To our Supporters,

On behalf of the G.R.O Foundation Lesotho, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our Donors, CFLI, G.R.O Canada, GRO USA and European Union for their financial contributions towards the success  our programs. Another year has passed by and once again we have been blessed to see tremendous growth.

I would also like to further my sincere gratitude to the Lesotho Ministry of Education, our business partners both in Lesotho and overseas, G.R.O Canada and G.R.O Lesotho Volunteers for their unwavering support.

The G.R.O Lesotho wishes you all a wonderful and healthy New Year.

Best Regards,

Rethabile Skundla

The Lesotho Programs Manager

The G.R.O. Foundation Lesotho Programs Manager

Posted under Letters from Lesotho, The Movement

The G.R.O. Artisans Collective was delighted to present a gift to the Queen of Lesotho from their 2010 collection for her birthday on June 2nd. For a long time, the Artisans had been looking for ways to get the Queen, who was born and went to school in their community of Hlotse, involved in their work, so this was a great opportunity to do so.

The gift that was presented for her birthday featured locally sourced porcupine quills and recycled glass elegantly mixed in with Tiger’s Eye to create the beautiful Lefats’e set. Not long after her birthday, feedback was sent to the Collective through the Queen’s brother who had been our liaison. This was not just a ‘post birthday thank you’ you might expect; She was so excited by the elegance of the local design that she sent the Artisans a purchase order for even more jewelry!

She asked for a hand crafted custom order of three sets of jewellery  made in the colour blue. You can imagine the excitement that filled the Collective upon receipt of the order. The artisans sat down to design the sets and they came up with pieces that featured recycled glass, mountain clay, and paperbeads. Her response was very positive and we hope that the relationship with the Queen will grow stronger now that we have earned her support of the beautiful work that theArtisans do.

‘Me Motseoa Seutloali

G.R.O. Artisans Collective Coordinator

Posted under Letters from Lesotho

The G.R.O. Artisans invited their local and international customers to participate in a selection survey which ultimately determined the new 2010 design lines. The women have been working since December on the new designs, incorporating locally sourced natural material such as cow horn, Job’s tears, recycled glass, and mountain clay.  The new eco-line is enhanced by the use of high quality materials and fastenings, creating a true artisan line highlighting the beauty of Lesotho and the talent of its artisans.

The new catalogue will be launched March 1 - join our newsletter to receive the new catalogue or contact us at artisans@grofoundation.org to learn more about ordering!

Bracelet features recycled glass, amythest, Job

Preparing for the customer survey

Turquoise necklace for 2010

Posted under Letters from Lesotho

Working to prepare a Sesotho translation of our Family Scholarship student contract.

speaking to the students during the Family Scholarship After School Leadership Club.

Posted under Letters from Lesotho

The artisans visited a youth project in South Africa that produces unique and beautiful recycled glass beads.  This youth project, in a poor township of South Africa, provides youth in the community with not only skills and training but an opportunity to earn income.

The lampworked beads, made from used beer bottles and made one-by-one, present a beautiful shine and the kiln-fired recycled glass shows a earthy, matte finish.

Look forward to seeing these new beads in our 2010 eco-line to be launched March 1!

Posted under Letters from Lesotho

The first day of eight days of practical training here at the Grannies Poultry Project.  Poultry experts from Noch Solutions will conduct eight full days, over eight weeks, of hands-on, on-site training with the group.  After the first day, I’m exhausted.

The fist morning started by disinfecting and cleaning the coop, the waterers and feeders, and laying down fresh sawdust. The new coop, which was recently renovated by G.R.O. Foundation, can easily hold up to 400 meat birds.

By 12:00, Ntate Moshe and Jazzy arrived with 200 day-old baby chicks and 16 bags of feed.  Each chick was carefully unpacked and counted, while Thekanyane carefully dipped each chick’s beak in the waterers containing a special blend of electrolytes and sugars.

From day-old, these chicks will be 2.3kg butcher-ready meat birds in 6 weeks.  They will consume 1600 kgs of feed, and they will require a lot of work and attention.  The goal is to quadrouple production from 100 monthly to 400 monthly.  This major increase in production also means in increase in profits available to the Grannies Support Group.   The Grannies have recruited the help of three orphaned young adults in their community who will paid support workers on their project, creating jobs and developing sustainable skills.

We are looking forward to watching the Grannies and their chicks grow in 2010.  Thank you to everyone who helped purchase the chicks through the Gifts of Hope campaign, and to the Canada Fund who helped us provide the practical training. You can learn more about the project at www.grofoundation.org

Posted under Letters from Lesotho

Yesterday we collected 17kgs of beads that we ordered from our South African wholesaler as part of the start-up kits for the G.R.O. Artisans Collective.  Today we spent hours unpacking, counting beads, and dreaming of our new 2010 designs.  Thank you to the Canada Fund / Canadian High Comission for the purchase of the start-up kits, and thanks to the ladies for painfully counting every last bead.

Posted under Letters from Lesotho

Once a day it comes - dawn. A stark reminder of how in such a short time my internal clock has quickly begun to reorganize itself. Everything seems to happen earlier here as life roughly sorts itself out around the Sun’s rise and fall. The earlier you are up the more you can fit into a day and when some days seem to slip away simply waiting to try and accomplish something you realize this time is precious. The day comes swiftly and with it the dusty roads pass 4+1 taxis between themselves as people have already embraced the new with the sounds of voices mixing with cattle, poultry, and sheep. I seem to be joining them. Waking up at 5:45 no longer seems to be much of a chore as my room fills with light. The closing of the day comes with sun down which nears 20:00 this time of year. I find myself looking to sleep not too far beyond that. Days bring heat and dark cools quickly.

Last Saturday we sprung up shortly after 4:00 and were on the road to Mokhotolong before an hour had passed. The idea was to summit the tallest mountain in Southern Africa, Thaba Ntlenyana (3482m). The best laid plan can easily fall apart in the mountains. Ours, to begin, was nowhere near the best and we found ourselves 90 minutes away from our destination surrounded in snow. Our small expedition had ended in failure not due to personal inabilities but the mechanical ineptitude of our small car. By 7:00 we were resigned to throwing snowballs at various targets and enjoying what none of us had ever expected to witness – snow at the peak of an African summer. Hands numb from packing we retreated toward the border town of Butha-Buthe where we headed back into the low-lying mountains of the Tsehlanyane National Park. Here, we hiked through damp bush and swelled streams. After a small mishap, where a backpack ended up floating downstream, fully submerging ourselves in the freezing water seemed to be the best option. After all of that getting up that early didn’t seem to be such a tough choice to make after all.

Living outside Maseru, the capital city, things move at a slower pace.

Time, travel, people, and nights – all of it.

Watching children head toward school at 6:00 makes you think that they understand something I did not on my first trip to Lesotho. If you want to take advantage of what the day has to offer you better not waste any of it sleeping.

Posted under Letters from Lesotho

For the second time this year The G.R.O. Artisans Collective have received national attention and publicity from the business sector of Lesotho. The first was an article published in the SMME Support Network Lesotho’s SMME News with an piece entitled ‘Building Communities – One Enterprise at a Time’ and now from The Public Eye, nationally distributed newspaper. Yesterday, the article was released as part of a special insert feature ‘One Nation, One World’ to mark World Aids Day this coming Tuesday. Thank you to Tsepo of The Public Eye for his support. You can read the article in full below.

G.R.O. Artisans: Building Livelihoods

At 8 a.m. the door to The G.R.O. Artisans Collective is open where the morning chatter of women can be heard as the warm summer wind sweeps through the BEDCO compound in Leribe. Perhaps uniquely, this collective of artisans was formed with the primary purpose of providing economical empowerment and livelihood building for women affected by or living with HIV/AIDS. The G.R.O. Artisans face the daily realities of this national epidemic in their own personal lives and their community. Undeterred by the overwhelming challenges, these women have banded together in a collective effort to shatter the stigma of HIV/AIDS and demonstrate both the emotional and economic power of a collaborative effort. In accordance with the laws of Lesotho an HIV workplace policy ensures equality in their membership and any visitor, whether a paying customer or not, has access to both male and female condoms and printed sexual health information. Finally, the Artisans are actively engaged in promoting the skills and talents of HIV positive women in their community and you will often see them at festivals and the Maseru Bazaar.

This month, the women have begun to prepare for a move to a larger BEDCO office where they will increase the size of the current retail space and have room to expand the number of members from four to ten by end of year 2010. Designing and producing handcrafted fashion jewelry ‘Majoyce, ‘Mathabang,’ Mamosebetsi, and ‘Makhotalang prepare for both national and international markets with sales distribution that spans Lesotho, South Africa, Canada, and The United States. The fledgling jewelry business is one of the many Basotho success stories across Lesotho in the small business sector. The Collective operates on a business model known as a social enterprise, a not-for-profit company that provides its members with a steady income, ongoing business training, social programming, as well as family and healthcare support. The healthcare coverage, which is one of the unique qualities of this business model, ensures a percentage of the Collective’s profits are invested into a comprehensive plan for the members, which provides for drug coverage, childcare and funeral plans.

With an aim to advance The Collective’s socially-oriented mandate of community development and the empowerment of women the members are committed to actively searching for a local professional Mosotho woman to coordinate and assist in managing the business mid-January. This project was made possible because the women were able to secure the initial start up capital as well as business and leadership training from the Canadian-born Lesotho-based G.R.O. Foundation, which currently bases all of its operations out of Leribe. The G.R.O. Foundation, founded in 2005, is a Non-Profit Non-Governmental Organization working for the advancement and empowerment of individuals and communities by providing grassroots assistance to promote sustainable social development. With the continued support and strong bond of partnership between the G.R.O. Artisans and G.R.O. Foundation Lesotho the artisans have successfully established lasting ties with other Basotho small business initiatives and leaders including Mr. Raleche of Business Development Trust and Ms. Makama of SMME Support Network, both based in Maseru. These ties amongst the national business community will ensure the ability of the G.R.O. Artisans to connect with other small enterprises and allow for expansion and support of community-based business trainings.

Looking ahead to the Christmas season you will be able to purchase the handcrafted jewelry of The G.R.O. Artisans Collective at the monthly Bazaars in Maseru and the Maseru Christmas Craft Fair on December 5. Year round the jewelry is available to all fashionable women at BEDCO Leribe, Setsoto Weavers in TY, The Leribe Hotel, Leribe, The Blue Mountain Inn, Teyateyeng, and Mohale’s Hoek Inn, Mohale’s Hoek. To contact the G.R.O. Artisans by phone +26658132695 (Majoyce) or by email artisans@grofoundation.org

Posted under Letters from Lesotho

The heat of the tarmac as I descended the stairs from the small prop plane was a frank testament to my departure from the winter months that had begun to descend on Ontario. After a few months of Canadian summer I was again facing months of sun with heat by day and the light chill of evening after the sun has been eclipsed by the mountains. Walking into the Moshoeshoe International Airport, just outside of the Capital Maseru, I was greeted with a feeling of confidence that was in direct contrast to the nervous excitement of my arrival last April on my first trip to Lesotho. Driving north toward Hlotse the browns and reds of the surrounding landscape have been concealed in tones of green to a far greater extent than I could have imagined only a few short months ago. Although the seasonal tones had changed the public transport vans, known as combis, continued to race along the highway merging on and off the road in the staccato manner of my last visit while people shuffled to and from the hundreds of villages into the towns of Teyateyaneng and Maputsoe.

“Coco!” I shouted to announce my arrival to both Jean and Jamie as I stepped out of the car.

“Welcome back, how was your trip?” they both responded as I walked through the back door.

All of the notes and preparation for the implementation of our recently awarded CIDA grant would have to wait until tomorrow. Three continents in about as many days is enough to tire the most seasoned traveler. Aside from my immediate desire for a solid nights rest I had been looking forward to this moment since my stomach felt the aircraft take flight from the Moshoeshoe runway. We sat around and tried not to talk about the work of the upcoming week as the day gave way to the Maluti mountains. It sure felt good to be back.

Jason Clark

G.R.O. Lesotho Operations Coordinator

Posted under Letters from Lesotho, Notes from Lesotho