I am AFRICAN and African I shall ever be. I am Mosotho and Mosotho I shall ever be. I am an individual with a particular personality. I am me and I am unique. I am born in a unique family and I am in more ways than one different from my mother, my father, all my brothers and sisters. I belong with them as they are my family. I belong to the unique spirit and tradition of my family. I and my brothers and sister partake of the same tradition as we have been raised by the same parents. I am born and raised in a village different from any other in the whole world. I have been raised according to the old African proverb which says, “it takes a village to raise a child.” I am born and raised in a unique town bearing no resemblance to any other town in the whole world, a town with a unique spirit and culture. I am born in a country bearing a name different from any country in the world; a country with a unique culture, a country with unique customs and traditions. I, like every person, have had my own experiences which in more ways than one are similar to other people’s but on the other hand remain unique and these my experiences make me different, that is, I am me and not another person. Even tough I am unique, I know I BELONG. If you want to know what it means to belong, ask one who does not belong anywhere in the world. This country I so love and cherish is called LESOTHO and this country is situated in Southern Africa. I belong with the people of Lesotho as they are my people and I their fruit. All these different aspects identify me as unique and as belonging to a particular culture and as belonging with a particular people and as belonging to a beautiful nation. With Basotho and through Basotho I exist. With them I belong and in health and in sickness, I am a PROUD MOSOTHO and a PROUD AFRICAN.
THAPELO EA BASOTHO
Oho Molimo re utloe rea rapela;
Molimo o mocha rapela oa khale;
Re rapelle ho e moholo Jere;
Mojari oa litšito tsa batho;
Tlatla-macholo tlatla metsi u a etse keleli;
Hlabang tse tšoeu le fepe Balimo;
Le tle le bone Molimo a thaba;
Ha re ntse re re oele-oelele;
Re re Molimo u re utloe re rapela;
Molimo oa Leseli oa Rammoloki;
Liatla li tšoeu ke ho bopa masea;
Ma sea a manynyane libolokothoane;
Molimo o liatla li maroba;
Liatla li maroba tsa Rammoloki;
Liatla li robokiloe ke ho re shoela;
Ha re ntse re re oeli-oelele;
Re re Molimo, u re utloe rea rapela;
Se nese pula, u e nese u e nesetsa keleli tsa mariha;
Hobane ka metsi u ntlafatsa lichaba;
Lichaba li tsoang ho Uena ‘Mopong;
Li tlang ho khutlela ho Uena moahong.
Leseli! Khanya!
Leseli! Khanya!
