How World Vision Helped Lerato Return to School, Restoring Her Dreams for a Bright Future
By: Reentseng Phephetho, Communications and Digital Officer, World Vision Lesotho
Poverty has the power to rob children of their rights and dreams; but hop, community and timely intervention can restore what seems lost. In the rugged hills of Mohale’s Hoek district, in a small village of Ha Khanyane, a young girl named Lerato once stood at the edge of lost dreams. Her future, once full of promise, had slipped painfully out of reach.
In 2021, Lerato, then just 13 years old, had worked hard and proudly passed her Grade 7, was eager and ready to step into high school with big dreams. But her excitement was short-lived. One quiet evening at home, her parents broke the news that shattered her world: she would not be going to Grade 8. Her parents, overwhelmed by poverty and debts, could not afford the high school fees or the new uniform she needed.
“The moment I heard this from my parents, I got so angry and could not be at peace because I knew this would be the end of my dreams,” Lerato recalls, her eyes clouding with the memory of sleepless nights and silent tears. Every morning after that, she watched other children pass by her house on their way to school. Each laugh and chatter deepened her pain and frustration because it was a reminder of the future she had been denied. “ I kept wondering; Why not me? What about my dreams?
“ I kept wondering; Why not me? What about my dreams? - Lerato
Her parents too, were equally heartbroken and burdened with guilt and sorrow. Watching their bright daughter’s light dim under the weight of helplessness left them in anguish and sadness; but their circumstances left them with no way out; until hope came knocking through World Vision. During routine home visits in the community, World Vision’s Community Development Facilitator discovered Lerato’s story. Thankfully, Lerato was already a World Vision registered sponsored child, which made it easier to locate her and understand her family’s struggles.
Towards the end of January 2022, a miracle unfolded; World Vision stepped in and covered Lerato’s full high school fees at Mount Carmel High School and she was able to go back to school. “To me, this felt like a dream. Lerato says, her face now glowing with renewed hope. “Waking up and being told that I would go back to school was like seeing my dream come back to life,”
“Waking up and being told that I would go back to school was like seeing my dream come back to life,” - Lerato
The change was immediate and remarkable. Gone was the angry, withdrawn girl and in her place stood a motivated and determined student with a clear vision for her future: to learn, grow, and build a better future. She now wakes up every day eager to put on her school uniform, join her friends, and attend her classes; no longer haunted by the fear of being sent home for unpaid fees.
“I am so happy to be at school she says with a proud smile. I know my parents no longerstress stress about my fees, and, I wake up excited to go learn because when I grow up I want to become a Nurse.”
“I am so happy to be at school" - Lerato
But Lerato’s transformation did not stop there. Through World Vision’s Livelihoods and Resilience Programme, her parents received training in crop production. They started small-scale farming and now sell their vegetables to earn an income. “With what they make from selling crops, I go to school with a full stomach and I can focus very well in class,” Lerato says with a shy but proud smile.
Her teachers have noticed her passion too. “Since 2022, I have never had any complaints from other students about Lerato, and I am happy to share that Lerato performs exceptionally well in her studies,” says Mr Futho, the Principal at Mount Carmel High School. “She participates in class discussions and motivates other students. She is truly an example of what hope and hard work can achieve.”
I am happy to share that Lerato performs exceptionally well in her studies,”- Mr Futho, Principal at Mount Carmel High School.
Today, in 2025, Lerato is in Grade 11. She remains among the top students in her class and is loved by her peers for her kindness and eagerness to help others with their studies. With high school completion on the horizon, her dream of becoming a nurse feels closer than ever. “My dream is to help sick people, especially children”, she says, her eyes sparkling with purpose,” I want to see people healed and smiling again,”
My dream is to help sick people, especially children”- Lerato
Lerato’s story is proof that when families, communities, and organizations come together, the chains of poverty can be broken and children’s dreams can be restored. For Lerato, going to school once felt like an unreachable dream; yet today, she wakes up every morning feeling her bright future drawing closer.
Let us continue to stand up with children like Lerato. Let us give every child the education they deserve and empower families so that no parent has to watch their child’s dreams slip away. Because every child deserves not just to dream, but to live that dream.