Starting field work in Lesotho

I have been in Lesotho two weeks and feel settled into this beautiful country. Lesotho has a population of around 2.5 million and 150,000 in Maseru. These first two weeks I have been based in the capital Maseru, it is a small and hilly city, surrounded by more rocky hills. Maseru comprises of a long main road of shops and offices, called Kingsway, a big and new shopping mall, a big church, the convention centre, government ministries, a number of hotels and then the suburbs. It feels small, friendly and pretty easy to navigate. I left Maseru yesterday for the first time to visit Mohale Dam. Once out of Maseru you are quickly in a world of never ending hills, making your way up and down winding roads the views are spectacular. As soon as you get out of the city you feel a real change in the way of life as well as the scenery – people and life seems very spaced out - villages far from each other and often at the bottom of the rocky hills, people often wearing their Lesotho blanket, worn very stylishly and pinned over one shoulder, it is a symbol of Lesotho and very necessary to keep warm in those cold hills, children herding their cows, goats and sheep and donkeys and ponies everywhere as they are the main mode of transport for goods and people outside of Maseru. The other thing that strikes you as you leave Maseru is the drop in temperature, not surprising when you can see snow on the mountains in the distance.

The first week I spent at the Lesotho Youth and Students Co-operative Forum. This involved 200 youth co-operators being trained by people from Co-operative College in the UK, teachers from co-op schools in the UK and me! We were training them on co-op values and principles using interactive games and techniques which gave the youth a chance to understand the values in the context of their lives and their co-ops. These values and principles are the essence of a co-op; they are what make a c-op different to a private sector business. They include self-help, self-responsibility, equality, equity, democracy and solidarity. These values are then enacted through the co-op principles of Voluntary and Open Membership, Democratic Member Control, Member Economic Participation, Autonomy and Independence, Education, Training and Information, Co-operation Among Co-operatives and Concern for the Community.

The forum also gave me a chance to get to know a number of the youth co-operatives. The co-ops are smaller than the co-ops in Uganda, with an average of about 15 members. They conduct a range of activities including professional consultancy services, handicrafts, tourism, savings and credit, agriculture – but often do a combination of activities, making many of them multi-purpose co-ops, rather than specialising in one area. Some have not managed to start doing business yet, mainly due to financial constraints and the ones that are doing business are generally not making much income; they are invariably not giving out profits to their members. However they recognise it takes a long time to develop a business and continue to be committed to working towards that. The core support for these co-ops comes from the Department for Co-operatives (government department responsible for co-ops) and there is no donor support for them at the present time. The ones that have managed to get business started have done so out of sheer determination, hard work and good ideas.

I am planning to work with one youth co-op called Subeng Dinosaur from Leribe District (about 50 kms from Maseru). They are registered and were set up in 2003. They are a tourist co-op, conducting tours to see some dinosaur footprints in their area; they also make and sell handicrafts. They have 12 members and their members tend to be unemployed or in low income jobs. I will then select a student co-op – this is a co-op in a school. I have identified one called Rise and Shine saving and credit co-op at a school in an area called Mafeteng (60 kms from Maseru). These co-ops give students a chance to develop useful skills while in school, such as working with others, solving conflicts, managing your time etc, which then put them in a better position to get a job or set up their own business when they leave school. A teacher from this school felt that the students also developed a sense of self-help, crucial when up to 60% of the students at the school are orphans and responsible for looking after younger siblings. This is largely due to Lesotho having one of the highest HIV rates in the region.

This second week I have been at the Regional Assembly meeting for co-ops in Africa. This was a fascinating opportunity to learn more about co-ops in many different countries. I came away from the meeting very much aware of the growth and importance of co-ops in Africa. One statistic that stuck in my mind was that 67% of the population are using services provided by co-ops and that co-ops are significantly contributing to GDP in many countries. 2012 is UN Year of the Co-operative and co-op movement across the globe is planning to raise public awareness of co-ops and update people’s ideas on what co-ops are.

As I embark on my third week I will be concentrating on conducting interviews in Maseru with government ministries and co-ops and finalising which co-ops to work with. I am really looking forward to getting to understand the situation of youth and co-ops more and also seeing more of Lesotho.