Our Partner in Lesotho Emerges as a National Leader in COVID-19 Strategy
Photo: Tatenda Mapigoti
Breaking News from Lesotho - BBL Given Government Approval to Enact Nationwide Covid-19 Strategy
Lesotho is a landlocked country surrounded by a border of mountain ranges within South Africa. Five & Two Network member, ‘Basotho Building Lesotho’ (BBL) is located in the heart of this nation.
Khotso Mokitimi, leader of BBL had already been mobilizing his volunteers (mostly young adults), when we checked in with him a couple of weeks ago. They were being trained in Covid-19 prevention methods and sent to educate and prepare rural communities in a safe fashion.
Due to a nationwide lockdown, Khotso began lobbying the Lesotho government for approval to gain access into these locked-down regions so his volunteers could continue their Covid-19 prevention movement.
Recently, Khotso reported that the Ministry of Health had given BBL the go-ahead to enter into these areas and invited him to meet with them the following week.
Since meeting with the Ministry of Health, Khotso has become part of the Covid-19 National Command Centre to advise the National Strategy for combating the virus. Just last week, he was given the opportunity to present BBL’s vision to the command centre which includes all government ministers, principal secretaries and directors of all government ministries as well as other key stakeholders. BBL’s program was subsequently approved by the Communications Cluster on behalf of the National Command Centre.
Lesotho’s government stated that rather than providing funds they were actually seeking funds and support from NGOs in the country. Their only support will be to issue permits, set the ground for BBL to work, and provide security if necessary.
Khotso was also given the opportunity to present BBL’s strategy on national television. After this presentation aired, many Good Samaritan citizens approached BBL with pledges for food packages for the most vulnerable citizens. Since the lockdown was declared three weeks ago, a number of people are facing extreme poverty and hunger, specifically orphans who depend on begging and panhandling. These would be key recipients of these food packages. Khotso was also approached by a group of young men who had designed a phone application with the ability to pop-up Covid-19 messages on both smartphones and basic cellular phones. This will add great value to BBL’s work.
Currently, BBL is communicating with various “locked-down” community leaders to identify and begin mobilizing volunteers.
Our vision has always been to fight poverty with local vision and resources. When communities recognize their shared vision and are moved to mobilize their assets, our role is to simply grease the wheels that are already in motion. In this particular case, we plan to boost BBL’s vision by contributing towards travel costs, educational supplies and Covid-19 prevention material.