The Season of Giving

The holiday season is very different for Americans and many people living in Lesotho.  While there is much “holiday hoopla” here in the States, many Basotho don’t have the “luxury” of the added stress over decorations, gifts and shopping.  While many children here put gifts like Xbox360 on their wishlists, there are many Basotho children that have to simply make their toys like always.

Homemade toys in Lesotho

It’s hard for me this holiday season to not think of my brothers and sisters back in southern Africa.  Knowing the many blessings we have here, and all the love shown to us by gifts, all I can do is try and give back to them best I can.  For people living in Lesotho, large exuberant gifts, (like a luxury Japanese car with a large red bow on it!) aren’t needed.  Instead, the gift of a smile by ways of a card, soccer ball or picture could make someone’s holiday worthwhile. 

Although many Basotho cannot afford gifts and the luxuries we enjoy in the United States, there is still a virtue we should all be envious of this holiday season: community and love for their neighbors.  The Basotho are so friendly and willing to do anything they can for their neighbors.  In Lesotho, the clichéd term “it takes a village to raise a child” really does apply. 

And isn’t that what the holidays are supposed to be all about?  Instead of feeling bad for the less fortunate, why don’t we learn from their love, hospitality and sense of community and try to relate it to our families and friends.  And while we’re at it, why not give what little we can to try and bring a smile, a comfort or a joy to a child or orphan who needs it most?

This holiday season and beyond, let us not forget those who don’t have the opportunities we have here at home. 

One awesome way to give this holiday season (and year round!) is through our newfound partnership with www.GivingSomeThing.com.  Through our Wishlist, donors can donate real, tangible items that directly help our work and those we are working for.  Check out our wishlist at http://givingsomething.com/wishlist/3506 and see how you can give this holiday season.

Thank you to everyone who has helped our cause in one way or another this past year.  Without your help none of work would be possible!

Wishing everyone a very happy, healthy holiday season and a refreshing and prosperous new year!

Khotso, (peace)

Andrew

World AIDS Day 2011

I’ll never forget the first time that the statistics on HIV and AIDS became real to me.  I was in Lesotho in 2009 with Wittenberg University during an intensive month-long service project.  We had spent time with children, orphans and other people affected or infected with HIV/AIDS during my time there.  But it wasn’t until a day at the Baylor AIDS Clinic that I was forever changed.

Baylor AIDS Clinic offers free HIV/AIDS medication, check-ups and testing for children infected by HIV/AIDS.  We went to Baylor one day to put on a carnival for the children at the clinic that day.  As you can imagine, being a child and having to go to the doctor’s is never fun.  But these children either had to go to the doctor’s their whole lives, or were there for their first time.  So we wanted to provide a day of distraction and fun for the children to get their minds off of the clinic.

My job on this day was to man the Bubble Station.  We had a bunch of different activities going on, from a bean bag toss, soccer game, face paint, arts and crafts, and much more.  Somehow I became Bubble Boy and was given the task to blow bubbles with the children.  I never knew such a simple thing could bring so much joy.  The kids liked blowing the bubbles, but really loved chasing them down and trying to pop them.  You should have seen the smiles and heard the laughter each time they were able to catch up to one of the bubbles!

During the day, there was one boy who was particularly intrigued by the bubbles.  He was probably about 3 years old, and had one of the greatest smiles on earth.  He spent most of his time with the bubbles, chasing them down and having the time of his life.  But after awhile, he became extremely exhausted because of his poor immune system and lack of energy from being HIV positive.  He climbed into my arms and lay there, with all of that energy and laughter gone. 

This was when it hit me.  This was when HIV/AIDS became a reality in my life.  No longer were they just numbers, statistics and ribbons.  The HIV/AIDS statistics now had a face, a smile, a laugh, a life.  And to come to the realization that this boy was born HIV positive, along with all the other young children there that day, was devastating.  I couldn’t hold it together, and the realization caused me great pain.  This was when my life changed, and I committed to keeping the promise and fight for an AIDS-free world.

It saddens me that the one day Lesotho is recognized and talked about is on World AIDS Day.  It is a country of such rich history, culture and beauty.  But my hope is that after people hear about the AIDS epidemic in Lesotho, they are moved to take action.  The possibility of hope, as daunting as it may seem, is possible in Lesotho.  For us, every day should be World AIDS Day until this deadly disease is wiped off our planet. 

Won’t you join us in our cause for an AIDS-free Lesotho? 

I Am An African

By: Wayne Visser

I am an African

Not because I was born there

But because my heart beats with Africa’s

I am an African

Not because my skin is black

But because my mind is engaged by Africa

I am an African

Not because I live on its soil

But because my soul is at home in Africa

When Africa weeps for her children

My cheeks are stained with tears

When Africa honours her elders

My head is bowed in respect

When Africa mourns for her victims

My hands are joined in prayer

When Africa celebrates her triumphs

My feet are alive with dancing

I am an African

For her blue skies take my breath away

And my hope for the future is bright

I am an African

For her people greet me as family

And teach me the meaning of community

I am an African

For her wildness quenches my spirit

And brings me closer to the source of life

When the music of Africa beats in the wind

My blood pulses to its rhythm

And I become the essence of sound

When the colours of Africa dazzle in the sun

My senses drink in its rainbow

And I become the palette of nature

When the stories of Africa echo round the fire

My feet walk in its pathways

And I become the footprints of history

I am an African

Because she is the cradle of our birth

And nurtures an ancient wisdom

I am an African

Because she lives in the world’s shadow

And bursts with a radiant luminosity

I am an African

Because she is the land of tomorrow

And I recognize her gifts as sacred

Why Lesotho?

“The rolling Maulti Mountains seem to scrape the sky as they stretch for as far as the eye can see.  As my taxi approaches the border, the distant valleys and dongas paint a landscape like I’ve never seen before.  As I exit the taxi, the clean mountain air surrounds me.  There are herd boys watching their cattle or goats in the distance.  I can hear cowbells swinging from the necks of the animals ranging up steep mountainsides in the distance.  The sound of children playing echoes off the sandstone walls, and the smell of a fire burning outside a rondavel fill my nostrils.  As I take in a deep breath and close my eyes, I let it all sink in and realize…This is Lesotho.”

It all started in 2009, when I traveled to Lesotho with Wittenberg University of a service-learning trip.  As I entered the culturally rich kingdom, my life was forever changed.  Despite the natural beauty of Lesotho, it is the Basotho, or people from Lesotho, that make it such a wonderful place.  The hospitality shown from the Basotho was unlike any I’ve ever experienced.  It’s common to be invited to a home for tea or to simply talk, when you may not know the person at all.  If you are walking through a village, it’s not rare for children to come running to you and figh over who gets to hold your hand as you walk.  The Basotho believe in walking hand-in-hand with their brothers and sisters, and I intend to never let go.

The simplicity of life in Lesotho helps expose the true wealth in humanity: community and togetherness.  There is no word for ‘stranger’ in Sesotho, the language spoken in Lesotho.  Instead, everyone is seen as a Ntate (father), Mme (mother), Abuti (brother), or Ausi (sister.)  It is only through each other that it is possible to be who I am, and this concept of Basotho culture is something I wish to bring to my life in the United States.

There are certainly daunting issues facing Lesotho, and the world economic downturn has hurt the Basotho worse than most people.  So as BLOOM Africa joins hands with our Basotho brothers and sisters, we hope to work together to empower each other and learn from our shared mutuality.  There is much the Basotho can teach us about our humanity, and we hope to embrace it as we continue to walk together, hand-in-hand.

It’s important to recognize the differences in our cultures, appreciate them, but never to forget that kaofela rea tsoana, ‘we are all the same.’

Thank you for your support, and we ask that you walk with us as we continue our work in the mountain kingdom of Lesotho.

Khotso,

Andrew