Our History

Listening to what people want for themselves, and their communities, is always productive and projects have unfolded in ways we could never have imagined. Below is a sampling of some of the innovative programs that came out of Glasswaters’ investments in health, education, childcare, and community development.

HIV/AIDS health education and support

A very early and significant program that Glasswaters facilitated was the HIV/AIDs Outreach program. Supported by nurses from Phelisanong Centre’s clinic, a team of HIV positive community outreach workers known as the Warriors, served 14 villages, a total population of 10,000, with education, training, adherence programs and social supports such as transportation, food and shelter supplies.

In addition to reaching out to adults, the Warriors initiated a children’s testing and treatment campaign. Ongoing home visits to orphans and HIV positive children involve providing food and ensuring children were attending school. An annual conference, along with monthly workshops in the region, allowed the Warriors to reach out deeper into rural areas.

The Sunrise Theatre group of young African students traveled from school to school, village to village, sparking conversations about HIV/AIDS using theatre as a springboard. In 2010 Sunrise visited 30 schools in the Leribe district, using traditional forms of poetry and drama to develop and share lively call and response type of dialogue.

During a program development survey carried out by Glasswaters in 2009, oral histories of AIDS patients were collected in order to learn how to better serve the rural population of HIV positive adults. In addition to sharing their day to day stories, many elders shared folk stories. At the Folktales Festival on Easter Sunday, 300 orphans from villages around Ha Makhata came to participate and listen to the stories of the elders. Passing on the stories keeps language and culture alive while providing an opportunity for the younger generation to learn about surviving and thriving over generations.

In 2008, Glasswaters supported the production of a documentary in collaboration with budding African filmmakers. Designed to reach AIDS affected people as they sit waiting to be served in health clinics, Kopano ke Matla (Unity is Power), is a film in the local Sesotho language. It profiles ten different grassroots responses to HIV/AIDS. From an HIV positive support group keen to start a poultry co-operative, to a gender activist who uses traditional stories to explain the patterns of HIV transmission, the film presents people from all walks of life talking about how they tackle AIDS in their communities.

Childcare and primary/secondary education

Through the Phelisanong Centre, Glasswaters’ supported the care and education of vulnerable children and youth in the Pitseng region of Lesotho from 2008 to 2019. Our work provided housing infrastructure, access to health care, (see video link), paid for food and caregiving, basically enabled young citizens to have a future. In 2009 and 2010 we constructed two permanent homes at the Phelisanong Centre for disabled and orphaned children, replacing aging and inadequate buildings with environmentally conscious, family style homes for children and their caregivers. We supported children to attend the school at the centre and provided scholarships for youth to access secondary education.

In 2018 we transitioned our scholarship program from Phelisanong oversight to a new group of young and enthusiastic people dedicated to improved education for youth facing income and environmental challenges.

In South Africa from 2008 to 2011 Glasswaters helped the development of the Thulane Bantwana (Be Calm, Little Children) Crèche. Under the supervision of Maisie Maargoanye, a community development worker in the Vaal River region, we focused on shelter and supplies for the impoverished and orphaned children taken in by founder Miriam Tshabalala until South African neighbours fully engaged in supporting the new and expanding orphanage.

Food Security

Lesotho has a strong tradition of agriculture that was disabled by the HIV/AIDs epidemic. Our feeding program provided for immediate nutritional needs of orphans, impoverished, and disabled children in 14 villages throughout the Pitseng region. Through the Warriors, we served 1,000 meals a week at community dinners and made food parcels available to patients on anti-retroviral medication and TB medications who are enrolled in our HIV/AIDS outreach program. We were mindful that this kind of short term aid must foster, rather than hinder, local food production and so most of the food provided was grown locally.

Along with providing food on an emergency basis, Glasswaters facilitated communities in the region to meet their long term needs through permaculture farming programs. Supporting a comeback has involved the creation of community managed orchards and gardens. Permaculture, an organic system of farming that emphasizes the recycling of locally available materials, incorporates and builds upon indigenous farming practices.

Garden activities in 2009 and 2010 included development of greenhouse and composting facilities at Ha Makhata village, the planting and maintenance of a 500 tree fruit orchard, and skills sharing and training with 1,880 villagers enrolled in the Glasswaters AIDS outreach program.

The communities involved in the farming program began using soccer tournaments and cultural camps as a way to engage youth and adults in community farm work. Glasswaters encouraged opportunities to play, perform, sing, and learn together outside of a classroom setting. Working as a team on the soccer field translated well into working together in the garden.

Climate Change

In the summer of 2012 one of our sponsored students, Reselisitsoe (Chris) Ranthithi came to Canada. While here Chris and Gary McNutt documented interviews on climate change to take back to Lesotho. Chris and Nobert Muvhringi toured high schools in Lesotho in 2016 using the award winning film Talking to Canadians as a springboard to student discussions on the impacts of climate change.

In 2018 Chris and Norbert created their first annual Climate Change challenge. Working with the University of Lesotho, Chris set up a competition that challenged students to look at water accessibility issues and solutions in rural villages. Field trips to the Katse Dam, interviews with elders in a small village facing water shortages, and research into issues of local supply versus out of country water sales were features of the challenge.