My Organization: MCCC

In my early months at site, everything was so new that I had to share it immediately, and I now realize that I was remiss in fully explaining the organization I am working with. So here is a little bit of background about this incredible volunteer-based organization:

MCCC or Community Care Coalition started in 1996. At the time, WorldVision was trying to form community support groups throughout Butha Buthe. MCCC was made to support five villages. Due to Peace Corps safety considerations, I will abreviate them to Ha Ma, Ha Ra, Ha Ta, Mal, and Mpa. MCCC continues to work closely with WorldVision today; especially when it comes to meeting the needs of OVCs.

Of the five villages in MCCC, my community of Ha Ra is the largest and more centrally located. When given a grant from WorldVision to build a community building, Ha Ra made the most sense. The Community Building has one large gathering room and three smaller work rooms. It is located next to one of the village's water pumps and to the road in and out of the village.

Today, MCCC has 26 members from the five villages; 24 are women and two are men. All members are volunteers. Despite being started by WorldVision, the organization has no funding source. Their mission is to help the sick, poor, and orphaned in the five villages. Because MCCC is all volunteer, it has only a loose organizational structure in the form of a leadership committee of five woman. Despite being five women, it does not represent all five villages as two live in Ha Ra. There were originally more people in the leadership committee, however, some have died and not been replaced.

Current projects include making and selling Aloe Vaseline, growing and selling produce, and serving as a conduit between donors and orphans. In the past, MCCC worked with the people in the villages to ensure all homes with sick, poor, or orphaned people had keyhole gardens. These are still heavily used.

Challenges the organization currently faces:

• A lack of business and marketing skills to budget and maintain the Aloe Vaseline project.
• A lack of money—helping to provide for people's basic needs costs money and right now there is no source of income.
• Working with youth and children to help them succeed despite their challenges.
• Even for the members, village life is difficult and resources are scarce, so regular volunteer work and effort from everyone is asking a lot.
• WorldVision will be leaving this area in September 2015. The majority of resources provided for local OVCs and for MCCC currently come from WorldVision (e.g. Maize seeds and fertilizer). WorldVision has been the greatest provider of resources for MCCC thus far. In theory, the Lesotho government will be taking over the fulfillment of these needs, but the transition is already creating anxiety.

The organization has big goals for the future. Their primary goal is to create a sustainable income generating activity so they are able to fulfill their mission far into the future. In this way, they are eager to begin a piggery and an egg-laying chicken project. They would also like to have the OVCs create items to sell by sewing, knitting, and crocheting. Lastly, they would like to find more sponsors so they are able to do more in the community.

WorldVision has expressed their great pride in MCCC for successfully getting a PCV of their own. It takes a lot of work before a PCV is placed with an organization and most organizations this small are unable to fulfill all the requirements. Knowing how much effort the members of MCCC and the five communities have put forth in gaining me as a PCV really motivates me to be a great volunteer and resource for them. It also fills me with a sense of responsibility to ensure that I give back more than they have invested in getting a PCV.  

Nutrition, Wool, and Inspiration

I love where I live. My village is my home. Other than not being able to see many of my friends and family, my life is pretty much perfect right now. 

My organization and I work in my village and the four surrounding villages. As a PCV, a huge responsibility is to build capacity and help the people in my area gain the skills and initiative to do things for themselves instead of building a reliance on me as a person or representative of outside aid. 

One of my absolute favorite things about my area is that the villagers in my area are constantly taking the initiative to make their own living situations better. I cherish and celebrate the many things I see them doing.  Sometimes I wonder if they even need a PCV, as they are clearly already working in the right direction, then I remember that getting a PCV is just one example of their ingenuity. 

Over the last few months, I have been involved in a number of wonderful activities that have highlighted the resourcefulness of my community. Here are a sampling of them:

Wool and Mohair Growers Association:

Recently a community I work with was able to get an SADP (Smallholders Agricultural Development Project) grant to start their own association. Many rural Basotho keep sheep and goats. The ability to collect and weigh the wool locally will allow the local livestock owners to work together when selling their product, hopefully giving them more power as sellers. 

Continued Growth in the Agricultural Block Scheme:

Our Agricultural Block Scheme started in the late 1980s, when our chief was able to encourage villagers to combine their land resources and to work their fields together. He was then able to secure a grant to pay for irrigation to be added to some of the fields. 

The scheme continues to meet success, as was celebrated at the Mokete ea Temo I attended and then mentioned again in the press as I shared in Mokete ea Temo: Celebrity Style.  Currently, three large greenhouses with irrigation are being installed thanks to assistance from Letsing Diamond Mines. This will allow the scheme to grow and sell some vegetables year round and provide a greenhouse to serve as a place to start crops before warm weather arrives. 

Beekeeping Workshop with Worldvision:

Last month, the local Worldvision office, who has worked closely with my community for a number of years, held a week-long beekeeping workshop and offered to help those interested in starting to keep bees. The workshop was well attended. 

Nutrition Workshop for Mothers with the Ministry of Agriculture:

I spent three days this past week in a Nutrition Workshop. Over 60 women-both women from my organization and young mothers-attended. The Ministry facilitators did an excellent job covering good nutrition as a whole, nutrition related illnesses and how to prevent them with proper nutrition, and much more. The final day included a practical in which the women learned to make a variety of foods for infants transitioning to solid food. 

This was particularly excited for me, partially because many people not involved in the above activities were included, but also because it marked one of the first times I have successfully spent learning a topic exclusively in Sesotho. Additionally, Butha Buthe has the second highest rate of stunting in children, with 43% of children considered to be stunted. Many of the young mothers who attended I also spend time with at the monthly Mother & Child Outreach Clinic in our village, so seeing a workshop designed to help them be better mothers and help youth achieve better rates of growth is particularly exciting to me. 

With all of these activities, the opportunity to be involved is an honor. While I would love to claim these activities as my own, it is even better to see that such wonderful things are happening without my influence! I am so blessed to live in a vibrant community that does not let its challenges keep it from trying!