Part 1-Community
I was exhausted, I felt like crying and it was only 11am on Monday. I slowly continued to climb the last incline to get to my house when I saw people gathered outside my house. Not just a couple of people, it looked like all my neighbours were there, at least 15 people. I had arrived home late on Sunday night after a weekend away in Maseru to discover that my house house had been broken into and my computer, camera and a lot of other things were missing. During the morning devotion the next day I told everyone what had happened and I found out what the proper way to handle this is in Lesotho. We first had to go report to the chief and then we could go to the police officers. By 11am on Monday the visit to the chief was done and I wasn’t quite sure what would come next. When I got home and sat down with all my neighbours I realized that they were not just talking about the break-in they were holding an informal to court to determine if there was enough evidence against the man they suspected to enter his house and look for the stolen property. Everyone had come to share what they knew and to listen to others. Every nkhono (grandmother) around was sitting on my lawn and different witnesses were coming to report. When I had arrived at my house so during the proceedings I went to take a nap. I woke up to hear people shouting and making quite a commotion near my house. I had no idea what was going on. When I stepped outside I was quickly called over to a neighbouring house. I walked through all the people and went up to look in the open window. There was a my suitcase and sleeping bag. While I was sleeping the chief had arrived and allowed people to enter the house to look for stolen items. During the proceedings I realized that I knew the man they suspected but I had no idea he was a close neighbour. It turns out that he even had supper with the my land lady who lives in a house right beside mine. But I am digressing. I looked around at the people who had come to the house, some of them were the same one’s that had gathered outside my place but now there were teachers from the local primary school that had joined them as well. The people from the community continued to stand outside the house all afternoon and into the evening when we returned with the police officers. They stood there through the rain guarding the house and what was inside, waiting anxiously to find out what would happen. When I had left my house Sunday night after discovering the robbery I felt unsafe, unsure if I wanted to return to living in that house alone. When I went up to my house Monday morning I felt so supported and cared for by the community that I realized I am not really living alone. Everyone around knows what is happening, all the bo nkhono and bo ntate moholo (grandmothers and grandfathers) care what happens at my house. It is their community, it is there reputation as my neighbours and they want me to feel safe and welcome. Throughout this whole week I have been reminded that I am not in this alone. On Tuesday night we had a community meeting to decide how we should proceed with pressing charges. At that meeting I was reminded that it is not just the Basotho community that support me, but also all the other expatriates that work with me as well. Every day people have been stopping by my house and stopping me as I walk to see how I am doing and to talk with me. I am happy to be living back in my house. I am happy to be living in the village. I am happy that this incident has brought something good for my community through all the difficulty. (See the next blog post for the continued story)
