Press Releases

U.S. Ambassador Robert B. Nolan to Visit U.S.-funded projects in Leribe

The U.S. Embassy is pleased to announce that Ambassador Robert B. Nolan will visit several projects funded by the Government of the United States in the Leribe District on Monday, November 26.  The Ambassador will inaugurate two projects which are recipients of grants from the U.S. Embassy’s Self-Help Fund (a program which supports community groups in Lesotho that are working to improve basic economic and social conditions in their villages).  He will also tour two projects funded by the U.S. Government’s President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and visit a Peace Corps volunteer site.

• Khomoliaoela Support Group Bakery:  (Maputsoe)   This local community HIV/AIDS support group received a grant of US$2,000 from the U.S. Embassy Self-Help Fund in 2006.  Throughout 2007, the group worked to establish a bakery, donating a large portion of their product to the orphans and vulnerable children of their neighborhood.
  
• TASESEQE Community Fishery Project:  (Leribe)   This group, representing the villages of Takalimane, Sepinare, Sethubabatha and Qetsolane in Leribe District, received a grant of US$2,000 from the U.S. Embassy Self-Help Fund in 2006.  The members have started a fishery, which now has stocked their large, spring-fed fish pond with four batches of 1,000 fish each. The profits will be used for community development efforts in the four villages.
  
• Springfield Footwear Factory:  (Maputsoe)   This factory receives funding from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the U.S. Department of Labor. They implement a program which delivers peer education around HIV/AIDS prevention messages.
  
• Phelisanang Bophelong:  (Leribe)   This community-based support group for people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA) and based in the Tsepong Clinic in Leribe also receives funding from PEPFAR. The group has reached almost 2,000 community members with HIV and AIDS prevention messages.