Mamokete was just a young girl when she first encountered Help Lesotho at her primary school in Thaba-Tseka in 2005. Her life at home was filled with violence and instability. After leaving Maseru to live with her grandparents, things only got worse. “I became a punching bag myself. My body, mind, and soul carried so much pain, it became unbearable. But I kept a brave face like I was okay, smiled like a kid, and had to be an adult for my three siblings.”
At school, she found joy and healing in gardening. “I enjoyed planting sessions, they helped me cope unknowingly. I watched the seeds that I planted grow while I watered and removed weeds… that was therapeutic. I needed that kind of nurturing.”
In 2009, Mamokete wrote her first “Dear Pen Pal” letter as part of a Help Lesotho initiative. When a response came from a Canadian sponsor family, it was life-changing. “I received a letter of love, care, and support, that was a life-changing moment for me. I found myself a new family that loved me from paper.”
That same year, she attended her first Help Lesotho Leadership Camp. For the first time, she learned about her rights as a girl and found the language to express the abuse and trauma she had endured. “I learned a lot about life, things I had no idea about and my rights as a woman, self esteem, resilience, confidence, self acceptance and peer pressure, human trafficking and good communication skills were amongst the topics. We then had a moto ‘leaders never give up’ no matter what.”
Then I learned about rape. It became my breaking point, it felt like it had just happened, I got angry for the first time, all the emotions I had as a child surfaced and harshly so I died and shuttered internally.
But with each year and each camp, she began to heal. She found her voice, her strength, and her purpose. “At home, physical abuse stopped because I was brave enough to speak out against it, respectfully so. They started seeing that I know what’s right and wrong.”
Today, Mamokete is a certified life coach, using her own story to inspire and guide others, especially young women, toward healing and confidence. “I knew then that my career path is my calling. I need to save my people, men and women but desperately I need to help women discover their true calling, their passions, ambitions, and dreams.”
Earlier this year, Mamokete returned to Help Lesotho’s Leadership Camp, not as a participant, but as a keynote speaker. She led sessions, encouraged girls to speak up, and spent time with them individually. “I am here for you. I’m your safe space. I am your way to new beginnings.”
Mamokete is a living example of how psychosocial support and community can change a life. Her journey from pain to purpose embodies the heart of Help Lesotho’s mission: to raise resilient leaders who create positive change in their communities.
“I am a living testimony,” she says. “Help Lesotho made, and is still making, a huge impact for the Basotho nation.”
