Progress in Cowboy Town

In the popular "Lonely Planet" guidebook on South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland, multiple copies of which have made their way to TTL, there is a small, one-page section on Mokhotlong that in my mind gives a pretty apt description.

"Mokhotlong," it says, "is the main town in eastern Lesotho, but it is still very much an outpost, and has something of a Wild West feel to it."

Constant herds of sheep, cattle, horses and donkeys aside, this is very true.

There is an undeniably slow-paced, cowboy-town atmosphere here, accented with plenty of potholed dirt roads, twisted barbed-wire fences, and just-outside-of-town expanses of absolutely nothing. A disorganized spread of rangy businesses and residences all seem to float closely together within the encompassing mountain range. A popular resistance to even the most resilient underpinnings of efficiency seems to be in full force. The vibe is one that simultaneously makes Mokhotlong seem an antidote to the hustle-and-bustle of the U.S. and a difficult place for progress to take hold or materialize visually.

Still, ever since I got here to TTL, things have been visibly changing all around me.

For starters, the brand new "Hesburgh-Amicus Centre" -- a building with 4 offices and one large conference room at the center of our property -- was just completed, and our outreach team moved into one of those offices this week. They now have more space to receive needy mothers and vulnerable babies seeking help, and more room to spread their proverbial wings as we continue to expand the number of children we serve each year.

The former outreach office in the main building has been transformed into a combined office for the TTLF fellows -- we were formerly using space in a small supplies room -- and our newly-appointed safe-home supervisor, M'e Mamosa, who is a longtime TTL caregiver and who will be working closely with Kirsten to ensure the babies in our care receive all the best.

We are constantly trying to maximize the efficiency of our operations here, and I know the new space will help in that cause.

It will also allow TTL to continue expanding its capacity for partnership with other groups interested in having a positive local impact. For example, one of the offices will soon be rented out to the European Union as their base in Mokhotlong.

It is exciting to see TTL's physical imprint grow as a bricks-and-mortar symbol of the organization's thriving potential. It will also be exciting -- and I think mutually beneficial -- to have more folks around on a daily basis who are looking to do good.

In addition to the growth of our indoor space here at TTL, our outdoor space is transforming as well.

We recently contracted with a landscaper who is already making TTL look like a more professional and welcoming place to visit. New plants are going in all over, including right at the entrance to the property and around the new building, where a memorial garden is being designed. We just got new marble signs for a number of our buildings brought here from the U.S. that will hopefully be bolted up soon. New cement paths are being put in to permanently connect the main building with the new Hesburgh-Amicus Centre and the three rondavals at the back of the property. Our handful of fruitful peach trees here are getting new attention as well, with short stone walls going in to strengthen the slope they rest on at the edge of the property.

Thanks to the continuing resolve of our staff and the continuing support of donors interested in bolstering our institutional growth, I think TTL's physical appearance is really starting to catch up with its community reputation.

In my mind, we are undoubtedly the shining jewel of this dusty Wild West, brightening the lives of countless kids. It's a great organization to be a part of, and it's only getting brighter.

Busy Month and Bravery

It's hard to imagine I am already into my second month here at TTL. But they always say that the busier you are, the faster time goes, and we've been quite busy here.

The number of babies in the safe home is now up to 10, with the addition last week of two more clients.

A new five-month old boy has the long first name of Matta a Morena, which means "power of the chief." He had long, wild hair on the top of his head that stood straight up when he first got here, and I've taken to calling him "Chief" even though the bo m'e promptly gave him a haircut and he lost his regal profile.

The other new child is Nteboheng, who is so brave despite everything. She is almost five years old, and is horribly thin. Being the age she is, she is entirely aware of everything going on around her, and is noticeably nervous.

TTL had to take her to see a doctor at the hospital the other day, and Kirsten said she kept saying she wanted to go home. She is shy around me still, but smiles at some of the antics I get into to amuse her.

Seeing her sitting silently in the play room, or eating slowly from a bowl of food prepared by the bo m'e, makes me think of a five-year-old child back in the states being separated from her family. I just see wails and tantrems and demands for "mommy," and yet with Nteboheng there is only the hushed requests that she be returned home and a stoic patience in the face of being denied that request.

Thankfully our bo m'e caregivers here are warm, and win the children over quickly. When Nteboheng lays down in the play room, still lethargic from her malnurished state, she often does so against the leg of one of the bo m'e sitting on the floor.

Seithati, our almost-three-year-old girl who has really started coming into her own, has been whispering reassurances to Nteboheng -- probably the sweetest thing I've ever seen.

It's amazing to see how many children have entered TTL's doors in just the last month. It's a testament to how many children here need a lifeline just like TTL.

Fire pit and more fun

Check it out: We built a new TTL fire pit!

When Reid, Bridget, Will and Ellen were here, they had their own fire pit that I think they used quite often -- both for cooking and lounging around at night and on the weekends.

That pit was swallowed up by the new building here -- which is nearing completion, by the way -- so for about six months the TTL campus has been without the joys of outdoor fires.

Well, no more.

TTLF all-stars Sheila Block and Maura Costello, who arrived in town for a 12-day visit last Friday, joined me last Saturday in the construction effort. We all set to work digging and designing, and successfully built what you see in the picture here -- a solid pit made of cinderblocks and rocks that we have already used to cook steaks, chicken and sausage.

The sausage was provided by the caregivers here at the safe house, who we had a big party with this weekend -- along with the rest of the TTL staff -- to send Sheila and Maura back home in style.

The party was a blast, with lots of ululating and dancing among the bo m'e, or women, and classic Basotho stick fighting among the bo ntate, or men. It was sweet.

As for the new pit, it's good fun to stoke the fire and chop logs -- something I've perfected at a novice level -- under all the stars here, and I'm excited about the pit's potential.

There is something about stoking a fire that just puts me at ease.

Check out these videos from the party:

A picture is worth...

...a thousand words.

Here are shots of TTL outreach in action; Thuso, who I have mentioned here before and who loves grabbing cameras; my rondaval; and Mokhotlong as seen from the mountain peak behind TTL.

VHW: Our Extra Eyes and Ears

This week I had the privilege of witnessing firsthand one of TTL's most promising initiatives: the Village Health Worker Program.

Since November 2008, our outreach workers have been meeting with local men and women in villages throughout the region in order to train them on important aspects of malnutrition, HIV/AIDS and breastfeeding options for HIV-positive mothers.

Dozens of matriarchal and patriarchal individuals have been driven to attend these meetings by a deep-seated desire to better their communities and protect their children from the ravages of food shortage and disease.

Our support and their commitment have translated into a new network of basic health workers who can call TTL with referrals whenever they see a sick baby in their remote communities -- essentially multiplying the eyes and ears of our outreach network.

The village health workers routinely use their training to check babies for malnutrition using weight scales, height length boards and MUAC strips to measure the babies' "middle upper-arm circumference."

They have also been trained to use World Health Organization Z-scores, which allow them to use a baby's weight and height to get an accurate measure of malnutrition.

I saw all of this in action when I accompanied two of our outreach workers and TTLF leaders Sheila Block and Maura Costello on a site visit to one of the villages participating in the program. Site visits are our way of seeing how things are going.

In an empty stone building with a corrugated metal roof at the center of a small village of rondavals, a dominate and matriarchal village health worker rallied her village together with the help of a group of other dedicated women.

A gathering of children sang to us at the urging of one of our outreach workers, then filed into the building, which was owned by the village chief, to have their measurements taken. Scores of women carried in younger children, many of whom cried torrents and screamed at the slightest clue that they would be weighed on a scale.

Regardless of the protests from the younger ones, we managed to weigh a total of 40 babies and toddlers. Of those, we found three in need of our help. One was already a client receiving our help, another was already receiving food from the WFP, and another one was wasting away with no source of help at all.

The third baby is a new client of TTL, and that reality is one that makes every last measurement made during that long day in the hot room worth it.

If it weren't for the Village Health Worker Program, these sorts of communal check-ups probably wouldn't be occurring.

And even though our outreach teams are already out in the villages and getting referrals from rural clinics and village chiefs, we may never have found out about this little baby if the village health workers hadn't helped organize this meeting.