Sentebale

Sentebale is a charity set up in April 2006 by Prince Seeiso of Lesotho and the Prince Harry of Wales, the younger son of Diana, Princess of Wales and Charles, Prince of Wales, to help vulnerable children and young people in Lesotho, particularly those who have been orphaned as a result of HIV and AIDS. The new organization was a step in Prince Harry's pledge to continue his mother's work with disadvantaged children. Prince Seeiso's mother, Queen Mamohato, a much-loved figure in her country, had died in 2003. Harry told the Concert for Diana website: "Sentebale means 'forget me not'. We chose the name as a memorial to the charity work of our own mothers, as well as a reminder to us all not to forget Lesotho or its children."

Sentebale is a charity registered in the UK, and with its chief executive in the UK, but carries out its charitable work in Lesotho.

The charity is one of the beneficiaries of proceeds from a July 1, 2007 Concert for Diana in the United Kingdom, organized by Prince Harry and his brother Prince William to celebrate their mother's life and commemorate her achievements on what would have been her 46th birthday. However most of Sentebale's initial funds came from taking over the British Red Cross Lesotho Fund, raised by public appeal.

Background to Lesotho

With a per capita income of US $764 in 2009, Lesotho is among the 49 Least Developed Countries and is ranked 156th on the United Nations Development Programme's Human Poverty Index Scale,’ says the World Health Organization. With a population of 2.1 million and 270,000 of its adults estimated to be living with HIV, Lesotho is facing a national disaster.

Sentebale staff

The Chief Executive of Sentebale is Kedge Martin who joined in 2009. Before joining Sentebale Kedge Martin was the CEO of WellChild, a charity that provides care, support and research to long term, chronically sick children across the UK.

The Executive Director based in Lesotho is Bahlakoana Manyanye, who joined the charity in May 2010. Manyanye has been part of the Sentebale team since 2007 and was previously the Director of Planning and Administration.

In 2011 Larry Hirst, the former Chairman of IBM Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Nigel Cox, a former audit manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers, were appointed to vacancies on the board of Sentebale.

Projects

Sentebale works in four key areas:

• Care: Working with and for local communities to provide effective and efficient care for orphans and vulnerable children.
• Health: Helping Lesotho's children tackle the HIV/AIDS pandemic and receive the treatment and general healthcare that they need.
• Education: Giving orphans and vulnerable children education, skills and training to make the most of their futures.
• Special Needs: Providing Care for Lesotho's most disadvantaged and vulnerable children.

Sentebale supports a number of projects, which include:

• The Lesotho Child Counselling Unit, a safe house where abused children may stay while the courts decide on their cases. Sentebale worked with UK development and disaster relief charity Article 25 who lent their expertise in the design and construction phases of the build
• The Mants'ase Children's Home, the only children's home and care facility in southern Lesotho.
• The Maloti Crop Share scheme, which helps increase food security for 33 villages and their orphans and vulnerable children. Government officials have visited the project and are broadcasting lessons learned from its best practice across Lesotho on local radio.
• The supply of motorcycle ambulances, which can overcome the country's lack of transport infrastructure.

Criticism

The charity's first accounts published in March 2008 showed that despite raising more than £1 million in the first 18 months of its operation, just £84,000 was handed over to projects in Lesotho. In the same period however, Sentebale spent £190,000 on salaries, £86,000 on a website, £26,000 on equipping its office in Maseru and £47,000 on work done before the charity was formally established. Sentebale's director in Lesotho, Harper Brown, had received a salary and benefits package worth between £90,000 and £100,000 per year. Meanwhile, according to the Daily Mail, the Lesotho Child Counselling Unit, which Prince Harry had visited in the name of the charity, remained without promised funding to provide basic operational requirements.

In 2009 Lord Ashcroft, the Conservative Party deputy chairman, donated £250,000 to Sentebale to remedy financial difficulties at the charity.

External links

• Sentabale’s website
• Sentebale, Registered Charity no. 1113544 at the Charity Commission
• World Health Organization on HIV and AIDS in Lesotho
• UNAIDS profile of Lesotho
• Concert for Diana news and information site
• Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso & Sentebale