Almost home...

Day 7 - Sunday

A well deserved rest day today after the hectic day before, mostly spent lounging at the poolside at the Lesotho Sun, the best hotel in Maseru. At the end of a lazy day strangely everyone seemed to be even more tired than at the start, go figure. Hopefully after a good sleep we'll be energised for the new week ahead.

Day 8 - Monday

Up and out early and a two hour drive today to the north western province of Butha Buthe. Upon arriving we were greeted with a pitch with about 8 inches of standing water in places and a lovely traditionally thatched stand which even had carpet on the floor! Apparently there are quite a few of these around the country as the king likes to visit a new village each year for his birthday and they build a stand and have events such as horse parades on the field outside. After some initial delay, several schools arrived and we began delivering our usual games. We hadn't as much time as usual and so had to condense the games, but the message seemed to get through even if the kids needed a little more encouragement than usual. They were a bit older and seemed more self-conscious. They were also immaculately turned out and all their uniforms were pristine and I doubt that was just for our benefit.

After lunch we then played another game against the local Kick4Life trainers. After a week of intense activity we were starting to get a bit tired but in the end we ran out convincing winners, 5 - 1 and I scored two goals and had a dodgy claim on a third! Due to the water the match at times was a bit crazy and one of our goals was a pantomime effort where our striker and the keeper floundered around in a giant pool of water lashing at the floating ball until eventually our striker won the day. I really hope we got it on video. During the match there was also a hailstorm with giant hail which really stung. Afterward we all stank of boggy water and the trip home was long and smelly, ameliorated though by a fantastic sunset and low giant crescent moon.


Day 9 - Tuesday

A big day today as it's the last day of our official tour duties. We traveled to Malealea which is a 1.5 hours drive up into the mountains. Here we got to over 2000 meters and enjoyed spectacular panoramic views of mountains and valleys. By and large the roads in Lesotho are outstanding but once you get towards Malealea they descent into red dirt tracks and with a storm coming overhead, the last few miles were windy and bumpy. After dumping our baggage, we proceeded down the road to the local primary school where we had visited on the previous tour, memorable for being the worst pitch I have ever played on with the best scenery and it was comforting to see that nothing had changed. Local secondary school kids came along as well and we delivered our last sessions. Those with the secondary school kids were doing the normal HIV games while those with the primary children were just playing and having a laugh. Afterwards we were treated to am amazing display as the primary and secondary school kids had an impromptu choir sing-off. We then presented them with some Kick4Life shirts and I also donated another of the Godmanchester Rovers kits.

After a quick lunch we were back on the school and on the pitch to play the local village team. This turned out to be the most epic match of the tour with them really running us ragged early on. They were soon 2-0 up but with two comedy goals which should never have gone in. Luckily I pulled one back before the break and we went in 2-1 down at half-time. In the second half we finally got to grips with the game and they began to tire. Soon we were pressing hard seeking an equaliser which eventually arrived. The game drew to a close with us in control. Extra time followed and in the first half we scored to go 3-2 up. We then scored again only for the long range shot to be disallowed because someone out left and completely not interfering with play was deemed offside. A dreadful decision, but still we only needed to hold out for 10 minutes for a famous victory. Alas though, it was not to be and we conceded badly from a free kick and then again a couple of minutes later to shockingly lose 4-3. We were disheartened but ultimately satisfied with our endeavours on this tour both on and off the field. After the match we donated a complete Liverpool kit to the village team which the club had generously donated to me to take out here. A nice end to a fantastic game and tour.


Day 10 - Wednesday

With our official duties now over we could now relax in Malealea and nurse our various cuts, bruises and injuries incurred along a very busy tour. Today we travelled to the Botsoela twin waterfall which is a spectacular trek down through green valleys, up hills and ultimately ending at a fabulous natural waterfall. I did this trek on a horse in the last tour and most opted for horses this time around but with a marathon looming in May I opted for the four hour trek by foot as some sort of training. It was a fabulous and thoroughly enjoyable walk in spectacular scenery and the payoff, plunging under the pulverising waterfall was one of the most refreshing things ever. Lesotho has an amazing rugged beauty and it would be a dream if they could overcome the major health problems which are here and emerge as a thriving tourist destination.

Day 11 - Thursday

Well, I almost made it. On the last tour I got ill early on and really struggled for most of the two weeks. This time around I have been physically fine and in fact have definitely got stronger as the weeks have gone on and my lungs have adapted to the higher altitude. However, for the last two days I have developed an earache which has kept me awake at night and this morning travelled back to Maseru to visit the hospital as it was obvious it was not going away. We went to the Maseru Private Clinic and I didn't know what to expect but I needen't have worried. It was a very clean relatively new facility with no queues and a very thorough doctor. She quickly diagnosed me with an infected eardrum (Autitis?) and prescribed me with antibiotics, painkillers and an anti-inflammatory. I walked out of the examination room around the corner of the corridor to the pharmacy and picked up my pills immediately and then paid a total of 170 Rand (about 12 pounds). All done in about 15 minutes. If I had been in the UK, I would probably have been waiting hours. I hope the pills start to clear this up real quick as I have a lot of airplane time ahead of me in the next two days!


Day 12 - Friday

It all started so well. Got up early for breakfast and then got on the bus for the long (4.5 hour) drive to Johannesburg. Once we got through the Lesotho / South African border we drove for about an hour before stopping for brunch at a beautiful cafe-cum-craft shop called Living Life. The surroundings were glorious, a rustic rural cottage with fabulous gardens and the food was superb and sourced mainly from their own garden. Happy and refreshed we got back on the bus to resume our journey to the airport. We were about 150km from Johannesburg when disaster struck. I was reading my book at the time when I heard various members of the team exclaim and looked up to see a pickup truck rolling in the fields on the other side of the road. We screeched to a halt and barrelled out of the bus to rush to the scene. Before we reached the truck we could see it was a bad one, there was debris everywhere (it looked to be carrying Carling Black Label labels) and the truck was on it's roof and badly mangled. The back rear tire had blown out and it had careered off the road gouging a thick groove with the bare wheel as it went. Just in front of the truck we found one man injured but conscious and able to move his extremeties. We surmised later that he was probably wearing his seat-belt and had crawled out. About 40 yards further on from the truck we found a woman probably in her mid-twenties and it was obvious from the start that she was in a really bad condition. She was unconscious and only had a very faint pulse. This pulse disappeared pretty quickly and despite the absolutely heroic efforts of two of our team administering CPU, they couldn't revive her. All we could do after a few minutes was put a towel over her head. It was a truly shocking and devastating scene. The police took about 15-20 minutes to arrive and the ambulance an additional 15-20 minutes. By then we were getting back on our bus and heading onward in silence. It was a bitter irony that we had all come on the tour to help save lives only to see one extinguished before our very eyes. I think we all then just wanted to get home to our families while being conscious that somewhere the family of that poor girl were about to get the worst of news.

A busy week over.

Day 4 - Wednesday

A slightly more sedate start to today with a kickaround at 7am followed by breakfast at 8:30. Then most of the group split and went to visit Thaba Bosou which is one of the most famous landmarks in Lesotho, a flat mountain plateau where the Basotho tribes would retreat to defend themselves against the Zulus. This mountain basically helped maintain Lesotho's independence. However, having been there last year I decided to give it a miss this time and venture for the first time into downtown Maseru. Kingsway is the main street and it was as busy as ever with lots of traffic and the incessant hooting of taxi's horns even when nothing is in their way as they drive through the steam coming off the street from a recent rainshower amidst the torrid heat. Kingsway is a mix of ultra modern shops selling things like the latest mobile phones and rundown almost derelict buildings selling second hand items that I can't imagine anyone ever wanting to buy.

After lunch it was another orphanage visit and this time I went to MIS which is bigger than MeNeos and has more children. The kids there are not as placid as the ones at MeNeos, they try and climb all over you given a chance and even when not given a chance, but their enthusiasm isn't malicious, they just crave attention. We stayed with them for two hours and played games, mostly football related or arts and crafts. After that we went back to MeNeos where half the group were waiting and we spent an hour helping them finish digging and levelling the ground at the front of the orphanage. Hard work but still rewarding to be doing something which you can physically see is helping. On Tuesday when we visited I learned that they had no football, so while I was down town I got them one and gave it to the boys there. Needless to say, they were overjoyed. 20 Maluti (just over 4 pounds) well spent. Maybe one day one of them will grow up to play on the national team, the Likuenas (Crocodiles), who knows. They certainly have skill enough or at least more skill than me but that's not exactly a huge achievement. :) Tomorrow we spend our day preparing for the Test-Your-Team event and then have a game in the afternoon at the SOS orphanage against staff members from the Baylor Clinic, an American medical clinic that does a huge amount of work in Lesotho. We played them during the last tour and won so maybe they will be out for revenge, we'll see.


Day 5 - Friday

As with most previous days, today started with a kickaround from 7:15 to 7:45 just to loosen the muscles after the day before and then we were off to the Maseru Club in central Maseru to help prepare the pitch for the Test-Your-Team event on Saturday. Last night there was an amazing lightening storm which went on for hours and was a veritable fireworks display. After that a lot of the pitch had standing water and lining it out in old school style with bags of lime by hand proved interesting. If it rains tonight we may arrive tomorrow to find all our lines missing and have to redo the whole lot again. After setting up the pitch we had a quick lunch and then went to visit Rastemelah school in Maboto, a district in Maseru city itself. Those of us who had been on the previous tour knew what to expect but it was a shock for the newer folk to see the kids screaming and running towards us like a stampeding herd of buffalo! They are so enthusiastic it defies belief, we felt like one of the Beatles. Not John obviously, but just above Ringo. We spent the afternoon there playing with the kids and not really delivering HIV prevention messages as there were a lot of younger primary school kids there. So we just played games and sang songs and generally had fun. We have learned a new song / dance routine called "How Funky Is Your Chicken" which could sweep the world and be a sensation in clubs the world over. Or maybe not. :)

After the school we went to play the game with Baylor. We had been dreading it because the pitch was one of the worst we played on last year so it was with bemusement and disbelief when we arrived to see it completely green and being mowed. Well, mostly mowed as some bits had standing water, but you can't have everything. As it turned out it flattered to deceive and proved a very sluggish surface which sapped the legs. We started well but soon deteriorated and the rest of the match was a bit of a battle which we finally managed to win 4-3 thanks to a last minute (but definate) penalty which I luckily managed to slot home. No pressure there then! :) Tomorrow during Test-Your-Team we are playing a shortened (about 30 mins a side) game against the Ex-National team and if we perform like today we'll be murdered.

So tomorrow is the Test-Your-Team and we start at 6am getting things ready. Then 8 schools from around the vicinity will bring students with them and we will play a soccer tournament (two four group pools and the top two from each group going into the semi-finals). The age group is under 18 and every team is 7-a-side with at least 3 girls in the squad of 10 and one on the pitch at any one time. Teams will earn points for winning, playing fair but also being tested for HIV. There will be 20 tents dotted around the fields which will be testing all day with medical staff and councillors at the ready. We will be in pairs and sticking with one school the whole day including encouraging them to get tested. It will be a very full on exciting, tiring and potentially devastating day. I look forward to it but with some trepidation.


Day 6 - Saturday

Up and about at 5:30am and lots of work to do before the event started at 9:30 with the arrival of the schoolchildren, although timekeeping in Lesotho can be a moveable feast so nobody was expecting the schedule to be rigidly adhered to. Jobs to be done included sorting out the food, relining the pitch in the places where the lime had disappeared, setting up the goalposts for the smaller 7-a-side pitches and erecting the testing tents. The basic plan for the day was that there would be 8 schools bringing a total of 80 children each, so in theory 640. Each group of 80 would be split into 4 groups of 20 and each group of 20 would have some Kick4Life trainers playing games with them and encouraging them to get tested. Amongst the 80, the school would have included a squad of 10 football players which must have included 3 girls. The 8 schools would be split into two pools of 4 teams and each play the other three teams in their pool. The top two from each pool would progress to the semi-final.

In the event all 8 schools showed up but with varying numbers, some had 80 but others barely managed 50 and I think the total was somewhere between 400-500 kids. It was hard to tell exactly as there were random children just turning up as well (which is a good thing if it encourages them to get tested). I must say that we have all remarked on the children in Lesotho and how well behaved and respectful they are. It's hard to compare things across cultures and there will be positives and negatives, but I can't imagine that many 14-18 year old children showing up in the UK on a Saturday morning in their school uniforms and then playing often silly and simple games and joining in without complaint. The games we played vary from some Kick4Life curriculum games (which all have a message about HIV protection / prevention / education) to games the kids chose themselves such as maybe just dancing and singing in a circle. And boy do these people love to dance and sing! It is a part of our culture we have sadly lost (or are losing) but out here everyone from babe to elder will start singing and dancing at the drop of a hat. It is a really liberating atmosphere to be in when someone will just start up a song and a dance and everyone in the vicinity joins in with delight. Lesotho (and perhaps Africa in general) has huge medical and social problems no doubt, but it also retains a cultural identity and community spirit that most western countries could well do with re-education in.

Once the day got started, it was non-stop action. First there was an introduction and then a brief speech from one of our own Kick4Life coaches who told everyone she was HIV positive for 3 years and living a full and healthy live thanks to the freely available anti-retroviral drugs (ARV's) that Lesotho's government provides. Since the prevalence of HIV amongst adults in Lesotho is about 23.4% or just over 1 in 5, I suddenly wondered how many of the other coaches who have become our friends this week might also be in the same situation.

Speaking of the coaches, they are a tremendous strength for Kick4Life. There are almost 500 in the country now in most districts and most are voluntary. They range from early teens to adults and they are incredibly adept and keeping the children entertained while constantly reminding them of the key messages of how to prevent or survive HIV. And for us, they are just great fun to be around, they keep us going all day long. Me and my partner Dave are ever reliant on our coach Nandos who bounds around the place keeping kids playing, sometimes chastising them if they don't join in and then a second later having them grinning with a flash of her trademark smile. She also constantly reinforces the important messages and ensures that they get it.

There were constant football games as the tournament progressed, constant circles of children playing games and singing and also slowly at first, but picking up as the morning moved on, queues beginning to form for the testing tents. With all the hustle and bustle, it is tempting to forget what the main purpose of the day is. When you are busy trying to remember things, playing games to keep your group amused, your focus gets distracted but I must say it gets reset pretty quickly. I found myself outside a testing tent with 6 kids from our group who we had just been laughing and playing games with when it suddenly struck me how utterly awful it was for them to be standing there, maybe 16 years old queueing outside a small tent in a field waiting to hear if their lives are about to be changed forever. No child should have to deal with that, it breaks your heart.

It was a very long and boiling hot day. The football tournament played out and the school I was assigned to, LIFE (I don't know what it is an acronym for), actually went on to win! I'd like to say it was my excellent coaching skills but in truth I saw very little of it as I was busy playing games, encouraging people to test, drawing water for people in the queues and sometimes just waiting with them. At lunch-time we played our fourth game of football, a short exhibition match against the ex-national team. It was 20-minutes a side and we were really up for it. We had lost 1-0 last year to them and to be honest were delighted with that. This time around we amazingly managed to win 2-1 (I headed home the first, 3 from 4 games now, I should think about renegotiating my contract :)) and as a team it was our best performance by far. We had a gameplan and stuck to it and it worked, despite the ref adding an extra 6 minutes to the second half in the hopes they would equalize!

After the football we got back to our duties and I requested to observe when a test was being performed. I had been thinking about this all day and decided that I shouldn't come all this way and not see the real reason we were here. With the consent of one of the children, I sat in the corner and quietly observed while she sat with the counsellor who would also test her. I didn't know quite what to expect, the enormity of the situation could breed any mixture of emotions for the child involved and I was nervous. In the event, it was a very strange few minutes. Certainly there was tension, but it wasn't unbridled. The counsellor kept talking to her in Sesotho but I knew from the few English words involved that she was talking about HIV and AIDS but her tone wasn't grim and she even got a few smiles from the girl. I got the impression she was reassuring her that this was a disease that it would be bad to have but if you have it, it is not the end of the world or your life. I found it very reassuring and I think the girl did too as she seemed to relax more as the test went on. The test itself involved swabbing the thumb with an alcohol wipe, then pricking it with a disposable lancet (sort of like a small one pronged stabler). Then a drop of blood is squeezed out, picked up with a small capilliary tube and placed on one end of a testing strip which is about the size of a standard plaster. A drop of chase buffer is applied and then over the next 2 minutes the blood moves down from one end of the strip to the other. In the middle is a blue bar and if one red vertical line appears to the right of the blue bar, the test is negative, two red lines, one either side, means positive and none means the test needs to be performed again. It is I believe a standard antibody test. We sat there and the counsellor chatted while we all watched the blood move down the strip and when only one red line appeared, it was smiles all around. A negative result. There followed some post-test counselling and then it was all over. It's impossible to describe what it felt like watching someone go through that, but I'm glad I did. It certainly reinforces the fact that we need to keep doing all we can to combat this disease.

At the end of the event I presented the winning football team with a set of shirts which had been donated by Godmanchester Rovers and also a set to the school who had the most students tested. They were delighted with this and also with the whole day and lots of them wanted us to visit to deliver the education sessions whenever we could. So a very successful and rewarding if utterly draining day. Afterwards we learned that about 75% of the kids got tested and the prevalence was about 3%. The problem is, as people get into their 20's in Lesotho and get more sexually active, the prevalence skyrockets. At least those 3% will now have the proper medication they will need to carry on with their lives.

Busy days!

Four days in and it's been a busy time. Here is a summary of what we have been up to so far.

Arrival in Maseru

And so the journey is complete and we are finally in Maseru, Lesotho. Compared to the marathon voyage of last time, it had not been so bad, but still after a 6 hour wait in Madrid, a 9.5 hour flight and then a 5 hour drive (including a brief stop to pick up a speeding ticket), it is great to finally be here, ensconced once again at the Lesotho Football Association (LEFA) Headquarters in Bambatha (and with a stunning sunset to boot). It used to have one of the best pitches in the whole country but recently someone has decided to take a digger to it to fix a few bumps and instead of making a minor improvement, they have turned it into a giant hole / swamp. Nice.

Morale among the troops is still high though and with a very busy first day in the offing (with a 7:30 start!) we are all off to bed early. Tomorrow we have some curriculum training / orientation, a visit from some street kids and then our first match against the Kick4Life trainers. It promises to be interesting and probably a lot tougher start than last time out.

Day 1 - Monday
Day 1 over and what a tiring day it has been. We started early, leaving Bambatha at 7:30 and after breakfast started learning about the various activities we would be doing. We spent the morning indoors discussing the Kick4Life agenda in Lesotho and then went outside to the nearby soccer pitch (I say pitch, but in fact it was just a mixture of hard sand and huge tufts of rough grass, we were horrified at the prospect of playing football on it) to practice the games we would be playing with the kids at the various schools we will visit. Each game is meant to be fun but to also carry one or more messages about HIV and how to protect yourself against it. As with last year the lead trainer for us was Refilwae and his infectious enthusiasm is undimmed and we were all soon joining in with enthusiasm. As ever with these events the mood was changed mid-morning when we heard a "Coach's Story" whereby one of the Kick4Life coaches tells a story about how HIV has affected their lives. For us it was a young girl from a nearby town who told us about her mother dying. Needless to say it was harrowing and sad but also in the end a bit uplifting as she described how despite that desolation she has managed to turn her life around, thanks to Kick4Life. It makes us feel that in a very tangible and real way the money we raised will change real people's life for the better. The rest of the morning was spent with us teaching the games back to Kick4Life trainers (there were over 100 in attendance from various provinces in Lesotho!) to make sure we knew them and understood them and that was extremely enjoyable all round. They ranged in ages from early teens to in their twenties and we all had a lot of fun.

In the afternoon we played our first match against a Kick4Life Trainer's 11 and it was quite a baptism of fire. After the guys with the strimmers had trimmed the worse of the tufts of grass, we kicked off and for the first 25 minutes we hardly saw the ball and were chasing shadows all over the pitch. Their control of the ball and movement, especially in front of goal, was mesmerising and it looked like it could be a very long hot day. After 25 minutes we were 2-0 down but despite the possession, those goals were from an amazing 30 yard volley and a comedy goal where a slow low shot which hit a tuft just in front of the keeper and just bounced over his head. He had no chance. Eventually though, we got our act together and with a bit of reorganising managed to get ourselves back into the game and in fact controlled it. By half-time we had evened the score to 2-2 and could even have led. The second half started very evenly for about the first 20 minutes, but as time wore on, the altitude, oppressive heat and shockingly unfamiliar conditions began to wear heavy on us and they again gained control. By the end they had scored 4 more goals and were showboating and we were shattered. So 6-2 a final score, maybe a bit harsh, but they certainly deserved to win. A few minutes after the final whistle a huge lightening storm swept over and the pitch disappeared under inches of water, but luckily we were inside by then.

Tomorrow we start our teaching proper and go to schools in the morning. Then in the afternoon we will be visiting orphanages before attending the opening of the new Kick4Life offices in the evening. Our schedule is looking very busy, but that is why we are out here and we are looking forward to it.

Day 2 - Tuesday

Another early start this morning (as they all will be I think) and after breakfast we headed straight to Maseru High School which I believe is one of the best schools in the country. There we spent the morning doing our activities and playing games. The ages of the kids ranged from between 14-18 and they were all very clued in. For one of the games we had to name two teams and they chose "The Red Hot Chili Peppers" and "The Killers"! Having said that, they were also incredibly willing to engage and join in the games with total enthusiasm. There is a lot of singing and dancing and very little self-consciousness on display. The sessions are very tiring, especially for us trainers, but also hugely fun and the messages do seem to get across. Afterward their principal was very impressed and inquired about getting Kick4Life back to do more of their curriculum, which was great. This year, instead of giving the sessions on our own, each group also has a local Kick4Life trainer with them which makes things so much easier. Our trainer is Nandos who is the liveliest woman on the planet. :)

After the school visit we had a quick lunch and then we went to visit some orphanages. The group split in two and one went to MIS Orphanage and another (our group) went to MeNeos. I was particularly interested in this one as it was the orphanage we visited last time we were here (and which I probably mentioned in an earlier post on this blog). Last time there was MeNeo (the woman who set up the orphanage), her mother, her own two kids and 21 others living in two small shacks with no electricity and water coming from a well that just looked like a horrible hole in the ground. Happily they have since got funding for a new building and just a month ago moved in so we were delighted to see their new surroundings. They now have a nice relatively big new building with beds for all the children (previously they slept on the floor) and are delighted with the place. Electricity is due to be connected some time in the coming weeks. We spent the afternoon playing with the kids and it was just a joy. They are so sweet and will join in with anything. The mass waterballoon fight at the end was a particular highlight. Also, when we were there last year I may have mentioned a woman who was there (and HIV positive) with her baby daughter Palessa. I am happy to report they are both still there and doing very well and Palessa is in the photo with this post! Still though there is a lot of work for these orphanages to do. They had a little baby there (called Mike) who was 6 months old and came to them at two weeks after being found abandones with a thread wrapped around his neck. He only weighed 1.2 kilos when found but happily now is a bouncing boy.

In the evening there was a party at the Kick4Life headquarters to celebrate them moving into new offices. There were lots of people there including the Irish and American ambassadors, government officials and representatives from various partner charities that Kick4Life is engaged with. All in all a great way to celebrate the rapid achievements of this young charity!

Day 3 - Wednesday

An early rise again and a 1.5 hour drive to visit two schools in Mafeteng. First up was Bereng High School (which we visited last year) and again like last year instead of the requested two or three classes we had the whole school out which made things very difficult. Instead of dealing with maybe 25 kids in a group we all had well over 50! Still though we made the best of it and for the most-part it went well but you have to work very hard to keep them interested. Another quick lunch and then a visit to another school, Johnson Baker. This was much better with smaller more manageable groups and the students were lively and great fun. Straight after that we went to a local pitch and played a combination of teachers from both schools. The pitch was one we had played on before so we new what to expect (awful but manageable :)) and in this one we were the better team from start to finish. We ended up winning 5-1 and I managed to bag one near the end. I also managed to bag a nice long graze after being pushed over in the penalty area and only desisted from being outraged when I learned that my teammate behind me had scored. :)

This is now Day 4 and it is a bit of a rest day although this afternoon we go back to both orphanages and at one of them do a bit of gardening and manual labour! So all in all a very busy but enjoyable few days so far with more ahead. Tomorrow we visit more schools, play another match and on Saturday we have a huge all day Test-Your-Team event which is the Kick4Life flagship event where 640 kids will come to play football, play games and hopefully also get tested for HIV. I don't know how any of us will react if there are positives, the test takes 7 minutes and it could be a very harrowing 7 minutes indeed, each time. Luckily there will be trained councilors to deal with everyone who gets tested, but I imagine it may get emotional.

No rain in Spain...

The first leg of the trip is over, I am currently wating in Madrid airport for our flight in about 3 hours time. Been here 3 hours already and while it is a pretty spectacular airport, it is still an airport and they get old quickly. Morale among the group is high though and hopefully a good sleep on the plane will perk everyone right up for tomorrow.

The second Tour begins..

Another year, another pre-tour packing frenzy. Honestly, if you don't leave things until the night before, you never get that tingle of anticipation. At least that's what I keep telling myself. For the last tour I had only to pack for myself, but this time around I'm also carrying big bags of football kit kindly donated by Liverpool (yes, THE Liverpool) and Godmanchester Youths FC (thanks Lucy!!). I don't even want to think about the weight allowance. For tradition's sake, here is the obligatory luggage photo.

I'm really looking forward to the tour ahead, it is a different feeling to last time because the place isn't an unknown anymore, but it is none the less still very exciting. I just hope my health holds out this time and we have a glitch free time.

A very long day ahead tomorrow is in prospect, driving to Heathrow (2 hours), flying first from London to Madrid (2 hours), a six hour stopover and then Madrid to Johannesburg (9.5 hours). Then the final leg, about a 4-5 hour drive to Lesotho...we should be shattered. :)

And with that in mind, it's off to bed!

Back home.

Well, back home a week now and trying to settle back into the rat race, traffic jams, freezing weather and people rushing around like there's no tomorrow. Finally got my photos online, check them out by clicking here.

Final days in Lesotho....

It is the last day before we leave Lesotho tomorrow and a perfect time I guess to come up to date and perhaps reflect on the trip. Thankfully I have finally managed to almost shake off my cold/flu and am getting back to normal. The irony of getting my worst illness in years during the trip has not been lost on my but when I think about it, the only thing it has severely impacted has been my ability to play football and the football was always secondary.

I think the easiest way to retrace the tour would be to walk through it.

Sunday - Arrived in the early hours at Maseru and checked into the Lesotho FA (LEFA) headquarters in the outskirts, which would be our base for the two weeks.

Monday - Woke up to see Lesotho for the first time, a county of mountains and greenery, but also hot and dusty. In the morning we went up to Maseru city centre (basically one street called Kingsway) and tried to take in the mixture of opulent and dishevelled, the constantly honking taxis and busy bustle of a city centre. In the afternoon we went to the SOS Orphanage on the outskirts of Maseru. This took us through the 'suburbs' of the city which are small concrete shacks with galvanised roofs, sometimes well kept, often decrepid. The orphanage itself is one of the better around, neat little red bricked houses which each house 6 children, looked after by one 'aunt' who lives with them. The children were fascinated by us and by our footballs and proceeded to show us for the first time the amazing ball control skills these people have on pitches that would not be used for car parks back in the UK. We played our first match there and happily won 3-2. I scored my only goal of the tour, a free kick curled into the top corner which will keep me happy for years to come. After the match we then donated some kit to them.

Tuesday - Visited a school in Maboto called Rastamelah. Here we were given the full Beatles treatment with hundreds of children swarming around us all day, telling us how beautiful we were and laughing with and often at us as we played with them. We gave our AIDS education and spent most of the day there. The children were dressed in everything from impeccable school uniforms to badly worn castaways, but were universally friendly and full of joy. That evening we had our second football match agains the Baylor Clinic team (who work with HIV sufferers) and won 3-0. Again we donated some kit to them.

Wednesday - Went back to the same school and just played with the children, everything from football games to the Hokey Kokey. Their enthusiasm for us was undimmed as was ours for them. In the evening we had our third game against the Maboto police who play in the Lesotho 2nd Division. The pitch was just an uneven dustbowl and they played with pace and control. Luckily we managed to hold them and go 1-0 up. Despite spending most of the second half with 30 yards of our own goals, we managed to hold onto the win. Not for the last time on the trip, we were all asked for our boots after the match. They had to make do with our shirts. Across the team the rigours of the past few days were starting to tell and it was here that I first began to feel less than well. Over the next few days that would graduate to flu.

Thursday - Went to two schools in Mafateng. The first, called Johnson Baker, was in reasonable conditions and the kids were older teenagers who were much cooler and laid back than the younger ones we had met in Maboto. They played the games with just as much fun though. Afterwards we were treated to their amazing choir who just blew us away with their fabulous voices, moves and utter joy when they sang. I couldn't help thinking it was a sight I would never see in a school back home. The second school, Bereng, was poorer than the first, but the kids were just as fun. Half way through our session though the Army parachuted in which proved a hard competition for their attention!

Friday - We were due to return to Mafateng to play the local club there called Club 22. However, the teachers from Johnson Baker also wanted to play us so we ended up having two matches. The pitch made the one in Mabote suddenly look like Wembley being just a huge dustbowl with high winds often obscuring everything. I was too ill to take much part in these matches and so only played in spells and felt terrible. We drew the first match, but the second against the 2nd Division Club 22 was as hard a game as any of us has ever played. In the end we lost 1-0 but couldn't complain. They had earned the shirts we gave them off our backs after the match! That night the entire team was shattered.

Saturday - In the morning we visited the school for the Blind and orphanage which I mentioned in my previous blog. They were very emotional for us all and I think we will carry them most in our hearts when we leave. In the afternoon we played the Ex-Likuena who are the Ex-Lesotho National team! Alas I was still ill and could only play a half, but we all relished the experience of playing against ex-nationals. We lost 1-0 but had a few chances to steal it at the end. They were worthy of their ex-national status though with their ball control and passing. The only player on our team comparable is Wave, an ex-Lesotho national himself, who has been our chaperone while we are over here. Saturday evening and night I spent in bed with one of the worst fevers I have ever had.

Sunday - Rest, rest rest.

Monday - We had been invited to play agains the team of Prince Seisso at Matsieng. They are in the first division and so we knew it would be a challenge. The setting was a beautiful mountain village and before the match we had a brief tour of the royal grounds. I had resolved not to play any football due to ill health, but in the end I did come on in painful spells. We started brightly and went 1-0 up but in the end class told for them and fatigue for us and we lost 5-1. Donated our sweat-stained kit.

Tuesday - Travelled to Malealea up in the mountains and visited the school in Malealea village. This was a primary school with just 7o kids, so we just played games with them and they were again amazing, singing and dancing and enjoying any fun going. Afterwards we played Lilana FC, the local team who are in the 2nd division on what is the worst pitch I have ever seen. There was no grass, what was there was quarryed our of stone and most of the stone was left! It ended 1-1 and we went to penalties which we won 10-9! A fitting end to the tour. We gave the kit to the school and the teachers sang in joy about it for ages!

Wednesday - A day off in Malealea and we went pony trekking in this amazing mountain landscape. The trek was through some pretty hazardous cliff paths but the journey was worth it when we got to the Botsoela Waterfall where we all took a dip. The trip home was much easier and through glorious green valleys and small villages.

Thursday - Drive back to Maseru and pack!

That's it, a busy, exhausting and thoroughly enjoyable tour. The people of Lesotho are very poor but they live life with a smile on their face. We all know the adjustment we will have to make when we get back to rich glum faced England.