About us
What we do
The Lesotho Education Fund provides full scholarships for secondary school to talented students in Lesotho (a small country in Southern Africa) who cannot afford the school fees. The scholarships cover all school fees, books, and exam fees for all five years of middle school and high school.
As of the 2008 school year, 23 students have received full scholarships, all of who would not have been able to attend school otherwise. The Lesotho Education Fund has raised over $30,000 in donations to provide these scholarships.
Why we do it
Only about 20% of students in Lesotho will be able to afford the fees necessary to attend middle school and high school, although the fees are only about $200 per year. Lesotho is a country plagued by extreme poverty with 56.1% of the population living on or below $2 a day. In addition, Lesotho has the third highest adult HIV prevalence rate at 23.2%.
In these desperate circumstances, education is often the only chance for children to escape poverty. As more and more children become orphaned because of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, it is even more vital that these children have the means to support themselves and their families. A student may have been very successful in primary school, which is free, but then cannot afford to attend middle school or high school. The Lesotho Education Fund provides full scholarships for these students to continue their education for five more years.
Where the money goes
100% of your donation goes directly to the students. The Lesotho Education Fund is run entirely by volunteer teachers both in the United States and Lesotho. A full scholarship includes school fees for all five years of secondary school, fees to rent their books for all of high school and fees to pay for their standardized exams taken in the third and fifth year of high school. All of your donation will be used to pay these fees for a student in Lesotho.
Only a small amount of money can make an enormous difference in the life of a poor child in Southern Africa:
| $70 | covers books for one student for one year |
| $290 | covers tuition and books for one student for one year |
| $1455 | covers one student's entire scholarship (five years of tuition, books and exam fees) |
All donations are tax-deductible. The Lesotho Education Fund is a registered non-profit organization in the state of Illinois.
Who we are
The Lesotho Education Fund was founded in 2005 by two Peace Corps Volunteers, Rachel Kline and Matt Brown. Their work in the schools of Lesotho in Southern Africa made them aware of the urgent need for scholarships in this poor but politically stable country. The 3 years they lived and worked in Lesotho enabled them to establish connections with people who live there so the Lesotho Education Fund scholarships are distributed and monitored effectively. Lara Starr and Deborah Greenberg, both educators, are the other two members of the executive board and did all the work of setting up a non-profit organization in the U.S. The Lesotho Education Fund is run by volunteer educators in the United States and Lesotho who believe that education really can make a difference.