It seems that weather is something that brings people together. In Lesotho, when a particularly cold front hits, everyone takes heart in the fact that we are all facing it together. We experience this in the mornings when the staff greet us, and we all say 'Ho a bata kajeno,' meaning, 'It's cold today.' As much as it is stating the obvious, it gives us comfort to be in it together.
We have seen this in South Africa over the past few weeks, where a huge storm, along with fires, raged through the Western Cape, close to where we used to live. Thousands of peoples' homes burnt down, and many were affected by the storm in other ways. The good that comes out of it is seeing how people come together to help one another.
Ntate Labone, our senior house father, taking a break on the sings.
We experience that on a smaller scale as we live at PCC. When we need something for PCC, so many people are willing to help. We launched the winter fundraiser this month. Our aim is to provide each of our staff with a nice warm jacket. They do so much and work hard, and we thought a new jacket would be something they would really appreciate. Part two of the fundraiser is to get our children new shoes. Having warm feet in winter is pretty important! So many people have already helped, and we are grateful. If you would still like to, there are giving details outlined on www.pulanechildren.org. We are about 34% of the way to our goal.
The fields near Pulane in harvest
It is also the time of year for harvesting the fields. It looks like such tiring work for so little return. As we watched so many of the local villagers working hard in the fields these last few weeks, it made us grateful for the sponsors who keep PCC food stocks healthy, and knowing we don't rely only on what we can harvest.
In the next few weeks, schools close for winter holidays. We are excited that two of our children will be graduating from the Bethel vocational school this month. Thabang has finished his building skills course, and Nthathisi has completed a catering course. It's a great joy to see them doing so well.
Baby Thabo, smiling wide
Be sure to follow us on Instagram and Facebook for more regular updates, like on how well Vova's leg is healing, and how big baby Thabo is growing!
Speaking of big, Jane keeps growing and growing. She is doing well and our family, even living out here in the mountains, is not immune from Barney. She loves that purple dinosaur!
Boo!
That's all for now,