High School After the Pearl Program
We recently caught up with a couple Pearl Girls who completed the Pearl Program a few years ago. These girls are now nearly finished their high school education. Read on to see how the program has made an impact in their lives and helped them to navigate high school with confidence and success.
16-year-old SEBOPEHO is in grade 11, the final year of high school in Lesotho. She completed the Pearl Program back in 2019. Sebopeho lives with her mother and three brothers. Her mother is not working, but her older brother is an accountant and is able to help support the family. When she was in grade 10, Sebopeho started dreaming of becoming a doctor when she grows up because she loves biology.
Looking back at when she started high school, Sebopeho does not hesitate to say that peer pressure was the biggest challenge. Everywhere she looked she could see students being negatively influenced by others. Some are no longer attending school because they did not keep their grades up. For Sebopeho, she decided to avoid making close friends in the first couple years of high school. She was friendly with people, but did not want anyone to have too much influence over her. Now she has wonderful friends whom she fully trusts. She knows what good friendships look like and she isn’t willing to accept anything less. The same goes for finding a boyfriend – although Sebopeho hasn’t found someone who is a good match for her yet.
She said, “I see my friends having so many boyfriends, but they hurt them so much. I don’t want that.”
Sebopeho maintained friendships with fellow Pearl Girls from her session. Even though they go to several different schools, they are still able to support one another; “We like to help each other”.
A quiet leader with a bright smile, Sebopeho stands up against peer-pressure and bullying in her school and has become a trusted confidant among other young girls in her school and community. “The Pearl Program helped so much. There are so many challenges, especially for girls. I get to help others now.” She shared an example of a girl being bullied for being at the top of her class. Other students were taking her books and making fun of her for performing well. Sebopeho befriended the girl and supported her to keep her head up. They are now friends who rely on one another to have each others’ backs.
“In my village there are so many children who are not going to school. I see everyday what I would be doing if I didn’t have this opportunity.”
At just 16-years-old, grade 10 student MEISI is already a strong leader amongst her peers. She was orphaned at just eight-years old and has survived thanks to the support of her grandmother. After completing the Pearl Program in 2020, she began her high school education with confidence. “I was a really shy person but being at Help Lesotho really helped me.”
Reflecting on her time as a Pearl Girl and Pearl Mentor, Meisi shared, “Before I was stressed to say anything wrong. But being a Pearl Girl and Mentor helped me learn to talk and share ideas. Now I join everything and have things to say.” She went on to say, “I was always being told I am unique, just like unique pearl stones. I learned self-esteem and human rights. It really helped me be a leader. Next year I will be head girl at my school. Teachers could see my self-esteem so they chose me. I’m open with other people.”
Being promoted as ‘head girl’ at her school is a tremendous accomplishment. The position is nominated by students who select the person they feel best represents the student body. As head girl, Meisi will be a link between teachers and students. She will motivate and encourage students to work hard and dedicate themselves to their studies.
Meisi is putting what she learned from the Pearl Program into action every day. She has overcome so much to get to where she is today, and she knows she still has a long way to go to figure out her future, especially without parents to support and guide her along the way. It is astonishing that she has the capacity to support and motivate other students the way she is. There is no doubt that Meisi has a bright future ahead!
For more information about the Pearl Program, or to shop Pearls4Girls jewelry, click here.
Mathabiso lives with her husband, five grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. She and her adorable grandson, who is not yet old enough to be at school with his siblings, proudly showed their repaired home. One side of their home was completely rebuilt while the other three walls were coated with cement. Mathabiso specifically asked for Help Lesotho to share a photo of her perfectly cleaned and hung laundry blowing in the wind – a clear indication of the love and care she has for the children she is raising. Her garden was bursting with peas and pumpkins, and the apple tree she received from Help Lesotho was full and healthy!
MaLong might be 82-years-old, but she is the definition of spunky! She bustled about her property in her bare feet, tending to her garden and donkeys, and declared, “I’m active because I’m from Help Lesotho!” MaLong is raising eight of her seventeen grandchildren. She manages to pay to send three of them to high school with the money she earns as an informal entrepreneur. Several days a week she rises before the sun to collect cans and cardboard from her community to sell to a recycling truck that passes through town occasionally. Other days she brings her donkey down the mountain to the community tap to haul water back up to her village, which she then sells for a small convenience fee. Finally, she has a beautiful garden that she sells vegetables from – and which she fully attributes to the skills she learned from Help Lesotho! On our visit, MaLong could not stop dancing, singing, and saying, “I love Help Lesotho!”
Down a steep, narrow path of rust-orange soil lives Makhotso, a 102-year-old grandmother. Her body is frail, but her spirit is strong. She stood and walked about three meters, from the side of her bed to the small kitchen. Even though her five great-great-great-grandchildren are now responsible for most of the chores, she insists on caring for her pig, her pride and joy, who recently had piglets. Makhotso was a member of Help Lesotho’s Grandmother Program from 2010-2011. She feels deeply connected to Help Lesotho and attributes her will to keep going to the resilience she built at Help Lesotho. Through the Home Repair Project, Makhotso’s bedroom wall was fully rebuilt and a new door was installed that keeps her safe and warm in her home.
Ntate Ts’olo Mahase is an alumni of Help Lesotho’s Leaders in Training (LIT) program, and a model of civic responsibility. Since he graduated from LIT, Ntate Ts’olo Mahase now also holds an MBA, and is a lecturer at the local business school. Growing up, Ntate Mahase experienced the gulf in communication that existed between hearing and deaf children, and he took it upon himself to learn sign language. At the Help Lesotho Hlotse event, children from St. Paul’s School for the Deaf were present as longstanding participants in Help Lesotho programing. Their translators signed not only the speeches but the song, dance and drama that was featured. Can you imagine how wonderful this was?
Last, was the privilege of meeting their Majesties; King Letsie III, and Queen ‘Masenate, respected constitutional monarchs of Lesotho, and long time supporters of Help Lesotho and Peg. It was greatly appreciated by ‘M’e Mamoletsane Khati (Country Director), ‘M’e Peg and I to meet them informally in advance of the event, to share and appreciate their keen interest in positive development work. How supportive at the celebration event to hear the King’s expression of ongoing support for Help Lesotho’s programs ahead.
It is an ongoing pleasure getting to know Help Lesotho staff, and to highlight here the work and contribution of ‘M’e Felleng Lethola, Senior Program Officer with Help Lesotho. ‘M’e Felleng is one of the calm process leaders who holds the emotional centre of groups of young people or adults with great effectiveness as they navigate psychologically tricky landscapes such as grief, addiction or assault. ‘M’e Felleng has developed ways of connecting and promoting ease and engagement with a group; using her voice with effect; creating individual bonds with people in a large group before she starts to facilitate; having relationships she can draw on and pull into strategic moments. She also uses humour and her own stories and experiences to create connection in the groups.
