Memorable Moments from Lesotho
Kate shares her favourite moments from her most recent trip to Lesotho. This short video is filled with joy, connection and singing. Be sure to watch to the end for the moving display of appreciation.
From Participants to Leaders: The Power of Full-Circle Impact
There is a powerful story unfolding inside Help Lesotho, and you are part of it.
Today, 82% of Help Lesotho’s all-Basotho staff in Lesotho are alumni of our programs.
This means the majority of the team leading workshops, mentoring youth, supporting caregivers, and strengthening communities once sat in those same classrooms and camps themselves.
They were once:
- Students receiving sponsorship
- Youth attending leadership camps
- Participants in life skills programs
- Young people navigating adversity
And now, they are the mentors. The leaders. The role models.
This is what long-term impact looks like.
Your support has not only helped young people succeed, it has helped build a generation of local leaders who are now strengthening their own communities.
When young people have access to education, mental health support, and opportunity, something powerful happens:
They return.
They invest.
They lead.
This full-circle impact is what makes Help Lesotho’s work sustainable. Programs are shaped by people who deeply understand the challenges facing Basotho youth - because they have lived them. It builds trust, strengthens relationships, and ensures that support is both meaningful and lasting.
Most importantly, it reflects something deeply important: hope multiplied.
Meet the Leaders You’ve Helped Shape
I am Thato Let’sela, my journey with Help Lesotho began in January 2014 through the Leaders in Training (LIT) program. After successfully completing the program, I became part of the selected candidates to join Help Lesotho as a Professional Intern. I was further offered a position as centre supervisor which marked the beginning of my professional career with the organisation. As I continued to grow within the family, I was appointed in March 2025 as the Programs Manager.
Help Lesotho’s recruitment approach is highly effective because many staff members were once beneficiaries themselves. Having experienced the impact of the organisation first-hand, we are able to connect more meaningfully with current beneficiaries. This shared experience strengthens our emotional and social awareness, enabling us to provide the necessary care, guidance, and support.
Furthermore, this approach contributes significantly to the sustainability of the organisation. By nurturing leaders from within, Help Lesotho ensures that its culture, values, and vision are preserved and carried forward.
I am Khotso Matekoa, I joined Help Lesotho as a LIT participant in 2019 and later became a Professional Intern.
Today, I am part of Help Lesotho staff since 2022 as the computer instructor. My journey has helped me to understand the culture of the organisation and feel the joy of being served with a full heart which ultimately has instilled in me to serve others equally and even better.
My name is Thato Lenong, I became part of Help Lesotho first through its Child Sponsorship Program (CSP) as a student at Molapo High School. I then transitioned to joining two more programs which are the LIT and Professional Intern program.
Transitioning from being a beneficiary to staff has prepared my mind set as I have learned and first understood about effective communication, leadership skills and team work. This also has invested more in my commitment to my work because I know how it is to receive the kindness from our support, therefore I also live to make change and model to the participants the kindness that I once was on the receiving end.
Because of the programs, I am confident, resilient and assertive most of the time.
A Future Led from Within
Because of you, former participants are now creating opportunities for the next generation.
They are not just beneficiaries of change, they are the ones leading it.
And that is the true power of investing in young people.
Building Confidence Through Play
How Smart Kids is Changing Learning in Rural Lesotho
On a warm, sunny afternoon in the rural community of Nokong, the sounds of laughter, rhyming songs, and friendly competition float across the hills. A single red-earth dirt road winds through the surrounding villages, where horses and sheep outnumber people and the local primary school welcomes children who walk miles each day to attend.
On the school grounds, three young women - proudly wearing their royal blue Help Lesotho volunteer polo shirts - are leading games and learning activities for more than 100 children, ranging in age from one to thirteen. Their energy is contagious. Children clap, sing, race, and shout encouragement to one another as learning unfolds through play.
These young women are not outsiders. Each of them participated in Help Lesotho’s Youth Mother Program in recent years. Today, they have returned as leaders. One balances her young daughter on her back while laughing and singing with the older children - a powerful image of resilience, care, and possibility.
When the opportunity arose to volunteer with Help Lesotho’s Smart Kids Initiative, all three jumped at the chance. In their communities, they regularly run tutoring and psychosocial support sessions on their own. But on this day, they came together to host a large group activity at the primary school, creating a joyful space where children could learn, feel supported, and simply be kids.
Young People Leading Change
The Smart Kids Initiative is built on a simple but powerful idea: young people already have what it takes to create positive change in their communities. Through the program, youth volunteers discover that their time, creativity, and compassion can make a real difference. They become role models - showing children what confidence, kindness, and perseverance look like in action.
By offering encouragement and patient support, Smart Kids volunteers help children build confidence as they face everyday challenges: writing their name for the first time, learning to count, sounding out words, or reading aloud. These moments - small as they may seem - lay the foundation for lifelong learning.
Making Learning Fun
In Lesotho, teachers, parents, and guardians often focus on the formal elements of education. Primary school is free and compulsory, yet in many rural communities, quality and learning outcomes remain weak. Children rarely receive the individualized encouragement that builds confidence and a genuine love of learning.
The Smart Kids Initiative is not about test scores or essays. It is about opening children’s minds and nurturing their natural curiosity. It teaches children that mistakes are part of learning - not something to be punished. Through play, storytelling, and positive reinforcement, children begin to associate learning with joy rather than fear.
Most importantly, Smart Kids helps children develop internal motivation and resilience - the confidence to try, to fail, and to try again.
On that sunny afternoon in Nokong, amid laughter and song, something powerful was happening: young women who once received support were now passing it on. In doing so, they are helping raise a generation of children who believe in themselves - and in their ability to shape a brighter future.
Education is More than a Classroom
Education is far more than just a classroom,
it is the foundation of dignity, the spark of resilience, and the power to imagine a different future.
Manatala joined the Sponsorship Program in 2016
Manatala knows this deeply.
At just five years old, Manatala lost her mother. She was raised by her grandmother in the rural village of Pitseng. Her father, living elsewhere with a second wife, never returned to support her.
When Manatala completed primary school with first-class results in 2014, she was full of hope and ready for high school. But hope alone could not pay school fees.
In 2015, Manatala stayed home - not because she lacked ability, but because her family lacked resources. Rather than give up, she made a courageous decision: she repeated Class 7. Once again, she passed with first-class results.
That determination caught the attention of her aunt, who approached Help Lesotho for support. In 2016, Manatala joined the Student Sponsorship Program - and everything changed.
With consistent sponsorship, Manatala enrolled at Pitseng High School. She faced challenges, worked through supplementary exams, and persisted. Today, she is studying for a Diploma in Primary Education at the Lesotho College of Education. This year, she is completing her teaching practice at Mahobong Primary School, where she has passed every assessment.
She will graduate in September 2026 - not only as a student, but as a future teacher serving her community.
Manatala shared this with us:
“Help Lesotho supported me financially, emotionally, and mentally. I had a lot of problems as a child, but I was able to face the world during the hard times of my school journey. I am thankful for the leadership camps I attended - I learned so much. That’s why I am here today.”
In 2026, Manatala is graduating from Teachers College
Help Lesotho’s student sponsorship provides:
- Access to education
- Stability during vulnerable years
- Leadership development, mentorship … and hope.
Education transforms lives - but only when someone makes it possible.
Most importantly, Smart Kids helps children develop internal motivation and resilience - the confidence to try, to fail, and to try again.
On that sunny afternoon in Nokong, amid laughter and song, something powerful was happening: young women who once received support were now passing it on. In doing so, they are helping raise a generation of children who believe in themselves - and in their ability to shape a brighter future.
Will you sponsor a student today and help write the next success story?
Thank you for believing in education - and in the potential of every child.
A Different Mosa. A New Me
Meet GIRL4ce Member, Mosa
Mosa’s life was once defined by cruelty and violence. Growing up, he was abused and encouraged to fight, despite his own aversion to violence. He found an escape and a new purpose through a Facebook post promoting applications to GIRL4ce, Help Lesotho’s edutainment program committed to addressing gender-based violence (GBV) and child marriage. For him this was an opportunity to be part of something meaningful in a way that would allow him to break free from the cycle of violence that had defined his past.
As a GIRL4ce member, Mosa’s acting is particularly impactful. He often takes on the challenging role of characters who are perpetrators of violence and abuse. This allows him to “divide” himself into two parts—the actor and the person—and to use his art to connect with others whose lives are impacted by abuse. Being part of GIRL4ce has allowed Mosa to heal and feel empowered, saying, “when I wear those clothes, I know I am not Mosa.”
“It just feels like a place I need to be. I want to be around these people. Being here, surrounded by people who treat each other with respect, feels right.”
Mosa can often be found at the Help Lesotho Leadership Centre long before and after GIRL4ce rehearsals and performances. He says, “it just feels like a place I need to be. I want to be around these people. Being here, surrounded by people who treat each other with respect, feels right.”
His connection with Help Lesotho, GIRL4ce, and particularly Psychosocial Support Officer Motopi, who regularly checks in on him, has been instrumental in his transformation. Phone calls with Motopi helped him stop fighting and turn away from violence.
Mosa describes this shift as becoming a “different Mosa, a new me.” Being part of GIRL4ce has completely changed his life and has given him a new beginning, and now he is paying it forward with his inspiring performances.
Mosa’s ability to influence others has become his driving force. He considers it a blessing to see people change because of the roles he plays. He stands in front of people knowing he has the power to change their perspectives which is something he always wanted to do. Through his art he has found a platform to advocate for a future free from violence.