PERSONNEL
updated Jan. 2008
COUNTRY
U.S. Ambassador.................................................................... Robert Nolan
Chargé d’affaires a.i................................................................. W. Patrick Murphy
PEACE CORPS/LESOTHO STAFF
Peace Corps Country Director.................................................. Ted Mooney
Executive Secretary................................................................ Makhauta Mokone
Associate Director (Administration)........................................... Rich Carlson
Associate Director (Education)................................................. Clement Lephoto
Associate Director (Community Health & Development).............. Maria Finch
PA (Community Health & Development).................................... Majimisi Machai
PA (Education) ...................................................................... Malitaba Hlabana
Training & Volunteer Resources .............................................. 'Mamothe Mohapi
IT Specialist............................................................................ Deepak Pullanikkatil
Medical Officer........................................................................ Dr. Johnson Fatokun
Safety & Security Resource Coordinator.................................... Nkotseng Maphatsoe
CONTACT POINTS
updated Jan. 2005
Mailing Address: PO Box 554, Maseru, 100, Lesotho, Southern Africa
Street Address: 6 Bowker Road, Maseru
Telephones
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PC Primary | 266-22-313-871 | |
Duty Office Cell Phone | 266-58-852-058 | |
Embassy | 266-22-312-666 | |
Embassy Fax | 266-22-310-116 | |
PC Fax | 266-22-310-287 | |
PC Medical Duty Cell Phone | 266-58-851-003 |
Lesotho is 7 hours ahead of Eastern Standard time, or 6 hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Savings time. There is no Daylight Savings time in Lesotho.
NUMBER OF VOLUNTEERS BY JOB ASSIGNMENT
as of mid 2002
EDUCATION
Early Childhood Care and Development............................................ 07
Primary Resource Teachers............................................................ 11
Special Education.......................................................................... 12
COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (CED)
Community Development................................................................ 16
Vocational Advisors........................................................................ 19
RURAL DEVELOPMENT (RD) /ENVIRONMENT (which is becoming Community Health)
Environmental Education................................................................. 23
School Self Reliance Project............................................................ 07
HIV/AIDS Advisors.......................................................................... 02
the following text was provided by Ted Mooney, PC/L Country Director in January 2008:
Peace Corps/Lesotho Program
Peace Corps Volunteers support development in two key areas: education and community health and economic development. Volunteers in all projects integrate HIV/AIDS education, awareness, and life skills training into their activities.
Education: Education has always been a focal point for Peace Corps/Lesotho, beginning with the first group of teachers in 1967. Currently, Education Volunteers work to assist the Ministry of Education meet their needs in the areas of teacher training, early childhood development, special education and secondary/high school English language teachers. Primary Education Resource Teachers conduct in-service trainings to increase the overall skills and qualifications of Basotho teachers. Early Childhood Education Volunteers create awareness among local communities about the importance of early childhood care and development; develop curriculum, literature and teaching aids for use by local early childhood teachers; and, train instructors to effectively facilitate related activities. Special Education Volunteers provide in-service trainings for current teachers responsible for children with special learning needs, work to integrate special education
into mainstream education, particularly at the primary school level, and assist community organizations to advocate for orphans and vulnerable children, and other people with special needs. Education Volunteers provide assistance in conducting analysis of current distance education structures, and ways to enhance and expand the program using various forms of information technology. English language teachers assist students to upgrade their English skills that are critical to their passing the national exams. Peace Corps Lesotho has reentered this area because HIV/AIDS is having a devastating impact on the Country, which has produced a shortage of qualified English teachers. PVS - 11 Early childhood development, 10 primary school resources teachers, 15 secondary school teachers and 5 Lesotho college of Education advisors.
Community Health & Economic Development- HIV/AIDS Advisors: The HIV/AIDS pandemic continues to affect every level in society in Lesotho as it took its toll on the population in terms of death, disability, lost productivity and numbers of orphans and vulnerable children. In 2001, the Government of Lesotho (GOL) pronounced its commitment to combating HIV/AIDS as a national priority by mandating its government agencies to designate two percent of their budget for HIV/AIDS activities. In response to the GOL commitment, Peace Corps/Lesotho’s Community Health Sector seeks to meet the challenges of the HIV/AIDS pandemic throughout Lesotho by working with government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and community-based organizations. The sector focuses on two strategic areas: 1) capacity-building around HIV/AIDS prevention, care and support and mitigation and 2) promotion of sustainable practices with communities to increase diverse food
availability and improved nutrition to mitigate the effects of HIV/AIDS. Volunteers work with non-governmental organizations; community based organizations, and other private organizations and/or government structures; they work primarily on prevention activities, working toward changing attitudes and behaviors in the communities where they live and work, and they help to build the capacities of organizations to develop and implement HIV/AIDS initiatives. Volunteers train community members in life skills directed towards HIV/AIDS prevention. (21 PCVS)
Community Health & Economic Development – Permaculture & Nutrition: Due to specialized and in-depth knowledge and work requirements for successful integration of Permaculture and nutrition into communities and specifically into HIV/AIDS groups, a specific sub-program has been developed with in the CHED program framework that trains and supports Volunteers to work directly with community groups on permaculture and nutrition skills to promote improved nutrition and food production for individuals and households infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. These volunteers receive specialized training (20 PCVs)
Community Health & Economic Development – Youth & Small Business Advisors: In the Community Economic Development sector Peace Corps has taken a two-pronged approach, placing Volunteers at vocational schools where they teach in a formal setting, as well as at the community level, where they work more informally with cooperatives and youth groups. Through a variety of activities, Volunteers provide capacity building among women, youth (in and out of school), community-based organizations, and local NGOs. Such activities include assisting hospital staff with the maintenance of heating and cooling systems; developing business plans for NGOs; cataloging artifacts in a museum; teaching computer literacy and the use of information technology in business practices, and organizing pony trekking associations. Volunteers seeks to improve the lives of rural communities; through strengthening the capacity of partner organizations to provide skills
training, and business management training for income generation, and job creation. Basotho are benefiting from their new skills in carpentry; handicrafts, product design, quality control, and marketing; business, ecotourism, and agriculture. Volunteers in this sector integrate HIV/AIDS information into their activities and provide skills training and sports activities for orphans and vulnerable children, and people with disabilities.
All PCVs are encouraged to identify community activities where they assist members of their communities to design and implement projects that are initiated by the community itself.
the following text was provided by Jean Thomas McGrath, former PC/L Country Director in 2006:
Lesotho
Country Overview
Program dates: 1967–present
Program sectors
Business Development
Education
Health and HIV/AIDS
Lesotho became a British protectorate in 1868 after a series of territorial wars in the mid-19th century that cost Lesotho much of its best agricultural land. It gained its independence in 1966, by which time Lesotho had already been forced into a state of economic dependence on South Africa. King Letsie III remains the head of state. Parliamentary elections were held in May 2002, and the government of Lesotho is confident that the country will remain politically stable.
Lesotho is a small, landlocked, mountainous country whose economy is highly dependent on small-scale agriculture, livestock, remittances from miners employed in South Africa, and a rapidly growing apparel-assembly sector. Nearly half of all households live below the national poverty line. Lesotho’s high unemployment rate and the return of migrant workers from South African mines have contributed to an increase of crime in the capital city. The government of Lesotho declared a state of famine in April 2002, after another year of poor harvests caused by excessive rainfall. The United Nations estimates that 500,000 people are in need of food assistance. Lesotho also has the world’s third highest HIV infection rate in the world, which deepens the impact of the food crisis.
Program Focus
The Peace Corps was invited to work in Lesotho in 1967, and since then more than 1,800 Volunteers have served in this southern African country. Volunteers respond to Lesotho’s needs by strengthening the capacity of individuals to take control of their own lives. Education, business development, and, more recently, health and HIV/AIDS have been the Peace Corps’ principal program sectors in Lesotho. The focus in the placement of Volunteers is on rural development, which mirrors the country’s 85 percent rural population demography. Volunteers serve in all 10 districts of the country, and all Volunteers, regardless of sector, are trained in how to promote HIV/AIDS awareness.
Volunteer Focus
Business Development
Volunteers in this sector seek to improve the lives of rural communities by strengthening the capacity of nongovernmental organizations, vocational training institutes, community-based organizations, and orphans and youth groups. Volunteers work with cooperatives and registered community groups by organizing and facilitating training for community members in small business management, handicrafts development, marketing, and ecotourism. Three Volunteers taught groups of women weavers to use a computer as a means to market their products. At vocational institutions, Volunteers transfer skills by training staff in business management, and teach computer skills for in school youth and other members of the community. Two volunteers are actively assisting associations to organize and improve the operation and management of pony-trekking clubs. One volunteer is assisting in the development of a cultural village in the home village of King Moshoeshoe (the founder of Basotho nation). Two volunteers are involved in extensive agricultural activities such as potato seeding, in storage and marketing of seeds for the use of local farmers without crossing to South Africa. Additionally, Volunteers provide at-risk youth with training for income generation and job creation.
Education
In an innovative programming area, education Volunteers are working in five areas: early childhood development, primary teacher training, special education, secondary education, and distance education. Volunteers work with the Ministry of Education to upgrade teacher skills at numerous schools through teacher-training workshops, materials development, and working one-on-one with teachers. The ESL Volunteers in their first year after a six-year absence provide classroom instruction at secondary school level. Volunteers are entering the classroom because of the increasing number of teachers who are dying due to the HIV/AIDS pandemic and the decline in the standard of English in schools. In addition to providing support to teachers and students, Volunteers promote girls’ education, deliver lessons on HIV/AIDS awareness, train counterparts and parents in special education concepts, and establish community libraries and youth clubs. Twenty-three Volunteers provided teacher training for 160 teachers in early childhood care and development centers and primary schools. Twelve Volunteers taught English language and literature to approximately 1300 boys and girls in secondary and high schools.
Education Volunteers also help major educational institutions integrate various types of technology into distance education and teaching programs. They teach computer skills to university students and train teachers who work in early childhood programs.
Health and HIV/AIDS
The Community Health program is in its third year, with Volunteers helping the people of Lesotho fight the spread of HIV/AIDS. Volunteers work with district AIDS task forces and nongovernmental organizations to design and implement HIV/AIDS awareness, prevention, and support programs for vulnerable groups. Volunteers also work in permaculture in rural communities to promote sustainable practices that increase the diversity of food and improve nutrition. Health Volunteers work with communities in all ten districts to mitigate the effects of HIV/AIDS on infected and otherwise affected people. Volunteers assist the district AIDS task forces to establish HIV/AIDS support groups, deliver home-based-care kits, promot voluntary counseling and testing and provide HIV/AIDS prevention education to more than 250 villages, and they reached more than 13,000 adults and children across the country. All Volunteers in are involved with HIV/AIDS activities as a part of their community outreach. In addition, Volunteers have worked with more than 50 schools, 15 nongovernmental organizations and ministries on HIV/AIDS activities.
Volunteer Quotes -
Christopher Howell, Community Economic Development:
“My first six months were mostly observation and exchange of ideas. Through observation I was able to see resources that were easily available in the community and the entire CED income generation project has been started with local resources.
Joshua Russell, Education:
PCV Russell is assigned to the Early Childhood and Care Development program under the Ministry of Education. He recently embarked on a project to collect and compile stories and poems from his community in Mohale’s Hoek district. The lack of books for children is a major problem faced by the Ministry of Education. After securing a small grand from the San Diego residents, he began to make copies of each of these documents and the books have just been release to the teachers in Mohale’s Hoek. This is how he described the reaction of the teachers who received the books. “I [have] started to distribute the books to my teachers and their reactions have been nothing but tears. They are so overwhelmed with happiness they [cannot] even find words.
Annemarie Emmet, Community Health PCV:
“One of the most enjoyable aspects of my Volunteer assignment has been the relationship built with the mentors and young people. Being able to pass on HIV/AIDS information and facilitate skills transfer between groups has been truly enjoyable.”
Government Official Quotes -
D.S. Phakisi, Chief Engineer, Ministry: Local Government, Appropriate Technology Section:
“I am confident with the 2 volunteers assigned to this Ministry that with the relevant skills they have and 3 weeks orientation tour they received, they will deliver to their best. They are also going to help improve the whole sector as Sara soon will train my staff on Customer Care”
Paramente Phamotse, Acting Chief Education Officer – Primary, Ministry of Education:
Mr. Phamotse was recently invited to open a two-day stakeholders workshop (August 9-10, 2004) staged by Peace Corps Lesotho and funded by the Center in Washington. Among his remarks, he indicated that: “The recent study in southern Africa countries put Lesotho near the bottom of the list in the quality of education, particularly in the acquisition of numeracy and literacy skills… This is the area that Peace Corps assistance will always be appreciated.”
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