Missionaries in Lesotho

            When looking at Lesotho, one can see that the country is predominately Christian. It is this way because of some the early missionary work that started in between the 1830’s to the 1850’s.[1] The first people to enter Lesotho for specific evangelical reasons were the French.

            In the late 1820’s Lesotho was in battles with the Dutch who were trying to take over the land of the Basotho. King Moshoeshoe, the leader of the Basotho, needed to find a means to get horses and guns for his own people so they would have a chance to fight. Moshoeshoe had heard of the advantages that other clans got from having resident missionaries. Because of this, he invited three French missionaries from the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society (PEMS) to come to his country in hopes of acquiring guns through them to fight off the invaders. Thomas Arbousset, Eugene Casalis, and Constant Gosselin came to Thaba Bosiu in 1833 to share with these people the Catholic religion.[2] To this today, out of the 90% that are Christian, 45% are Catholic.[3]

Eugene Casalis (left) and Thomas Arbousset
http://www.lesothoemb-usa.gov.ls/about/missionaries.php

            The effect that these men made was more than just an evangelical trip. They did end organizing a way for Moshoeshoe to get his needed guns and horses. Along with these things, items such as “potatoes, wheat, fruit trees and domestic cats and pigs were introduced”.[4] After a while, these missionaries had opened up schools and were able to give the Basotho printed books that were written in their language. The French missionaries were not seen as white colonist like many of the others in Southern Africa. These missionaries were accepted as citizens into the kingdom. Even Eugene Casalis played a part as a Foreign Minister during the period of 1837 to 1855.[5] His knowledge of the European and outside world was very valuable to Moshoeshoe when more white settlers threatened his kingdom. As one can see the work of missionaries played an interesting role in the history and development of Lesotho.

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[1] The Lesotho Embassy in the USA. “Arrival of Missionaries.” http://www.lesothoemb-usa.gov.ls/. http://www.lesothoemb-usa.gov.ls/about/missionaries.php (accessed April 28, 2016).

[2] Ibid., np.

[3] US Department of State. “International Religious Freedom Report 2007.” State.gov.org. http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2007/90104.htm (accessed April 28, 2016).

[4]The Lesotho Embassy in the USA. “Arrival of Missionaries.” http://www.lesothoemb-usa.gov.ls/. http://www.lesothoemb-usa.gov.ls/about/missionaries.php (accessed April 28, 2016).

[5] Ibid., np.

Lesotho's European Relation

Looking at Lesotho, they can see that it is very unique in that it is completely surrounded by South Africa. Seeing this one probably asks themselves of how this comes about that this particular area of land has been set apart to be an independent country. Lesotho had to go through much fighting to gain their own territory back from the Europeans who tried to colonize. Lesotho was put together by a following of a man named King Moshoeshoe I in 1822. He formed his own clan and claimed this territory of Basutoland.[1]

At this time Moshoeshoe invited French missionaries to his land and this was the first meeting of white people and Europeans. After this and sometime after, Trekboers (Dutch peoples) started to come up from the Cape of South Africa and start to claim land that was in control of the Basotho peoples. As more Boers came, Moshoeshoe wrote the British governor of the Cape Colony to annex the area that the Basotho had settled. This resulted in the Boers being very angry and they decided to attack the Basotho. They were held back in this short skirmish. After this, the Basotho held off attacks from the British which turned to be embarrassing defeats for them. In 1854 the British pulled out of the area and a few years later, Moshoeshoe fought a series of war against the Boers in the Free State- Basotho War. In these battles, the Basotho lost much land. In a cry for help, Moshoeshoe called to Queen Victoria to make Lesotho a protectorate in 1868. The British signed a treaty with the British delegating how much land Lesotho would have. After Moshoeshoe later died and there were a few wars against the colonization the Britain tried to have. Lesotho stayed under direct rule by a governor until 1966 when Lesotho finally gained its independence from Britain.[2]

King Moshoeshoe
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Moshoeshoe.jpg

These were the first contacts with the European nations. The invitation of the French had a large influence on the country’s religion considering that today, 90 percent are Christian. The fighting in the Boer wars obviously affected the expansion and loss of territory in this country’s history. Being under British control for so long also affected the language. Most schools in Lesotho require the learning of English and generally everyone in the city can speak it.   

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[1] Welcome to the Mountain Kingdom. “About Lesotho.” Gov.ls. http://www.gov.ls/about/default.php (accessed April 18, 2016).

[2] Karen Tranberg Hansen, Reconsidering Informality: Perspectives from Urban Africa, (Nordic African Institute: 2004), 180.

Natural Resources

When looking at any country in detail, one of the major categories that must be observed is the countries natural resources. This resource has much to do with the geography as discussed before but are used as a substantial resource or one that contributes to their economy through trade. The natural resources of Lesotho include the following: water, agricultural and grazing land, some diamonds and other minerals. Lesotho is also an exporter of excess labor. [1]

When one thinks about natural resources, usually water does not cross their mind. Due to the geography of Lesotho, water is very important. Being a land locked country, Lesotho relies on rainfall and the dams that have been constructed up in the mountains. This water not only provides a natural resource for Lesotho, but also sells it to South Africa when they are on a shortage. The newly built Polihali Dam provides water for 71 villages and the rest will be given to South Africa being used for industrial purposes.[2] This natural resource is almost invaluable and helps sustain this country and economy.  

 [4]

Another natural resource that helps Lesotho’s economy out some is the diamond and minerals that are found here. In 2006, the Lesotho Promise was found. This 603 carat diamond was found at the Letseng mine in Lesotho and is the 15^th largest diamond ever to be found.[3] The diamond was sold for 12.4 million dollars in October of 2006. As one can see this is a great addition to Lesotho’s economy.  The value of this source would only change if the rest of the world were to also change to standard of what the diamond is worth.

Since Lesotho is not a big exporter of their goods, they mainly rely on their owe resources or just sell to their neighbor to receive the funds to import. One product Lesotho does export and primarily to America is the textiles of jeans. Many jeans in the USA can have a tag that says “Made in Lesotho” on them.

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[1] One World Nations. “Lesotho.” Nationsonline.org. http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/lesotho.htm (accessed April 11, 2016).

[2] International River. “Lesotho Water Project.” Internationalrivers.org. https://www.internationalrivers.org/campaigns/lesotho-water-project (accessed April 11, 2016).

[3] BBC News Online, "Lesotho Diamond put up for sale", BBC, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5409092.stm (accessed April 11, 2016).

[4] International River. “Lesotho Water Project.”Internationalrivers.org.

 https://www.internationalrivers.org/campaigns/lesotho-water-project (accessed April 11, 2016).

Religion in Relation to Lesotho

        

         The nation of Lesotho is considered to be up to 90 percent Christian. This is obviously its main religion. To give some statistical numbers about it the Christian divisions here is a list. Roman Catholics represent 45 percent of the population, Lesotho Evangelicals 26 percent, and Anglican and other Christian groups an additional 19 percent.[1] So even though the country has a claim of 90 percent, many one those are Catholic. Unfortunately the numbers are a bit deceiving. Many of the natives to this country claim these particular religions or a denominations of Christianity, but few actually understand or follow the teachings. The left over 10 percent of this country’s religion is divided up between Muslim, Hindus, Buddhists, Baha’i, and traditional Basotho beliefs.[2] Because of the immigrants such as the Indians, Arabs and Chinese that have come to start factories and exploit cheap labor, there has been an increase in these more foreign religions.

          Christians can be found all through-out Lesotho, but the Muslims live more towards the North East of the country. Remember that this country is surrounded by South Africa. This being the case it is also getting religious influence from across the border. Most of those that practice Islam are those from Asian origin, (the immigrants) while the majority of the Christians are the Basotho.[3] Some of these Basotho incorporate their traditional beliefs, which include ancestor worship, into Christianity and mix the beliefs up. As far as myths go in this country, there is a particular one that is part of the traditional beliefs. This is a myth of the first man named Huveane. He was supposedly to be the one who created everything. As humans started to reproduce, earth became too loud for him. He wanted to escape this so he somehow drove pegs into the sky and climbed up into the heavens. As he climbed, he removed each peg so no human could follow him.[4] This is just one example of a myth that was spread about in the traditional beliefs.

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[1] US Department of State. “International Religious Freedom Report 2007.” State.gov.org. http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2007/90104.htm (accessed April 7, 2016).

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Listverse. “10 African Myths and Legends.” Listverse.com. http://listverse.com/2013/07/18/ten-african-myths-and-legends-2/ (accessed April 7, 2016).