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Race Dog
So I see the Lesotho saga has done the rounds in various threads again and the various emotions have erupted regarding stone throwing and other issues.
So yesterday I met with a Chief of a village called Mapoteng and discussed the attraction for us dogs visiting Lesotho on the one hand but on the other, some of the growing concerns and un-pleasantness related to stone throwing. Interestingly there is not a general awareness at Chief level of stone throwing (he was not aware this was happening).
I asked him, what’s in it for the various villages when us dogs and others travel through Lesotho? He mentioned that there is supposedly some form of tourism funding or government funding that -surprise surprise - never reaches the villages so they have absolutely no funding to start some form of tourism or promotion thereof at the various village level.
My question to him was, can’t we (WD’s and Chiefs) start something directly together. “Well, what / how?” he asked! “’cause the Villages have absolutely no money!!” My idea to him was – I want to experience the Lesotho culture – I want to stay in a village, in a hut, I want to sit around a fire wrapped in a Basotho blanket, eating a genuine home cooked (Basotho) meal and I wanna pay for it directly to the village. What I don’t expect is a choice of beers and cold drinks and television to be available, so Instead of staying at the Katse Dam Lodge I wanna stay in a village!
So I asked him how we could look into this ie: Do they even want us there? Is this type of Idea something that would be of interest to the villages and more importantly the Chiefs?
What he suggested was: The Chiefs have meetings (not sure of the frequency) where they get together and discuss various things around social issues, betterment of the villages, problems between villages etc. He said he would be willing to present ideas to this (Chiefs) forum so we need to come up with some first.
Gunda Gunda, in one of the recent posts, suggested that we consolidate GPS co-ords of stone throwing incidents. This will help identify the frequency and location. If we get something going with various Chiefs / Villages, it may be a good idea to start where stone throwing is occurring more often.
Anyway, I have only visited Lesotho a handful of times over the past 10 years so I need to know from the dogs that know Lesotho and its culture if this is worth pursuing. But I really would like to go back to him with some ideas that will provide a win win for the villages and us, so at least he can put it forward to the Chiefs!!
TM....
So yesterday I met with a Chief of a village called Mapoteng and discussed the attraction for us dogs visiting Lesotho on the one hand but on the other, some of the growing concerns and un-pleasantness related to stone throwing. Interestingly there is not a general awareness at Chief level of stone throwing (he was not aware this was happening).
I asked him, what’s in it for the various villages when us dogs and others travel through Lesotho? He mentioned that there is supposedly some form of tourism funding or government funding that -surprise surprise - never reaches the villages so they have absolutely no funding to start some form of tourism or promotion thereof at the various village level.
My question to him was, can’t we (WD’s and Chiefs) start something directly together. “Well, what / how?” he asked! “’cause the Villages have absolutely no money!!” My idea to him was – I want to experience the Lesotho culture – I want to stay in a village, in a hut, I want to sit around a fire wrapped in a Basotho blanket, eating a genuine home cooked (Basotho) meal and I wanna pay for it directly to the village. What I don’t expect is a choice of beers and cold drinks and television to be available, so Instead of staying at the Katse Dam Lodge I wanna stay in a village!
So I asked him how we could look into this ie: Do they even want us there? Is this type of Idea something that would be of interest to the villages and more importantly the Chiefs?
What he suggested was: The Chiefs have meetings (not sure of the frequency) where they get together and discuss various things around social issues, betterment of the villages, problems between villages etc. He said he would be willing to present ideas to this (Chiefs) forum so we need to come up with some first.
Gunda Gunda, in one of the recent posts, suggested that we consolidate GPS co-ords of stone throwing incidents. This will help identify the frequency and location. If we get something going with various Chiefs / Villages, it may be a good idea to start where stone throwing is occurring more often.
Anyway, I have only visited Lesotho a handful of times over the past 10 years so I need to know from the dogs that know Lesotho and its culture if this is worth pursuing. But I really would like to go back to him with some ideas that will provide a win win for the villages and us, so at least he can put it forward to the Chiefs!!
TM....
