Lesotho 2024: Mixed Emotions On Day 20

Greetings from our last blog post in Lesotho! While it has been a pleasure chronicling our adventures for our supporters, today was our final day of service on our "service-learning trip," so it will also be our final blog post. It was a pleasure to finish our work at the elementary school this morning. I worked with the 1st and 2nd grade classroom by finishing up the artwork on the walls: shapes, colors, days of the week, parts of the body, senses, emotions, numbers, and a number line. The teacher, whose classroom we decorated, was thrilled to see our accomplishments. She is so excited to teach her students in the room next year, and I was grateful for the opportunity to help her students learn! In the afternoon, we took time to pack our belongings for our travels to Kruger National Park in South Africa. A group of us also took a hike to the "God Help Me Pass"... again. The last time we tried, we misinterpreted a road sign and stopped five minutes before the peak. When we reached the summit this time, it was a breathtakingly beautiful view I will not forget. While it is bittersweet to be leaving Lesotho tomorrow, I am proud of the work our group has accomplished and am excited to see what new experiences come this week!

- Claire Patton '26

It is difficult to believe today was our last service day in Lesotho. Having helped with the "construction crew" on the playground this week, my morning was spent helping finish some details on the first/second grade classroom paintings. Once we were finished, the teacher took a tour and was highly enthused with the shapes, colors, and practicality of the murals. She, along with everyone else, was especially impressed with Emma H.'s emotions wall. Afterwards, she and a young girl inspected our work on the playground. They explored the different ways to climb, slide, and dangle on the equipment. It was a small taste of how the children will react when they return from winter break in the next three weeks. After seeing how everyone reacted in Ramabanta to repairs, I can't imagine the excitement the students will feel in Molimo N'thuse.

There are a lot of emotions with leaving Lesotho in the morning, though I think we are all looking forward to the safari in Kruger National Park this weekend. I personally am especially excited for the hippos.

See you soon!

- Allyson Gardner '26

PS - No blog post tomorrow due to travel to Kruger National Park Safari.

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