28 December 2012

Be it ever so humble, there is no place.....

December 18-20, 2012   We accompanied Elder Eggett to Lesotho by way of Bloemfontein area then to Ladybrand finally to Maseru to complete a Humanitarian project. 

Life is interesting.  On November 11, I met the High Commissioner of Lesotho.  She was visiting the Area Offices and came in to see what the Employment Resource Center was all about.  I explained what we do here.  She was very interested.  Little did I know that in just a few short weeks I would have an unforgettable experience in her country.......



Center is High Commissioner of Lesotho Lineo Ntoane. 
To the right is Thoba Karl-Halla of Public Affairs.  I give piano lessons to her granddaughter, Mazzy.



We spent the nights in Ladybrand at a bed and breakfast called My Housey.  It was Delightful...or Lovely.....filled with antiques, walk ways, flowers and all.

In Ladybrand we met Elder and Sister Holt from Lethbridge Canada who are serving as Member Leadership Service Missionaries.  They supervise 10 missionaries over 5 Branches in Lesotho and around the Bloemfontein District. Elder Holt right Below, Sister Holt yellow blouse.

We crossed the border into Maseru and procured 427 blankets, 1000 toothbrushes, 200 towels, washclothes, bottles of lotion, bottles of shampoo and tubes of toothpaste. 

We left our purchases at the Elders' Flat and headed back into SA to Ladybrand.  Sister Holt served us a delicious roast beef diinner.  The Holt's son married Brittany Dabell, Wes and Diana Hunter Dabell's Daughter. 

Small world, (small b, too) as not only is Wes Dabell Elder DaBell's 2 cousin, but Sister DaBell's family, the Pattersons, and Hunters were well acquainted in Lewisville, Idaho back in the late 1950's.

The next morning we assembled hygiene kits with 6 fulltime Elders.   One of the Elders, center back, is Stafford Smith's son from Idaho Falls. Lindsey, he is Sloan Smith's brother. 

Notice our curious audience?  We had extra toothbrushes and toothpaste we gave to them.

We left the assembled kits with the Elders and decided to explore a little.   This is the Elder's flat.  It is gated and not quite as rough as it looks.

We found ourselves in South Dakota viewing Mount Rushmore.

We went to the town of Teyateyaneng TY for short. 

It is known for its Setsoto Weaving studio and show room.  The work is fantastic! 

We toured the weaving area, and the sales room. The yarn is spun from angora goat hair.  It is surprisingly soft as heavy as the weavings are. We purchased 2.  The larger weavings take more than a month to complete, and all are checked each day for accuracy with the pattern. 

Cayenne, you would love watching the work!



Beautiful showroom!!!!



We saw herdsmen, oxen plowing, donkey carts and gardens that reminded me of my dad's garden! 

Many houses here are round with a thatched roof.  There is stone available, that is cut into rectangles.  They use mud for morter.  In the TY town, there was power, but outside of the town there is none.  A lot of the houses have water collection systems for the rain water.

We went through the Matsupoe-Ficksburg border crossing and then back to Ladybrand.



We found Santa hanging out in Matsupoe the Lesotho side by Ficksburg....who would have guessed!!!



On Thursday, we went back into Lesotho, arranged to park our car at the Setsoto Weavers in TY, and then went with the Red Cross in their high 4 wheel drive pickup.  We were also accompanied by 4 Maseru missionaries in a Chevy S10 size pickup. 

We delivered blankets and hygiene kits to two mountain villages who had sustained great water damage in the recent rain storms.  (rain here is closer to a tropical storm).  

In the first village, Hatjobe, a wall of a home collapsed (this one was not built round) and two children were suffocated underneath the rubble.  Notice the garden in the front.

We saw a lot of roof damage on other homes. 

The Local Government and Chieftanship determined the losses and contacted the Red Cross who then contacted the Church.  The effort was well organized.  50 families received blankets and hygiene kits.  Elder Eggett is in the yellow vest.

We were touched by the humble surroundings and the rugged roads and majestic mountains.   The receipients gathered together, and then had a prayer.  There were "speeches" from a villiage leader, the Red Cross and Elder Eggett.  We were impressed with Elder Eggett’s caring attitude and experience in  humanitarian aid projects.  The people were dressed in their best.  It was an "event."

The Lesotho TV were there to report.  They had an interview with one of the Elders.  He represented us very well.

The people are friendly, and caring.  They look out for each other. 

This young mother is 15. 

Her baby is 6 months old.  The mom is an orphan herself. 

This lady had pretty crude crutches, but wasn't going to miss out. 

These ladies really enjoyed getting to know Elder DaBell, although only one of them spoke English.



The Villiage "Wise Men" 



We then left for our second villiage, Mpunyetsane.  It was higher up.  We sent the Elders back to Maseru.  The road was an interesting interpation of "road." 



You can see some of the damage to the roof here. 

When we reached the villiage, someone who was along the road side hollered into the valley below.  The people slowly started to make their way up the mountain side.  When they have a villiage meeting, someone goes onto the side of a mountain and hollers.  They announce whatever is happening and when, and then the people show up.  THIS IS AMAZING, AS THERE IS CELL SERVICE THROUGHOUT THE AREA.

There were two pumps there, neither works.  We have a water couple here from Vernal, Utah.  (remember from before, Dan Erikson's inlaws, the Merkleys)  They will take a look at the wells and pumps and see if there can be something else done.  They will organize a community board and teach them how to care for their wells and pumps.  In this particular village, they have no well water.  They collect from the rain or puddles in the summer, and I am not sure what they do in the winter. 

This year the spring rains started late, so the crops are not as big as they need to be.  One of the Red Cross drivers said that they have already been notified of the food shortages that will occur.

After the blankets and hygiene kits were passed to this group, they danced for us.

We stopped back at Setsoto Weavers and picked up our car.  We just happened to purchase another weaving.  We returned home Thursday evening through Bethlehem in a torrential rain storm.  Elder Eggett returned to Lesotho on Sunday and finished the project in the town of Qachas Nek on the eastern border of the country.  200 households were assisted.

This building was built by the Chinese as a governmental building of some sort for Lesotho at the request of Lesotho's king in exchange for some land, mining diamonds and things of that sort. The king did not clear it through the parliament.  The parliament rejected the plan.  The Chinese said, "well then, no building."  It sits there empty on the top of the hill.  As Dominic just said, "this is Africa, beautiful, but Africa."

December 21^st    We served in the temple as ordinance workers for the third time.  I (MPD) had child care duty and met charming little three year old who did not speak any English.  We got along famously.  He has now been sealed to his parents for all eternity.

 We continue to learn.  I(RSD) officiated in initiatory work and followed and presented on the 5 pm session.  I appreciate so much the “qualified ordinance workers” who patiently train us and help us become competent in this important work.

Next time, our Christmas celebration in Madikwe, a game reserve. 

Love to you all.  Elder and Sister DaBell