Projects:
Evaton West Community
Garden Project
Act!
Gardens of Hope*Molapo School * Pitseng School *Linotsing School *Tsepong Clinic*Ha Makhata Group
Ha Makhata Phelisanong Group
Residential centre for disabled adults, disabled, orphaned and vulnerable children
Departments: HIV-AIDS Support groups (youth & adult), Farm, Pre-School for Disabled Children, Vocational Training for Disabled Youth, Handicraft Co-operative, Outreach & Psycho-social support for non-resident orphans and vulnerable children
Goals
- to care for and educate orphaned, disabled, and vulnerable children
- to promote permaculture gardening techniques as a method of increasing food production
- to engage the surrounding communities and local CBOs by establishing a network that offers training in psycho-social support for caregivers of orphaned and vulnerable children
- address the needs of the PLWHA population by providing support, training, referrals and financial assistance
- to become self-sustaining through the production of food and cultural handicrafts
| In 2000, Mamello Lehlotha founded the Phelisanong Disabled Group at Ha Makhata to care
for and educate orphaned, disabled, and vulnerable children. Over 150 volunteers from the
community work at Ha Makhata to assist in the support of these children, many of whom have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS, or have been abandoned due to their disabilities. Mamello is a visionary woman who sees the potential in every child, and under her care the children blossom. |
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The poverty faced by the community at Ha Makhata is extreme; meeting their food needs is primary, and to this end SOLID is investing in improving farming techniques based on permaculture principals. Since special needs children are often left out of the government school system, we wish to invest in the building and staffing of a special school at Ha Makhata to look after the education of disabled children in the region.
| . Ha Makhata on Easter Monday, 2006 | The group is engaged in livelihood activities based on their extensive gardens and handicraft co-operative. They offer vocational training in cultural handicrafts and textile manufacturing to disabled adults and youth, and work with local People Living With AIDS by establishing support groups. The AIDS support groups are also engaged in outreach to surrounding communities to encourage testing and offer peer-to-peer education.
Play the video |
| In 2006, the group constructed 2 residences for disabled adults and children, along with a large handicraft workshop and roadside market stand. SOLID built a tree nursery and is delivering weekly workshops to the gardening group on composting, soil improvement, water management, tree propagation, and organic pest management. |  |
One of Lesotho’s best paved roads travels past Ha Makhata, and the group capitalizes on the trickle of tourist traffic by selling woven hats, baskets, and produce at a roadside stand. We hope to engage Salt Spring Islands’ thriving artist and artisan community in assisting the community at Ha Makhata to diversify their handicrafts and to develop commercially viable crops such as teas, fruits, and flowers.
Accomplishments
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- Development of smaller market garden to fund transport needs of HIV+ support group members to visit clinics
- Partnership with four local community-based organizations for skill and resource share
- Development of pre-school for 30+ mentally and physically disabled children
- Built a tree nursery in 2006 to allow for reforestation of fragile mountain slopes, donga reclamation, and propagation of orchard trees
Leadership
- Mamello Lehlotha, project founder and co-ordinator, an incredibly dynamic woman who herself is disabled. She has dedicated her life to advocacy for and care of disabled people and vulnerable children, and to this end is engaged in training and support of community workers for the Phelisanong Handicapped Project in Ma Makhata. Mamello trains and manages 6 paid staff as leaders in all 6 departments of the project.
- The acting chief of Hamakata, Me Makhata, is responsible for the management of the regions’ human and natural resources.
Natural Resources
- There is an abundance of well drained, sunny farmland with ample room to grow. The group is farming about 5 hectares currently. While they do not own the land, both the chief and acting chief of the district have granted them the use of this space permanently.
- Water: There is a dam at Hamakata that was built by the Ministry of Agriculture but all watering at Ha Makhata is done by hand. A pump system with water storage tanks and dripline hoses would greatly reduce the amount of labor required to grow food for the community. Investment in roof catchment systems would ensure a year-round water supply.
Human Resources / Stakeholders
- Volunteers: 120 trained volunteers assist with caregiving, handicraft production, gardening and social support network building.
- Elders at Ha Makhata volunteer their labour towards the care of needy children through community projects such as thatch making, house building, school teaching and social work. Formerly supported by the World Food Programs’ Food for Work initiative, these volunteers now receive no compensation for their efforts.
- U.S. Peace Corps volunteer on a 2 year posting resides on site; he works closely with the AIDS support groups and with youth to offer training and self-esteem building. American Embassy in Lesotho has funded the group to build three buildings which will act as housing for orphans and as a handicraft centre.
- SOLID: In 2006 SOLID built a tree nursery at the centre and intends to deliver a series of training workshops to volunteers and staff. (see Appendix B)
HIV/AIDS Support
- Phelisanong Bophelong: 2 support groups developed after the Phelisanang Bophelong group from the Tsepong Clinic came to Hamakata and did a
- Youth HIV-AIDS support: peer-to-peer education and counseling.
- Adult HIV-AIDS support : improving access to treatment for positive people. The group grows a communal vegetable garden; proceeds from the sale of produce cover the cost of transportation of patients from Ha Makhata to the ARV clinic at Tsepong.
- PSI/ New Start:
- Delivered workshops and offered voluntary counseling and testing to the community in 2005 and 2006.