Thank you to you all for so kindly donating! Here is a quick update from Protimos, on how your money is spent:

Protimos’ local lawyers at the Seinoli Project in Lesotho have achieved a phenomenal amount this year. The Seinoli Project seeks to create a pathway out of poverty for the hundreds of thousands of people adversely affected by the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP), one of the largest infrastructure projects in the world. Your support allows the project’s work to continue to flourish.

Water Restoration

After 17 years of deprivation, clean water now flows freely from the top of the Maluti Mountains into the Mapeleng village, directly supplying over 600 people, including a school.Bolstered by the efforts of the Seinoli Project lawyers and their transformative legal empowerment initiatives, the Mapeleng community litigated in the High Court of Lesotho, assuring their access to water was restored. The momentous occasion created the backdrop for the Lesotho Water Day celebrations on 4 April 2013, held to coincide with annual World Water Day. Mapeleng was a strategic case, taken to establish an effective precedent on behalf of similar adversely affected communities. This strategy is proving highly effective, as 4,000 other villagers will now be provided with the clean water they have shamefully lacked since 1996.

Economic Empowerment

Tens of thousands of the country’s poorest people were displaced by the construction of Phase 1 of the LHWP. By law, these communities should have been adequately resettled and received due compensation for the last 9 years. But they needed a legal team to achieve this. Seinoli’s legal team is now busy building this case, setting a precedent for 45,000 community members to receive their just compensation

Thank You

A director of one of our partner Basotho organisations recently set out the most powerful rationale for this work. He said ‘for almost twenty years, advocacy failed to bring water to the people of Mapeleng. Litigation took a mere two years. Advocacy is good, but it is only political. For purposes of bringing justice, it is limited.  Access to the legal process is essential’. Your investment allows this to happen.

Protimos’ local lawyers at the Seinoli Project in Lesotho have achieved a phenomenal amount this year. The Seinoli Project seeks to create a pathway out of poverty for the hundreds of thousands of people adversely affected by the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP), one of the largest infrastructure projects in the world. Your support allows the project’s work to continue to flourish.

Water Restoration

After 17 years of deprivation, clean water now flows freely from the top of the Maluti Mountains into the Mapeleng village, directly supplying over 600 people, including a school.Bolstered by the efforts of the Seinoli Project lawyers and their transformative legal empowerment initiatives, the Mapeleng community litigated in the High Court of Lesotho, assuring their access to water was restored. The momentous occasion created the backdrop for the Lesotho Water Day celebrations on 4 April 2013, held to coincide with annual World Water Day. Mapeleng was a strategic case, taken to establish an effective precedent on behalf of similar adversely affected communities. This strategy is proving highly effective, as 4,000 other villagers will now be provided with the clean water they have shamefully lacked since 1996.

Economic Empowerment

Tens of thousands of the country’s poorest people were displaced by the construction of Phase 1 of the LHWP. By law, these communities should have been adequately resettled and received due compensation for the last 9 years. But they needed a legal team to achieve this. Seinoli’s legal team is now busy building this case, setting a precedent for 45,000 community members to receive their just compensation

Thank You

A director of one of our partner Basotho organisations recently set out the most powerful rationale for this work. He said ‘for almost twenty years, advocacy failed to bring water to the people of Mapeleng. Litigation took a mere two years. Advocacy is good, but it is only political. For purposes of bringing justice, it is limited.  Access to the legal process is essential’. Your investment allows this to happen.

The Channel Swim:

The Sport of Channel Swimming traces its origins to the latter part of the 19th Century when Captain Matthew Webb made the first observed and unassisted swim across the Strait of Dover swimming from England to France in 21 hours and 45 minutes.

Known as the Everest of swimming, I have now undertaken, together with my sister and two others to swim the English Channel from England to France, as a relay. Beginning at about 3am (subject to tides), most likely setting off from Shakespeare Beach, Dover heading towards Cap Gris Nez (half way between Calais and Boulogne). The distance is 18.2 nautical miles which is approximately 21 land miles although tides play a big part the outcome of the total distance. We will swim 1 hour stints, rotating continuously until completed – I will be heading out on the first leg from Dover and we anticipate completing the swim in up to 15 hours.

Training has been something of an experience; both myself and Natasha (my sister) were competitive swimmers from a young age but all racing and training took place in a swimming pool and in water temperatures of approximately 27c. Swimming the channel has been a long time ambition but this was something different… we undertook our first cold water swim in an open water 3km race at Eton Dorney in 11c water in May (albeit we wore wetsuits for this) and then another race (minus wetsuit) in the Thames at Windsor (13c) the following week. Since then, training has been split between swimming pools and the Serpentine along with weekend training down at Dover in the sea, which was tough going in big swells (I get seasick even in the water!) and 11c water but am now used to that.

The swim itself will take place at some point during w/c 23 September and is dependent on tides with 24 hours notice, water temperature is expected to be anything between 12-16c and its importance to note that wetsuits are not allowed!

I am doing my swim for Protimos, a charity that I have been involved with for over year, having been introduced to it by a friend and the chairman, Dominic Parker – I was not only touched by the enthusiasm and drive of the charity organisers but the charity is raising awareness and funds in area that can often be overlooked by traditional charities.

Protimos empowers marginalised communities in developing countries to use the law to protect their social, economic and environmental interests. The fortunes of communities in developing countries are increasingly shaped by their relationships with governments, businesses and other powerful institutions. However, unfamiliarity with legal processes coupled with limited access to qualified lawyers puts them at a significant disadvantage and marginalises them from the development process. Protimos aims to level the playing field by supporting the professional development of local lawyers and by improving legal systems. In so doing, Protimos develops sustainable legal resources that enable communities to become active and effective participants in their own futures.

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