Case Studies
Sentebale - other projects
All the projects supported by the British Red Cross Lesotho Fund and now administered by Sentebale provide care and support for orphans, vulnerable children and young people in Lesotho with an overall objective of reducing the impact of HIV/AIDS.
In 2006, Sentebale is supporting nine organisations to implement small projects. Some examples are:
The Maluti Hospital crop sharing project
This project has seen the planting of over 80 acres of maize, potatoes, beans and peas to provide food to orphans, other vulnerable children and chronically ill people.
Speaking about the success of the project, Sam Ngwange, manager of Maluti hospital wellness centre said: “I’ve seen a good impact, where there used to be daga growing people have concentrated on growing maize.
“The community response to this project is very high, one village women told me she didn’t grow daga this year because she has enough food.
”Orphans are participating and other villages are asking us if we can include them in the project next year.”
St David’s sub-committee, coordinated by Justice and Peace regional office in Maseru
This committee is working to support eight hundred orphans and vulnerable children in Phuthiatsana, Berea. Community members are trained to provide care, support and protection to children, to ensure they can go to school, receive appropriate health care and carry out their own income-generating activities.
School books and materials for income-generating activities are provided. “With the help from justice and peace volunteers, we have already assisted more than 30 orphans and vulnerable children with referrals to child and gender protection unit and schools” said Mabula Mojalefa, Maseru regional coordinator.
The Ha Paki Support Group
In Mazenod the Ha Paki support group has renovated a village centre to provide cooked meals and support to 100 orphans and 50 chronically ill people.
Me Matsepiso Metsing, Chairperson of the group, explained “We are very busy preparing the centre so that we can provide cooked food to the orphans and chronically sick people, these people are very poor and we are happy that British Red Cross is supporting us to provide nutritious meals.”
Centre for the poor and less privileged
A pig farming project has been started at the Centre for the poor and less privileged, a children’s home at Sakamaneng run by the Sisters of Ottawa. The project will train children on farming skills, improve food supply and generate income. Speaking about the project Sister Margaret, Director of the centre said: “The project will feed the children and I will sell meat to buy necessary things for the children”.
Lesotho Save the Children
Lesotho Save the Children are receiving funding for a child reunification project . Me Motselisi Shale, programme coordinator, explained “we have already placed four children with relatives in 2006 and are working to find homes for the other children who stay at the centre”.
The Lesotho Youth Federation
The Lesotho Youth Federation is managing a youth behavioural change HIV/AIDS project to train one thousand five hundred young people in HIV/AIDS prevention through youth camps and sports activities in Kokokoaneng (Berea), Mashai (Thaba-Tseka) and Maphutseng (Mohale Hoek). In addition the Young Christian Students are going to train one hundred youth as HIV/AIDS peer educators to train other young people in HIV/AIDS prevention.
Click here to visit the Sentebale website.