Annual General Meeting 2014/2015 May 1St -3Rd 2015

LESOTHO RED CROSS SOCIETY

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2014/2015 MAY 1ST -3RD 2015

VOLUNTEERS IN ACTION

Lesotho Red Cross Society since 1967 has grown from just being a Society running health centres and First Aid posts to running Disaster Management and Food insecurity projects, Health and Social Services that includes OVCs, HIV and AIDS awareness and Humanitarian Diplomacy Programs that covers a whole spectrum of challenges facing Basotho in the 21st century. THE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF LRCS IN 2014

President - Mr. Sekhobe Letsie

1st Vice President - Mr Crosby T. Magumela 2nd Vice President - Mr. Joseph Fafatsa

Mr. B. Sebele Mrs. R. Mafisa Mr. B. Shongweni Mr M. Letsoela Mr. H. Neko

Mr. T. Tleketle Youth President - Mr. Clifford Tarr

SECRETARY GENERAL REPORT OF 2014

Secretary General of LRCS - Prof, Teboho Kitleli

INTRODUCTION This year has been challenging in the Lesotho Red Cross Society‟s History, the loss of the President the late Mr Sekhobe Letsie caused a lot of agony both within the country and abroad, where he rubbed shoulders with an humanitarian philosophy, he is deeply missed.

The Society also went through an emotional period when one of the hard working individuals by the name of Mrs Makhosi Serobe passed on. I am aware that there were other members of our respective families who departed this world, shall we say, let us take comfort that Almighty will continue to guide and support us in all these upheaval turn outs of life.

We trust 2015 will shower all of us with blessings and spiritual uplifted. A detailed report will be presented and shared by programmes latter. This only serves as a preamble of the Society‟s activities. It is with great admiration that the support from Branches, Divisions, Management and above all the Board Members provided the wisdom of how the Society should spearhead its vision and mission. The collective interactions with all above, serves as a reminder of our commitment and responsibility that volunteers are the main stakeholders of the Society.

HIGHLIGHTS OF 2014

A. Any institution for its survival must have a strong and sound financial status, hence the Secretary General and Finance Director made a special visit with the Minister of Finance Dr Leketekete Ketso. The purpose of the visit was to highlight the great challenge of the Society faces to cover its core costs. Without going into details of the meeting, the Honourable Minister was impressed when furnished with the Society‟s Audit Report, Strategic Plan 2014 – 2017 resource mobilization. These documents compelled him to give instruction to the technical staff of the Ministry of Finance to address the pleas of the Society. As a procedure we the Society were advised to work with line ministry to table the request hence the Ministry of Social Development has been approached still awaiting the response.

B. The Ministry of Health officially presented an approval budget of close to M4 million plus during the fiscal year 2014-2015. This is highly appreciated because of close

collaboration with the Ministry/ the funds will cover mainly Mapholaneng, Kolojane, Thaba-Bosiu and Kena (the LRCS health centres)

C. Sometime it is gratifying to address any conflict with a measure of tolerance, clear democratic dispensation and avoid win win position. An example of a big challenge within the Committee of Maseru Red Cross Division was addressed by the 1st Vice President Mr Teboho Magumela which involved the Chairperson of the Committee. The end results as that, the Chairperson stepped down from his position after negotiations and participatory debate with members of the committee.

D. A noticeable change of heart amongst members of the Board, Management, Divisional Secretaries and project staff was witnessed during a one week workshop where all parties were engaged in discussions of the Disaster Management issues. It was resolved after the workshop that a more understanding could be enhanced if such sessions were held frequently.

E. During the middle of the year heavy storms were experienced countrywide and Red Cross an active role with disaster management team in assessing the situation and presenting appeals to the appropriate partners like ICRC for assistance. This is a symbolic initiative as a Society to be part of the institution when the nation is faced with climate and environmental harsh conditions.

F. It will be recalled that around the 30th august 2014 there was political instability which involved two security forces namely the police and the army, who were engaged in skirmish attacks, which resulted in two police men being hospitalized, Red Cross was approached to intervene in re-locating the police patients to be hospitalized in the Health Centres of their choice. With what we call quite diplomacy, there was a breakthrough and the 1st vice President and the Secretary General were thanked for such an initiative by the acting Commissioner of Police.

G. The launching of website by the National Society is a great achievement in the Society. It also marked an occasion whereby one of the local stations MoAfrica FM helped in frequently airing that some people had stuck in a full river without any assistance, but by a miracle, one of the Red Cross Youth with water safety skills kept on advising through the radio station and lives were saved. It became exciting during this occasion when MoAfrica FM station Manager met with the said Youth face to face. There was pledging by invited guests and the results was very encouraging.

Managing Director of Mo-Afrika FM Mr & Mrs. Ramainoane (middle), Youth President Mr Clifford Tarr (Left) and the Secretary General Prof. T. Kitleli.

H. The youth programme has gained significant strides during this reporting period. The exchange programme with Norwegian Red Cross made it possible that as we have this AGM two of Basotho Red Cross Youth are in Oslo while two Norwegian Red Cross youth are in Lesotho based in Qacha‟s Nek Red Cross division. Already the Norwegian Youth have established themselves, in the Division. A big thank you to the 1st Vice President Mr Teboho Magumela who made all necessary logistics within Qacha‟s Nek for the security of the youth, accommodation, transport etc. This was done in collaboration with Qacha‟s Nek Committee lead by Mrs. Mosuhli and the Divisional Secretary.

I. The Human Resource and Administration Manager with the Secretary General visited almost all the Red Cross Divisions with the purpose of addressing some overall work e.g.

Co-operation and relations between;  Divisional Secretary and Committee members of the Board, Management at Headquarters.  Youth participation  Financial status in the Divisional Secretary‟s salary contributions.  Divisions plans and reporting  Human Resource and Administration Manager shared information about his and Communications Manager trip to Burundi just to mention a few.

J. The National Society as usual received numerous visits from Partners such as the British Red Cross, Norwegian Red Cross, ICRC, IFRC to say the least.

K. The Finance Audit Committee and the co-opted members in the National Executive Committee have been doing a sterling job to advise the National Society. The Region is considering the National Society as a good example in governance.

L. The British and Australians have embarked on a four year water and sanitation project, although there is a delegate overseeing the project four of the technical staff

members are locals who are qualified engineers in their own right. The allocation of the budget is in the tune of eighteen million Maluti.

ACHIEVEMENTS  The National Executive Committee members had a two day meeting with the Secretary General of Botswana Red Cross Society as a follow up on last year‟s committees and action plans that were developed. This was an interactive session a small pamphlet will be developed and shared with the National Executive Committee Members.

 National Executive Committee Members have agreed to fill an individual assessment document.

 Members of the National Executive Committee have divided themselves amongst Divisions for the sake of support to those Divisions which do not have a member of the Executive Committee. It is expected that they receive co-operation and support at all times.

 A successful Reflection Breakfast was hosted by the National Society for the purpose of meeting in one place with Stakeholders and Business Community that the National Society has ties with. This event was graced by the presence of Her Majesty Queen „Masenate Bereng Seeiso who requested the guest to pledge. The response was positive in that around M46,000.00 was pledged. The Secretary General of Botswana Red Cross, the Programmes Director and 1st Vice President who is also the Acting President of the National Society made preliminary presentation before Her Majesty‟s official speech.  The Late President Mr Sekhobe Letsie and the Secretary General presented the National Society the following meeting :

 SAPRCS meeting in Mozambique and South Africa  General Assembly in Australia  Partners Meeting in United Kingdom

The President represented the National Society in all these meetings with dignity they deserved and this has placed the National Society positively both regionally and internationally.

 The Mafeteng Red Cross building was hard hit by natural disaster and huge renovations for this were funded by British Red Cross at an estimated cost of M60,000.00. Youth and other volunteers painted the office which is a good sign of self reliance.

CHALLENGES  The core-costs of the Society are the biggest challenge, hopefully with all initiatives with the government if fulfilled the Society will celebrate.  The Branch and Divisions are to be robust in addressing their capacities in various disciplines e.g. skills in negotiating funs, graduating from donor dependency syndrome.  The British Red Cross Society is phasing out at the end of 2014, that means support of partners is going to be limited.

FUTURE PLANS  As indicated earlier on, the National Society needs to look inwardly; at the moment the financial status presented calls for a great attention. The Ministry can respond to the proposals made for 2015 there might be a breathing space, already the Lesotho Revenue Authority with the tax exemption there is a position improvement. There was a cost analysis prepared by the Federation, it is important to re-visit the study, particularly the projected funding gap. The areas such as administration income visa admin expenses.  A Similar study was also carried out by Human Resource in this area, specific recommendations could be used as a yard stick.  Most importantly the organizational development has to be addressed with the resilience this will entail the organisational restructuring (organogram)  I am sure partners will be more than willing to help with this exercise.  It is crucial that the National Society holds partners meeting to share experiences how best can we make the National Society to implement its programmes efficiently and effectively.  It is important that the National Society engages in self assessment exercise, this Organisational Capacity Assessment Tool examines how the Society is in conformity with other international societies in terms of governance, financial control, resource mobilization, integrity, communication etc. The last time the National Society went through this, was in 2011 with SGS Benchmarking. Let us all be prepared to participate in this from Branches, Divisions, Governance and Headquarters level if we do well, we shall have thumbs up from our stakeholders and trust will be bestowed upon the Society.  It is noted that immediately after the election of all Committees of the National Society an induction training is needed e.g. in the divisions chairpersons and Divisional Secretaries be inducted in order to follow their roles and responsibilities accordingly.  The National Society has to do all what it can to promote First Aid programme. Every member of Red Cross be volunteers or staff must be versatile with Basic First Aid skills shall we make a resolution that by the year 2015 everybody would have contributed towards the training of First Aid. NGOANA KHOTSO HA LEBALE TSA KHOTSO

2014 PROGRAM REPORT FOR THE AGM

Programs Director - Mrs. Matsepo Moletsane

1. INTRODUCTION: The year 2014 was the second year in the execution of Lesotho Red Cross Society (LRCS) Strategic plan 2013-2017 which stipulates four strategic focal areas;Humanitarian Diplomacy, Organisational Development, Programme Management and Sustainability (HOPS). Therefore the NS core programs; Disaster Management (DM) and Health and Social Services (HSS) are aligned to the Strategic Plan which is also in line with the IFRC Strategy 2020 and contribute towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. There is also First Aid and Youth and Volunteer programs that cut across both DM and HSS, and the Youth program was strengthened in 2014 through establishment of the Youth Delegates Exchange program.

LRCS programs by nature target vulnerable groups ranging from OVC, HIV and AIDS clients, chronically ill including TB patients and other groups such as women, girls and herd boys depending on the different projects implemented by the NS. Based on the country‟s situation, LRCS programs compensate the efforts of the government in reducing the impact of a triple crises of high HIV prevalence, food insecurity and poverty facing Lesotho, while youth program centres around building the capacity of the young people to enable them to participate effectively in humanitarian interventions and contribute towards sustainability of their Divisions and ultimately the National Society as a whole.

1.1. programmes outcome

The lives of the most vulnerable groups are saved including protection of their livelihoods, while recovery from disasters and crises is strengthened through development of community resilience. Health promotion, disease prevention and care and support are provided to the communities following the set criteria and guided by the Fundamental Principles of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

PROGRESS TOWARDS OUTCOMES

1. DISASTER MANAGEMENT (DM) PROGRAM

Disaster Management Coordinator - Mr. Makula Maine

The DM program has 3 components, Disaster Preparedness, Relief and Recovery Operations and Food Security

1.1. Disaster Preparedness Achievements: a) Trainings

 Emergency Response Training: The political tension in the country signalled possible conflicts pre, during and post elections, therefore LRCS submitted a proposal to ICRC for preparedness trainings which was accepted. Consequently the NS conducted a series of emergency preparedness trainings for the response teams across the country. The first common training was centralised in Maseru where all the departments were represented, then headquarters formed two teams to support the trainings in all the districts with one team taking central and North while the other team supported West and South parts of the country. The emphasis was on the areas First Aid, communication, safer access, RFL, and volunteer code of conduct because of their significance during deployment. Hot spots areas were identified and kept under observation, but trained volunteers were ready in all the Divisions.

 NDRT Training: The Lesotho Red Cross Society in collaboration with the IFRC held a two weeks training workshop in October for the National Disaster Response Team in Mohale‟s Hoek, the team comprised of Divisional Secretaries from ten districts of Lesotho and project officers from six project sites namely Mokhotlong, Maseru, Thaba Tseka, Quthing, Mafeteng and Mohale‟s Hoek, the capacity of the NS to respond to disasters has increased, now it has a NDRT that can be deployed when necessary.

As a strategy to implement community based disaster preparedness activities, LRCS conducted disaster preparedness trainings with technical and financial support from The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC). All the project officers and Divisional Secretaries attended National Disaster Response Training (NDRT) during the first week. As a capacity building measure to strengthen DRR oversight within the NS, two

8 members of the National Executive Committee also joined the Contingency planning Training. The training focused on the development of the contingency plans for their respective districts. The participants identified the three most common hazards as drought, windstorms and political/ civil unrest. The contingency plans were drawn for the three hazards to prepare the National Society should any of them strike.

The intensiveness of the training qualified the participant to be National Disaster Response Team (NDRT). The training was cascaded down to the communities to form Community Based Disaster Response Teams (CBDRT).

NDRT Training participants b) Land degradation

Lesotho is one of the countries in southern Africa with alarming land degradation where at least 9% of fertile soil is lost each year, therefore LRCS conducted meetings and public gatherings every quarter where community members were made aware of the climate change, its effect as well as adaptation strategies. This was initiated because most people could not cope with the effects, hence chronic food insecurity and massive land degradation.

In order to counteract land degradation, communities were advised to use Conservation agriculture (CA) as opposed to a conventional way of production, the benefits were stated as soil and moisture conservation due to minimal soil disturbance, water infiltration and suppressed weeds as a result of crop residues on the soil surface. Another one is the organic matter build-up which improves soil fertility, thus enhancing sustainable agricultural production with reduced inputs costs. c) Restoring Family Links (RFL).

Lesotho had a total of eleven detainees serving jail term in relation to the allegations of attempted assassination of the former Lesotho Prime Minister; 6 were from Mozambique, 2 RSA, 2 DRC and 1 from India. In addressing the humanitarian issues, LRCS with support from ICRC provided opportunity to the detainees to make telephone calls as part of Restoring Family Links (RFL). The calls were made on monthly basis, each person granted five

9 minutes to call family members outside the country (Lesotho). The detainees reported a feeling of relief and a sense of belonging after talking to their family members.

Tracing is the most important part of the RFL. Due to the high unemployment rate in country the labour migration is ranking high in Lesotho, thus, people lose contacts with their families or relatives. The Cases of the people who need to communicate and linked to their families were reported. The NS assisted a teenage girl aged 15 to relocate their family members. The girl was reported to have done missing since February 14, 2014, and she was found in Mafeteng district homeless, hiding in the streets feeding from garbage, she was then reunited with her family.

Another case was reported where a middle aged man left his family twenty years ago, he migrated from Quthing as the contractor moving from one place to another. The concerned was found in Qacha‟s Nek district and voluntarily surfaced during the introduction of Restoring Family Links activity at a public gathering. Correct measures were followed to link the man with his family which was established in Quthing district. Nonetheless linkage is yet to be finalized.

Outcome of the operations

Emergency preparedness trainings left all Divisions and the HQ with response teams ready to be deployed should the need arise. The NDRT training also produced teams‟ members who are skilled in developing the national society disaster response plan/ the contingency plan. It also served as the measure to capacitate the NS staff on issues of disaster management.

One of the key accomplishments of the NDRT workshop was the development of the National Society contingency plan by members who participated, including the two members of the NEC, which is a clear indication of the NS‟s commitment in the implementation of the Contingency Plan.

The CBDRT training equipped participants with skills on disaster management Cycle, disaster management Architecture and tools (National and RCRC movement), Humanitarian actors and key Sectors, code of conduct (personal and in Disaster Relief), Personal Preparedness and Security, SPHERE Standards, Assessments and Plan of Action, Camp Setting and many others, so it produced teams capable of deployment nationally and regionally in cases of disasters.

1.2. DISASTER RELIEF AND RECOVERY Achievements:

 The two districts of Maseru and Leribe were hit by strong winds in October. The houses were blown off, windows smashed, kitchen utensils damaged, blankets, bedding and hygiene kits destroyed. The food stock on the shelves for the households also affected. The magnitude of the destruction was more substantial in the distinct of Maseru. LRCS as the key stakeholder in DM ) conducted a rapid assessment in collaboration with the responsible government department; Disaster management Authority(DMA). The report indicated serious damages on the infrastructure and

livelihoods. This resulted in many people being accommodated in schools while the majority was displaced to their neighbors. The essential services such as schools were also damaged.

Due to the nature of the disaster where effects of the disaster keep on reflecting after assessment, the Divisions were providing more information to feed in to the rapid assessment.

 LRCS had a joint emergency relief planning with Disaster Management Authority, out of that; the NS provided temporary shelter to the 87most vulnerable families benefiting 435 people while DMA sourced and provided once off food parcels that comprised of maize meal (50kg, pulses 2kg and vegetable oil 2 liters.

1.3. FOOD SECURITY In order to meet to meet immediate food needs (sufficient quality and quantity) for the most vulnerable households, a total of 30 metric ton of maize meal, 5.76 metric ton pulses and 0.8 metric tons of vegetable oil were distributed in the 2014 where the NS supported HIV and TB co- infected clients with food rations on monthly basis in Mapholaneng , Thaba Tseka, Kena, Mafeteng and Quthing. A total of 150 (30/project site) clients benefitted from January to June 2014, the number was reduced to 100 from July as the register was updated to wean others on completion of TB treatment and register new ones. This intervention came as a result of the review exercise undertaken by LRCS in collaboration with the British Red Cross Society which revealed food insecurity as one of the factors leading to treatment defaulters in TB and HIV co-infected clients. The ration was decided to be Maize meal 25kg, pulses2kg and vegetable oil 2 litre per client per month, which is larger amounts as per sphere standards, however it was meant to cater for the household support because it would not serve its purpose since it is not practical for the beneficiary to exclude his/her household members when eating. With the same objective stated above, LRCS in partnership with World Food Programme addressed malnutrition in Mokhotlong district whereby a total of 5,215 received food items in 2014. Beneficiaries were identified at all ten health centres in Mokhotlong according to the set screening procedure and fall under the following categories: children 6 to 59 months, - Pregnant women, Lactating women, ART New initiates, TB new initiates, PMTCT clients, and vulnerable ART and TB clients. The total tonnage moved was 441.736 Mt: maize meal- 57.840, pulses -14.552, and vegetable oil - 5.184mt, while super cereal and super cereal plus were196 and 167 respectively.

1.3 .1 long-term livelihoods:

LRCS in partnership with the BRCS engaged in long term livelihoods for the beneficiaries as well as Lead gardeners and Care Facilitators as an exit strategy to keep activities going beyond December 2014 when the project phases out in Mokhotlong , Thaba Tseka, Kena, Mafeteng and Quthing. The initiatives included construction of greenhouses, nurseries and dams, these were identified by the beneficiaries themselves. Therefore 3 green houses and 22 nurseries were constructed with technical assistance from the Ministry of Forestry and Land Reclamation since they have extensive experience in nursery management, they are all located at the communal gardens to allow members to participate freely without any hindrances.

All five districts have started seeding variety of crop ranging from forest trees to a variety of vegetables. Each district has planted different variety depending on the advice from Ministry. Members have considered these as income generating activities to support their livelihoods. The same Ministry is the target market for the produce because they buy trees seedling for their land rehabilitation activities LRCS arranged trainings on the general management of greenhouses. They have also been taught how to prepare growing media for seedlings, these were facilitated by horticulturalists from the MOAFS. With skills acquired from the trainings the beneficiaries, in all the districts have started production of seedling. The average number of beneficiaries managing each greenhouse is 36 people governed by elected operational community committee. The purpose of the greenhouses was the production of vegetables and vegetable seedlings to sell to the community at large. The beneficiaries are also intending to save profits generated from the seedling so that at some point they will have enough funds to operate the greenhouse and have direct benefit by sharing surplus as well as assisting other vulnerable groups in the community who cannot work in greenhouse due to different vulnerabilities. To ensure availability of water for the planted trees and vegetables, earth dams were constructed and or rehabilitated near the greenhouses and nurseries in some areas.

Chairperson of Quthing Division Mr. Nkhetheng Pitso taking care of the nursery

However there was a concern from the communities that stray animals might destroy the structures or the produce, and that children may drown in the dams particularly those that are very close to the villages. As a result green houses, nurseries as well as dams were fenced to minimize the loss. However not all of these structures were fenced due to limited resources.

The year 2014 was an exit year for ICHBC and FS project supported by BRCS in the five districts of Mokhotlong, Thaba-Tseka, Maseru (Kena), Mafeteng and Quthing, hence no agricultural inputs were provided except in Thaba-tseka since it was a year behind other project areas. The focus was on monitoring and coaching beneficiaries to sustain learned farming practices without hand outs.

Similar project in Mohales‟Hoek supported by NorCross was it its second year and food security interventions continued. Therefore CFs together with officers from Ministry of

Agriculture and Food Security (MOAFS) mobilised clients and their communities to new farming technologies, through series of demonstrations and field days.

Despite harsh weather conditions, the beneficiaries in all six project areas continued to apply skills in conservation agriculture to produce vegetables As a result of their efforts, 2,405 different types of plots were constructed, the breakdown is as follows: trench;688 and common plots; 793, keyhole; 924, the latter being the most preferred since the beneficiaries say it is easy to work on it. to facilitate gardening LRCS provided 313 beneficiaries in Mohales‟Hoek and Thaba-Tseka with agricultural inputs in a form of garden tools, the set per person included rake, hand folk, digging folk and watering can. Four different types of vegetables seeds were also supplied to the same people to improve crop production and diversification

 Distribution of fruit trees: The Society further provided fruit trees to 715 beneficiaries in all six project area. Each beneficiary received 3 trees of different varieties. Quthing, Mafeteng, and Kena Mohales‟Hoek were provided with different peach trees and Thaba Tseka and Mokhotlong were provided with apple trees of different varieties. Although each beneficiary was entitled to 3 different varieties of trees Quthing and Thaba -Tseka have used a different strategy by establishing orchards; Quthing has planted 100 trees whereas Thaba Tseka has planted 50 trees, and the rest of the trees were distributed to individual beneficiaries whereby each beneficiary received 1or 2 trees depending on the need. . Adaptability of trees to the weather conditions in the lowlands, foothills and mountains was considered during distribution; hence peach trees were not distributed in the mountain districts

 Agricultural Show As a motivational activity, the mini agricultural shows were conducted in all five districts. The shows were taken as a learning process for the participating communities; this helped and facilitated knowledge spill over to other clients and community members who are not enrolled in the programme. clients and community members already engaged in food production, identified their strengths and weaknesses as well as areas where they need to strengthen agricultural production.

Village to village exchange visits for Lead gardeners and Care Facilitators have been undertaken in all projects sites. The objective was to share and learn good practices from counterparts. This activity was carried out in a way that; at least three households of beneficiaries were chosen and visited to assess their keyhole gardens and trench gardens. The results showed an amazing improvement as there were some vegetables on the keyholes even though, some trenches were not sown but they were already prepared for summer cropping. the shade nets provided to them the previous year served the purpose.

Outcome of the operation: These programmes were planned to address household food insecurity, especially of the people living with HIV and AIDS as well as TB and other categories mentioned earlier. The clients are able to take their medications without complications, the cases of defaulters are very limited, and most of the individuals are mobile and doing their daily activities. The relationship and line of referral between the national society and health centres is quite clear.

This activity also resulted in the increase of HTC uptake at the HCs. There is teamwork at village level where beneficiaries and the project support structures are working together at the greenhouses and nurseries as one. Constraints or Challenges:

 Persistent drought resulted into long term food insecurity

 Lack of disaster response materials.

 Strong winds and rains that disrupted the nurseries and greenhouses, though the challenge was overcome by the members of such structures coming together to maintain them and as a result all nurseries are now stable and operational.

 Water for irrigation becomes a challenge for people who are trying to scale up the production of vegetables for both market and consumption. There is a need to extract water from the rivers to green houses, nurseries, and other bigger plots. These structures in most cases happen to be on the upper stream while the rivers and other water sources are downstream, so the irrigation equipment mentioned such as water pipes, water pumps, sprinklers etc. is lacking.

 When there is enough production of vegetables in homestead gardens, like it‟s the case now, the challenge becomes the production of staple foods such as Maize, wheat, and sorghum. This also goes for production of beans and peas in larger scales to address the nutritional needs and household economic status.

 Communal gardens have proved not to be much successful especially when the groups are too big because some withdraw within no time,

Lessons learnt

It is essential to supply chicken at the laying point where less medical issues are of a concern. This came from the community after Poultry rearing staring at the very early stage was unsuccessful, however they maintain that it brings some nutritional balances and opportunities for selling eggs.

The pilot activities regarding green houses, nurseries and dams proved that they are a good combination to increase production. They attracted attention of the communities, stakeholders and community leaders in all the areas. From the meetings with all concerned, there is a dire need to scale up. They proved beyond any doubt that they provide better conditions for vegetables and seedlings. Beneficiaries will be able consume and sell products to local businesses and neighbouring villages.

Regular coordination meetings are required to keep all parties informed.

Future plans

DM department plans to strengthen the dissemination of Restoring Family Links, with more emphasis on tracing for the people who do know their fate in the neighbouring countries or

14 other locations. The most important activities common throughout the year are compile organisation monthly, quarterly and annual reports.

There is an identified need to train communities on issues of Market and Savings since after increasing production using different agricultural techniques, there is a need to market and sell the farm produces to neighboring communities and businesses, this therefore requires some skills to establish and build rapport with potential buyers. If some members of the community are trained, they can transfer the knowledge to other community members.

Continue training on field crops farming and community mobilization to secure seeds using funds generated from sale of vegetables and or shared cropping.

Roll out of greenhouses and nurseries in all the project areas.

DISASTERS MANAGEMENT PROJECT OFFICERS 2014

Tatai Moeketsi, Deborah Nkokana, Alina Letsika, Liteboho Lechela

Ntuba Mphonyana Sylvia Nkuebe,

HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES (HSS) PROGRAM

Health and Social Services Coordinator - Mrs. Makhosi Serobe

Introduction: HSS program has three components; HIV and AIDS, Primary Health Care Services, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) as well as First Aid.

The HSS Coordinator - Makhosi Serobe with Home Based Care Facilitators

1. PREVENTION, HIV and AIDS AWARENESS

Prevention Officer -Ms. Mamothello Motsamai

Achievements: a) HIV and AIDS

HIV and AIDS remain a priority for Lesotho as the country is now the 2nd highest in the world with an HIV prevalence of 23% and it is strengthening prevention interventions in an effort to reduce new infections, while supporting care and treatment interventions. b) Prevention:

LRCS strengthened prevention activities targeting youth, women, men and the general public were strengthened, as a result 5,406 (IEC) meetings were held by the care Facilitators and Project Officers during the reporting period and were accompanied by distribution of 7,036 culturally sensitive IEC materials bearing messages on Gender Based Violence, PMTCT, HIV and TB materials, this was to reinforce messages given during the meetings. Having realized that some of the community members are not able to read and write the local language more public gatherings were held in 2014

At the same meetings CFs, Project Officers and other community support structures distributed a total of 238,787 male and 28,770 female condoms to the communities in 6 project areas (Kena, Mapholaneng, Mafeteng, Thaba-Tseka, Mohale‟s Hoek and Quthing) throughout the year using existing distribution Points such as health facilities, the chiefs‟ places, Care Facilitators‟ homes and Local Councils offices, other Public places were also used as distributions points for easy access. The projects also took the advantage of food for work activities and societies‟ meetings which were going on within the projects sites. Condom demonstrations were carried out along with the distributions to ensure proper use. The success of condom distribution was made possible by a constant supply of male and female condoms from PSI and the Ministry of Health.

TB Awareness campaign and display of condoms and other IEC materials

Due to high TB/HIV co-infection standing at 76%, LRCS continued HIV and AIDS and TB campaigns to ensure that treatment interventions are not undermined since the two diseases can bring the worst on infected individuals if not attended to. Voluntary Male Medical Circumcision (VMMC) was also included in the campaigns, men and boys were encouraged to go to the Health Facilities for the procedure.

HTC is one of the prevention strategies that provide the opportunity for people to know their HIV status with quality counselling support to help them cope with a positive or a negative test result. Knowing one is HIV negative can serve as a strong motivating factor to remain negative, particularly for those who may otherwise assume it is too late to adopt safer sexual practices. For those who test positive, it is an entry point to HIV and AIDS management. Therefore 25,680 people (M: 12,648, F: 13,032) were given basic information about HIV and AIDS and advised to go for HTC out of which 9,687 attended the services. About 7.5% of the people who tested comprising 285 and 440 males and females respectively came out HIV positive and referred to the health facilities for further management.

LRCS Officers prepare to distribute food parcels to TB patients.

LRCS through HIV and AIDS interventions strives to fight new HIV infection and plays a big role in advising pregnant mothers and their partners to know their HIV statuses to prevent HIV infection from parent to unborn and breast fed babies. The Society reinforced PMTCT activities as it is the most critical area that can reverse the epidemic and ensure HIV free future generation, PMTCT information was disseminated to the communities through IEC material and health education during public gatherings and campaigns. Accordingly in 2014 a total of 5,365 women were advised out of which only 154 attended and provided feedback in terms of disclosing their HIV test results to the Project Officers, 116 of them were positive put on PMTCT treatment according to the PMTCT guidelines. c) Treatment, care and support

To mitigate the impact of HIV and AIDS in infected and affected individuals, LRCS supported provision of treatment, care and support in the project areas using the services of 213 active Care Facilitators after losing to death 2 and 1 CFs in kena and Quthing respectively. The distribution was as follows: Quthing - 43, Mafeteng - 40, Kena - 38, Mapholaneng - 42, Thaba-Tseka - 30 and Mohales‟Hoek - 21. The program in all six areas reached 10,302(M: 3,938, F: 6364) clients, the number more than tripled compared to 3,154 in 2013. A total of 488(M: 181, F: 307 were newly registered while 158(M: 56, F: 102) were discharged to the support groups. At the end of the reporting period, there were 78 support groups established and maintained in all project areas. Care Facilitators conducted 29, 811 home visits to provide care support to clients and OVC.

A total of 210 clients were on TB treatment at the end of the reporting period while 49 completed, 7 defaulters and 3 treatment failures were reported, which signifies the need to strengthen adherence counselling. d) Stigma and discrimination Great strides have been made in the project areas in order to reduce stigma and discrimination, and activities are continuing. Public gatherings were held by Care Facilitators, Ambassador of Hope (AOH) and support group members to advocate for the rights of People living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA), community parenting for OVC and reduction of stigma and discrimination among clients and OVC, as bad experiences about stigma and discrimination may stop people from knowing their HIV status and getting treatment, it may also inhibit people from talking openly about their HIV status.

Stigma campaigns were held at all community levels through meetings with the local chiefs and councilors. These efforts have contributed to lessening the problem of stigma and discrimination of the family members and the communities.

However some cases of stigma and discrimination were reported in Mafeteng and Quthing, including pointing fingers at those who are getting food rations for TB, nonetheless CFs and AOH continued to provide the necessary information, including home visits to the families where the problem was reported. On the other hand Self-stigmatization has been observed in Mapholaneng which the care facilitators addressed with the concerned people.

2. OVC CARE AND SUPPORT

National OVC Officer Mr Lithapelo Kutlenyane

As part of impact mitigation LRCS continued to provide OVC Care and Support services in seven project areas Mafeteng, Mohales‟Hoek, Kena, Thaba-Bosiu, Quthing, Thaba-tseka Mapholaneng. The program registered a total of 6, 248 7,608 comprising of 4,011 boys and 3,597 girls of which 96 were newly registered while only 9 were discharged from the program for various reasons such as age (over 18years) and internal or external migration. Support included provision of transport funds in order to access health services; educational support covering payment of school fees, books and stationary and procurement of school uniforms; as well as material and psychosocial support to help the OVC cope with the effects of adversity. Even though the program has registered OVC, it reaches more than that through sporting and other social activities, as a result it reached a total of 9,492 made up of 4,444 males 5,048 females in school and 1,051; 531 males and 520 females out of school.

The program assisted 227 HIV positive children who are on ART and 10 on TB treatment to access services by providing them with transport funds to reach the health facilities. These OVC were identified in schools and clinics in the six project areas of Mafeteng, Kena and Thaba-Bosiu, Quthing, Thaba-tseka and Mapholaneng. This is done to facilitate adherence to treatment. Access to health has a positive impact on the quality of life of HIV positive children since their health has improved and most of them are doing well at school.

Nutritional support is important to children especially those who are HIV positive and on ART to improve their adherence to medication and nutritional standards, therefore efforts were made to distribute food packages to the most vulnerable OVC households and children living with HIV . The activity reached 145 OVC household in Kena and Mafeteng while 25 CHH received food parcels as a once off activity for Christmas in kena.

Besides meeting the immediate food needs, actions were taken to produce food for the OVC as a long term livelihood measure, hence the program secured fields of 5 acres in Mafeteng where beans were planted. This is intended to benefit 40 OVC households, the yields will be shared after harvesting and surplus will be stored to be used as seeds in the next planting season. In addition, a total of 202 OVC received support in a form of vegetable seeds in Mafeteng, same were also and trained to develop back yard and keyhole gardens

Ear-rings mad by OVCs in Mafeteng. The aim is to sell them and generate income for themselves.

A total number of 423 children in Mafeteng, Quthing, Thaba-Tseka and Kena, were assisted with material support in a form of blankets, and 100 OVC HH received hygiene kits in Kena. Blankets provided warmth during the very cold winter in Lesotho, thus preventing colds and other conditions that may arise as a result of cold weather. Hygiene kits on the other hand restored the dignity of the beneficiaries because they were able to wash themselves and do the laundry and appear like any other child.

Educational support is one of the yearly activities of the NS, in 2014 school fees was paid for 220 secondary and high school pupils, book included. A total of 237 OVC from primary to high school were supplied with school uniforms in the six project areas. Thirty one (M: 17, F: 14) of those who benefitted from educational support completed high school at the end of 2014. The Society is also supporting 4 pre-school (2 in Mafeteng and 1 in Maseru and 1 Kena) with play materials, food items and other materials.

The Society assisted the communities in Mafeteng and Thaba-Bosiu to establish and maintain self-help and income generating activities with the purpose of meeting the daily needs of

20 children in the areas; A bakery set up was formed at Ha Konote pre-school with the support of the local chief and care facilitators; a committee of guardians was set to oversee daily management, baking and distribution of bread. This initiative is working well with the committee getting simple accounts training to manage daily income that is saved in their account. The bread is sold at locally. At present the project has not reached a profit margin because all revenue is saved and utilized to cover running costs, it has not yet reached the intended purpose of assisting the most vulnerable OVC with basic items like hygiene packs.

Psychosocial support (PSS) is critical in OVC care and support as it helps them to cope with their situation, hence LRCS continued to mainstream it into the projects interventions; it involves activities like dancing, singing, and work sharing to promote togetherness and maintain their psychosocial wellbeing. This was achieved through 58 Kids/youth clubs that were maintained in the project areas reaching 3,322 children. Tools obtained from REPSSI; Memory work, Journey of Life and Talking book were used to help the children cope with the effects of adversity.

LRCS also rehabilitate or rebuild houses of OVCs and or Child Headed Children (CHC)

One of the key responsibilities of the National Societies is to advocate for protection of the vulnerable people as stated in the IFRC Strategy 2020, therefore LRCS assisted 1,205 OVC being 575 boy and 629 girls to obtain birth certificates. So they have the legal documents that will enable them to access the needed assistance from the government or any other organizations involved in OVC care and support.

3. WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE (WASH)

Senior WASH Officer - Mr. Thabang Toloane

LRCS is implementing WASH activities at Thabana-Morena in Mafeteng and Thaba-Bosiu in Maseru districts as an integral part of OVC interventions carried in those areas with support from Norcross. Most of the activities do not benefit the OVC only but the community at large with the understanding that OVC do not live in isolation. Activities fall within three main outcomes focusing on rehabilitation of water supply systems, construction of VIP latrines and hygiene promotion.

a) Water supply systems

Water supply remains a challenge in some areas in Mafeteng and Thaba-Bosiu, therefore LRCS drilled a borehole to supply water to Lebaka Primary school in Mafeteng . The water supply will benefit 103 boys, 149 girls, 2 male teachers and 5 female teachers

On the other hand the newly constructed LRCS Health Centre(HC) at Thaba Bosiu is no exception, just like the surrounding villages it is experiencing lack of water which poses a great challenge during day to day activities considering the nature of its operations; for example; deliveries, male medical circumcisions etc, so plans are under way to drill a borehole, however the survey report indicate that the viable underground water is outside the HC premises b) Rain Water Harvesting

In an effort to assist schools with sufficient water, the project purchased ten (10) water tanks . These water tanks have been delivered to schools so that rain water harvesting can be done. These schools are in Thaba-Bosiu and Thabana-morena. This initiative benefitted 508 girls and 449 boys as well as 26 females and 17 males teachers in five (5) schools at Thaba- Bosiu, while the same intervention assisted 618 girls and 636 boys including 32 females and 17 teachers also in five (5) schools in Mafeteng.

All tanks were supplied with cutters, down pipes, bricks and cement base to position and secure them. The capacity of the tanks is 2500L in Thaba-Bosiu and 5000L in Mafeteng due to a higher number of pupils in Mafeteng compared to schools at Thaba-Bosiu.

Moreover, 10 OVC households were assisted with tanks of 2500 litres capacity for rainwater harvesting in Thaba-bosiu and Thabana-morena.

Water tank at one of the OVCs household c) Sanitation facilities

In preparation for construction of school latrines in both Thaba Bosiu and Thabana Morena, a workshop was conducted for teachers during school holidays after being granted permission by the District Education offices. A total number of 25 participants out of 27 invited attended the workshop which was held at Thaba Bosiu. topics covered included but not limited to PHAST and Menstrual Hygiene Management in Schools. After the training all participants agreed on the involvement of pupils in cleaning their toilets and teaching children and other teachers the importance of hygiene. Teachers also agreed to form hygiene clubs at school and construction of tippy taps in all local schools. The same training was conducted for a total number of 14 Care Facilitators and 6 volunteers at Ha Makhoathi Pre School in Thaba Bosiu. and after the evaluation of the training participants showed confidence that they are ready to pass the information to other community members and families, to spread the message. . School Sanitation The Society carried out rehabilitation of latrines at three primary schools namely Mount Olivet(F:pupils-153, teachers -4; M: pupils- 228, teachers-4), Lekoatsa (F: pupils- 237,teachers- 8; M: pupils- 201, teachers- 4) and Linotsing (F: Pupils -81 teachers-4, M: pupils -64, teachers -1) Primary Schools in Mafeteng. Total units renovated was 42 benefitting a total of 547 girls and 463 boys plus 16 females and 9 males teachers. . Household Latrine Construction Six (6) VIP latrines were completed and handed over to the beneficiaries at Ha Turupu in Mafeteng. The beneficiaries have passed their gratitude to the LRCS, indicating that these latrine are important since they will no longer practice open defecation, where their stools are likely to be transmitted to the nearest water sources and spread diseases. Nine OVC households in Thaba Bosiu Ha Ramakha were assisted with construction of Latrines Fourteen (14) other latrines were still under construction at Ha „Ngoae and Machafela Thabana Morena and other 14 at Thaba-Bosiu at the end of the reporting period, December 2014. . Hygiene Promotion Having trained 14 youth volunteers in Mafeteng and Thaba-Bosiu to undertake hygiene promotion active members carried out hygiene promotion activities in 7 villages and reached a total number of 77 males and 236 females covering topics such as critical times for hand washing, hand washing demonstration, oral faecal route transmission , personal hygiene, construction of Tippy Tap and importance of latrines.

Tippy tap at one of the local schools

In Thaba Bosiu 4 males and 12 females were reached at Ha Lenono during house to house sessions carried out by two volunteers

As a result of demonstration of tippy taps construction by trained volunteers, a total of 179 taps were constructed in 10 villages within Thaba-Bosiu area.

In order to ensure proper use of the constructed latrines in schools and in the communities, latrine user education was provided; a public gathering was held at Ha Turupu in Mafeteng where 52 community members being 18 males and 34 females attended, the key message was the importance of constructing latrines. During the public gathering, those who did not have latrines were encouraged to construct them as an initiative to end open defecation. Another public gathering was held at Ha Tjoobe also in Mafeteng to mobilize the public to construct latrines as well since there are only a few latrines in the village, The public gathering was attended by 30 participants being 21 females and 9 males. These gatherings ware conducted in an aim to mobilise the respective communities to prevent water and sanitation related diseases by constructing latrines using locally available materials within their villages as well as the importance of keeping them clean. d) NEW WASH PROJECTS:

The Society reached another milestone in 2014 when WASH activities were geographically scaled up to cover three (3) more districts; Mokhotlong, Mohales‟Hoek and Thaba-Tseka through new partnerships with AUSAID/BRCS, Water Aid and UNICEF.

Implementation of new WASH projects started from the second half of the year, and the projects components are basically the same as the on-going project at Thaba-Bosiu in Maseru and Thabana- Morena in Mafeteng, except that the new projects went further to include Menstrual Hygiene Management and consider people with disabilities. (i). WASH project at Bobete in Thaba-Tseka district - supported by Water Aid:

The project is implemented at Bobete in Thaba-Tseka district. Bobete is a remote area, Some places within its catchment are very difficult to reach due to the type of roads that link them to the outside world. The point of departure before WASH interventions was a baseline survey. The survey revealed that unemployment is high, and more than 80% of the respondents lived on less than M100.00 a month, which makes them vulnerable. With this

24 level of poverty, sanitation and hygiene fall at the lowest level of their consideration. This is justified by the findings that only 18% of the respondents owned toilets and 82% had none, they use either the bush or donga for defecation. Sanitation facilities in schools were found to be poor, while in some schools there were no latrines at all for both pupils and teachers. There was also no water supply in some schools, either the community spring is shared with the school or the school tap is shared with the community. Following recruitment of WASH committees in three villages of Bobete where construction was planned to start, a training was conducted in collaboration with Department of Rural Water Supply (DRWS) and Environmental Health Department (EHD). The training covered among others topics such as Roles and responsibilities of WASH committees, different types of water supply systems; their advantages and disadvantages and Community participation in construction of water supply systems.

(ii). Hand Washing Day commemoration The project commemorated Hand Washing Day with three schools in the area and the community members. Pupils made poems and sang songs highlighting the importance of hand washing. Moreover, there were traditional dances about the importance of the day. Invited guest from government line ministries such as DRWS and EHD delivered key messages on hand washing. Tippy tap demonstration was also done and school children demonstrated to the public correct steps in hand washing process. The activity was attended by 1,064 people; pupils: - 122 males 178 females, Teachers;- 6 males and 9 females and community members comprising of 92 males and 197 females.

Children learning to wash their hands before eating.

(iii). CLTS Training LRCS WASH project officers attended training and pilot of Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) approach when it was introduced for the first time in Lesotho from the 13th to 19th November 2014 in Thaba-Tseka district. It was found necessary for them to attend the training so that they can have a clear understanding of the approach, learn some of the challenges and how to overcome them. The training was conducted by the founder of CLTS and supported by UNICEF – Lesotho.

. School Hygiene Promotion Hygiene education was conducted at two schools being Liepeleng Primary and Makhuleng Primary schools whereby students were taught about importance of living in a clean environment and the negative impacts of poor hygiene practices. Liepeleng primary school has 42 boys, 45 girls, 3 female teachers and no male teacher. On the other hand Makhuleng primary school has 128 boys, 154 girls, 2 male teachers and 6 female teachers. . Partnering with Technical Schools

LRCS negotiated a partnership with Thaba-Tseka Technical Institute (TTI) on issues related to sanitation such as engaging the institution on training of artisans for latrine construction. Therefore a partnership was established and TTI assigned one of the Lectures to train artisans on latrine construction in 2015. A workshop was conducted from the 09th to the 12th December 2014 for 20 teachers (M: 7, F: 13) from 11 primary schools in Thaba-Tseka including 2 Education Officers from the district. The topics covered included the following: Basic First Aid at schools, Introduction to PHAST, CLTS and San Mark, Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM), Management of liquid and solid waste at schools and others. The idea is for the teachers to disseminate WASH messages to pupils and ensure proper management of water and sanitation facilities that will be constructed in schools. The design of the workshop, bringing together teachers, school management board members and education officers was highly commendable so they can all share ideas and develop plans to approach the community as a joint group. . National support Since LRCS is operating in Lesotho, it realized the importance of providing national support, hence it engaged a consultant to conducted Schools Baseline Survey in all the schools in Thaba-Tseka district, not only LRCS project area; Bobete. The exercise faced the challenge of schools being closed and some of the teachers not residing near schools as such it took a longer time to carry out the assignment., the exercise was still on- going by the end of the year to be completed beginning of 2015. (iv). WASH project in Mohale’s Hoek and Mokhotlong supported by AUSAID/BRCS

The project is implemented in Mohales‟Hoek and Matsoku area in Mokhotlong district. It commenced in September with a Baseline survey to guide the implementation. The key findings revealed that here were no protected water supply system in all villages at the project sites except one broken system with inadequate water supply in one village. 69% and 32% have sanitation facilities in Mohales'Hoek and Mokhotlong respectively. 11 schools with no water supply system and with no/inadequate sanitation have been identified in both districts. The survey also showed that animals use open sources and sometimes share the same sources with human-beings. Latrines and hand washing facilities were found to be not user friendly for people living with disability. LRCS sensitized the communities about the project through 6 public gatherings on WASH, where a total of 366 participants (222 women and 134 men) attended. At the same gatherings, LRCS sensitized the communities on the importance of gender balance and inclusion of socially excluded groups in WASH activities, like in the Committees.

After community mobilization 8 artisans were selected for latrine construction training in Mohale‟sHoek. Women were also encouraged to join the artisans group, but that did not succeed as they have been informed that it is difficult to get women artisans in the rural areas or even encouraging them to work as artisans. LRCS in collaboration with the Department of Rural Water Supply trained 4 casual labourers (2 males and 2 females) in the construction of the water supply protection systems (dry stone walling) as a result of environmental flooding in Mohale‟sHoek. A total of 13 WASH committee members trained on appropriate water supply technologies to account for climate change variations in the rural communities of Lesotho eg deeper boreholes, use of solar pumps; and train PHAST groups in community solid waste management

WASH Team with Water Minders in Mohale'sHoek

Five (5) WASH committees have been established of which one committee has been trained as well as 4 water minders. The trained committee has women as the chair and treasurer. Remaining committees to be trained in 2015. The membership for all 5 WASH committees identified is 50, and has more than 50% women (27 women and 23 men). Women were recognized in the leadership positions within the committees; hence 50% of the WASH committees have women as either secretaries or treasurers. In 2014 2 schools were supported with latrine and Hand Washing facilities construction in Mokhotlong. Schools played their part by collecting stones for latrine construction and other materials have been procured by LRCS. Construction is due to start January 2015. Most of the activities in the second half of the year focused on the software component of the project. However 8 sites have been assessed and monitored by the government with detailed studies in Mohale‟Hoek and Mokhotlong. The two of the assessed sites in Mohales‟Hoek have been constructed - One is a complete water system and the other is a water point with storage tank. The immediate impacts of these actions have been numerous. Protection of the spring has blocked the potential for faecal-oral transmission of disease. In addition, the time for fetching water has been significantly reduced as a result of the water tank – a 20 litre bucket can be filled within 30 seconds. There is no longer the need to wait for hours for a small amount of water or have to collect water at night. The ability to store water through the water tank has also ensured that more water is available for the community: community members can now use more than 20 litres per person per day, so they reacted positively to these changes.

Woman happy for the clean water WASH Officer inspecting progress

Partnership Agreement with UNICEF was signed in December 2014 for a WASH project at Khutlo-Se-Metsi, also in Thaba-Tseka district, therefore activities had not yet started at the end of the reporting period.

4. PRIMARY HEALTH CARE (PHC): Introduction: Lesotho Red Cross Society has four health centre in the remote areas of Maseru - Thaba Bosiu and Kena, Leribe - Kolojane and Mokhotlong - Mapolaneng.

These are some of the Nurse Clinicians and Nurse respectively at the Society's Health Centres.

NURSE CLINICIAN

Lihamang Maebo- Realeboha Thlabi - Mapaseka Mokoatsi - Kefuoehape Masaile Kolojane Mapholaneng Kena Thaba Bosiu

The year 2014 was the last year in the implementation of a MOU between LRCS and the Ministry of Health, and also the year marked for the national accreditation of all health facilities in Lesotho by the Ministry of Health. The accreditation covered facilities under the Ministry and its partners (Christian Health Association of Lesotho and LRCS), therefore LRCS Health Centres were subjected to the accreditation exercise. Three LRCS staff members participated in the accreditation of other facilities other than LRCS facilities, the report is yet to be published.

Nonetheless, four LRCS HCs continued to provide primary health care services in Maseru, Berea and Mokhotlong districts. The services are provided by the nursing personnel placed at the HCs according to the staffing pattern of the Ministry of Health, which is 5 per HC. The Society retained all 20 HCs nurses until August 2014 when one of the Nursing Assistants left

LRCS to further her studies, otherwise 19 were retained to improve and maintain the quality of services provided. Therefore a total of 35,653 People were treated for different ailments in 2014, which translates into 34% increase against 23,531 in 2013.

Nurse giving a pregnant woman a baby mother pack at LRCS Clinic

In 17,212 received Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health (MNCH) services broken down as follows:  5,499 women received different family planning commodities ranging from oral to injectable according to their choice and health factors. This shows a slight increase of 7.5% compared to 5,086 in 2013

 3,851 attended ante-natal care counter to 2,229 in 2013, which is 42% increase.

 20 normal deliveries were conducted at Mapholaneng HC only resulting in 20 live births without any complications.

 1429 mothers visited the centres for post natal services while 1,164 was reported in 2013 indicating 18.5% increase.

 6,433 under five children attended growth monitoring and immunization services reflecting an increase of 19% against 5,212 in the previous year; 3,762 of the total were immunized, accounting for 58% of the under-fives whereas 2,671 attended growth monitoring services. The HCs also provide HIV and AIDS management of which the gateway is the HIV testing and counselling. People were advised to know their status, therefore 8,606 of them comprising of 5325 females and 3,281 tested of which 535 females and 209 males came out positive. This was a significant increase -56% against 3,775 in 2013 because Thaba-Bosiu HC conducted HTC campaigns for the whole month of November 2014 in preparation for the national celebration for the World AIDS Day which was commemorated at Thaba-Bosiu.

The HCs strengthened PMTCT services using 2013 PMTCT National guidelines to ensure HIV free future generation, consequently DNA/PCR was done to 88 children born from HIV positive mothers and 81of them tested negative while only 7 were positive. The high statistics of HIV negative babies demonstrates the effectiveness of PMTCT treatment whereas the positive results undermined PMTCT treatment efforts because three of the positive babies were born from mothers who defaulted treatment while 4 were non-clinic cases. Generally the number of people assisted by the HCs increased in comparison to 2013 due to commitment of HCs nurses, this could also be attributed to availability of transport to the HCs to conduct outreach services regularly. The Ministry of Health through the respective District Health Management Teams organized workshops and trainings to sharpen nurses‟ skills and knowledge on different aspects of care and share any new developments in programs that need to be implemented. LRCS nurses were no exceptions; they participated in Effective Vaccine Management, Drug Supply Management, preceptor training and TB counselling. LRCS HCs are technically under the supervision of the respective District Health Management Teams (DHMTs) according to the PHC concept, and administratively under LRCS as the proprietor. Therefore both parties conducted monitoring visits to the facilities jointly and individually, and the feedback pointed out that the HC are performing well.

4. FIRST AID:

Senior First Aid Instructor - Mrs. Maketsia Makotoko a) First Aid Training

First Aid is the primary function of the Red Cross; hence LRCS provided Basic First training to 807 people from different companies ranging from construction, factories and schools/colleges to prevent loss of lives and complications resulting from injuries sustained at the workplace. The total trained in 2014 is a bit lower than the previous year due to unavailability of FA instructors in some Divisions. It is important to have First Aid kits to enable trained individuals to provide the service wherever it is needed, therefore the Society supplied First Aid kits suitable for the different settings on a commercial basis; factory - 19 plus 51 refills, motorist; 25 plus 1 refill, as well as 27 plus 10 refills shop and office kits including 3 stretchers. The Society further provided 128 First Aid manuals to serve as references for the First Aiders when the need arises.

A total of 1052 volunteers were trained in Community-based First Aid (CBFA) as a capacity building measure for the Divisions. Berea Division trained the highest number of 618 and Qachas‟Neck was the lowest with 10 volunteers trained while Thaba-Tseka did not train volunteers at all due to lack of training equipment. The Society further conducted CBFA for 36 and 38 Herd boys in Semonkong and Ha-Makoae Quthing respectively. This training had been planned by Sentebale with the aim of empowering the herd boys with life skills since they are prone to accidents during their day to day activities.

Volunteers providing First Aid at community events.

Moreover, LRCS responded to a long term need of fire fighting training from different companies receiving First Aid training from the Society by providing Basic Fire Fighting training for forty six (46) World Vision staff with the technical assistance from the Quthing volunteer who is a Senior Fire Fighting Trainer in the Lesotho Mounted Police Service. It is the intention of the department to conduct similar trainings in 2015. b) Evacuation Drill The Society through the First Aid department successfully conducted Fire Evacuation Drill training for thirteen (13) Vodacom Lesotho employees. The training was followed by the Fire Evacuation Drill exercise testing for Vodacom Lesotho employees in February 2014 at Vodacom Head Quarters Maseru, LRCS observed the exercise to see how trained employees put theory into practice. It was then realized that some important aspects of the drill were not handled appropriately. Therefore LRCS made a recommendation to Vodacom Lesotho to repeat the exercise and make certain that it is done properly. c) Water Safety Water Safety training was conducted for 10 staff members of Metolong Authority sub- contracted company in October 2014. The training content included; Basic swimming skills,

31 safety in water and First Aid. The department took advantage of this training and included the First Aid Instructor who needed skills in water safety. d) World First Aid Day Celebration World First Aid day was celebrated by Lesotho Red Cross ten divisions with the support from the Headquarters. IFRC supplied the national societies with information packages and the theme of the year for 2014/2015 was “First Aid and Disaster Risk Reduction. Coincidentally the First Aid week day fell within the political crisis period in Lesotho, therefore it was celebrated by conducting emergency preparedness trainings for all LRCS staff and training and reviving of Action Teams in the ten districts in order to be prepared should the need arise.

e) Proposals LRCS submitted a proposal at Metropolitan Lesotho in March 2014 focusing on Community Based First Aid (CBFA) in the accidents prone areas from three Districts of Berea, Mafeteng and Mohales Hoek, the goal of the proposed project is to build the capacity of the communities in the identified hot spots areas by equipping them with knowledge and skills to provide First Aid and prevent to provide First Aid services and prevent complications and or unnecessary deaths since most of the time they are the first ones to arrive at the scene when accidents happen. The Society was still pursuing the matter with the company at the end of the reporting period. The ICRC cooperation support proposal was developed and submitted in June 2014 and awaiting approval in January 2015.

The concept paper for 2015 National General Elections scheduled for the 28th February 2015 has been developed and submitted at ICRC and was approved. Another proposal was submitted at Shoken Fund following a call for proposal from them with the focus on different elements of the Red Cross Movement. LRCS‟s proposal was on capacity building in regard to First Aid training since it is lacking behind

First Aid Instructor - Mr. Moeketsi Lethoko

Programs' Constraints or Challenges:

The challenges under Health and Social services included the following:  High turn-over of Peer educators does not allow smooth running of Peer education activities.  Treatment defaulters (ART and anti TB) have been observed with clients who have fully recovered from their illnesses and leave the areas to seek for job opportunities in the cities even outside the country in South Africa.

 Lack of running water is still a challenge in 3 LRCS Health Centres ( Kolojane, Kena and Thaba-Bosiu), hence deliveries were not conducted except at Mapholaneng.  Retrenchment of the lay counsellors by the Ministry of Health made a huge gap in HTC services at the facilities.  Despite all efforts made to increase access to treatment and support as well as food security interventions, 96 deaths (M:53, F:43) were reported in six ICHBC and FS project areas..  Inconsistent supply of HIV testing kits at the health centres, LRCS to advocate for improvement at the MOH through respective DHMTs.  The First Aid Instructors training and refresher were not held as planned due to lack of funds and this hampered the expected progress of the First Aid component. The plan is to pursue it further in 2015.  Dry weather became a major challenge in implementation of WASH activities as most of the springs and boreholes were dry during the long dry spell.  Geographic rock formations hindered some of the water supply initiatives as deviations had to be done to avoid rocky areas and this took time. Horticulture initiatives as wells as key hole gardens also were challenged as crops could not grow well due to no rain

WORKING IN PARTNERSHIPS:

a) RC/RC Movement partners Lesotho Red Cross Society established three new partnerships and maintained existing ones. It has both International and local partners in delivering its mandate;

The International PNS are; British Red Cross Society supporting Integrated Community Home-Based Care and Food Security(ICHBC and FS) project in 5 districts of Maseru, Mafeteng, Quthing Mokhotlong and Thaba-Tseka which was in its final year in 2014, it further supported new WASH project in collaboration with AUSAID and Australian RC in Mokhotlong and Mohales‟Hoek districts. While NorCross supported ICHBC and FS project in Mohale‟sHoek as well as OVC and WASH in Maseru and Mafeteng. Moreover, NorCross supported Organizational Development activities through NORAD funding.

IFRC as the mother body provided technical and financial support to the Society through multilateral relationships with other PNS, the funds closed the funding gaps in food security, HIV AIDS and OVC.

ICRC ensures capacity building of LRCS structures in disaster preparedness and response through trainings and supply of response materials. Dissemination of information about the Red Cross Movement, visibility and marking the Red Cross events are very critical functions of the Society which are supported by ICRC. Moreover, it played a major role by supporting the NS to conduct emergency preparedness trainings following political unrest in September 2014. b) Non-Movement partners Other partners outside the Red Cross Movement included Water Aid and UNICEF in the implementation of two WASH projects in different areas within Thaba-Tseka district.

Nationally LRCS is partnering with government Ministries and departments like Disaster Management Authority which coordinates disaster management issues, Ministry of Health

33 overseeing health related issues. Ministries of Education and Social Development in OVC activities, LRCS is a member in the National OVC coordinating committee.

Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security provides technical support in agricultural activities whereas Ministry of Forestry Land Reclamation is working with LRCS to create awareness in the communities about environmental degradation and supervising land reclamation activities.

Child and Gender Protection Unit (Police) and Office of the Master of the High Court assist children in cases of abuse and to inherit their properties respectively and LRCS refers identified cases to the relevant offices.

Contributing to longer-term impact: LRCS utilizes community support structures which are volunteers trained by the NS in different aspects; Care facilitators, Lead Gardeners, Peer Educators, child Care Committees, Village Health workers and Water Minders as well as Latrine Builders. These groups of people work in collaboration with the authorities in the communities such as Chiefs and the Councillors for sustainability of activities beyond the project phase out because involvement of the communities in issues affecting them directly instils a sense ownership.

LRCS is represented at District and National forums which afford the representatives the opportunity to disseminate LRCS interventions, thus paving the way for sustainability of the projects with the support of other stakeholders.

Food security interventions and IGAs ensure availability of nutritious food and excess can be sold to generate income for other basic needs, thus contributing towards eradication of extreme poverty and hunger; MDG 1

All HIV and AIDS initiatives including OVC supported by different partners contribute towards MDGs 2 and 6, while maternal, neonatal and child health care services contribute towards achieving MDGs 4 and 5

Looking ahead:  LRCS is looking forward to a sustainable income through aggressive resource mobilization and work towards meeting the characteristics of a well-functioning National Society.  Roll out of CBHFA training at divisional and branch levels.  LRCS‟s view is to practice resilience programming in all its endeavors which reduces dependency on external support.  The Health and Social Services department plans to strengthen First Aid within the NS, it will then pursue proposals submitted at Metropolitan and Belgium RC.

There is a need to follow-up water supply problems at the HCs in order to increase accessibility of delivery services.

Lebamang Sehloho Ntho Mokone Khauhelo Heshepe

Mokholoane Sefatsana Nomayesa Rabatho Pule Mothibe

Other Project Officer/s are Maitumeleng Nkhabu.

HUMAN RESOURCES AND ADMIN MANAGER ANNUAL REPORT 2014

Human Resource and Admin Manager

Introduction LRCS Human Resources department objectives is to provide advisory roles and services with competent human resources, motivated and mobilized around the objectives of the organization, while ensuring greater efficiency in the management of resources. As we complete the year 2014, it is critical that the organisation has to reflect back to its activities

35 for the entire year, this is the result of the departmental work plans and individual ones. As a result the issues relating to Human Resources and Administration at LRCS for the period mentioned shall be discussed below.

DISCIPLINAY HEARING NURSE ASSISTANT AT THABA-BOSIU HEALTH CENTRE

Then complainant claims that on the 28th July 2014 at around 9:45 am, one Nurse Assistant had alleged that her colleague who was charged officer clamped her chick with a sharp instrument called “Forceps”. When asked what has lead that incident to happen, she mentioned that the reason raised by the charged officer is that the same nurse gossiping about her in the taxi that the charged officer is stealing drugs at her workplace Thaba Bosiu Health Centre.

The complainant reiterated that she then called the charged officer to find out what happened and the charged officer gave her side of her story that she had not clamped her.

The evidence was led by handing over the incidence report which was written by the complainant.

The charged officer was allowed to cross examine the complainant. There was nothing material that she disputed against the evidence given.

The Nurse Assistant was asked to tell her version. She mentioned that on the 28th July 2014 at around 9:00 am. She arrived in the staff room where most of other colleagues were sitting and accidentally she misplaced her pen and asked the Charged officer whether she had seen the pen but denied that she had seen it, however Nurse Assistant asked the charged officer to check at the seat which was where the charged officer was sitting, but she denied until she stood up and the pen was found on top of the seat where the charged officer was sitting which she concluded that the charged officer was sitting purposely hence could not see her pen.

The presiding chair concluded that: 1. The charged officer did not conduct herself or shown any remorse during the hearing that she had indeed fought with a colleague, the charged officer did not show any remorse when confronted by her supervisor after she was engaged in a fight instead she kept quite when asked what happened and that has shown disrespect. The complainant even took liberty to go to her to find out what happened without her taking any initiative to report the matter to complainant. 2. The Chair concluded that the charged officer intentionally kept the matter to her for two days after hearing the matter on Friday and waited for Monday to fight at workplace. 3. The way Nurse Assistant was clamped it is probable that the charged officer was in full control of the forceps not as she alleged in the evidence. Although the charged officer alleges that she was not given enough time to write the incidence report which she understand well how to construct the incidence report it is strange that in her written incidence report a day after the incidence she had stated that she clamped Nurse Assistant while asking her as to why she has alleged that she is stealing drugs and the written statement during the hearing where she is now stating opposite version that Nurse Assistant is the one who started insulting her and slap her therefore it is highly probable that she is fabricating her statements during the hearing.

Therefore the charged officer was found guilty as charged and was punished with final written warning under LRCS Human Resource Policy.

TRAININGS: Training of Senior and middle managers on Advanced Excel and President on computer knowledge for beginner.

Five managers were trained on intermediate Excel and five others were trained on Advance Excel while the President of the Society received training on the introduction to Computer. Managers are now able to produce useful informative data and or material using excel. The President will be able to work from home using the laptop and communicate through the internet when the need arises. The trainings have enabled the managers to prepare budgets, reports and other documents using formulas in Excel.

Staff after receiving certificates on Advanced Excel training Training on IFRS The finance key staff being the Finance Director and Senior Accountant have attended training in International Reporting Standards for small and medium enterprises (SME) hosted by Centre for Accounting Studies. The key objective was to expose the participants to most recent accounting standards and how to deal with issues as they emerge. This enhanced reporting and ensured that reporting is up to the required standards e.g. the financial accounts are reported in such a way they are now in compliance with IAS 8, prior year adjustments are disclosed as note in the financial accounts together with supporting workings.

Other finance staff attended refresher training on reporting standards for the SMEs in order to revive them on how to handle different accounting treatment for specific items and also to equip them with the most recent accounting standards. The training was conducted by Centre for Accounting Studies and it led to significant improvement in the format of reporting.

Seminar on Risk Management

The Finance Director, President and HRAM attended a workshop on Risk Management where they were exposed to the techniques of identifying risk, classifying risk and managing it. Management is now fully aware of the risks faced by the organisation e.g. over dependency on external donors, hence management has entered into negotiations with government of Lesotho in order to secure subvention to cover its core costs.

Peer to peer exchange visit

LRCS Finance staff attended a peer to peer visit to Zimbabwe RC to learn how the latter functions in terms of overall financial management and resource mobilisation. The lessons learnt during the visit include the following:

- Integration of finance and programs is important, including a joined operational review meeting every month end.. - full utilization of the Navision system functionalities improves financial reporting - The Zimbabwean Red Cross resource mobilisation is mainly driven by the Board, in the sense that they have chosen people of strategic importance; hence it is very easy on their part to negotiate better deals at the government highest level. - For IGAs to be successful there is a need to engage a private company to manage them. - There are a lot of possible business opportunities for the RC

The lessons learnt were then shared with the LRCS Management on return from Zimbabwe, as such workable good practices were put in place, for example, `some of the Navision systems functionalities have already been incorporated into LRCS system by the Navision consultant. The divisions have already being briefed about these ideas and they were requested to come up with proposals, then HQ will provide technical support.

LRCS DIVISIONAL VISITS

Human Resources and Administration Manager and Secretary General visited seven Divisions in 2014 where they met the Divisional Committees to find out how the project activities are being undertaken and the support they are supposed to provide for the sustainability of the activities beyond the projects phase out. Some of key findings from the visits include lack of understanding about volunteerism, for example they expected the Division to give them allowances when they were undertaking activities, and not being aware that effective RM activities should originate from the branches not HQ. The discussions further went on to touch on the resources mobilisations approaches in their scope and area. HRAM shared with them the best practices he had seen in Burundi Red Cross with regard to Volunteer Management and resources mobilisation approaches, and they appreciated it and indicated that they have a new understanding, but it will take time to change the mind-set of communities and volunteers. As a long term plan to change the current attitude, LRCS intends to provide technical assistance to the Divisions so that they can be able to identify their challenges and possible remedial interventions, with emphasis on use of local donors.

HRAM and SG visiting Thaba-Tseka and Qacha’snek Division respectively

LRCS HEALTH CENTRES

All the clinics continued to be maintained by LMDA under defects period.

MOURNING

One of our staff member, by the name of Mrs. Makhosi Serobe who was holding the position of National Health and Social Services Coordinator passed away and was laid to rest in November, 2014.

Makhosi Thora Serobe during visits to projects site, always smiling even in difficult times. RIP.

CAREER MOVE

 Mr. Motsamai Molebatsi was engaged as a driver to be based at Mafeteng in March 2014  Mr. Ntuba Mphonyane also joined LRCS as Project Officer at Kena project site in March 2014.  Mr. Ishmael Josephs has been appointed to the position of driver effective 1stSeptember, 2014.  Mr. Thabang Toloane was promoted to the position of Senior Project Officer in the water and Sanitation section in September, 2014.  Furthermore Mr. Tsepo Kotelo has been engaged as Project Officer responsible for Water and Sanitation in the area of Thaba Bosiu and Mafeteng in October 2014.  On the other hand Mr. Lefa Mahlomola has filled the position of Diver –at HQ beginning May02014.  Mr.Khosi Sehobai has filled the position of Driver in MohalesHoek project area.  Mr Relebohile Moholobela occupied the position of Driver at Kena project area  Mr. NareToromo, Mr.Koali Lerotholi, Mr. Palo Mothobi, Ms Mookho Mafereka and Mrs Nthabeleng Rasupu were engaged as project Officers at Mapholaneng and Mohaleshoek and Thaba-Tseka respectively to carry out water and Sanitation programmes

Three Youths were engaged as focal persons in the three regions namely south, north and central part of the country to assist Youth officer to attain its strategic objectives. They shall be on 9 months contract.

2014 Newly appointed Project Officers

Palo Mothobi Mookho Mafereka Ntuba Mphonyane

Tsepo Kotelo Koali Lerotholi Nthabeleng Rasupu Nare Toromo

POLICY SUB COMMITTEE MEETING

The Code of conduct and Ethics for Volunteers and members, the amendments to the constitution, First Aid Training Manual and Youth Policy were adopted in the 2014 AGM. And these documents are continually being shared with the Divisions

ICT MAINTENANCE

IT companies had been identified to address the issue of system backup as well as ensuring that all the PCs are connected with antivirus. Where machines are not in a network, standalone antivirus was used including those in the Divisions. To facilitate exchange of information within the NS, all divisions have been provided with Modems so that they can be able to connect to ADSL internet. Consequently, they are now able to communicate with the HQ and with each other through the internetFurthermore HQ had been connected with wireless internet access. All the PCs at headquarters including the server had been linked with UPS in case of power failure.

VOLUNTEER INSURANCE SCHEME

About 500 LRCS volunteers were registered with IFRC insurance fund for covering them during the accidents and deaths that may happen during the period Jan to Dec 2014.

REHABILITATION OF PROPERTIES

Mafeteng Division building was rehabilitated for small business offices as income generating activity for the Division. The building is now habitable, as a result the Division is

utilizing the venue for First Aid trainings and workshops are held in the premises. The works focused on the external environment to stop water from flowing into the building; it included construction of the retaining wall as well as a stone concrete curved furrow that will enable water to divert from the building. The issue of water flowing into the building has been the main hazard during the rainy season causing damage to property and furniture, it‟s now history.

Pictures taken at Mafeteng Division after renovations

The other LRCS buildings were renovated as planned, however some of the intended renovations at Butha-Buthe Division and LRCS Flats were not carried due to shortage of funds that.

Another source of income for the NS is property rental, therefore rehabilitation of properties at two LRCS Divisions (Leribe and Berea) and part of the HQ which commenced in 2013 reached 100% completion during the first quarter. The objective of these renovations is to enable Divisions to sustain themselves in terms of collecting reasonable rentals; the concerned Divisions have now revised their rental income after the renovations and are now in place.

The Society also improved one of its rented buildings through landscaping which involved removal of trees, excavation and compaction of ground surfaces and brick work superstructure. The surroundings look good and the tenants are satisfied, so LRCS was able to retain them and continue to collect rent.

Landscaping works at RED CROSS HOUSE

VEHICLES AUCTION

The six vehicles below were auctioned as the report dictate.

Reg. No. Year Model Remarks

AY097 2004 4x4 Twin Cab Toyota Hilux 3.0 Not taken KZ -white AY373 2005 Toyota Corolla taken AC392 2005 4x4x Twin cab Nissan hard body Not taken Pick up- white AS 980 2008 Land Rover Discovery Not taken AA573 Red quart bike Taken AY082 Yellow quart bike Taken A1836 Yellow bike Not taken

VENDORS LIST

An advert was done to seek all potential suppliers to register with LRCS in order to enable to build data base list to be considered when awarding task during the 2014 period and this idea shall be reviewed on annual base.

STAFF RETREAT.

The staff held a Christmas party in December in the HQ yard.

Fleet of the Society

Reg No. Purchaser Model Project Conditions Duty Stations Year AA603 2012 Toyota Hilux BRCS Very Good Thaba-Tseka AA601 2006 Toyota WFP Fair Mokhotlong Landcruiser AS980 2008 Discovery Admin Good HQ Landrover AZ329 2005 Toyota Hilux BRCS Good Quthing AC392 2006 Nissan Admin Not Good HQ Hardbody AC391 2006 Nissan Norad Not Good Mohaleshoek Hardbody AG216 2007 Nissan Admin Fair HQ Hardbody AY504 2005 Toyota Hilux Norcross fair HQ MF997 2013 Toyota Hilux BRCS Very Good Mafeteng MF996 2013 Toyota Hilux Health Very Good Mokhotlong MF989 2013 Toyota Hilux Admin Very Good HQ MH498 2013 Toyota Land Health Very Good HQ/Clinics cruiser AY097 2004 Toyota Hilux Admin fair HQ ML740 2014 Toyota Hilux Lars Very Good HQ MH505 2014 Toyota Land BRCS/Wash Very Good Mohale'sHoek Cruiser Pickup MN504 2014 Toyota Land BRCS/Wash Very Good Mokhotlong Cruiser Pickup

BIKES

M8236 2010 Bike Clinics Good Kena M8235 2010 Bike Clinics Good Mokhotlong M8237 2010 Bike Clinics Good HQ M2729 2010 Quardbike HQ Good HQ AY201 2007 Quardbike Admin Fair Leribe AD571 2005 Quardbike BRCS Good Kena AZ632 2005 Quardbike Good Mafeteng A1836 Bike Admin fAIR HQ

COMMUNICATIONS Department 2014 Annual Report

Communications Manager - Ms Tokoloho Khutsoane

WEBSITE:

The Society launched its website in April and his welcoming remarks the President of LRCS Mr Sekhobe Letsie said the society is now part of the global village because of the internet. He said the website will showcase the great work that Lesotho Red Cross Society is doing in the country for vulnerable communities.

As part of the launching guests were asked to pledge their support to the Society and M42, 000 was raised during the event.

In addition, the local popular radio station was presented with a Humanitarian award, first of its kind done by the Society, for having an emergency program for providing a platform for people in emergency situations, especially due to snow or floods etc; to seek help.

It was graced by the presence of its stalwarts, the likes of the former president Dr. „Musi Mokete and Dr. Mothusi Mashologu. The Chinese Ambassador in Lesotho was also the guest of honour and presented awards certificates of outstanding volunteer performance to volunteers and Divisions.

WEBSITE LAUNCH

Dr.Mothusi Mashologu after pressing the button . Some of the special guests

His Excellency the Ambassador of the Republic of China during awarding of outstanding performance certificates

Some of the staff members from Divisions and Headquarters

2nd Vice President - Mr. T.C. Magumela, The SG - Prof T. Kitleli, The Partner - Mr. V. Ntsangase

The launch was attended by the National Executive Committee, 50 delegates from the ten Divisions, staff and guests, the Society‟s long-time partner Norwegian Red Cross was represented by Mr. Velaphi Ntsangase. Local partners were also present.

It was combined with the official opening of the Society‟s Annual General Meeting.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The Society's Annual General Meeting was held on May 1st to 3rd , 2015. Fifty (50) delegates representing 10 Red Cross Divisions of the Society were present. in addition, the

National Executive Committee (NEC), staff members, youth representatives and special guests were also present.

The Meeting discussed reports from the Divisions, programs report, Secretary General's report and that of the NEC. After a robust discussions resolutions were made. The Financial report though not discussed during the AGM was later discussed at meeting organised (June 2015).

Delegates at the AGM

RADIO PROGRAM: Youth have been involved in the radio advert that will be aired in different radio stations. The 30 second advert was produced by youth from Mafeteng Division Mr Pheko Phera and its aim is to encourage people to join the Society.

NEWSLETTER;

The material for the newsletter are compiled and edited but due to financial constraints it remained a soft copy and Communciations office opted for the moment to have e-newsletter which the Comms Manager and the IFRC Comms Officer Ms. Hansika worked on.

WORLD RED CROSS DAY:

The Society celebrated the World Red Cross Day in TY Berea in May. The theme for the event was “my red cross story”. The event was attended by National Executive Committee of the Society, members of the Society from all the ten Divisions, staff, the local government departments and members of parliament in the district.

The National Executive Committee during World Red Cross Day in TY, Berea

Red Cross youth singing the RC Anthem

The program included among others, the following; - Volunteers giving account of their red cross story/experience. - Outstanding volunteer awards to Berea Division volunteers and members - Drama by youth - Song and dance - Speeches by the President, District Administrator for Berea and Member of Parliament for TY Constituency.

On the eve of the event, the youth from all over the country (120) held a fun and fundraising night, they showcased their talents through drama, dance, song, poetry and debates. The youth raised M2000.00 that night.

In addition, the Society is producing a “my red cross story” booklet with stories from volunteers. The stories will also be included in the Federation.

Visibility:

The Society printed caps and T-shirts with the Red Cross story them on them. They were given to people who attended the event.

First Aid:

The celebration was, however, clouded by an accident that occurred at the Divisional offices where volunteers were cooking lunch for people who had come to the celebration and one of them had her face burned with oil. The First Aiders immediately came to her rescue before taking her to the hospital.

DOCUMENTATION CENTRE:

Archives Officer - Ms. Matlalane Mankoe

Introduction:

The Society does not have a documentation centre but has a registry office which does part of keeping documents and important books. However, an office has been allocated to keep books for external use and internal use with a computer and internet that can be used if university students want to do research on some of the Movement‟s activities and reports.

The Communications Manager and Human Resource and Administration Manager visited Burundi Red Cross and during that visit, which was meant to learn how they have succeeded in Branch development, also took advantage and visited different offices including that of the Documentation.

The Burundi Red Cross although they do not have a full-fledged documentation centre yet, they have an Information Management System (IMS)installed in all their offices and manned by one person who is responsible for filling, archiving and discarding information. This is was very impressive because one of the challenges facing LRCS is acquiring information from different offices and correspondence from them.

The IMS will enable the Archive Officer to have access to the information without going to the different offices and means to have one will be researched this year for next year.

Setting up of the Documentation Centre:

Furniture that includes cabinets, carpeting, installing blinds and stationary have been done. Two offices have been allocated for both the Documentation Centre and the Archives storage.

Some of the new shelves in the Documentation Centre

Induction of Archives Officer: The aim of such an activity is ensure that the Officer is well equipped on how to manage a documentation centre but being attached to one of the NS or Federation or ICRC to learn from them. It is important to mention that Lesotho Red Cross Society has had a Registry office before but never a documentation centre hence the need for training.

- This activity has not taken place due to clarification that was required by the Partner and are still awaiting response. - The place that was targeted for the training, which is the Federation, apparently does not have a documentation centre hence LRCS is still trying to find out if the ICRC or Botswana Red Cross does not have such a centre and whether they can accommodate LRCS. National youth AGM workcamp

The Communications Manager and Youth and Volunteer Officer planned and made sure the Youth National AGM went smoothly together at a weeklong workcamp (check youth report above).

Community Dialogue sessions

The Communications Manager held a dialogue session with Heads of Quthing District Government Departments. Although the weather was very bad in Quthing, with hail, heavy rains and cold, 20 people attended the session.

The aim of the dialogue session was to explain the auxiliary role of the Red Cross to public authorities.

The session was meant to last for at least two hours but took three hours due to the rigorous discussions the role of the Red Cross and Government Departments during disasters and other. It was agreed at the Meeting that LRCS is doing a great job in providing humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable communities and that it is important for the central government to notice and appreciate the effort and support LRCS.

Some of the Heads of Governments attending the Auxiliary role of LRCS to public authorities meeting in Quthing.

Emergency preparedness dissemination sessions The Communications office with support from the Youth and Volunteer Officer and the Health and Social Services office joined the Emergency Preparedness team from Headquarters (Disaster Management and First Aid training section) to train volunteers countrywide in preparation for the ensuing political tension in the country and general elections.

LRCS SG welcoming trainees Programs Director issuing certificates

Mohale'sHoek Team Qacha's Nek Team

Quthing Team Maseru Team

Mafeteng Team Mokhotlong Team

Berea Team Leribe Team

1st Vice President demonstrating his skill Quthing Youth demonstrating

CHANGING THE FUNDRAISING MINDSET OF VOLUNTEERS

Lesotho Red Cross Society send the Communications Manager and Human Resource Manager to Burundi Red Cross Society (BRC) to learn how the Society has managed to grow and increase its voluntary base after having gone through a genocide.

The aim of the visit was as a result of the Capacity Building Fund (CBF) OD Support of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, which LRCS won in 2013. The trip was part of the learning exercise that was organised by the Federation, which LRCS missed due to flight problems.

BRC was chosen by the Federation as a pilot project that became successful due to its successful volunteer development in building community resilience. According to BRC together with the partners they worked very hard to make the development of local, community-based volunteering a priority.

The Federation later then send LRCS delegation to learn from BRC. It was at this excursion that the motto of BRC was learned to be " changing the fundraising mindset of volunteers". This simply mean that volunteers have to decide on the projects they want that will sustain them within their communities, hence the volunteer base of BRC has grown to 300,000 in a few years. At the moment BRC is recognized internationally as a leader in volunteer development as a means of building community resilience

Lesotho Red Cross delegation after having visited one local unit and a big branch called Muramvya, where volunteers work together to help each other by doing farming and sharing the proceeds, thereafter, giving the remaining to the most vulnerable people in their community, was very impressed .

Volunteers making coal together and distributing food to the vulnerable people

YOUTH AND VOLUNTEER REPORT 2014

Youth and Volunteer Officer - Mr Beibi Rakolobe

1. WORLD RED CROSS DAY CELEBRATION

On the 9th May 2014 youth gathered in Berea Division, where the World red Cross celebration was to be held, in order to provide assistance with preparations and also for their retreat. The retreat or talent show was held on the eve of the celebration in order to raise funds and also show and celebrate the talent within Red Cross. It was a night of poetry, singing, drama and dancing and the money raised was given to Berea Division.

The following day youth together with other volunteers kick started the celebration with a fun walk. The youth also entertained the crowd through dance, drama and poetry. Mrs „Malebohang Lesole narrated her story in line with this year celebration, “My Red Cross Story.” She narrated how she had gained cooking skills from being a volunteer and hence not only her but her family had benefited from her engagements in Red Cross. Moreover, the work had been fulfilling because Red Cross has been instrumental in keeping children off the streets and drugs by keeping them busy. This is the highlight of her as she has and still serving in the Divisional Commitment hence happy with her contribution and like the chairperson appealed to all stakeholders to help Red Cross to be able to do more.

Volunteers doing their thing during the World Red Cross Day celebration in TY, Berea

In his speech at the celebration, the LRCS Secretary General, Prof Teboho Kitleli, said that the skills that volunteers have, like Drama could be utilise to generate funds for humanitarian activities. The SG reassured the volunteers that their efforts no matter how insignificant they may seem, are what makes the work of Red Cross great. Lastly, he told volunteers that the most common question asked by donors is, “what does Red Cross volunteers do?”

2. ESTABLISHMENT OF RC BRANCHES IN SCHOOLS

Most of the youth are found in schools and this is the platform that can be utilised for humanitarian activities. Therefore, it was deemed necessary to establish branches in schools. Three districts; Leribe, Mohale‟s Hoek and Qacha‟s Nek were selected as pilot Divisions. In the past the challenge with schools branches was that there was no contact teacher hence they died or difficult to sustain. The branches that were sustained were in schools where there was a teacher interested because students need guidance and support from time to time.

DATE DISTRICT NUMBER OF SCHOOLS NUMBER OF TEACHERS

8 DEC 2014 LERIBE 4 (1 Primary and 3 High Schools) 9

10 DEC 2014 MOHALE‟S HOEK 7 (4 Primary and 3 High Schools) 12

11 DEC 2014 QACHA‟S NEK 10 (5 Primary and 5 High 16 Schools)

The Divisional Secretary shared the importance of First Aid as the core business of Red Cross and how it can be beneficial to schools. This was followed by a number of practical demonstrations for the participants. The teachers were very interested in First Aid because they claimed that they are usually the first reference point whenever an accident or injury occurs at school but are not equipped to handle such.

The teachers showed a lot of interest in establishing branches in their respective schools and a decision was made that each school tabulate its challenges and this be used to map activities for the branch but with an understanding that with time students should be more central and give freedom to decide activities. The teachers will then work as focal points to provide

54 support and guidance by liaising with the Divisional Secretary and Divisional Youth Committee.

3. PEER TO PEER SUPPORT

HOST DIVISION VISITING DIVISION DATES

MOHALE’S HOEK MAFETENG 29/11/2012 -Drama Motlatsi Mokoena -Peer Education Tsépo Hlotho Khahliso Liphotho THABA TSEKA MASERU 29/11/2012 -Constitution and Amendments Khotso Lebona -Youth Policy Likonelo Tsilo -Roles and Responsibilities of Youth Committees and NYEC QACHA’S NEK QUTHING 29/11/2014 -How to sustain Division and Branches Napo „Moleli -Policy and Constitution Khauhelo Mosenene -Roles and Responsibilities of Youth Committees and NYEC MOKHOTLONG BOTHA BOTHE 29/11/2014 -Recruitment strategies Teboho Leipa -Formulation of activities Tsepang Maiane -Constitution and Youth Policy -Roles and Responsibilities of Youth Committees and NYEC MASERU THABA TSEKA 05/12/2014 -Drama Nthatisi Lesala -Recruitment strategies Lihopotso Masaile -Roles and Responsibilities of Youth Committees Maqatsa Tsiu and NYEC MAFETENG MOHALE’S HOEK 05/12/2014 -Roles and Responsibilities of Youth Committees Teboho Monakane and NYEC „Mabulara Motlomelo -National Youth Plan Letsa Ralekhetla

QUTHING QACHA’S NEK 05/12/2014 -Recruitment strategies Lieketseng Mafantiri -Constitution and Youth Policy Nkalimeng Moabi -Roles and Responsibilities of Youth Committees Motlejoa Lenkoane and NYEC BEREA LERIBE 29/11/2014 -Youth Policy and Constitution Thapelo Mokitimi -Roles and Responsibilities of Youth Committees Leseba Lekiba and NYEC Itumeleng Mohoang LERIBE BEREA 05/12/2014 -Recruitment strategies Pheletso Sekonyela -Drama Lebohang Mokhatholane -Roles and Responsibilities of Youth Committees Lerato Peete and NYEC BOTHA BOTHE MOKHOTLONG 05/12/2014 -Red Cross History Musi Leteba -Constitution and Youth Policy Itumeleng Taasoane -RC Youth Committees‟ roles and responsibility Tsepang Pai -Recruitment strategy Khotso Lebona -Challenges faced by youth

ACHIEVEMENTS a) Volunteer turn up was good in most of the Divisions. Only one Division did have good turnover due to communication problems as most had come the day before the meeting day. b) The planned sessions were discussed and though no allowances were provided for the host members they stayed until all was done. c) Challenges facing each Division were discussed. This also gave information for topics to be tackled in the induction held for Divisional Youth Chairpersons and NYEC. d) Youth realised that they also responsible for fundraising and that they should utilise available resources for this task. e) The importance of statutory meetings as stated in the constitution was discussed. Most Divisional Youth Committees do not meet and this affects youth activities because there is no proper coordination and planning. The youth realised the importance of Committee meetings. f) The selection of Focal Person was clarified.

4. INDUCTIONS OF DIVISIONAL YOUTH COMMITTEE

Induction was held on the 13th December 2014 at Scenery Guest House in Maseru. The induction was attended by Divisional Youth Chairperson and members of the National Youth Executive Committee, NYEC. The reason being that although constitutionally Divisional Youth Chairperson are part of the Divisional Committees and National Assembly they do not understand their roles and responsibilities hence become passengers in this two bodies and NYEC is in the same crisis.

Divisional Youth Chairpersons and members of the National Youth Executive Committee

The aim was to decide on topics for discussion as per reflection of Peer to Peer Support, AGM and work camp. However, it was also agreed that the agenda should be fluid so as to address issues that may arise. The agenda consisted of the definition of a leader, roles and responsibilities of leaders, mission and vision of Lesotho Red Cross Society, calling and chairing of meetings as well as decisions that can be made by Youth Chairperson or youth President and later inform the Committee.

It was also agreed that it is the responsibility of leadership at all levels to know and disseminate all the policies and constitution of the Society. This will help to avoid conflicts caused by doing things per norm and not according to the policies and constitution. This will also empower them to participate at Meetings and National Assembly as they will be aware of their rights and responsibilities. This could help overcome the challenge that every time Youth have to attend their AGM the Divisions claim there is no money. This is despite the fact that youth undertake several fundraising activities.

“The induction workshop that was held in Maseru Lesotho, Scenery Guest House had been an eye opener for both Youth Leaders and their counterparts, we wish to change the direction in which the ship was sailing to and FOCUS on achieve positive results basing ourselves on the fundamental Principles, Volunteer Police and constitutions etc Long Live Red cross,” said one of the participants.

The participants made a recommendation that there should be a meeting attended by Divisional Youth Chairperson, NYEC, Divisional Secretaries and Divisional Chairperson in order to smooth out operations and challenges. This includes but is not limited to money because youth claim that they raise funds but do not have access to such funds. The other recommendation was to capacitate youth on planning, implementation and monitoring of activities.

5. FOCAL PERSONS REPORT

The regional Youth Focal persons strengthened youth recruitment activities carried out 19 recruitment sessions, 10 of them were in schools and 9 were conducted in the community through public gatherings. The sessions reached 1879 people and resulted in the recruitment of 171 volunteers majority of which are females -142. The recruitment sessions were instrumental in the revival of branches; 2 in Maseru, 3 in Mohales‟Hoek, 2 in Butha-Buthe and a new branch was also established in Butha-Buthe. LRCS held follow-up meetings with the Ministry of Gender and Youth, Sports and Recreation in an effort to get a signed MOU,but has not yet succeeded, the document is still on the Ministry‟s Legal officer‟s desk. However directors in the different departments of the Ministry promised that they‟ll include LRCS youth in their trainings. In August to September the Focal Person focused on schools in the aim to recruit students and eventually establish branches in schools. Four schools were visited in Quthing where dissemination sessions were held for students and 237 students were recruited. The North Focal Person visited two schools in Botha Bothe where 46 students were recruited and seven schools in Leribe. However, some of the Principal recommended that teachers be utilised as focal persons and provided such teachers to the Focal Person. Therefore, the role of the focal person will be to work with the teachers in 2015 to establish and sustain school branches. Five schools were visited in Berea and 249 students were recruited.

In July three communities, two in Mohale‟s Hoek and one in Botha Bothe were visited. The aim was to disseminate Red Cross mandate, its activities and recruit people. 31 people; 17 in Morifi Botha Bothe, 7 in Mpharane Mohale‟s Hoek and 7 in Mohale‟s Hoek urban, were

57 recruited in this sessions. Five communities were visited in October and of these 2 were from Leribe, 2 Berea and 1 Quthing. Recruitment was only successful in Hlotse Leribe where 10 people were recruited. There were also 2 Community visits in Berea and 1 branch revival in Maqhaka, Berea in November. However, 60 people were recruited at the public gathering Ha Tsikoane Berea in September, 15 at Ha Sekhonyana, Quthing and 10 people at Pokane Quthing.

The North Focal Person took the initiate to have dissemination about Red Cross with different organisations and government departments in Leribe and the aim was to ensure that the mission and mandate of Red Cross is fulfilled. This will be achieved by attracting skills and building partnerships in order to build capacity of branches. He disseminated to officer of Lesotho Mounted Police Service, Lesotho Correctional Services and Department of works where 13 people were recruited; 6 police officers, 6 correctional officers and 1 person from the department of works. The meeting with Community Representatives resulted in 12 recruits.

This was followed by sessions with Leribe Business Forum, E.F.T, Kick for Life, Help Lesotho, Community Youth and Thakaneng Youth; 18 youth were recruited in these sessions. 6 from Kick for Life, 2, Help Lesotho, 2 Community youth, 2 E.F.T, 4 Business Forum and 2 from Thakaneng Youth. This youth will bring skills and knowledge into Leribe Division. The focal person also did the same in Mokhotlong by having a dialogue with Thakaneng youth in a bid to revive and attract skills into Mokhotlong Division. This was followed by visit to two communities in Mokhotlong; Nthloloetsane and Salang, with the same aim of recruiting members. Focal Persons 2013/2014

Tsepang Maieang Likonelo Ts'ilo Teboho Monakane Northern Region Central Region Southern Region

6. YOUTH DELEGATES EXCHANGE PROGRAM

LRCS has established a Youth Delegates Exchange program with NorCross. Divisions were given an opportunity to send 3 applications each to the HQ for selection after screening all applications received. Lesotho Delegates; male and female from Mafeteng and Leribe Divisions respectively were selected procedurally from the 13 CVs received from the Divisions using the set criteria; age, fluency in English, valid passport, skills and need for empowerment.

LRCS delegates managed to attend the Youth Basic Training Course (YBTC) from the 27th March to 30 April in Oslo, Norway in preparation for their mission in August. The training covered introduction to the YDEP, security and minimizing the risk as well as participatory approach to Project planning and the role of youth delegates. Below is the picture showing LRCS participants during the training

LRCS youth participating in YBTC Two Lesotho Red Cross youth, Ms Ntoetse Sekhonyana and Mr Pheko Phera left for Norway on the 12th August 2014. This was after the induction by the Youth and Volunteer Officer who facilitated discussions with different departments.

Getting farewell gifts from the Secretary General.

The Norwegian Youth Delegates, Tine Camilla Norderhaug and Edward Louis Torsvik arrived in Lesotho on the 19th October 2014 accompanied by the Mr Velaphi Ntshangase from the Norwegian Regional Office in Pretoria. There spent a week in Maseru for induction. On Monday the 20th October 2014 they were welcomed by the Secretary General Prof. Teboho Kitleli before they started the process of applying for the Residence Permit.

Applying for Residence Permit On Tuesday the Youth Delegates were introduced to different departments where they were given a brief introduction of the work done by each department. This was followed by discussion and introduction to the National Youth Plan, how it came about and its contents. Qacha‟s Nek Divisional Secretary and the Youth Delegates driver arrived on Thursday to welcome and get to know the youth delegates. After lunch the Youth Delegates went to Maseru Division to talk with the youth in order to get a clear idea of youth activities and then were taken around town.

Youth Delegates from Norway with youth from Thibella Branch, Maseru.

The Youth Delegates left for Qacha‟s Nek on Saturday. They were welcomed by the Divisional Chairperson and youth at the Division and the Acting President at their residence. On Monday, 27 October 2014 the youth delegates were taken to the Qacha‟s Nek District Administrator (D.A) for introduction. The DA acknowledged that he was aware of their incoming and assured them that they will be safe in the District. The youth delegates were then introduced to Janice, the American Peace Corp with Lesotho Network of People Living with HIV and AIDS (LENEPWHA) who has done a few activities with Qacha‟s Nek Division. Another peace corp. volunteer, Jake also dropped by the Division and shared his experience and contacts like Janice did. On the 29th October 2014 Qacha‟s Nek Divisional Committee officially welcomed the youth delegates. The Divisional Chairperson welcomed and introduced the youth delegates to the Divisional Committee. “This is an opportunity for us to learn from you and for you to also learn from us, share experience,” said Chief Thabo Mabote a member of Qacha‟s Nek Division when welcoming the youth delegates. The Acting President said it was important that there is communication in order to avoid misunderstandings.

YD with Acting President, Member of Board, Human Resource and Admin Manager, SG and members of Divisional Communities at Qacha’s Nek Divisional Office.

7. WORKCAMP AND AGM The youth Workcamp and AGM was held in Quthing from the 10th to 14th November 2015 in Quthing. The AGM and work camp was officially opened by Mrs Lepota on behalf of Quthing‟s District Administrator. Then it was time for AGM business. The first item was the Minutes of the 2013 AGM followed by Divisional and NYEC Report.

The Resolution team made up of Nthatisi Lesala (Thaba Tseka), Khauhelo Mosenene (Quthing), Leseba Lekiba (Leribe) and Edward Torsvik (YD) was headed by NYEC member Khotso Lebona. They presented the resolutions which were discussed, shaped and adopted by the AGM.

2014 YOUTH RESOLUTIONS

 NYEC status and youth issues should be clearly stipulated in the constitution.  Youth resolutions should be part of the society‟s resolutions.  NYEC and Divisional youth committees should be inducted after their elections, (Constitution and Policies).  Divisional Secretaries should respect and honour youth AGM as the statutory meeting, Article 18.1(b).  NYEC should visit Divisions quarterly.  LRCS materials like caps and T-shirts should be given to RC volunteer, staff and partners for organisational acceptance.  LRCS youth should be given first priority to facilitate at work camps.  There should be youth trainings and workshops on the following;  Report writing  Volunteer retaining  Fundraising  First Aid  Governances

Mr Palo Mohlotsane the Secretary General of Lesotho National Youth Council was tasked to present on Good Governance. This was done to empower youth as they part of the Society‟s governance. The aim was to equip them with skills and knowledge in what it takes to formulate good governance. The discussions focused on the process of making and implementing decision. Most importantly he talked about the impact of the decisions that governance make.

This was followed by a session on human trafficking by Mr Mohlolo Lerotholi and Ms Nthatisi Thabane from Ministry of Home Affairs which is the coordinating ministry for human trafficking in Lesotho. The defined human trafficking and discussed with participants the factors that influence human trafficking as well the signs of human trafficking. They also shared cases, though real names and places were not used for security, in order to convince participants that human trafficking happens in Lesotho. A video of real cases of human trafficking between Republic of South Africa and Mozambique was shown by the UN staff member who had accompanied the Home Affairs team.

Mr Hlalefang Mokena, a member of Lesotho Mounted Police Service in Leribe and a fire fighter was responsible for teaching youth about fire fighting. This was done three times a week for two to three hours. He also invited some of his police fire fighters collegues based in Quthing to facilitate some of the session. The first session was on theory as he defined fire fighting, types of fire and how to prevent fire. Then it was time for practical exercise where real gas and fire extinguishers and other materials were used. Fire fighting alternated with First Aid training which was facilitated by Divisional Secretaries; Mr Maphoma (Mohale‟s hoek), Mrs Tsiu-Lethoko ( Mafeteng), Ms Hababa ( Berea) and Mr Thabo ( Qacha‟s Nek).

Fire fighting exercise conducted by the local police for the youth

Wednesday afternoon was dedicated to sports. The participants were to engage in sports with students from the local school, Mopholosi High School. They played netball and football. There was also the first aid team which was responsible for attending to injuries during the sports. Thursday was community outreach. Participants visited six villages where they distributed hygiene kids and seeds. They also planted vegetables for the families. Quthing youth had

62 done an assessment a week before the work camp to identify vulnerable household that participants could reach out to. In the same spirit, the youth went to Quthing hospital where they cleaned the surroundings, buildings, wards and also motivated patients. The last item was camp fire where they interacted and said their farewells.

The camp was attended by 130 youth from all the ten Red Cross divisions.

8. BLOOD DONAR RECRUITMENT:

Youth bleeding at Maseru Division

Lesotho Red Cross youth Maseru division donated blood at their office prior to the blood donor day celebration which was held at Queen Elizabeth II Hospital to encourage and make aware other youth about the importance of giving blood, the event was under the theme “saving blood for saving mothers.”

This was also to rebuild the relations between Red Cross and blood transfusion services which at that time formed Club 25 which is currently called Pledge 25; a club of youth aged under 25 who volunteer to donate blood regularly.

9. YOUTH POLICY REVIEW The youth policy task force nominated by NYEC revised the policy which was then discussed by NYEC and adopted by the youth AGM. It was also send to the Board subcommittee policy. It has been approved by the National Assembly and is awaiting printing and binding.

10. MONITORY VISITS The Youth and Volunteer Officer conducted monitoring visits to the Divisions during the month of February accompanied by the Youth Focal persons in their respective regions. The purpose of the visit was to officially introduce the Youth Focal persons to other Divisions other than their Divisions of origin, as well as discuss in detail their roles and the responsibility of the Divisions. The Youth President joined the Youth Officer in three Divisions; Butha-Buthe (his home town), Mokhotlong and Thaba-Tseka. This was the time when youth AGMs were held, therefore National Youth Executive Committee (NYEC) members at the Divisions took the opportunity to disseminate the constitution before elections could commence and discussing relevant articles with the AGM. They also

63 observed the elections to ensure the Committee elections were free and fair, so youth Divisional Committees were successfully elected. The Central Region Focal person visited two companies, VCL and Econet. The aim was to establish partnerships between Red Cross and these companies. The proposal was to incorporate LRCS youth during their promotions and campaigns where the NS can provide First Aid and disseminate Red Cross information. Moreover, during the festival season and promotions these companies usual engage interns and Red Cross could provide such personal because it has skilled youth. VCL has promised to look into working with Red Cross while it is still to be pursued with Econet.

National Youth Executive Committee (NYEC) has kicked off the review of the Youth Policy. The process started with the selection of the six member youth task force team which includes the Youth President to work on the document. The initial meeting was on the 5thApril 2014. The team members were provided with and the old Youth Policy and the IFRC Youth Policy. The inputs were discussed and the policy has been finalized and approved by NYEC, it is yet to be submitted to the Policy Sub-Committee of the NEC.

FINANCE

Finance Director - Mr Teboho Nkoane

Financial Statement 2014

AFS.PDF

Finance Staff

Pitso Patsa Thato Serobanyane Palo Senamolele

Bulara Mojaje Lerato Ramosie

DIVISIONAL UPDATES 2014

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS AND RELIEF:

 Most Divisions assisted local communities after fire and strong winds disasters with blankets, tarpaulin sheets;  at least 874 people from 285 households were assisted with tarpaulin sheets after their houses were blown off by strong winds in the same month.  Volunteers took part in the Government's Road Safety Campaign for Easter and Christmas holidays.  The Disaster Management Authority under the Prime Minister's Office works hand in hand with the Society countrywide.

INCOME GENERATION  Divisions were also trained on local organisations, hotels, teachers and banks on Commercial Basic First Aid training. the aim was not only to have trained people in the organisations but to also raise funds for the Divisions.  Divisions were also catering for the Projects workshops  Other Divisions have poultry projects, i.e. Berea, Mokhotlong  For Divisions that have halls, they rented them out.  Maseru and Qacha'snek Divisions have income generating activity where they was cars and get paid.

DISSEMINATION:  Divisions held a number of dissemination sessions in the form of public gatherings in different villages and schools. The result was the opening of branches in some villages and schools.  LRCS is still represented at DCPT,DDMT,DPU and head of departments

CAPACITY BUILDING-  Youth took part in the Emergency Response trainings throughout the country.  Youth attended peer to peer workshop  Psychosocial support workshop was also attended by 1 youth and the secretary  Volunteers attended a tippy tap training.  Divisional building and roof well painted by youth of Maseru and Mafeteng Red Cross Divisions.  Skilled in production of candles, Eno and Vicks.

SOCIAL SERVICE  Youth attended the National Youth Annual General Meeting  Youth assisted vulnerable people by doing their washing and other house communities.  Collection of second-hands clothing for vulnerable people  Some Divisions received donations from other NGOs for OVCs.  Youth visited local orphanages and cleaned their surroundings and did laundry for them.

CHALLENGES  High cost of chicken feeds and medications  Some other community members did not get help due to the lack of relief supplies; transport, tarpaulins and food parcels..  need for material to make candles, Vicks and ENO and machinery too.

FUTURE PLANS  Due to lack of office space in some districts, Divisions have opted to partition the hall to formulate more offices for rental to generate income.  To have Divisional own car (4x4 twin cap).

YOUTH  Public awareness on Disaster Risk Reduction(DRR)  Youth have cleaning campaigns of their respective districts.

Divisional Secretaries

Masontaha Malapo Maphoma Mosaola Limpho Ntai Leribe Mohale'sHoek Mokhotlong

Motautoana Thabo Liteboho Tsiu Leteketoa Maqhai Qacha'sNek Mafeteng Butha Buthe

Matsebiso Motjolopane Neko Hababa Lerato Mabote Thaba Tseka Berea Maseru

Lieketseng Masunyane Quthing

MISSION OF LESOTHO RED CROSS SOCIETY

Our future is enshrined in our mission statement:

“To maximize existing capacity in alleviating human suffering by promoting and building resilience of the most vulnerable communities in Lesotho as well as inspiring, attracting and retaining skills and partners”

Vision

We want …

“…to be recognized locally, nationally and regionally as a leading voluntary organization rendering best practices in humanitarian services”.

The Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement

Humanity The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, born of a desire to bring assistance without discrimination to the wounded on the battlefield, endeavours, in its international and national capacity, to prevent and alleviate human suffering wherever it may be found. Its purpose is to protect life and health and to ensure respect for the human being. It promotes mutual understanding, friendship, cooperation and lasting peace amongst all peoples. Impartiality It makes no discrimination as to nationality, race, religious beliefs, class or political opinions. It endeavours to relieve the suffering of individuals, being guided solely by their needs, and to give priority to the most urgent cases of distress. Neutrality In order to enjoy the confidence of all, the Movement may not take sides in hostilities or engage in controversies of a political, racial, religious or ideological nature. Independence The Movement is independent. The National Societies, while auxiliaries in the humanitarian services of their governments and subject to the laws of their respective countries, must always maintain their autonomy so that they may be able at all times to act in accordance with the principles of the Movement. Voluntary service It is a voluntary relief movement not prompted in any manner by desire for gain. Unity There can be only one Red Cross or Red Crescent Society in any one country. It must be open to all. It must carry on its humanitarian work throughout its territory. Universality The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, in which all societies have equal status and share equal responsibilities and duties in helping each other, is worldwide.