Building a Better Lesotho

Well it has been a while since I have posted to the blog. For the past few weeks Laura has been sharing her experiences with orphan care here in Maseru. If you have been reading her posts you know it is an emotional battle -- seeing so many children in need. Laura has a very big heart for children and I am glad she is finding opportunities to share her love at the Beautiful Gate and other facilities here.

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But this week it is my turn again, and I want to share some positive thoughts on progress here in Lesotho. Yes, in the midst of the poverty and illness and other depressing things there is hope for this country. I personally see it in the medical work being done here.

You probably know that the primary reason we are serving here is so that I can install a network of satellite dishes at remote mountain clinics throughout Lesotho. The satellite dishes and related technology were purchase by Partners In Health (PIH) using donated money. PIH is based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. I highly suggest you visit their website at www.pih.org. Click on the "Who We Are" menu and read their vision statement.

Prodelin dish in Tlhanyaku

Recently I have installed dishes at two very special places. First was the mountain village of Tlhanyaku (pronounced "kline ya koo"). If you are regular visitor to the blog you read that Hannah traveled to this site with me. I flew to Tlhanyaku three times and each time I was amazed at the construction happening on new clinic buildings. A whole series of new structures is close to compete, which will more than double the size (and capacity) of the existing clinic. And the craftsmanship is amazing considering how remote this site is. The end result will be a first-class rural health center.

During my last visit to the site Richard greeted me at the plane. Richard is an educated Mosotho hired by PIH to manage the clinic operation at Tlhanyaku.

Tlhanyaku Clinic

As we walked downhill toward the clinic I commented about the progress on the buildings and how nice the site looked. Richard agreed. "Yes, it is taking a long time but they (the builders) are doing a very nice job. When I hear the people talking they say now they don't have to go to Mokhotlong or Maseru to get to the hospital -- we have a hospital here in Tlhanyaku now!"

The expanded clinic will have room for weighing babies *inside*

I replied, "well it's pretty close, but I guess you don't have any beds for patients to stay overnight..."

"No, we do!" said Richard. "We can have up to 10 patients overnight now!"

He was just beaming as he spoke. -- a Mosotho man very proud of his clinic and the service they are able to provide to the mountain people. The Tlhanyaku clinic has a permanent educated physician (Dr. Simba from Zimbabwe), dependable solar power, high speed Internet, and soon will even have an x-ray lab! They see up to 70 patients a day.

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Patriot dish in Lebakeng

I have also been working at the remote clinic in Lebakeng, which also sees up to 70 patients a day. As I mentioned on this blog a few weeks ago the clinic in Lebakeng is also undergoing heavy construction. All of the work is being done by hand with a beautiful cut stone / block combination. It is a great example of Basotho taking pride in their work!

Basotho Craftsmanship

The doctors working in Lebakeng exhibit the same pride as the builders – going the extra mile to provide the best healthcare possible in this remote place. Dr. Nico (a Mosotho educated in South Africa) is the primary doctor for this clinic. He is a highly intelligent individual and being Mosotho he has the advantage of speaking the language of the people he is serving.

PIH Doctors Dr. Leeroy Moyo (Zimbabwe) Dr. Nico Lesia (Lesotho)

It is not uncommon for Dr. Nico to walk for hours to make house calls in the neighboring villages. Recently he took a motorcycle training course here in Maseru to learn to ride a dirt bike that we will fly to his clinic this month. (Over 100 motorcycles were donated by Sir Elton John to Lesotho for use in the rural health program, Lebakeng will receive one of them.) Dr. Nico is a fantastic role model for his fellow Basotho – an example of compassion, love, and dedication to improving his country.

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And there are many more stories of Basotho people striving to build a better Lesotho. PIH has several Basotho doctors now, working in Lebakeng, Bobete, Nkau, and Methalaneng. They have Basotho staff at the office in Maseru, and of course talented Basotho contractors and builders. Basotho men and women are testing the blood samples coming back from the remote clinics, and tracking patient data and treatment results.

MAF Staff: Oliphant, Joe

MAF has a terrific group of Basotho “national staff” at the hangar involved in all of our operations including aircraft maintenance. Our airstrips are maintained daily by mountain Basotho people. And at all of my VSAT installations I have employed Basotho with construction of the dish or at least setting the pole in cement.

Living here it is so easy to focus on the negative things. Climbing HIV/AIDS rates… a growing orphan population… poverty… hunger… litter… crummy roads… contaminated water… electricity coming and going… corrupt politicians… and on and on and we start to ask “Do these people care? Do they even want to make life better?? Where is God in all this???….”

And we risk missing the signs of hope.

Please pray for the nation of Lesotho. Pray that it would continue to seek God’s guidance and that the Basotho people would have the opportunity to use their skills and abilities here in their own country.

And as always thank you for your prayers for our family and our time here. We have less than 6 weeks left and there is still plenty of work to be done! We look forward to seeing many of you very soon.

Blessings,

Traig