Account of a Trip to Lesotho - October 2009

At the end of October a group of 18 souls, mainly from Maidenhead congregation but with 3 chaps from Berlin, a mother & daughter (the former received an offer of 20 cattle for the latter, in marriage), from an Anglican church in Slough and Lynne & I from Marlow all travelled to Lesotho.  

(David is at front right, Lynne back left)

Some months ago, over a warming few fingers (or so) of a nice 12 year old Chivas Regal, I had cause to reflect, together with the principal member of the distaff side of the Oliver clan, about our possible activities post-retirement. Might I pause at this juncture to interpolate that, although not meeting the rigorous demands of the single malt devotee, I find that the blended option gives a more rounded flavour than is found in the less broadly based distillation. Well, to be honest, my opening gambit had been a rather relaxed and gentle enquiry as to her own plans for continuing employment, were I to take the early bath, at age 60, in 2010. Somewhat to my disappointment I was advised that, were I to retire at such a young age, then she would do likewise. It would not be overstating the case to record here that the implications of the loss of anticipated income were somewhat unwelcome to the ear; the M spec. BMW seemeth no nearer. 
 
One of the upshots of that preliminary skirmish was the revelation that Mrs O. had, since early girlhood, harboured a longing to visit Africa. Initially inviting her to keep me up to date on her progress whilst there, under the liberating effect of the amber tincture I may later have murmured one or two words indicating an in-principle approval to such an activity in our dotage. However, upon learning that River was planning a late autumn visit to Lesotho, Mrs O grabbed me in a Ju-Jitsu hold until I agreed to make the trip with her on a sort of fact-finding basis. Maybe I should listen more but I should add that it was not until we were reviewing the trip after our return that I realised the full history. God had promised Lynne that she would get to work with orphans in Africa, that she had been waiting, with varying degrees of patience for approaching 50 years, for the fulfilment of that promise. And that, upon reading about this proposed Lesotho visit (but without any knowledge that an orphanage visit would be on the agenda) she had heard Him say ‘this is it’. It gives me goose bumps even as I write. 
 
Now, I am only too well aware that uncertainty is a major 'driver', as those corporate high flyers would have it, for stress-related health issues. At this point it must be said that expressions such as 'Driver' (other than in relation to vehicular transport), along with "Drill Down" (other than in connection with dentistry, construction, mining or engineering), "Go Forward/ Going Forward" (other than in connection with travel directions or the popular family-friendly board game 'Monopoly') and "Front Loading" (other than in connection with the UK's most widely used variant of automatic Washing Machine), unless used 'ironically', can themselves be major contributors to workplace stress. The unfortunate listener attempts to keep a straight face whilst thinking “What on earth does that mean?” With the aim of removing any such uncertainty I will now without further delay give you a brief report on what was important to Lynne & me. 
 
Amongst the numerous projects and places the group visited we saw what I think is the single most impressive social action project I've ever come across; and I have seen quite a few over the last three decades. The Beautiful Gate Orphanage (BG) in Lesotho takes infants from Day 1, very often HIV positive . The prevalence across the country is around 30% in adults. Stories of the children's background to coming in there reduced me to almost uncontrollable sobbing but, at the same time, the sheer excellence of the work being done there gave enormous hope.
 
Excellence in terms of the premises, the staffing levels, the health and welfare issues, the education and the aim to either return children to a safe home environment or move them out to fostering or adoption. In prospect I had anticipated just ‘cuddling some babies’. However, the team did a 1x day ‘Community Service’ project (a great experience for a Probation Officer you might think) painting a large room. Lynne and I deferred the major cuddling opportunities on the basis that we now wanted to complete as much work as possible and, perhaps more importantly, Mrs O and I hope to return there for some more serious cuddling and perhaps to wield a paint brush or two.
 

To be honest, we don’t know what our future involvement will be, but do think that God has done something in us both in relation to BG. Some financial contribution? Certainly. At the time of writing they have recently lost UNICEF funding, having felt unable to sacrifice quality for quantity; not an easy one there and there are of course arguments on both sides. We favour the Beautiful Gate approach. Well we would, wouldn’t we? To keep in touch with what’s going on there, to fuel our praying? For sure. To pay further visits? We hope so. Both now whilst still in employment (here we must confess to both being employed in the Public Sector and thus worthy of the contempt previously reserved for Estate Agents, used car salespersons and, more recently, Bankers: no names, no pack drill John Richards) and also post-retirement post-redundancy. In fact after my first day back at work Mrs O. was genuinely disappointed to learn that I had not been handed the P45 upon my return. We await the decisions of a higher power on this issue. No, not David Cameron post-election. 
 
It was rather wonderful that each one of our group us seemed to find some particular connection of the heart with one or other of the various places & projects visited but this brief note is just a taster about our own hearts’ connection. It was a humbling experience to receive a huge welcome and to be honoured wherever we went (these people clearly did not know much about us!). Everybody, from the youngest to the oldest, which was quite a wide span, contributed to the success of the visit but perhaps in conclusion just a particular acknowledgment of the excellence of the leadership of ‘Pastor Matt’ (Oldham) and ‘Pastor James’ (Clarry).