| Description | Contains reports, correspondence and papers relating to Save the Children's programmes in Lesotho, especially the boy's shelters, the school feeding programme, the sponsorship programmes, and the Expanded Programme on Immunisation.
The files from the 1960s and 1970s largely relate to the work of the Save the Children Lesotho Branch (later Lesotho Save the Children), who administered the programmes in Lesotho, largely funded by Save the Children UK. These files include regular programme newsletters and chairman's reports. |
| Administrative History | Programme spending in 1993/94, 1994/95
The former British protectorate of Basutoland became the independent kingdom of Lesotho in 1966.
In 1961, Save the Children (SCF) gave £500 for a child feeding scheme in Basutoland, followed by a further grant of £4000 to continue the scheme on a more permanent basis. By 1963 a Basutoland SCF branch was in existence, with the Paramount Chief as its patron. The scheme was expanded in 1964 with grants from Canadian SCF, Oxfam and Unicef. School kitchens and vegetable gardens were set up. £1000 was granted by Lesotho people. A donation was also made for famine relief in Mashai area. By 1967 number fed had reached 80,000. Water supplies were also improved. The sponsorship scheme was also successful. A small shelter was built in Maseru for vagrant children. Feeding had risen to 95,000 by 1968, 100,000 in 1969, 110,000 in 1970: by 1973 220,000 children - in all of the primary schools in Lesotho - were being fed. This included small contributions from parents. The 'Cripple Fund' was stared in Maseru in 1968. By 1976 this had become a boys' village, with a vocational training centre. In 1979 a pilot programme for immunisation as part of the STOP Polio campaign began.
In 1979 a Field Director was appointed to the programme, which had previously been administered by Save the Children Lesotho (established in 1961, and largely funded through Save the Children UK). After long running disagreements about the running of programmes, especially the boys' shelters, Save the Children UK and Lesotho Save the Children (LSC) split in 1981, and acted independently. The SCF UK Field Director took over the running of the school feeding programme, the transport operation, and the sponsorship programme, as well as running the new Extended Programme of Immunisation (EPI). The boys' shelter, and the agricultural project continued to be run by (LSC).
In the 1990s, the SCF UK programme expanded to include projects on Special Education, Juvenile Justice, Community Based Rehabilitation, and HIV/AIDS. |