Habitat For Humanity - Lesotho 2016

On Friday 18 March a group of 20 nervous but highly excited High School pupils gathered at Dublin airport ready for the trip they had spent the previous year fundraising and preparing for.  Accompanied by five teachers, we flew via Ethiopia to Johannesburg, where we stayed for one night before travelling to Lesotho. The kingdom of Lesotho is a beautiful, mountainous country. Landlocked by South Africa, it has the fifth lowest life expectancy and second highest AIDS rate in the world (one in five adults is living with AIDS).  Sixty percent of people from Basotho are living in extreme poverty.
Once there, we worked hard for five days to finish two houses for families in the village of Mathebe. Though the work was hard it was extremely rewarding and we learned so much from talking to the villagers and playing with the children. Our visit to the headquarters of the national partners of Team Hope to hand out gift-filled shoeboxes was also incredibly eye-opening and for many was one of the highlights of the trip. Our experience in Lesotho was amazing and will not be forgotten by anyone on the team.  Once we had finished work on the houses we returned to South Africa where we enjoyed a trip to a safari and to the water-park in Sun City. The trip had a hugely positive impact on everyone involved and I would strongly advise anyone interested in going on the trip next year not to hesitate in applying.
Kate O’Shea