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COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE PROMOTION
MOVEMENT (CDPPM), Mafeteng
2005 – $ 5,000
CDPPM works within Mafeteng community operating 11 home-based
care and child welfare centers staffed by trained volunteers,
who aim to support and recognize children as “subjects
with rights,” rather than “objects with needs.”
CDPPM’s activities seek to unite community members by counseling
and empowering vulnerable children and their guardians. This
grant supports CDPPM to provide school fees and uniforms for
27 youth in secondary schools in remote rural areas.
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HA MANTILATILANE CHILD RESCUE CENTRE, Maseru
2005 – $ 7,500
Initiated to mitigate the impact of child abandonment, Ha Mantilatilane
Child Rescue Centre operates a preschool, along with an after-school
recreational facility and tutoring center. Ha Mantilatilane
also organizes and trains village development groups to support
youth and adult income generation through fruit and vegetable
cultivation. Funding from Firelight supports Ha Mantilatilane
to extend its vegetable garden and peach tree cultivation activities,
benefiting 80 vulnerable youth and caregivers and the children
in their care. Fruit and produce is consumed and sold, improving
household food security and assisting caregivers in meeting
the costs of education and other household expenses.
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HLALEFANG MAKAOTA - TEBANG, Mafeteng
2005 – $ 5,600
Started by community members concerned about the lack of hospital
care for individuals living with HIV/AIDS, Hlalefang Makaota-Tebang
now consists of 10 support groups in the villages of Tebang
in rural Mafeteng district. The group aims to “provide
protection and care of [orphans and vulnerable children], and
ensure their welfare; and to provide support and care for people
living with HIV/AIDS and their families.” A grant from
Firelight provides educational support to 20 primary and 10
secondary school students. Funds also pay for tailoring materials
for an income-generating project benefiting children and their
families.
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HOOHLO AIDS SUPPORT GROUP, Maseru
2004 – $ 3,500
Hoohlo AIDS Support Group organizes community members to help
pay school fees and secure food and clothes for vulnerable children.
With Firelight funding, the organization is purchasing supplies
for income-generating activities, such as agricultural materials
and carpentry tools.
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KHANYA SUPPORT GROUP, Maseru
2004 – $ 6,000
Khanya Support Group provides home-based care to 16 families,
distributes food parcels and clothing, operates a weekly soup
kitchen, hosts educational activities, and supports a pottery
and ceramics cooperative. This youth-led support group is using
Firelight funds to provide sewing training to 20 youth, as well
as to pay school fees for 10 primary and 5 high school students.
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LEFIKENG DISABLED AND SOCIAL TRAINING CENTRE,
Thaba Bosiu
2004 – $ 6,000
Serving over 200 youth, Lefikeng addresses the lack of employment
opportunities facing orphans by providing them with skills training,
income-generating activities, and school fee sponsorship. In
addition, they provide HIV/AIDS and drug abuse counseling and
advocacy programs on children’s rights. With Firelight
funding, Lefikeng is purchasing poultry and materials for a
poultry-raising income-generating project and training 70 youth
in record keeping, sales, and accounting.
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LESOTHO CHILD COUNSELING UNIT (LCCU), Mazenod
2005 – $15,000
LCCU provides a temporary, safe home and rehabilitative care
for sexually, physically, and emotionally abused children. LCCU
also prepares concerned citizens to serve in Child Welfare Forums.
These forums identify vulnerable children and refer them to
essential service providers. Previous Firelight funding allowed
LCCU to begin construction of a shelter for 30 abandoned and
abused children under its temporary care. This regrant from
Firelight enables LCCU to complete this transitional shelter,
which will better enable LCCU to prepare children for reintegration
into their families and communities. The facility includes a
nutrition garden and a fenced yard for cows, chickens, and pigs,
promoting the group’s efforts to generate an income for
the home and activities for the children.
2004 – $ 18,000
LCCU was established as a temporary place of safety for sexually,
physically, and emotionally abused children. They provide treatment,
psychosocial support, trauma therapy, legal advocacy, and a
temporary place of safety for children and then return them
to the community with follow-up care.
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LESOTHO DURHAM LINK COALITION (LDLC), Maseru
2005 – $8,000
LDLC is composed of eight child-focused organizations supporting
vulnerable young people, including deaf children and those living
with physical and cognitive disabilities. LDLC provides counseling
services and recreational opportunities to children served by
its member organizations. Firelight funds support the participation
of more than 2,000 children and 300 caregivers in canoeing,
rock climbing, cycling, swimming, and other outdoor adventures.
These recreational activities foster skills and build the self-
confidence of youth in their own capabilities. LDLC believes
that helping community members recognize this youth strength,
reduces stigma and discrimination.
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Lesotho Save the Children
(LSC), Maseru
2005 – $30,000 (Two-year grant)
For more than 40 years, LSC has provided child protection services
and, more recently, hospice care, education, and community-based
HIV/AIDS support programs for abandoned infants and neglected
children. A previous Firelight grant supported LSC to train
community members on how to prepare orphan-care plans for vulnerable
children within their villages. Funds also covered the costs
of materials for income-generating activities of guardians caring
for abandoned children. With this funding LSC trains four HIV/AIDS
support groups in psychosocial support techniques, home-based
care, children’s rights, and livestock husbandry for income
generation. LSC also provides food parcels to households with
disabled or vulnerable children.
2003 – $ 10,000
Lesotho Save the Children, founded in 1962, provides child protection
services, hospice care, educational support, and community-based
HIV/AIDS support for abandoned infants and neglected children.
This grant helps support a new initiative to train community
members to create orphan care plans for vulnerable children
within their home villages.
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LESOTHO SOCIETY OF MENTALLY
HANDICAPPED PERSONS (LSMHP), Maseru
2005 – $10,000
Founded by concerned parents, LSMHP advocates for services for
children with disabilities, provides parents with coping skills,
and makes referrals to key service providers. With 14 branches
in eight districts, LSMHP maintains a database of children in
need and of local welfare agencies that can help. With increasing
parental deaths due to AIDS, LSMHP is now working to locate
and track beneficiaries. Firelight’s grant enables trained
volunteers to identify children with disabilities and to update
LSMHP’s database, which helps ensure children’s protection
and their access to services. Gathering more recent information
also enhances LSMHP’s ability to trace children’s
relatives.
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Lesotho Youth For Christ (YFC), Khubetsoana/Maseru
2003 – $ 8,000
YFC’s mission is to address challenges of urban youth
such as unemployment, lack of educational opportunities, and
negative role models that can result in teen pregnancy, drug
and alcohol abuse, and HIV infection. This grant provides
funding for YFC to build a youth center in one of the poorest
and most densely populated townships near the capital city.
The youth center will offer educational and recreational activities,
while promoting community involvement and service.
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NAZARETH SUPPORT GROUP, Machache
2005 – $3,000
Nazareth Support Group, a community-based organization, provides
a holistic set of services to families and their children.
Funding from Firelight provides educational assistance for
10 primary school and seven secondary school students. A portion
of the grant supports a livestock project, proceeds from which
will support Nazareth’s efforts to educate community
members about children’s rights, HIV/AIDS, and child-abuse
prevention. Funding also enables Nazareth to complete governmental
nonprofit registration requirements.
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PHOPHOLETSA HIV/AIDS SUPPORT GROUP, Maseru
2005 – $11,400
Community members formed Phopholetsa HIV/AIDS Support Group
to address their four most urgent concerns: hunger, rejection
and stigma, abuse, and lack of access to education. Previous
Firelight funding paid the educational expenses of 13 children
and enabled Phopholetsa to train 36 caregivers in basic counseling.
With regrant funding Phopholetsa continues these programs, extending
educational assistance to 18 children and training 40 more caregivers
in psychosocial support strategies. In addition Phopholetsa
is starting a candle-manufacturing project to generate income
for at least 20 caregivers.
2004 – $3,500
The primary aim of Phopholetsa is to care for and support those
affected by HIV/AIDS. The group addresses urgent concerns such
as hunger, stigma, abuse, and lack of access to education through
community programs and income-generating activities. With this
grant, Phopholetsa provides educational support and food to
nine students. Funding also covers the cost of training 30 caregivers
in counseling and helps with administrative costs.
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RE TSEPILE MORENA SUPPORT GROUP, Maseru
2004 – $3,500
Re Tsepile Morena Support Group helps provide care to those
who are sick and dying and offers support to children whose
parents have died. Youth members and volunteers currently supply
140 children with food, clothes, and medicine. With funding
from Firelight, Re Tsepile Morena is paying for school fees,
uniforms, and school supplies for 18 children. They are also
purchasing additional food and medicine, and providing materials
for income-generating activities.
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Tsepong Counselling Centre, Sebaboleng/Maseru
2003 – $ 7,000
Tsepong Counselling Centre focuses on counseling and AIDS prevention
work. They currently run four village-level orphan support groups
and regularly facilitate HIV/AIDS prevention and counseling
trainings nationwide. They are also supporting 15 orphans with
food, home visits, and counseling. This grant assists them with
operational expenses. It also funds life skills training for
children, and training for caregivers and village support groups
in orphan issues, home-based care, and counseling skills.
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Tšosane Support Group, Maseru
2004 – $9,000
Tšosane provides home-based care, counseling services,
and food parcels to orphans. Previous grant funding covered
educational expenses for 10 primary and 2 secondary school students
and purchased materials for an HIV-prevention workshop. With
this grant from Firelight, Tšosane is providing school
and material support to 18 orphans and income-generating activities
for youth and caregivers. Grant funds also provide for ongoing
home-based care and support for orphans living with HIV.
2003 – $ 3,000
This community group provides home-based care, counseling services,
and food parcels to 45 orphans in a township outside Maseru
with a population of about 20,000. Grant funding enables the
Tšosane Support Group to fund the educational expenses
of 10 primary school students and 2 secondary school students.
It also supplies materials for behavior change workshops..
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YOUNG BASOTHO PROFESSIONAL FORUM (YBPF),
Maseru
2004 – $4,500
YBPF promotes volunteerism by involving youth in HIV/AIDS
awareness activities and by empowering children to speak directly
to the community about their experiences as orphans. Through
training programs, volunteers address the social, economic,
and health-related problems youth face. With Firelight funds,
YBPF is training 25 child heads-of-households and 25 caregivers
in life skills, HIV/AIDS prevention, nutrition, home-based
care, counseling, and food production.
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