The Katse Dam

Last week, two of the schools in Mokhotlong were visited by teachers from their partner schools in Wales: Richmond Park in Carmarthen and Ysgol Llanbedr Pont Steffan in Lampeter. Their host schools decided to take them to see the Katse Dam in the middle of Lesotho, so we teachers in the other town schools went along too.

 

Katse Dam is the largest dam in Lesotho. You can see it here – the dam wall is 185 metres tall and 710 metres wide.

Rainwater in the mountains of Lesotho is collected and stored in reservoirs behind large dams like this one. The water is then sent through tunnels to South Africa for people to drink.

The government of Lesotho is paid by the South Africans for the water but not everyone is happy about this. The soil in the valleys near the rivers in Lesotho is the most fertile – the best land for people to grow crops on. When these valleys are flooded to create a reservoir of water, the land is lost. The local people then have to move to other places with soil that is not so good for growing their crops in.

Reception

In Wales, we are used to having a Reception class at school, for children aged 4 – 5, but in Lesotho, Reception classes are new. Schools only began to have a Reception class last year, so I spent some time with the class at St. Peter’s to find out how they’re getting on.

 

There are lots of things you’ll find familiar in the class: songs to help the children learn, learning letter sounds and words, learning through play and exploring. These children are finding out what they can make from multilink.

                                        Have a look at the classroom. Does it look like your Reception classroom? Why/why not?

 

Brooms

Schools in Lesotho don’t have cleaners like schools in Wales. The children have to sweep their own classrooms at the end of the day. They do this with a broom made from moseha reeds.

Some children made their own brooms to sweep their classroom with. First they got some moseha reeds from the mountainside above the school. Then they split the reeds into piles – one pile for each broom.

Next they took a long piece of wool and began to wind the wool around the reeds, about a hand width from the end. Some children wove the wool in and out of the reeds to make a pattern on the broom.

 

Finally they fastened the end of the wool and the broom was complete. When the reeds have dried out they will turn brown and the broom will be ready to use.