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