5 December
2008
Lesotho volunteers: "Our
future is in our hands"
Leribe, Lesotho: Lesotho Volunteer Forum and Lesotho Youth Volunteer
Forum chose ‘Youth Empowerment’ as their theme for International
Volunteer Day 2008 celebration at St Paul School for the Deaf,
Leribe.
The slogan was ‘Bokamoso Ba Rona Bo Ka Matsohong A Rona - Our Future
is in Our Hands’ This reflects how students and teachers at St Paul
communicate through International Sign Language and also how much we
rely on our young people to create the world in which we live, grow
and thrive.
The volunteers created play spaces for students and teachers at St
Paul School for the Deaf, in providing much needed equipment for the
school and in celebrating the extraordinary contribution that
volunteerism makes to our development as individuals, in our
communities and in our country on this day.
Members of both Lesotho Volunteer Forum and Lesotho Youth Volunteer
Forum come from all sectors of society in Lesotho, both national and
international, which actively promote development through
volunteerism. Members are drawn from UN agencies, national NGOs,
international NGOs, government departments, education, business and
civil society groups.
The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme in Lesotho is a member
of Lesotho Volunteer Forum and Lesotho Youth Volunteer Forum, and
supports both as Secretary. The 2008 celebrations were financed by
UNV funds and UNV volunteers were central to delivery and planning
of the event.
Founded in 1981, St Paul School for the Deaf has had a variety of
sites, with the present facility established in 1994. It is one of
only two such schools for hearing impaired students in Lesotho.
Education is to primary level only and the school is administered by
an Advisory Committee (teachers, parents, church representatives,
staff and the Community Chief in Leribe). The school has 80
students, ranging in age from five to 25 years of age. Seventy-six
of the 80 students live at the School during term-time.
Funding for St Paul School for the Deaf comes from the Ministry of
Education and Training, SOLON (a Swiss organization with offices in
Durban, South Africa) and parents’ contributions. Sentebale provides
support funding for pastoral visits and the World Food Programme (WFP)
is actively engaged with the school through their School Feeding
Programme. Crops are grown on the grounds to supplement this and the
School also raises its own funds by catering for workshops.
Contact the UNV Programme OfficeYou can call us at 2231 3790,
ext.326 (Orfhlaith Ramsey) and ext.327 (Ntsieli Tlahali). We are
based in UNDP at UN House, United Nations Road, PO Box 301, Maseru
100. For email, write to
Orfhlaith.Ramsey@undp.org
and Ntsieli.Tlahali@undp.org
. We look forward to hearing from you.
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