The Yellow House

By Lineo Segoete

When I was younger my mother would take me to the place where she grew up: Morija. These trips were usually to bury a relative but I loved them; through them I got to meet cousins and favourite aunts and uncles who showered me with lots of affection and narrated additional tales of life in Morija to complement my mom’s own nostalgia. I also got to see, when I was lucky, that magical yellow ‘house’ sticking out of a shadow of majestic and uniquely wooded expanse behind the historic church. This was the Morija Museum & Archives.

At the Museum I caught a real life glimpse of the things that best struck my fancy in books and at school. I got a preview of the solar system, dinosaurs and old spears, and other new things I could learn and explore. What struck a tender chord within me was the fact that the museum fulfilled a sense of being the closest to my heritage physically, more than any other place in Maseru (ah! the hazards of city life).

My fascination with this modest ‘yellow’ establishment did not wane with age, I actually grew more curious as I grew older. I wanted to read all the books inside it, rampage through its archives and know as much as I could about the history of Lesotho and the influences that helped shape her culture and identity. As fate would have it, after graduating from university, I actually summoned the courage to let my passion lead me, to the point where I applied to work at Morija Museum & Archives. And my dream came true!

My life is continually enriched each time I set foot in that building I have now dubbed ‘home’. My induction as a new employee centred on knowing the history of MMA itself and the museum culture in general. I began fantasizing about visiting other museums all over the world, dreamed of other museums springing up across the country so that more Basotho could bask in the insight and wonder of that (still) magical place. Like a sponge I sucked up and continue to suckle the wealth of knowledge and love that keeps the MMA engine going.

Nonetheless, being a part of the team, I am also not naïve to the challenges we face. Supportive sister institutions and heritage sites are critical; hence, it is encouraging that we have the Masitise Cave House Museum and Nature Reserve as well as the Royal Archives and Museum at Matsieng to dialogue with, along with Interpretation Sites such as the Ha Kome Cave Village, Ntlo-Kholo Cave Site and many others across Lesotho. Together, these are something of an embryonic cultural and heritage network. The presence of this ‘network’ requires that we work together and seek for greater synergy among ourselves, as well as support from key stakeholders and the public in general.

The announcement of the construction of a National Museum in Lesotho made me tingle. I thought to myself that, like other nations, we would have a better variety of museum – which to me is the equivalent of beating one’s chest with pride for one’s identity and roots. I began speculating about the exhibitions that would be displayed there, the programs that would be put in place, collaborations that could be initiated between the new National Museum, MMA and others, and what it would mean for the overall museum culture in Lesotho.

If a more formal network of museums were to exist in Lesotho, such a development directly implies a better chance of getting the public’s attention, attracting and ‘inciting’ more visits to these institutions and sites, both from Basotho and tourists. Moreover, it will stimulate community-targeted ventures that will enhance a sense of cohesion and self-understanding among Basotho in knowing that they are eloquently and gracefully presented and represented. Otherwise it would not make sense that entities that speak a similar language be isolated from one another.

These same sentiments (albeit better presented by Ntate Stephen Gill and Ntate Percy Mangoaela) were articulated at the recent Friends of Morija Museum & Archives AGM and can also be found in PDF format here.