Media Contact: Gen Scott  G.R.O. Canada Communications Officer 416.425.6220
Programming Contact: James White G.R.O. Canada Co-Founder/Director 647 922 0160

Posted under The Mission, The Movement

‘Ntate Katiso ‘Mota has been through a number of moves already in his time with G.R.O. Lesotho so we tracked him down to gather his thoughts on another day of moving furniture into an office larger than the last.

1) The G.R.O. Lesotho Staff recently moved into a new office - Congratulations! How was the move?

Moving to the new offices has always been what we have been expecting ever since from May, and so it was really good that we finally made it. However, it was one of the very tiring situations since only two GRO staff members were there (Me Rethabile and myself) to move all the GRO office items. We moved on a Friday and the other members had gone to an EXPO. As for the Artisans, all of them were there to share moving amongst themselves. We finally managed with the help of ‘Ntate Poka whom ‘Me Mapalesa (GRO Executive Treasurer) found for us to help with his truck to move some of the heavy staff.

2) This is not the first time G.R.O. has had to grow! How many times hasG.R.O. moved over the past year? G.R.O. Lesotho has moved three times due to growth?

G.R.O Lesotho moved from a one roomed office space to two in the past year and recently moved to a three roomed office space due to extension of programs and increase in the number of staff member. A few days after we welcomed a new Volunteer from the US Peace Corps so our expansion is nowhere near over.

3) Now that you are all moved in how does it feel? Tell us how the officeswork with Bo ‘Me (the G.R.O. Artisans) beside you now?

Being closer to everyone is one of the most exciting things. There is that spirit of oneness and working towards the same goals and objectives. ‘Bo ‘Me are feeling so good and supported while at the same time we are able to monitor one another towards pursuing good things all the time. The general feeling is really so tremendous and we can see GRO moving higher and higher.?

‘Ntate Katiso ‘Mota is the LEAP Education Coordinator and was reached in Hlotse, Leribe, Lesotho.

Posted under Notes from Lesotho

Posted under Notes from Lesotho

Since 2008, James White (G.R.O. Canada Executive Director) and Jean Margaritis (Director of Lesotho Programs) say goodbye to Lesotho after 1.5 years.  Since 2005, Jean and James have watched G.R.O. Lesotho build a strong foundation, develop and ex

pand its local programs, and welcome a beautiful and talented team of Basotho.

The organization, with support from G.R.O. Canada and USA, the Canada Fund, and the European Union is stronger than ever. Thank you to everyone who has made this phenomenal growth possible.

‘Me Rethabile, the Programs Manager, is overseeing the overall program through her strong leadership and warm personality, and will work closely with Jean to ensure strong program management and financial accountability moving forward.

‘Me Motseoa, the G.R.O. Artisans Collective Coordinator, is leading the G.R.O. Artisans as they strengthen and expand their local and international markets.  She joined the team in April and had already connected with Lesotho’s Queen who has made a special order, and expanded the local retail locations to nine.

Ntate Katiso, the G.R.O. LEAP Coordinator, is managing the education portfolio including the Family Scholarship Fund and LEAP.  With 4,000 Career Resource books to distribute throughout Lesotho, and a new Career Resource Centre to establish, Katiso will be busy!

We also welcome Motsehi, who joins us as an operations assistant and driver, and Adam, the G.R.O. Peace Corps volunteer who will join us in August for 2 years.

We at G.R.O. feel blessed to have such an amazing team in Lesotho, with projects that bring hope, empowerment and support to the community of Leribe.

The G.R.O. Team

Posted under Uncategorized

The artisans catch some rays while developing their own mission statement

The G.R.O. Team (our staff, members and board) traveled to the mountains on July 17 for their annual team retreat.  Its the middle of winter here, so it was cold!  The artisans came prepared wearing their Basotho blankets, as the rest of us huddled under the heater.

The purpose of our retreat this year was to focus on a mission and vision for the organization, inclusive of our different projects.  Each project wrote their own mission and vision statement after a tutorial from Programs Manager, Rethabile.  Afterward, we joined together and created the mission for G.R.O. Lesotho.  It was a great team experience and way to build a collective vision as we move forward.

The mission of G.R.O. Lesotho is:  “to bring positive change to vulnerable local communities by providing hope, empowerment and support.  We do this through involving inspired people, hand in hand, to provide tools, resources, and training at the grassroots level, ultimately leading to long-term growth and sustainability of our locally-inspired projects”.

James speaks to the team about social change

The artisans... warm in their Basotho blankets

Rethabile, Katiso and Matumelo discuss the grannies poultry project and social mission

Our senior G.R.O. board members jot down important points for the organization

Posted under Uncategorized

The G.R.O. Team takes a few minutes to just enjoy being awesome…

What a team!

Katiso, Rethabile and Motseoa - G.R.O.

G.R.O. Intern Leanne and Collective Coordinator Motseoa confuse the office for a Vegas stage

... what usually contains our daily work schedules is transformed by Rethabile, Programs Manager

Posted under Uncategorized

Leanne joined us in early May as an Intern from the Development Studies Department at Queens University in Canada.  During her time with the G.R.O. Team, Leanne worked on each of our three projects.  She arrived just in time for the Career Fair where she helped organize the presenters tent and was immediately thrown into the busy schedule at the GRO office.  She facilitated the media project with the Artisans, lead sessions with the G.R.O. Scholars, and helped out at the Grannies project.  She made paper beads with the students, taught computer lessons in our office, and worked on numerous a document.  We can’t thank Leanne enough for her enthusiasm, hard work and ‘can do’ attitude.  Thank you Leanne from all of us in Lesotho - you will be missed!

Leanne shows off a Basotho blanket

Posted under Uncategorized

The G.R.O. Lesotho team bids farewell to Jason Clark, who has been an integral part of our team here. We celebrated his contributions last week, and wish him the best of luck on his future endeavors.

Jason first volunteered with G.R.O. in Lesotho from April-June 2009 as a business advisor, where he helped the artisans with their business, advised the Grannies on improving chicken production, and worked with the students.

In November 2009, Jason returned again to Lesotho, this time for eight months. During these past eight months, Jason has been part of monumental change.  He has helped move offices (twice) as we grew, traveled with the artisans to numerous a bazaar, dug trenches around the chicken coop, and conducted lifeskills sessions with the students.  He mentored our local staff in planning a career fair for 2400 students, assisted in writing a 64 page Career Resource Manual, and spent countless hours helping to strengthen and build the organization.

We would like to extend our thanks and appreciation to Jason - we could not have done it without you!

From everyone here with G.R.O. Lesotho.

Posted under Notes from Lesotho

The Lesotho winter has pushed us toward the heaters and taken the students out of school for winter break. This has given ‘Ntate Katiso ‘Mota some more time in the office as he continues to strengthen the Family Scholarship Fund and the LEAP (Lesotho Educational Advancement Program) education initiatives. We had a chance to sit down with him to discuss what has been a busy month.

After only a few short months you recently received a promotion - can you tell us about your new position?

The new position I have just accepted is the LEAP Program Coordinator. This position means taking over the general role and direction of LEAP and being responsible in developing the work plan and ensure that it is being implemented. The new job still contains my work with the Family Scholarship Fund (FSF) as they are interconnected and both deal with students. We still have the FSF Leadership Club that we use as a model for the LEAP workshops. So I have more of a chance to expand my working activities to more students throughout the whole district.

You and and I have worked closely since you first started with G.R.O. Lesotho - as you continue to manage the Family Scholarship Fund and take on the LEAP initiative what are some of the trainings you have been engaged in and what are you hoping to learn from them?

I have been engaging with a number of professional skills training sessions. These include how to effectively lead and properly attend a meeting - overall professional meeting skills. I have also been invovled in learning how to respond to important messages, e-mails, and letters.

Those are the trainings I have been working with and I am hoping to learn better ways of communicating and conducting myself in professional situations. This has become especially important as I am the face of the programs so it is important to ensure we appear professional and am able to work well with all the attendees.  Also, I am looking to expand my abilities to respond professionally to different situations with our project associates and colleagues. Now that the LEAP program deals specifically with a number of government departments and larger players throughout the Lesotho education sector these things are important.

What successes are you working towards and where do you hope to see the FSF and LEAP programs in the next few months?

Right now, I am working on a comprehensive work plan which will assist in implementing these programs. In the next few months, I want to see LEAP as the most well known and successful G.R.O. Lesotho program in terms of its coverage and impact on educational stakeholders throughout the country. With the FSF I would like to see it increase its benefit for the students. This mean fine tuning the FSF Leadership Club and being able to provide interactive sessions to teach the students more skills giving the students a chance to become better leaders. I want to see students leaving the program and their high school time with the chance for brighter futures. They can pass and go to tertiary.  So, that’s what I can say about the two programs in the months to come.

Posted under Notes from Lesotho

Today we are stepping outside the office for a Q&A with the G.R.O. Artisans Collective Project Leader ‘Me Majoyce Mpelo. The Artisans have had an exciting year redesigning their line, expanding to international distribution, outgrowing offices, adding new members, and hiring a Collective Coordinator to help manage their business. ‘Me Majoyce is a founding member and has grown with each step of the business.

Lumela ‘Me! We are really happy that you are joining us, kea leboha (thank you)!

You are the original member of the G.R.O. Artisans - what does it mean to be the Project Leader?

It means that we have achieved so much in making the G.R.O. Artisans. Moving towards bigger achievements and growing day by day. Every day is a step forward. To be a project leader is exciting and we are making more products. Before we didn’t have many orders, then we grew to where we never had enough time to make the orders we had come to us, and now we have grown to include more members and we can finally complete orders on time. I think it is exciting because we have always talked and had these plans but now we are achieving these things. Becoming the Project Leader proves that we are now growing and seeing many successes.

Over the past year you have experienced some big changes and growth with Bo ‘Me - what events have you been most excited about?

There are so many! The first one is that we have now the bead shop - this is really exciting. So it makes us sell the supplies and beads inside the same space with our products. We have a Coordinator now and have started to distribute our products throughout Lesotho to the country’s best hotels and in South Africa at the boutiques and craft shops. The Artisans are going to the flea markets monthly.

We have started making products for the Queen of Lesotho and even for the US Ambassador. We have a good relationship with G.R.O. supporters and they always give us orders when they are in Lesotho so we are grateful for everyone supporting us in North America. We had new designs for 2010 also. Coming shortly we will have our new office that will be the biggest we have had so far so that we can make enough room for our new members and we will be free to make better products.

Finally, the members have babies in the office which makes it hard to keep producing quickly. Soon we will be having a baby-sitter in the office which will make our work easier and increase our production. There are so many exciting things!

What do you hope that the G.R.O. Artisans Collective will be able to achieve over the next few months?

We hope to have more markets and larger international orders. Our business is beginning to be known because we have started advertising and we hope that our local customers will grow. Bo ‘me want to get bigger internationally and locally. We want to keep growing but I know it happens that we need to keep finding new markets to expand.

‘Me Majoyce we are so thankful that you could take the time to have a Q&A today. The G.R.O. Artisans have experienced so many successes and you really have only had a small amount of time to mention just a few.  We will look for new designs and the launch of your products in Canada and throughout the world!

Posted under Notes from Lesotho