Africa-Press – Lesotho. The Intellectual Disability and Autism Lesotho (IDAL) received a new building through the aid of Standard Lesotho Bank (SLB) as the main donor. The building was
constructed by Relationships Inspiring Social Enterprise (RISE), funded by SLB in collaboration with other well reputable companies working in Lesotho.
Giving the background of the organisation, IDAL Chairperson Nyolohelo Pekeche said IDAL was previously called Intellectual Disability Association of Lesotho and its aim was to
represent and protect the rights of adults and children with mental disability through the empowerment of their care givers so that they could fight for their
rights. He said after the emergence of another association named Autism Lesotho, which looked into autism disorder, attention deficit and hyperactive disorder, its members joined together to
collectively fight for their children’s rights. “That is how Intellectual Disability and Autism Lesotho was formed”. The intention of the association is to fight for
children’s wellbeing so that they could be able to make their own living and cope in the environments around them. Pekeche appreciated RISE with the construction of the building and for believing in their dream, she
extended to thank the donors as well. She said her wish is for the Ministry of Health (MoH), Ministry of Social Development and the Ministry of Education and Training
(MoET) to take part in assisting them. For his part, SLB Acting Head of Marketing Manyathela Kheleli noted that SLB has over the years provided
a lot of support to a number of charitable courses in Lesotho and they are extremely keen on health and welfare. “We particularly help orphans and vulnerable children.
This interest is premised on our strong belief that no matter what the circumstances are, all children deserve love, guidance and security. They also have a right to education and as a responsible corporate
citizen, we are duty-bound to support organisations that support children. This thinking is also very aligned with our vision as we continually seek to find
new ways to make the dreams of our society possible through our tagline ‘IT CAN BE’,” he noted. Kheleli indicated that they are pleased that IDAL is a beneficiary of their support following a long
journey that the bank has travelled with the organisation over the last three years. He added that the building is very unique because it is a result of a collaboration with their customers and
other people of goodwill. “In April 2018 and 2019, we hosted an annual Standard Lesotho Bank Corporate Golf Day, where we asked the captains of business in
Lesotho to buy raffle tickets to support a charitable course identified by the bank. We also asked them to influence their respective organisations to make pledges
towards such an initiative,” Kheleli said. He noted that their patrons fully supported the initiative and were able to raise about M413, 400 from the two golf day events and based on the promise they made, the bank then
subsidised this contribution with 100% to make a total of M826, 800 for the project to commence. “As is the case with projects of this nature, we encountered a shortfall of M342, 205 which upon consultation with the
management of the Bank, was covered in order to complete the building at a total cost of M1, 142, 205. We are therefore grateful to the following list of
companies who made it all possible being; Alliance Insurance, Glassworld, Insucare, Lesotho Flour Mills, Letšeng Diamond Company, Maseru Toyota, Minet, Metropolitan Lesotho, Maletsunyane Braai
Festival, Sekhametsi Investment Consortium, Specialised Insurance Brokers, SBV, Standard Lesotho Bank Board Member and Vodacom Lesotho,” Kheleli said and mentioned
people of goodwill who donated towards this project. RISE Founder Daniela Gusman said the organisation is not only about construction, but also builds
Basotho entrepreneurs. We take graduates, architectures, civil engineers and newly qualified construction managers with no experience, we recruit them into
our fellowship and partner with communities like IDAL. In these project we have graduates from Limkokwing University of Creative Technology and Lerotholi Polytechnic,” she said.
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