How World Vision’s Youth Empowerment Training Restored a Family and Broke the Cycle of Poverty

By: Lerato Brown, Communications and Marketing Manager, World Vision Lesotho

“For the first time in many years, I feel like a child again; loved, secure, and full of dreams. Farming changed our lives, but World Vision helped restore our family.”— Moeketsi, 17

Moeketsi was just a young boy when his mother made the painful decision to leave Lesotho to work as a domestic worker in South Africa following the loss of their father. She had hoped her sacrifice would help her provide for her two sons, secure an education and a better life for them.  However, this sacrifice came with its own challenges; back home, Moeketsi and his older brother were left to navigate life without daily parental care. 

The money their mother sent helped cover school fees and uniforms but left little for food or other basic needs; but despite the challenges, they stayed in school and leaned on the quiet strength of their community. Without their mother’s presence, the house was filled with silence and loneliness. “Our home felt empty, especially on those days my brother and I didn’t have food to eat” Moeketsi remembers. “I wondered if my mother still loved us, but now I understand she was doing what she thought was best to give us a future.”

“I wondered if my mother still loved us" - Moeketsi,17

In those bleak days, a kind neighbor encouraged the boys to try gardening in their small backyard so they could grow some crops and have something to eat. Desperate for a solution, they planted cabbage; but without knowledge or tools, their efforts failed, the crops withered under the harsh sun, and the boys’ hope shriveled along with them.

“Our neigbour showed us what to do, and we planted the cabbage, but it never grew and the little that sprouted was always burnt by the sun, so we gave up.” The boys suffered; but only for a little while; For, as the Scripture says, “And the God of all grace… after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” (1 Peter 5:10, their moment of restoration came in 2023.

Youth Empowerment in Action

Another neighbour, Mamonyane; herself a World Vision beneficiary invited the boys to attend a youth-focused smart agriculture training facilitated by World Vision as part of World Vision’s Youth Livelihoods and Community Empowerment initiative, designed to equip young people with age-appropriate, practical skills for sustainable farming.

That training marked the beginning of their lives transformed, equipping them with knowledge and confidence they never had and building on their self-esteem and confidence in their own potential. World Vision didn’t just train them; they trusted them, providing starter seeds and a protective shade net to kickstart their journey. “We were so motivated after the training, because this time, we had the right knowledge, tools and the confidence to try again.” -Moeketsi recalls. “

 “We were so motivated after the training"- Moeketsi

Motivated and newly equipped, the brothers returned home and replanted their garden with cabbage, this time with intention and knowledge. The shade net shielded their cabbage from the sun, the soil responded, and their training helped them cultivate a thriving garden. Their harvest was abundant with Cabbage blooming under their care and so did their spirits.

They remained in school, working on the garden before and after classes, with support from community mentors and World Vision staff. What began as a way to eat became a growing enterprise. They had enough to feed themselves healthy, balanced meals and extra to sell at to their Neighbour's.

With their first profits, they bought two pigs and eleven chickens, bringing eggs and meat to their diet, and creating another source of income. Later, they acquired a sunflower press machine, which allowed them to produce and package cooking oil; a third revenue stream.

Their success was not just financial, it was personal. The brothers grew closer. They laughed, tended to the garden together, enjoyed school and dreamed together. The home, once silent with grief, buzzed with new energy and renewed love.

A Mother’s Return, A Family Reunited

As their now small home- based farm began to thrive, the boys made a life-changing decision. They called their mother and shared the news of their progress and invited her to come home. “When my boys told me what they had achieved, I cried,” their mother says. “I left children behind, but I came home to strong, kind, hardworking young men.”

Her return in late 2023 marked the start of a new chapter: a family enterprise led by love and resilience. With their mother now home, the household was no longer dependent on children to drive survival. Instead, she stepped into the central role of managing the farm, organizing production, coordinating sales, and overseeing finances. The boys continued to support the family effort after school and on weekends, but with more time for their education and personal growth. 

What was once a life of absence, hunger, and struggle is now a powerful demonstration of resilience, restoration, and transformation. “Now that our mother is here, we are truly a team,” Moeketsi says. “She’s the heart of the farm, we are also learning from her, and we have more time to focus on school.”

Together, the reunited family transformed their backyard into a thriving micro-enterprise: cabbage under the protection of a shade net, chickens clucking in clean coops, pigs healthy and growing, vegetables ready for harvest, and bottles of home-pressed sunflower oil lining their shelves.

Their home; once marked by loss and uncertainty is now filled with laughter, love, and vision. They are no longer merely surviving. They are thriving.

From Vulnerability to Self-Reliance

Moeketsi’s story is a vivid example of what’s possible when youth are empowered, families are reunited, and communities are supported to break the cycle of poverty. World Vision’s livelihood programmes don’t just offer food or training; they provide the foundation for economic dignity, emotional healing, and generational change. Through these initiatives, families graduate out of extreme poverty and become self-reliant, able to provide for their children and plan for the future.

“I used to feel like we were forgotten,” Moeketsi reflects. “But now, I feel proud and I strong, and I know this knowledge I have will never be taken away from me.”

A Dream That Grows

Now 17, Moeketsi has big dreams. He wants to finish school and go to university to learn about agriculture and farming, He wants to help her family expand their farm, grow fields of crops, and build a legacy that he can pass on to his future children. “This is the way forward,” he says. “I want other young people to see what’s possible, and I want my life to motivate them that they too can rise.”

Thanks to World Vision’s investment in youth and livelihoods, children like Moeketsi are not just surviving, they are flourishing. They are rewriting their stories and leading their families into a future filled with resilience, purpose, and endless possibility.

Child Protection Statement

World Vision is fully committed to the protection of children from all forms of exploitation and harm. Moeketsi’s story reflects safe, age-appropriate youth engagement as part of our livelihoods programming. Throughout their journey, the boys remained enrolled in school, received community support, and were never subjected to harmful or exploitative work. The return of their mother marked a significant shift in family dynamics, allowing her to assume primary leadership in managing the household economy and supporting her children’s development.