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Prince Harry gives an interview to mark the launch of Sentebale - Part 3

28th April 2006

Interview by Laura Elston for the Press Association

High in the foothills of the Maluti mountains, Prince Harry stood between the rows of sun-parched maize, turning over the red fertile soil with a hoe.

In the remote village of Nokong in impoverished Lesotho, he leant on the tall wooden handle as he learned how the crops were being grown to feed some of the 4,000 children left orphaned by Aids in the region.

Villagers greeted Harry in the highlands of the country known as the Roof of Africa with traditional ululating, trilling their tongues as the high-pitched sound echoed around the hilltops.

Around 40 men and women, some carrying babies on their backs tucked under warm traditional colourful Basotho blankets, sang and danced holding their hoes and pitch forks high above the heads to welcome him.

The Prince travelled for several hours to the Phororong region, north of the capital Maseru, up a dirt track in a white pick-up truck over bumpy terrain to reach the isolated dwelling.

As Harry was offered a hoe to help with the turning of the soil, he remarked: “Let’s get involved.”

Sello Matlere, described as the “Jamie Oliver” of crop growing in Lesotho for his enthusiasm, told him about the project.

The scheme was funded through the Red Cross Lesotho Fund and is similar to those likely to be helped by Prince Harry’s charity Sentebale.

Children in the village as young as 13 have had to become mother figures to their younger brothers and sisters following the deaths of their parents and struggle to provide enough food.

In the new project, villagers are taught how to farm effectively and in return give half of all their much-needed crops to the vulnerable youngsters.

They were taught to dig furrows to prevent the heavy rains washing away the nutrients and crops, encouraged not to use chemical fertilisers and to work by hand rather than relying on more expensive machinery or animals.

Harry remarked: “Organic farming. Dad would be so proud.”

The Prince asked: “The water holds in the trenches? So the all fertility was just being washed away before?”

Nearby the villagers sang and trilled as they worked in the same field.

The Prince began digging the soil, laughing: “We’re turning it and we’re walking over it.”

“Keep going?” he asked turning and pointing at the mountain range behind. “What into there?”

“It’s a damn sight better than digging trenches at Sandhurst. I could do it all day if you want.”

The Prince later addressed the whole village in the Sesotho language, declaring with his arms wide: “Dumela, Bo Me Bo Ntate” which means “Greetings, ladies and gentlemen.”

He was told by a jocular Mr Matlere, who was dressed in bright blue work clothes and green wellies: “The people are impressed. The maize has very big cobs on it. Spacing is the key ... The taste of the pudding is in the mouth.”

The occasional cluster of round thatched huts peppered the landscape and the plateau of cultivated land was interspersed with purple cosmos flowers.

One villager spoke through a translator about how the scheme was changing things.

Malesia Lesia, 46, said: “Mine is the next field that will be dug with trenches. I’m so impressed. Many people are excited. I have seen my fertile soil being washed away into other people’s land.

“It’s high time I kept some of my own.”

The Prince said afterwards: “It’s a massively effective operation ... It’s basically a case of just teaching the local communities rather than just spreading seeds around a field and hoping for the best.

“To actually take time and to work it out so that what you get is better quality rather than quantity and a better, higher yield.”

Men in red vests performed a fearsome slow moving mohobelo dance for Harry, waving thin sticks. They were followed by the female dancers of the village who knelt on the ground swinging their arms back and forth in time with the singing.

By tradition, onlookers must place money at the feet of the best dancer and Harry danced forward, leaving a note for one in the front row.

Tholang Posholi, who helped set up the crop growing, said Aids remained a major problem in the region.

“Lots of people are dying. There are around 130 orphans in this village and it’s difficult to get food without parents. There are children who are 13 and they are heads of the household.

“With this harvest, the orphans are going to have enough food. It’s beginning to improve. It's not 100 per cent, but the future is bright.”