In his last duty as Chairperson, Paul Myres visited Maseru for two weeks in November with the founder of the UK Charity an partner in Lesotho, Starlight Oasis of Hope Hospice , Me’ Tebello Lepheane.
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Paul visited HOLO (Heal Our land Organisation) in Matsieng. “We received an amazing welcome with speeches and singing from the young attendees who also received some interactive teaching on handwashing and extreme weather from Hibaq and Amber, two ILO volunteers. We met with local head teachers to talk about the effectiveness of the project and the future. We got to play table tennis recently gifted by a previous ILO volunteer, Michael Board. The founder and director of HOLO Me’ Amelia Senekane is providing a fantastic facility for disadvantaged young people”
Paul also met with the National Association for the Deaf in Lesotho and the Association of Non Governmental Organisations in Lesotho. There were useful discussions with the British High Commissioner , HE Mr Harry MacDonald, who is very appreciative of the work of Dolen Cymru Lesotho. https://x.com/HarryMacDonald0/status/1723938150618141048?s=20 Paul met with Dr Tun the acting director for mental health at the Ministry of Health. There is still a big gap between needs for those with mental health problems and the services available. A recent ombudsman report on conditions and treatment at the only psychiatric hospital, Mohlomi is very concerning. If you haven’t listened to the BBC Podcast on mental health in Lesotho, follow this link https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0gvkz4p
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Starlight Oasis of Hope Hospice By Tebello Lepheane We have really upped the awareness of palliative care in the last month with newspaper articles and television appearances. Tebello Lepheane and Paul Myres addressed the Lesotho National Assembly and took part in a march through Maseru behind the full military brass band before celebrating world hospice day with talks from dignitaries and ourselves.
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We met with the Ministry of Health, the country director for the World Health Organisation and the Ministry of Water. HE Mr Harry MacDonald the British High Commissioner hosted a fundraising reception. Following this we will receive 1m LSL (£45,000) from a charity golf tournament and dinner hosted by the Lesotho Standard Bank. During the late UK summer we partnered with several international palliative care to run two online training courses for health and social care practitioners in Lesotho each attended by 20 -50 participants. Face to face training is planned for March. Next year we hope to set up a small community team to provide palliative advice in Maseru and Berea. A volunteer on the ILO placement will be joining the developments in early 2024. Home | StarLight Oasis of Hope Hospice (sohhospice.org.ls)
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