Photos: These shepherds climb down a mountain to go to night school

Shepherds attend a part-time night school near Mokhotlong, Lesotho. For many, these classes are the only form of education they can access. Tommy Trenchard for NPR hide caption toggle caption Tommy Trenchard for NPR The sun has already started setting behind the towering peaks of central Lesotho when Kabelo Mohai and Lepeli Maapesa begin their long walk to school. Wool blankets draped over their shoulders against the biting cold, the two young men scramble down rocky paths nearly 8,000 feet above sea level. Far below, scattered rural villages appear as tiny dots. The moon is high in the sky, an hour and a half later, when they finally spot the lights of the small town of Semonkong in the distance. In the pitch darkness, dozens of similar blanket-clad silhouettes make their way down the mountainsides, singing and chatting excitedly as they approach a building illuminated by fluorescent lights: the Good Shepherd School, where more than 40 herders gather every evening for night classes. Mohai and Lepeli are among tens of thousands of boys and young men working as shepherds in this small, mountainous southern African country. Livestock is deeply woven into Lesotho's economy and culture...