Lesotho village

At the top of the mountain we visited a village where young girls ages 15 to 20 years old were ending their "initiation" into womanhood and will now be ready for marriage. The initiation program starts in October and ends in late February. Not all Lesotho girls do it. Only if they want to and would rather learn to weave baskets, braid straw to make mats, grind mealie meal in a mud hut, and learn everything it takes to be a good wife. More boys do the inititiation program now than girls. The majority of girls would rather go to secondary school and university. We were lucky enough to see 4 girls do a cow dance for us in their cow hide painted red, necklaces made of seeds, princess tiaras, and naked bodies painted in red (from a mixture of fat and soil). Being painted red only lasts 1 week. Each part of the 6 month long inititation is celebrated by having to perform a song and dance for the village and wearing clothing that they have just made. Later we saw how the grandmother grinds mealie meal, makes pap, and drank the porrige. Please press the play button below to see the video of them dancing!