Help Educate 40 Bright Girls in Lesotho

It gives me great pleasure to write to you once more during Educare Fund’s silver jubilee year, celebrating your support for the education of girls in Lesotho. We are grateful for your support in all our fundraising campaigns, including this year’s GlobalGiving July Bonus Day. This one-day campaign raised enough to cover basic school fees for at least ten of the girls in our current cohort. I am happy to borrow some words from one of our beneficiaries, Nokuk’hanya, who writes: ‘Thank you once more for your thoughtful and generous gifts!’

If you ever wonder what your gifts are worth to the girls, think of the hundreds of school years that you’ve helped pay for over the years. And think of the many girls who not only finished high school but also went on to further education. A number of graduates are known to us. The successful careers of the graduates who’ve kept in touch with us bear testimony to your amazing generosity. Words like ‘generosity’, ‘motivation’, and ‘inspiration’ frequently appear in the letters we receive from the girls.

The girls still mention the great relief they feel once their school fees are paid. With the fees taken care of, many of the girls actually perform better in class, as they are able to focus on their studies instead of wondering if they can remain in school in the first place. It is a common practice for schools in Lesotho to lay students off until the fees are paid. This interrupts school attendance for many young people from poor families and has a lasting effect on their chances of eventually graduating with good results.

Here’s what two of the girls, Itumeleng and Palesa, have to say about this:

‘I’d like you to know that my performance in school has improved since I received sponsorship. I hope this will motivate you to help other girls like me, who would not be able to attend school because of family poverty. I am really inspired by your generosity, and I hope that in the future I will be able to help at least one girl to finish high school.’

'Thanks to your kind support, I can now just focus on my studies without worrying about being excluded from classes for non-payment of fees.’

Your donations ensure that none of the girls you support have to carry this burden of constant worry around every school day. Such a wonderful gift!

We are forever grateful to you.

Warmly,

Liphethiso Monica

2022 is a special year for Educare Fund and for you, our donor community. It is a year of celebration of 25 years since Educare Fund was founded. It all started in 1997 with us supporting one girl though high school. Since then we have been able to support many other girls in this way.

 I'd like to share a few numbers that will give you an idea of the impact your awesome work has had over the years. Starting with that one girl in 1997, the list gradually increased to 40 students per year. 600 or more school fee years were paid for, and about 200 girls successfully finished high school. A good proportion of these girls went on to higher education including university, although we haven't been able to keep track of all of them. Of the graduates, we have had contact with 10 or so, and we’ve shared their stories with you.

We have recently made changes to how Educare Fund operates on the ground in Lesotho. Starting this year, we are partnering with an organisation called Graduate, Tertiary Students and Youth Network, which we hope will help foster local ownership of the programme. We have appointed Puseletso, a member of GTSYN and one of our former beneficiaries, as a volunteer local coordinator for Educare Fund. 

With your help, we have been able to increase the annual cohort of students we support to 50. We are also supporting two girls through the newly introduced AS programme. Lesotho has seen a recent change to the way secondary schooling is structured, with high school reduced to four years, followed by an AS year designed to better prepare students for tertiary education. Educare Fund is committed to helping poorer girls through this new curriculum.

As Neo, one of the beneficiaries of Educare Fund observes, 'helping one girl at a time goes a long way in shaping our society. She is one of the former Educare Fund-supported graduates who are now making a huge difference in their communities. We are contacting more like her so that we can share their stories with you.

Many people have contributed to giving these girls the chance to change their lives and the lives of their communities for the better: you, our donors, the girls' parents, the teachers – and of course the girls themselves.

So a massive thank you to everyone! We are forever grateful.

Warmly

Liphethiso Monica