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Recipe from Lesotho: Pap with Spicy Vegetables

Makes 4-5 servings 

A slightly spicy mixture of peppers, tomatoes and beans served over cornmeal porridge.

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Rosa Maria’s Story

My name is Rosa Maria Rametsi and I live with my husband and six grandchildren in a small village in the mountains of Lesotho. My grandchildren came to live with us 2 years ago when their father passed away and their mother left the village to find work. My husband and I are getting older — we are now in our seventies — and it is hard for us to care for the children.

The Good Shepherd Sisters run an Early Childhood Care and Development center here in the village. CRS provides the teachers with special training on working with young children. We decided to send our two youngest grandchildren to the center. Malifomo is 3 years old and Molefe is 4. They have already learned a lot. Every day when they come home from school, they sing us the new songs they learned at the center. They have also learned prayers to say before eating meals. We see them counting to 10 and using stones to show other children how to do it. They can recite their vowels and are starting to use bigger words in sentences. We hope that this early education will help give them a bright future.

Reflection

In your prayer this week, consider the people who have cultivated and nurtured you through times of learning, failure or dry periods. Take stock of the gifts that you have been given—the good fruit that comes from your life of faith. Read more.

Facts to Consider

In Lesotho, CRS works with the Good Shepherd Sisters to ensure the right of orphans and vulnerable children to high-quality early education opportunities. The Early Childhood Care and Development program focuses on five key areas of development: physical, mental, social, spiritual and emotional. As a result of the program, children are better prepared to follow instructions from teachers, sit in a classroom for several hours and socialize with one another.

• 75 percent of Lesotho’s population lives in remote mountainous areas, where limited infrastructure makes communication and transportation very difficult.
• Roughly 68 percent of people live below the poverty line, and Lesotho has the third highest HIV prevalence rate in the world. As a result of these factors, the number of orphaned children in Lesotho continues to rise, and communities often lack the resources needed to care for them.
• CRS and the Catholic Church in Lesotho are taking a rights-based, holistic approach to addressing the needs of these communities, including education and protection for children as well as training on improved farming techniques and proper nutrition for families.
• The CRS-supported Early Childhood Care and Development program in Lesotho focuses on holistic development of young children in order to prepare them for elementary and secondary school.
• Once they enter elementary school, many children in Lesotho are provided with uniforms, shoes and hygiene kits. In addition, CRS is helping community members to learn new gardening techniques so that children have better access to nutritious meals.