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	A letter from Bob and Samantha Franklin in Lesotho

	July 11, 2003 Dear Friends, Welcome to another installment in the continuing story of our life in Lesotho. Driving around in our cars, it is easy to overlook the scenes of daily life in Maseru. However, once a week, I (Samantha) get a closer look at this urban life as I walk from our home to the city centre where I volunteer at an NGO library. It’s about a 15-minute walk (it’s a relatively safe walk, and I walk quickly and do not carry a purse). As I walk, I encounter many sights and sounds and smells—the dilapidated public hospital; vendors selling fruit and sweets; women setting up their stalls to cook viennas (hotdogs) and chips (french fries) to sell for lunch to office workers; men doing shoe repairs; makeshift stalls selling everything from cigarettes, sunglasses, and cell phone covers to children’s clothing, winter coats, shoes, and blankets; taxis honking their horns and calling out for passengers. It’s a busy and hectic scene. At first, I was bothered by having to weave my way through all of these people taking up the sidewalk, often forcing me to walk on the road. However, I’ve come to enjoy these scenes and realize that many people are just doing the best they can to earn some money for themselves and their families. Unfortunately, Maseru City Council seems to think that folks like these are a blight to the city. Whenever a dignitary comes to town, the vendors are moved off the streets, with no alternative place provided to sell their wares.

	A keyhole or pyramid garden, producing food for family consumption and surplus for sale. This is a relatively simple change in gardening methods that uses composting and household waste water to greatly improve the soil and increase yields. This man’s garden looks much more fertile than neighbors’.		This year, the graduation ceremony at Morija Theological Seminary was held on a warm and sunny autumn day, unlike the wet and cold day of last year’s ceremony. There were only six graduates from the Bible school (there was no graduating class from the seminary, for a variety of reasons). The ceremony was comprised again this year of skits, songs, many, many speeches, and recognition of the accomplishments of the graduates and the support of their family members and their home church. I was reminded again of the great effort and sacrifice the students make to fulfill their calling. I also had an opportunity to attend the wedding ceremony of two seminary students. It was the longest wedding service I have ever attended (three hours and fifteen minutes), with speeches, songs, a skit, and introductions of family and seminary staff (unexpectedly, myself included). I have appreciated knowing these two students over the past year and a half, and felt privileged to see this couple affirm their commitment to each other and to God. I also learned during the ceremony that they are the first couple in the history of Lesotho Evangelical Church to be married while both are still attending seminary.

	I (Bob) am always trying to figure out how to briefly describe to people what I do (without their eyes glazing over), and it’s never easy. The name of the program I work for doesn’t help matters; people think that we’re doing food distribution or providing handouts (we are not). I think I’ve finally hit on something that says enough without being too wordy: I’m “involved in anti-poverty advocacy.” I’m also always looking for useful illustrations that capture the purpose of a response to hunger and poverty through advocacy rather than direct intervention, and I just came across the following, which I find very encouraging: Real virtue lies not in heroically saving orphans from burning buildings but in steadfastly working for a world where orphans are not poor and buildings have decent fire codes (Randy Cohen, New York Times Magazine).

	In June, Joining Hands Against Hunger South Africa had an official “National Launch,” with representatives from the JHAH provincial networks of seven of South Africa’s nine provinces. (The remaining two provinces will hopefully be establishing networks by the end of the year.) Each provincial network intends to participate in at least one of three national campaigns focusing on (1) unemployment and the Basic Income Grant (see our previous newletters for more details); (2) HIV/AIDS; (3) land issues (access to land, land reparations).		Older herdboys in Thaba Tseka district (Lesotho’s central highlands). Being a herdboy is entrenched in Basotho culture and tradition. Most herdboys miss out on education and are often unaware of health issues such as the HIV/AIDS pandemic. They are vulnerable to theft of the livestock they herd, as well as beatings by the livestock owners. Lack of range management knowledge and overgrazing has led to severe soil erosion.

	All of these are advocacy campaigns seeking to influence government policy. Lionel Derenoncourt from the Presbyterian Hunger Program came from the United States to attend the launch. He later came to Lesotho for three days and visited the executive committee of the Lesotho network and a few of the network members. The Lesotho network has identified what they believe to be five key “root causes” of poverty in Lesotho, on which we are now focusing. These are: poor farming methods and lack of knowledge of alternatives HIV/AIDS the educational system in Lesotho livestock theft lack of partnership. The network is developing curriculum to focus attention on these issues at the community level. Hopefully this will lead to a campaign of advocacy to address one or two of these root issues. We hope this has given you a glimpse of what we’ve been up to lately. Peace, Bob & Samantha The 2003 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 44

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