Sentebale publish 2008 /09 Accounts

During the financial year 0809, Sentebale, the charity for orphaned and vulnerable children founded by Prince Harry and Lesotho’s Prince Seeiso, worked with over 25 projects, helping them to improve the lives of thousands of children.

This work has included:

Helping HIV+ children and young people to cope better with the struggle of living with the disease through the Mamohato Programme developed in partnership with Hole in the Wall
Financially supporting orphanages so that they can house, feed and educate parentless children
Providing wheelchairs and equipment for special needs children
Paying for the running costs of seven schools for children with special needs, including the country’s only school for blind children and its two schools for deaf children
Providing much needed clothing and education to the hard-to-reach “herd boys” who spend large parts of their lives working in isolation, without education or family support
Teaching young mothers skills such as sewing, cooking, and animal husbandry to help them support themselves and their children
Expansion of the information website, Letsema, which provides vital information on CBOs operating in Lesotho and facilitates joint working, training and capacity building.

This work has been financed by £970K of charitable activities, out of a total expenditure of £1,127K (86%), according to Sentebale’s accounts for the financial year 2008/2009, published today.

The accounts show that Sentebale have increased both investment in projects and funds raised to support this work. Sentebale has reached even more of the country’s orphans and vulnerable children this year, reflecting a steady and sustainable expansion of the charity’s work.

Kedge Martin, Sentebale CEO said:

We are delighted that our operations are effectively expanding, supporting even more of Lesotho’s at risk children. We are continually increasing our support to Lesotho’s children, through partnership work at the grass roots, the development of our own programmes and initiatives, and through developing our fundraising activity to support this vital work.

In our third year of operations on the ground, we have continued to get to grips with and made inroads into the unique issues facing Lesotho’s children. We are working with our local partners to tackle these problems, and deliver much needed help. As we look forward, our ambitions increase; there is still much to be done in this troubled kingdom, but we have every confidence that as we continue to grow and evolve as a charity, we can continue to make a real difference to the lives and futures of Lesotho’s children.”

Sentebale is operating in one of the most challenging environments for charities in the world:

Every day in Lesotho more than 100 children lose more than 1 parent
87 per cent of the population are dependant – either too old, too young or too sick to provide for themselves
Life expectancy is just 40 years old – leaving a desperate shortage of professionals, teachers, lawyers, and health workers.
More than 70 per cent of teenagers are not in school, not accessing education, developing social and other skills, and receiving no HIV/Aids prevention advice.
Lesotho is one of the world’s poorest countries with an estimate adult HIV prevalence rate of 23 per cent of population.

View Sentebale’s annual accounts

For further information please contact the press office on 020 7024 5729

Notes to Editors:
Sentebale – registered charity no. 1113544

1. Sentebale was formed in 2006 by Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho. The charity was established after Prince Harry spent several months of his gap year in Lesotho and was inspired to help the vulnerable children of Lesotho.

2. Sentebale works with community leaders and grass roots organisations to transform the lives of orphans and vulnerable children in Lesotho.

3. Sentebale is Basotho for “forget me not” in memory of their mothers.

4. Sentebale works with community leaders and grass roots organisations to transform the lives of orphans and vulnerable children in Lesotho.

5. There are more than 160,000 orphans who have lost one or both parents.

6. Lesotho is one of the world’s poorest countries with an estimated adult HIV prevalence rate (15 – 49) years of 23% of the population.

7. It is estimated that more than 12,000 children (0-14 years old) are living with HIV though fewer than 12% are receiving ART.

8. More than 70% (200,000) of teenagers are not in school, not developing skills and receiving no HIV prevention work.

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Sentebale publish 2008 /09 Accounts