Ho Tho’le Tsoe NTTC

‘Ho Tho’le Tsoe NTTC’ was written in Mohapeloa’s last years and sings the praises of a very important new institution in Maseru Lesotho, that was intended to address the shortage of teachers in the country, and which was only founded in 1975. Mohapeloa taught there after his retirement, and helped to build the NTTC (now LTTC) music department. It is in fact a rewrite of his much earlier song, ‘The Gay Night Birds’ (JPM077, 1947), in which he praised a vocal jazz group of that name. Mohapeloa’s new version for training college has new words, some of which refer to the widespread practice of controlled grass burning to encourage new growth after the Spring rains begin. He uses this as a metaphor for the renewal that teacher education would bring to Lesotho.