The Mophato oa Mants'ase Society
Devastating effects of HIV/AIDS
by Elaine Herbert on 02/19/12
While the global response to HIV and AIDS has resulted in a decrease in the overall prevalence of infection, the epidemic continues to have devastating effects on the communities affected.
According to recent estimates, the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in Lesotho is 23%, the third-highest in the world. According to the Lesotho Bureau of Statistics, in 2006 life expectancy was estimated at 39.7 for men and 42.9 for women.
Out of all countries with an HIV prevalence rate greater than 1%, Lesotho has the largest percentage of children who have lost one or both parents. There are approximately 130,000 orphans in Lesotho aged between 0 and 17, and this number continues to escalate. This is happening in a country with an already small population of just over two million, and where a large majority of the population is dependent, being too old, young or sick to provide for themselves.
It has been estimated that:
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Every day more than 100 children lose one parent as a result of AIDS
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More than 40% of Lesotho's children have lost one or both parents
The Government has put in place several programmes and has developed good policies to provide guidance in the areas of HIV prevention, care, support and treatment. And the donor community is collaborating with the Government in a massive effort to address the HIV epidemic. Key international stakeholders include PEPFAR, (the U.S. Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) UN agencies, Irish AID, other international donors, and dozens of non-governmental organizations.
Despite many challenges, in recent years Lesotho has dramatically increased PMTCT services (Prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV). Fewer children are being infected with HIV at birth and this is good and welcome news. It is also one of the factors contributing to the explosive growth in the number of orphaned children. Born without HIV infection these children have an even better chance of living long and healthy lives but many will be orphaned before they reach the age of 17.
Access to antiretroviral treatment is also much improved and a number of agencies now estimate life expectancy in Lesotho to be between 45 and 47. But the fact still remains that many of Lesothos younger generation will face growing up without parental support.
The Puppet Show
by Elaine Herbert on 02/17/12
On Tuesday 14th February Alida and Jaap van Deventer, and Meg and John Hebblethaite visited Mantsase Childrens Home. Alida and Jaap are from South Africa, Meg and John from the United States. They travelled a long way, (and over our rough road), to visit and to bring important messages.
They also brought a cheerfully painted suitcase packed with Alidas marionettes, these are puppets worked by strings, and with the strings in Alidas skilled hands the puppets put on a show that was thoroughly entertaining. We all enjoyed some good laughs, illustrating their first message: Laughing is good for us.
Alida then spoke about Jesus, about how He cares for each and every one of us, of how important it is to find time to get to know Him, His Father and the Holy Spirit. She encouraged us to read the Bible and the best way to do this, she said, is to read a little every day, rather than trying to cram in a whole chapter on Sunday.
Man cannot live on bread alone, but needs every word that God speaks. Matthew 4:4
Before they left John told me that this was not his first visit to Lesotho. He had grown up in these parts as his father had been a District Commissioner. Welcome home John and thank you to you all, we enjoyed your visit very much!
Summer Holidays
by Elaine Herbert on 01/30/12
What fun, the summer holidays!
There were outings, Summer School, visitors from YWAM Australia and Christmas. Thank you to St Johns Anglican Church, Msizi Africa, Sentebale, Shoprite, Trust for Africa, The Umckaloabo Stiftung, Wendy Rudd and the Kleinhaus family for your generosity at Christmas time. The children received new outfits, exciting Christmas presents and they enjoyed a delicious Christmas Dinner with special treats. Thank you so much for making this possible.
On long, hot summer days some of the children found puddles, or filled a basin with water, playing games which involved much splashing of themselves and others, games perfectly designed for the weather. And pouring rain did nothing to dampen their spirits at Trust for Africas Christmas party which they thoroughly enjoyed.
There was plenty of rain in December, it bucketed down on Boxing Day, and by early January the fruit trees were laden with fruit. A heat wave in early January saw the fruit quickly ripen and soon there were peaches and plumbs, apples and apricots ready for picking. And they were delicious!
The holidays ended with preparations being made for the new school year. Thank you to Sentebale for new school uniforms, including new shoes and school bags. And a special thank you to Fifi and her team of Care Workers. Knowing that school holidays are always a particularly busy time for you, we appreciate your continued willingness to go that extra mile for those in your care.
Summer School at Mantsase Childrens Home 2011/12
by Elaine Herbert on 01/30/12
Acceptance, honesty, perseverance, compassion and love were some of the topics discussed at Summer School. Forgiveness, self-esteem and self-control were also discussed at length. And with her background in education, Mampe Moeletsi was in her element.
Trust for Africa (Lesotho) sponsored Summer School at Mantsase Childrens Home and Mampe, who is one of the Homes Board Members, and the Manager of Trust for Africas Mohales Hoek office, was responsible for running this worthwhile project for teenagers.
Planned to run every Tuesday and Thursday, from the 6th December 2011 to the 12th January 2012, Summer School was advertised by word of mouth and was open to all the teenagers in the district who wished to participate. Initially 68 teenagers enrolled, including 14 from Mantsase Childrens Home, and by the last day 10 more had joined in, a total of 78. With these numbers, and in order to make the discussion groups worthwhile for all who participated, Mampe often divided the teenagers into smaller discussion groups and she could be found at the Home on many a Wednesday and Friday too, continuing her work with one or more of the these smaller groups.
To accommodate girls-only and boys-only discussions, everyone had a turn to sleep over at Mantsase Childrens Home, girls some nights and boys on other nights, and these groups continued their discussions way into the night. Thank you to Fifi, her team of Care Workers and to our teenagers who welcomed and took great care of their guests.
The curriculum for Summer School was based on the Life Skills curriculum for schools in Lesotho, with added study material and teaching aids from HEARTLINES and WHY WAIT? Thank you to all who contributed to Summer School, in many ways, and a huge and heartfelt thank you to Mampe and Trust for Africa.
Mampe Moeletsi
by Elaine Herbert on 01/30/12
Mampe Moeletsi has served on the Board of Trustees for five years and is particularly interested in promoting life enrichment programmes for both the children and staff.
Born in Lesotho, Mampe completed her high school education in Quthing, her family home. After studying Home Economics at the Agricultural College in Maseru, Mampe began teaching. This was no surprise to those who know her as Mampe is passionate about empowering others through education and in particular, through skills training.
From 1983 to 1998 Mampe taught at EISP in Mohales Hoek, where during her first years of teaching she was mentored and guided by Nancy Schalm. During this time, in 1992, Mampe went to Israel for 6 months where she studied literacy in early childhood education.
In 1998 Mampe was awarded a bursary to study at the Helderberg College in Somerset West, near Cape Town, where she completed a three year training course in preschool and foundation phase education. She then worked at the Ministry of Education and Training in Mohales Hoek where her duties focused on administration and early childhood education. During this time Mampe also completed a one year course in Play Therapy, as well as a basic course in counselling both children and adults.
Wanting to spend more time helping orphans and vulnerable children Mampe later resigned from her post at the Ministry of Education and Training, and on the 1st August 2006 took up her new position as Manager at Mantsase Childrens Home. However Mampe soon realised that her true calling was to offer practical assistance and life skills training not only to the children being cared for at the Home, but to all vulnerable children living in the district. In 2008 Mampe resigned from her position as Manager at Mantsase Childrens Home, moving to Mohales Hoek where she now manages the Mohales Hoek office for Trust for Africa (Lesotho).
Mampe contributes generously to Mantsase Childrens Home, in her personal capacity, as a Board Member and as the Manager of Trust for Africa.
A great day out!
by Elaine Herbert on 12/22/11
On Tuesday the 13th December two buses left Mantsase Childrens Home on their way to Maseru. In one bus were the older children with their loud music while the younger children, full of excited chatter, traveled in the other bus. For this day of fun and celebration the children were all wearing new outfits given to them by the Umckaloabo Stiftung.
Msizi Africa sponsored this early Christmas treat for the children at the Home, as well as for the Housemothers and other staff members who work so hard with and for the children throughout the year. There were snacks for the journey and once in
Soon it was time to go to the movies and Arthur Christmas was such fun! At the movie there was popcorn, and afterwards ice cream. Then cotton candy and other sweet treats before climbing aboard the buses for the journey home.
Thank you Msizi, and thank you for the take-away supper you also provided. Not only was this enjoyed by all, but the Housemothers really enjoyed not having to cook that evening, after a long, exciting and great day out!
Thank you to the Umckaloabo Stiftung
by Elaine Herbert on 12/22/11
We have received a letter from the Umckaloabo Stiftung, one of our major donors, to say that not only are they going to continue their financial support for Mantsase Childrens Home in 2012, they are going to increase it.
This is wonderful news! Thank you so much.
The brave few
by Elaine Herbert on 12/11/11
Over the years friends have helped raise funds for Mantsase Childrens Home, working hard for the well being of others. While some philanthropists give money and others give advice, it is the brave few who create fundraising projects.
A hurdle they have all encountered has been: How best to get the funds they have raised into our bank account? Some have mailed paper cheques, others preferred to use direct bank transfers but in a nutshell, the only options available to them were relatively expensive and it was weeks, sometimes months, before they received confirmation that the money they had sent had been paid into our bank account.
In the words of Kate Fagalde:
There is nothing quite as frustrating as having a gift for someone, but having a problem giving it to them. Over the years, I have been in the fortunate position to be able to raise funds for Mantsase, and through various means, I have managed to get the funds sent from America and Europe to Lesotho, but it has not always been easy. Now, thanks to GivenGain, it is as simple as clicking a button, filling in the short online form and Hey Presto, the money has raced across the world and into the Mantsase GivenGain account. I get immediate confirmation from GivenGain to say that it has been done, and I can forward that confirmation to the various donors who have helped me to raise funds, so that they know the full amount has been paid in safely.
With Christmas approaching, let us hope that people with kind hearts and good intentions will click on the link and send off some much needed funds to the children. We so often take the ease of our lives for granted but those who care for the children never do. This is just one way our lives got easier, so let us take advantage of it.
Thank you Kate!
C4C Prize Winners!
by Elaine Herbert on 12/05/11
Earlier today, during the UN Climate Change Conference in
All five won prizes in the 13-17 age group.
- Makoanyane Mosala won First Prize in the Energy category.
- Keneuoe Panyane won Second Prize in the Agriculture category.
- Lireko Potsane won Third Prize in the Agriculture category.
- Topollo Potsane won Third Prize in the Forests category.
- Phomolo Rangoajane won Third Prize in the Health category.
Prize winning entries were selected by the C4C jury from among nearly 700 submissions which were sent in from young people from every country on the African continent.
Congratulations Makoanyane, Keneuoe, Lireko, Topollo and Phomolo, and well done to all of our teenagers who entered the competition!
Preschool Graduation
by Elaine Herbert on 12/05/11
Thursday the 24th November was an important day. It was the day of preschool graduation. Proceedings were due to begin at 9am and I arrived at Mantsase Childrens Home in good time, expecting the celebrations to be over by lunch time. But I will know better next time.
In fact there are two ceremonies. The first is the district graduation ceremony. Teachers, parents and children from all the preschools in the Taung district gather together for this important occasion and at 11am we were ready to leave, the children smart in their uniforms and the vehicles suitably decorated with balloons and streamers. Accompanied by much hooting, cheering and waiving, the vehicles wound their way to the venue which was in an open field surrounded by mountains. The view from every angle was magnificent.
Storm clouds were gathering when proceedings began with a prayer, after which the guests of honour were introduced. I only realised I was a guest of honour when I was introduced as such, and I was honoured to be included in this special way. And I felt embarrassed, but only because I had realised I was going to have to leave soon. To everyone who welcomed me so warmly, thank you. I am sorry I had to leave in such haste, long before the ceremony was over.
Looking back as I was leaving I saw a colourful display of umbrellas, as it had begun raining, but I have been assured that the rain did not dampen the celebrations. Good! And I have heard that the second ceremony of the day, held at Mantsase Childrens Home for the children living there, was equally festive and a whole lot of fun.
Congratulations to our four preschool graduates, you have done well!
For the last week I have been trying to track down photographs to share with you, of the children in their gowns and caps and of the celebrations at the Home, but to no avail as gremlins have got into some software. Such a pity, I believe there were some super photos taken. We will try to salvage them though, and if we can, we will share them with you.
