Lesotho

Herd Boy. Photo: Suzanne Porter.

The Herd Boy tradition is a distinctive feature of Lesotho society. One third of Lesotho's school age boys and young men are working full time as Herd Boys at any time.

From as young as seven, boys are sent to tend livestock in the isolation of remote highland country. They have to leave their families and homes for months at a time to live in primitive huts enduring the extreme weather conditions of mountain cattle posts.

In return for a year's work the boys receive one cow or several smaller animals, as well as milk throughout the year. For many it provides their families with lifesaving resources, but at great cost.

The Herd Boy tradition is damaging the formal and social education of every subsequent generation. Deprived of a normal childhood, many boys do not rejoin their communities until their late teens.

Herd Boy. Photo: Suzanne Porter.

This makes it nearly impossible for them to break out of the cycle of poverty. Male literacy is just 56%, compared to girls' 70%, highlighting the damaging effect of missing school.

The nomadic nature of Herd Boys means that a large part of Basotho society is isolated from national programmes and services. The boys are not educated about HIV infection, so are at high risk due to their ignorance about transmission of the disease.

The Herd Boy tradition epitomises the desperate situation in Lesotho. Deprived of an education, torn away from their families as a means of surviving and far from medical help; Herd Boys are confronted with a vulnerable and hostile start in life.