On the 10th August 2023, Lesotho Red Cross Society (LRCS) received a request from St Paul School for the Death in Leribe that the school was about to be closed due to lack of food. As a result, Leribe Division and the LRCS Headquarters facilitated the provision of essentials for the school in order to keep students at school for the time being while the school seek additional support elsewhere.
On Thursday the 17th August 2023, the following items (food parcels and cosmetics) were provided to the school: Maize meal, beans, cooking oil, washing powder, bath soap, roll-on, Vaseline, sanitary towels, toothpastes, hand washing soaps, brooms and mops.
According to the Acting Principal Mrs ‘Makhabane Malataliana, the school is committed in providing accommodation, happy caring and simulating environment to children who are deaf and those with intellectual disabilities from ten districts and some are from very vulnerable households.
“Due to increasing number of children, the school has encountered countless problems which may lead to high chances of school being closed. We normally survive with the subvention from the government, when the money is delayed, we are forced to take food on credit from the local supermarket and pay as soon as we get the money. Mrs. Malataliana indicated
She further said they used to survive through their broilers chicken, they ate and sold eggs they produced but they were forced to sell the chickens last year since they had no other way to survive.
“We are looking into investing into agriculture so that we do not depend mainly on donors for suvilal, the good thing about the students in this school is that they like doing things with their own hands so I do not think vegetable planting will be a problem”. Said Mrs Malataliana
She concluded by thanking LRCS for the support saying the food and cosmetics