The ordeal is finally over!

LERIBE -THE doors to the house were falling off. The roof was leaky and when it rained, the family would huddle in a corner seeking protection.
“When it was raining during the night, I had to wake up my grandchildren so that we could all squeeze in a very small place where the rain could not reach,” ’Majoalane Maphatšoe, a 70-year-old grandmother says.

That ordeal had played out for years, until last week when Habitat Lesotho teamed up with Standard Lesotho Bank to build her a brand new two-roomed house in Leribe.
An elated Maphatšoe, whose voice was shaking with emotion, said she was very thankful for the gift which will transform their lives for the better.
“Even at night when we were asleep the door would just open up,” she said, she added that they were only alive because of the grace of God.
She said they could not afford to build a proper toilet and would therefore resort to using the bush.
“That was a huge challenge,” she said.

Maphatšoe’s grandchild, Kethabile Maphatšoe, 14, who is a student at Kolonyama High School, said the wind would sometimes blow away the roof to the house and the next day she would go to school worried where they were going to stay.
“But the uncles would normally come and assist us in roofing,” she said.
The Senior Operations Manager at Habitat Lesotho, Lebohang Mariti-Lijane, said it has been a long journey working with the Standard Lesotho Bank.
“Habitat Lesotho has been transforming lives by ensuring that vulnerable Basotho get secured houses,” Mariti-Lijane said.
She explained that this is the ninth house that they have built for vulnerable people and they are willing to continue building more houses.
She thanked Standard Lesotho Bank for financing the projects.

The Acting Chief Executive Officer of Standard Lesotho Bank, Thabiso Tšenki, work of building the house began on September 29 this year.
“We were aligning ourselves with the policy of the bank at work,” he said.
He further added that this is where employees of the bank get into work so that Basotho can benefit.
He said they are very honoured to work for this bank that cares for Basotho because the Maphatšoes will now have a home where they can proudly go to.
“We are doing this through the love that we have for Basotho,” he said.

Tšenki said each and every year, they build houses for Basotho, and this is the 14th house ever since they started the programme.
Over the last three years, the bank has pumped M400 000 into the project.

Refiloe Mpobole