The Village of Lesotho Rebuilding Fund
Last week at The Village of Lesotho, the main water tank and supply to the Semonkong Children’s Centre was struck by lightening. The video shows one of the “dry" taps and the burnt main power supply for the pump. This is devastating for those living in remote Semonkong, as it is the main tank that supplies the whole of the community with fresh water every day. Until this is fixed the only water accessible to the Village has to be sourced from a nearby well, which is 500 meters downhill (meaning that children from the Centre have to carry the heavy buckets of water uphill on their return).
The water from the well comes in drips so it takes an hour for a 20 litre container of water to fill up. With nearly 60 people being onsite, the Children's Centre uses well over 200 litres of water per day. The situation with the current Covid-19 pandemic and hygiene being such a high priority, means that their situation is really quite desperate.
A brief history: The Semonkong Children’s Centre is an orphanage which cares for 52 children. It runs independently alongside The Village of Lesotho and a few months ago landed in a very dire situation, losing their funding when a local church closed down. At its heart the The Children's Centre provides a holistic home and care for children without families, acting as a key support network as they grow and learn. But it is unable to do this without the funds for food, school fees, gas for heating and cooking, let alone salaries for the committed staff members.
The Children's Centre building is a 41 year old Methodist Mission hospital built in 1978. Water pipes have been leaking and bursting almost every single day and they unfortunately have received little help from the government to replace the old pipes or water tank (something that will cost R52000 or £2,500).
The main hospital building that got burnt down in 2001, though usable, is in very bad state. The walls are charred, the ceilings have caved in and electric wiring is hanging out at various points. It needs some serious refurbishing especially since there is so much that it can be used for in order to cater for the current orphans as additional living, learning and community space.
The Village’s primary charitable work in Lesotho to date has been has been in supporting the wellbeing and education of vulnerable young Herd Boys who work for local farmers as Shepherds. While we have been growing The School and Skills College to develop their education, we have been made aware of the struggles of the Children's Centre in not being able to generate sufficient income to cover all monthly costs. After having provided some emergency support during their more testing winter months in the peak of the Pandemic, the increasingly perilous circumstances for the children in the building has meant we have since taken the decision to merge our existing operations with the Children’s Centre.
The Village is committed to fully supporting the Semonkong Children’s Centre from 2021, but without having the extra cost of this recent emergency built into our 2020 budget, we urgently need your help to expedite this funding.
Please help us to reach our target of £3,000 to urgently replace the pump. We are striving for as close to £25,000 as possible to refurb parts of the orphanage building that have fallen into disrepair due to a lack of funds so that we can help to restore the once impressive building into a community asset for children, staff and the wider Village of Lesotho.
Thank you!
The water from the well comes in drips so it takes an hour for a 20 litre container of water to fill up. With nearly 60 people being onsite, the Children's Centre uses well over 200 litres of water per day. The situation with the current Covid-19 pandemic and hygiene being such a high priority, means that their situation is really quite desperate.
A brief history: The Semonkong Children’s Centre is an orphanage which cares for 52 children. It runs independently alongside The Village of Lesotho and a few months ago landed in a very dire situation, losing their funding when a local church closed down. At its heart the The Children's Centre provides a holistic home and care for children without families, acting as a key support network as they grow and learn. But it is unable to do this without the funds for food, school fees, gas for heating and cooking, let alone salaries for the committed staff members.
The Children's Centre building is a 41 year old Methodist Mission hospital built in 1978. Water pipes have been leaking and bursting almost every single day and they unfortunately have received little help from the government to replace the old pipes or water tank (something that will cost R52000 or £2,500).
The main hospital building that got burnt down in 2001, though usable, is in very bad state. The walls are charred, the ceilings have caved in and electric wiring is hanging out at various points. It needs some serious refurbishing especially since there is so much that it can be used for in order to cater for the current orphans as additional living, learning and community space.
The Village’s primary charitable work in Lesotho to date has been has been in supporting the wellbeing and education of vulnerable young Herd Boys who work for local farmers as Shepherds. While we have been growing The School and Skills College to develop their education, we have been made aware of the struggles of the Children's Centre in not being able to generate sufficient income to cover all monthly costs. After having provided some emergency support during their more testing winter months in the peak of the Pandemic, the increasingly perilous circumstances for the children in the building has meant we have since taken the decision to merge our existing operations with the Children’s Centre.
The Village is committed to fully supporting the Semonkong Children’s Centre from 2021, but without having the extra cost of this recent emergency built into our 2020 budget, we urgently need your help to expedite this funding.
Please help us to reach our target of £3,000 to urgently replace the pump. We are striving for as close to £25,000 as possible to refurb parts of the orphanage building that have fallen into disrepair due to a lack of funds so that we can help to restore the once impressive building into a community asset for children, staff and the wider Village of Lesotho.
Thank you!
Organiser
Dominique Sinagra
Organiser
England
Village of Forgiveness
Beneficiary