Our Work
Over the last 18 years of working in rural communities in Lesotho, Help Lesotho has had
over 53,000 graduates of intensive life skills and psychosocial support programs and
reached more than 274,000 vulnerable people.
Lesotho, a nation hit hard by HIV/AIDS,
gender-based violence and poverty.
- Nearly 1 in 4 people in Lesotho are HIV-positive. An entire generation was lost to this epidemic, leaving a massive cohort of orphaned children.
- 86% of girls and women in Lesotho report having experienced gender-based violence.
- Half of Lesotho’s population lives in poverty, with much higher rates in rural areas where Help Lesotho works. Unemployment is rampant.
Bottom Line: When people experience trauma and have few opportunities for focused support, guidance and positive role models, personal and professional development fall behind.
Help Lesotho’s programs help vulnerable people face their challenges and learn effective strategies for managing their lives as they build healthier futures for themselves, their families and their communities.
Help Lesotho delivers compassionate life skills training programs…
At two community leadership centres and in rural villages.
To vulnerable populations ranging from school-children to grandmothers.
To help participants build resilience and become role models for social change.
That cover topics such as gender equity, sexual and reproductive health, communication and leadership skills.
That provide participants with psychosocial support to address grief and personal challenges.
In safe environments conducive to the development of critical thinkers and healthy decision makers.
Our Programs
Help Lesotho programs support participants to build their resilience and improve their mental health. No matter the program, we use the same core content to foster self-esteem, equip people to make healthy decisions, and share factual information about human rights, sexual & reproductive health, gender equity and HIV/AIDS.
One year of impact
2021-2022
22,080
participants in non-intensive programs (such as our two
Seotlong Centres)
2,148
participants in
long-term intensive programs
16,833
additional people reached indirectly*
*does not include people reached through TV and radio programming
695
participants in our
Grief & Loss sessions
708
one-on-one
psychosocial support conversations
311
participant-led support
group meetings
Individual Impacts
- Overcome challenges and begin moving forward
- Build resilience
- Improved well-being
- Empowered as leaders for positive social change
Family Impacts
- Healthier relationships
- Effective communication between generations and partners
- Supporting one another
- Less violence and abuse
Community Impacts
- Taking responsibility for protecting rights, especially for girls and women
- Challenge embedded norms related to gender-based violence and HIV/AIDS
How do we know?
There’s no way around this – our impacts are difficult to measure. Our programs lead to individual attitude and behavior change with subjective concepts such as self esteem and decision making. Our programs lead to healthier choices now and long after the program ends.
As well as conducting multi-modal impact assessments, hundreds of program graduates and community members share how their lives have changed for the better as a result of our programs – this is how we know the depth of the impact and that it lasts for decades.
If you want to see concrete numbers, check out our 2022 Leaders-in-Training Impact Report or our 2020 Alumni Reunion Report.
The best way to understand our impact is to read the stories of our beneficiaries.
Lisebo
As a member of the Pearl Program, Lisebo improved her self-esteem and learned how to believe in herself as she grows up. Now as a Pearl Girl mentor, she is inspiring other girls.