Two of our Board members, Liz and David Linn, recently returned from Lesotho, where the 10th annual book distribution was taking place.

When David told one of the flight attendants on the flight to Johannesburg that the main purpose of the trip was to visit Lesotho, he suggested a discussion with the Captain, Dennis Krieg. David met him while both wandered the plane and had a very long talk about their respective humanitarian projects. Dennis was gobsmacked to discover an organisation that sends books to Lesotho, as a kind friend had left him with over 3,000 children’s books for which he had no home. Now he has one, Books for Lesotho Inc.! Dennis was kind enough to invite David and Liz to travel to the poorest parts of Soweto to meet some of the people he is supporting to change their circumstances, and to meet some of the local people who are working for change, together with visiting some of the related projects. Five hours of sharing with people while walking the “streets” and walkways of Kliptown was inspiring and tiring. It was an amazing chance connection resulting in a rewrite of the day’s activities; new friends and more support for Books for Lesotho. Thanks Dennis.

A lot has happened in the past eight weeks, far more than can be put in a “readable” length newsletter. Here are the highlights.

BOOK DISTRIBUTION, MARCH 2017

Founders, David and Liz, were at Transformation Resource Centre in Maseru for the book distribution ceremony, the 10^th annual event. For many schools this marked the end of the five-year cycle for receiving books. You can see the long list of recipients here.

We can all be proud of the effort the staff at TRC have put in to distribute 102,189 books and other items over the life of the project.

There was extensive media coverage of the event especially by PublicEye (two long articles) and LesothoTV (a long segment on the event).

For more images click here.

MEETING OUR LESOTHO PATRON

David and Liz had the pleasure of meeting Books for Lesotho’s Lesotho Patron, His Royal Highness, Prince Dr Seeiso Bereng Seeiso. Prince Seeiso is an outgoing person with a high profile in Lesotho. You can be assured that he is a strong supporter of raising standards of literacy in Lesotho and for the Lesotho people to take advantage of the opportunities projects such as Books for Lesotho provides.

VISITS TO SCHOOLS

David and Liz visited several schools and organisations during their visit. In the north it was two of the schools supported by Maliba Lodge through the Maliba Community Development Trust. Discussions revealed the need for training for teachers on how to establish a school library and how to use the books to complement the official school syllabus, together with the provision of bookshelves to support the libraries. Both topics are the subject of discussions on what is needed and how to raise the necessary funds.

For more images click here.

In Maseru we visited Safate sa Bophelo English Medium School (you will find video images of Principal Manthatiso describing the value of the books to the students and teachers and see the books on shelves in the current library) and St Camillus Centre for orphans and vulnerable children near Mohales Hoek.

There are examples of excellent use of the library books which we hope will encourage other schools to make use of the opportunity the books provide. However, a training course for teachers remains a significant need.

FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS IN LESOTHO

Discussions were held with TRC by way of review of 10 years of operations and “what of the future?” A meeting with the Rotary Club of Maloti explored the possibility of developing another distribution partnership. We will report the outcomes in due course.

AND IN AUSTRALIA …

We are pleased to announce that we have a new home at The Barn, Pasadena High School. (Pasadena is an inner-southern suburb of Adelaide). Here we receive books, sort and pack them into boxes, and then load them onto pallets ready for the long journey to Lesotho.

The Barn is open to receive books every Wednesday from 9.30 am until noon. Please deliver your books here or visit to learn about the operation and the ways that you can help.

Fund Raising for the 2017 Shipment which might develop into additional “Shipments”!!

Your financial contribution is needed. We invite you to donate now. Donations of $2 or more may be claimed as a tax-deduction.

Sincerely,

The Books for Lesotho Board