in Malealea, Mafeteng, Lesotho…
I wake up at 6am and roll out of bed, making sure that I don’t kick anybody in the face. We are sleeping on the floor in very close proximity… some people even closer for warmth. Next, I grab the community TP, open the door, greet the mountains in front of me, and walk to the bathroom on the other side of the base. The sun is already up, so I squint the whole way there. There are four stalls to choose from, but I only really like one of them. I make my way back and wait for the rest of the teams to become coherent.
At 6:30, I walk with the group. We walk on a tilted dirt pathway through some fields that may or may not have been growing sugar cane. We have a spot that we’ve been going to, and it is beautiful. There is a small creek that falls down some rocks. Not really a waterfall, but I guess it’s kinda like it. We get to sit next to it and watch the water swirl around.
From 7-8am, we have our quiet time. That means running, journaling, looking at the mountains, or whatever gets you in a space where you can process life with the Lord. Sometimes it’s easy for me to focus, sometimes it is absolutely not. Today, it’s not particularly easy, so I run.
At 8, I eat porridge or oatmeal. Today it was porridge. It’s made by Mama Faith, a local that cooks for teams when they are here. She is funny and SUCH a good cook. I love it. I put a little bit of sugar and some cinnamon in the porridge. Mmmm.
Around 9, I put on my long skirt and grab my jacket. You never know what the weather is going to be like. I start the 2ish mile walk to Tsea Nku with the teams. It is a village that we have been visiting and building relationships in. For the next few hours, I get to help serve people by helping around their homes with whatever they need. Today, we washed some clothes, took maize kernels off the of cobs, and prayed for the people that we met. It wasn’t anything crazy, but it was good to make life a little easier for the people.
At 1, we eat lunch and have time to rest before our next thing. Peanut butter and jelly is homey and nice. No complaints here.
After lunch, I do manual labor. Today, we rode in the back of a pick-up driven by our host’s son, found sandy dirt, shoveled it into bags, and took it back to the base where we live. We did 2 dirt runs today, but I feel like we are going to do more tomorrow.
Then comes shower and dinner time. Honestly, I did not shower, and that’s okay. I journaled, looked at the mountains, and got ready for dinner. Maybe I’ll do laundry tomorrow. Maybe not.
Mama Faith made a beautiful dinner of pap (pronounced like “pop”), soya, greens, and carrots. It is the most Southern African thing I can think of to eat, so I am glad that we get to have it. It is so filling that I can’t even look at food for a while.
Bed time is at 9, so we play cards, lay in our hammocks, and have good conversations with our teams. It is good, and we are all so tired.
Tomorrow, we’ll get up and do it again.
Life Update: I have been in Malealea, Lesotho for 8 days now, and I will be going to Maseru (the largest city) to be with another team in 2 days. It’s only about 2 hours, so that make for a pretty easy travel day. It is going to be hard to leave this place because it is SO BEAUTIFUL, but I know that it is going to be amazing anywhere in this country. These teams are super great, and I am learning a lot about myself by being around them. Prayers for safe travel would be amazing!
kristen.
