Building Livelihoods and Spreading Hope
Lesotho, a small mountain Kingdom in southern Africa, has one of the world’s highest rates of HIV/AIDS infection. The double impact of illness and poverty has put strain on almost every social safety net and affects every family in the country. People are battling HIV/AIDS with few resources-availability of health care is insufficient, education is unaffordable, and access to trade opportunities is scarce.
Global Relief Outreach is currently operating three grassroots community projects in Lesotho. Powered by local creativity, we support sustainable social, health and education initiatives that have been empowering communities since 2005.
G.R.O. projects impact each generation. The Oatway Family Scholarship Fund and LEAP programs assist high school students, often orphaned by HIV/AIDS, to complete their education and pursue post-secondary education opportunities.
The G.R.O. Artisans Collective gives mothers, who are battling chronic illness and social inequalities, the opportunity to generate their own income by accessing local and world markets for sale of handicraft goods.
The Grandmothers’ Support Group runs a small scale organic poultry project that raises funds to help provide poverty relief and end-of-life care to families in their community.
The profound thing about G.R.O.’s work in Lesotho is that simple acts of compassion and support have provided tremendous change and hope in vulnerable Lesotho communities.
“G.R.O. is like a tree - we as this community are the roots, and we are growing into something beautiful, strong and lasting.” - Mpho Mphana (G.R.O. Lesotho Member)
Click here to learn more about Lesotho (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesotho)
Global Relief Outreach is currently operating three grassroots community projects in Lesotho. Powered by local creativity, we support sustainable social, health and education initiatives that have been empowering communities since 2005. Read More »
The Oatway Family Scholarship, and subsequent creation of G.R.O, was funded by Sharon Oatway and family in honour of her parents John and Alice Oatway (Canada). Honoured with numerous awards for social commitment and volunteerism across Canada, the Oatways have demonstrated a giving spirit and compassion for humanity that sparked G.R.O. as an extension of their ideals. Read More »
Social-business, social-enterprise, micro-credit/lending – these are a few of the terms being used to describe the movement within the field of economic and social development towards profit driven activity for the social good. It’s the old ‘if you teach a man to fish’ analogy – but in this model we also buy the boat, nets, bait and sails. Read More »
In May of 2008, G.R.O. Director James White met with members of the Lisemeng II Poultry Association, a collective group of grandmothers and women in their community, who were keen to start a small-scale poultry project in order to alleviate poverty in their community. Read More »
Started by ‘Me Mamabula Selia-lia in early 2007, the G.R.O. Artisans is a handicraft collective of women affected by HIV/AIDS. As a social-enterprise project the program was initiated with capital infusions of funds provided by generous G.R.O. supporters as the business has developed over the past three years, nine women have joined the collective. Read More »