Help Educate 40 Bright Girls in Lesotho

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