top of page

Lesotho & the BBCDC


Andrew and Sehlolo, the BBCDC's solar instructor, walking home after the village install

Lesotho. Its mountainous and mostly undeveloped landscape is more than postcard pretty. The whole time we’ve been here I’ve been camera clicking happily and wishing a new Van Gough would do the scenery justice. The colours here in autumn are phenomenal, there are different shades of gold for the dry corn fields, the hay stacks, the long pale grass fringed with scarlet. Then there are the reds: the iron earth of the moutains, the rosehips dotting the roads and the red tipped willows that line the streams. Just come and see it. Or check out the Gallery for some pictures.

Before arriving in Lesotho I looked up solar activity in Lesotho and found out about the Bethel Business Community Development Centre (BBCDC), a non-profit education centre who offers courses to young adults (including school-leavers) in different aspects of sustainable development including solar energy, metal works, construction, eco-tourism and permaculture. We entered Lesotho via the gorgeous Sani Pass and took a scenic three day drive to Bethel, which is across the Senqu river from the town Mount Morosi (which the locals amusingly refer to as ‘Morose’).

For anyone planning a camping holiday in Lesotho there is a lovely campsite just before the Matebeng pass in SE Lesotho for M25 (AUD$2.50) per person per night which we stopped at on the way to Bethel.

While Lesotho is tarring roads at the speed of racing graders the bridge between Mount Morosi to Bethel is still under construction. To cross the river we just had to follow a stone ford that was actually constructed by students at the BBCDC several years ago. We didn’t actually know this and about two thirds of the way across the river there was an island of silt with tyre tracks which Andrew mistook for the road so we went off the ford and almost-nearly-made it to the silt island if it wasn’t for the river bed of quick sand that sucked in Bruce a meter underwater. We had one front wheel on the island, one touching only water and the back two was deep in quick-mud. The exhaust was under water. At first Andrew tried digging the wheels out but it was impossible with the type of silt we were dealing with. So we got the air jack out (I’m so gad we bought this), and jacked the car up waist deep in water. Some well meaning locals had joined in the fun at this point.

We managed to jack the car up but dented a rock slider in the process as it was the only point we could access without donning our snorkels. Unfortunately while we had successfully gotten Bruce’s rear out of the hole the guys just rolled Bruce right into another one. We were saved a painful process of air-jack-hopping Bruce back to the ford when a tractor from the bridge construction turned up. He demanded an upfront payment and in less than 5 minutes we were back on the ford and chugging our way safely across the river.

In the midst of all this I neglected to capture any of the drama on film but it was pretty amusing turning up for our meet up at BBCDC late and soaked from the waist down and a wee bit muddy. After a quick wardrobe change we started talking to the principal of BBCDC about what they are up to.

The BBCDC metal workshop which is powered by solar (with a diesel generator for welding)

In a nutshell BBCDC aims to provide young Lesotho men and women the skills required to start their own business after they graduate. Salary jobs are scarce (two women told me “You can wait 10 years for a job in Lesotho”) and BBCDC is promoting economic development by promoting entrepreneurship. Like many African countries entrepreneurs typically have more than one business to generate steady income so BBCDC trains people in a range of courses. Students also have to submit business plans to demonstrate business skills. One of the really admirable things about BBCDC is that they charge their students really low fees and rely on business streams such as an on site bed and breakfast business, solar installations, making and selling solar cookers to cover the cost of schooling.

We asked BBCDC if they were interested in any input. They were pretty happy where they were, having a full time electrical engineer and solar instructor who had installed several systems.

Modier and her house

We asked them if they knew the best way to donate a solar system to a poor single mum and they pointed us first to someone who lives in the village who in turn recommended we give the system to ‘Modier’ a woman who looks after five nephews and nieces on her own as their parents have passed away. Modier is a cleaner who earns M250 (AUD$27) a month and she spends ~M45 (AUD$4.80) of that on candles using only one at a time.

Four of the centre’s first year students built a metal frame for the solar panel and my Sotho isn’t great I think one of them got out of doing the dishes in the process. Apart from the welding the metal frame was made using solar power and made out of scrap metal – environmentally speaking it was probably the lowest impact installation we’ve ever been involved in.

Sehlolo, the school’s solar instructor, and two students completed the installation with us – one of the student’s motto was ‘work is my passion’. It was the other solar kit donated by Specialized Solar Systems (see a Single Mum, a Single Dad and a Solar System post) and the first kit system many of the students had seen. They also checked out our solar lamp and phone charger. The students were really enthusiastic and did most of the install – they did a really professional job and Modier and her kids loved having lights. She was in tears over it and we’re really thankful to SSS and BBCDC for making this happen.

Modier's solar system and BBCDC team

We stayed at BBCDC for three nights and the last couple of nights I joined the girls’ aerobics sessions which brought back a lot of 90s music flashbacks. It was fabulous. Our rooftop tent was a photo opportunity for some of the students and surprisingly our Wonderbag drew a lot of interest, with one student wanting to start his own Wonderbox project the following week. What I really liked about spending time at the BBCDC was seeing how the students were proud of their country and wanted their futures in Lesotho, regardless of job security. And they recognised the opportunities for entrepreneurs given the stage the market is at. I have to say, after only a couple of weeks in Lestho, the thought of staying did cross my mind.

RECENT POSTS:
bottom of page