Help Lesotho
Life skills training, mental health support, and secondary school sponsorship for young people in one of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable countries.
See how you can help↓
WHAT HELP LESOTHO DOES
Education and Emotional Support, Side by Side
In Lesotho, primary school is free and compulsory, but secondary school is not. The moment a child finishes primary school, their family has to start finding school fees, uniforms and books on their own, and for rural families already living with very little, that jump is often where a child’s education stops, however well they did in primary school. Help Lesotho’s Child Sponsorship Programme steps in at exactly that point. Help Lesotho pairs a sponsor with a rural student who could not otherwise afford secondary school, combining the school fee itself with psychosocial care and life skills support: the two things a child needs to actually stay in school, not just start it. Every sponsorship includes the following:
Sawabona Africa has supported these children since 2021, continuing the relationship first built by Yes We Care! e.V., a German charity that closed at the end of 2021.
Why Lesotho
Some of the Hardest Odds a Child Can Be Born Into
These are the realities every sponsorship works against: a large share of the population lives in poverty, HIV prevalence among adults remains high, gender-based violence against girls and women is widely reported, and Lesotho’s suicide rate is well above the global average. We present these figures factually and respectfully, as the honest context for the work.
50%
of the population lives in poverty
25%
of adults are HIV-positive
86%
of girls & women report gender-based violence
10×
the global average suicide rate
HELP LESOTHO'S IMPACT
Help Lesotho, in Numbers.
150
children reached at each Leadership Camp
82%
of program staff are graduates of Help Lesotho’s own programs
25,000+
people reached every year by Help Lesotho’s programmes across the country
HOW CAN YOU HELP
Sponsorship Comes First, With Two Lighter Ways to Give Alongside It
Child Sponsorship is our priority ask. Camp and once-off gifts matter too, and every undirected donation goes straight to the Education Fund.
SPONSOR A CHILD - PRIORITY
Child Sponsorship
€35
/ month or €425 / year
Covers one rural student’s secondary school fees, uniform, life skills training, psychosocial support, and a place at the annual Leadership Camp.
You’ll receive: a child profile and two letters a year
OTHER WAYS TO HELP HELP LESOTHO
€150
/ year or €10 / month
Not tied to sponsoring a specific child, this funds a place at the annual five-day Leadership Camp, which reaches up to 150 children with workshops, counselling, sport and meals.
Your choice
of amount
No ongoing commitment and no specific child — any once-off or undirected gift to Help Lesotho goes straight to the Education Fund, which covers exam fees and interim school costs for children on the waiting list for full sponsorship, keeping them in school while they wait to be matched with a sponsor.
Questions about supporting help lesotho
Specific to this Project
How long am I committing to as a sponsor?
We recommend seeing a student through to the end of secondary school, since that continuity is part of what makes the psychosocial support meaningful. Sawabona Africa commits to each child’s ongoing support regardless of any single sponsor’s circumstances.
What is the difference between sponsorship and the Education Fund?
Sponsorship is a direct, ongoing relationship with one student, including a child profile and two letters a
year. The Education Fund is undirected: it covers exam fees and interim costs for children still waiting to
be matched with a sponsor, so a gift there helps keep a child in school in the meantime.
Is the Leadership Camp included in sponsorship, or separate?
A Leadership Camp place is included in Child Sponsorship, at €35 a month or €425 a year, alongside school fees, life skills training, and psychosocial support. If you would rather fund the camp without sponsoring a specific child, that is also possible as its own donation.
How do I pay?
Monthly, or annually, whichever suits you. In Germany we can set up a SEPA Mandate on your account, or your can set up a recurring donation via EFT.
Help Lesotho is a Canadian Organisation. Does my donation get sent to Canada?
Our donations are sent directly to Lesotho. Our reporting is overseen by the team in Canada.
A little of our history with Help Lesotho
How We came to Them
The end of the charity organization Yes we care! e.V. had to be decided on 31.12.2021. Countless needy children in Lesotho were able to benefit from various Yes We Care! e.V. projects and will continue to do so in the future. Former sponsored students from the Yes We Care! e.V. child sponsorship program managed to get a tertiary education and are now in well-paying jobs. Yes We Care! e.V. worked for over 10 years in close cooperation with the Canadian aid organization Help Lesotho.
Sawabona Africa e.V. has brought Help Lesotho under its umbrella to ensure a continuation of support for needy children in Lesotho to be helped with school education through individual donations or sponsorships.
We are pleased that we have a board member from Yes We Care! as part of our membership team to ensure continuity and provide insights.