A Thankful Voluntour Experience

I knew this would be a special experience.  For months, we had been planning the first ever BLOOM Voluntour, where we would offer the opportunity for people to travel to Lesotho and South Africa with us.  After the applications came in and we had our six volunteers chosen, I just had a feeling that this would be a special group.  Well, I vastly underestimated the sheer awesomeness this group of volunteers would bring to Lesotho, us and to one another.

So to be perfectly honest, I was a bit nervous about how the volunteers would react to our time in Lesotho.  Because we value relationships and communities as an organization, this meant we weren’t heading to Africa to “save” anyone, build for anyone or do for anyone.  Sure, this isn’t what a typical “mission trip” looks like, so I didn’t know what our volunteers would think.

Well, after just a few short days in Lesotho, I think it started to make sense for the group. We were enjoying the beautiful experiences of simply being in community.  We spent a day at Leratong Community Center, which we fund, and didn’t do anything but play games with all the kids there.  After our time at the Center, we hiked up a mountain to see some dinosaur footprints and were accompanied by many of the children we had been with earlier.  The beauty of the landscape and those we were sharing it with was truly unlike anything we’ve experienced before.  This is how we have developed as an organization, by building community first.  As we continue to grow our work at Community Learning Centers, this group of volunteers will know exactly how those foundations were built.

I don’t need to dive into many more details about the trip since you can find the blogs written by our volunteers below.  But I have to say, publicly, how honored I am to have shared this experience with William and 6 others on the Voluntour with me.  As I said in previous blogs, I was most looking forward to seeing how others would react to being in Lesotho for the first time, and seeing their smiles and emotions and reactions.  Well I certainly got my wish and basked in that during the entire 11 day trip.

No one can ever take away the experience we had, made so wonderful because of all of our gracious hosts along the way in Lesotho and South Africa.  I know that Lesotho and BLOOM Africa have 6 new friends, advocates and lifelong supporters.  I also know that I will never forget the special times spent with this group and will forever cherish my time with them.

  

I hope many of you find adventures to embark on, and never shy away from an experience that could possible change your life forever.

Salang hantle,

Andrew

7 Travel Surprises From My Time in Lesotho and South Africa

One of my favorite travel quotes that I always keep with me is the famous words of Mark Twain "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime. “

There is another travel truth he forgets to mention however, it goes ...  no matter how many guidebooks you read, google topics you search, questions you ask your well-traveled BLOOM Africa deputy director brother or preconceived notions (either conscious or unconscious) you pack with you, there will always be travel surprises. And really, aren't the surprises and the unexpected what makes travel so special?

Ok, Twain probably wouldn’t say that but it is something that I believe. Throughout the trip, I kept a list of all the surprises I was lucky enough to experience and learn from during my week in Lesotho and South Africa as a BLOOM Volunteer 2014 trip member. Here are some of my favorites:

The braai.
The first stop of our trip was at BLOOM founder Andrew Steele's host family, the Monama’s , home for a barbecue or as they say in South Africa, a braai. After more than 20 hours of travel, I appreciated the time and care they put in to introduce us to South African cuisine and honored by the way they welcomed us, in true barbecue fashion, as family.

The time we spent that first afternoon together sharing about our backgrounds, learning from the six university students the family so generously provides a home for (who were absolutely remarkable, by the way, in both their dedication to learning and future aspirations), and getting to know each other set the tone for opening our hearts and minds to the experiences ahead of us.

Lumela!
I practiced and practiced but still Sesotho words left my mouth as jumbled noises. To my surprise, no matter how jumbled my hello "lumela" (pronounced ‘du-may-la’) came out I was greeted and welcomed in return graciously. I will forever be humbled by and remember the warm welcomes, smiles, and thumbs up “sharps” the Basotho people gave me.

Tour guides.
Our tour guides came in various and surprising forms. The passion and love for their culture of all our spontaneous tour guides made every step we took together precious and impactful.

From children grabbing our hands and disregarding their bare feet to lead us along the rocky hilltop path of Roma to see dinosaur footprints to leadership from the Thaba Bosiu Youth Sports Development Centre dropping their plans to walk us through Lesotho history on Thaba Bosiu's mountaintops. Our quiet morning with Lerato, the chief’s daughter and manager of the Ramabanta Trading Post Guest Lodge, spent patiently answering questions, sharing traditions and guiding us through her beautiful village and Maicy, Malefa, and Bokang, the endearing members of Team Lesotho, who embedded themselves as an integral part of the trip for 3 days.

Atop Thaba Bosiu

And of course, our outstanding driver, Klaas, who carefully led (and tolerated) us for the entirety of the trip.

To each of our tour guides, I cannot thank you enough for your time and allowing us to become so intimately engaged in your country.  Meeting and building relationships with each of you was hands down the highlight of my time in Lesotho and South Africa.

Fat cakes.
Fat cakes are like a mix between the best bread you've ever eaten combined with the happiest funnel cake you've ever enjoyed; all for the price of a pack of gum. I can't say what I learned from fat cakes, but I can say if you travel to Lesotho for the fat cakes and just the fat cakes, you won't leave disappointed.

Fences.
As we drove throughout South Africa and especially in Johannesburg, I was surprised and shocked by the tall fences and barbed wired that enclosed every home and business. It was a constant and eerie reminder of South Africa's Apartheid past and the barriers that we as people and communities put up to keep each other out. It was also a reminder of the continued work required to fulfill Mandela's dream of a rainbow nation, both in South Africa and here at home.

Lesotho’s beauty.
Yes, I saw pictures. Yes, I heard stories. Yes, I watched videos and read descriptions but there was nothing I could have done to prepare for the breathtaking beauty of Lesotho and its people.  I am happy that pictures, words and videos can’t capture it and that all future visitors will also be surprised by the power of nature’s beauty and how much of it is consolidated within Lesotho’s borders.

The big five.
Our last days of the trip were spent at Kruger National Park, where we found elephants, rhinos and buffalo. Our safari didn't spot any of the big L's - lions or leopards - but at that point we were so filled with love, who cares?  

Giraffe at Kruger Park

For me, the real big five of the trip was Liz, Laura, Sarah, Brigid and Adam, my fellow Voluntours, for joining the trip with such enthusiasm. Whether we were stuck in a ditch on a remote game reserve dirt road, providing shoulders for our exhausted bodies to lean on or listening as we shared the immense emotions we were feeling – I am so glad I had the opportunity to share each and every moment with you.

Through all the surprises, the greatest lesson I learned came to me as no surprise at all: No matter where you are in the world, as humans, we are all the same. Kaofela Rea Tsoana.  

Yes, cultures differ and landscapes change. Language barriers exist and fences might separate us but at the core, a children’s laughter, a smile, the human spirit, unites us as one. 

Thank you, thank you, thank you Lesotho and South Africa for all of your surprises.  And thank you BLOOM Africa for taking me on this adventure.

-Destinee

Destinee Thomas lives in Cincinnati, Ohio and is the sister of BLOOM Deputy Director, William Thomas.  She joined us on the Voluntour and wrote this reflection after her experience.

New Adventures, New Learnings

As Sarah has already filled you in, we have already had the privilege of seeing both community work and the beauty of Lesotho so far on the Voluntour.  But we had just scratched the surface…

The third full day of our unique adventure started with a drive to learn more about a Youth Empowerment Sports group. The president of the organization, Ntate Chaka, spoke to us about their programs, which are empowering youth to find their passion - whether it is sports, drawing, reading, art, etc. – as well as educating them about healthy life choices, avoiding drugs and alcohol, and HIV/AIDS awareness. He spoke with such passion and conviction about the importance of exposing youth to opportunities that we all walked out of there feeling inspired.

From there, we travelled to Thaba Bosiu (“Mountain of the Night”) where King Moshoeshoe defended this village from invasion and the country of Lesotho originated. We were accompanied by Ntate Chaka and several other volunteers from his organization. One of them served as our historian and tour guide up the mountain. Let me tell you, that climb was not easy, but completely worth it.  We saw things that defied logic: a tree that has fallen down but still continues to produce leaves; a ‘beach’ of sand on top of a mountain devoid of a body of water; and also tasted the crisp water of one of the seven fresh water springs atop the mountain (these features allowed for families and villages to survive independently). Every Basotho person can trace their ancestry back to that very mountain. One mountain. All of this, plus the incredible view that cannot be described in words or captured in pictures, made us fully aware that we were experiencing something special.

Our next drive through the winding roads of the mountains brought us to Ramabanta. If there is one place in Lesotho that is a must-see, this place is it. As you take the last turn towards the village through Nkesi’s Pass, The view opens up to valleys and mountains that can only be insufficiently described as perfection. The Trading Post Adventures lodge manager, Lerato Nkesi, is the Chief’s daughter. She is the most down to earth, good-hearted person I have met. She took us around the village on our second day in Ramabanta. We saw the primary school; the clinic where they were dispensing the HIV/AIDS medication and helping mothers with delivery; the care center where women of the village make wool hats and scarves to make their living; and we tried homemade beer made by a village woman. Everyone in the village is so gracious and friendly. We are blessed to have the opportunity to stay here and learn so much about both the way of life and the opportunities to help this community.

The more I experience on this trip, the more I am convinced that BLOOM Africa is taking the right approach in their work. We are not here to come in as outsiders and impose our agenda onto the people of Lesotho. We are not here to come in and build something that will not last and then we disappear. We are not here to bring supplies or outdated books that the community doesn’t need.

We are here to LEARN about the communities of Lesotho. We are here to MEET people in the community doing great work. We are here to work with PASSIONATE people who are telling us what they NEED. We ARE here to build something that will LAST – a groundwork of partnerships WITHIN the community that are actually helping the people of these communities to provide for themselves and their families and give them opportunities to thrive.

I have been humbled by my experiences over the past four days. I have met amazing people, seen amazing things and have been inspired to do more. I thank the BLOOM Africa team as well as the people of Lesotho for sharing their lives with us. I will remember these experiences for the rest of my life and will forever be inspired by the words spoken to us tonight from my new friend Malefa - “we are all born with infinite potential into a world of limitless opportunities”.

Laura

Laura Olson is from Chicago, IL and on the BLOOM Voluntour

A Unique Adventure

Chicago to Amsterdam: 7 Hours

Amsterdam to Johannesburg: 11 Hours

Being welcomed with opened arms by a family in Bloemfontein, South Africa: Priceless.

After many seated hours from Chicago to South Africa on our KLM flights (yep—multiple), and a 4 hour drive from Johannesburg to Bloemfontein (both cities located in South Africa), our group could not have been more humbled and truly grateful for an amazing meal with at least thirty of Andrew’s “family” members. (This was Andrew’s host family during his volunteer year.)  We attended an event called a Braai, which is the South African term for a barbeque (unexpectedly similar to a typical American BBQ). There was singing, dancing, prayer, socialization, and lots of lots of delicious food, all provided by the Monama  family. We quickly made friends with many of the folks there, including some university students studying accounting to mechanical engineering.  I don’t think we could have started our trip out with a more joyful, friendlier or more cultural experience.

After the Braai, we loaded back into the bus and headed to Lesotho. We entered into the Magic Mountain Kingdom without any issues, and then headed to Roma. We arrived late, ate dinner and hit the hay. Man! Traveling really wore us out!

Today, Monday, March 03, 2014 was simply amazing. We began by connecting with a group of Basotho who serve as volunteers for BLOOM Africa by connecting our work in the States to the families and children in Leostho who we serve. Maicy, Ma’Monaheng, Bokang and Malefa make up an integral part in the success of BLOOM Africa’s projects and mission.  We then walked to the Leratong Community Center, and saw all the great aspects of that space. The Leratong Community Center offers a space for children to play after school, while also growing their life skills: Volunteer Basotho women teach young children from the community how to knit and sew. Children also get the opportunity to read, write and build their language, social and emotional skills.  Since BLOOM Africa funds this Center, it was great to get an inside look.

Later in the day we returned to Leratong to enjoy the shiny, smiling faces of the children post-school day. We played Duck, Duck, Goose and also learned a fun game/song combination that Basotho children—Bana, in Sesotho—grow up playing. We played basketball and soccer; we read books; our normal-seeming volunteers became the silliest Tickle Monsters you’ve ever met. The joy and laughter was overwhelming, in a good way.

We ended the day hiking up to the top of a mountain in Roma to see dinosaur footprints—made, they say, by the Lesothosaurus— and a Lesotho sunset. We were accompanied by about 20 kids who were eager to show us the way to the “dinosaur”. It was apparent that they were proud to know the way, and proud to show us around their home. While the dinosaur prints were cool, they were no match for the breathtaking views that were waiting for us at the top of the mountain. Words cannot describe the beauty, peace and joy of the sight.

My name is Sarah Braden, and I am BLOOM Voluntour 2014 teammate and a long-time BLOOM supporter. While I absolutely enjoy reporting about this adventure from the eyes of group as a whole, this blog entry wouldn’t be complete without a personal reflection:

The joy and vitality of the Basotho is something that cannot be explained; only experienced. It is humbling, exciting and restores my faith in the strength and love of humanity. Families support each other with extremely limited resources; kids find joy in silly games; strangers greet you, no matter the color of your skin. The community is filled with a sense of amity, hard work and hope.  The grass is not the greenest, the work is not the easiest, and circumstances are far from ideal. However, joy, hope and acceptance are definitely present; and that makes all the difference in the world.

I speak for my group when I say that this day, well, it ROCKED. And tomorrow we will travel to Ramamabanta to continue this unique adventure.

Sarah

Sarah Braden is from Dallas, Texas and on the BLOOM Voluntour