Dolen Cymru celebrates its 40th birthday!
Wales and Lesotho have a special and unique relationship. Forty years ago, in March 1985, Dolen Cymru was founded at a press conference in the Welsh Office in Cardiff. In a large hall decorated with the flags of Wales and Lesotho, and to the sound of a school choir from Cardiff singing in Welsh and guests dancing and singing in the Sesotho language, the High Commissioner of Lesotho, Ntate O.T.Sefako, dressed in traditional costume, was welcomed by Dr Carl Clowes, the first Chair of Dolen Cymru.
And so the dream of establishing a twin country for Wales was realised! In 2005 I was invited by Dr Mary Thorley to be a member of a team of lecturers under her leadership from the education department of Trinity College, Carmarthen, to travel to Lesotho with the aim of establishing links with an education college and a university there (Lesotho College of Education and the National University of Lesotho). Well, I didn't need to be asked twice! What an opportunity!
We immediately set about creating resources, as we were tasked with providing activities for rural primary schools in Lesotho during our visit. Sue Ainsworth prepared some Literacy resources and I prepared some Mathematics resources. It was so exciting flying to Johannesburg and then on to Maseru, the capital of Lesotho. When we landed in Maseru it felt like I was back 'home'! And since then I have made another 17 visits to Lesotho!
A few months after the first visit, in January 2006, I bid farewell to my family and travelled with 5 other teachers to the town of Hlotse in Leribe where we lived for 6 months. I taught Maths and English there at Hlotse High School. We also ran courses for primary school teachers across the country, and thanks to the support of Trinity College we were able to import 25 Maths resource boxes for primary schools, which are still being used twenty years later, as I saw there recently!
Through Dolen Cymru we have the opportunity to welcome pupils, teachers and lecturers from Lesotho to Wales on a regular basis, and around a hundred have visited Kidwelly, Carmarthen, and Llanelli since 2022. Four came to Trinity College in 2010 to undertake teaching practice. This year, thanks to the 'Taith' arrangement, 14 pupils and teachers from Ysgol Bro Preseli visited Hlotse (where I taught 20 years ago), and they were given a special welcome by some of my old friends there! Everyone is excited about visiting their news friends at Ysgol Bro Preseli later in the summer.
My experiences with Dolen Cymru have enriched my life more than words can say.