace the old one which is bursting at the seams on Sundays.

Current church building

New cathedral under construction

Father Alexis explains the bell tower

We also made an attempt to deliver some maize meal to a child who was lacking good care due to a drunken HIV+ grandfather as her sole guardian, but unfortunately we missed her when we went to where she lives.

This is but one example of the harsh conditions in which scores of children find themselves in Lesotho. You can just tell that the back "wall" of this structure is merely torn plastic sheeting, hanging limp in the wind. Temperatures in Lesotho this time of year drop to the mid-twenties (F) overnight.


We also visited Sister Georgina at the St. Clare Clinic where HIV testing and other medical services are provided to the community.

Sister Georgina

The clinic pharmacy

A patient receives a consultation

There is much need and desperation in Mohale's Hoek, but we are lucky to be able to help alleviate it in some small ways, and are enthusiastic about the progress we hope to achieve with getting the new St. Camillus Center project off the ground.