Fiona Somerville
Celebrating our wedding on May 15th
Fundraising for Sentebale
Story
Richard and I got engaged on Valentine’s Day (and Chinese New Year’s day) in Lesotho and because of this, we would like to try and ensure that in some small way, this wonderful country benefits from our wedding. Although surrounded by South Africa it seems a world apart – separated from its richer neighbour by its altitude (the whole country is above 1400m and the highest point is over 3400m) and its history. Life can be tough here – this is the only country in Africa that routinely sees snow, the roads are rugged and travel times are slow (as we discovered, a 4WD is essential!) and infrastructure is much less developed than in South Africa. Sadly, one thing that it does share with its neighbour is a very high rate of HIV/Aids, largely stemming from the fact that many of its young men leave the country to earn better wages in the mines of South Africa. The government is taking action, but it is estimated that already one quarter to one third of the population is HIV positive. As a result there are many HIV/Aids orphans in the country and it is these children that we would like to help, via your contribution to Sentebale. Separately, as we found out, even in government schools, resources are limited. We visited St. Felix school near Tsehlanyane National Park (see photo at left) where there was one football to be shared between 180 pupils for their PE lessons. Several of the classrooms did not even have a chalkboard – something which costs, according to the teachers we spoke to, about US$40 – and one classroom was totally unglazed, which must be very cold in winter. We made a financial contribution and hope to go back in future to help out further. Please don’t think of this as a negative story though – Lesotho is a magical place! They have one fantastic resource – a plentiful water supply which is now being put to use through a vast project in conjunction with South Africa which is constructing dams and hydro-electric plants, so Gauteng receives water and Lesotho is already getting 60% of its electricity from HEP. It also has diamonds – maybe one found its way into my engagement ring…now that’s a nice thought. If you ever have the opportunity, please, please consider visiting this amazingly beautiful country and its equally friendly people.