Prince Harry: Diana would be proud of Lesotho charity

BUTHA-BUTHE, Lesotho – Prince Harry says his mother would be proud of the work he and his regiment are doing to revamp a school for disabled children in Lesotho.

Prince Harry was speaking on Tuesday at the Thuso Centre in a village outside the Lesotho capital, Maseru. The Prince pushed wheelbarrows, filled trenches and worked up a sweat, saying: “It would be wrong for a patron of a charity to not get involved.”He is in the country with his regiment, the Household Cavalry, assisting with projects run by Sentebale, the charity the prince set up in his mother’s memory with Prince Sessio of Lesotho.Prince Harry pledged to continue his efforts helping some of Africa’s most vulnerable children.Sentebale, is helping to refurbish the much-needed special needs school – the only one in Lesotho.Harry (23), a lieutenant in the Household Cavalry’s Blues and Royals, was joined by more than 20 colleagues from the regiment in helping to do tough manual jobs needed to bring the Thuso Centre in the northern town of Butha Buthe up to date.The prince, speaking in the grounds of the special needs school, said: “Everything here is just so positive and fantastic.This is the only mentally handicapped school within Lesotho and once the project is finished we hope to make another in the centre and one in the south.”During the morning, Harry joined other soldiers from the Household Cavalry working as a labourer helping to build a disabled ramp for the school’s youngsters.The prince, dressed in a t-shirt, chinos and sturdy walking shoes, waited patiently in line with his wheelbarrow behind a local workman to fill it with cement.He then pushed his load with sweat glistening on his brow and a red face through the bumpy terrain a short distance to where the foundation trench for the disabled ramp had been dug, and he carefully poured the cement into it before returning to collect more.He later took the waiting media on a brief tour of the school’s two buildings, outlining the work they would be doing over the next three weeks, which will save the contractor undertaking the project 360 man days.Pointing at the new entrance and ramp being constructed, Harry said: “All the kids are mentally and physically disabled.To expect them to walk up steps like these is madness.”He moved on to the school’s dining room and described how it was having its roof space insulated and other repairs made to the outside of the roof, and explained that new kitchen facilities would be installed in the block.During a break in the refurbishment work at the disabled school, Harry chatted to the press about Sentebale, and the history affecting Lesotho.Lesotho has an adult HIV prevalence rate of 30 per cent and estimates suggest that as many as 200 000 of the country’s half a million school-aged children and young people have lost one or both parents to the disease.The Prince acknowledged the massive problem AIDS poses in the landlocked kingdom surrounded on all sides by South Africa.He said a “vast quantity of the population don’t accept they have AIDS – if you accept you have AIDS it’s a treatable disease”.He added: “Everybody needs to accept there’s a problem in Africa, problems at home.(We need to) get on with it and do what’s necessary to help.”The prince set up Sentebale two years ago with Lesotho’s Prince Seeiso after spending part of a gap year in 2004 in the country.Harry said the people of Lesotho have no “access to hospital, no access to clinics – we’ve got a big-scale problem”.The Household Cavalry team, which have been working to refurbish the school, had already dug a large hole for a septic tank and posts for a new parameter fence stood in place around the school.Major Tom Archer-Burton, who is leading the group of soldiers, was busy co-ordinating the work.He said: “If you’re going to put infrastructure into the centre, if you’re going to put kitchens in there…the last thing you want is people coming in and pillaging the site.”The Household Cavalry team have been touring southern Africa over the past five weeks – an expedition designed to boost the leadership skills and confidence of the younger members of the group.Harry joined them for the final two weeks as they travelled through Botswana and Namibia before reaching Lesotho.The Prince and his Army colleagues broke for lunch but after a short snack Harry joined in with a project aimed at teaching local youngsters about HIV.The charity, Kick 4 Life, is being supported by Sentebale and uses football to educate and provide medical tests for the illness and break down some of the stigmas surrounding it.The Prince put on a football shirt and joined 10 others for a half-hour match between two teams made up of British soldiers, the local teenagers and some members of the press.Harry will be working with his colleagues to finish the project over the next three weeks.Nampa-Sapa-APThe Prince pushed wheelbarrows, filled trenches and worked up a sweat, saying: “It would be wrong for a patron of a charity to not get involved.”He is in the country with his regiment, the Household Cavalry, assisting with projects run by Sentebale, the charity the prince set up in his mother’s memory with Prince Sessio of Lesotho.Prince Harry pledged to continue his efforts helping some of Africa’s most vulnerable children.Sentebale, is helping to refurbish the much-needed special needs school – the only one in Lesotho.Harry (23), a lieutenant in the Household Cavalry’s Blues and Royals, was joined by more than 20 colleagues from the regiment in helping to do tough manual jobs needed to bring the Thuso Centre in the northern town of Butha Buthe up to date.The prince, speaking in the grounds of the special needs school, said: “Everything here is just so positive and fantastic.This is the only mentally handicapped school within Lesotho and once the project is finished we hope to make another in the centre and one in the south.”During the morning, Harry joined other soldiers from the Household Cavalry working as a labourer helping to build a disabled ramp for the school’s youngsters.The prince, dressed in a t-shirt, chinos and sturdy walking shoes, waited patiently in line with his wheelbarrow behind a local workman to fill it with cement.He then pushed his load with sweat glistening on his brow and a red face through the bumpy terrain a short distance to where the foundation trench for the disabled ramp had been dug, and he carefully poured the cement into it before returning to collect more.He later took the waiting media on a brief tour of the school’s two buildings, outlining the work they would be doing over the next three weeks, which will save the contractor undertaking the project 360 man days.Pointing at the new entrance and ramp being constructed, Harry said: “All the kids are mentally and physically disabled.To expect them to walk up steps like these is madness.”He moved on to the school’s dining room and described how it was having its roof space insulated and other repairs made to the outside of the roof, and explained that new kitchen facilities would be installed in the block.During a break in the refurbishment work at the disabled school, Harry chatted to the press about Sentebale, and the history affecting Lesotho.Lesotho has an adult HIV prevalence rate of 30 per cent and estimates suggest that as many as 200 000 of the country’s half a million school-aged children and young people have lost one or both parents to the disease.The Prince acknowledged the massive problem AIDS poses in the landlocked kingdom surrounded on all sides by South Africa.He said a “vast quantity of the population don’t accept they have AIDS – if you accept you have AIDS it’s a treatable disease”.He added: “Everybody needs to accept there’s a problem in Africa, problems at home.(We need to) get on with it and do what’s necessary to help.”The prince set up Sentebale two years ago with Lesotho’s Prince Seeiso after spending part of a gap year in 2004 in the country.Harry said the people of Lesotho have no “access to hospital, no access to clinics – we’ve got a big-scale problem”.The Household Cavalry team, which have been working to refurbish the school, had already dug a large hole for a septic tank and posts for a new parameter fence stood in place around the school.Major Tom Archer-Burton, who is leading the group of soldiers, was busy co-ordinating the work.He said: “If you’re going to put infrastructure into the centre, if you’re going to put kitchens in there…the last thing you want is people coming in and pillaging the site.”The Household Cavalry team have been touring southern Africa over the past five weeks – an expedition designed to boost the leadership skills and confidence of the younger members of the group.Harry joined them for the final two weeks as they travelled through Botswana and Namibia before reaching Lesotho.The Prince and his Army colleagues broke for lunch but after a short snack Harry joined in with a project aimed at teaching local youngsters about HIV.The charity, Kick 4 Life, is being supported by Sentebale and uses football to educate and provide medical tests for the illness and break down some of the stigmas surrounding it.The Prince put on a football shirt and joined 10 others for a half-hour match between two teams made up of British soldiers, the local teenagers and some members of the press.Harry will be working with his colleagues to finish the project over the next three weeks.Nampa-Sapa-AP