
FXB donates furniture for Grade R's
The organisations donated tables and chairs to Moruti Makuse Primary School and Jeremia Mdaka Primary School.
Moruti Makuse Primary School is situated in Kwa-Guqa Extensions, and Jeremia Mdaka Primary School is in Vosman.
The furniture was donated to help the Grade R learners, as they have noticed that the schools have quite a number of Grade R learners in one class.
FXB is a non-profit organisation that has been breaking the chain of poverty for more than 30 years and in 14 countries. The organisation aims to provide support and tools to families with extreme poverty so that they can feel self-sufficient too.
According to the coordinator of the FXB, Thandeka Skhosana, the handover was also a way of teaching learners to give back to the community, as they have several learners from the intermediate phase upward that they work with daily.
The organisation offers after-school classes to the intermediate and senior phase learners at Moruti Makuse Primary School, and they also help them with homework. Therefore, the handover taught the older learners the power of giving by reminding the Grade R learners that they matter too.
'We don't want to see the children on the streets because they don't know what to do with their lives on their free time. We want to build them in a way that they will understand that even if they have just a little, they should think of those who have nothing,' said Thandeka.
The handover was marked by hitting two birds with just one stone, as the host also surprised the learners with a play that reminded them that they should always appreciate the little things they get from other people. The handover taught them to appreciate and to give so that it can be given unto them as well.
'We no longer have an excuse for why the learners are still using one classroom now. We were not expecting what the FXB did for us, but we are really grateful. We can all imagine how it is having a lot of Grade R's in one class,' said Portia Malaza, the principal of Moruti Makuse Primary School.
The learners thanked the FXB for their amazing gesture, stating that they are seeing all the great things that the FXB is doing for them.
'We are using the intermediate and the senior phase to remind the foundation phase that they should pour into the community that pours to them,' said Thandeka.
The FXB stands firm when it comes to being the hand the community needs, as they also offer rehabilitation and disease awareness, including HIV/AIDS.
The schools showed their appreciation to the FXB, and they are looking forward to achieving more together.
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The Citizen
13-06-2025
- The Citizen
FXB donates furniture for Grade R's
The organisations donated tables and chairs to Moruti Makuse Primary School and Jeremia Mdaka Primary School. Moruti Makuse Primary School is situated in Kwa-Guqa Extensions, and Jeremia Mdaka Primary School is in Vosman. The furniture was donated to help the Grade R learners, as they have noticed that the schools have quite a number of Grade R learners in one class. FXB is a non-profit organisation that has been breaking the chain of poverty for more than 30 years and in 14 countries. The organisation aims to provide support and tools to families with extreme poverty so that they can feel self-sufficient too. According to the coordinator of the FXB, Thandeka Skhosana, the handover was also a way of teaching learners to give back to the community, as they have several learners from the intermediate phase upward that they work with daily. The organisation offers after-school classes to the intermediate and senior phase learners at Moruti Makuse Primary School, and they also help them with homework. Therefore, the handover taught the older learners the power of giving by reminding the Grade R learners that they matter too. 'We don't want to see the children on the streets because they don't know what to do with their lives on their free time. We want to build them in a way that they will understand that even if they have just a little, they should think of those who have nothing,' said Thandeka. The handover was marked by hitting two birds with just one stone, as the host also surprised the learners with a play that reminded them that they should always appreciate the little things they get from other people. The handover taught them to appreciate and to give so that it can be given unto them as well. 'We no longer have an excuse for why the learners are still using one classroom now. We were not expecting what the FXB did for us, but we are really grateful. We can all imagine how it is having a lot of Grade R's in one class,' said Portia Malaza, the principal of Moruti Makuse Primary School. The learners thanked the FXB for their amazing gesture, stating that they are seeing all the great things that the FXB is doing for them. 'We are using the intermediate and the senior phase to remind the foundation phase that they should pour into the community that pours to them,' said Thandeka. The FXB stands firm when it comes to being the hand the community needs, as they also offer rehabilitation and disease awareness, including HIV/AIDS. The schools showed their appreciation to the FXB, and they are looking forward to achieving more together. Breaking news at your fingertips … Follow WITBANK NEWS on our website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or TikTok Chat to us: info@ At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!


Eyewitness News
06-06-2025
- Eyewitness News
US cuts food aid to 36,000 children in Lesotho
It is 8:23am in the highlands of Semonkong. Learners line up at Ha Samuel Primary School for their morning porridge. Many of them would not have had breakfast were it not for the school's food scheme. Over 20% of the Lesotho population is at risk of not having enough food. Rates of childhood stunting due to malnutrition are high. Many children are from child-headed households. 'For some of them, lunch at school is the last meal of the day,' said one teacher. Ha Samuel is among 200 schools fed by Bokamoso Ba Bana, a programme funded for $28.5-million (M511.2-million) over five years by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). (One loti (M) is equal to one South African Rand.) Run by Catholic Relief Services (CRS), a US-based humanitarian organisation, the programme was designed to support more than 36,000 children from 2022 until 2027. Minister of Education Ntoi Rapapa has estimated that the project feeds 17% of primary school learners in Lesotho. But GroundUp has learned that the USDA has abruptly cut its funding of the programme. CRS issued a global announcement (removed from their website following GroundUp questions, but still on the Internet Archive) on 21 May that more than 780,000 children in 11 countries will be affected by the cuts to their food programmes. But schools in Lesotho say they have not been formally told the programme will end. We spoke to seven teachers at three schools — Ha Samuel, St Leonard Primary School in Semonkong, and Senqu Anglican in Mokhotlong. They had heard rumours that the programme might end, but no official confirmation. Matlhokomelo Liporo, who manages feeding at Ha Samuel, said she was told by a CRS staff member that 'they might not come back after winter break because of President Trump's aid cuts'. A teacher at St Leonard Primary, Mojapela Ramothibe, said the school's 630 students relied heavily on these meals. 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MORE THAN JUST MEALS Beyond providing meals, CRS also partnered with the Lesotho College of Education to offer 25 annual scholarships between 2024 and 2026 to preschool teachers from the targeted districts to study for Early Childhood Education certificates at the college. The project also aimed to invest in the local economy. Over its five-year lifecycle, it would procure 3,050 tonnes of food including beans, leafy greens, and eggs from regional and local farmers, in addition to the 6,950 tonnes of US-donated staples like maize meal. School infrastructure was also improved under the project. Ha Samuel previously had no toilets, forcing students and teachers to use the surrounding bushes. But CRS built proper sanitation facilities and provided sanitary pads, enabling girls to attend school during their periods. 'They even trained boys about menstruation,' Liporo said. 'Now, a boy will come asking for a pad to help a classmate whose dress got blotted. That confidence and empathy didn't exist before.' With the programme now cut, teachers worry they will have to rely once again on the under-resourced and poorly managed government feeding scheme. 'We will go back to our old problems,' said 'Mammenyane Thatho of St Leonard. 'Many kids come to school hungry, expecting their first meal here.' 'Mabafokeng Mothibi, in Semonkong, who works with a cooperative of other farmers to supply 46 schools in the area, said the programme's termination spells disaster for local farmers. 'Almost every vegetable farmer here was involved in the project supply chain,' she said. She says she helped resource-poor farmers in the area with seedlings and would later split sales revenue with them. From other farmers she would buy vegetables at M10 per kilogram. In total, Mothibi and her colleagues supplied almost a tonne of green vegetables to different schools every month. 'Many farmers expanded production in anticipation of supplying schools under the CRS project. Now they will be stuck with unsold crops on their fields if the project does not continue,' she said. Cooks are also worried about their livelihoods. Under CRS, cooks earned about M3,200 per month, more than double the M1,500 they were paid under the government feeding programme in the past. GOVERNMENT ASSURES CONTINUITY Lesotho's Principal Secretary for Education Ratšiu Majara insists the government can absorb the loss and continue with the programme. 'We are aware of the termination,' he told GroundUp. 'But the school feeding programme existed before, and I guarantee that children in Semonkong, Thaba-Tseka, and Mokhotlong will continue to get their meals.' The government allocates about M240-million annually for school feeding and receives additional support from the World Food Programme (WFP). In 2024, WFP received €600,000 (M11,936.486) from Monaco and about M25-million from Japan to boost Lesotho's school feeding programme. But teachers and feeding managers at primary schools are sceptical. They say that when they were previously under the government programme, they frequently ran out of food. 'Attendance would drop,' Ramothibe recalled. 'Some kids only came to school to eat.' Liporo said many children walked for up to two hours to get to school at Ha Samuel on an empty stomach, only to find no food upon arrival. This article first appeared on GroundUp. Read the original article here.

IOL News
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- IOL News
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In a celebratory mood are Princess Shazi, Ayanda Mdluli, Sushie Munsamy, Michelle Potgieter, Sameera Kareem, and Sarah Pratley. Image: Tumi Pakkies The Daily News Milk Fund, a community-care project that is in its 83rd year of existence, reached out to the children living at the Shepherd's Keep home on the Bluff, Durban with some essential goods on Monday. Sameera Kareem, Ayanda Mdluli, Sushie Munsamy Image: Tumi Pakkies Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ Shepherd's Keep, a sanctuary in Bluff, Durban, that has been providing unconditional love and care to orphaned and abandoned babies affected by HIV/AIDS since 1998. Founded by Colin and Cheryl Pratley, the home has been a beacon of hope for the most vulnerable members of our society. Sushie Munsamy Image: Tumi Pakkies To mark World Milk Day, the Daily News Milk Fund collaborated with the facility and delivered much-needed items from the home's wish list, a gesture that brought smiles, tears, and immense gratitude. Daily News' editor Ayanda Mdluli said: "I'm proud to say that our Milk Fund is dedicated to making a real difference in the lives of disadvantaged children. Sameera Kareem Image: Tumi Pakkies