LESOTHO / CHILD CASH GRANTS

UNICEF through European Union (EU) funding aims to aid poor households and ensure the rights of orphans and vulnerable children through the Lesotho Child Grants Programme. UNICEF

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:08
• Production Date: 18 November 2009
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND - UNICEF
• Subject Topical: SOCIAL WELFARE; SOCIAL SERVICES
• Geographic Subject: LESOTHO
• MAMS Id: U091118e

Description

LESOTHO / CHILD CASH GRANTS
SOURCE: UNICEF
LENGTH: 2:08
RESTRICTION: NONE
LANGUAGE: SESOTHO / ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 14, 15 OCTOBER 2009, QUACHA’S NEK, MASERU, LESOTHO

Shotlist

1. Med shot, Mapalesa with kids
2. Wide shot, Lebakeng Valley
3. Pan right, Mapalesa getting feeding for the chicks
4. Med shot, chicks walking through the fence
5. Med shot, chicken feed tossed out the door
6. SOUNDBITE (Sesotho) Mapalesa Sebatanyane, grandmother to four:
Because my son is not working, and my daughter in law is mentally unstable, I am taking care of the children. A woman in the village came to speak to me, she said I can receive assistance.”
7. Wide shot, Lesotho terrain with airplane wings in foreground
8. Close up, airplane pilot
9. Wide shot, front of plane landing in Lebakeng
10. Pan right, crowd applauding
11. SOUNDBITE (Sesotho) Peter Beck Christiansen, EU Ambassador, Lesotho:
“The future of Lesotho depends on how you treat your children.”
12. Med shot, recipients waiting in line
13. Close up, Minister handing over grant
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Mphu Ramatlapeng, Lesotho Minister of Health and Social Welfare:
“We’ve had a very high maternal mortality rate in this area and others that we have chosen, high infant mortality rate. The levels of malnutrition are staggering. So, HIV and AIDS also children looking after families, people not looking after their health, so people not being able to plow in the fields, these are some of the factors that have contributed to destitution generally in these areas.”
15. Med shot, children on grass
16. Med shot, girls walking up to house
17. Med shot, girl washing dishes with others studying
18. Close up, young girl drawing at window
19. Med shot, UNICEF Country Rep and staff talking in office
20. SOUNDBITE (English) Ahmed Magan, Lesotho Representative, UNICEF:
“So, directly it is for orphans and children, but to make it sustainable, but to make it sustainable and effective, it’s actually for the families and communities, which those orphans live in and vulnerable children.”
21. Med shot, Mapalesa receiving grant
22. Wide shot, Mapalesa walking home

Storyline

Seventy-three year-old Mapalesa Sebatanyane lives in the remote Lesotho community of Lebakeng.

The primary caretaker of her four grandchildren, Mapalesa earns barely enough raising chickens to feed her family. She is one of thousands of beneficiaries of the Lesotho Child Grants Program.

SOUNDBITE (Sesotho) Mapalesa Sebatanyane, grandmother to four:
Because my son is not working, and my daughter in law is mentally unstable, I am taking care of the children. A woman in the village came to speak to me she said I can receive assistance.”

Nestled in the rolling mountains Mapalesa’s village is only accessible by air, horse or foot. As helicopters and planes flew in with the first installment of the cash grants in October, two hundred and fifty households waited anxiously on land below.

SOUNDBITE (Sesotho) Peter Beck Christiansen, EU Ambassador, Lesotho:
“The future of Lesotho depends on how you treat your children.”

The EU (European Union) has provided 12 million Euros through UNICEF, for the government’s broader social protection program for orphans and vulnerable children.

SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Mphu Ramatlapeng, Lesotho Minister of Health and Social Welfare:
“We’ve had a very high maternal mortality rate in this area and others that we have chosen, high infant mortality rate. The levels of malnutrition are staggering. So, HIV and AIDS also children looking after families, people not looking after their health, so people not being able to plow in the fields, these are some of the factors that have contributed to destitution generally in these areas.”

Half of the population of Lesotho lives below the poverty line, and the country is plagued with the third highest HIV prevalence rate in the world.

Approximately 950 households and over 2,370 orphans and vulnerable children are currently benefiting from the grant.

SOUNDBITE (English) Ahmed Magan, Lesotho Representative, UNICEF:
“So, directly it is for orphans and children, but to make it sustainable, but to make it sustainable and effective, it’s actually for the families and communities, which those orphans live in and vulnerable children.”

For Mapalesa Sebatanyane, the grant means seeing her grandchildren healthy, happy and carrying the country forward.