A Teacher Moves To The Mountains

A chance for children to go to school for the first time and find their identity in Christ

Lesotho — July 2024 update

Special education teacher Mabohlokoa ’Mari has been serving as a teacher for the past decade in schools around Maseru, the capital city of Lesotho. While fulfilled in her work, she began to feel a tug on her heart for the children whose parents couldn’t afford to pay for their schooling.

“God, you must have another plan,” Mabohlokoa prayed, “because there are still children who need education.”

She kept praying and then one day she learned about an opening for a teacher in the mountain village of Kuebunyane. Before now, the closest primary school was a two-hour hike each way for 7-year-olds and above—not a practical option, really. Here was a chance to start a school from the ground up, something she had done previously.

Mabohlokoa applied and went for an interview. They asked her if she had ever been to the mountains and could she do school in the mountains, to which she answered, “yes.” Then they asked if she could live in the mountains? She enthusiastically responded, “Yes, I can!”

What had been a dream of the Lesotho Mountain Discipleship team for a few years now is finally being realized. MAF flew in child-size plastic tables and chairs, and the curriculum. And now, MAF has brought Mabohlokoa along with her cargo and supplies needed to live here.

A few days before the school was to start, some of the parents arrived with their children to pick up school uniforms at the Kuebunyane church, where classes will be held. They were happy to see the teacher and excited for their kids.

One mother spoke on behalf of the group, saying, “We are grateful that we will still be with our children while they come to school. We are so thankful and grateful.”

Mabohlokoa says the curriculum is “gospel based” and her hope is that the children will find their identify in Jesus.

“It’s not the place or the culture that makes the identity,” she adds. “It’s not the situation where they live, whether they are poor or hungry, but they will know their identity in Christ; that they have the have the right to be the children of God.”